GUY MANNERING

BY SIR WALTER SCOTT

VOLUME I

GUY MANNERING

OR

THE ASTROLOGER

VOLUME I

 'Tis said that words and signs have power O'er sprites in planetary hour; But scarce I praise their venturous part Who tamper with such dangerous art. 

 Lay of the Last Minstrel. 

INTRODUCTION

The Novel or Romance of Waverley made its way to the publicslowly, of course, at first, but afterwards with such accumulatingpopularity as to encourage the Author to a second attempt. Helooked about for a name and a subject; and the manner in which thenovels were composed cannot be better illustrated than by recitingthe simple narrative on which Guy Mannering was originallyfounded; but to which, in the progress of the work, the productionceased to bear any, even the most distant resemblance. The talewas originally told me by an old servant of my father's, anexcellent old Highlander, without a fault, unless a preference tomountain dew over less potent liquors be accounted one. Hebelieved as firmly in the story as in any part of his creed. 

A grave and elderly person, according to old John MacKinlay'saccount, while travelling in the wilder parts of Galloway, wasbenighted. With difficulty he found his way to a country seat, where, with the hospitality of the time and country, he wasreadily admitted. The owner of the house, a gentleman of goodfortune, was much struck by the reverend appearance of his guest, and apologised to him for a certain degree of confusion which mustunavoidably attend his reception, and could not escape his eye. The lady of the house was, he said, confined to her apartment, andon the point of making her husband a father for the first time, though they had been ten years married. At such an emergency, thelaird said, he feared his guest might meet with some apparentneglect. 

'Not so, sir, ' said the stranger; 'my wants are few, and easilysupplied, and I trust the present circumstances may even afford anopportunity of showing my gratitude for your hospitality. Let meonly request that I may be informed of the exact minute of thebirth; and I hope to be able to put you in possession of someparticulars which may influence in an important manner the futureprospects of the child now about to come into this busy andchangeful world. I will not conceal from you that I am skilful inunderstanding and interpreting the movements of those planetarybodies which exert their influences on the destiny of mortals. Itis a science which I do not practise, like others who callthemselves astrologers, for hire or reward; for I have a competentestate, and only use the knowledge I possess for the benefit ofthose in whom I feel an interest. ' The laird bowed in respect andgratitude, and the stranger was accommodated with an apartmentwhich commanded an ample view of the astral regions. 

The guest spent a part of the night in ascertaining the positionof the heavenly bodies, and calculating their probable influence;until at length the result of his observations induced him to sendfor the father and conjure him in the most solemn manner to causethe assistants to retard the birth if practicable, were it but forfive minutes. The answer declared this to be impossible; andalmost in the instant that the message was returned the father andhis guest were made acquainted with the birth of a boy. 

The Astrologer on the morrow met the party who gathered around thebreakfast table with looks so grave and ominous as to alarm thefears of the father, who had hitherto exulted in the prospectsheld out by the birth of an heir to his ancient property, failingwhich event it must have passed to a distant branch of the family. He hastened to draw the stranger into a private room. 

'I fear from your looks, ' said the father, 'that you have badtidings to tell me of my young stranger; perhaps God will resumethe blessing He has bestowed ere he attains the age of manhood, orperhaps he is destined to be unworthy of the affection which weare naturally disposed to devote to our offspring?'

'Neither the one nor the other, ' answered the stranger; 'unless myjudgment greatly err, the infant will survive the years ofminority, and in temper and disposition will prove all that hisparents can wish. But with much in his horoscope which promisesmany blessings, there is one evil influence strongly predominant, which threatens to subject him to an unhallowed and unhappytemptation about the time when he shall attain the age of twenty-one, which period, the constellations intimate, will be the crisisof his fate. In what shape, or with what peculiar urgency, thistemptation may beset him, my art cannot discover. '

'Your knowledge, then, can afford us no defence, ' said the anxiousfather, 'against the threatened evil?'

'Pardon me, ' answered the stranger, 'it can. The influence of theconstellations is powerful; but He who made the heavens is morepowerful than all, if His aid be invoked in sincerity and truth. You ought to dedicate this boy to the immediate service of hisMaker, with as much sincerity as Samuel was devoted to the worshipin the Temple by his parents. You must regard him as a beingseparated from the rest of the world. In childhood, in boyhood, you must surround him with the pious and virtuous, and protect himto the utmost of your power from the sight or hearing of anycrime, in word or action. He must be educated in religious andmoral principles of the strictest description. Let him not enterthe world, lest he learn to partake of its follies, or perhaps ofits vices. In short, preserve him as far as possible from all sin, save that of which too great a portion belongs to all the fallenrace of Adam. With the approach of his twenty-first birthday comesthe crisis of his fate. If he survive it, he will be happy andprosperous on earth, and a chosen vessel among those elected forheaven. But if it be otherwise--' The Astrologer stopped, andsighed deeply. 

'Sir, ' replied the parent, still more alarmed than before, 'yourwords are so kind, your advice so serious, that I will pay thedeepest attention to your behests; but can you not aid me fartherin this most important concern? Believe me, I will not beungrateful. '

'I require and deserve no gratitude for doing a good action, ' saidthe stranger, 'in especial for contributing all that lies in mypower to save from an abhorred fate the harmless infant to whom, under a singular conjunction of planets, last night gave life. There is my address; you may write to me from time to timeconcerning the progress of the boy in religious knowledge. If hebe bred up as I advise, I think it will be best that he come to myhouse at the time when the fatal and decisive period approaches, that is, before he has attained his twenty-first year complete. Ifyou send him such as I desire, I humbly trust that God willprotect His own through whatever strong temptation his fate maysubject him to. ' He then gave his host his address, which was acountry seat near a post town in the south of England, and bid himan affectionate farewell. 

The mysterious stranger departed, but his words remained impressedupon the mind of the anxious parent. He lost his lady while hisboy was still in infancy. This calamity, I think, had beenpredicted by the Astrologer; and thus his confidence, which, likemost people of the period, he had freely given to the science, wasriveted and confirmed. The utmost care, therefore, was taken tocarry into effect the severe and almost ascetic plan of educationwhich the sage had enjoined. A tutor of the strictest principleswas employed to superintend the youth's education; he wassurrounded by domestics of the most established character, andclosely watched and looked after by the anxious father himself. 

The years of infancy, childhood, and boyhood passed as the fathercould have wished. A young Nazarene could not have been bred upwith more rigour. All that was evil was withheld from hisobservation: he only heard what was pure in precept, he onlywitnessed what was worthy in practice. 

But when the boy began to be lost in the youth, the attentivefather saw cause for alarm. Shades of sadness, which graduallyassumed a darker character, began to over-cloud the young man'stemper. Tears, which seemed involuntary, broken sleep, moonlightwanderings, and a melancholy for which he could assign no reason, seemed to threaten at once his bodily health and the stability ofhis mind. The Astrologer was consulted by letter, and returned foranswer that this fitful state of mind was but the commencement ofhis trial, and that the poor youth must undergo more and moredesperate struggles with the evil that assailed him. There was nohope of remedy, save that he showed steadiness of mind in thestudy of the Scriptures. 'He suffers, continued the letter of thesage, ' from the awakening of those harpies the passions, whichhave slept with him, as with others, till the period of life whichhe has now attained. Better, far better, that they torment him byungrateful cravings than that he should have to repent havingsatiated them by criminal indulgence. '

The dispositions of the young man were so excellent that hecombated, by reason and religion, the fits of gloom which at timesovercast his mind, and it was not till he attained thecommencement of his twenty-first year that they assumed acharacter which made his father tremble for the consequences. Itseemed as if the gloomiest and most hideous of mental maladies wastaking the form of religious despair. Still the youth was gentle, courteous, affectionate, and submissive to his father's will, andresisted with all his power the dark suggestions which werebreathed into his mind, as it seemed by some emanation of the EvilPrinciple, exhorting him, like the wicked wife of Job, to curseGod and die. 

The time at length arrived when he was to perform what was thenthought a long and somewhat perilous journey, to the mansion ofthe early friend who had calculated his nativity. His road laythrough several places of interest, and he enjoyed the amusementof travelling more than he himself thought would have beenpossible. Thus he did not reach the place of his destination tillnoon on the day preceding his birthday. It seemed as if he hadbeen carried away with an unwonted tide of pleasurable sensation, so as to forget in some degree what his father had communicatedconcerning the purpose of his journey. He halted at length beforea respectable but solitary old mansion, to which he was directedas the abode of his father's friend. 

The servants who came to take his horse told him he had beenexpected for two days. He was led into a study, where thestranger, now a venerable old man, who had been his father'sguest, met him with a shade of displeasure, as well as gravity, onhis brow. 'Young man, ' he said, 'wherefore so slow on a journey ofsuch importance?' 'I thought, ' replied the guest, blushing andlooking downward, ' that there was no harm in travelling slowly andsatisfying my curiosity, providing I could reach your residence bythis day; for such was my father's charge. ' 'You were to blame, 'replied the sage, 'in lingering, considering that the avenger ofblood was pressing on your footsteps. But you are come at last, and we will hope for the best, though the conflict in which youare to be engaged will be found more dreadful the longer it ispostponed. But first accept of such refreshments as naturerequires to satisfy, but not to pamper, the appetite. '

The old man led the way into a summer parlour, where a frugal mealwas placed on the table. As they sat down to the board they werejoined by a young lady about eighteen years of age, and so lovelythat the sight of her carried off the feelings of the youngstranger from the peculiarity and mystery of his own lot, andriveted his attention to everything she did or said. She spokelittle and it was on the most serious subjects. She played on theharpsichord at her father's command, but it was hymns with whichshe accompanied the instrument. At length, on a sign from thesage, she left the room, turning on the young stranger as shedeparted a look of inexpressible anxiety and interest. 

The old man then conducted the youth to his study, and conversedwith him upon the most important points of religion, to satisfyhimself that he could render a reason for the faith that was inhim. During the examination the youth, in spite of himself, felthis mind occasionally wander, and his recollections go in quest ofthe beautiful vision who had shared their meal at noon. On suchoccasions the Astrologer looked grave, and shook his head at thisrelaxation of attention; yet, on the whole, he was pleased withthe youth's replies. 

At sunset the young man was made to take the bath; and, havingdone so, he was directed to attire himself in a robe somewhat likethat worn by Armenians, having his long hair combed down on hisshoulders, and his neck, hands, and feet bare. In this guise hewas conducted into a remote chamber totally devoid of furniture, excepting a lamp, a chair, and a table, on which lay a Bible. 'Here, ' said the Astrologer, 'I must leave you alone to pass themost critical period of your life. If you can, by recollection ofthe great truths of which we have spoken, repel the attacks whichwill be made on your courage and your principles, you have nothingto apprehend. But the trial will be severe and arduous. ' Hisfeatures then assumed a pathetic solemnity, the tears stood in hiseyes, and his voice faltered with emotion as he said, 'Dear child, at whose coming into the world I foresaw this fatal trial, may Godgive thee grace to support it with firmness!'

The young man was left alone; and hardly did he find himself so, when, like a swarm of demons, the recollection of all his sins ofomission and commission, rendered even more terrible by thescrupulousness with which he had been educated, rushed on hismind, and, like furies armed with fiery scourges, seemeddetermined to drive him to despair. As he combated these horriblerecollections with distracted feelings, but with a resolved mind, he became aware that his arguments were answered by the sophistryof another, and that the dispute was no longer confined to his ownthoughts. The Author of Evil was present in the room with him inbodily shape, and, potent with spirits of a melancholy cast, wasimpressing upon him the desperation of his state, and urgingsuicide as the readiest mode to put an end to his sinful career. Amid his errors, the pleasure he had taken in prolonging hisjourney unnecessarily, and the attention which he had bestowed onthe beauty of the fair female when his thoughts ought to have beendedicated to the religious discourse of her father, were setbefore him in the darkest colours; and he was treated as one who, having sinned against light, was therefore deservedly left a preyto the Prince of Darkness. 

As the fated and influential hour rolled on, the terrors of thehateful Presence grew more confounding to the mortal senses of thevictim, and the knot of the accursed sophistry became moreinextricable in appearance, at least to the prey whom its meshessurrounded. He had not power to explain the assurance of pardonwhich he continued to assert, or to name the victorious name inwhich he trusted. But his faith did not abandon him, though helacked for a time the power of expressing it. 'Say what you will, 'was his answer to the Tempter; 'I know there is as much betwixtthe two boards of this Book as can ensure me forgiveness for mytransgressions and safety for my soul. ' As he spoke, the clock, which announced the lapse of the fatal hour, was heard to strike. The speech and intellectual powers of the youth were instantly andfully restored; he burst forth into prayer, and expressed in themost glowing terms his reliance on the truth and on the Author ofthe Gospel. The Demon retired, yelling and discomfited, and theold man, entering the apartment, with tears congratulated hisguest on his victory in the fated struggle. 

The young man was afterwards married to the beautiful maiden, thefirst sight of whom had made such an impression on him, and theywere consigned over at the close of the story to domestichappiness. So ended John MacKinlay's legend. 

The Author of Waverley had imagined a possibility of framing aninteresting, and perhaps not an unedifying, tale out of theincidents of the life of a doomed individual, whose efforts atgood and virtuous conduct were to be for ever disappointed by theintervention, as it were, of some malevolent being, and who was atlast to come off victorious from the fearful struggle. In short, something was meditated upon a plan resembling the imaginativetale of Sintram and his Companions, by Mons. Le Baron de la MotteFouque, although, if it then existed, the author had not seen it. 

The scheme projected may be traced in the three or four firstchapters of the work; but farther consideration induced the authorto lay his purpose aside. It appeared, on mature consideration, that astrology, though its influence was once received andadmitted by Bacon himself, does not now retain influence over thegeneral mind sufficient even to constitute the mainspring of aromance. Besides, it occurred that to do justice to such a subjectwould have required not only more talent than the Author could beconscious of possessing, but also involved doctrines anddiscussions of a nature too serious for his purpose and for thecharacter of the narrative. In changing his plan, however, whichwas done in the course of printing, the early sheets retained thevestiges of the original tenor of the story, although they nowhang upon it as an unnecessary and unnatural incumbrance. Thecause of such vestiges occurring is now explained and apologisedfor. 

It is here worthy of observation that, while the astrologicaldoctrines have fallen into general contempt, and been supplantedby superstitions of a more gross and far less beautiful character, they have, even in modern days, retained some votaries. 

One of the most remarkable believers in that forgotten anddespised science was a late eminent professor of the art oflegerdemain. One would have thought that a person of thisdescription ought, from his knowledge of the thousand ways inwhich human eyes could be deceived, to have been less than otherssubject to the fantasies of superstition. Perhaps the habitual useof those abstruse calculations by which, in a manner surprising tothe artist himself, many tricks upon cards, etc. , are performed, induced this gentleman to study the combination of the stars andplanets, with the expectation of obtaining propheticcommunications. 

He constructed a scheme of his own nativity, calculated accordingto such rules of art as he could collect from the bestastrological authors. The result of the past he found agreeable towhat had hitherto befallen him, but in the important prospect ofthe future a singular difficulty occurred. There were two yearsduring the course of which he could by no means obtain any exactknowledge whether the subject of the scheme would be dead oralive. Anxious concerning so remarkable a circumstance, he gavethe scheme to a brother astrologer, who was also baffled in thesame manner. At one period he found the native, or subject, wascertainly alive; at another that he was unquestionably dead; but aspace of two years extended between these two terms, during whichhe could find no certainty as to his death or existence. 

The astrologer marked the remarkable circumstance in his diary, and continued his exhibitions in various parts of the empire untilthe period was about to expire during which his existence had beenwarranted as actually ascertained. At last, while he wasexhibiting to a numerous audience his usual tricks of legerdemain, the hands whose activity had so often baffled the closest observersuddenly lost their power, the cards dropped from them, and hesunk down a disabled paralytic. In this state the artistlanguished for two years, when he was at length removed by death. It is said that the diary of this modern astrologer will soon begiven to the public. 

The fact, if truly reported, is one of those singular coincidenceswhich occasionally appear, differing so widely from ordinarycalculation, yet without which irregularities human life would notpresent to mortals, looking into futurity, the abyss ofimpenetrable darkness which it is the pleasure of the Creator itshould offer to them. Were everything to happen in the ordinarytrain of events, the future would be subject to the rules ofarithmetic, like the chances of gaming. But extraordinary eventsand wonderful runs of luck defy the calculations of mankind andthrow impenetrable darkness on future contingencies. 

To the above anecdote, another, still more recent, may be hereadded. The author was lately honoured with a letter from agentleman deeply skilled in these mysteries, who kindly undertookto calculate the nativity of the writer of Guy Mannering, whomight be supposed to be friendly to the divine art which heprofessed. But it was impossible to supply data for theconstruction of a horoscope, had the native been otherwisedesirous of it, since all those who could supply the minutiae ofday, hour, and minute have been long removed from the mortalsphere. 

Having thus given some account of the first idea, or rude sketch, of the story, which was soon departed from, the Author, infollowing out the plan of the present edition, has to mention theprototypes of the principal characters in Guy Mannering. 

Some circumstances of local situation gave the Author in his youthan opportunity of seeing a little, and hearing a great deal, aboutthat degraded class who are called gipsies; who are in most casesa mixed race between the ancient Egyptians who arrived in Europeabout the beginning of the fifteenth century and vagrants ofEuropean descent. 

The individual gipsy upon whom the character of Meg Merrilies wasfounded was well known about the middle of the last century by thename of Jean Gordon, an inhabitant of the village of Kirk Yetholm, in the Cheviot Hills, adjoining to the English Border. The Authorgave the public some account of this remarkable person in one ofthe early numbers of Blackwood's Magazine, to the followingpurpose:--

'My father remembered old Jean Gordon of Yetholm, who had greatsway among her tribe. She was quite a Meg Merrilies, and possessedthe savage virtue of fidelity in the same perfection. Having beenoften hospitably received at the farmhouse of Lochside, nearYetholm, she had carefully abstained from committing anydepredations on the farmer's property. But her sons (nine innumber) had not, it seems, the same delicacy, and stole a brood-sow from their kind entertainer. Jean was mortified at thisungrateful conduct, and so much ashamed of it that she absentedherself from Lochside for several years. 

'It happened in course of time that, in consequence of sometemporary pecuniary necessity, the goodman of Lochside was obligedto go to Newcastle to raise some money to pay his rent. Hesucceeded in his purpose, but, returning through the mountains ofCheviot, he was benighted and lost his way. 

'A light glimmering through the window of a large waste barn, which had survived the farm-house to which it had once belonged, guided him to a place of shelter; and when he knocked at the doorit was opened by Jean Gordon. Her very remarkable figure, for shewas nearly six feet high, and her equally remarkable features anddress, rendered it impossible to mistake her for a moment, thoughhe had not seen her for years; and to meet with such a characterin so solitary a place, and probably at no great distance from herclan, was a grievous surprise to the poor man, whose rent (to losewhich would have been ruin) was about his person. 

'Jean set up a loud shout of joyful recognition--

"Eh, sirs! the winsome gudeman of Lochside! Light down, lightdown; for ye maunna gang farther the night, and a friend's housesae near. " The farmer was obliged to dismount and accept of thegipsy's offer of supper and a bed. There was plenty of meat in thebarn, however it might be come by, and preparations were going onfor a plentiful repast, which the farmer, to the great increase ofhis anxiety, observed was calculated for ten or twelve guests, ofthe same description, probably, with his landlady. 

'Jean left him in no doubt on the subject. She brought to hisrecollection the story of the stolen sow, and mentioned how muchpain and vexation it had given her. Like other philosophers, sheremarked that the world grew worse daily; and, like other parents, that the bairns got out of her guiding, and neglected the oldgipsy regulations, which commanded them to respect in theirdepredations the property of their benefactors. The end of allthis was an inquiry what money the farmer had about him; and anurgent request, or command, that he would make her his purse-keeper, since the bairns, as she called her sons, would be soonhome. The poor farmer made a virtue of necessity, told his story, and surrendered his gold to Jean's custody. She made him put a fewshillings in his pocket, observing, it would excite suspicionshould he be found travelling altogether penniless. 

'This arrangement being made, the farmer lay down on a sort ofshake-down, as the Scotch call it, or bed-clothes disposed uponsome straw, but, as will easily be believed, slept not. 

'About midnight the gang returned, with various articles ofplunder, and talked over their exploits in language which made thefarmer tremble. They were not long in discovering they had aguest, and demanded of Jean whom she had got there. 

'"E'en the winsome gudeman of Lochside, poor body, " replied Jean;"he's been at Newcastle seeking for siller to pay his rent, honestman, but deil-be-lickit he's been able to gather in, and sae he'sgaun e'en hame wi' a toom purse and a sair heart. "

"'That may be, Jean, " replied one of the banditti, "but we maunripe his pouches a bit, and see if the tale be true or no. " Jeanset up her throat in exclamations against this breach ofhospitality, but without producing any change in theirdetermination. The farmer soon heard their stifled whispers andlight steps by his bedside, and understood they were rummaging hisclothes. When they found the money which the providence of JeanGordon had made him retain, they held a consultation if theyshould take it or no; but the smallness of the booty, and thevehemence of Jean's remonstrances, determined them in thenegative. They caroused and went to rest. As soon as day dawnedJean roused her guest, produced his horse, which she hadaccommodated behind the hallan, and guided him for some miles, till he was on the highroad to Lochside. She then restored hiswhole property; nor could his earnest entreaties prevail on her toaccept so much as a single guinea. 

'I have heard the old people at Jedburgh say, that all Jean's sonswere condemned to die there on the same day. It is said the jurywere equally divided, but that a friend to justice, who had sleptduring the whole discussion, waked suddenly and gave his vote forcondemnation in the emphatic words, "Hang them a'!" Unanimity isnot required in a Scottish jury, so the verdict of guilty wasreturned. Jean was present, and only said, "The Lord help theinnocent in a day like this!" Her own death was accompanied withcircumstances of brutal outrage, of which poor Jean was in manyrespects wholly undeserving. She had, among other demerits, ormerits, as the reader may choose to rank it, that of being astanch Jacobite. She chanced to be at Carlisle upon a fair ormarket-day, soon after the year 1746, where she gave vent to herpolitical partiality, to the great offence of the rabble of thatcity. Being zealous in their loyalty when there was no danger, inproportion to the tameness with which they had surrendered to theHighlanders in 1745, the mob inflicted upon poor Jean Gordon noslighter penalty than that of ducking her to death in the Eden. Itwas an operation of some time, for Jean was a stout woman, and, struggling with her murderers, often got her head above water;and, while she had voice left, continued to exclaim at suchintervals, "Charlie yet! Charlie yet!" When a child, and among thescenes which she frequented, I have often heard these stories, andcried piteously for poor Jean Gordon. 

'Before quitting the Border gipsies, I may mention that mygrandfather, while riding over Charterhouse Moor, then a veryextensive common, fell suddenly among a large band of them, whowere carousing in a hollow of the moor, surrounded by bushes. Theyinstantly seized on his horse's bridle with many shouts ofwelcome, exclaiming (for he was well known to most of them) thatthey had often dined at his expense, and he must now stay andshare their good cheer. My ancestor was, a little alarmed, for, like the goodman of Lochside, he had more money about his personthan he cared to risk in such society. However, being naturally abold, lively-spirited man, he entered into the humour of the thingand sate down to the feast, which consisted of all the varietiesof game, poultry, pigs, and so forth that could be collected by awide and indiscriminate system of plunder. The dinner was a verymerry one; but my relative got a hint from some of the oldergipsies to retire just when-- The mirth and fun grew fast and furious, and, mounting his horse accordingly, he took a French leave of hisentertainers, but without experiencing the least breach ofhospitality. I believe Jean Gordon was at thisfestival. '[Footnote: Blackwood's Magazine, vol. I, p. 54]

Notwithstanding the failure of Jean's issue, for which

 Weary fa' the waefu' wuddie, a granddaughter survived her, whom I remember to have seen. Thatis, as Dr. Johnson had a shadowy recollection of Queen Anne as astately lady in black, adorned with diamonds, so my memory ishaunted by a solemn remembrance of a woman of more than femaleheight, dressed in a long red cloak, who commenced acquaintance bygiving me an apple, but whom, nevertheless, I looked on with asmuch awe as the future Doctor, High Church and Tory as he wasdoomed to be, could look upon the Queen. I conceive this woman tohave been Madge Gordon, of whom an impressive account is given inthe same article in which her mother Jean is mentioned, but not bythe present writer:--

'The late Madge Gordon was at this time accounted the Queen of theYetholm clans. She was, we believe, a granddaughter of thecelebrated Jean Gordon, and was said to have much resembled her inappearance. The following account of her is extracted from theletter of a friend, who for many years enjoyed frequent andfavourable opportunities of observing the characteristicpeculiarities of the Yetholm tribes:--"Madge Gordon was descendedfrom the Faas by the mother's side, and was married to a Young. She was a remarkable personage--of a very commanding presence andhigh stature, being nearly six feet high. She had a large aquilinenose, penetrating eyes, even in her old age, bushy hair, that hungaround her shoulders from beneath a gipsy bonnet of straw, a shortcloak of a peculiar fashion, and a long staff nearly as tall asherself. I remember her well; every week she paid my father avisit for her awmous when I was a little boy, and I looked uponMadge with no common degree of awe and terror. When she spokevehemently (for she made loud complaints) she used to strike herstaff upon the floor and throw herself into an attitude which itwas impossible to regard with indifference. She used to say thatshe could bring from the remotest parts of the island friends torevenge her quarrel while she sat motionless in her cottage; andshe frequently boasted that there was a time when she was of stillmore considerable importance, for there were at her wedding fiftysaddled asses, and unsaddled asses without number. If Jean Gordonwas the prototype of the CHARACTER of Meg Merrilies, I imagineMadge must have sat to the unknown author as the representative ofher PERSON. "'[Footnote: Blackwood's Magazine, vol. I, p. 56. ]

How far Blackwood's ingenious correspondent was right, how farmistaken, in his conjecture the reader has been informed. 

To pass to a character of a very different description, DominieSampson, --the reader may easily suppose that a poor modest humblescholar who has won his way through the classics, yet has fallento leeward in the voyage of life, is no uncommon personage in acountry where a certain portion of learning is easily attained bythose who are willing to suffer hunger and thirst in exchange foracquiring Greek and Latin. But there is a far more exact prototypeof the worthy Dominie, upon which is founded the part which heperforms in the romance, and which, for certain particularreasons, must be expressed very generally. 

Such a preceptor as Mr. Sampson is supposed to have been wasactually tutor in the family of a gentleman of considerableproperty. The young lads, his pupils, grew up and went out in theworld, but the tutor continued to reside in the family, nouncommon circumstance in Scotland in former days, where food andshelter were readily afforded to humble friends and dependents. The laird's predecessors had been imprudent, he himself waspassive and unfortunate. Death swept away his sons, whose successin life might have balanced his own bad luck and incapacity. Debtsincreased and funds diminished, until ruin came. The estate wassold; and the old man was about to remove from the house of hisfathers to go he knew not whither, when, like an old piece offurniture, which, left alone in its wonted corner, may holdtogether for a long while, but breaks to pieces on an attempt tomove it, he fell down on his own threshold under a paralyticaffection. 

The tutor awakened as from a dream. He saw his patron dead, andthat his patron's only remaining child, an elderly woman, nowneither graceful nor beautiful, if she ever had been either theone or the other, had by this calamity become a homeless andpenniless orphan. He addressed her nearly in the words whichDominie Sampson uses to Miss Bertram, and professed hisdetermination not to leave her. Accordingly, roused to theexercise of talents which had long slumbered, he opened a littleschool and supported his patron's child for the rest of her life, treating her with the same humble observance and devoted attentionwhich he had used towards her in the days of her prosperity. 

Such is the outline of Dominie Sampson's real story, in whichthere is neither romantic incident nor sentimental passion; butwhich, perhaps, from the rectitude and simplicity of characterwhich it displays, may interest the heart and fill the eye of thereader as irresistibly as if it respected distresses of a moredignified or refined character. 

These preliminary notices concerning the tale of Guy Mannering andsome of the characters introduced may save the author and readerin the present instance the trouble of writing and perusing a longstring of detached notes. 

I may add that the motto of this novel was taken from the Lay ofthe Last Minstrel, to evade the conclusions of those who began tothink that, as the author of Waverley never quoted the works ofSir Walter Scott, he must have reason for doing so, and that thecircumstances might argue an identity between them. 

ABBOTSFORD, August 1, 1829. 

ADDITIONAL NOTE

GALWEGIAN LOCALITIES AND PERSONAGES WHICH HAVE BEEN SUPPOSED TO BEALLUDED TO IN THE NOVEL

An old English proverb says, that more know Tom Fool than Tom Foolknows; and the influence of the adage seems to extend to workscomposed under the influence of an idle or foolish planet. Manycorresponding circumstances are detected by readers of which theAuthor did not suspect the existence. He must, however, regard itas a great compliment that, in detailing incidents purelyimaginary, he has been so fortunate in approximating reality as toremind his readers of actual occurrences. It is therefore withpleasure he notices some pieces of local history and traditionwhich have been supposed to coincide with the fictitious persons, incidents, and scenery of Guy Mannering. 

The prototype of Dirk Hatteraick is considered as having been aDutch skipper called Yawkins. This man was well known on the coastof Galloway and Dumfriesshire, as sole proprietor and master of abuckkar, or smuggling lugger, called the 'Black Prince. ' Beingdistinguished by his nautical skill and intrepidity, his vesselwas frequently freighted, and his own services employed, byFrench, Dutch, Manx, and Scottish smuggling companies. 

A person well known by the name of Buckkar-tea, from having been anoted smuggler of that article, and also by that of Bogle Bush, the place of his residence, assured my kind informant Mr. Train, that he had frequently seen upwards of two hundred Lingtow menassemble at one time, and go off into the interior of the country, fully laden with contraband goods. 

In those halcyon days of the free trade, the fixed price forcarrying a box of tea or bale of tobacco from the coast ofGalloway to Edinburgh was fifteen shillings, and a man with twohorses carried four such packages. The trade was entirelydestroyed by Mr. Pitt's celebrated commutation law, which, byreducing the duties upon excisable articles, enabled the lawfuldealer to compete with the smuggler. The statute was called inGalloway and Dumfries-shire, by those who had thriven upon thecontraband trade, 'the burning and starving act. '

Sure of such active assistance on shore, Yawkins demeaned himselfso boldly that his mere name was a terror to the officers of therevenue. He availed himself of the fears which his presenceinspired on one particular night, when, happening to be ashorewith a considerable quantity of goods in his sole custody, astrong party of excisemen came down on him. Far from shunning theattack, Yawkins sprung forward, shouting, 'Come on, my lads;Yawkins is before you. ' The revenue officers were intimidated andrelinquished their prize, though defended only by the courage andaddress of a single man. On his proper element Yawkins was equallysuccessful. On one occasion he was landing his cargo at theManxman's Lake near Kirkcudbright, when two revenue cutters (the'Pigmy' and the 'Dwarf') hove in sight at once on different tacks, the one coming round by the Isles of Fleet, the other between thepoint of Rueberry and the Muckle Ron. The dauntless freetraderinstantly weighed anchor and bore down right between the luggers, so close that he tossed his hat on the deck of the one and his wigon that of the other, hoisted a cask to his maintop, to show hisoccupation, and bore away under an extraordinary pressure ofcanvass, without receiving injury. To account for these and otherhairbreadth escapes, popular superstition alleged that Yawkinsinsured his celebrated buckkar by compounding with the devil forone-tenth of his crew every voyage. How they arranged theseparation of the stock and tithes is left to our conjecture. Thebuckkar was perhaps called the 'Black Prince' in honour of theformidable insurer. 

The 'Black Prince' used to discharge her cargo at Luce, Balcarry, and elsewhere on the coast; but her owner's favourite landing-places were at the entrance of the Dee and the Cree, near the oldCastle of Rueberry, about six miles below Kirkcudbright. There isa cave of large dimensions in the vicinity of Rueberry, which, from its being frequently used by Yawkins and his supposedconnexion with the smugglers on the shore, is now called DirkHatteraick's Cave. Strangers who visit this place, the scenery ofwhich is highly romantic, are also shown, under the name of theGauger's Loup, a tremendous precipice, being the same, it isasserted, from which Kennedy was precipitated. 

Meg Merrilies is in Galloway considered as having had her originin the traditions concerning the celebrated Flora Marshal, one ofthe royal consorts of Willie Marshal, more commonly called theCaird of Barullion, King of the Gipsies of the Western Lowlands. That potentate was himself deserving of notice from the followingpeculiarities:--He was born in the parish of Kirkmichael aboutthe year 1671; and, as he died at Kirkcudbright 23d November 1792, he must then have been in the one hundred and twentieth year ofhis age. It cannot be said that this unusually long lease ofexistence was noted by any peculiar excellence of conduct orhabits of life. Willie had been pressed or enlisted in the armyseven times, and had deserted as often; besides three timesrunning away from the naval service. He had been seventeen timeslawfully married; and, besides, such a reasonably large share ofmatrimonial comforts, was, after his hundredth year, the avowedfather of four children by less legitimate affections. Hesubsisted in his extreme old age by a pension from the presentEarl of Selkirk's grandfather. Will Marshal is buried inKirkcudbright church, where his monument is still shown, decoratedwith a scutcheon suitably blazoned with two tups' horns and twocutty spoons. 

In his youth he occasionally took an evening walk on the highway, with the purpose of assisting travellers by relieving them of theweight of their purses. On one occasion the Caird of Barullionrobbed the Laird of Bargally at a place between Carsphairn andDalmellington. His purpose was not achieved without a severestruggle, in which the gipsy lost his bonnet, and was obliged toescape, leaving it on the road. A respectable farmer happened tobe the next passenger, and, seeing the bonnet, alighted, took itup, and rather imprudently put it on his own head. At this instantBargally came up with some assistants, and, recognising thebonnet, charged the farmer of Bantoberick with having robbed him, and took him into custody. There being some likeness between theparties, Bargally persisted in his charge, and, though therespectability of the farmer's character was proved or admitted, his trial before the Circuit Court came on accordingly. The fatalbonnet lay on the table of the court. Bargally swore that it wasthe identical article worn by the man who robbed him; and he andothers likewise deponed that they had found the accused on thespot where the crime was committed, with the bonnet on his head. The case looked gloomily for the prisoner, and the opinion of thejudge seemed unfavourable. But there was a person in court whoknew well both who did and who did not commit the crime. This wasthe Caird of Barullion, who, thrusting himself up to the bar nearthe place where Bargally was standing, suddenly seized on thebonnet, put it on his head, and, looking the Laird full in theface, asked him, with a voice which attracted the attention of thecourt and crowded audience--'Look at me, sir, and tell me, by theoath you have sworn--Am not _I_ the man who robbed you betweenCarsphairn and Dalmellington?' Bargally replied, in greatastonishment, 'By Heaven! you are the very man. ' 'You see whatsort of memory this gentleman has, ' said the volunteer pleader;'he swears to the bonnet whatever features are under it. If youyourself, my Lord, will put it on your head, he will be willing toswear that your Lordship was the party who robbed him betweenCarsphairn and Dalmellington. ' The tenant of Bantoberick wasunanimously acquitted; and thus Willie Marshal ingeniouslycontrived to save an innocent man from danger, without incurringany himself, since Bargally's evidence must have seemed to everyone too fluctuating to be relied upon. 

While the King of the Gipsies was thus laudably occupied, hisroyal consort, Flora, contrived, it is said, to steal the hoodfrom the judge's gown; for which offence, combined with herpresumptive guilt as a gipsy, she was banished to New England, whence she never returned. 

Now, I cannot grant that the idea of Meg Merrilies was, in thefirst concoction of the character, derived from Flora Marshal, seeing I have already said she was identified with Jean Gordon, and as I have not the Laird of Bargally's apology for charging thesame fact on two several individuals. Yet I am quite content thatMeg should be considered as a representative of her sect and classin general, Flora as well as others. 

The other instances in which my Gallovidian readers have obligedme by assigning to

 Airy nothing A local habitation and a name, shall also be sanctioned so far as the Author may be entitled todo so. I think the facetious Joe Miller records a case pretty muchin point; where the keeper of a museum, while showing, as he said, the very sword with which Balaam was about to kill his ass, wasinterrupted by one of the visitors, who reminded him that Balaamwas not possessed of a sword, but only wished for one. 'True, sir, ' replied the ready-witted cicerone; 'but this is the verysword he wished for. ' The Author, in application of this story, has only to add that, though ignorant of the coincidence betweenthe fictions of the tale and some real circumstances, he iscontented to believe he must unconsciously have thought or dreamedof the last while engaged in the composition of Guy Mannering. 

GUY MANNERING

OR

THE ASTROLOGER

CHAPTER I

 He could not deny that, looking round upon the dreary region, and seeing nothing but bleak fields and naked trees, hills obscured by fogs, and flats covered with inundations, he did for some time suffer melancholy to prevail upon him, and wished himself again safe at home. 

 --'Travels of Will. Marvel, ' IDLER, No. 49. 

It was in the beginning of the month of November 17--when ayoung English gentleman, who had just left the university ofOxford, made use of the liberty afforded him to visit some partsof the north of England; and curiosity extended his tour into theadjacent frontier of the sister country. He had visited, on theday that opens our history, some monastic ruins in the county ofDumfries, and spent much of the day in making drawings of themfrom different points, so that, on mounting his horse to resumehis journey, the brief and gloomy twilight of the season hadalready commenced. His way lay through a wide tract of black moss, extending for miles on each side and before him. Little eminencesarose like islands on its surface, bearing here and there patchesof corn, which even at this season was green, and sometimes a hutor farm-house, shaded by a willow or two and surrounded by largeelder-bushes. These insulated dwellings communicated with eachother by winding passages through the moss, impassable by any butthe natives themselves. The public road, however, was tolerablywell made and safe, so that the prospect of being benightedbrought with it no real danger. Still it is uncomfortable totravel alone and in the dark through an unknown country; and thereare few ordinary occasions upon which Fancy frets herself so muchas in a situation like that of Mannering. 

As the light grew faint and more faint, and the morass appearedblacker and blacker, our traveller questioned more closely eachchance passenger on his distance from the village ofKippletringan, where he proposed to quarter for the night. Hisqueries were usually answered by a counter-challenge respectingthe place from whence he came. While sufficient daylight remainedto show the dress and appearance of a gentleman, these crossinterrogatories were usually put in the form of a case supposed, as, 'Ye'll hae been at the auld abbey o' Halycross, sir? there'smony English gentlemen gang to see that. '--Or, 'Your honour willbe come frae the house o' Pouderloupat?' But when the voice of thequerist alone was distinguishable, the response usually was, 'Where are ye coming frae at sic a time o' night as the like o'this?'--or, 'Ye'll no be o' this country, freend?' The answers, when obtained, were neither very reconcilable to each other noraccurate in the information which they afforded. Kippletringan wasdistant at first 'a gey bit'; then the 'gey bit' was moreaccurately described as 'ablins three mile'; then the 'three mile'diminished into 'like a mile and a bittock'; then extendedthemselves into 'four mile or thereawa'; and, lastly, a femalevoice, having hushed a wailing infant which the spokeswomancarried in her arms, assured Guy Mannering, 'It was a weary langgate yet to Kippletringan, and unco heavy road for footpassengers. ' The poor hack upon which Mannering was mounted wasprobably of opinion that it suited him as ill as the femalerespondent; for he began to flag very much, answered eachapplication of the spur with a groan, and stumbled at every stone(and they were not few) which lay in his road. 

Mannering now grew impatient. He was occasionally betrayed into adeceitful hope that the end of his journey was near by theapparition of a twinkling light or two; but, as he came up, he wasdisappointed to find that the gleams proceeded from some of thosefarm-houses which occasionally ornamented the surface of theextensive bog. At length, to complete his perplexity, he arrivedat a place where the road divided into two. If there had beenlight to consult the relics of a finger-post which stood there, itwould have been of little avail, as, according to the good customof North Britain, the inscription had been defaced shortly afterits erection. Our adventurer was therefore compelled, like aknight-errant of old, to trust to the sagacity of his horse, which, without any demur, chose the left-hand path, and seemed toproceed at a somewhat livelier pace than before, affording therebya hope that he knew he was drawing near to his quarters for theevening. This hope, however, was not speedily accomplished, andMannering, whose impatience made every furlong seem three, beganto think that Kippletringan was actually retreating before him inproportion to his advance. 

It was now very cloudy, although the stars from time to time sheda twinkling and uncertain light. Hitherto nothing had broken thesilence around him but the deep cry of the bog-blitter, or bull-of-the-bog, a large species of bittern, and the sighs of the windas it passed along the dreary morass. To these was now joined thedistant roar of the ocean, towards which the traveller seemed tobe fast approaching. This was no circumstance to make his mindeasy. Many of the roads in that country lay along the sea-beach, and were liable to be flooded by the tides, which rise with greatheight, and advance with extreme rapidity. Others were intersectedwith creeks and small inlets, which it was only safe to pass atparticular times of the tide. Neither circumstance would havesuited a dark night, a fatigued horse, and a traveller ignorant ofhis road. Mannering resolved, therefore, definitively to halt forthe night at the first inhabited place, however poor, he mightchance to reach, unless he could procure a guide to this unluckyvillage of Kippletringan. 

A miserable hut gave him an opportunity to execute his purpose. Hefound out the door with no small difficulty, and for some timeknocked without producing any other answer than a duet between afemale and a cur-dog, the latter yelping as if he would havebarked his heart out, the other screaming in chorus. By degreesthe human tones predominated; but the angry bark of the cur beingat the instant changed into a howl, it is probable something morethan fair strength of lungs had contributed to the ascendency. 

'Sorrow be in your thrapple then!' these were the first articulatewords, 'will ye no let me hear what the man wants, wi' youryaffing?'

'Am I far from Kippletringan, good dame?'

'Frae Kippletringan!!!' in an exalted tone of wonder, which we canbut faintly express by three points of admiration. 'Ow, man! yeshould hae hadden eassel to Kippletringan; ye maun gae back as faras the whaap, and baud the whaap till ye come to Ballenloan, andthen--'

'This will never do, good dame! my horse is almost quite knockedup; can you not give me a night's lodgings?'

'Troth can I no; I am a lone woman, for James he's awa toDrumshourloch Fair with the year-aulds, and I daurna for my lifeopen the door to ony o' your gang-there-out sort o' bodies. '

'But what must I do then, good dame? for I can't sleep here uponthe road all night. '

'Troth, I kenna, unless ye like to gae down and speer for quartersat the Place. I'se warrant they'll tak ye in, whether ye be gentleor semple. '

'Simple enough, to be wandering here at such a time of night, 'thought Mannering, who was ignorant of the meaning of the phrase;'but how shall I get to the PLACE, as you call it?'

'Ye maun baud wessel by the end o' the loan, and take tent o' thejaw-hole. '

'O, if ye get to eassel and wessel again, I am undone! Is therenobody that could guide me to this Place? I will pay himhandsomely. '

The word pay operated like magic. 'Jock, ye villain, ' exclaimedthe voice from the interior, 'are ye lying routing there, and ayoung gentleman seeking the way to the Place? Get up, ye fauseloon, and show him the way down the muckle loaning. He'll show youthe way, sir. And I'se warrant ye'll be weel put up; for theynever turn awa naebody frae the door; and ye 'll be come in thecanny moment, I'm thinking, for the laird's servant--that's no tosay his body-servant, but the helper like--rade express by thise'en to fetch the houdie, and he just staid the drinking o' twapints o' tippenny to tell us how my leddy was ta'en wi' herpains. '

'Perhaps, ' said Mannering, 'at such a time a stranger's arrivalmight be inconvenient?'

'Hout, na, ye needna be blate about that; their house is muckleeneugh, and decking time's aye canty time. '

By this time Jock had found his way into all the intricacies of atattered doublet and more tattered pair of breeches, and salliedforth, a great white-headed, bare-legged, lubberly boy of twelveyears old, so exhibited by the glimpse of a rush-light which hishalf-naked mother held in such a manner as to get a peep at thestranger without greatly exposing herself to view in return. Jockmoved on westward by the end of the house, leading Mannering'shorse by the bridle, and piloting with some dexterity along thelittle path which bordered the formidable jaw-hole, whose vicinitythe stranger was made sensible of by means of more organs thanone. His guide then dragged the weary hack along a broken andstony cart-track, next over a ploughed field, then broke down aslap, as he called it, in a drystone fence, and lugged theunresisting animal through the breach, about a rood of the simplemasonry giving way in the splutter with which he passed. Finally, he led the way through a wicket into something which had still theair of an avenue, though many of the trees were felled. The roarof the ocean was now near and full, and the moon, which began tomake her appearance, gleamed on a turreted and apparently a ruinedmansion of considerable extent. Mannering fixed his eyes upon itwith a disconsolate sensation. 

'Why, my little fellow, ' he said, 'this is a ruin, not a house?'

'Ah, but the lairds lived there langsyne; that's Ellangowan AuldPlace. There's a hantle bogles about it; but ye needna be feared, I never saw ony mysell, and we're just at the door o' the NewPlace. '

Accordingly, leaving the ruins on the right, a few steps broughtthe traveller in front of a modern house of moderate size, atwhich his guide rapped with great importance. Mannering told hiscircumstances to the servant; and the gentleman of the house, whoheard his tale from the parlour, stepped forward and welcomed thestranger hospitably to Ellangowan. The boy, made happy with half-a-crown, was dismissed to his cottage, the weary horse wasconducted to a stall, and Mannering found himself in a few minutesseated by a comfortable supper, for which his cold ride gave him ahearty appetite. 

CHAPTER II

 Comes me cranking in, And cuts me from the best of all my land A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle, out

 Henry IV, Part 1. 

The company in the parlour at Ellangowan consisted of the Lairdand a sort of person who might be the village schoolmaster, orperhaps the minister's assistant; his appearance was too shabby toindicate the minister, considering he was on a visit to the Laird. 

The Laird himself was one of those second-rate sort of personsthat are to be found frequently in rural situations. Fielding hasdescribed one class as feras consumere nati; but the love offield-sports indicates a certain activity of mind, which hadforsaken Mr. Bertram, if ever he possessed it. A good-humouredlistlessness of countenance formed the only remarkable expressionof his features, although they were rather handsome thanotherwise. In fact, his physiognomy indicated the inanity ofcharacter which pervaded his life. I will give the reader someinsight into his state and conversation before he has finished along lecture to Mannering upon the propriety and comfort ofwrapping his stirrup-irons round with a wisp of straw when he hadoccasion to ride in a chill evening. 

Godfrey Bertram of Ellangowan succeeded to a long pedigree and ashort rent-roll, like many lairds of that period. His list offorefathers ascended so high that they were lost in the barbarousages of Galwegian independence, so that his genealogical tree, besides the Christian and crusading names of Godfreys, andGilberts, and Dennises, and Rolands without end, bore heathenfruit of yet darker ages--Arths, and Knarths, and Donagilds, andHanlons. In truth, they had been formerly the stormy chiefs of adesert but extensive domain, and the heads of a numerous tribecalled Mac-Dingawaie, though they afterwards adopted the Normansurname of Bertram. They had made war, raised rebellions, beendefeated, beheaded, and hanged, as became a family of importance, for many centuries. But they had gradually lost ground in theworld, and, from being themselves the heads of treason andtraitorous conspiracies, the Bertrams, or Mac-Dingawaies, ofEllangowan had sunk into subordinate accomplices. Their most fatalexhibitions in this capacity took place in the seventeenthcentury, when the foul fiend possessed them with a spirit ofcontradiction, which uniformly involved them in controversy withthe ruling powers. They reversed the conduct of the celebratedVicar of Bray, and adhered as tenaciously to the weaker side asthat worthy divine to the stronger. And truly, like him, they hadtheir reward. 

Allan Bertram of Ellangowan, who flourished tempore Caroli primi, was, says my authority, Sir Robert Douglas, in his ScottishBaronage (see the title 'Ellangowan'), 'a steady loyalist, andfull of zeal for the cause of His Sacred Majesty, in which heunited with the great Marquis of Montrose and other truly zealousand honourable patriots, and sustained great losses in thatbehalf. He had the honour of knighthood conferred upon him by HisMost Sacred Majesty, and was sequestrated as a malignant by theparliament, 1642, and afterwards as a resolutioner in the year1648. ' These two cross-grained epithets of malignant andresolutioner cost poor Sir Allan one half of the family estate. His son Dennis Bertram married a daughter of an eminent fanaticwho had a seat in the council of state, and saved by that unionthe remainder of the family property. But, as ill chance wouldhave it, he became enamoured of the lady's principles as well asof her charms, and my author gives him this character: 'He was aman of eminent parts and resolution, for which reason he waschosen by the western counties one of the committee of noblemenand gentlemen to report their griefs to the privy council ofCharles II. Anent the coming in of the Highland host in 1678. ' Forundertaking this patriotic task he underwent a fine, to pay whichhe was obliged to mortgage half of the remaining moiety of hispaternal property. This loss he might have recovered by dint ofsevere economy, but on the breaking out of Argyle's rebellionDennis Bertram was again suspected by government, apprehended, sent to Dunnotar Castle on the coast of the Mearns, and therebroke his neck in an attempt to escape from a subterraneanhabitation called the Whigs' Vault, in which he was confined withsome eighty of the same persuasion. The apprizer therefore (as theholder of a mortgage was then called) entered upon possession, and, in the language of Hotspur, 'came me cranking in, ' and cutthe family out of another monstrous cantle of their remainingproperty. 

Donohoe Bertram, with somewhat of an Irish name and somewhat of anIrish temper, succeeded to the diminished property of Ellangowan. He turned out of doors the Reverend Aaron Macbriar, his mother'schaplain (it is said they quarrelled about the good graces of amilkmaid); drank himself daily drunk with brimming healths to theking, council, and bishops; held orgies with the Laird of Lagg, Theophilus Oglethorpe, and Sir James Turner; and lastly, took hisgrey gelding and joined Clavers at Killiecrankie. At the skirmishof Dunkeld, 1689, he was shot dead by a Cameronian with a silverbutton (being supposed to have proof from the Evil One againstlead and steel), and his grave is still called the Wicked Laird'sLair. 

His son Lewis had more prudence than seems usually to havebelonged to the family. He nursed what property was yet left tohim; for Donohoe's excesses, as well as fines and forfeitures, hadmade another inroad upon the estate. And although even he did notescape the fatality which induced the Lairds of Ellangowan tointerfere with politics, he had yet the prudence, ere he went outwith Lord Kenmore in 1715, to convey his estate to trustees, inorder to parry pains and penalties in case the Earl of Mar couldnot put down the Protestant succession. But Scylla and Charybdis--a word to the wise--he only saved his estate at expense of alawsuit, which again subdivided the family property. He was, however, a man of resolution. He sold part of the lands, evacuatedthe old cattle, where the family lived in their decadence as amouse (said an old farmer) lives under a firlot. Pulling down partof these venerable ruins, he built with the stones a narrow houseof three stories high, with a front like a grenadier's cap, havingin the very centre a round window like the single eye of aCyclops, two windows on each side, and a door in the middle, leading to a parlour and withdrawing-room full of all manner ofcross lights. 

This was the New Place of Ellangowan, in which we left our hero, better amused perhaps than our readers, and to this Lewis Bertramretreated, full of projects for re-establishing the prosperity ofhis family. He took some land into his own hand, rented some fromneighbouring proprietors, bought and sold Highland cattle andCheviot sheep, rode to fairs and trysts, fought hard bargains, andheld necessity at the staff's end as well as he might. But what hegained in purse he lost in honour, for such agricultural andcommercial negotiations were very ill looked upon by his brotherlairds, who minded nothing but cock-fighting, hunting, coursing, and horse-racing, with now and then the alternative of a desperateduel. The occupations which he followed encroached, in theiropinion, upon the article of Ellangowan's gentry, and he found itnecessary gradually to estrange himself from their society, andsink into what was then a very ambiguous character, a gentlemanfarmer. In the midst of his schemes death claimed his tribute, andthe scanty remains of a large property descended upon GodfreyBertram, the present possessor, his only son. 

The danger of the father's speculations was soon seen. Deprived ofLaird Lewis's personal and active superintendence, all hisundertakings miscarried, and became either abortive or perilous. Without a single spark of energy to meet or repel thesemisfortunes, Godfrey put his faith in the activity of another. Hekept neither hunters nor hounds, nor any other southernpreliminaries to ruin; but, as has been observed of hiscountrymen, he kept a man of business, who answered the purposeequally well. Under this gentleman's supervision small debts grewinto large, interests were accumulated upon capitals, movablebonds became heritable, and law charges were heaped upon all;though Ellangowan possessed so little the spirit of a litigantthat he was on two occasions charged to make payment of theexpenses of a long lawsuit, although he had never before heardthat he had such cases in court. Meanwhile his neighbourspredicted his final ruin. Those of the higher rank, with somemalignity, accounted him already a degraded brother. The lowerclasses, seeing nothing enviable in his situation, marked hisembarrassments with more compassion. He was even a kind offavourite with them, and upon the division of a common, or theholding of a black-fishing or poaching court, or any similaroccasion when they conceived themselves oppressed by the gentry, they were in the habit of saying to each other, 'Ah, ifEllangowan, honest man, had his ain that his forbears had aforehim, he wadna see the puir folk trodden down this gait. 'Meanwhile, this general good opinion never prevented their takingadvantage of him on all possible occasions, turning their cattleinto his parks, stealing his wood, shooting his game, and soforth, 'for the Laird, honest man, he'll never find it; he neverminds what a puir body does. ' Pedlars, gipsies, tinkers, vagrantsof all descriptions, roosted about his outhouses, or harboured inhis kitchen; and the Laird, who was 'nae nice body, ' but athorough gossip, like most weak men, found recompense for hishospitality in the pleasure of questioning them on the news of thecountry side. 

A circumstance arrested Ellangowan's progress on the highroad toruin. This was his marriage with a lady who had a portion of aboutfour thousand pounds. Nobody in the neighbourhood could conceivewhy she married him and endowed him with her wealth, unlessbecause he had a tall, handsome figure, a good set of features, agenteel address, and the most perfect good-humour. It might besome additional consideration, that she was herself at thereflecting age of twenty-eight, and had no near relations tocontrol her actions or choice. 

It was in this lady's behalf (confined for the first time afterher marriage) that the speedy and active express, mentioned by theold dame of the cottage, had been despatched to Kippletringan onthe night of Mannering's arrival. 

Though we have said so much of the Laird himself, it still remainsthat we make the reader in some degree acquainted with hiscompanion. This was Abel Sampson, commonly called, from hisoccupation as a pedagogue, Dominie Sampson. He was of low birth, but having evinced, even from his cradle, an uncommon seriousnessof disposition, the poor parents were encouraged to hope thattheir bairn, as they expressed it, 'might wag his pow in a pulpityet. ' With an ambitious view to such a consummation, they pinchedand pared, rose early and lay down late, ate dry bread and drankcold water, to secure to Abel the means of learning. Meantime, histall, ungainly figure, his taciturn and grave manners, and somegrotesque habits of swinging his limbs and screwing his visagewhile reciting his task, made poor Sampson the ridicule of all hisschool-companions. The same qualities secured him at GlasgowCollege a plentiful share of the same sort of notice. Half theyouthful mob of 'the yards' used to assemble regularly to seeDominie Sampson (for he had already attained that honourabletitle) descend the stairs from the Greek class, with his lexiconunder his arm, his long misshapen legs sprawling abroad, andkeeping awkward time to the play of his immense shoulder-blades, as they raised and depressed the loose and threadbare black coatwhich was his constant and only wear. When he spoke, the effortsof the professor (professor of divinity though he was) weretotally inadequate to restrain the inextinguishable laughter ofthe students, and sometimes even to repress his own. The long, sallow visage, the goggle eyes, the huge under-jaw, which appearednot to open and shut by an act of volition, but to be dropped andhoisted up again by some complicated machinery within the innerman, the harsh and dissonant voice, and the screech-owl notes towhich it was exalted when he was exhorted to pronounce moredistinctly, --all added fresh subject for mirth to the torn cloakand shattered shoe, which have afforded legitimate subjects ofraillery against the poor scholar from Juvenal's time downward. Itwas never known that Sampson either exhibited irritability at thisill usage, or made the least attempt to retort upon histormentors. He slunk from college by the most secret paths hecould discover, and plunged himself into his miserable lodging, where, for eighteenpence a week, he was allowed the benefit of astraw mattress, and, if his landlady was in good humour, permission to study his task by her fire. Under all thesedisadvantages, he obtained a competent knowledge of Greek andLatin, and some acquaintance with the sciences. 

In progress of time, Abel Sampson, probationer of divinity, wasadmitted to the privileges of a preacher. But, alas! partly fromhis own bashfulness, partly owing to a strong and obviousdisposition to risibility which pervaded the congregation upon hisfirst attempt, he became totally incapable of proceeding in hisintended discourse, gasped, grinned, hideously rolled his eyestill the congregation thought them flying out of his head, shutthe Bible, stumbled down the pulpit-stairs, trampling upon the oldwomen who generally take their station there, and was ever afterdesignated as a 'stickit minister. ' And thus he wandered back tohis own country, with blighted hopes and prospects, to share thepoverty of his parents. As he had neither friend nor confidant, hardly even an acquaintance, no one had the means of observingclosely how Dominie Sampson bore a disappointment which suppliedthe whole town with a week's sport. It would be endless even tomention the numerous jokes to which it gave birth, from a balladcalled 'Sampson's Riddle, ' written upon the subject by a smartyoung student of humanity, to the sly hope of the Principal thatthe fugitive had not, in imitation of his mighty namesake, takenthe college gates along with him in his retreat. 

To all appearance, the equanimity of Sampson was unshaken. Hesought to assist his parents by teaching a school, and soon hadplenty of scholars, but very few fees. In fact, he taught the sonsof farmers for what they chose to give him, and the poor fornothing; and, to the shame of the former be it spoken, thepedagogue's gains never equalled those of a skilful ploughman. Hewrote, however, a good hand, and added something to his pittanceby copying accounts and writing letters for Ellangowan. Bydegrees, the Laird, who was much estranged from general society, became partial to that of Dominie Sampson. Conversation, it istrue, was out of the question, but the Dominie was a goodlistener, and stirred the fire with some address. He attemptedeven to snuff the candles, but was unsuccessful, and relinquishedthat ambitious post of courtesy after having twice reduced theparlour to total darkness. So his civilities, thereafter, wereconfined to taking off his glass of ale in exactly the same timeand measure with the Laird, and in uttering certain indistinctmurmurs of acquiescence at the conclusion of the long and windingstories of Ellangowan. 

On one of these occasions, he presented for the first time toMannering his tall, gaunt, awkward, bony figure, attired in athreadbare suit of black, with a coloured handkerchief, not overclean, about his sinewy, scraggy neck, and his nether personarrayed in grey breeches, dark-blue stockings, clouted shoes, andsmall copper buckles. 

Such is a brief outline of the lives and fortunes of those twopersons in whose society Mannering now found himself comfortablyseated. 

CHAPTER III

 Do not the hist'ries of all ages Relate miraculous presages Of strange turns m the world's affairs, Foreseen by astrologers, soothsayers, Chaldeans, learned genethliacs, And some that have writ almanacks?

 Hudibras. 

The circumstances of the landlady were pleaded to Mannering, first, as an apology for her not appearing to welcome her guest, and for those deficiencies in his entertainment which herattention might have supplied, and then as an excuse for pressingan extra bottle of good wine. 'I cannot weel sleep, ' said theLaird, with the anxious feelings of a father in such apredicament, 'till I hear she's gotten ower with it; and if you, sir, are not very sleepery, and would do me and the Dominie thehonour to sit up wi' us, I am sure we shall not detain you verylate. Luckie Howatson is very expeditious. There was ance a lassthat was in that way; she did not live far from hereabouts--yeneedna shake your head and groan, Dominie; I am sure the kirk dueswere a' weel paid, and what can man do mair?--it was laid till herere she had a sark ower her head; and the man that she sincewadded does not think her a pin the waur for the misfortune. Theylive, Mr. Mannering, by the shoreside at Annan, and a mair decent, orderly couple, with six as fine bairns as ye would wish to seeplash in a saltwater dub; and little curlie Godfrey--that's theeldest, the come o' will, as I may say--he's on board an exciseyacht. I hae a cousin at the board of excise; that's CommissionerBertram; he got his commissionership in the great contest for thecounty, that ye must have heard of, for it was appealed to theHouse of Commons. Now I should have voted there for the Laird ofBalruddery; but ye see my father was a Jacobite, and out withKenmore, so he never took the oaths; and I ken not weel how itwas, but all that I could do and say, they keepit me off the roll, though my agent, that had a vote upon my estate, ranked as a goodvote for auld Sir Thomas Kittlecourt. But, to return to what I wassaying, Luckie Howatson is very expeditious, for this lass--'

Here the desultory and long-winded narrative of the Laird wasinterrupted by the voice of some one ascending the stairs from thekitchen story, and singing at full pitch of voice. The high noteswere too shrill for a man, the low seemed too deep for a woman. The words, as far as Mannering could distinguish them, seemed torun thus:--

 Canny moment, lucky fit! Is the lady lighter yet? Be it lad, or be it lass, Sign wi' cross and sain wi' mass. 

'It's Meg Merrilies, the gipsy, as sure as I am a sinner, ' saidMr. Bertram. The Dominie groaned deeply, uncrossed his legs, drewin the huge splay foot which his former posture had extended, placed it perpendicularly, and stretched the other limb over itinstead, puffing out between whiles huge volumes of tobacco smoke. 'What needs ye groan, Dominie? I am sure Meg's sangs do nae ill. '

'Nor good neither, ' answered Dominie Sampson, in a voice whoseuntuneable harshness corresponded with the awkwardness of hisfigure. They were the first words which Mannering had heard himspeak; and as he had been watching with some curiosity when thiseating, drinking, moving, and smoking automaton would perform thepart of speaking, he was a good deal diverted with the harshtimber tones which issued from him. But at this moment the dooropened, and Meg Merrilies entered. 

Her appearance made Mannering start. She was full six feet high, wore a man's great-coat over the rest of her dress, had in herhand a goodly sloethorn cudgel, and in all points of equipment, except her petticoats, seemed rather masculine than feminine. Herdark elf-locks shot out like the snakes of the gorgon between anold-fashioned bonnet called a bongrace, heightening the singulareffect of her strong and weather-beaten features, which theypartly shadowed, while her eye had a wild roll that indicatedsomething like real or affected insanity. 

'Aweel, Ellangowan, ' she said, 'wad it no hae been a bonnie thing, an the leddy had been brought to bed, and me at the fair o'Drumshourloch, no kenning, nor dreaming a word about it? Wha wasto hae keepit awa the worriecows, I trow? Ay, and the elves andgyre-carlings frae the bonnie bairn, grace be wi' it? Ay, or saidSaint Colme's charm for its sake, the dear?' And without waitingan answer she began to sing--

 Trefoil, vervain, John's-wort, dill, Hinders witches of their will, Weel is them, that weel may Fast upon Saint Andrew's day. 

 Saint Bride and her brat, Saint Colme and his cat, Saint Michael and his spear, Keep the house frae reif and wear. 

This charm she sung to a wild tune, in a high and shrill voice, and, cutting three capers with such strength and agility as almostto touch the roof of the room, concluded, 'And now, Laird, willye no order me a tass o' brandy?'

'That you shall have, Meg. Sit down yont there at the door andtell us what news ye have heard at the fair o' Drumshourloch. '

'Troth, Laird, and there was muckle want o' you, and the like o'you; for there was a whin bonnie lasses there, forbye mysell, anddeil ane to gie them hansels. '

'Weel, Meg, and how mony gipsies were sent to the tolbooth?'

'Troth, but three, Laird, for there were nae mair in the fair, byemysell, as I said before, and I e'en gae them leg-bail, forthere's nae ease in dealing wi' quarrelsome fowk. And there'sDunbog has warned the Red Rotten and John Young aff his grunds--black be his cast! he's nae gentleman, nor drap's bluid o'gentleman, wad grudge twa gangrel puir bodies the shelter o' awaste house, and the thristles by the roadside for a bit cuddy, and the bits o' rotten birk to boil their drap parritch wi'. Weel, there's Ane abune a'; but we'll see if the red cock craw not inhis bonnie barn-yard ae morning before day-dawing. '

'Hush! Meg, hush! hush! that's not safe talk. '

'What does she mean?' said Mannering to Sampson, in an undertone. 

'Fire-raising, ' answered the laconic Dominie. 

'Who, or what is she, in the name of wonder?'

'Harlot, thief, witch, and gipsy, ' answered Sampson again. 

'O troth, Laird, ' continued Meg, during this by-talk, 'it's but tothe like o' you ane can open their heart; ye see, they say Dunbogis nae mair a gentleman than the blunker that's biggit the bonniehouse down in the howm. But the like o' you, Laird, that's a realgentleman for sae mony hundred years, and never hunds puir fowkaff your grund as if they were mad tykes, nane o' our fowk wadstir your gear if ye had as mony capons as there's leaves on thetrysting-tree. And now some o' ye maun lay down your watch, andtell me the very minute o' the hour the wean's born, an I'll spaeits fortune. '

'Ay, but, Meg, we shall not want your assistance, for here's astudent from Oxford that kens much better than you how to spae itsfortune; he does it by the stars. '

'Certainly, sir, ' said Mannering, entering into the simple humourof his landlord, 'I will calculate his nativity according to therule of the "triplicities, " as recommended by Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Diocles, and Avicenna. Or I will begin ab horaquestionis, as Haly, Messahala, Ganwehis, and Guido Bonatus haverecommended. '

One of Sampson's great recommendations to the favour of Mr. Bertram was, that he never detected the most gross attempt atimposition, so that the Laird, whose humble efforts at jocularitywere chiefly confined to what were then called bites and bams, since denominated hoaxes and quizzes, had the fairest possiblesubject of wit in the unsuspecting Dominie. It is true, he neverlaughed, or joined in the laugh which his own simplicity afforded--nay, it is said, he never laughed but once in his life, and onthat memorable occasion his landlady miscarried, partly throughsurprise at the event itself, and partly from terror at thehideous grimaces which attended this unusual cachinnation. Theonly effect which the discovery of such impositions produced uponthis saturnine personage was, to extort an ejaculation of'Prodigious!' or 'Very facetious!' pronounced syllabically, butwithout moving a muscle of his own countenance. 

On the present occasion, he turned a gaunt and ghastly stare uponthe youthful astrologer, and seemed to doubt if he had rightlyunderstood his answer to his patron. 

'I am afraid, sir, ' said Mannering, turning towards him, 'you maybe one of those unhappy persons who, their dim eyes being unableto penetrate the starry spheres, and to discern therein thedecrees of heaven at a distance, have their hearts barred againstconviction by prejudice and misprision. '

'Truly, ' said Sampson, 'I opine with Sir Isaac Newton, Knight, andumwhile master of his Majesty's mint, that the (pretended) scienceof astrology is altogether vain, frivolous, and unsatisfactory. 'And here he reposed his oracular jaws. 

'Really, ' resumed the traveller, 'I am sorry to see a gentleman ofyour learning and gravity labouring under such strange blindnessand delusion. Will you place the brief, the modern, and, as I maysay, the vernacular name of Isaac Newton in opposition to thegrave and sonorous authorities of Dariot, Bonatus, Ptolemy, Haly, Eztler, Dieterick, Naibob, Harfurt, Zael, Taustettor, Agrippa, Duretus, Maginus, Origen, and Argol? Do not Christians andHeathens, and Jews and Gentiles, and poets and philosophers, unitein allowing the starry influences?'

'Communis error--it is a general mistake, ' answered the inflexibleDominie Sampson. 

'Not so, ' replied the young Englishman; 'it is a general and well-grounded belief. '

'It is the resource of cheaters, knaves, and cozeners, ' saidSampson. 

'Abusus non tollit usum. --The abuse of anything doth not abrogatethe lawful use thereof. '

During this discussion Ellangowan was somewhat like a woodcockcaught in his own springe. He turned his face alternately from theone spokesman to the other, and began, from the gravity with whichMannering plied his adversary, and the learning which he displayedin the controversy, to give him credit for being half serious. Asfor Meg, she fixed her bewildered eyes upon the astrologer, overpowered by a jargon more mysterious than her own. 

Mannering pressed his advantage, and ran over all the hard termsof art which a tenacious memory supplied, and which, fromcircumstances hereafter to be noticed, had been familiar to him inearly youth. 

Signs and planets, in aspects sextile, quartile, trine, conjoined, or opposite; houses of heaven, with their cusps, hours, andminutes; almuten, almochoden, anabibazon, catabibazon; a thousandterms of equal sound and significance, poured thick and threefoldupon the unshrinking Dominie, whose stubborn incredulity bore himout against the pelting of this pitiless storm. 

At length the joyful annunciation that the lady had presented herhusband with a fine boy, and was (of course) as well as could beexpected, broke off this intercourse. Mr. Bertram hastened to thelady's apartment, Meg Merrilies descended to the kitchen to secureher share of the groaning malt and the 'ken-no, ' [Footnote: SeeNote i. ] and Mannering, after looking at his watch, and notingwith great exactness the hour and minute of the birth, requested, with becoming gravity, that the Dominie would conduct him to someplace where he might have a view of the heavenly bodies. 

The schoolmaster, without further answer, rose and threw open adoor half sashed with glass, which led to an old-fashionedterrace-walk behind the modern house, communicating with theplatform on which the ruins of the ancient castle were situated. The wind had arisen, and swept before it the clouds which hadformerly obscured the sky. The moon was high, and at the full, andall the lesser satellites of heaven shone forth in cloudlesseffulgence. The scene which their light presented to Mannering wasin the highest degree unexpected and striking. 

We have observed, that in the latter part of his journey ourtraveller approached the sea-shore, without being aware hownearly. He now perceived that the ruins of Ellangowan Castle weresituated upon a promontory, or projection of rock, which formedone side of a small and placid bay on the sea-shore. The modernmansion was placed lower, though closely adjoining, and the groundbehind it descended to the sea by a small swelling green bank, divided into levels by natural terraces, on which grew some oldtrees, and terminating upon the white sand. The other side of thebay, opposite to the old castle, was a sloping and variedpromontory, covered chiefly with copsewood, which on that favouredcoast grows almost within water-mark. A fisherman's cottage peepedfrom among the trees. Even at this dead hour of night there werelights moving upon the shore, probably occasioned by the unloadinga smuggling lugger from the Isle of Man which was lying in thebay. On the light from the sashed door of the house beingobserved, a halloo from the vessel of 'Ware hawk! Douse the glim!'alarmed those who were on shore, and the lights instantlydisappeared. 

It was one hour after midnight, and the prospect around waslovely. The grey old towers of the ruin, partly entire, partlybroken, here bearing the rusty weather-stains of ages, and therepartially mantled with ivy, stretched along the verge of the darkrock which rose on Mannering's right hand. In his front was thequiet bay, whose little waves, crisping and sparkling to themoonbeams, rolled successively along its surface, and dashed witha soft and murmuring ripple against the silvery beach. To the leftthe woods advanced far into the ocean, waving in the moonlightalong ground of an undulating and varied form, and presentingthose varieties of light and shade, and that interestingcombination of glade and thicket, upon which the eye delights torest, charmed with what it sees, yet curious to pierce stilldeeper into the intricacies of the woodland scenery. Above rolledthe planets, each, by its own liquid orbit of light, distinguishedfrom the inferior or more distant stars. So strangely canimagination deceive even those by whose volition it has beenexcited, that Mannering, while gazing upon these brilliant bodies, was half inclined to believe in the influence ascribed to them bysuperstition over human events. But Mannering was a youthfullover, and might perhaps be influenced by the feelings soexquisitely expressed by a modern poet:--

 For fable is Love's world, his home, his birthplace: Delightedly dwells he 'mong fays, and talismans, And spirits, and delightedly believes Divinities, being himself divine The intelligible forms of ancient poets, The fair humanities of old religion, The power, the beauty, and the majesty, That had their haunts in dale, or piny mountain, Or forest, by slow stream, or pebbly spring, Or chasms and wat'ry depths--all these have vanish'd; They live no longer in the faith of reason! But still the heart doth need a language, still Doth the old instinct bring back the old names. And to yon starry world they now are gone, Spirits or gods, that used to share this earth With man as with their friend, and to the lover Yonder they move, from yonder visible sky Shoot influence down; and even at this day 'T is Jupiter who brings whate'er is great, And Venus who brings everything that's fair. 

Such musings soon gave way to others. 'Alas!' he muttered, 'mygood old tutor, who used to enter so deep into the controversybetween Heydon and Chambers on the subject of astrology, he wouldhave looked upon the scene with other eyes, and would haveseriously endeavoured to discover from the respective positions ofthese luminaries their probable effects on the destiny of the new-born infant, as if the courses or emanations of the starssuperseded, or at least were co-ordinate with, Divine Providence. Well, rest be with him! he instilled into me enough of knowledgefor erecting a scheme of nativity, and therefore will I presentlygo about it. ' So saying, and having noted the position of theprincipal planetary bodies, Guy Mannering returned to the house. The Laird met him in the parlour, and, acquainting him with greatglee that the boy was a fine healthy little fellow, seemed ratherdisposed to press further conviviality. He admitted, however, Mannering's plea of weariness, and, conducting him to his sleepingapartment, left him to repose for the evening. 

CHAPTER IV

 Come and see' trust thine own eyes A fearful sign stands in the house of life, An enemy a fiend lurks close behind The radiance of thy planet O be warned!

 COLERIDGE, from SCHILLER

The belief in astrology was almost universal in the middle of theseventeenth century; it began to waver and become doubtful towardsthe close of that period, and in the beginning of the eighteenththe art fell into general disrepute, and even under generalridicule. Yet it still retained many partizans even in the seatsof learning. Grave and studious men were both to relinquish thecalculations which had early become the principal objects of theirstudies, and felt reluctant to descend from the predominatingheight to which a supposed insight into futurity, by the power ofconsulting abstract influences and conjunctions, had exalted themover the rest of mankind. 

Among those who cherished this imaginary privilege with undoubtingfaith was an old clergyman with whom Mannering was placed duringhis youth. He wasted his eyes in observing the stars, and hisbrains in calculations upon their various combinations. His pupil, in early youth, naturally caught some portion of his enthusiasm, and laboured for a time to make himself master of the technicalprocess of astrological research; so that, before he becameconvinced of its absurdity, William Lilly himself would haveallowed him 'a curious fancy and piercing judgment in resolving aquestion of nativity. '

On the present occasion he arose as early in the morning as theshortness of the day permitted, and proceeded to calculate thenativity of the young heir of Ellangowan. He undertook the tasksecundum artem, as well to keep up appearances as from a sort ofcuriosity to know whether he yet remembered, and could practise, the imaginary science. He accordingly erected his scheme, orfigure of heaven, divided into its twelve houses, placed theplanets therein according to the ephemeris, and rectified theirposition to the hour and moment of the nativity. Without troublingour readers with the general prognostications which judicialastrology would have inferred from these circumstances, in thisdiagram there was one significator which pressed remarkably uponour astrologer's attention. Mars, having dignity in the cusp ofthe twelfth house, threatened captivity or sudden and violentdeath to the native; and Mannering, having recourse to thosefurther rules by which diviners pretend to ascertain the vehemencyof this evil direction, observed from the result that threeperiods would be particularly hazardous--his fifth, his tenth, histwenty-first year. 

It was somewhat remarkable that Mannering had once before tried asimilar piece of foolery at the instance of Sophia Wellwood, theyoung lady to whom he was attached, and that a similar conjunctionof planetary influence threatened her with death or imprisonmentin her thirty-ninth year. She was at this time eighteen; so that, according to the result of the scheme in both cases, the same yearthreatened her with the same misfortune that was presaged to thenative or infant whom that night had introduced into the world. Struck with this coincidence, Mannering repeated his calculations;and the result approximated the events predicted, until at lengththe same month, and day of the month, seemed assigned as theperiod of peril to both. 

It will be readily believed that, in mentioning this circumstance, we lay no weight whatever upon the pretended information thusconveyed. But it often happens, such is our natural love for themarvellous, that we willingly contribute our own efforts tobeguile our better judgments. Whether the coincidence which I havementioned was really one of those singular chances which sometimeshappen against all ordinary calculations; or whether Mannering, bewildered amid the arithmetical labyrinth and technical jargon ofastrology, had insensibly twice followed the same clue to guidehim out of the maze; or whether his imagination, seduced by somepoint of apparent resemblance, lent its aid to make the similitudebetween the two operations more exactly accurate than it mightotherwise have been, it is impossible to guess; but the impressionupon his mind that the results exactly corresponded was vividlyand indelibly strong. 

He could not help feeling surprise at a coincidence so singularand unexpected. 'Does the devil mingle in the dance, to avengehimself for our trifling with an art said to be of magical origin?Or is it possible, as Bacon and Sir Thomas Browne admit, thatthere is some truth in a sober and regulated astrology, and thatthe influence of the stars is not to be denied, though the dueapplication of it by the knaves who pretend to practise the art isgreatly to be suspected?' A moment's consideration of the subjectinduced him to dismiss this opinion as fantastical, and onlysanctioned by those learned men either because they durst not atonce shock the universal prejudices of their age, or because theythemselves were not altogether freed from the contagious influenceof a prevailing superstition. Yet the result of his calculationsin these two instances left so unpleasing an impression on hismind that, like Prospero, he mentally relinquished his art, andresolved, neither in jest nor earnest, ever again to practisejudicial astrology. 

He hesitated a good deal what he should say to the Laird ofEllangowan concerning the horoscope of his first-born; and atlength resolved plainly to tell him the judgment which he hadformed, at the same time acquainting him with the futility of therules of art on which he had proceeded. With this resolution hewalked out upon the terrace. 

If the view of the scene around Ellangowan had been pleasing bymoonlight, it lost none of its beauty by the light of the morningsun. The land, even in the month of November, smiled under itsinfluence. A steep but regular ascent led from the terrace to theneighbouring eminence, and conducted Mannering to the front of theold castle. It consisted of two massive round towers projectingdeeply and darkly at the extreme angles of a curtain, or flatwall, which united them, and thus protecting the main entrance, that opened through a lofty arch in the centre of the curtain intothe inner court of the castle. The arms of the family, carved infreestone, frowned over the gateway, and the portal showed thespaces arranged by the architect for lowering the portcullis andraising the drawbridge. A rude farm-gate, made of young fir-treesnailed together, now formed the only safeguard of this onceformidable entrance. The esplanade in front of the castlecommanded a noble prospect. 

The dreary scene of desolation through which Mannering's road hadlain on the preceding evening was excluded from the view by somerising ground, and the landscape showed a pleasing alternation ofhill and dale, intersected by a river, which was in some placesvisible, and hidden in others, where it rolled betwixt deep andwooded banks. The spire of a church and the appearance of somehouses indicated the situation of a village at the place where thestream had its junction with the ocean. The vales seemed wellcultivated, the little inclosures into which they were dividedskirting the bottom of the hills, and sometimes carrying theirlines of straggling hedgerows a little way up the ascent. Abovethese were green pastures, tenanted chiefly by herds of blackcattle, then the staple commodity of the country, whose distantlow gave no unpleasing animation to the landscape. The remoterhills were of a sterner character, and, at still greater distance, swelled into mountains of dark heath, bordering the horizon with ascreen which gave a defined and limited boundary to the cultivatedcountry, and added at the same time the pleasing idea that it wassequestered and solitary. The sea-coast, which Mannering now sawin its extent, corresponded in variety and beauty with the inlandview. In some places it rose into tall rocks, frequently crownedwith the ruins of old buildings, towers, or beacons, which, according to tradition, were placed within sight of each other, that, in times of invasion or civil war, they might communicate bysignal for mutual defence and protection. Ellangowan Castle was byfar the most extensive and important of these ruins, and assertedfrom size and situation the superiority which its founders weresaid once to have possessed among the chiefs and nobles of thedistrict. In other places the shore was of a more gentledescription, indented with small bays, where the land slopedsmoothly down, or sent into the sea promontories covered withwood. 

A scene so different from what last night's journey had presagedproduced a proportional effect upon Mannering. Beneath his eye laythe modern house--an awkward mansion, indeed, in point ofarchitecture, but well situated, and with a warm, pleasantexposure. 'How happily, ' thought our hero, 'would life glide on insuch a retirement! On the one hand, the striking remnants ofancient grandeur, with the secret consciousness of family pridewhich they inspire; on the other, enough of modern elegance andcomfort to satisfy every moderate wish. Here then, and with thee, Sophia!'

We shall not pursue a lover's day-dream any farther. Manneringstood a minute with his arms folded, and then turned to the ruinedcastle. 

On entering the gateway, he found that the rude magnificence ofthe inner court amply corresponded with the grandeur of theexterior. On the one side ran a range of windows lofty and large, divided by carved mullions of stone, which had once lighted thegreat hall of the castle; on the other were various buildings ofdifferent heights and dates, yet so united as to present to theeye a certain general effect of uniformity of front. The doors andwindows were ornamented with projections exhibiting rude specimensof sculpture and tracery, partly entire and partly broken down, partly covered by ivy and trailing plants, which grew luxuriantlyamong the ruins. That end of the court which faced the entrancehad also been formerly closed by a range of buildings; but owing, it was said, to its having been battered by the ships of theParliament under Deane, during the long civil war, this part ofthe castle was much more ruinous than the rest, and exhibited agreat chasm, through which Mannering could observe the sea, andthe little vessel (an armed lugger), which retained her station inthe centre of the bay. [Footnote: The outline of the abovedescription, as far as the supposed ruins are concerned, will befound somewhat to resemble the noble remains of CarlaverockCastle, six or seven miles from Dumfries, and near to LocharMoss. ] While Mannering was gazing round the ruins, he heard fromthe interior of an apartment on the left hand the voice of thegipsy he had seen on the preceding evening. He soon found anaperture through which he could observe her without being himselfvisible; and could not help feeling that her figure, heremployment, and her situation conveyed the exact impression of anancient sibyl. 

She sate upon a broken corner-stone in the angle of a pavedapartment, part of which she had swept clean to afford a smoothspace for the evolutions of her spindle. A strong sunbeam througha lofty and narrow window fell upon her wild dress and features, and afforded her light for her occupation; the rest of theapartment was very gloomy. Equipt in a habit which mingled thenational dress of the Scottish common people with something of anEastern costume, she spun a thread drawn from wool of threedifferent colours, black, white, and grey, by assistance of thoseancient implements of housewifery now almost banished from theland, the distaff and spindle. As she spun, she sung what seemedto be a charm. Mannering, after in vain attempting to make himselfmaster of the exact words of her song, afterwards attempted thefollowing paraphrase of what, from a few intelligible phrases, heconcluded to be its purport:--

 Twist ye, twine ye! even so Mingle shades of joy and woe, Hope, and fear, and peace, and strife, In the thread of human life. 

 While the mystic twist is spinning, And the infant's life beginning, Dimly seen through twilight bending, Lo, what varied shapes attending!

 Passions wild, and Follies vain, Pleasures soon exchanged for pain, Doubt, and Jealousy, and Fear In the magic dance appear. 

 Now they wax, and now they dwindle, Whirling with the whirling spindle. Twist ye, twine ye! even so Mingle human bliss and woe. 

Ere our translator, or rather our free imitator, had arrangedthese stanzas in his head, and while he was yet hammering out arhyme for DWINDLE, the task of the sibyl was accomplished, or herwool was expended. She took the spindle, now charged with herlabours, and, undoing the thread gradually, measured it by castingit over her elbow and bringing each loop round between herforefinger and thumb. When she had measured it out, she mutteredto herself--'A hank, but not a haill ane--the full years o' threescore and ten, but thrice broken, and thrice to OOP (i. E. Tounite); he'll be a lucky lad an he win through wi't. '

Our hero was about to speak to the prophetess, when a voice, hoarse as the waves with which it mingled, hallooed twice, andwith increasing impatience--'Meg, Meg Merrilies! Gipsy--hag--tausend deyvils!'

'I am coming, I am coming, Captain, ' answered Meg; and in a momentor two the impatient commander whom she addressed made hisappearance from the broken part of the ruins. 

He was apparently a seafaring man, rather under the middle size, and with a countenance bronzed by a thousand conflicts with thenorth-east wind. His frame was prodigiously muscular, strong, andthick-set; so that it seemed as if a man of much greater heightwould have been an inadequate match in any close personalconflict. He was hard-favoured, and, which was worse, his facebore nothing of the insouciance, the careless, frolicsome jollityand vacant curiosity, of a sailor on shore. These qualities, perhaps, as much as any others, contribute to the high popularityof our seamen, and the general good inclination which our societyexpresses towards them. Their gallantry, courage, and hardihoodare qualities which excite reverence, and perhaps rather humblepacific landsmen in their presence; and neither respect nor asense of humiliation are feelings easily combined with a familiarfondness towards those who inspire them. But the boyish frolics, the exulting high spirits, the unreflecting mirth of a sailor whenenjoying himself on shore, temper the more formidable points ofhis character. There was nothing like these in this man's face; onthe contrary, a surly and even savage scowl appeared to darkenfeatures which would have been harsh and unpleasant under anyexpression or modification. 'Where are you, Mother Deyvilson?' hesaid, with somewhat of a foreign accent, though speaking perfectlygood English. 'Donner and blitzen! we have been staying this half-hour. Come, bless the good ship and the voyage, and be cursed toye for a hag of Satan!'

At this moment he noticed Mannering, who, from the position whichhe had taken to watch Meg Merrilies's incantations, had theappearance of some one who was concealing himself, being halfhidden by the buttress behind which he stood. The Captain, forsuch he styled himself, made a sudden and startled pause, andthrust his right hand into his bosom between his jacket andwaistcoat as if to draw some weapon. 'What cheer, brother? youseem on the outlook, eh?' Ere Mannering, somewhat struck by theman's gesture and insolent tone of voice, had made any answer, thegipsy emerged from her vault and joined the stranger. Hequestioned her in an undertone, looking at Mannering--'A sharkalongside, eh?'

She answered in the same tone of under-dialogue, using the cantlanguage of her tribe--'Cut ben whids, and stow them; a gentrycove of the ken. ' [Footnote: Meaning--Stop your uncivil language;that is a gentleman from the house below. ]

The fellow's cloudy visage cleared up. 'The top of the morning toyou, sir; I find you are a visitor of my friend Mr. Bertram. I begpardon, but I took you for another sort of a person. '

Mannering replied, 'And you, sir, I presume, are the master ofthat vessel in the bay?'

'Ay, ay, sir; I am Captain Dirk Hatteraick, of the YungfrauwHagenslaapen, well known on this coast; I am not ashamed of myname, nor of my vessel--no, nor of my cargo neither for thatmatter. '

'I daresay you have no reason, sir. '

'Tausend donner, no; I'm all in the way of fair trade. Just loadedyonder at Douglas, in the Isle of Man--neat cogniac--real hysonand souchong--Mechlin lace, if you want any--right cogniac--webumped ashore a hundred kegs last night. '

'Really, sir, I am only a traveller, and have no sort of occasionfor anything of the kind at present. '

'Why, then, good-morning to you, for business must be minded--unless ye'll go aboard and take schnaps; you shall have a pouch-full of tea ashore. Dirk Hatteraick knows how to be civil. '

There was a mixture of impudence, hardihood, and suspicious fearabout this man which was inexpressibly disgusting. His mannerswere those of a ruffian, conscious of the suspicion attending hischaracter, yet aiming to bear it down by the affectation of acareless and hardy familiarity. Mannering briefly rejected hisproffered civilities; and, after a surly good-morning, Hatteraickretired with the gipsy to that part of the ruins from which he hadfirst made his appearance. A very narrow staircase here went downto the beach, intended probably for the convenience of thegarrison during a siege. By this stair the couple, equally amiablein appearance and respectable by profession, descended to the sea-side. The soi-disant captain embarked in a small boat with twomen, who appeared to wait for him, and the gipsy remained on theshore, reciting or singing, and gesticulating with greatvehemence. 

CHAPTER V

 You have fed upon my seignories, Dispark'd my parks, and fell'd my forest woods, From mine own windows torn my household coat, Razed out my impress, leaving me no sign, Save men's opinions and my living blood, To show the world I am a gentleman. 

 Richard II. 

When the boat which carried the worthy captain on board his vesselhad accomplished that task, the sails began to ascend, and theship was got under way. She fired three guns as a salute to thehouse of Ellangowan, and then shot away rapidly before the wind, which blew off shore, under all the sail she could crowd. 

'Ay, ay, ' said the Laird, who had sought Mannering for some time, and now joined him, 'there they go--there go the free-traders--there go Captain Dirk Hatteraick and the Yungfrauw Hagenslaapen, half Manks, half Dutchman, half devil! run out the boltsprit, upmainsail, top and top-gallant sails, royals, and skyscrapers, andaway--follow who can! That fellow, Mr. Mannering, is the terror ofall the excise and custom-house cruisers; they can make nothing ofhim; he drubs them, or he distances them;--and, speaking ofexcise, I come to bring you to breakfast; and you shall have sometea, that--'

Mannering by this time was aware that one thought linked strangelyon to another in the concatenation of worthy Mr. Bertram's ideas, Like orient pearls at random strung;

and therefore, before the current of his associations had driftedfarther from the point he had left, he brought him back by someinquiry about Dirk Hatteraick. 

'O he's a--a--gude sort of blackguard fellow eneugh; naebody caresto trouble him--smuggler, when his guns are in ballast--privateer, or pirate, faith, when he gets them mounted. He has done moremischief to the revenue folk than ony rogue that ever came out ofRamsay. '

'But, my good sir, such being his character, I wonder he has anyprotection and encouragement on this coast. '

'Why, Mr. Mannering, people must have brandy and tea, and there'snone in the country but what comes this way; and then there'sshort accounts, and maybe a keg or two, or a dozen pounds, left atyour stable-door, instead of a d--d lang account at Christmas fromDuncan Robb, the grocer at Kippletringan, who has aye a sum tomake up, and either wants ready money or a short-dated bill. Now, Hatteraick will take wood, or he'll take bark, or he'll takebarley, or he'll take just what's convenient at the time. I'lltell you a gude story about that. There was ance a laird--that'sMacfie of Gudgeonford, --he had a great number of kain hens--that's hens that the tenant pays to the landlord, like a sort ofrent in kind. They aye feed mine very ill; Luckie Finniston sentup three that were a shame to be seen only last week, and yet shehas twelve bows sowing of victual; indeed her goodman, DuncanFinniston--that's him that's gone--(we must all die, Mr. Mannering, that's ower true)--and, speaking of that, let us livein the meanwhile, for here's breakfast on the table, and theDominie ready to say the grace. '

The Dominie did accordingly pronounce a benediction, that exceededin length any speech which Mannering had yet heard him utter. Thetea, which of course belonged to the noble Captain Hatteraick'strade, was pronounced excellent. Still Mannering hinted, thoughwith due delicacy, at the risk of encouraging such desperatecharacters. 'Were it but in justice to the revenue, I should havesupposed--'

'Ah, the revenue lads'--for Mr. Bertram never embraced a generalor abstract idea, and his notion of the revenue was personified inthe commissioners, surveyors, comptrollers, and riding officerswhom he happened to know--'the revenue lads can look sharp eneughout for themselves, no ane needs to help them; and they have a'the soldiers to assist them besides; and as to justice--you 'll besurprised to hear it, Mr. Mannering, but I am not a justice ofpeace!'

Mannering assumed the expected look of surprise, but thoughtwithin himself that the worshipful bench suffered no greatdeprivation from wanting the assistance of his good-humouredlandlord. Mr. Bertram had now hit upon one of the few subjects onwhich he felt sore, and went on with some energy. 

'No, sir, the name of Godfrey Bertram of Ellangowan is not in thelast commission, though there's scarce a carle in the country thathas a plough-gate of land, but what he must ride to quarter-sessions and write J. P. After his name. I ken fu' weel whom I amobliged to--Sir Thomas Kittlecourt as good as tell'd me he wouldsit in my skirts if he had not my interest at the last election;and because I chose to go with my own blood and third cousin, theLaird of Balruddery, they keepit me off the roll of freeholders;and now there comes a new nomination of justices, and I am leftout! And whereas they pretend it was because I let David Mac-Guffog, the constable, draw the warrants, and manage the businesshis ain gate, as if I had been a nose o' wax, it's a main untruth;for I granted but seven warrants in my life, and the Dominie wroteevery one of them--and if it had not been that unlucky business ofSandy Mac-Gruthar's, that the constables should have keepit twa orthree days up yonder at the auld castle, just till they could getconveniency to send him to the county jail--and that cost meeneugh o' siller. But I ken what Sir Thomas wants very weel--itwas just sic and siclike about the seat in the kirk o'Kilmagirdle--was I not entitled to have the front gallery facingthe minister, rather than Mac-Crosskie of Creochstone, the son ofDeacon Mac-Crosskie, the Dumfries weaver?'

Mannering expressed his acquiescence in the justice of thesevarious complaints. 

'And then, Mr. Mannering, there was the story about the road andthe fauld-dike. I ken Sir Thomas was behind there, and I saidplainly to the clerk to the trustees that I saw the cloven foot, let them take that as they like. Would any gentleman, or set ofgentlemen, go and drive a road right through the corner of afauld-dike and take away, as my agent observed to them, like twaroods of gude moorland pasture? And there was the story aboutchoosing the collector of the cess--'

'Certainly, sir, it is hard you should meet with any neglect in acountry where, to judge from the extent of their residence, yourancestors must have made a very important figure. '

'Very true, Mr. Mannering; I am a plain man and do not dwell onthese things, and I must needs say I have little memory for them;but I wish ye could have heard my father's stories about the auldfights of the Mac-Dingawaies--that's the Bertrams that now is--wi'the Irish and wi' the Highlanders that came here in their berlingsfrom Ilay and Cantire; and how they went to the Holy Land--thatis, to Jerusalem and Jericho, wi' a' their clan at their heels--they had better have gaen to Jamaica, like Sir ThomasKittlecourt's uncle--and how they brought hame relics like thosethat Catholics have, and a flag that's up yonder in the garret. Ifthey had been casks of muscavado and puncheons of rum it wouldhave been better for the estate at this day; but there's littlecomparison between the auld keep at Kittlecourt and the castle o'Ellangowan; I doubt if the keep's forty feet of front. But ye makeno breakfast, Mr. Mannering; ye're no eating your meat; allow meto recommend some of the kipper. It was John Hay that catcht it, Saturday was three weeks, down at the stream below Hempseed ford, 'etc. Etc. Etc. 

The Laird, whose indignation had for some time kept him prettysteady to one topic, now launched forth into his usual rovingstyle of conversation, which gave Mannering ample time to reflectupon the disadvantages attending the situation which an hourbefore he had thought worthy of so much envy. Here was a countrygentleman, whose most estimable quality seemed his perfect good-nature, secretly fretting himself and murmuring against others forcauses which, compared with any real evil in life, must weigh likedust in the balance. But such is the equal distribution ofProvidence. To those who lie out of the road of great afflictionsare assigned petty vexations which answer all the purpose ofdisturbing their serenity; and every reader must have observedthat neither natural apathy nor acquired philosophy can rendercountry gentlemen insensible to the grievances which occur atelections, quarter-sessions, and meetings of trustees. 

Curious to investigate the manners of the country, Mannering tookthe advantage of a pause in good Mr. Bertram's string of storiesto inquire what Captain Hatteraick so earnestly wanted with thegipsy woman. 

'O, to bless his ship, I suppose. You must know, Mr. Mannering, that these free-traders, whom the law calls smugglers, having noreligion, make it all up in superstition; and they have as manyspells and charms and nonsense--'

' Vanity and waur!' said the Dominie;' it is a trafficking withthe Evil One. Spells, periapts, and charms are of his device--choice arrows out of Apollyon's quiver. '

'Hold your peace, Dominie; ye're speaking for ever'--by the way, they were the first words the poor man had uttered that morning, excepting that he said grace and returned thanks--'Mr. Manneringcannot get in a word for ye! And so, Mr. Mannering, talking ofastronomy and spells and these matters, have ye been so kind as toconsider what we were speaking about last night?'

'I begin to think, Mr. Bertram, with your worthy friend here, thatI have been rather jesting with edge-tools; and although neitheryou nor I, nor any sensible man, can put faith in the predictionsof astrology, yet, as it has sometimes happened that inquiriesinto futurity, undertaken in jest, have in their results producedserious and unpleasant effects both upon actions and characters, Ireally wish you would dispense with my replying to your question. '

It was easy to see that this evasive answer only rendered theLaird's curiosity more uncontrollable. Mannering, however, wasdetermined in his own mind not to expose the infant to theinconveniences which might have arisen from his being supposed theobject of evil prediction. He therefore delivered the paper intoMr. Bertram's hand, and requested him to keep it for five yearswith the seal unbroken, until the month of November was expired. After that date had intervened he left him at liberty to examinethe writing, trusting that, the first fatal period being thensafely overpassed, no credit would be paid to its farthercontents. This Mr. Bertram was content to promise, and Mannering, to ensure his fidelity, hinted at misfortunes which wouldcertainly take place if his injunctions were neglected. The restof the day, which Mannering, by Mr. Bertram's invitation, spent atEllangowan, passed over without anything remarkable; and on themorning of that which followed the traveller mounted his palfrey, bade a courteous adieu to his hospitable landlord and to hisclerical attendant, repeated his good wishes for the prosperity ofthe family, and then, turning his horse's head towards England, disappeared from the sight of the inmates of Ellangowan. He mustalso disappear from that of our readers, for it is to another andlater period of his life that the present narrative relates. 

CHAPTER VI

 Next, the Justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances-- And so he plays his part

 --As You Like It

When Mrs. Bertram of Ellangowan was able to hear the news of whathad passed during her confinement, her apartment rung with allmanner of gossiping respecting the handsome young student fromOxford who had told such a fortune by the stars to the youngLaird, 'blessings on his dainty face. ' The form, accent, andmanners of the stranger were expatiated upon. His horse, bridle, saddle, and stirrups did not remain unnoticed. All this made agreat impression upon the mind of Mrs. Bertram, for the good ladyhad no small store of superstition. 

Her first employment, when she became capable of a little work, was to make a small velvet bag for the scheme of nativity whichshe had obtained from her husband. Her fingers itched to break theseal, but credulity proved stronger than curiosity; and she hadthe firmness to inclose it, in all its integrity, within two slipsof parchment, which she sewed round it to prevent its beingchafed. The whole was then put into the velvet bag aforesaid, andhung as a charm round the neck of the infant, where his motherresolved it should remain until the period for the legitimatesatisfaction of her curiosity should arrive. 

The father also resolved to do his part by the child in securinghim a good education; and, with the view that it should commencewith the first dawnings of reason, Dominie Sampson was easilyinduced to renounce his public profession of parish schoolmaster, make his constant residence at the Place, and, in consideration ofa sum not quite equal to the wages of a footman even at that time, to undertake to communicate to the future Laird of Ellangowan allthe erudition which he had, and all the graces and accomplishmentswhich--he had not indeed, but which he had never discovered thathe wanted. In this arrangement the Laird found also his privateadvantage, securing the constant benefit of a patient auditor, towhom he told his stories when they were alone, and at whoseexpense he could break a sly jest when he had company. 

About four years after this time a great commotion took place inthe county where Ellangowan is situated. 

Those who watched the signs of the times had long been of opinionthat a change of ministry was about to take place; and at length, after a due proportion of hopes, fears, and delays, rumours fromgood authority and bad authority, and no authority at all; aftersome clubs had drank Up with this statesman and others Down withhim; after riding, and running, and posting, and addressing, andcounter-addressing, and proffers of lives and fortunes, the blowwas at length struck, the administration of the day was dissolved, and parliament, as a natural consequence, was dissolved also. 

Sir Thomas Kittlecourt, like other members in the same situation, posted down to his county, and met but an indifferent reception. He was a partizan of the old administration; and the friends ofthe new had already set about an active canvass in behalf of JohnFeatherhead, Esq. , who kept the best hounds and hunters in theshire. Among others who joined the standard of revolt was GilbertGlossin, writer in--, agent for the Laird of Ellangowan. Thishonest gentleman had either been refused some favour by the oldmember, or, what is as probable, he had got all that he had themost distant pretension to ask, and could only look to the otherside for fresh advancement. Mr. Glossin had a vote uponEllangowan's property; and he was now determined that his patronshould have one also, there being no doubt which side Mr. Bertramwould embrace in the contest. He easily persuaded Ellangowan thatit would be creditable to him to take the field at the head of asstrong a party as possible; and immediately went to work, makingvotes, as every Scotch lawyer knows how, by splitting andsubdividing the superiorities upon this ancient and once powerfulbarony. These were so extensive that, by dint of clipping andparing here, adding and eking there, and creating over-lords uponall the estate which Bertram held of the crown, they advanced atthe day of contest at the head of ten as good men of parchment asever took the oath of trust and possession. This strongreinforcement turned the dubious day of battle. The principal andhis agent divided the honour; the reward fell to the latterexclusively. Mr. Gilbert Glossin was made clerk of the peace, andGodfrey Bertram had his name inserted in a new commission ofjustices, issued immediately upon the sitting of the parliament. 

This had been the summit of Mr. Bertram's ambition; not that heliked either the trouble or the responsibility of the office, buthe thought it was a dignity to which he was well entitled, andthat it had been withheld from him by malice prepense. But thereis an old and true Scotch proverb, 'Fools should not have chappingsticks'; that is, weapons of offence. Mr. Bertram was no soonerpossessed of the judicial authority which he had so much longedfor than he began to exercise it with more severity than mercy, and totally belied all the opinions which had hitherto been formedof his inert good-nature. We have read somewhere of a justice ofpeace who, on being nominated in the commission, wrote a letter toa bookseller for the statutes respecting his official duty in thefollowing orthography--'Please send the ax relating to a gustuspease. ' No doubt, when this learned gentleman had possessedhimself of the axe, he hewed the laws with it to some purpose. Mr. Bertram was not quite so ignorant of English grammar as hisworshipful predecessor; but Augustus Pease himself could not haveused more indiscriminately the weapon unwarily put into his hand. 

In good earnest, he considered the commission with which he hadbeen entrusted as a personal mark of favour from his sovereign;forgetting that he had formerly thought his being deprived of aprivilege, or honour, common to those of his rank was the resultof mere party cabal. He commanded his trusty aid-de-camp, DominieSampson, to read aloud the commission; and at the first words, 'The King has been pleased to appoint'--'Pleased!' he exclaimedin a transport of gratitude; 'honest gentleman! I'm sure he cannotbe better pleased than I am. '

Accordingly, unwilling to confine his gratitude to mere feelingsor verbal expressions, he gave full current to the new-born zealof office, and endeavoured to express his sense of the honourconferred upon him by an unmitigated activity in the discharge ofhis duty. New brooms, it is said, sweep clean; and I myself canbear witness that, on the arrival of a new housemaid, the ancient, hereditary, and domestic spiders who have spun their webs over thelower division of my bookshelves (consisting chiefly of law anddivinity) during the peaceful reign of her predecessor, fly atfull speed before the probationary inroads of the new mercenary. Even so the Laird of Ellangowan ruthlessly commenced hismagisterial reform, at the expense of various established andsuperannuated pickers and stealers who had been his neighbours forhalf a century. He wrought his miracles like a second DukeHumphrey; and by the influence of the beadle's rod caused the lameto walk, the blind to see, and the palsied to labour. He detectedpoachers, black-fishers, orchard-breakers, and pigeon-shooters;had the applause of the bench for his reward, and the publiccredit of an active magistrate. 

All this good had its rateable proportion of evil. Even anadmitted nuisance of ancient standing should not be abated withoutsome caution. The zeal of our worthy friend now involved in greatdistress sundry personages whose idle and mendicant habits his ownlachesse had contributed to foster, until these habits had becomeirreclaimable, or whose real incapacity for exertion rendered themfit objects, in their own phrase, for the charity of all well-disposed Christians. The 'long-remembered beggar, ' who for twentyyears had made his regular rounds within the neighbourhood, received rather as an humble friend than as an object of charity, was sent to the neighbouring workhouse. The decrepit dame, whotravelled round the parish upon a hand-barrow, circulating fromhouse to house like a bad shilling, which every one is in haste topass to his neighbour, --she, who used to call for her bearers asloud, or louder, than a traveller demands post-horses, --even sheshared the same disastrous fate. The 'daft Jock, ' who, half knave, half idiot, had been the sport of each succeeding race of villagechildren for a good part of a century, was remitted to the countybridewell, where, secluded from free air and sunshine, the onlyadvantages he was capable of enjoying, he pined and died in thecourse of six months. The old sailor, who had so long rejoiced thesmoky rafters of every kitchen in the country by singing 'CaptainWard' and 'Bold Admiral Benbow, ' was banished from the county forno better reason than that he was supposed to speak with a strongIrish accent. Even the annual rounds of the pedlar were abolishedby the Justice, in his hasty zeal for the administration of ruralpolice. 

These things did not pass without notice and censure. We are notmade of wood or stone, and the things which connect themselveswith our hearts and habits cannot, like bark or lichen, be rentaway without our missing them. The farmer's dame lacked her usualshare of intelligence, perhaps also the self-applause which shehad felt while distributing the awmous (alms), in shape of agowpen (handful) of oatmeal, to the mendicant who brought thenews. The cottage felt inconvenience from interruption of thepetty trade carried on by the itinerant dealers. The childrenlacked their supply of sugarplums and toys; the young women wantedpins, ribbons, combs, and ballads; and the old could no longerbarter their eggs for salt, snuff, and tobacco. All thesecircumstances brought the busy Laird of Ellangowan into discredit, which was the more general on account of his former popularity. Even his lineage was brought up in judgment against him. Theythought 'naething of what the like of Greenside, or Burnville, orViewforth might do, that were strangers in the country; butEllangowan! that had been a name amang them since the MirkMonanday, and lang before--HIM to be grinding the puir at thatrate! They ca'd his grandfather the Wicked Laird; but, though hewas whiles fractious aneuch, when he got into roving company andhad ta'en the drap drink, he would have scorned to gang on at thisgate. Na, na, the muckle chumlay in the Auld Place reeked like akillogie in his time, and there were as mony puir folk riving atthe banes in the court, and about the door, as there were gentlesin the ha'. And the leddy, on ilka Christmas night as it cameround, gae twelve siller pennies to ilka puir body about, inhonour of the twelve apostles like. They were fond to ca' itpapistrie; but I think our great folk might take a lesson frae thepapists whiles. They gie another sort o' help to puir folk thanjust dinging down a saxpence in the brod on the Sabbath, andkilting, and scourging, and drumming them a' the sax days o' theweek besides. '

Such was the gossip over the good twopenny in every ale-housewithin three or four miles of Ellangowan, that being about thediameter of the orbit in which our friend Godfrey Bertram, Esq. , J. P. , must be considered as the principal luminary. Still greaterscope was given to evil tongues by the removal of a colony ofgipsies, with one of whom our reader is somewhat acquainted, andwho had for a great many years enjoyed their chief settlement uponthe estate of Ellangowan. 

CHAPTER VII

 Come, princes of the ragged regiment, You of the blood! PRIGS, my most upright lord, And these, what name or title e'er they bear, JARKMAN, or PATRICO, CRANKE or CLAPPER-DUDGEON, PRATER or ABRAM-MAN--I speak of all. 

 Beggar's Bush. 

Although the character of those gipsy tribes which formerlyinundated most of the nations of Europe, and which in some degreestill subsist among them as a distinct people, is generallyunderstood, the reader will pardon my saying a few wordsrespecting their situation in Scotland. 

It is well known that the gipsies were at an early periodacknowledged as a separate and independent race by one of theScottish monarchs, and that they were less favourablydistinguished by a subsequent law, which rendered the character ofgipsy equal in the judicial balance to that of common and habitualthief, and prescribed his punishment accordingly. Notwithstandingthe severity of this and other statutes, the fraternity prosperedamid the distresses of the country, and received large accessionsfrom among those whom famine, oppression, or the sword of war haddeprived of the ordinary means of subsistence. They lost in agreat measure by this intermixture the national character ofEgyptians, and became a mingled race, having all the idleness andpredatory habits of their Eastern ancestors, with a ferocity whichthey probably borrowed from the men of the north who joined theirsociety. They travelled in different bands, and had rules amongthemselves, by which each tribe was confined to its own district. The slightest invasion of the precincts which had been assigned toanother tribe produced desperate skirmishes, in which there wasoften much blood shed. 

The patriotic Fletcher of Saltoun drew a picture of these bandittiabout a century ago, which my readers will peruse withastonishment:--

'There are at this day in Scotland (besides a great many poorfamilies very meanly provided for by the church boxes, with otherswho, by living on bad food, fall into various diseases) twohundred thousand people begging from door to door. These are notonly no way advantageous, but a very grievous burden to so poor acountry. And though the number of them be perhaps double to whatit was formerly, by reason of this present great distress, yet inall times there have been about one hundred thousand of thosevagabonds, who have lived without any regard or subjection eitherto the laws of the land or even those of God and nature ... Nomagistrate could ever discover, or be informed, which way one in ahundred of these wretches died, or that ever they were baptized. Many murders have been discovered among them; and they are notonly a most unspeakable oppression to poor tenants (who, if theygive not bread or some kind of provision to perhaps forty suchvillains in one day, are sure to be insulted by them), but theyrob many poor people who live in houses distant from anyneighbourhood. In years of plenty, many thousands of them meettogether in the mountains, where they feast and riot for manydays; and at country weddings, markets, burials, and other thelike public occasions, they are to be seen, both man and woman, perpetually drunk, cursing, blaspheming, and fighting together. '

Notwithstanding the deplorable picture presented in this extract, and which Fletcher himself, though the energetic and eloquentfriend of freedom, saw no better mode of correcting than byintroducing a system of domestic slavery, the progress of time, and increase both of the means of life and of the power of thelaws, gradually reduced this dreadful evil within more narrowbounds. The tribes of gipsies, jockies, or cairds--for by allthese denominations such banditti were known--became few innumber, and many were entirely rooted out. Still, however, asufficient number remained to give, occasional alarm and constantvexation. Some rude handicrafts were entirely resigned to theseitinerants, particularly the art of trencher-making, ofmanufacturing horn-spoons, and the whole mystery of the tinker. Tothese they added a petty trade in the coarse sorts of earthenware. Such were their ostensible means of livelihood. Each tribe hadusually some fixed place of rendezvous, which they occasionallyoccupied and considered as their standing camp, and in thevicinity of which they generally abstained from depredation. Theyhad even talents and accomplishments, which made them occasionallyuseful and entertaining. Many cultivated music with success; andthe favourite fiddler or piper of a district was often to be foundin a gipsy town. They understood all out-of-door sports, especially otter-hunting, fishing, or finding game. They bred thebest and boldest terriers, and sometimes had good pointers forsale. In winter the women told fortunes, the men showed tricks oflegerdemain; and these accomplishments often helped to while awaya weary or stormy evening in the circle of the 'farmer's ha'. ' Thewildness of their character, and the indomitable pride with whichthey despised all regular labour, commanded a certain awe, whichwas not diminished by the consideration that these strollers werea vindictive race, and were restrained by no check, either of fearor conscience, from taking desperate vengeance upon those who hadoffended them. These tribes were, in short, the pariahs ofScotland, living like wild Indians among European settlers, and, like them, judged of rather by their own customs, habits, andopinions, than as if they had been members of the civilised partof the community. Some hordes of them yet remain, chiefly in suchsituations as afford a ready escape either into a waste country orinto another Jurisdiction. Nor are the features of their charactermuch softened. Their numbers, however, are so greatly diminishedthat, instead of one hundred thousand, as calculated by Fletcher, it would now perhaps be impossible to collect above five hundredthroughout all Scotland. 

A tribe of these itinerants, to whom Meg Merrilies appertained, had long been as stationary as their habits permitted in a glenupon the estate of Ellangowan. They had there erected a few huts, which they denominated their 'city of refuge, ' and where, when notabsent on excursions, they harboured unmolested, as the crows thatroosted in the old ash-trees around them. They had been such longoccupants that they were considered in some degree as proprietorsof the wretched shealings which they inhabited. This protectionthey were said anciently to have repaid by service to the Laird inwar, or more frequently, by infesting or plundering the lands ofthose neighbouring barons with whom he chanced to be at feud. Latterly their services were of a more pacific nature. The womenspun mittens for the lady, and knitted boot-hose for the Laird, which were annually presented at Christmas with great form. Theaged sibyls blessed the bridal bed of the Laird when he married, and the cradle of the heir when born. The men repaired herladyship's cracked china, and assisted the Laird in his sportingparties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies. The children gathered nuts in the woods, and cranberries in themoss, and mushrooms on the pastures, for tribute to the Place. These acts of voluntary service, and acknowledgments ofdependence, were rewarded by protection on some occasions, connivance on others, and broken victuals, ale, and brandy whencircumstances called for a display of generosity; and this mutualintercourse of good offices, which had been carried on for atleast two centuries, rendered the inhabitants of Derncleugh a kindof privileged retainers upon the estate of Ellangowan. 'Theknaves' were the Laird's 'exceeding good friends'; and he wouldhave deemed himself very ill used if his countenance could not nowand then have borne them out against the law of the country andthe local magistrate. But this friendly union was soon to bedissolved. 

The community of Derncleugh, who cared for no rogues but theirown, were wholly without alarm at the severity of the Justice'sproceedings towards other itinerants. They had no doubt that hedetermined to suffer no mendicants or strollers in the country butwhat resided on his own property, and practised their trade by hisimmediate permission, implied or expressed. Nor was Mr. Bertram ina hurry to exert his newly-acquired authority at the expense ofthese old settlers. But he was driven on by circumstances. 

At the quarter-sessions our new Justice was publicly upbraided bya gentleman of the opposite party in county politics, that, whilehe affected a great zeal for the public police, and seemedambitious of the fame of an active magistrate, he fostered a tribeof the greatest rogues in the country, and permitted them toharbour within a mile of the house of Ellangowan. To this therewas no reply, for the fact was too evident and well known. TheLaird digested the taunt as he best could, and in his way homeamused himself with speculations on the easiest method of riddinghimself of these vagrants, who brought a stain upon his fair fameas a magistrate. Just as he had resolved to take the firstopportunity of quarrelling with the pariahs of Derncleugh, a causeof provocation presented itself. 

Since our friend's advancement to be a conservator of the peace, he had caused the gate at the head of his avenue, which formerly, having only one hinge, remained at all times hospitably open--hehad caused this gate, I say, to be newly hung and handsomelypainted. He had also shut up with paling, curiously twisted withfurze, certain holes in the fences adjoining, through which thegipsy boys used to scramble into the plantations to gather birds'nests, the seniors of the village to make a short cut from onepoint to another, and the lads and lasses for evening rendezvous--all without offence taken or leave asked. But these halcyon dayswere now to have an end, and a minatory inscription on one side ofthe gate intimated 'prosecution according to law' (the painter hadspelt it 'persecution'--l'un vaut bien l'autre) to all who shouldbe found trespassing on these inclosures. On the other side, foruniformity's sake, was a precautionary annunciation of spring-gunsand man-traps of such formidable powers that, said the rubrick, with an emphatic nota bene--'if a man goes in they will break ahorse's leg. '

In defiance of these threats, six well-grown gipsy boys and girlswere riding cock-horse upon the new gate, and plaiting may-flowers, which it was but too evident had been gathered within theforbidden precincts. With as much anger as he was capable offeeling, or perhaps of assuming, the Laird commanded them todescend;--they paid no attention to his mandate: he then began topull them down one after another;--they resisted, passively atleast, each sturdy bronzed varlet making himself as heavy as hecould, or climbing up as fast as he was dismounted. 

The Laird then called in the assistance of his servant, a surlyfellow, who had immediate recourse to his horsewhip. A few lashessent the party a-scampering; and thus commenced the first breachof the peace between the house of Ellangowan and the gipsies ofDerncleugh. 

The latter could not for some time imagine that the war was real;until they found that their children were horsewhipped by thegrieve when found trespassing; that their asses were poinded bythe ground-officer when left in the plantations, or even whenturned to graze by the roadside, against the provision of theturnpike acts; that the constable began to make curious inquiriesinto their mode of gaining a livelihood, and expressed hissurprise that the men should sleep in the hovels all day, and beabroad the greater part of the night. 

When matters came to this point, the gipsies, without scruple, entered upon measures of retaliation. Ellangowan's hen-roosts wereplundered, his linen stolen from the lines or bleaching-ground, his fishings poached, his dogs kidnapped, his growing trees cut orbarked. Much petty mischief was done, and some evidently for themischief's sake. On the other hand, warrants went forth, withoutmercy, to pursue, search for, take, and apprehend; and, notwithstanding their dexterity, one or two of the depredatorswere unable to avoid conviction. One, a stout young fellow, whosometimes had gone to sea a-fishing, was handed over to thecaptain of the impress service at D--; two children were soundlyflogged, and one Egyptian matron sent to the house of correction. 

Still, however, the gipsies made no motion to leave the spot whichthey had so long inhabited, and Mr. Bertram felt an unwillingnessto deprive them of their ancient 'city of refuge'; so that thepetty warfare we have noticed continued for several months, without increase or abatement of hostilities on either side. 

CHAPTER VIII

 So the red Indian, by Ontario's side, Nursed hardy on the brindled panther's hide, As fades his swarthy race, with anguish sees The white man's cottage rise beneath the trees; He leaves the shelter of his native wood, He leaves the murmur of Ohio's flood, And forward rushing in indignant grief, Where never foot has trod the fallen leaf, He bends his course where twilight reigns sublime. O'er forests silent since the birth of time. 

 SCENES OF INFANCY. 

In tracing the rise and progress of the Scottish Maroon war, wemust not omit to mention that years had rolled on, and that littleHarry Bertram, one of the hardiest and most lively children thatever made a sword and grenadier's cap of rushes, now approachedhis fifth revolving birthday. A hardihood of disposition, whichearly developed itself, made him already a little wanderer; he waswell acquainted with every patch of lea ground and dingle aroundEllangowan, and could tell in his broken language upon what baulksgrew the bonniest flowers, and what copse had the ripest nuts. Herepeatedly terrified his attendants by clambering about the ruinsof the old castle, and had more than once made a stolen excursionas far as the gipsy hamlet. 

On these occasions he was generally brought back by Meg Merrilies, who, though she could not be prevailed upon to enter the Place ofEllangowan after her nephew had been given up to the press-gang, did not apparently extend her resentment to the child. On thecontrary, she often contrived to waylay him in his walks, sing hima gipsy song, give him a ride upon her jackass, and thrust intohis pocket a piece of gingerbread or a red-cheeked apple. Thiswoman's ancient attachment to the family, repelled and checked inevery other direction, seemed to rejoice in having some object onwhich it could yet repose and expand itself. She prophesied ahundred times, 'that young Mr. Harry would be the pride o' thefamily, and there hadna been sic a sprout frae the auld aik sincethe death of Arthur Mac-Dingawaie, that was killed in the battleo' the Bloody Bay; as for the present stick, it was good fornothing but fire-wood. ' On one occasion, when the child was ill, she lay all night below the window, chanting a rhyme which shebelieved sovereign as a febrifuge, and could neither be prevailedupon to enter the house nor to leave the station she had chosentill she was informed that the crisis was over. 

The affection of this woman became matter of suspicion, not indeedto the Laird, who was never hasty in suspecting evil, but to hiswife, who had indifferent health and poor spirits. She was now faradvanced in a second pregnancy, and, as she could not walk abroadherself, and the woman who attended upon Harry was young andthoughtless, she prayed Dominie Sampson to undertake the task ofwatching the boy in his rambles, when he should not be otherwiseaccompanied. The Dominie loved his young charge, and wasenraptured with his own success in having already brought him sofar in his learning as to spell words of three syllables. The ideaof this early prodigy of erudition being carried off by thegipsies, like a second Adam Smith, [Footnote: The father ofEconomical Philosophy was, when a child, actually carried off bygipsies, and remained some hours in their possession. ] was not tobe tolerated; and accordingly, though the charge was contrary toall his habits of life, he readily undertook it, and might be seenstalking about with a mathematical problem in his head, and hiseye upon a child of five years old, whose rambles led him into ahundred awkward situations. Twice was the Dominie chased by across-grained cow, once he fell into the brook crossing at thestepping-stones, and another time was bogged up to the middle inthe slough of Lochend, in attempting to gather a water-lily forthe young Laird. It was the opinion of the village matrons whorelieved Sampson on the latter occasion, 'that the Laird might asweel trust the care o' his bairn to a potatoe bogle'; but the goodDominie bore all his disasters with gravity and serenity equallyimperturbable. 'Pro-di-gi-ous!' was the only ejaculation they everextorted from the much-enduring man. 

The Laird had by this time determined to make root-and-branch workwith the Maroons of Derncleugh. The old servants shook their headsat his proposal, and even Dominie Sampson ventured upon anindirect remonstrance. As, however, it was couched in the oracularphrase, 'Ne moveas Camerinam, ' neither the allusion, nor thelanguage in which it was expressed, were calculated for Mr. Bertram's edification, and matters proceeded against the gipsiesin form of law. Every door in the hamlet was chalked by theground-officer, in token of a formal warning to remove at nextterm. Still, however, they showed no symptoms either of submissionor of compliance. At length the term-day, the fatal Martinmas, arrived, and violent measures of ejection were resorted to. Astrong posse of peace-officers, sufficient to render allresistance vain, charged the inhabitants to depart by noon; and, as they did not obey, the officers, in terms of their warrant, proceeded to unroof the cottages, and pull down the wretched doorsand windows--a summary and effectual mode of ejection stillpractised in some remote parts of Scotland when a tenant provesrefractory. The gipsies for a time beheld the work of destructionin sullen silence and inactivity; then set about saddling andloading their asses, and making preparations for their departure. These were soon accomplished, where all had the habits ofwandering Tartars; and they set forth on their journey to seek newsettlements, where their patrons should neither be of the quorumnor custos rotulorum. 

Certain qualms of feeling had deterred Ellangowan from attendingin person to see his tenants expelled. He left the executive partof the business to the officers of the law, under the immediatedirection of Frank Kennedy, a supervisor, or riding-officer, belonging to the excise, who had of late become intimate at thePlace, and of whom we shall have more to say in the next chapter. Mr. Bertram himself chose that day to make a visit to a friend atsome distance. But it so happened, notwithstanding hisprecautions, that he could not avoid meeting his late tenantsduring their retreat from his property. 

It was in a hollow way, near the top of a steep ascent, upon theverge of the Ellangowan estate, that Mr. Bertram met the gipsyprocession. Four or five men formed the advanced guard, wrapped inlong loose great-coats that hid their tall slender figures, as thelarge slouched hats, drawn over their brows, concealed their wildfeatures, dark eyes, and swarthy faces. Two of them carried longfowling-pieces, one wore a broadsword without a sheath, and allhad the Highland dirk, though they did not wear that weapon openlyor ostentatiously. Behind them followed the train of laden asses, and small carts or TUMBLERS, as they were called in that country, on which were laid the decrepit and the helpless, the aged andinfant part of the exiled community. The women in their red cloaksand straw hats, the elder children with bare heads and bare feet, and almost naked bodies, had the immediate care of the littlecaravan. The road was narrow, running between two broken banks ofsand, and Mr. Bertram's servant rode forward, smacking his whipwith an air of authority, and motioning to the drivers to allowfree passage to their betters. His signal was unattended to. Hethen called to the men who lounged idly on before, 'Stand to yourbeasts' heads, and make room for the Laird to pass. '

'He shall have his share of the road, ' answered a male gipsy fromunder his slouched and large-brimmed hat, and without raising hisface, 'and he shall have nae mair; the highway is as free to ourcuddies as to his gelding. '

The tone of the man being sulky, and even menacing, Mr. Bertramthought it best to put his dignity in his pocket, and pass by theprocession quietly, on such space as they chose to leave for hisaccommodation, which was narrow enough. To cover with anappearance of indifference his feeling of the want of respect withwhich he was treated, he addressed one of the men, as he passedhim without any show of greeting, salute, or recognition--'GilesBaillie, ' he said, 'have you heard that your son Gabriel is well?'(The question respected the young man who had been pressed. )

'If I had heard otherwise, ' said the old man, looking up with astern and menacing countenance, 'you should have heard of it too. 'And he plodded on his way, tarrying no further question. [Footnote: This anecdote is a literal fact. ] When the Laird hadpressed on with difficulty among a crowd of familiar faces, whichhad on all former occasions marked his approach with the reverencedue to that of a superior being, but in which he now only readhatred and contempt, and had got clear of the throng, he could nothelp turning his horse, and looking back to mark the progress oftheir march. The group would have been an excellent subject forthe pencil of Calotte. The van had already reached a small andstunted thicket, which was at the bottom of the hill, and whichgradually hid the line of march until the last stragglersdisappeared. 

His sensations were bitter enough. The race, it is true, which hehad thus summarily dismissed from their ancient place of refuge, was idle and vicious; but had he endeavoured to render themotherwise? They were not more irregular characters now than theyhad been while they were admitted to consider themselves as a sortof subordinate dependents of his family; and ought the merecircumstance of his becoming a magistrate to have made at oncesuch a change in his conduct towards them? Some means ofreformation ought at least to have been tried before sending sevenfamilies at once upon the wide world, and depriving them of adegree of countenance which withheld them at least from atrociousguilt. There was also a natural yearning of heart on parting withso many known and familiar faces; and to this feeling GodfreyBertram was peculiarly accessible, from the limited qualities ofhis mind, which sought its principal amusements among the pettyobjects around him. As he was about to turn his horse's head topursue his journey, Meg Merrilies, who had lagged behind thetroop, unexpectedly presented herself. 

She was standing upon one of those high precipitous banks which, as we before noticed, overhung the road, so that she was placedconsiderably higher than Ellangowan, even though he was onhorseback; and her tall figure, relieved against the clear bluesky, seemed almost of supernatural stature. We have noticed thatthere was in her general attire, or rather in her mode ofadjusting it, somewhat of a foreign costume, artfully adoptedperhaps for the purpose of adding to the effect of her spells andpredictions, or perhaps from some traditional notions respectingthe dress of her ancestors. On this occasion she had a large pieceof red cotton cloth rolled about her head in the form of a turban, from beneath which her dark eyes flashed with uncommon lustre. Herlong and tangled black hair fell in elf-locks from the folds ofthis singular head-gear. Her attitude was that of a sibyl infrenzy, and she stretched out in her right hand a sapling boughwhich seemed just pulled. 

'I'll be d--d, ' said the groom, 'if she has not been cutting theyoung ashes in the dukit park!' The Laird made no answer, butcontinued to look at the figure which was thus perched above hispath. 

'Ride your ways, ' said the gipsy, 'ride your ways, Laird ofEllangowan; ride your ways, Godfrey Bertram! This day have yequenched seven smoking hearths; see if the fire in your ainparlour burn the blyther for that. Ye have riven the thack offseven cottar houses; look if your ain roof-tree stand the faster. Ye may stable your stirks in the shealings at Derncleugh; see thatthe hare does not couch on the hearthstane at Ellangowan. Rideyour ways, Godfrey Bertram; what do ye glower after our folk for?There's thirty hearts there that wad hae wanted bread ere ye hadwanted sunkets, and spent their life-blood ere ye had scratchedyour finger. Yes; there's thirty yonder, from the auld wife of anhundred to the babe that was born last week, that ye have turnedout o' their bits o' bields, to sleep with the tod and theblackcock in the muirs! Ride your ways, Ellangowan. Our bairns arehinging at our weary backs; look that your braw cradle at hame bethe fairer spread up; not that I am wishing ill to little Harry, or to the babe that's yet to be born--God forbid--and make themkind to the poor, and better folk than their father! And now, ridee'en your ways; for these are the last words ye'll ever hear MegMerrilies speak, and this is the last reise that I'll ever cut inthe bonny woods of Ellangowan. '

So saying, she broke the sapling she held in her hand, and flungit into the road. Margaret of Anjou, bestowing on her triumphantfoes her keen-edged malediction, could not have turned from themwith a gesture more proudly contemptuous. The Laird was clearinghis voice to speak, and thrusting his hand in his pocket to find ahalf-crown; the gipsy waited neither for his reply nor hisdonation, but strode down the hill to overtake the caravan. 

Ellangowan rode pensively home; and it was remarkable that he didnot mention this interview to any of his family. The groom was notso reserved; he told the story at great length to a full audiencein the kitchen, and concluded by swearing, that 'if ever the devilspoke by the mouth of a woman, he had spoken by that of MegMerrilies that blessed day. '

CHAPTER IX

 Paint Scotland greeting ower her thrissle, Her mutchkin stoup as toom's a whistle, And d--n'd excisemen in a bustle, Seizing a stell, Triumphant crushin't like a mussel, Or lampit shell

 BURNS. 

During the period of Mr. Bertram's active magistracy, he did notforget the affairs of the revenue. Smuggling, for which the Isleof Man then afforded peculiar facilities, was general, or ratheruniversal, all along the southwestern coast of Scotland. Almostall the common people were engaged in these practices; the gentryconnived at them, and the officers of the revenue were frequentlydiscountenanced in the exercise of their duty by those who shouldhave protected them. 

There was at this period, employed as a riding-officer orsupervisor, in that part of the country a certain Francis Kennedy, already named in our narrative--a stout, resolute, and active man, who had made seizures to a great amount, and was proportionallyhated by those who had an interest in the fair trade, as theycalled the pursuit of these contraband adventurers. This personwas natural son to a gentleman of good family, owing to whichcircumstance, and to his being of a jolly, convivial disposition, and singing a good song, he was admitted to the occasional societyof the gentlemen of the country, and was a member of several oftheir clubs for practising athletic games, at which he wasparticularly expert. 

At Ellangowan Kennedy was a frequent and always an acceptableguest. His vivacity relieved Mr. Bertram of the trouble ofthought, and the labour which it cost him to support a detailedcommunication of ideas; while the daring and dangerous exploitswhich he had undertaken in the discharge of his office formedexcellent conversation. To all these revenue adventures did theLaird of Ellangowan seriously incline, and the amusement which hederived from Kennedy's society formed an excellent reason forcountenancing and assisting the narrator in the execution of hisinvidious and hazardous duty. 

'Frank Kennedy, ' he said, 'was a gentleman, though on the wrangside of the blanket; he was connected with the family ofEllangowan through the house of Glengubble. The last Laird ofGlengubble would have brought the estate into the Ellangowan line;but, happening to go to Harrigate, he there met with Miss JeanHadaway--by the by, the Green Dragon at Harrigate is the besthouse of the twa--but for Frank Kennedy, he's in one sense agentleman born, and it's a shame not to support him against theseblackguard smugglers. '

After this league had taken place between judgment and execution, it chanced that Captain Dirk Hatteraick had landed a cargo ofspirits and other contraband goods upon the beach not far fromEllangowan, and, confiding in the indifference with which theLaird had formerly regarded similar infractions of the law, he wasneither very anxious to conceal nor to expedite the transaction. The consequence was that Mr. Frank Kennedy, armed with a warrantfrom Ellangowan, and supported by some of the Laird's people whoknew the country, and by a party of military, poured down upon thekegs, bales, and bags, and after a desperate affray, in whichsevere wounds were given and received, succeeded in clapping thebroad arrow upon the articles, and bearing them off in triumph tothe next custom-house. Dirk Hatteraick vowed, in Dutch, German, and English, a deep and full revenge, both against the gauger andhis abettors; and all who knew him thought it likely he would keephis word. 

A few days after the departure of the gipsy tribe, Mr. Bertramasked his lady one morning at breakfast whether this was notlittle Harry's birthday. 

'Five years auld exactly, this blessed day, ' answered the lady;'so we may look into the English gentleman's paper. '

Mr. Bertram liked to show his authority in trifles. 'No, my dear, not till to-morrow. The last time I was at quarter-sessions thesheriff told us that DIES--that dies inceptus--in short, you don'tunderstand Latin, but it means that a term-day is not begun tillit's ended. '

'That sounds like nonsense, my dear. '

'May be so, my dear; but it may be very good law for all that. Iam sure, speaking of term-days, I wish, as Frank Kennedy says, that Whitsunday would kill Martinmas and be hanged for the murder;for there I have got a letter about that interest of JennyCairns's, and deil a tenant's been at the Place yet wi' a boddleof rent, nor will not till Candlemas. But, speaking of FrankKennedy, I daresay he'll be here the day, for he was away round toWigton to warn a king's ship that's lying in the bay about DirkHatteraick's lugger being on the coast again, and he'll be backthis day; so we'll have a bottle of claret and drink littleHarry's health. '

'I wish, ' replied the lady, 'Frank Kennedy would let DirkHatteraick alane. What needs he make himself mair busy than otherfolk? Cannot he sing his sang, and take his drink, and draw hissalary, like Collector Snail, honest man, that never fashes onybody? And I wonder at you, Laird, for meddling and making. Did weever want to send for tea or brandy frae the borough-town whenDirk Hatteraick used to come quietly into the bay?'

'Mrs. Bertram, you know nothing of these matters. Do you think itbecomes a magistrate to let his own house be made a receptacle forsmuggled goods? Frank Kennedy will show you the penalties in theact, and ye ken yoursell they used to put their run goods into theAuld Place of Ellangowan up by there. '

'Oh dear, Mr. Bertram, and what the waur were the wa's and thevault o' the auld castle for having a whin kegs o' brandy in themat an orra time? I am sure ye were not obliged to ken ony thingabout it; and what the waur was the King that the lairds here gota soup o' drink and the ladies their drap o' tea at a reasonablerate?--it's a shame to them to pit such taxes on them!--and wasna I much the better of these Flanders head and pinners that DirkHatteraick sent me a' the way from Antwerp? It will be lang or theKing sends me ony thing, or Frank Kennedy either. And then yewould quarrel with these gipsies too! I expect every day to hearthe barnyard's in a low. '

'I tell you once more, my dear, you don't understand these things--and there's Frank Kennedy coming galloping up the avenue. '

'Aweel! aweel! Ellangowan, ' said the lady, raising her voice asthe Laird left the room, 'I wish ye may understand them yoursell, that's a'!'

From this nuptial dialogue the Laird joyfully escaped to meet hisfaithful friend, Mr. Kennedy, who arrived in high spirits. 'Forthe love of life, Ellangowan, ' he said, 'get up to the castle!you'll see that old fox Dirk Hatteraick, and his Majesty's houndsin full cry after him. ' So saying, he flung his horse's bridle toa boy, and ran up the ascent to the old castle, followed by theLaird, and indeed by several others of the family, alarmed by thesound of guns from the sea, now distinctly heard. 

On gaining that part of the ruins which commanded the mostextensive outlook, they saw a lugger, with all her canvasscrowded, standing across the bay, closely pursued by a sloop ofwar, that kept firing upon the chase from her bows, which thelugger returned with her stern-chasers. 'They're but at long bowlsyet, ' cried Kennedy, in great exultation, 'but they will be closerby and by. D--n him, he's starting his cargo! I see the good Nantzpitching overboard, keg after keg! That's a d--d ungenteel thingof Mr. Hatteraick, as I shall let him know by and by. Now, now!they've got the wind of him! that's it, that's it! Hark to him!hark to him! Now, my dogs! now, my dogs! Hark to Ranger, hark!'

'I think, ' said the old gardener to one of the maids, 'theganger's fie, ' by which word the common people express thoseviolent spirits which they think a presage of death. 

Meantime the chase continued. The lugger, being piloted with greatability, and using every nautical shift to make her escape, hadnow reached, and was about to double, the headland which formedthe extreme point of land on the left side of the bay, when a ballhaving hit the yard in the slings, the mainsail fell upon thedeck. The consequence of this accident appeared inevitable, butcould not be seen by the spectators; for the vessel, which hadjust doubled the headland, lost steerage, and fell out of theirsight behind the promontory. The sloop of war crowded all sail topursue, but she had stood too close upon the cape, so that theywere obliged to wear the vessel for fear of going ashore, and tomake a large tack back into the bay, in order to recover sea-roomenough to double the headland. 

'They 'll lose her, by--, cargo and lugger, one or both, ' saidKennedy; 'I must gallop away to the Point of Warroch (this was theheadland so often mentioned), and make them a signal where she hasdrifted to on the other side. Good-bye for an hour, Ellangowan;get out the gallon punch-bowl and plenty of lemons. I'll stand forthe French article by the time I come back, and we'll drink theyoung Laird's health in a bowl that would swim the collector'syawl. ' So saying, he mounted his horse and galloped off. 

About a mile from the house, and upon the verge of the woods, which, as we have said, covered a promontory terminating in thecape called the Point of Warroch, Kennedy met young Harry Bertram, attended by his tutor, Dominie Sampson. He had often promised thechild a ride upon his galloway; and, from singing, dancing, andplaying Punch for his amusement, was a particular favourite. He nosooner came scampering up the path, than the boy loudly claimedhis promise; and Kennedy, who saw no risk, in indulging him, andwished to tease the Dominie, in whose visage he read aremonstrance, caught up Harry from the ground, placed him beforehim, and continued his route; Sampson's 'Peradventure, MasterKennedy-' being lost in the clatter of his horse's feet. Thepedagogue hesitated a moment whether he should go after them; butKennedy being a person in full confidence of the family, and withwhom he himself had no delight in associating, 'being that he wasaddicted unto profane and scurrilous jests, ' he continued his ownwalk at his own pace, till he reached the Place of Ellangowan. 

The spectators from the ruined walls of the castle were stillwatching the sloop of war, which at length, but not without theloss of considerable time, recovered sea-room enough to weatherthe Point of Warroch, and was lost to their sight behind thatwooded promontory. Some time afterwards the discharges of severalcannon were heard at a distance, and, after an interval, a stilllouder explosion, as of a vessel blown up, and a cloud of smokerose above the trees and mingled with the blue sky. All thenseparated on their different occasions, auguring variously uponthe fate of the smuggler, but the majority insisting that hercapture was inevitable, if she had not already gone to the bottom. 

'It is near our dinner-time, my dear, ' said Mrs. Bertram to herhusband; 'will it be lang before Mr. Kennedy comes back?'

'I expect him every moment, my dear, ' said the Laird; 'perhaps heis bringing some of the officers of the sloop with him. '

'My stars, Mr. Bertram! why did not ye tell me this before, thatwe might have had the large round table? And then, they're a'tired o' saut meat, and, to tell you the plain truth, a rump o'beef is the best part of your dinner. And then I wad have put onanother gown, and ye wadna have been the waur o' a clean neck-cloth yoursell. But ye delight in surprising and hurrying one. Iam sure I am no to baud out for ever against this sort of goingon; but when folk's missed, then they are moaned. '

'Pshaw, pshaw! deuce take the beef, and the gown, and table, andthe neck-cloth! we shall do all very well. Where's the Dominie, John? (to a servant who was busy about the table) where's theDominie and little Harry?'

'Mr. Sampson's been at hame these twa hours and mair, but I dinnathink Mr. Harry cam hame wi' him. '

'Not come hame wi' him?' said the lady; 'desire Mr. Sampson tostep this way directly. '

'Mr. Sampson, ' said she, upon his entrance, 'is it not the mostextraordinary thing in this world wide, that you, that have freeup-putting--bed, board, and washing--and twelve pounds sterling ayear, just to look after that boy, should let him out of yoursight for twa or three hours?'

Sampson made a bow of humble acknowledgment at each pause whichthe angry lady made in her enumeration of the advantages of hissituation, in order to give more weight to her remonstrance, andthen, in words which we will not do him the injustice to imitate, told how Mr. Francis Kennedy 'had assumed spontaneously the chargeof Master Harry, in despite of his remonstrances in the contrary. '

'I am very little obliged to Mr. Francis Kennedy for his pains, 'said the lady, peevishly; 'suppose he lets the boy drop from hishorse, and lames him? or suppose one of the cannons comes ashoreand kills him? or suppose--'

'Or suppose, my dear, ' said Ellangowan, 'what is much more likelythan anything else, that they have gone aboard the sloop or theprize, and are to come round the Point with the tide?'

'And then they may be drowned, ' said the lady. 

'Verily, ' said Sampson, 'I thought Mr. Kennedy had returned anhour since. Of a surety I deemed I heard his horse's feet. '

'That, ' said John, with a broad grin, 'was Grizzel chasing thehumble-cow out of the close. '

Sampson coloured up to the eyes, not at the implied taunt, whichhe would never have discovered, or resented if he had, but at someidea which crossed his own mind. 'I have been in an error, ' hesaid; 'of a surety I should have tarried for the babe. ' So saying, he snatched his bone-headed cane and hat, and hurried away towardsWarroch wood faster than he was ever known to walk before orafter. 

The Laird lingered some time, debating the point with the lady. Atlength he saw the sloop of war again make her appearance; but, without approaching the shore, she stood away to the westward withall her sails set, and was soon out of sight. The lady's state oftimorous and fretful apprehension was so habitual that her fearswent for nothing with her lord and master; but an appearance ofdisturbance and anxiety among the servants now excited his alarm, especially when he was called out of the room, and told in privatethat Mr. Kennedy's horse had come to the stable door alone, withthe saddle turned round below its belly and the reins of thebridle broken; and that a farmer had informed them in passing thatthere was a smuggling lugger burning like a furnace on the otherside of the Point of Warroch, and that, though he had come throughthe wood, he had seen or heard nothing of Kennedy or the youngLaird, 'only there was Dominie Sampson gaun rampauging about likemad, seeking for them. '

All was now bustle at Ellangowan. The Laird and his servants, maleand female, hastened to the wood of Warroch. The tenants andcottagers in the neighbourhood lent their assistance, partly outof zeal, partly from curiosity. Boats were manned to search thesea-shore, which, on the other side of the Point, rose into highand indented rocks. A vague suspicion was entertained, though toohorrible to be expressed, that the child might have fallen fromone of these cliffs. 

The evening had begun to close when the parties entered the wood, and dispersed different ways in quest of the boy and hiscompanion. The darkening of the atmosphere, and the hoarse sighsof the November wind through the naked trees, the rustling of thewithered leaves which strewed the glades, the repeated halloos ofthe different parties, which often drew them together inexpectation of meeting the objects of their search, gave a cast ofdismal sublimity to the scene. 

At length, after a minute and fruitless investigation through thewood, the searchers began to draw together into one body, and tocompare notes. The agony of the father grew beyond concealment, yet it scarcely equalled the anguish of the tutor. 'Would to God Ihad died for him!' the affectionate creature repeated, in notes ofthe deepest distress. Those who were less interested rushed into atumultuary discussion of chances and possibilities. Each gave hisopinion, and each was alternately swayed by that of the others. Some thought the objects of their search had gone aboard thesloop; some that they had gone to a village at three miles'distance; some whispered they might have been on board the lugger, a few planks and beams of which the tide now drifted ashore. 

At this instant a shout was heard from the beach, so loud, soshrill, so piercing, so different from every sound which the woodsthat day had rung to, that nobody hesitated a moment to believethat it conveyed tidings, and tidings of dreadful import. Allhurried to the place, and, venturing without scruple upon pathswhich at another time they would have shuddered to look at, descended towards a cleft of the rock, where one boat's crew wasalready landed. 'Here, sirs, here! this way, for God's sake! thisway! this way!' was the reiterated cry. Ellangowan broke throughthe throng which had already assembled at the fatal spot, andbeheld the object of their terror. It was the dead body ofKennedy. At first sight he seemed to have perished by a fall fromthe rocks, which rose above the spot on which he lay in aperpendicular precipice of a hundred feet above the beach. Thecorpse was lying half in, half out of the water; the advancingtide, raising the arm and stirring the clothes, had given it atsome distance the appearance of motion, so that those who firstdiscovered the body thought that life remained. But every sparkhad been long extinguished. 

'My bairn! my bairn!' cried the distracted father, 'where can hebe?' A dozen mouths were opened to communicate hopes which no onefelt. Some one at length mentioned--the gipsies! In a momentEllangowan had reascended the cliffs, flung himself upon the firsthorse he met, and rode furiously to the huts at Derncleugh. Allwas there dark and desolate; and, as he dismounted to make moreminute search, he stumbled over fragments of furniture which hadbeen thrown out of the cottages, and the broken wood and thatchwhich had been pulled down by his orders. At that moment theprophecy, or anathema, of Meg Merrilies fell heavy on his mind. 'You have stripped the thatch from seven cottages; see that theroof-tree of your own house stand the surer!'

'Restore, ' he cried, 'restore my bairn! bring me back my son, andall shall be forgot and forgiven!' As he uttered these words in asort of frenzy, his eye caught a glimmering of light in one of thedismantled cottages; it was that in which Meg Merrilies formerlyresided. The light, which seemed to proceed from fire, glimmerednot only through the window, but also through the rafters of thehut where the roofing had been torn off. 

He flew to the place; the entrance was bolted. Despair gave themiserable father the strength of ten men; he rushed against thedoor with such violence that it gave way before the momentum ofhis weight and force. The cottage was empty, but bore marks ofrecent habitation: there was fire on the hearth, a kettle, andsome preparation for food. As he eagerly gazed around forsomething that might confirm his hope that his child yet lived, although in the power of those strange people, a man entered thehut. 

It was his old gardener. 'O sir!' said the old man, 'such a nightas this I trusted never to live to see! ye maun come to the Placedirectly!'

'Is my boy found? is he alive? have ye found Harry Bertram?Andrew, have ye found Harry Bertram?'

'No, sir; but-'

'Then he is kidnapped! I am sure of it, Andrew! as sure as that Itread upon earth! She has stolen him; and I will never stir fromthis place till I have tidings of my bairn!'

'O, but ye maun come hame, sir! ye maun come hame! We have sentfor the Sheriff, and we'll seta watch here a' night, in case thegipsies return; but YOU--ye maun come hame, sir, for my lady's inthe dead-thraw. '

Bertram turned a stupefied and unmeaning eye on the messenger whouttered this calamitous news; and, repeating the words 'in thedead-thraw!' as if he could not comprehend their meaning, sufferedthe old man to drag him towards his horse. During the ride home heonly said, 'Wife and bairn baith--mother and son baith, --sair, sair to abide!'

It is needless to dwell upon the new scene of agony which awaitedhim. The news of Kennedy's fate had been eagerly and incautiouslycommunicated at Ellangowan, with the gratuitous addition, that, doubtless, 'he had drawn the young Laird over the craig with him, though the tide had swept away the child's body; he was light, puir thing, and would flee farther into the surf. '

Mrs. Bertram heard the tidings; she was far advanced in herpregnancy; she fell into the pains of premature labour, and, ereEllangowan had recovered his agitated faculties, so as tocomprehend the full distress of his situation, he was the fatherof a female infant, and a widower. 

CHAPTER X

 But see, his face is black and full of blood; His eye-balls farther out than when he lived, Staring full ghastly like a strangled man, His hair uprear'd, his nostrils stretch d with struggling, His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd And tugg'd for life, and was by strength subdued

 Henry VI, Part II

The Sheriff-depute of the county arrived at Ellangowan nextmorning by daybreak. To this provincial magistrate the law ofScotland assigns judicial powers of considerable extent, and thetask of inquiring into all crimes committed within hisjurisdiction, the apprehension and commitment of suspectedpersons, and so forth. [Footnote: The Scottish sheriff discharges, on such occasions as that now mentioned, pretty much the same dutyas a coroner. ]

The gentleman who held the office in the shire of---at the timeof this catastrophe was well born and well educated; and, thoughsomewhat pedantic and professional in his habits, he enjoyedgeneral respect as an active and intelligent magistrate. His firstemployment was to examine all witnesses whose evidence could throwlight upon this mysterious event, and make up the written report, proces verbal, or precognition, as it is technically called, whichthe practice of Scotland has substituted for a coroner's inquest. Under the Sheriff's minute and skilful inquiry, many circumstancesappeared which seemed incompatible with the original opinion thatKennedy had accidentally fallen from the cliffs. We shall brieflydetail some of these. 

The body had been deposited in a neighbouring fisher-hut, butwithout altering the condition in which it was found. This was thefirst object of the Sheriff's examination. Though fearfullycrushed and mangled by the fall from such a height, the corpse wasfound to exhibit a deep cut in the head, which, in the opinion ofa skilful surgeon, must have been inflicted by a broadsword orcutlass. The experience of this gentleman discovered othersuspicious indications. The face was much blackened, the eyesdistorted, and the veins of the neck swelled. A colouredhandkerchief, which the unfortunate man had worn round his neck, did not present the usual appearance, but was much loosened, andthe knot displaced and dragged extremely tight; the folds werealso compressed, as if it had been used as a means of grapplingthe deceased, and dragging him perhaps to the precipice. 

On the other hand, poor Kennedy's purse was found untouched; and, what seemed yet more extraordinary, the pistols which he usuallycarried when about to encounter any hazardous adventure were foundin his pockets loaded. This appeared particularly strange, for hewas known and dreaded by the contraband traders as a man equallyfearless and dexterous in the use of his weapons, of which he hadgiven many signal proofs. The Sheriff inquired whether Kennedy wasnot in the practice of carrying any other arms? Most of Mr. Bertram's servants recollected that he generally had a couteau dechasse, or short hanger, but none such was found upon the deadbody; nor could those who had seen him on the morning of the fatalday take it upon them to assert whether he then carried thatweapon or not. 

The corpse afforded no other indicia respecting the fate ofKennedy; for, though the clothes were much displaced and the limbsdreadfully fractured, the one seemed the probable, the other thecertain, consequences of such a fall. The hands of the deceasedwere clenched fast, and full of turf and earth; but this alsoseemed equivocal. 

The magistrate then proceeded to the place where the corpse wasfirst discovered, and made those who had found it give, upon thespot, a particular and detailed account of the manner in which itwas lying. A large fragment of the rock appeared to haveaccompanied, or followed, the fall of the victim from the cliffabove. It was of so solid and compact a substance that it hadfallen without any great diminution by splintering; so that theSheriff was enabled, first, to estimate the weight by measurement, and then to calculate, from the appearance of the fragment, whatportion of it had been bedded into the cliff from which it haddescended. This was easily detected by the raw appearance of thestone where it had not been exposed to the atmosphere. They thenascended the cliff, and surveyed the place from whence the stonyfragment had fallen. It seemed plain, from the appearance of thebed, that the mere weight of one man standing upon the projectingpart of the fragment, supposing it in its original situation, could not have destroyed its balance and precipitated it, withhimself, from the cliff. At the same time, it appeared to havelain so loose that the use of a lever, or the combined strength ofthree or four men, might easily have hurled it from its position. The short turf about the brink of the precipice was much trampled, as if stamped by the heels of men in a mortal struggle, or in theact of some violent exertion. Traces of the same kind, lessvisibly marked, guided the sagacious investigator to the verge ofthe copsewood, which in that place crept high up the bank towardsthe top of the precipice. 

With patience and perseverance they traced these marks into thethickest part of the copse, a route which no person would havevoluntarily adopted, unless for the purpose of concealment. Herethey found plain vestiges of violence and struggling, from spaceto space. Small boughs were torn down, as if grasped by someresisting wretch who was dragged forcibly along; the ground, wherein the least degree soft or marshy, showed the print of many feet;there were vestiges also which might be those of human blood. Atany rate it was certain that several persons must have forcedtheir passage among the oaks, hazels, and underwood with whichthey were mingled; and in some places appeared traces as if a sackfull of grain, a dead body, or something of that heavy and soliddescription, had been dragged along the ground. In one part of thethicket there was a small swamp, the clay of which was whitish, being probably mixed with marl. The back of Kennedy's coatappeared besmeared with stains of the same colour. 

At length, about a quarter of a mile from the brink of the fatalprecipice, the traces conducted them to a small open space ofground, very much trampled, and plainly stained with blood, although withered leaves had been strewed upon the spot, and othermeans hastily taken to efface the marks, which seemed obviously tohave been derived from a desperate affray. On one side of thispatch of open ground was found the sufferer's naked hanger, whichseemed to have been thrown into the thicket; on the other, thebelt and sheath, which appeared to have been hidden with moreleisurely care and precaution. 

The magistrate caused the footprints which marked this spot to becarefully measured and examined. Some corresponded to the foot ofthe unhappy victim; some were larger, some less; indicating thatat least four or five men had been busy around him. Above all, here, and here only, were observed the vestiges of a child's foot;and as it could be seen nowhere else, and the hard horse-trackwhich traversed the wood of Warroch was contiguous to the spot, itwas natural to think that the boy might have escaped in thatdirection during the confusion. But, as he was never heard of, theSheriff, who made a careful entry of all these memoranda, did notsuppress his opinion, that the deceased had met with foul play, and that the murderers, whoever they were, had possessedthemselves of the person of the child Harry Bertram. 

Every exertion was now made to discover the criminals. Suspicionhesitated between the smugglers and the gipsies. The fate of DirkHatteraick's vessel was certain. Two men from the opposite side ofWarroch Bay (so the inlet on the southern side of the Point ofWarroch is called) had seen, though at a great distance, thelugger drive eastward, after doubling the headland, and, as theyjudged from her manoeuvres, in a disabled state. Shortly after, they perceived that she grounded, smoked, and finally took fire. She was, as one of them expressed himself, 'in a light low'(bright flame) when they observed a king's ship, with her coloursup, heave in sight from behind the cape. The guns of the burningvessel discharged themselves as the fire reached them; and theysaw her at length blow up with a great explosion. The sloop of warkept aloof for her own safety; and, after hovering till the otherexploded, stood away southward under a press of sail. The Sheriffanxiously interrogated these men whether any boats had left thevessel. They could not say, they had seen none; but they mighthave put off in such a direction as placed the burning vessel, andthe thick smoke which floated landward from it, between theircourse and the witnesses' observation. 

That the ship destroyed was Dirk Hatteraick's no one doubted. Hislugger was well known on the coast, and had been expected just atthis time. A letter from the commander of the king's sloop, towhom the Sheriff made application, put the matter beyond doubt; hesent also an extract from his log-book of the transactions of theday, which intimated their being on the outlook for a smugglinglugger, Dirk Hatteraick master, upon the information andrequisition of Francis Kennedy, of his Majesty's excise service;and that Kennedy was to be upon the outlook on the shore, in caseHatteraick, who was known to be a desperate fellow, and had beenrepeatedly outlawed, should attempt to run his sloop aground. About nine o'clock A. M. They discovered a sail which answered thedescription of Hatteraick's vessel, chased her, and, afterrepeated signals to her to show colours and bring-to, fired uponher. The chase then showed Hamburgh colours and returned the fire;and a running fight was maintained for three hours, when, just asthe lugger was doubling the Point of Warroch, they observed thatthe main-yard was shot in the slings, and that the vessel wasdisabled. It was not in the power of the man-of-war's men for sometime to profit by this circumstance, owing to their having kepttoo much in shore for doubling the headland. After two tacks, theyaccomplished this, and observed the chase on fire and apparentlydeserted. The fire having reached some casks of spirits, whichwere placed on the deck, with other combustibles, probably onpurpose, burnt with such fury that no boats durst approach thevessel, especially as her shotted guns were discharging one afteranother by the heat. The captain had no doubt whatever that thecrew had set the vessel on fire and escaped in their boats. Afterwatching the conflagration till the ship blew up, his Majesty'ssloop, the Shark, stood towards the Isle of Man, with the purposeof intercepting the retreat of the smugglers, who, though theymight conceal themselves in the woods for a day or two, wouldprobably take the first opportunity of endeavouring to make forthis asylum. But they never saw more of them than is abovenarrated. 

Such was the account given by William Pritchard, master andcommander of his Majesty's sloop of war, Shark, who concluded byregretting deeply that he had not had the happiness to fall inwith the scoundrels who had had the impudence to fire on hisMajesty's flag, and with an assurance that, should he meet Mr. Dirk Hatteraick in any future cruise, he would not fail to bringhim into port under his stern, to answer whatever might be allegedagainst him. 

As, therefore, it seemed tolerably certain that the men on boardthe lugger had escaped, the death of Kennedy, if he fell in withthem in the woods, when irritated by the loss of their vessel andby the share he had in it, was easily to be accounted for. And itwas not improbable that to such brutal tempers, rendered desperateby their own circumstances, even the murder of the child, againstwhose father, as having become suddenly active in the prosecutionof smugglers, Hatteraick was known to have uttered deep threats, would not appear a very heinous crime. 

Against this hypothesis it was urged that a crew of fifteen ortwenty men could not have lain hidden upon the coast, when soclose a search took place immediately after the destruction oftheir vessel; or, at least, that if they had hid themselves in thewoods, their boats must have been seen on the beach; that in suchprecarious circumstances, and when all retreat must have seemeddifficult if not impossible, it was not to be thought that theywould have all united to commit a useless murder for the mere sakeof revenge. Those who held this opinion supposed either that theboats of the lugger had stood out to sea without being observed bythose who were intent upon gazing at the burning vessel, and sogained safe distance before the sloop got round the headland; orelse that, the boats being staved or destroyed by the fire of theShark during the chase, the crew had obstinately determined toperish with the vessel. What gave some countenance to thissupposed act of desperation was, that neither Dirk Hatteraick norany of his sailors, all well-known men in the fair trade, wereagain seen upon that coast, or heard of in the Isle of Man, wherestrict inquiry was made. On the other hand, only one dead body, apparently that of a seaman killed by a cannon-shot, driftedashore. So all that could be done was to register the names, description, and appearance of the individuals belonging to theship's company, and offer a reward for the apprehension of them, or any one of them, extending also to any person, not the actualmurderer, who should give evidence tending to convict those whohad murdered Francis Kennedy. 

Another opinion, which was also plausibly supported, went tocharge this horrid crime upon the late tenants of Derncleugh. Theywere known to have resented highly the conduct of the Laird ofEllangowan towards them, and to have used threatening expressions, which every one supposed them capable of carrying into effect. Thekidnapping the child was a crime much more consistent with theirhabits than with those of smugglers, and his temporary guardianmight have fallen in an attempt to protect him. Besides, it wasremembered that Kennedy had been an active agent, two or threedays before, in the forcible expulsion of these people fromDerncleugh, and that harsh and menacing language had beenexchanged between him and some of the Egyptian patriarchs on thatmemorable occasion. 

The Sheriff received also the depositions of the unfortunatefather and his servant, concerning what had passed at theirmeeting the caravan of gipsies as they left the estate ofEllangowan. The speech of Meg Merrilies seemed particularlysuspicious. There was, as the magistrate observed in his lawlanguage, damnum minatum--a damage, or evil turn, threatened--andmalum secutum--an evil of the very kind predicted shortlyafterwards following. A young woman, who had been gathering nutsin Warroch wood upon the fatal day, was also strongly of opinion, though she declined to make positive oath, that she had seen MegMerrilies--at least a woman of her remarkable size and appearance--start suddenly out of a thicket; she said she had called to herby name, but, as the figure turned from her and made no answer, she was uncertain if it were the gipsy or her wraith, and wasafraid to go nearer to one who was always reckoned, in the vulgarphrase, 'no canny. ' This vague story received some corroborationfrom the circumstance of a fire being that evening found in thegipsy's deserted cottage. To this fact Ellangowan and his gardenerbore evidence. Yet it seemed extravagant to suppose that, had thiswoman been accessory to such a dreadful crime, she would havereturned, that very evening on which it was committed, to theplace of all others where she was most likely to be sought after. 

Meg Merrilies was, however, apprehended and examined. She deniedstrongly having been either at Derncleugh or in the wood ofWarroch upon the day of Kennedy's death; and several of her tribemade oath in her behalf, that she had never quitted theirencampment, which was in a glen about ten miles distant fromEllangowan. Their oaths were indeed little to be trusted to; butwhat other evidence could be had in the circumstances? There wasone remarkable fact, and only one, which arose from herexamination. Her arm appeared to be slightly wounded by the cut ofa sharp weapon, and was tied up with a handkerchief of HarryBertram's. But the chief of the horde acknowledged he had'corrected her' that day with his whinger; she herself, andothers, gave the same account of her hurt; and for thehandkerchief, the quantity of linen stolen from Ellangowan duringthe last months of their residence on the estate easily accountedfor it, without charging Meg with a more heinous crime. 

It was observed upon her examination that she treated thequestions respecting the death of Kennedy, or 'the gauger, ' as shecalled him, with indifference; but expressed great and emphaticscorn and indignation at being supposed capable of injuring littleHarry Bertram. She was long confined in jail, under the hope thatsomething might yet be discovered to throw light upon this darkand bloody transaction. Nothing, however, occurred; and Meg was atlength liberated, but under sentence of banishment from the countyas a vagrant, common thief, and disorderly person. No traces ofthe boy could ever be discovered; and at length the story, aftermaking much noise, was gradually given up as altogetherinexplicable, and only perpetuated by the name of 'The Gauger'sLoup, ' which was generally bestowed on the cliff from which theunfortunate man had fallen or been precipitated. 

CHAPTER XI

 ENTER TIME, AS CHORUS I, that please some, try ail, both joy and terror Of good and bad; that make and unfold error, Now take upon me, in the name of Time, To use my wings Impute it not a crime To me, or my swift passage, that I slide O'er sixteen years, and leave the growth untried Of that wide gap. 

 Winter's Tale. 

Our narration is now about to make a large stride, and omit aspace of nearly seventeen years; during which nothing occurred ofany particular consequence with respect to the story we haveundertaken to tell. The gap is a wide one; yet if the reader'sexperience in life enables him to look back on so many years, thespace will scarce appear longer in his recollection than the timeconsumed in turning these pages. 

It was, then, in the month of November, about seventeen yearsafter the catastrophe related in the last chapter, that, during acold and stormy night, a social group had closed around thekitchen-fire of the Gordon Arms at Kippletringan, a small butcomfortable inn kept by Mrs. Mac-Candlish in that village. Theconversation which passed among them will save me the trouble oftelling the few events occurring during this chasm in our history, with which it is necessary that the reader should be acquainted. 

Mrs. Mac-Candlish, throned in a comfortable easychair lined withblack leather, was regaling herself and a neighbouring gossip ortwo with a cup of genuine tea, and at the same time keeping asharp eye upon her domestics, as they went and came in prosecutionof their various duties and commissions. The clerk and precentorof the parish enjoyed at a little distance his Saturday night'spipe, and aided its bland fumigation by an occasional sip ofbrandy and water. Deacon Bearcliff, a man of great importance inthe village, combined the indulgence of both parties: he had hispipe and his tea-cup, the latter being laced with a littlespirits. One or two clowns sat at some distance, drinking theirtwopenny ale. 

'Are ye sure the parlour's ready for them, and the fire burningclear, and the chimney no smoking?' said the hostess to achambermaid. 

She was answered in the affirmative. 'Ane wadna be uncivil tothem, especially in their distress, ' said she, turning to theDeacon. 

'Assuredly not, Mrs. Mac-Candlish; assuredly not. I am sure onysma' thing they might want frae my shop, under seven, or eight, orten pounds, I would book them as readily for it as the first inthe country. Do they come in the auld chaise?'

'I daresay no, ' said the precentor; 'for Miss Bertram comes on thewhite powny ilka day to the kirk--and a constant kirk-keeper sheis--and it's a pleasure to hear her singing the psalms, winsomeyoung thing. '

'Ay, and the young Laird of Hazlewood rides hame half the road wi'her after sermon, ' said one of the gossips in company. 'I wonderhow auld Hazlewood likes that. '

'I kenna how he may like it now, ' answered another of the tea-drinkers; 'but the day has been when Ellangowan wad hae liked aslittle to see his daughter taking up with their son. '

'Ay, has been, ' answered the first, with somewhat of emphasis. 

'I am sure, neighbour Ovens, ' said the hostess, 'the Hazlewoods ofHazlewood, though they are a very gude auld family in the county, never thought, till within these twa score o' years, of eveningthemselves till the Ellangowans. Wow, woman, the Bertrams ofEllangowan are the auld Dingawaies lang syne. There is a sangabout ane o' them marrying a daughter of the King of Man; itbegins--

 Blythe Bertram's ta'en him ower the faem, To wed a wife, and bring her hame--

I daur say Mr. Skreigh can sing us the ballant. '

'Gudewife, ' said Skreigh, gathering up his mouth, and sipping histiff of brandy punch with great solemnity, 'our talents were gienus to other use than to sing daft auld sangs sae near the Sabbathday. '

'Hout fie, Mr. Skreigh; I'se warrant I hae heard you sing a blythesang on Saturday at e'en before now. But as for the chaise, Deacon, it hasna been out of the coach-house since Mrs. Bertramdied, that's sixteen or seventeen years sin syne. Jock Jabos isaway wi' a chaise of mine for them; I wonder he's no come back. It's pit mirk; but there's no an ill turn on the road but twa, andthe brigg ower Warroch burn is safe eneugh, if he haud to theright side. But then there's Heavieside Brae, that's just a murderfor post-cattle; but Jock kens the road brawly. '

A loud rapping was heard at the door. 

'That's no them. I dinna hear the wheels. Grizzel, ye limmer, gangto the door. '

'It's a single gentleman, ' whined out Grizzel; 'maun I take himinto the parlour?'

'Foul be in your feet, then; it'll be some English rider. Comingwithout a servant at this time o' night! Has the hostler ta'en thehorse? Ye may light a spunk o' fire in the red room. '

'I wish, ma'am, ' said the traveller, entering the kitchen, 'youwould give me leave to warm myself here, for the night is verycold. '

His appearance, voice, and manner produced an instantaneous effectin his favour. He was a handsome, tall, thin figure, dressed inblack, as appeared when he laid aside his riding-coat; his agemight be between forty and fifty; his cast of features grave andinteresting, and his air somewhat military. Every point of hisappearance and address bespoke the gentleman. Long habit had givenMrs. Mac-Candlish an acute tact in ascertaining the quality of hervisitors, and proportioning her reception accordingly:--

 To every guest the appropriate speech was made, And every duty with distinction paid; Respectful, easy, pleasant, or polite-- 'Your honour's servant!' 'Mister Smith, good-night. '

On the present occasion she was low in her courtesy and profuse inher apologies. The stranger begged his horse might be attended to:she went out herself to school the hostler. 

'There was never a prettier bit o' horse-flesh in the stable o'the Gordon Arms, ' said the man, which information increased thelandlady's respect for the rider. Finding, on her return, that thestranger declined to go into another apartment (which, indeed, sheallowed, would be but cold and smoky till the fire bleezed up), she installed her guest hospitably by the fireside, and offeredwhat refreshment her house afforded. 

'A cup of your tea, ma'am, if you will favour me. '

Mrs. Mac-Candlish bustled about, reinforced her teapot with hyson, and proceeded in her duties with her best grace. 'We have a verynice parlour, sir, and everything very agreeable for gentlefolks;but it's bespoke the night for a gentleman and his daughter thatare going to leave this part of the country; ane of my chaises isgane for them, and will be back forthwith. They're no sae weel inthe warld as they have been; but we're a' subject to ups and downsin this life, as your honour must needs ken, --but is not thetobacco-reek disagreeable to your honour?'

'By no means, ma'am; I am an old campaigner, and perfectly used toit. Will you permit me to make some inquiries about a family inthis neighbourhood?'

The sound of wheels was now heard, and the landlady hurried to thedoor to receive her expected guests; but returned in an instant, followed by the postilion. 'No, they canna come at no rate, theLaird's sae ill. '

'But God help them, ' said the landlady, 'the morn's the term, thevery last day they can bide in the house; a' thing's to beroupit. '

'Weel, but they can come at no rate, I tell ye; Mr. Bertram cannabe moved. '

'What Mr. Bertram?' said the stranger; 'not Mr. Bertram ofEllangowan, I hope?'

'Just e'en that same, sir; and if ye be a friend o' his, ye havecome at a time when he's sair bested. '

'I have been abroad for many years, --is his health so muchderanged?'

'Ay, and his affairs an' a', ' said the Deacon; 'the creditors haveentered into possession o' the estate, and it's for sale; and somethat made the maist by him--I name nae names, but Mrs. Mac-Candlish kens wha I mean (the landlady shook her headsignificantly)--they're sairest on him e'en now. I have a sma'matter due myself, but I would rather have lost it than gane toturn the auld man out of his house, and him just dying. '

'Ay, but, ' said the parish clerk, 'Factor Glossin wants to get ridof the auld Laird, and drive on the sale, for fear the heir-maleshould cast up upon them; for I have heard say, if there was anheir-male they couldna sell the estate for auld Ellangowan'sdebt. '

'He had a son born a good many years ago, ' said the stranger; 'heis dead, I suppose?'

'Nae man can say for that, ' answered the clerk mysteriously. 

'Dead!' said the Deacon, 'I'se warrant him dead lang syne; hehasna been heard o' these twenty years or thereby. '

'I wot weel it's no twenty years, ' said the landlady; 'it's noabune seventeen at the outside in this very month. It made an unconoise ower a' this country; the bairn disappeared the very daythat Supervisor Kennedy cam by his end. If ye kenn'd this countrylang syne, your honour wad maybe ken Frank Kennedy the Supervisor. He was a heartsome pleasant man, and company for the bestgentlemen in the county, and muckle mirth he's made in this house. I was young then, sir, and newly married to Bailie Mac-Candlish, that's dead and gone (a sigh); and muckle fun I've had wi' theSupervisor. He was a daft dog. O, an he could hae hauden aff thesmugglers a bit! but he was aye venturesome. And so ye see, sir, there was a king's sloop down in Wigton Bay, and Frank Kennedy, hebehoved to have her up to chase Dirk Hatteraick's lugger--ye'llmind Dirk Hatteraick, Deacon? I daresay ye may have dealt wi' him--(the Deacon gave a sort of acquiescent nod and humph). He was adaring chield, and he fought his ship till she blew up likepeelings of ingans; and Frank Kennedy, he had been the first manto board, and he was flung like a quarter of a mile off, and fellinto the water below the rock at Warroch Point, that they ca' theGauger's Loup to this day. '

'And Mr. Bertram's child, ' said the stranger, 'what is all this tohim? '

'Ou, sir, the bairn aye held an unco wark wi' the Supervisor; andit was generally thought he went on board the vessel alang wi'him, as bairns are aye forward to be in mischief. '

'No, no, ' said the Deacon, 'ye're clean out there, Luckie; for theyoung Laird was stown away by a randy gipsy woman they ca'd MegMerrilies--I mind her looks weel--in revenge for Ellangowan havinggar'd her be drumm'd through Kippletringan for stealing a silverspoon. '

'If ye'llforgieme, Deacon, ' said the precentor, 'ye're e'en as farwrang as the gudewife. '

'And what is your edition of the story, sir?' said the stranger, turning to him with interest. 

'That's maybe no sae canny to tell, ' said the precentor, withsolemnity. 

Upon being urged, however, to speak out, he preluded with two orthree large puffs of tobacco-smoke, and out of the cloudysanctuary which these whiffs formed around him delivered thefollowing legend, having cleared his voice with one or two hems, and imitating, as near as he could, the eloquence which weeklythundered over his head from the pulpit. 

'What we are now to deliver, my brethren, --hem--hem, --I mean, mygood friends, --was not done in a corner, and may serve as ananswer to witch-advocates, atheists, and misbelievers of allkinds. Ye must know that the worshipful Laird of Ellangowan wasnot so preceese as he might have been in clearing his land ofwitches (concerning whom it is said, "Thou shalt not suffer awitch to live"), nor of those who had familiar spirits, andconsulted with divination, and sorcery, and lots, which is thefashion with the Egyptians, as they ca' themsells, and otherunhappy bodies, in this our country. And the Laird was three yearsmarried without having a family; and he was sae left to himsell, that it was thought he held ower muckle troking and communing wi'that Meg Merrilies, wha was the maist notorious witch in a'Galloway and Dumfries-shire baith. '

'Aweel, I wot there's something in that, ' said Mrs. Mac-Candlish;'I've kenn'd him order her twa glasses o' brandy in this veryhouse. '

'Aweel, gudewife, then the less I lee. Sae the lady was wi' bairnat last, and in the night when she should have been deliveredthere comes to the door of the ha' house--the Place of Ellangowanas they ca'd--an ancient man, strangely habited, and asked forquarters. His head, and his legs, and his arms were bare, althoughit was winter time o' the year, and he had a grey beard three-quarters lang. Weel, he was admitted; and when the lady wasdelivered, he craved to know the very moment of the hour of thebirth, and he went out and consulted the stars. And when he cameback he tell'd the Laird that the Evil One wad have power over theknave-bairn that was that night born, and he charged him that thebabe should be bred up in the ways of piety, and that he shouldaye hae a godly minister at his elbow to pray WI' the bairn andFOR him. And the aged man vanished away, and no man of thiscountry ever saw mair o' him. '

'Now, that will not pass, ' said the postilion, who, at arespectful distance, was listening to the conversation, 'beggingMr. Skreigh's and the company's pardon; there was no sae monyhairs on the warlock's face as there's on Letter-Gae's [Footnote:The precentor is called by Allan Ramsay, The letter-gae of halyrhyme. ] ain at this moment, and he had as gude a pair o' boots asa man need streik on his legs, and gloves too; and I shouldunderstand boots by this time, I think. '

'Whisht, Jock, ' said the landlady. 

'Ay? and what do YE ken o' the matter, friend Jabos?' said theprecentor, contemptuously. 

'No muckle, to be sure, Mr. Skreigh, only that I lived within apenny-stane cast o' the head o' the avenue at Ellangowan, when aman cam jingling to our door that night the young Laird was born, and my mother sent me, that was a hafflin callant, to show thestranger the gate to the Place, which, if he had been sic awarlock, he might hae kenn'd himsell, ane wad think; and he was ayoung, weel-faured, weel-dressed lad, like an Englishman. And Itell ye he had as gude a hat, and boots, and gloves, as onygentleman need to have. To be sure he DID gie an awesome glance upat the auld castle, and there WAS some spae-wark gaed on, I ayeheard that; but as for his vanishing, I held the stirrup mysellwhen he gaed away, and he gied me a round half-crown. He wasriding on a haick they ca'd Souple Sam, it belanged to the Georgeat Dumfries; it was a blood-bay beast, very ill o' the spavin; Ihae seen the beast baith before and since. '

'Aweel, aweel, Jock, ' answered Mr. Skreigh, with a tone of mildsolemnity, 'our accounts differ in no material particulars; but Ihad no knowledge that ye had seen the man. So ye see, my friends, that this soothsayer having prognosticated evil to the boy, hisfather engaged a godly minister to be with him morn and night. '

'Ay, that was him they ca'd Dominie Sampson, ' said the postilion. 

'He's but a dumb dog that, ' observed the Deacon; 'I have heardthat he never could preach five words of a sermon endlang, for aslang as he has been licensed. '

'Weel, but, ' said the precentor, waving his hand, as if eager toretrieve the command of the discourse, 'he waited on the youngLaird by night and day. Now it chanced, when the bairn was nearfive years auld, that the Laird had a sight of his errors, anddetermined to put these Egyptians aff his ground, and he causedthem to remove; and that Frank Kennedy, that was a rough, swearingfellow, he was sent to turn them off. And he cursed and damned atthem, and they swure at him; and that Meg Merrilies, that was themaist powerfu' with the Enemy of Mankind, she as gude as said shewould have him, body and soul, before three days were ower hishead. And I have it from a sure hand, and that's ane wha saw it, and that's John Wilson, that was the Laird's groom, that Megappeared to the Laird as he was riding hame from Singleside, overGibbie's know, and threatened him wi' what she wad do to hisfamily; but whether it was Meg, or something waur in her likeness, for it seemed bigger than ony mortal creature, John could notsay. '

'Aweel, ' said the postilion, 'it might be sae, I canna say againstit, for I was not in the country at the time; but John Wilson wasa blustering kind of chield, without the heart of a sprug. '

'And what was the end of all this?' said the stranger, with someimpatience. 

'Ou, the event and upshot of it was, sir, ' said the precentor, 'that while they were all looking on, beholding a king's shipchase a smuggler, this Kennedy suddenly brake away frae themwithout ony reason that could be descried--ropes nor tows wad nothae held him--and made for the wood of Warroch as fast as hisbeast could carry him; and by the way he met the young Laird andhis governor, and he snatched up the bairn, and swure, if HE wasbewitched, the bairn should have the same luck as him; and theminister followed as fast as he could, and almaist as fast asthem, for he was wonderfully swift of foot, and he saw Meg thewitch, or her master in her similitude, rise suddenly out of theground, and claught the bairn suddenly out of the ganger's arms;and then he rampauged and drew his sword, for ye ken a fie man anda cusser fearsna the deil. '

'I believe that's very true, ' said the postilion. 

'So, sir, she grippit him, and clodded him like a stane from thesling ower the craigs of Warroch Head, where he was found thatevening; but what became of the babe, frankly I cannot say. But hethat was minister here then, that's now in a better place, had anopinion that the bairn was only conveyed to fairy-land for aseason. '

The stranger had smiled slightly at some parts of this recital, but ere he could answer the clatter of a horse's hoofs was heard, and a smart servant, handsomely dressed, with a cockade in hishat, bustled into the kitchen, with 'Make a little room, goodpeople'; when, observing the stranger, he descended at once intothe modest and civil domestic, his hat sunk down by his side, andhe put a letter into his master's hands. 'The family atEllangowan, sir, are in great distress, and unable to receive anyvisits. '

'I know it, ' replied his master. 'And now, madam, if you will havethe goodness to allow me to occupy the parlour you mentioned, asyou are disappointed of your guests--'

'Certainly, sir, ' said Mrs. Mac-Candlish, and hastened to lightthe way with all the imperative bustle which an active landladyloves to display on such occasions. 

'Young man, ' said the Deacon to the servant, filling a glass, 'ye'll no be the waur o' this, after your ride. '

'Not a feather, sir; thank ye, your very good health, sir. '

'And wha may your master be, friend?'

'What, the gentleman that was here? that's the famous ColonelMannering, sir, from the East Indies. '

'What, him we read of in the newspapers?'

'Ay, ay, just the same. It was he relieved Cuddieburn, anddefended Chingalore, and defeated the great Mahratta chief, RamJolli Bundleman. I was with him in most of his campaigns. '

'Lord safe us, ' said the landlady; 'I must go see what he wouldhave for supper; that I should set him down here!'

'O, he likes that all the better, mother. You never saw a plainercreature in your life than our old Colonel; and yet he has a spiceof the devil in him too. '

The rest of the evening's conversation below stairs tending littleto edification, we shall, with the reader's leave, step up to theparlour. 

CHAPTER XII

 Reputation! that's man's idol Set up against God, the Maker of all laws, Who hath commanded us we should not kill, And yet we say we must, for Reputation! What honest man can either fear his own, Or else will hurt another's reputation? Fear to do base unworthy things is valour; If they be done to us, to suffer them Is valour too. 

 BEN JONSON. 

The Colonel was walking pensively up and down the parlour when theofficious landlady reentered to take his commands. Having giventhem in the manner he thought would be most acceptable 'for thegood of the house, ' be begged to detain her a moment. 

'I think, ' he said, 'madam, if I understood the good people right, Mr. Bertram lost his son in his fifth year?'

'O ay, sir, there's nae doubt o' that, though there are mony idleclashes about the way and manner, for it's an auld story now, andeverybody tells it, as we were doing, their ain way by theingleside. But lost the bairn was in his fifth year, as yourhonour says, Colonel; and the news being rashly tell'd to theleddy, then great with child, cost her her life that samyn night;and the Laird never throve after that day, but was just carelessof everything, though, when his daughter Miss Lucy grew up, shetried to keep order within doors; but what could she do, poorthing? So now they're out of house and hauld. '

'Can you recollect, madam, about what time of the year the childwas lost?' The landlady, after a pause and some recollection, answered, 'she was positive it was about this season'; and addedsome local recollections that fixed the date in her memory asoccurring about the beginning of November 17--. 

The stranger took two or three turns round the room in silence, but signed to Mrs. Mac-Candlish not to leave it. 

'Did I rightly apprehend, ' he said, 'that the estate of Ellangowanis in the market?'

'In the market? It will be sell'd the morn to the highest bidder--that's no the morn, Lord help me! which is the Sabbath, but onMonday, the first free day; and the furniture and stocking is tobe roupit at the same time on the ground. It's the opinion of thehaill country that the sale has been shamefully forced on at thistime, when there's sae little money stirring in Scotland wi' thisweary American war, that somebody may get the land a bargain. Deilbe in them, that I should say sae!'--the good lady's wrath risingat the supposed injustice. 

'And where will the sale take place?'

'On the premises, as the advertisement says; that's at the houseof Ellangowan, your honour, as I understand it. '

'And who exhibits the title-deeds, rent-roll, and plan?'

'A very decent man, sir; the sheriff-substitute of the county, whohas authority from the Court of Session. He's in the town justnow, if your honour would like to see him; and he can tell youmair about the loss of the bairn than ony body, for the sheriff-depute (that's his principal, like) took much pains to come at thetruth o' that matter, as I have heard. '

'And this gentleman's name is--'

'Mac-Morlan, sir; he's a man o' character, and weel spoken o'. '

'Send my compliments--Colonel Mannering's compliments to him, andI would be glad he would do me the pleasure of supping with me, and bring these papers with him; and I beg, good madam, you willsay nothing of this to any one else. '

'Me, sir? ne'er a word shall I say. I wish your honour (acourtesy), or ony honourable gentleman that's fought for hiscountry (another courtesy), had the land, since the auld familymaun quit (a sigh), rather than that wily scoundrel Glossin, that's risen on the ruin of the best friend he ever had. And now Ithink on't, I'll slip on my hood and pattens, and gang to Mr. Mac-Morlan mysell, he's at hame e'en now; it's hardly a step. '

'Do so, my good landlady, and many thanks; and bid my servant stephere with my portfolio in the meantime. '

In a minute or two Colonel Mannering was quietly seated with hiswriting materials before him. We have the privilege of lookingover his shoulder as he writes, and we willingly communicate itssubstance to our readers. The letter was addressed to ArthurMervyn, Esq. , of Mervyn Hall, Llanbraithwaite, Westmoreland. Itcontained some account of the writer's previous journey sinceparting with him, and then proceeded as follows:--

'And now, why will you still upbraid me with my melancholy, Mervyn? Do you think, after the lapse of twenty-five years, battles, wounds, imprisonment, misfortunes of every description, Ican be still the same lively, unbroken Guy Mannering who climbedSkiddaw with you, or shot grouse upon Crossfell? That you, whohave remained in the bosom of domestic happiness, experiencelittle change, that your step is as light and your fancy as fullof sunshine, is a blessed effect of health and temperament, cooperating with content and a smooth current down the course oflife. But MY career has been one of difficulties and doubts anderrors. From my infancy I have been the sport of accident, and, though the wind has often borne me into harbour, it has seldombeen into that which the pilot destined. Let me recall to you--butthe task must be brief--the odd and wayward fates of my youth, andthe misfortunes of my manhood. 

'The former, you will say, had nothing very appalling. All was notfor the best; but all was tolerable. My father, the eldest son ofan ancient but reduced family, left me with little, save the nameof the head of the house, to the protection of his more fortunatebrothers. They were so fond of me that they almost quarrelledabout me. My uncle, the bishop, would have had me in orders, andoffered me a living; my uncle, the merchant, would have put meinto a counting-house, and proposed to give me a share in thethriving concern of Mannering and Marshall, in Lombard Street. So, between these two stools, or rather these two soft, easy, well-stuffed chairs of divinity and commerce, my unfortunate personslipped down, and pitched upon a dragoon saddle. Again, the bishopwished me to marry the niece and heiress of the Dean of Lincoln;and my uncle, the alderman, proposed to me the only daughter ofold Sloethorn, the great wine-merchant, rich enough to play atspan-counter with moidores and make thread-papers of bank-notes; andsomehow I slipped my neck out of both nooses, andmarried--poor, poor Sophia Wellwood. 

'You will say, my military career in India, when I followed myregiment there, should have given me some satisfaction; and so itassuredly has. You will remind me also, that if I disappointed thehopes of my guardians, I did not incur their displeasure; that thebishop, at his death, bequeathed me his blessing, his manuscriptsermons, and a curious portfolio containing the heads of eminentdivines of the church of England; and that my uncle, Sir PaulMannering, left me sole heir and executor to his large fortune. Yet this availeth me nothing; I told you I had that upon my mindwhich I should carry to my grave with me, a perpetual aloes in thedraught of existence. I will tell you the cause more in detailthan I had the heart to do while under your hospitable roof. Youwill often hear it mentioned, and perhaps with different andunfounded circumstances. I will therefore speak it out; and thenlet the event itself, and the sentiments of melancholy with whichit has impressed me, never again be subject of discussion betweenus. 

'Sophia, as you well know, followed me to India. She was asinnocent as gay; but, unfortunately for us both, as gay asinnocent. My own manners were partly formed by studies I hadforsaken, and habits of seclusion not quite consistent with mysituation as commandant of a regiment in a country where universalhospitality is offered and expected by every settler claiming therank of a gentleman. In a moment of peculiar pressure (you knowhow hard we were sometimes run to obtain white faces tocountenance our line-of-battle), a young man named Brown joinedour regiment as a volunteer, and, finding the military duty moreto his fancy than commerce, in which he had been engaged, remainedwith us as a cadet. Let me do my unhappy victim justice: hebehaved with such gallantry on every occasion that offered thatthe first vacant commission was considered as his due. I wasabsent for some weeks upon a distant expedition; when I returned Ifound this young fellow established quite as the friend of thehouse, and habitual attendant of my wife and daughter. It was anarrangement which displeased me in many particulars, though noobjection could be made to his manners or character. Yet I mighthave been reconciled to his familiarity in my family, but for thesuggestions of another. If you read over--what I never dare open--the play of "Othello, " you will have some idea of what followed--I mean of my motives; my actions, thank God! were lessreprehensible. There was another cadet ambitious of the vacantsituation. He called my attention to what he led me to termcoquetry between my wife and this young man. Sophia was virtuous, but proud of her virtue; and, irritated by my jealousy, she was soimprudent as to press and encourage an intimacy which she saw Idisapproved and regarded with suspicion. Between Brown and methere existed a sort of internal dislike. He made an effort or twoto overcome my prejudice; but, prepossessed as I was, I placedthem to a wrong motive. Feeling himself repulsed, and with scorn, he desisted; and as he was without family and friends, he wasnaturally more watchful of the deportment of one who had both. 

'It is odd with what torture I write this letter. I feel inclined, nevertheless, to protract the operation, just as if my doing socould put off the catastrophe which has so long embittered mylife. But--it must be told, and it shall be told briefly. 

'My wife, though no longer young, was still eminently handsome, and--let me say thus far in my own justification-she was fond ofbeing thought so--I am repeating what I said before. In a word, ofher virtue I never entertained a doubt; but, pushed by the artfulsuggestions of Archer, I thought she cared little for my peace ofmind, and that the young fellow Brown paid his attentions in mydespite, and in defiance of me. He perhaps considered me, on hispart, as an oppressive aristocratic man, who made my rank insociety and in the army the means of galling those whomcircumstances placed beneath me. And if he discovered my sillyjealousy, he probably considered the fretting me in that sorepoint of my character as one means of avenging the pettyindignities to which I had it in my power to subject him. Yet anacute friend of mine gave a more harmless, or at least a lessoffensive, construction to his attentions, which he conceived tobe meant for my daughter Julia, though immediately addressed topropitiate the influence of her mother. This could have been novery flattering or pleasing enterprise on the part of an obscureand nameless young man; but I should not have been offended atthis folly as I was at the higher degree of presumption Isuspected. Offended, however, I was, and in a mortal degree. 

'A very slight spark will kindle a flame where everything liesopen to catch it. I have absolutely forgot the proximate cause ofquarrel, but it was some trifle which occurred at the card-tablewhich occasioned high words and a challenge. We met in the morningbeyond the walls and esplanade of the fortress which I thencommanded, on the frontiers of the settlement. This was arrangedfor Brown's safety, had he escaped. I almost wish he had, thoughat my own expense; but he fell by the first fire. We strove toassist him; but some of these looties, a species of nativebanditti who were always on the watch for prey, poured in upon us. Archer and I gained our horses with difficulty, and cut our waythrough them after a hard conflict, in the course of which hereceived some desperate wounds. To complete the misfortunes ofthis miserable day, my wife, who suspected the design with which Ileft the fortress, had ordered her palanquin to follow me, and wasalarmed and almost made prisoner by another troop of theseplunderers. She was quickly released by a party of our cavalry;but I cannot disguise from myself that the incidents of this fatalmorning gave a severe shock to health already delicate. Theconfession of Archer, who thought himself dying, that he hadinvented some circumstances, and for his purposes put the worstconstruction upon others, and the full explanation and exchange offorgiveness with me which this produced, could not check theprogress of her disorder. She died within about eight months afterthis incident, bequeathing me only the girl of whom Mrs. Mervyn isso good as to undertake the temporary charge. Julia was alsoextremely ill; so much so that I was induced to throw up mycommand and return to Europe, where her native air, time, and thenovelty of the scenes around her have contributed to dissipate herdejection and restore her health. 

'Now that you know my story, you will no longer ask me the reasonof my melancholy, but permit me to brood upon it as I may. Thereis, surely, in the above narrative enough to embitter, though notto poison, the chalice which the fortune and fame you so oftenmention had prepared to regale my years of retirement. 

'I could add circumstances which our old tutor would have quotedas instances of DAY FATALITY, --you would laugh were I to mentionsuch particulars, especially as you know I put no faith in them. Yet, since I have come to the very house from which I now write, Ihave learned a singular coincidence, which, if I find it trulyestablished by tolerable evidence, will serve as hereafter forsubject of curious discussion. But I will spare you at present, asI expect a person to speak about a purchase of property now openin this part of the country. It is a place to which I have afoolish partiality, and I hope my purchasing may be convenient tothose who are parting with it, as there is a plan for buying itunder the value. My respectful compliments to Mrs. Mervyn, and Iwill trust you, though you boast to be so lively a younggentleman, to kiss Julia for me. Adieu, dear Mervyn. --Thine ever, GUY MANNERING. '

Mr. Mac-Morlan now entered the room. The well-known character ofColonel Mannering at once disposed this gentleman, who was a manof intelligence and probity, to be open and confidential. Heexplained the advantages and disadvantages of the property. 'Itwas settled, ' he said, 'the greater part of it at least, uponheirs-male, and the purchaser would have the privilege ofretaining in his hands a large proportion of the price, in case ofthe reappearance, within a certain limited term, of the child whohad disappeared. '

'To what purpose, then, force forward a sale?' said Mannering. Mac-Morlan smiled. 'Ostensibly, ' he answered, 'to substitute theinterest of money instead of the ill-paid and precarious rents ofan unimproved estate; but chiefly it was believed, to suit thewishes and views of a certain intended purchaser, who had become aprincipal creditor, and forced himself into the management of theaffairs by means best known to himself, and who, it was thought, would find it very convenient to purchase the estate withoutpaying down the price. '

Mannering consulted with Mr. Mac-Morlan upon the steps forthwarting this unprincipled attempt. They then conversed long onthe singular disappearance of Harry Bertram upon his fifthbirthday, verifying thus the random prediction of Mannering, ofwhich, however, it will readily be supposed he made no boast. Mr. Mac-Morlan was not himself in office when that incident tookplace; but he was well acquainted with all the circumstances, andpromised that our hero should have them detailed by the sheriff-depute himself, if, as he proposed, he should become a settler inthat part of Scotland. With this assurance they parted, wellsatisfied with each other and with the evening's conference. 

On the Sunday following, Colonel Mannering attended the parishchurch with great decorum. None of the Ellangowan family werepresent; and it was understood that the old Laird was rather worsethan better. Jock Jabos, once more despatched for him, returnedonce more without his errand; but on the following day MissBertram hoped he might be removed. 

CHAPTER XIII

 They told me, by the sentence of the law, They had commission to seize all thy fortune. Here stood a ruffian with a horrid face, Lording it o'er a pile of massy plate, Tumbled into a heap for public sale; There was another, making villainous jests At thy undoing; he had ta'en possession Of all thy ancient most domestic ornaments. 

 OTWAY. 

Early next morning Mannering mounted his horse and, accompanied byhis servant, took the road to Ellangowan. He had no need toinquire the way. A sale in the country is a place of public resortand amusement, and people of various descriptions streamed to itfrom all quarters. 

After a pleasant ride of about an hour, the old towers of the ruinpresented themselves in the landscape. The thoughts, with whatdifferent feelings he had lost sight of them so many years before, thronged upon the mind of the traveller. The landscape was thesame; but how changed the feelings, hopes, and views of thespectator! Then life and love were new, and all the prospect wasgilded by their rays. And now, disappointed in affection, satedwith fame and what the world calls success, his mind, goaded bybitter and repentant recollection, his best hope was to find aretirement in which he might nurse the melancholy that was toaccompany him to his grave. 'Yet why should an individual mournover the instability of his hopes and the vanity of his prospects?The ancient chiefs who erected these enormous and massive towersto be the fortress of their race and the seat of their power, --could they have dreamed the day was to come when the last of theirdescendants should be expelled, a ruined wanderer, from hispossessions! But Nature's bounties are unaltered. The sun willshine as fair on these ruins, whether the property of a strangeror of a sordid and obscure trickster of the abused law, as whenthe banners of the founder first waved upon their battlements. '

These reflections brought Mannering to the door of the house, which was that day open to all. He entered among others, whotraversed the apartments, some to select articles for purchase, others to gratify their curiosity. There is something melancholyin such a scene, even under the most favourable circumstances. Theconfused state of the furniture, displaced for the convenience ofbeing easily viewed and carried off by the purchasers, isdisagreeable to the eye. Those articles which, properly anddecently arranged, look creditable and handsome, have then apaltry and wretched appearance; and the apartments, stripped ofall that render them commodious and comfortable, have an aspect ofruin and dilapidation. It is disgusting also to see the scenes ofdomestic society and seclusion thrown open to the gaze of thecurious and the vulgar, to hear their coarse speculations andbrutal jests upon the fashions and furniture to which they areunaccustomed, --a frolicsome humour much cherished by the whiskywhich in Scotland is always put in circulation on such occasions. All these are ordinary effects of such a scene as Ellangowan nowpresented; but the moral feeling, that in this case they indicatedthe total ruin of an ancient and honourable family, gave themtreble weight and poignancy. 

It was some time before Colonel Mannering could find any onedisposed to answer his reiterated questions concerning Ellangowanhimself. At length an old maidservant, who held her apron to hereyes as she spoke, told him 'the Laird was something better, andthey hoped he would be able to leave the house that day. Miss Lucyexpected the chaise every moment, and, as the day was fine for thetime o'year, they had carried him in his easychair up to the greenbefore the auld castle, to be out of the way of this uncospectacle. ' Thither Colonel Mannering went in quest of him, andsoon came in sight of the little group, which consisted of fourpersons. The ascent was steep, so that he had time to reconnoitrethem as he advanced, and to consider in what mode he should makehis address. 

Mr. Bertram, paralytic and almost incapable of moving, occupiedhis easy-chair, attired in his nightcap and a loose camlet coat, his feet wrapped in blankets. Behind him, with his hands crossedon the cane upon which he rested, stood Dominie Sampson, whomMannering recognised at once. Time had made no change upon him, unless that his black coat seemed more brown, and his gaunt cheeksmore lank, than when Mannering last saw him. On one side of theold man was a sylph-like form--a young woman of about seventeen, whom the Colonel accounted to be his daughter. She was lookingfrom time to time anxiously towards the avenue, as if expectingthe post-chaise; and between whiles busied herself in adjustingthe blankets so as to protect her father from the cold, and inanswering inquiries, which he seemed to make with a captious andquerulous manner. She did not trust herself to look towards thePlace, although the hum of the assembled crowd must have drawn herattention in that direction. The fourth person of the group was ahandsome and genteel young man, who seemed to share Miss Bertram'sanxiety, and her solicitude to soothe and accommodate her parent. 

This young man was the first who observed Colonel Mannering, andimmediately stepped forward to meet him, as if politely to preventhis drawing nearer to the distressed group. Mannering instantlypaused and explained. 'He was, ' he said, 'a stranger to whom Mr. Bertram had formerly shown kindness and hospitality; he would nothave intruded himself upon him at a period of distress, did it notseem to be in some degree a moment also of desertion; he wishedmerely to offer such services as might be in his power to Mr. Bertram and the young lady. '

He then paused at a little distance from the chair. His oldacquaintance gazed at him with lack-lustre eye, that intimated notokens of recognition; the Dominie seemed too deeply sunk indistress even to observe his presence. The young man spoke asidewith Miss Bertram, who advanced timidly, and thanked ColonelMannering for his goodness; 'but, ' she said, the tears gushingfast into her eyes, 'her father, she feared, was not so muchhimself as to be able to remember him. '

She then retreated towards the chair, accompanied by the Colonel. 'Father, ' she said, 'this is Mr. Mannering, an old friend, come toinquire after you. '

'He's very heartily welcome, ' said the old man, raising himself inhis chair, and attempting a gesture of courtesy, while a gleam ofhospitable satisfaction seemed to pass over his faded features;'but, Lucy, my dear, let us go down to the house; you should notkeep the gentleman here in the cold. Dominie, take the key of thewine-cooler. Mr. A--a--the gentleman will surely take somethingafter his ride. '

Mannering was unspeakably affected by the contrast which hisrecollection made between this reception and that with which hehad been greeted by the same individual when they last met. Hecould not restrain his tears, and his evident emotion at onceattained him the confidence of the friendless young lady. 

'Alas!' she said, 'this is distressing even to a stranger; but itmay be better for my poor father to be in this way than if he knewand could feel all. '

A servant in livery now came up the path, and spoke in anundertone to the young gentleman--'Mr. Charles, my lady's wantingyou yonder sadly, to bid for her for the black ebony cabinet; andLady Jean Devorgoil is wi' her an' a'; ye maun come awaydirectly. '

'Tell them you could not find me, Tom, or, stay, --say I amlooking at the horses. '

'No, no, no, ' said Lucy Bertram, earnestly; 'if you would not addto the misery of this miserable moment, go to the companydirectly. This gentleman, I am sure, will see us to the carriage. '

'Unquestionably, madam, ' said Mannering, 'your young friend mayrely on my attention. '

'Farewell, then, ' said young Hazlewood, and whispered a word inher ear; then ran down the steep hastily, as if not trusting hisresolution at a slower pace. 

'Where's Charles Hazlewood running?' said the invalid, whoapparently was accustomed to his presence and attentions; 'where'sCharles Hazlewood running? what takes him away now?'

'He'll return in a little while, ' said Lucy, gently. 

The sound of voices was now heard from the ruins. The reader mayremember there was a communication between the castle and thebeach, up which the speakers had ascended. 

'Yes, there's a plenty of shells and seaware for manure, as youobserve; and if one inclined to build a new house, which mightindeed be necessary, there's a great deal of good hewn stone aboutthis old dungeon, for the devil here--'

'Good God!' said Miss Bertram hastily to Sampson, ''t is thatwretch Glossin's voice! If my father sees him, it will kill himoutright!'

Sampson wheeled perpendicularly round, and moved with long stridesto confront the attorney as he issued from beneath the portal archof the ruin. 'Avoid ye!' he said, 'avoid ye! wouldst thou kill andtake possession?'

'Come, come, Master Dominie Sampson, ' answered Glossin insolently, 'if ye cannot preach in the pulpit, we'll have no preaching here. We go by the law, my good friend; we leave the gospel to you. '

The very mention of this man's name had been of late a subject ofthe most violent irritation to the unfortunate patient. The soundof his voice now produced an instantaneous effect. Mr. Bertramstarted up without assistance and turned round towards him; theghastliness of his features forming a strange contrast with theviolence of his exclamations. --'Out of my sight, ye viper! yefrozen viper, that I warmed, till ye stung me! Art thou not afraidthat the walls of my father's dwelling should fall and crush theelimb and bone? Are ye not afraid the very lintels of the door ofEllangowan Castle should break open and swallow you up? Were yenot friendless, houseless, penniless, when I took ye by the hand;and are ye not expelling me--me and that innocent girl--friendless, houseless, and penniless, from the house that hassheltered us and ours for a thousand years?'

Had Glossin been alone, he would probably have slunk off; but theconsciousness that a stranger was present, besides the person whocame with him (a sort of land-surveyor), determined him to resortto impudence. The task, however, was almost too hard even for hiseffrontery--'Sir--sir--Mr. Bertram, sir, you should not blame me, but your own imprudence, sir--'

The indignation of Mannering was mounting very high. 'Sir, ' hesaid to Glossin, 'without entering into the merits of thiscontroversy, I must inform you that you have chosen a veryimproper place, time, and presence for it. And you will oblige meby withdrawing without more words. '

Glossin, being a tall, strong, muscular man, was not unwillingrather to turn upon the stranger, whom he hoped to bully, thanmaintain his wretched cause against his injured patron. --'I do notknow who you are, sir, ' he said, 'and I shall permit no man to usesuch d--d freedom with me. '

Mannering was naturally hot-tempered: his eyes flashed a darklight; he compressed his nether lip so closely that the bloodsprung, and approaching Glossin--'Look you, sir, ' he said, ' thatyou do not know me is of little consequence. _I_ KNOW YOU; and ifyou do not instantly descend that bank, without uttering a singlesyllable, by the Heaven that is above us you shall make but onestep from the top to the bottom!'

The commanding tone of rightful anger silenced at once theferocity of the bully. He hesitated, turned on his heel, and, muttering something between his teeth about unwillingness to alarmthe lady, relieved them of his hateful company. 

Mrs. Mac-Candlish's postilion, who had come up in time to hearwhat passed, said aloud, 'If he had stuck by the way, I would havelent him a heezie, the dirty scoundrel, as willingly as ever Ipitched a boddle. '

He then stepped forward to announce that his horses were inreadiness for the invalid and his daughter. But they were nolonger necessary. The debilitated frame of Mr. Bertram wasexhausted by this last effort of indignant anger, and when he sunkagain upon his chair, he expired almost without a struggle orgroan. So little alteration did the extinction of the vital sparkmake upon his external appearance that the screams of hisdaughter, when she saw his eye fix and felt his pulse stop, firstannounced his death to the spectators. 

CHAPTER XIV

 The bell strikes one. We take no note of time But from its loss. To give it then a tongue Is wise in man. As if an angel spoke, I feel the solemn sound. 

 YOUNG. 

The moral which the poet has rather quaintly deduced from thenecessary mode of measuring time may be well applied to ourfeelings respecting that portion of it which constitutes humanlife. We observe the aged, the infirm, and those engaged inoccupations of immediate hazard, trembling as it were upon thevery brink of non-existence, but we derive no lesson from theprecariousness of their tenure until it has altogether failed. Then, for a moment at least--

 Our hopes and fears Start up alarm'd, and o'er life's narrow verge Look down--on what? a fathomless abyss, A dark eternity, how surely ours!

The crowd of assembled gazers and idlers at Ellangowan hadfollowed the views of amusement, or what they called business, which brought them there, with little regard to the feelings ofthose who were suffering upon that occasion. Few, indeed, knewanything of the family. The father, betwixt seclusion, misfortune, and imbecility, had drifted, as it were, for many years out of thenotice of his contemporaries; the daughter had never been known tothem. But when the general murmur announced that the unfortunateMr. Bertram had broken his heart in the effort to leave themansion of his forefathers, there poured forth a torrent ofsympathy like the waters from the rock when stricken by the wandof the prophet. The ancient descent and unblemished integrity ofthe family were respectfully remembered; above all, the sacredveneration due to misfortune, which in Scotland seldom demands itstribute in vain, then claimed and received it. 

Mr. Mac-Morlan hastily announced that he would suspend all fartherproceedings in the sale of the estate and other property, andrelinquish the possession of the premises to the young lady, untilshe could consult with her friends and provide for the burial ofher father. 

Glossin had cowered for a few minutes under the general expressionof sympathy, till, hardened by observing that no appearance ofpopular indignation was directed his way, he had the audacity torequire that the sale should proceed. 

'I will take it upon my own authority to adjourn it, ' said theSheriff-substitute, 'and will be responsible for the consequences. I will also give due notice when it is again to go forward. It isfor the benefit of all concerned that the lands should bring thehighest price the state of the market will admit, and this issurely no time to expect it. I will take the responsibility uponmyself. '

Glossin left the room and the house too with secrecy and despatch;and it was probably well for him that he did so, since our friendJock Jabos was already haranguing a numerous tribe of bare-leggedboys on the propriety of pelting him off the estate. 

Some of the rooms were hastily put in order for the reception ofthe young lady, and of her father's dead body. Mannering now foundhis farther interference would be unnecessary, and might bemisconstrued. He observed, too, that several families connectedwith that of Ellangowan, and who indeed derived their principalclaim of gentility from the alliance, were now disposed to pay totheir trees of genealogy a tribute which the adversity of theirsupposed relatives had been inadequate to call forth; and that thehonour of superintending the funeral rites of the dead GodfreyBertram (as in the memorable case of Homer's birthplace) waslikely to be debated by seven gentlemen of rank and fortune, noneof whom had offered him an asylum while living. He thereforeresolved, as his presence was altogether useless, to make a shorttour of a fortnight, at the end of which period the adjourned saleof the estate of Ellangowan was to proceed. 

But before he departed he solicited an interview with the Dominie. The poor man appeared, on being informed a gentleman wanted tospeak to him, with some expression of surprise in his gauntfeatures, to which recent sorrow had given an expression yet moregrisly. He made two or three profound reverences to Mannering, andthen, standing erect, patiently waited an explanation of hiscommands. 

'You are probably at a loss to guess, Mr. Sampson, ' saidMannering, 'what a stranger may have to say to you?'

'Unless it were to request that I would undertake to train up someyouth in polite letters and humane learning; but I cannot--Icannot; I have yet a task to perform. '

'No, Mr. Sampson, my wishes are not so ambitious. I have no son, and my only daughter, I presume, you would not consider as a fitpupil. '

'Of a surety no, ' replied the simple-minded Sampson. 'Nathless, itwas I who did educate Miss Lucy in all useful learning, albeit itwas the housekeeper who did teach her those unprofitable exercisesof hemming and shaping. '

'Well, sir, ' replied Mannering, 'it is of Miss Lucy I meant tospeak. You have, I presume, no recollection of me?'

Sampson, always sufficiently absent in mind, neither rememberedthe astrologer of past years, nor even the stranger who had takenhis patron's part against Glossin, so much had his friend's suddendeath embroiled his ideas. 

'Well, that does not signify, ' pursued the Colonel; 'I am an oldacquaintance of the late Mr. Bertram, able and willing to assisthis daughter in her present circumstances. Besides, I havethoughts of making this purchase, and I should wish things kept inorder about the place; will you have the goodness to apply thissmall sum in the usual family expenses?' He put into the Dominie'shand a purse containing some gold. 

'Pro-di-gi-ous!' exclaimed Dominie Sampson. 'But if your honourwould tarry--'

'Impossible, sir, impossible, ' said Mannering, making his escapefrom him. 

'Pro-di-gi-ous!' again exclaimed Sampson, following to the head ofthe stairs, still holding out the purse. 'But as touching thiscoined money--'

Mannering escaped downstairs as fast as possible. 

'Pro-di-gi-ous!' exclaimed Dominie Sampson, yet the third time, now standing at the front door. 'But as touching this specie--'

But Mannering was now on horseback, and out of hearing. TheDominie, who had never, either in his own right or as trustee foranother, been possessed of a quarter part of this sum, though itwas not above twenty guineas, 'took counsel, ' as he expressedhimself, 'how he should demean himself with respect unto the finegold' thus left in his charge. Fortunately he found adisinterested adviser in Mac-Morlan, who pointed out the mostproper means of disposing of it for contributing to Miss Bertram'sconvenience, being no doubt the purpose to which it was destinedby the bestower. 

Many of the neighbouring gentry were now sincerely eager inpressing offers of hospitality and kindness upon Miss Bertram. Butshe felt a natural reluctance to enter any family for the firsttime as an object rather of benevolence than hospitality, anddetermined to wait the opinion and advice of her father's nearestfemale relation, Mrs. Margaret Bertram of Singleside, an oldunmarried lady, to whom she wrote an account of her presentdistressful situation. 

The funeral of the late Mr. Bertram was performed with decentprivacy, and the unfortunate young lady was now to considerherself as but the temporary tenant of the house in which she hadbeen born, and where her patience and soothing attentions had solong 'rocked the cradle of declining age. ' Her communication withMr. Mac-Morlan encouraged her to hope that she would not besuddenly or unkindly deprived of this asylum; but fortune hadordered otherwise. 

For two days before the appointed day for the sale of the landsand estate of Ellangowan, Mac-Morlan daily expected the appearanceof Colonel Mannering, or at least a letter containing powers toact for him. But none such arrived. Mr. Mac-Morlan waked early inthe morning, walked over to the Post-office, --there were noletters for him. He endeavoured to persuade himself that he shouldsee Colonel Mannering to breakfast, and ordered his wife to placeher best china and prepare herself accordingly. But thepreparations were in vain. 'Could I have foreseen this, ' he said, 'I would have travelled Scotland over, but I would have found someone to bid against Glossin. ' Alas! such reflections were all toolate. The appointed hour arrived; and the parties met in theMasons' Lodge at Kippletringan, being the place fixed for theadjourned sale. Mac-Morlan spent as much time in preliminaries asdecency would permit, and read over the articles of sale as slowlyas if he had been reading his own death-warrant. He turned his eyeevery time the door of the room opened, with hopes which grewfainter and fainter. He listened to every noise in the street ofthe village, and endeavoured to distinguish in it the sound ofhoofs or wheels. It was all in vain. A bright idea then occurred, that Colonel Mannering might have employed some other person inthe transaction; he would not have wasted a moment's thought uponthe want of confidence in himself which such a manoeuvre wouldhave evinced. But this hope also was groundless. After a solemnpause, Mr. Glossin offered the upset price for the lands andbarony of Ellangowan. No reply was made, and no competitorappeared; so, after a lapse of the usual interval by the runningof a sand-glass, upon the intended purchaser entering the propersureties, Mr. Mac-Morlan was obliged, in technical terms, to 'findand declare the sale lawfully completed, and to prefer the saidGilbert Glossin as the purchaser of the said lands and estate. 'The honest writer refused to partake of a splendid entertainmentwith which Gilbert Glossin, Esquire, now of Ellangowan, treatedthe rest of the company, and returned home in huge bitterness ofspirit, which he vented in complaints against the fickleness andcaprice of these Indian nabobs, who never knew what they would beat for ten days together. Fortune generously determined to takethe blame upon herself, and cut off even this vent of Mac-Morlan'sresentment. 

An express arrived about six o'clock at night, 'very particularlydrunk, ' the maid-servant said, with a packet from ColonelMannering, dated four days back, at a town about a hundred miles'distance from Kippletringan, containing full powers to Mr. Mac-Morlan, or any one whom he might employ, to make the intendedpurchase, and stating that some family business of consequencecalled the Colonel himself to Westmoreland, where a letter wouldfind him, addressed to the care of Arthur Mervyn, Esq. , of MervynHall. 

Mac-Morlan, in the transports of his wrath, flung the power ofattorney at the head of the innocent maidservant, and was onlyforcibly withheld from horse-whipping the rascally messenger bywhose sloth and drunkenness the disappointment had taken place. 

CHAPTER XV

 My gold is gone, my money is spent, My land now take it unto thee. Give me thy gold, good John o' the Scales, And thine for aye my land shall be. 

 Then John he did him to record draw. And John he caste him a gods-pennie; But for every pounde that John agreed, The land, I wis. Was well worth three. 

 HEIR OF LINNE. 

The Galwegian John o' the Scales was a more clever fellow than hisprototype. He contrived to make himself heir of Linne without thedisagreeable ceremony of 'telling down the good red gold. ' MissBertram no sooner heard this painful, and of late unexpected, intelligence than she proceeded in the preparations she hadalready made for leaving the mansion-house immediately. Mr. Mac-Morlan assisted her in these arrangements, and pressed upon her sokindly the hospitality and protection of his roof, until sheshould receive an answer from her cousin, or be enabled to adoptsome settled plan of life, that she felt there would be unkindnessin refusing an invitation urged with such earnestness. Mrs. Mac-Morlan was a ladylike person, and well qualified by birth andmanners to receive the visit, and to make her house agreeable toMiss Bertram. A home, therefore, and an hospitable reception weresecured to her, and she went on with better heart to pay the wagesand receive the adieus of the few domestics of her father'sfamily. 

Where there are estimable qualities on either side, this task isalways affecting; the present circumstances rendered it doubly so. All received their due, and even a trifle more, and with thanksand good wishes, to which some added tears, took farewell of theiryoung mistress. There remained in the parlour only Mr. Mac-Morlan, who came to attend his guest to his house, Dominie Sampson, andMiss Bertram. 'And now, ' said the poor girl, 'I must bid farewellto one of my oldest and kindest friends. God bless you, Mr. Sampson, and requite to you all the kindness of your instructionsto your poor pupil, and your friendship to him that is gone. Ihope I shall often hear from you. ' She slid into his hand a papercontaining some pieces of gold, and rose, as if to leave the room. 

Dominie Sampson also rose; but it was to stand aghast with utterastonishment. The idea of parting from Miss Lucy, go where shemight, had never once occurred to the simplicity of hisunderstanding. He laid the money on the table. 'It is certainlyinadequate, ' said Mac-Morlan, mistaking his meaning, 'but thecircumstances--'

Mr. Sampson waved his hand impatiently. --'It is not the lucre, itis not the lucre; but that I, that have ate of her father's loaf, and drank of his cup, for twenty years and more--to think that Iam going to leave her, and to leave her in distress and dolour!No, Miss Lucy, you need never think it! You would not consent toput forth your father's poor dog, and would you use me waur than amessan? No, Miss Lucy Bertram, while I live I will not separatefrom you. I'll be no burden; I have thought how to prevent that. But, as Ruth said unto Naomi, "Entreat me not to leave thee, norto depart from thee; for whither thou goest I will go, and wherethou dwellest I will dwell; thy people shall be my people, and thyGod shall be my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will Ibe buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but deathdo part thee and me. "'

During this speech, the longest ever Dominie Sampson was known toutter, the affectionate creature's eyes streamed with tears, andneither Lucy nor Mac-Morlan could refrain from sympathising withthis unexpected burst of feeling and attachment. 'Mr. Sampson, 'said Mac-Morlan, after having had recourse to his snuff-box andhandkerchief alternately, 'my house is large enough, and if youwill accept of a bed there while Miss Bertram honours us with herresidence, I shall think myself very happy, and my roof muchfavoured, by receiving a man of your worth and fidelity. ' Andthen, with a delicacy which was meant to remove any objection onMiss Bertram's part to bringing with her this unexpectedsatellite, he added, 'My business requires my frequently havingoccasion for a better accountant than any of my present clerks, and I should be glad to have recourse to your assistance in thatway now and then. '

'Of a surety, of a surety, ' said Sampson eagerly; 'I understandbook-keeping by double entry and the Italian method. '

Our postilion had thrust himself into the room to announce hischaise and horses; he tarried, unobserved, during thisextraordinary scene, and assured Mrs. Mac-Candlish it was the mostmoving thing he ever saw; 'the death of the grey mare, puirhizzie, was naething till't. ' This trifling circumstanceafterwards had consequences of greater moment to the Dominie. 

The visitors were hospitably welcomed by Mrs. Mac-Morlan, to whom, as well as to others, her husband intimated that he had engagedDominie Sampson's assistance to disentangle some perplexedaccounts, during which occupation he would, for convenience sake, reside with the family. Mr. Mac-Morlan's knowledge of the worldinduced him to put this colour upon the matter, aware that, however honourable the fidelity of the Dominie's attachment mightbe both to his own heart and to the family of Ellangowan, hisexterior ill qualified him to be a'squire of dames, ' and renderedhim, upon the whole, rather a ridiculous appendage to a beautifulyoung woman of seventeen. 

Dominie Sampson achieved with great zeal such tasks as Mr. Mac-Morlan chose to entrust him with; but it was speedily observedthat at a certain hour after breakfast he regularly disappeared, and returned again about dinner-time. The evening he occupied inthe labour of the office. On Saturday he appeared before Mac-Morlan with a look of great triumph, and laid on the table twopieces of gold. 'What is this for, Dominie?' said Mac-Morlan. 

'First to indemnify you of your charges in my behalf, worthy sir;and the balance for the use of Miss Lucy Bertram. '

'But, Mr. Sampson, your labour in the office much more thanrecompenses me; I am your debtor, my good friend. '

'Then be it all, ' said the Dominie, waving his hand, 'for MissLucy Bertram's behoof. '

'Well, but, Dominie, this money-'

'It is honestly come by, Mr. Mac-Morlan; it is the bountifulreward of a young gentleman to whom I am teaching the tongues;reading with him three hours daily. '

A few more questions extracted from the Dominie that this liberalpupil was young Hazlewood, and that he met his preceptor daily atthe house of Mrs. Mac-Candlish, whose proclamation of Sampson'sdisinterested attachment to the young lady had procured him thisindefatigable and bounteous scholar. 

Mac-Morlan was much struck with what he heard. Dominie Sampson wasdoubtless a very good scholar, and an excellent man, and theclassics were unquestionably very well worth reading; yet that ayoung man of twenty should ride seven miles and back again eachday in the week, to hold this sort of TETE-A-TETE of three hours, was a zeal for literature to which he was not prepared to giveentire credit. Little art was necessary to sift the Dominie, forthe honest man's head never admitted any but the most direct andsimple ideas. 'Does Miss Bertram know how your time is engaged, mygood friend?'

'Surely not as yet. Mr. Charles recommended it should be concealedfrom her, lest she should scruple to accept of the smallassistance arising from it; but, ' he added, 'it would not bepossible to conceal it long, since Mr. Charles proposed taking hislessons occasionally in this house. '

'O, he does!' said Mac-Morlan. ' Yes, yes, I can understand thatbetter. And pray, Mr. Sampson, are these three hours entirelyspent inconstruing and translating?'

'Doubtless, no; we have also colloquial intercourse to sweetenstudy: neque semper arcum tendit apollo. '

The querist proceeded to elicit from this Galloway Phoebus whattheir discourse chiefly turned upon. 

'Upon our past meetings at Ellangowan; and, truly, I think veryoften we discourse concerning Miss Lucy, for Mr. Charles Hazlewoodin that particular resembleth me, Mr. Mac-Morlan. When I begin tospeak of her I never know when to stop; and, as I say (jocularly), she cheats us out of half our lessons. '

'O ho!' thought Mac-Morlan, 'sits the wind in that quarter? I'veheard something like this before. '

He then began to consider what conduct was safest for hisprotegee, and even for himself; for the senior Mr. Hazlewood waspowerful, wealthy, ambitious, and vindictive, and looked for bothfortune and title in any connexion which his son might form. Atlength, having the highest opinion of his guest's good sense andpenetration, he determined to take an opportunity, when theyshould happen to be alone, to communicate the matter to her as asimple piece of intelligence. He did so in as natural a manner ashe could. 'I wish you joy of your friend Mr. Sampson's goodfortune, Miss Bertram; he has got a pupil who pays him two guineasfor twelve lessons of Greek and Latin. '

'Indeed! I am equally happy and surprised. Who can be so liberal?is Colonel Mannering returned?'

'No, no, not Colonel Mannering; but what do you think of youracquaintance, Mr. Charles Hazlewood? He talks of taking hislessons here; I wish we may have accommodation for him. '

Lucy blushed deeply. 'For Heaven's sake, no, Mr. Mac-Morlan, donot let that be; Charles Hazlewood has had enough of mischiefabout that already. '

'About the classics, my dear young lady?' wilfully seeming tomisunderstand her; 'most young gentlemen have so at one period oranother, sure enough; but his present studies are voluntary. '

Miss Bertram let the conversation drop, and her host made noeffort to renew it, as she seemed to pause upon the intelligencein order to form some internal resolution. 

The next day Miss Bertram took an opportunity of conversing withMr. Sampson. Expressing in the kindest manner her grateful thanksfor his disinterested attachment, and her joy that he had got sucha provision, she hinted to him that his present mode ofsuperintending Charles Hazlewood's studies must be so inconvenientto his pupil that, while that engagement lasted, he had betterconsent to a temporary separation, and reside either with hisscholar or as near him as might be. Sampson refused, as indeed shehad expected, to listen a moment to this proposition; he would notquit her to be made preceptor to the Prince of Wales. 'But I see, 'he added, 'you are too proud to share my pittance; andperadventure I grow wearisome unto you. '

'No indeed; you were my father's ancient, almost his only, friend. I am not proud; God knows, I have no reason to be so. You shall dowhat you judge best in other matters; but oblige me by telling Mr. Charles Hazlewood that you had some conversation with meconcerning his studies, and that I was of opinion that hiscarrying them on in this house was altogether impracticable, andnot to be thought of. '

Dominie Sampson left her presence altogether crest-fallen, and, ashe shut the door, could not help muttering the 'varium etmutabile' of Virgil. Next day he appeared with a very ruefulvisage, and tendered Miss Bertram a letter. 'Mr. Hazlewood, ' hesaid, 'was to discontinue his lessons, though he had generouslymade up the pecuniary loss. But how will he make up the loss tohimself of the knowledge he might have acquired under myinstruction? Even in that one article of writing, --he was an hourbefore he could write that brief note, and destroyed many scrolls, four quills, and some good white paper. I would have taught him inthree weeks a firm, current, clear, and legible hand; he shouldhave been a calligrapher, --but God's will be done. '

The letter contained but a few lines, deeply regretting andmurmuring against Miss Bertram's cruelty, who not only refused tosee him, but to permit him in the most indirect manner to hear ofher health and contribute to her service. But it concluded withassurances that her severity was vain, and that nothing couldshake the attachment of Charles Hazlewood. 

Under the active patronage of Mrs. Mac-Candlish, Sampson picked upsome other scholars--very different indeed from Charles Hazlewoodin rank, and whose lessons were proportionally unproductive. Still, however, he gained something, and it was the glory of hisheart to carry it to Mr. Mac-Morlan weekly, a slight peculium onlysubtracted to supply his snuff-box and tobacco-pouch. 

And here we must leave Kippletringan to look after our hero, lestour readers should fear they are to lose sight of him for anotherquarter of a century. 

CHAPTER XVI

 Our Polly is a sad slut, nor heeds what we have taught her, I wonder any man alive will ever rear a daughter, For when she's drest with care and cost, all tempting, fine, and gay, As men should serve a cucumber, she flings herself away. 

 Beggar's Opera. 

After the death of Mr. Bertram, Mannering had set out upon a shorttour, proposing to return to the neighbourhood of Ellangowanbefore the sale of that property should take place. He went, accordingly, to Edinburgh and elsewhere, and it was in his returntowards the south-western district of Scotland, in which our scenelies, that, at a post-town about a hundred miles fromKippletringan, to which he had requested his friend, Mr. Mervyn, to address his letters, he received one from that gentleman whichcontained rather unpleasing intelligence. We have assumed alreadythe privilege of acting a secretis to this gentleman, andtherefore shall present the reader with an extract from thisepistle. 

'I beg your pardon, my dearest friend, for the pain I have givenyou in forcing you to open wounds so festering as those yourletter referred to. I have always heard, though erroneouslyperhaps, that the attentions of Mr. Brown were intended for MissMannering. But, however that were, it could not be supposed thatin your situation his boldness should escape notice andchastisement. Wise men say that we resign to civil society ournatural rights of self-defence only on condition that theordinances of law should protect us. Where the price cannot bepaid, the resignation becomes void. For instance, no one supposesthat I am not entitled to defend my purse and person against ahighwayman, as much as if I were a wild Indian, who owns neitherlaw nor magistracy. The question of resistance or submission mustbe determined by my means and situation. But if, armed and equalin force, I submit to injustice and violence from any man, high orlow, I presume it will hardly be attributed to religious or moralfeeling in me, or in any one but a Quaker. An aggression on myhonour seems to me much the same. The insult, however trifling initself, is one of much deeper consequence to all views in lifethan any wrong which can be inflicted by a depredator on thehighway, and to redress the injured party is much less in thepower of public jurisprudence, or rather it is entirely beyond itsreach. If any man chooses to rob Arthur Mervyn of the contents ofhis purse, supposing the said Arthur has not means of defence, orthe skill and courage to use them, the assizes at Lancaster orCarlisle will do him justice by tucking up the robber; yet whowill say I am bound to wait for this justice, and submit to beingplundered in the first instance, if I have myself the means andspirit to protect my own property? But if an affront is offered tome, submission under which is to tarnish my character for everwith men of honour, and for which the twelve judges of England, with the chancellor to boot, can afford me no redress, by whatrule of law or reason am I to be deterred from protecting whatought to be, and is, so infinitely dearer to every man of honourthan his whole fortune? Of the religious views of the matter Ishall say nothing, until I find a reverend divine who shallcondemn self-defence in the article of life and property. If itspropriety in that case be generally admitted, I suppose littledistinction can be drawn between defence of person and goods andprotection of reputation. That the latter is liable to be assailedby persons of a different rank in life, untainted perhaps inmorals, and fair in character, cannot affect my legal right ofself-defence. I may be sorry that circumstances have engaged me inpersonal strife with such an individual; but I should feel thesame sorrow for a generous enemy who fell under my sword in anational quarrel. I shall leave the question with the casuists, however; only observing, that what I have written will not availeither the professed duellist or him who is the aggressor in adispute of honour. I only presume to exculpate him who is draggedinto the field by such an offence as, submitted to in patience, would forfeit for ever his rank and estimation in society. 

'I am sorry you have thoughts of settling in Scotland, and yetglad that you will still be at no immeasurable distance, and thatthe latitude is all in our favour. To move to Westmoreland fromDevonshire might make an East-Indian shudder; but to come to usfrom Galloway or Dumfries-shire is a step, though a short one, nearer the sun. Besides, if, as I suspect, the estate in view beconnected with the old haunted castle in which you played theastrologer in your northern tour some twenty years since, I haveheard you too often describe the scene with comic unction to hopeyou will be deterred from making the purchase. I trust, however, the hospitable gossiping Laird h$s not run himself upon theshallows, and that his chaplain, whom you so often made us laughat, is still in rerum natura. 

'And here, dear Mannering, I wish I could stop, for I haveincredible pain in telling the rest of my story; although I amsure I can warn you against any intentional impropriety on thepart of my temporary ward, Julia Mannering. But I must still earnmy college nickname of Downright Dunstable. In one word, then, here is the matter. 

'Your daughter has much of the romantic turn of your disposition, with a little of that love of admiration which all pretty womenshare less or more. She will besides, apparently, be your heiress;a trifling circumstance to those who view Julia with my eyes, buta prevailing bait to the specious, artful, and worthless. You knowhow I have jested with her about her soft melancholy, and lonelywalks at morning before any one is up, and in the moonlight whenall should be gone to bed, or set down to cards, which is the samething. The incident which follows may not be beyond the bounds ofa joke, but I had rather the jest upon it came from you than me. 

'Two or three times during the last fortnight I heard, at a latehour in the night or very early in the morning, a flageolet playthe little Hindu tune to which your daughter is so partial. Ithought for some time that some tuneful domestic, whose taste formusic was laid under constraint during the day, chose that silenthour to imitate the strains which he had caught up by the earduring his attendance in the drawing-room. But last night I satlate in my study, which is immediately under Miss Mannering'sapartment, and to my surprise I not only heard the flageoletdistinctly, but satisfied myself that it came from the lake underthe window. Curious to know who serenaded us at that unusual hour, I stole softly to the window of my apartment. But there were otherwatchers than me. You may remember, Miss Mannering preferred thatapartment on account of a balcony which opened from her windowupon the lake. Well, sir, I heard the sash of her window thrownup, the shutters opened, and her own voice in conversation withsome person who answered from below. This is not "Much ado aboutnothing"; I could not be mistaken in her voice, and such tones, sosoft, so insinuating; and, to say the truth, the accents frombelow were in passion's tenderest cadence too, --but of the senseI can say nothing. I raised the sash of my own window that I mighthear something more than the mere murmur of this Spanishrendezvous; but, though I used every precaution, the noise alarmedthe speakers; down slid the young lady's casement, and theshutters were barred in an instant. The dash of a pair of oars inthe water announced the retreat of the male person of thedialogue. Indeed, I saw his boat, which he rowed with greatswiftness and dexterity, fly across the lake like a twelve-oaredbarge. Next morning I examined some of my domestics, as if byaccident, and I found the gamekeeper, when making his rounds, hadtwice seen that boat beneath the house, with a single person, andhad heard the flageolet. I did not care to press any fartherquestions, for fear of implicating Julia in the opinions of thoseof whom they might be asked. Next morning, at breakfast, I droppeda casual hint about the serenade of the evening before, and Ipromise you Miss Mannering looked red and pale alternately. Iimmediately gave the circumstance such a turn as might lead her tosuppose that my observation was merely casual. I have since causeda watch-light to be burnt in my library, and have left theshutters open, to deter the approach of our nocturnal guest; and Ihave stated the severity of approaching winter, and the rawness ofthe fogs, as an objection to solitary walks. Miss Manneringacquiesced with a passiveness which is no part of her character, and which, to tell you the plain truth, is a feature about thebusiness which I like least of all. Julia has too much of her owndear papa's disposition to be curbed in any of her humours, werethere not some little lurking consciousness that it may be asprudent to avoid debate. 

'Now my story is told, and you will judge what you ought to do. Ihave not mentioned the matter to my good woman, who, a faithfulsecretary to her sex's foibles, would certainly remonstrateagainst your being made acquainted with these particulars, andmight, instead, take it into her head to exercise her owneloquence on Miss Mannering; a faculty which, however powerfulwhen directed against me, its legitimate object, might, I fear, domore harm than good in the case supposed. Perhaps even youyourself will find it most prudent to act without remonstrating, or appearing to be aware of this little anecdote. Julia is verylike a certain friend of mine; she has a quick and livelyimagination, and keen feelings, which are apt to exaggerate boththe good and evil they find in life. She is a charming girl, however, as generous and spirited as she is lovely. I paid her thekiss you sent her with all my heart, and she rapped my ringers formy reward with all hers. Pray return as soon as you can. Meantimerely upon the care of, yours faithfully, 'ARTHUR MERVYN. 

'P. S. --You will naturally wish to know if I have the least guessconcerning the person of the serenader. In truth, I have none. There is no young gentleman of these parts, who might be in rankor fortune a match for Miss Julia, that I think at all likely toplay such a character. But on the other side of the lake, nearlyopposite to Mervyn Hall, is a d--d cake-house, the resort ofwalking gentlemen of all descriptions--poets, players, painters, musicians--who come to rave, and recite, and madden about thispicturesque land of ours. It is paying some penalty for itsbeauties, that they are the means of drawing this swarm ofcoxcombs together. But were Julia my daughter, it is one of thosesort of fellows that I should fear on her account. She is generousand romantic, and writes six sheets a week to a femalecorrespondent; and it's a sad thing to lack a subject in such acase, either for exercise of the feelings or of the pen. Adieu, once more. Were I to treat this matter more seriously than I havedone, I should do injustice to your feelings; were I altogether tooverlook it, I should discredit my own. '

The consequence of this letter was, that, having first despatchedthe faithless messenger with the necessary powers to Mr. Mac-Morlan for purchasing the estate of Ellangowan, Colonel Manneringturned his horse's head in a more southerly direction, and neither'stinted nor staid' until he arrived at the mansion of his friendMr. Mervyn, upon the banks of one of the lakes of Westmoreland. 

CHAPTER XVII

 Heaven first, in its mercy, taught mortals their letters, For ladies in limbo, and lovers in fetters, Or some author, who, placing his persons before ye, Ungallantly leaves them to write their own story. 

 POPE, imitated. 

When Mannering returned to England, his first object had been toplace his daughter in a seminary for female education, ofestablished character. Not, however, finding her progress in theaccomplishments which he wished her to acquire so rapid as hisimpatience expected, he had withdrawn Miss Mannering from theschool at the end of the first quarter. So she had only time toform an eternal friendship with Miss Matilda Marchmont, a younglady about her own age, which was nearly eighteen. To her faithfuleye were addressed those formidable quires which issued forth fromMervyn Hall on the wings of the post while Miss Mannering was aguest there. The perusal of a few short extracts from these may benecessary to render our story intelligible. 

FIRST EXTRACT

'Alas! my dearest Matilda, what a tale is mine to tell! Misfortunefrom the cradle has set her seal upon your unhappy friend. That weshould be severed for so slight a cause--an ungrammatical phrasein my Italian exercise, and three false notes in one ofPaisiello's sonatas! But it is a part of my father's character, ofwhom it is impossible to say whether I love, admire, or fear himthe most. His success in life and in war, his habit of makingevery obstacle yield before the energy of his exertions, evenwhere they seemed insurmountable--all these have given a hasty andperemptory cast to his character, which can neither endurecontradiction nor make allowance for deficiencies. Then he ishimself so very accomplished. Do you know, there was a murmur, half confirmed too by some mysterious words which dropped from mypoor mother, that he possesses other sciences, now lost to theworld, which enable the possessor to summon up before him the darkand shadowy forms of future events! Does not the very idea of sucha power, or even of the high talent and commanding intellect whichthe world may mistake for it, --does it not, dear Matilda, throw amysterious grandeur about its possessor? You will call thisromantic; but consider I was born in the land of talisman andspell, and my childhood lulled by tales which you can only enjoythrough the gauzy frippery of a French translation. O, Matilda, Iwish you could have seen the dusky visages of my Indianattendants, bending in earnest devotion round the magic narrative, that flowed, half poetry, half prose, from the lips of the tale-teller! No wonder that European fiction sounds cold and meagre, after the wonderful effects which I have seen the romances of theEast produce upon their hearers. '

SECOND EXTRACT

'You are possessed, my dear Matilda, of my bosom-secret, in thosesentiments with which I regard Brown. I will not say his memory; Iam convinced he lives, and is faithful. His addresses to me werecountenanced by my deceased parent, imprudently countenancedperhaps, considering the prejudices of my father in favour ofbirth and rank. But I, then almost a girl, could not be expectedsurely to be wiser than her under whose charge nature had placedme. My father, constantly engaged in military duty, I saw but atrare intervals, and was taught to look up to him with more awethan confidence. Would to Heaven it had been otherwise! It mighthave been better for us all at this day!'

THIRD EXTRACT

'You ask me why I do not make known to my father that Brown yetlives, at least that he survived the wound he received in thatunhappy duel, and had written to my mother expressing his entireconvalescence, and his hope of speedily escaping from captivity. Asoldier, that "in the trade of war has oft slain men, " feelsprobably no uneasiness at reflecting upon the supposed catastrophewhich almost turned me into stone. And should I show him thatletter, does it not follow that Brown, alive and maintaining withpertinacity the pretensions to the affections of your poor friendfor which my father formerly sought his life, would be a moreformidable disturber of Colonel Mannering's peace of mind than inhis supposed grave? If he escapes from the hands of thesemarauders, I am convinced he will soon be in England, and it willbe then time to consider how his existence is to be disclosed tomy father. But if, alas! my earnest and confident hope shouldbetray me, what would it avail to tear open a mystery fraught withso many painful recollections? My dear mother had such dread ofits being known, that I think she even suffered my father tosuspect that Brown's attentions were directed towards herself, rather than permit him to discover their real object; and O, Matilda, whatever respect I owe to the memory of a deceasedparent, let me do justice to a living one. I cannot but condemnthe dubious policy which she adopted, as unjust to my father, andhighly perilous to herself and me. But peace be with her ashes!her actions were guided by the heart rather than the head; andshall her daughter, who inherits all her weakness, be the first towithdraw the veil from her defects?'

FOURTH EXTRACT 'MERVYN HALL. 

'If India be the land of magic, this, my dearest Matilda, is thecountry of romance. The scenery is such as nature brings togetherin her sublimest moods-sounding cataracts--hills which rear theirscathed heads to the sky--lakes that, winding up the shadowyvalleys, lead at every turn to yet more romantic recesses--rockswhich catch the clouds of heaven. All the wildness of Salvatorhere, and there the fairy scenes of Claude. I am happy too infinding at least one object upon which my father can share myenthusiasm. An admirer of nature, both as an artist and a poet, Ihave experienced the utmost pleasure from the observations bywhich he explains the character and the effect of these brilliantspecimens of her power. I wish he would settle in this enchantingland. But his views lie still farther north, and he is at presentabsent on a tour in Scotland, looking, I believe, for somepurchase of land which may suit him as a residence. He is partial, from early recollections, to that country. So, my dearest Matilda, I must be yet farther removed from you before I am established ina home. And O how delighted shall I be when I can say, Come, Matilda, and be the guest of your faithful Julia!

'I am at present the inmate of Mr. And Mrs. Mervyn, old friends ofmy father. The latter is precisely a good sort of woman, ladylikeand housewifely; but for accomplishments or fancy--good lack, mydearest Matilda, your friend might as well seek sympathy from Mrs. Teach'em;--you see I have not forgot school nicknames. Mervyn is adifferent--quite a different being from my father, yet he amusesand endures me. He is fat and good-natured, gifted with strongshrewd sense and some powers of humour; but having been handsome, I suppose, in his youth, has still some pretension to be a beaugarcon, as well as an enthusiastic agriculturist. I delight tomake him scramble to the tops of eminences and to the foot ofwaterfalls, and am obliged in turn to admire his turnips, hislucerne, and his timothy grass. He thinks me, I fancy, a simpleromantic Miss, with some--the word will be out--beauty and somegood-nature; and I hold that the gentleman has good taste for thefemale outside, and do not expect he should comprehend mysentiments farther. So he rallies, hands, and hobbles (for thedear creature has got the gout too), and tells old stories of highlife, of which he has seen a great deal; and I listen, and smile, and look as pretty, as pleasant, and as simple as I can, and we dovery well. 

'But, alas! my dearest Matilda, how would time pass away, even inthis paradise of romance, tenanted as it is by a pair assorting soill with the scenes around them, were it not for your fidelity inreplying to my uninteresting details? Pray do not fail to writethree times a week at least; you can be at no loss what to say. '

FIFTH EXTRACT

'How shall I communicate what I have now to tell! My hand andheart still flutter so much, that the task of writing is almostimpossible! Did I not say that he lived? did I not say I would notdespair? How could you suggest, my dear Matilda, that my feelings, considering I had parted from him so young, rather arose from thewarmth of my imagination than of my heart? O I was sure that theywere genuine, deceitful as the dictates of our bosom so frequentlyare. But to my tale--let it be, my friend, the most sacred, as itis the most sincere, pledge of our friendship. 

'Our hours here are early--earlier than my heart, with its load ofcare, can compose itself to rest. I therefore usually take a bookfor an hour or two after retiring to my own room, which I think Ihave told you opens to a small balcony, looking down upon thatbeautiful lake of which I attempted to give you a slight sketch. Mervyn Hall, being partly an ancient building, and constructedwith a view to defence, is situated on the verge of the lake. Astone dropped from the projecting balcony plunges into water deepenough to float a skiff. I had left my window partly unbarred, that, before I went to bed, I might, according to my custom, lookout and see the moonlight shining upon the lake. I was deeplyengaged with that beautiful scene in the "Merchant of Venice"where two lovers, describing the stillness of a summer night, enhance on each other its charms, and was lost in the associationsof story and of feeling which it awakens, when I heard upon thelake the sound of a flageolet. I have told you it was Brown'sfavourite instrument. Who could touch it in a night which, thoughstill and serene, was too cold, and too late in the year, toinvite forth any wanderer for mere pleasure? I drew yet nearer thewindow, and hearkened with breathless attention; the sounds pauseda space, were then resumed, paused again, and again reached myear, ever coming nearer and nearer. At length I distinguishedplainly that little Hindu air which you called my favourite. Ihave told you by whom it was taught me; the instrument, the tones, were his own! Was it earthly music, or notes passing on the wind, to warn me of his death?

'It was some time ere I could summon courage to step on thebalcony; nothing could have emboldened me to do so but the strongconviction of my mind that he was still alive, and that we shouldagain meet; but that conviction did embolden me, and I ventured, though with a throbbing heart. There was a small skiff with asingle person. O, Matilda, it was himself! I knew his appearanceafter so long an absence, and through the shadow of the night, asperfectly as if we had parted yesterday, and met again in thebroad sunshine! He guided his boat under the balcony, and spoke tome; I hardly knew what he said, or what I replied. Indeed, I couldscarcely speak for weeping, but they were joyful tears. We weredisturbed by the barking of a dog at some distance, and parted, but not before he had conjured me to prepare to meet him at thesame place and hour this evening. 

'But where and to what is all this tending? Can I answer thisquestion? I cannot. Heaven, that saved him from death anddelivered him from captivity, that saved my father, too, fromshedding the blood of one who would not have blemished a hair ofhis head, that Heaven must guide me out of this labyrinth. Enoughfor me the firm resolution that Matilda shall not blush for herfriend, my father for his daughter, nor my lover for her on whomhe has fixed his affection. '

CHAPTER XVIII

 Talk with a man out of a window!--a proper saying. 

 Much Ado about Nothing. 

We must proceed with our extracts from Miss Mannering's letters, which throw light upon natural good sense, principle, andfeelings, blemished by an imperfect education and the folly of amisjudging mother, who called her husband in her heart a tyrantuntil she feared him as such, and read romances until she becameso enamoured of the complicated intrigues which they contain as toassume the management of a little family novel of her own, andconstitute her daughter, a girl of sixteen, the principal heroine. She delighted in petty mystery and intrigue and secrets, and yettrembled at the indignation which these paltry manoeuvres excitedin her husband's mind. Thus she frequently entered upon a schememerely for pleasure, or perhaps for the love of contradiction, plunged deeper into it than she was aware, endeavoured toextricate herself by new arts, or to cover her error bydissimulation, became involved in meshes of her own weaving, andwas forced to carry on, for fear of discovery, machinations whichshe had at first resorted to in mere wantonness. 

Fortunately the young man whom she so imprudently introduced intoher intimate society, and encouraged to look up to her daughter, had a fund of principle and honest pride which rendered him asafer intimate than Mrs. Mannering ought to have dared to hope orexpect. The obscurity of his birth could alone be objected to him;in every other respect, With prospects bright upon the world he came, Pure love of virtue, strong desire of fame, Men watched the way his lofty mind would take, And all foretold the progress he would make. 

But it could not be expected that he should resist the snare whichMrs. Mannering's imprudence threw in his way, or avoid becomingattached to a young lady whose beauty and manners might havejustified his passion, even in scenes where these are moregenerally met with than in a remote fortress in our Indiansettlements. The scenes which followed have been partly detailedin Mannering's letter to Mr. Mervyn; and to expand what is therestated into farther explanation would be to abuse the patience ofour readers. 

We shall therefore proceed with our promised extracts from MissMannering's letters to her friend. 

SIXTH EXTRACT

'I have seen him again, Matilda--seen him twice. I have used everyargument to convince him that this secret intercourse is dangerousto us both; I even pressed him to pursue his views of fortunewithout farther regard to me, and to consider my peace of mind assufficiently secured by the knowledge that he had not fallen undermy father's sword. He answers--but how can I detail all he has toanswer? He claims those hopes as his due which my mother permittedhim to entertain, and would persuade me to the madness of a unionwithout my father's sanction. But to this, Matilda, I will not bepersuaded. I have resisted, I have subdued, the rebelliousfeelings which arose to aid his plea; yet how to extricate myselffrom this unhappy labyrinth in which fate and folly have entangledus both!

'I have thought upon it, Matilda, till my head is almost giddy;nor can I conceive a better plan than to make a full confession tomy father. He deserves it, for his kindness is unceasing; and Ithink I have observed in his character, since I have studied itmore nearly, that his harsher feelings are chiefly excited wherehe suspects deceit or imposition; and in that respect, perhaps, his character was formerly misunderstood by one who was dear tohim. He has, too, a tinge of romance in his disposition; and Ihave seen the narrative of a generous action, a trait of heroism, or virtuous self-denial, extract tears from him which refused toflow at a tale of mere distress. But then Brown urges that he ispersonally hostile to him. And the obscurity of his birth, thatwould be indeed a stumbling-block. O, Matilda, I hope none of yourancestors ever fought at Poictiers or Agincourt! If it were notfor the veneration which my father attaches to the memory of oldSir Miles Mannering, I should make out my explanation with halfthe tremor which must now attend it. '

SEVENTH EXTRACT

'I have this instant received your letter--your most welcomeletter! Thanks, my dearest friend, for your sympathy and yourcounsels; I can only repay them with unbounded confidence. 

'You ask me what Brown is by origin, that his descent should be sounpleasing to my father. His story is shortly told. He is ofScottish extraction, but, being left an orphan, his education wasundertaken by a family of relations settled in Holland. He wasbred to commerce, and sent very early to one of our settlements inthe East, where his guardian had a correspondent. But thiscorrespondent was dead when he arrived in India, and he had noother resource than to offer himself as a clerk to a counting-house. The breaking out of the war, and the straits to which wewere at first reduced, threw the army open to all young men whowere disposed to embrace that mode of life; and Brown, whosegenius had a strong military tendency, was the first to leave whatmight have been the road to wealth, and to choose that of fame. The rest of his history is well known to you; but conceive theirritation of my father, who despises commerce (though, by theway, the best part of his property was made in that honourableprofession by my great-uncle), and has a particular antipathy tothe Dutch--think with what ear he would be likely to receiveproposals for his only child from Vanbeest Brown, educated forcharity by the house of Vanbeest and Vanbruggen! O, Matilda, itwill never do; nay, so childish am I, I hardly can helpsympathising with his aristocratic feelings. Mrs. Vanbeest Brown!The name has little to recommend it, to be sure. What children weare!'

EIGHTH EXTRACT

'It is all over now, Matilda! I shall never have courage to tellmy father; nay, most deeply do I fear he has already learned mysecret from another quarter, which will entirely remove the graceof my communication, and ruin whatever gleam of hope I hadventured to connect with it. Yesternight Brown came as usual, andhis flageolet on the lake announced his approach. We had agreedthat he should continue to use this signal. These romantic lakesattract numerous visitors, who indulge their enthusiasm invisiting the scenery at all hours, and we hoped that, if Brownwere noticed from the house, he might pass for one of thoseadmirers of nature, who was giving vent to his feelings throughthe medium of music. The sounds might also be my apology, should Ibe observed on the balcony. But last night, while I was eagerlyenforcing my plan of a full confession to my father, which he asearnestly deprecated, we heard the window of Mr. Mervyn's library, which is under my room, open softly. I signed to Brown to make hisretreat, and immediately reentered, with some faint hopes that ourinterview had not been observed. 

'But, alas! Matilda, these hopes vanished the instant I beheld Mr. Mervyn's countenance at breakfast the next morning. He looked soprovokingly intelligent and confidential, that, had I dared, Icould have been more angry than ever I was in my life; but I mustbe on good behaviour, and my walks are now limited within his farmprecincts, where the good gentleman can amble along by my sidewithout inconvenience. I have detected him once or twiceattempting to sound my thoughts, and watch the expression of mycountenance. He has talked of the flageolet more than once, andhas, at different times, made eulogiums upon the watchfulness andferocity of his dogs, and the regularity with which the keepermakes his rounds with a loaded fowling-piece. He mentioned evenman-traps and springguns. I should be loth to affront my father'sold friend in his own house; but I do long to show him that I ammy father's daughter, a fact of which Mr. Mervyn will certainly beconvinced if ever I trust my voice and temper with a reply tothese indirect hints. Of one thing I am certain--I am grateful tohim on that account--he has not told Mrs. Mervyn. Lord help me, Ishould have had such lectures about the dangers of love and thenight air on the lake, the risk arising from colds and fortune-hunters, the comfort and convenience of sack-whey and closedwindows! I cannot help trifling, Matilda, though my heart is sadenough. What Brown will do I cannot guess. I presume, however, thefear of detection prevents his resuming his nocturnal visits. Helodges at an inn on the opposite shore of the lake, under thename, he tells me, of Dawson; he has a bad choice in names, thatmust be allowed. He has not left the army, I believe, but he saysnothing of his present views, 'To complete my anxiety, my father is returned suddenly, and inhigh displeasure. Our good hostess, as I learned from a bustlingconversation between her housekeeper and her, had no expectationof seeing him for a week; but I rather suspect his arrival was nosurprise to his friend Mr. Mervyn. His manner to me was singularlycold and constrained, sufficiently so to have damped all thecourage with which I once resolved to throw myself on hisgenerosity. He lays the blame of his being discomposed and out ofhumour to the loss of a purchase in the south-west of Scotland onwhich he had set his heart; but I do not suspect his equanimity ofbeing so easily thrown off its balance. His first excursion waswith Mr. Mervyn's barge across the lake to the inn I havementioned. You may imagine the agony with which I waited hisreturn! Had he recognized Brown, who can guess the consequence! Hereturned, however, apparently without having made any discovery. Iunderstand that, in consequence of his late disappointment, hemeans now to hire a house in the neighbourhood of this sameEllangowan, of which I am doomed to hear so much; he seems tothink it probable that the estate for which he wishes may soon beagain in the market. I will not send away this letter until I hearmore distinctly what are his intentions. '

'I have now had an interview with my father, as confidential as, Ipresume, he means to allow me. He requested me to-day, afterbreakfast, to walk with him into the library; my knees, Matilda, shook under me, and it is no exaggeration to say I could scarcefollow him into the room. I feared I knew not what. From mychildhood I had seen all around him tremble at his frown. Hemotioned me to seat myself, and I never obeyed a command soreadily, for, in truth, I could hardly stand. He himself continuedto walk up and down the room. You have seen my father, andnoticed, I recollect, the remarkably expressive cast of hisfeatures. His eyes are naturally rather light in colour, butagitation or anger gives them a darker and more fiery glance; hehas a custom also of drawing in his lips when much moved, whichimplies a combat between native ardour of temper and the habitualpower of self-command. This was the first time we had been alonesince his return from Scotland, and, as he betrayed these tokensof agitation, I had little doubt that he was about to enter uponthe subject I most dreaded. 

'To my unutterable relief, I found I was mistaken, and that, whatever he knew of Mr. Mervyn's suspicions or discoveries, he didnot intend to converse with me on the topic. Coward as I was, Iwas inexpressibly relieved, though, if he had really investigatedthe reports which may have come to his ear, the reality could havebeen nothing to what his suspicions might have conceived. But, though my spirits rose high at my unexpected escape, I had notcourage myself to provoke the discussion, and remained silent toreceive his commands. 

'"Julia, " he said, "my agent writes me from Scotland that he hasbeen able to hire a house for me, decently furnished, and with thenecessary accommodation for my family; it is within three miles ofthat I had designed to purchase. " Then he made a pause, and seemedto expect an answer. 

'"Whatever place of residence suits you, sir, must be perfectlyagreeable to me. "

'"Umph! I do not propose, however, Julia, that you shall residequite alone in this house during the winter. "

'"Mr. And Mrs. Mervyn, " thought I to myself. --"Whatever companyis agreeable to you, sir, " I answered aloud. 

'"O, there is a little too much of this universal spirit ofsubmission, an excellent disposition in action, but yourconstantly repeating the jargon of it puts me in mind of theeternal salaams of our black dependents in the East. In short, Julia, I know you have a relish for society, and I intend toinvite a young person, the daughter of a deceased friend, to spenda few months with us. "

'"Not a governess, for the love of Heaven, papa!" exclaimed poorI, my fears at that moment totally getting the better of myprudence. 

'"No, not a governess, Miss Mannering, " replied the Colonel, somewhat sternly, "but a young lady from whose excellent example, bred as she has been in the school of adversity, I trust you maylearn the art to govern yourself. "

'To answer this was trenching upon too dangerous ground, so therewas a pause. 

'"Is the young lady a Scotchwoman, papa?"

'"Yes"--drily enough. 

'"Has she much of the accent, sir?"

'"Much of the devil!" answered my father hastily; "do you think Icare about a's and aa's, and i's and ee's, ? I tell you, Julia, Iam serious in the matter. You have a genius for friendship, thatis, for running up intimacies which you call such. " (Was not thisvery harshly said, Matilda?) "Now I wish to give you anopportunity at least to make one deserving friend, and therefore Ihave resolved that this young lady shall be a member of my familyfor some months, and I expect you will pay to her that attentionwhich is due to misfortune and virtue. "

'"Certainly, sir. Is my future friend red-haired?"

'He gave me one of his stern glances; you will say, perhaps, Ideserved it; but I think the deuce prompts me with teasingquestions on some occasions. 

'"She is as superior to you, my love, in personal appearance as inprudence and affection for her friends. "

'"Lord, papa, do you think that superiority a recommendation?Well, sir, but I see you are going to take all this too seriously;whatever the young lady may be, I am sure, being recommended byyou, she shall have no reason to complain of my want ofattention. " After a pause--"Has she any attendant? because youknow I must provide for her proper accommodation if she is withoutone. "

'"N--no--no, not properly an attendant; the chaplain who livedwith her father is a very good sort of man, and I believe I shallmake room for him in the house. "

"'Chaplain, papa? Lord bless us!"

'"Yes, Miss Mannering, chaplain; is there anything very new inthat word? Had we not a chaplain at the Residence, when we were inIndia?"

'"Yes, papa, but you was a commandant then. "

'"So I will be now, Miss Mannering, in my own family at least. "

'"Certainly, sir. But will he read us the Church of Englandservice?"

'The apparent simplicity with which I asked this question got thebetter of his gravity. "Come, Julia, " he said, "you are a sadgirl, but I gain nothing by scolding you. Of these two strangers, the young lady is one whom you cannot fail, I think, to love; theperson whom, for want of a better term, I called chaplain, is avery worthy, and somewhat ridiculous personage, who will neverfind out you laugh at him if you don't laugh very loud indeed. "

'"Dear papa, I am delighted with that part of his character. Butpray, is the house we are going to as pleasantly situated asthis?"

'"Not perhaps as much to your taste; there is no lake under thewindows, and you will be under the necessity of having all yourmusic within doors. "

'This last coup de main ended the keen encounter of our wits, foryou may believe, Matilda, it quelled all my courage to reply. 

'Yet my spirits, as perhaps will appear too manifest from thisdialogue, have risen insensibly, and, as it were, in spite ofmyself. Brown alive, and free, and in England! Embarrassment andanxiety I can and must endure. We leave this in two days for ournew residence. I shall not fail to let you know what I think ofthese Scotch inmates, whom I have but too much reason to believemy father means to quarter in his house as a brace of honourablespies; a sort of female Rozencrantz and reverend Guildenstern, onein tartan petticoats, the other in a cassock. What a contrast tothe society I would willingly have secured to myself! I shallwrite instantly on my arriving at our new place of abode, andacquaint my dearest Matilda with the farther fates of--her

'JULIA MANNERING. '

CHAPTER XIX

 Which sloping hills around inclose, Where many a beech and brown oak grows Beneath whose dark and branching bowers Its tides a far-fam'd river pours, By natures beauties taught to please, Sweet Tusculan of rural easel

 WARTON. 

Woodbourne, the habitation which Mannering, by Mr. Mac-Morlan'smediation, had hired for a season, was a large comfortablemansion, snugly situated beneath a hill covered with wood, whichshrouded the house upon the north and east; the front looked upona little lawn bordered by a grove of old trees; beyond were somearable fields, extending down to the river, which was seen fromthe windows of the house. A tolerable, though old-fashionedgarden, a well-stocked dove-cot, and the possession of anyquantity of ground which the convenience of the family mightrequire, rendered the place in every respect suitable, as theadvertisements have it, 'for the accommodation of a genteelfamily. '

Here, then, Mannering resolved, for some time at least, to set upthe staff of his rest. Though an East-Indian, he was not partialto an ostentatious display of wealth. In fact, he was too proud aman to be a vain one. He resolved, therefore, to place himselfupon the footing of a country gentleman of easy fortune, withoutassuming, or permitting his household to assume, any of the fastewhich then was considered as characteristic of a nabob. 

He had still his eye upon the purchase of Ellangowan, which Mac-Morlan conceived Mr. Glossin would be compelled to part with, assome of the creditors disputed his title to retain so large a partof the purchase-money in his own hands, and his power to pay itwas much questioned. In that case Mac-Morlan was assured he wouldreadily give up his bargain, if tempted with something above theprice which he had stipulated to pay. It may seem strange thatMannering was so much attached to a spot which he had only seenonce, and that for a short time, in early life. But thecircumstances which passed there had laid a strong hold on hisimagination. There seemed to be a fate which conjoined theremarkable passages of his own family history with those of theinhabitants of Ellangowan, and he felt a mysterious desire to callthe terrace his own from which he had read in the book of heaven afortune strangely accomplished in the person of the infant heir ofthat family, and corresponding so closely with one which had beenstrikingly fulfilled in his own. Besides, when once this thoughthad got possession of his imagination, he could not, without greatreluctance, brook the idea of his plan being defeated, and by afellow like Glossin. So pride came to the aid of fancy, and bothcombined to fortify his resolution to buy the estate if possible. 

Let us do Mannering justice. A desire to serve the distressed hadalso its share in determining him. He had considered the advantagewhich Julia might receive from the company of Lucy Bertram, whosegenuine prudence and good sense could so surely be relied upon. This idea had become much stronger since Mac-Morlan had confidedto him, under the solemn seal of secrecy, the whole of her conducttowards young Hazlewood. To propose to her to become an inmate inhis family, if distant from the scenes of her youth and the fewwhom she called friends, would have been less delicate; but atWoodbourne she might without difficulty be induced to become thevisitor of a season, without being depressed into the situation ofan humble companion. Lucy Bertram, with some hesitation, acceptedthe invitation to reside a few weeks with Miss Mannering. She felttoo well that, however the Colonel's delicacy might disguise thetruth, his principal motive was a generous desire to afford herhis countenance and protection, which his high connexions, andhigher character, were likely to render influential in theneighbourhood. 

About the same time the orphan girl received a letter from Mrs. Bertram, the relation to whom she had written, as cold andcomfortless as could well be imagined. It inclosed, indeed, asmall sum of money, but strongly recommended economy, and thatMiss Bertram should board herself in some quiet family, either atKippletringan or in the neighbourhood, assuring her that, thoughher own income was very scanty, she would not see her kinswomanwant. Miss Bertram shed some natural tears over this cold-heartedepistle; for in her mother's time this good lady had been a guestat Ellangowan for nearly three years, and it was only uponsucceeding to a property of about L400 a year that she had takenfarewell of that hospitable mansion, which otherwise might havehad the honour of sheltering her until the death of its owner. Lucy was strongly inclined to return the paltry donation, which, after some struggles with avarice, pride had extorted from the oldlady. But on consideration she contented herself with writing thatshe accepted it as a loan, which, she hoped in a short time torepay, and consulted her relative upon the invitation she hadreceived from Colonel and Miss Mannering. This time the answercame in course of post, so fearful was Mrs. Bertram that somefrivolous delicacy, or nonsense, as she termed it, might induceher cousin to reject such a promising offer, and thereby at thesame time to leave herself still a burden upon her relations. Lucy, therefore, had no alternative, unless she preferredcontinuing a burden upon the worthy Mac-Morlans, who were tooliberal to be rich. Those kinsfolk who formerly requested thefavour of her company had of late either silently, or withexpressions of resentment that she should have preferred Mac-Morlan's invitation to theirs, gradually withdrawn their notice. 

The fate of Dominie Sampson would have been deplorable had itdepended upon any one except Mannering, who was an admirer oforiginality, for a separation from Lucy Bertram would havecertainly broken his heart. Mac-Morlan had given a full account ofhis proceedings towards the daughter of his patron. The answer wasa request from Mannering to know whether the Dominie stillpossessed that admirable virtue of taciturnity by which he was sonotably distinguished at Ellangowan. Mac-Morlan replied in theaffirmative. 'Let Mr. Sampson know, ' said the Colonel's nextletter, 'that I shall want his assistance to catalogue and put inorder the library of my uncle, the bishop, which I have ordered tobe sent down by sea. I shall also want him to copy and arrangesome papers. Fix his salary at what you think befitting. Let thepoor man be properly dressed, and accompany his young lady toWoodbourne. '

Honest Mac-Morlan received this mandate with great joy, butpondered much upon executing that part of it which related tonewly attiring the worthy Dominie. He looked at him with ascrutinising eye, and it was but too plain that his presentgarments were daily waxing more deplorable. To give him money, andbid him go and furnish himself, would be only giving him the meansof making himself ridiculous; for when such a rare event arrivedto Mr. Sampson as the purchase of new garments, the additionswhich he made to his wardrobe by the guidance of his own tasteusually brought all the boys of the village after him for manydays. On the other hand, to bring a tailor to measure him, andsend home his clothes, as for a school-boy, would probably giveoffence. At length Mac-Morlan resolved to consult Miss Bertram, and request her interference. She assured him that, though shecould not pretend to superintend a gentleman's wardrobe, nothingwas more easy than to arrange the Dominie's. 

'At Ellangowan, ' she said, 'whenever my poor father thought anypart of the Dominie's dress wanted renewal, a servant was directedto enter his room by night, for he sleeps as fast as a dormouse, carry off the old vestment, and leave the new one; nor could anyone observe that the Dominie exhibited the least consciousness ofthe change put upon him on such occasions. '

Mac-Morlan, in conformity with Miss Bertram's advice, procured askilful artist, who, on looking at the Dominie attentively, undertook to make for him two suits of clothes, one black and oneraven-grey, and even engaged that they should fit him--as well atleast (so the tailor qualified his enterprise) as a man of such anout-of-the-way build could be fitted by merely human needles andshears. When this fashioner had accomplished his task, and thedresses were brought home, Mac-Morlan, judiciously resolving toaccomplish his purpose by degrees, withdrew that evening animportant part of his dress, and substituted the new article ofraiment in its stead. Perceiving that this passed totally withoutnotice, he next ventured on the waistcoat, and lastly on the coat. When fully metamorphosed, and arrayed for the first time in hislife in a decent dress, they did observe that the Dominie seemedto have some indistinct and embarrassing consciousness that achange had taken place on his outward man. Whenever they observedthis dubious expression gather upon his countenance, accompaniedwith a glance that fixed now upon the sleeve of his coat, now uponthe knees of his breeches, where he probably missed some antiquepatching and darning, which, being executed with blue thread upona black ground, had somewhat the effect of embroidery, they alwaystook care to turn his attention into some other channel, until hisgarments, 'by the aid of use, cleaved to their mould. ' The onlyremark he was ever known to make on the subject was, that 'the airof a town like Kippletringan seemed favourable unto wearingapparel, for he thought his coat looked almost as new as the firstday he put it on, which was when he went to stand trial for hislicense as a preacher. '

When the Dominie first heard the liberal proposal of ColonelMannering, he turned a jealous and doubtful glance towards MissBertram, as if he suspected that the project involved theirseparation; but when Mr. Mac-Morlan hastened to explain that shewould be a guest at Woodbourne for some time, he rubbed his hugehands together, and burst into a portentous sort of chuckle, likethat of the Afrite in the tale of 'The Caliph Vathek. ' After thisunusual explosion of satisfaction, he remained quite passive inall the rest of the transaction. 

It had been settled that Mr. And Mrs. Mac-Morlan should takepossession of the house a few days before Mannering's arrival, both to put everything in perfect order and to make thetransference of Miss Bertram's residence from their family to hisas easy and delicate as possible. Accordingly, in the beginning ofthe month of December the party were settled at Woodbourne. 

CHAPTER XX

 A gigantic genius fit to grapple with whole libraries

 --BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON

The appointed day arrived when the Colonel and Miss Mannering wereexpected at Woodbourne. The hour was fast approaching, and thelittle circle within doors had each their separate subjects ofanxiety. Mac-Morlan naturally desired to attach to himself thepatronage and countenance of a person of Mannering's wealth andconsequence. He was aware, from his knowledge of mankind, thatMannering, though generous and benevolent, had the foible ofexpecting and exacting a minute compliance with his directions. Hewas therefore racking his recollection to discover if everythinghad been arranged to meet the Colonel's wishes and instructions, and, under this uncertainty of mind, he traversed the house morethan once from the garret to the stables. Mrs. Mac-Morlan revolvedin a lesser orbit, comprehending the dining-parlour, housekeeper'sroom, and kitchen. She was only afraid that the dinner might bespoiled, to the discredit of her housewifely accomplishments. Eventhe usual passiveness of the Dominie was so far disturbed that hetwice went to the window which looked out upon the avenue, andtwice exclaimed, 'Why tarry the wheels of their chariot?' Lucy, the most quiet of the expectants, had her own melancholy thoughts. She was now about to be consigned to the charge, almost to thebenevolence, of strangers, with whose character, though hithertovery amiably, displayed, she was but imperfectly acquainted. Themoments, therefore, of suspense passed anxiously and heavily. 

At length the trampling of horses and the sound of wheels wereheard. The servants, who had already arrived, drew up in the hallto receive their master and mistress, with an importance andEMPRESSEMENT which to Lucy, who had never been accustomed tosociety, or witnessed what is called the manners of the great, hadsomething alarming. Mac-Morlan went to the door to receive themaster and mistress of the family, and in a few moments they werein the drawing-room. 

Mannering, who had travelled as usual on horseback, entered withhis daughter hanging upon his arm. She was of the middle size, orrather less, but formed with much elegance; piercing dark eyes, and jet-black hair of great length, corresponded with the vivacityand intelligence of features in which were blended a littlehaughtiness, and a little bashfulness, a great deal of shrewdness, and some power of humorous sarcasm. 'I shall not like her, ' wasthe result of Lucy Bertram's first glance; 'and yet; I ratherthink I shall, ' was the thought excited by the second. 

Miss Mannering was furred and mantled up to the throat against theseverity of the weather; the Colonel in his military great-coat. He bowed to Mrs. Mac-Morlan, whom his daughter also acknowledgedwith a fashionable courtesy, not dropped so low as at all toincommode her person. The Colonel then led his daughter up to MissBertram, and, taking the hand of the latter, with an air of greatkindness and almost paternal affection, he said, 'Julia, this isthe young lady whom I hope our good friends have prevailed on tohonour our house with a long visit. I shall be much gratifiedindeed if you can render Woodbourne as pleasant to Miss Bertram asEllangowan was to me when I first came as a wanderer into thiscountry. '

The young lady courtesied acquiescence, and took her new friend'shand. Mannering now turned his eye upon the Dominie, who had madebows since his entrance into the room, sprawling out his leg, andbending his back like an automaton, which continues to repeat thesame movement until the motion is stopt by the artist. 'My goodfriend, Mr. Sampson, ' said Mannering, introducing him to hisdaughter, and darting at the same time a reproving glance at thedamsel, notwithstanding he had himself some disposition to joinher too obvious inclination to risibility; 'this gentleman, Julia, is to put my books in order when they arrive, and I expect toderive great advantage from his extensive learning. '

'I am sure we are obliged to the gentleman, papa, and, to borrow aministerial mode of giving thanks, I shall never forget theextraordinary countenance he has been pleased to show us. But, Miss Bertram, ' continued she hastily, for her father's brows beganto darken, 'we have travelled a good way; will you permit me toretire before dinner?'

This intimation dispersed all the company save the Dominie, who, having no idea of dressing but when he was to rise, or ofundressing but when he meant to go to bed, remained by himself, chewing the cud of a mathematical demonstration, until the companyagain assembled in the drawing-room, and from thence adjourned tothe dining-parlour. 

When the day was concluded, Mannering took an opportunity to holda minute's conversation with his daughter in private. 

'How do you like your guests, Julia?'

'O, Miss Bertram of all things; but this is a most originalparson; why, dear sir, no human being will be able to look at himwithout laughing. '

' While he is under my roof, Julia, every one must learn to doso. '

'Lord, papa, the very footmen could not keep their gravity!'

'Then let them strip off my livery, ' said the Colonel, 'and laughat their leisure. Mr. Sampson is a man whom I esteem for hissimplicity and benevolence of character. '

'O, I am convinced of his generosity too, ' said this lively lady;'he cannot lift a spoonful of soup to his mouth without bestowinga share on everything round. '

'Julia, you are incorrigible; but remember I expect your mirth onthis subject to be under such restraint that it shall neitheroffend this worthy man's feelings nor those of Miss Bertram, whomay be more apt to feel upon his account than he on his own. Andso, goodnight, my dear; and recollect that, though Mr. Sampson hascertainly not sacrificed to the graces, there are many things inthis world more truly deserving of ridicule than eitherawkwardness of manners or simplicity of character. '

In a day or two Mr. And Mrs. Mac-Morlan left Woodbourne, aftertaking an affectionate farewell of their late guest. The householdwere now settled in their new quarters. The young ladies followedtheir studies and amusements together. Colonel Mannering wasagreeably surprised to find that Miss Bertram was well skilled inFrench and Italian, thanks to the assiduity of Dominie Sampson, whose labour had silently made him acquainted with most modern aswell as ancient languages. Of music she knew little or nothing, but her new friend undertook to give her lessons, in exchange forwhich she was to learn from Lucy the habit of walking, and the artof riding, and the courage necessary to defy the season. Manneringwas careful to substitute for their amusement in the evening suchbooks as might convey some solid instruction with entertainment, and, as he read aloud with great skill and taste, the winternights passed pleasantly away. 

Society was quickly formed where there were so many inducements. Most of the families of the neighbourhood visited ColonelMannering, and he was soon able to select from among them such asbest suited his taste and habits. Charles Hazlewood held adistinguished place in his favour, and was a frequent visitor, notwithout the consent and approbation of his parents; for there wasno knowing, they thought, what assiduous attention might produce, and the beautiful Miss Mannering, of high family, with an Indianfortune, was a prize worth looking after. Dazzled with such aprospect, they never considered the risk which had once been someobject of their apprehension, that his boyish and inconsideratefancy might form an attachment to the penniless Lucy Bertram, whohad nothing on earth to recommend her but a pretty face, goodbirth, and a most amiable disposition. Mannering was more prudent. He considered himself acting as Miss Bertram's guardian, and, while he did not think it incumbent upon him altogether to checkher intercourse with a young gentleman for whom, excepting inwealth, she was a match in every respect, he laid it under suchinsensible restraints as might prevent any engagement orECLAIRCISSEMENT taking place until the young man should have seena little more of life and of the world, and have attained that agewhen he might be considered as entitled to judge for himself inthe matter in which his happiness was chiefly interested. 

While these matters engaged the attention of the other members ofthe Woodbourne family, Dominie Sampson was occupied, body andsoul, in the arrangement of the late bishop's library, which hadbeen sent from Liverpool by sea, and conveyed by thirty or fortycarts from the sea-port at which it was landed. Sampson's joy atbeholding the ponderous contents of these chests arranged upon thefloor of the large apartment, from whence he was to transfer themto the shelves, baffles all description. He grinned like an ogre, swung his arms like the sails of a wind-mill, shouted 'Prodigious'till the roof rung to his raptures. 'He had never, ' he said, 'seenso many books together, except in the College Library'; and nowhis dignity and delight in being superintendent of the collectionraised him, in his own opinion, almost to the rank of theacademical librarian, whom he had always regarded as the greatestand happiest man on earth. Neither were his transports diminishedupon a hasty examination of the contents of these volumes. Some, indeed, of BELLES LETTRES, poems, plays, or memoirs he tossedindignantly aside, with the implied censure of'psha, 'or'frivolous'; but the greater and bulkier part of the collectionbore a very different character. The deceased prelate, a divine ofthe old and deeply-learned cast, had loaded his shelves withvolumes which displayed the antique and venerable attributes sohappily described by a modern poet:--

 That weight of wood, with leathern coat o'erlaid, Those ample clasps of solid metal made, The close-press'd leaves unoped for many an age, The dull red edging of the well-fill'd page, On the broad back the stubborn ridges roll'd, Where yet the title stands in tarnish'd gold. 

Books of theology and controversial divinity, commentaries, andpolyglots, sets of the Fathers, and sermons which might eachfurnish forth ten brief discourses of modern date, books ofscience, ancient and modern, classical authors in their best andrarest forms--such formed the late bishop's venerable library, andover such the eye of Dominie Sampson gloated with rapture. Heentered them in the catalogue in his best running hand, formingeach letter with the accuracy of a lover writing a valentine, andplaced each individually on the destined shelf with all thereverence which I have seen a lady pay to a jar of old china. Withall this zeal his labours advanced slowly. He often opened avolume when halfway up the library steps, fell upon someinteresting passage, and, without shifting his inconvenientposture, continued immersed in the fascinating perusal until theservant pulled him by the skirts to assure him that dinner waited. He then repaired to the parlour, bolted his food down hiscapacious throat in squares of three inches, answered ay and no atrandom to whatever question was asked at him, and again hurriedback to the library, as soon as his napkin was removed, andsometimes with it hanging round his neck like a pinafore;--

 How happily the days Of Thalaba went by!

And, having thus left the principal characters of our tale in asituation which, being sufficiently comfortable to themselves, is, of course, utterly uninteresting to the reader, we take up thehistory of a person who has as yet only been named, and who hasall the interest that uncertainty and misfortune can give. 

CHAPTER XXI

 What say'st thou, Wise One? that all powerful Love Can fortune's strong impediments remove, Nor is it strange that worth should wed to worth, The pride of genius with the pride of birth. 

 CRABBE. 

V. Brown--I will not give at full length his thrice unhappy name--had been from infancy a ball for fortune to spurn at; but naturehad given him that elasticity of mind which rises higher from therebound. His form was tall, manly, and active, and his featurescorresponded with his person; for, although far from regular, theyhad an expression of intelligence and good-humour, and when hespoke, or was particularly animated, might be decidedly pronouncedinteresting. His manner indicated the military profession, whichhad been his choice, and in which he had now attained the rank ofcaptain, the person who succeeded Colonel Mannering in his commandhaving laboured to repair the injustice which Brown had sustainedby that gentleman's prejudice against him. But this, as well ashis liberation from captivity, had taken place after Manneringleft India. Brown followed at no distant period, his regimentbeing recalled home. His first inquiry was after the family ofMannering, and, easily learning their route northward, he followedit with the purpose of resuming his addresses to Julia. With herfather he deemed he had no measures to keep; for, ignorant of themore venomous belief which had been instilled into the Colonel'smind, he regarded him as an oppressive aristocrat, who had usedhis power as a commanding officer to deprive him of the prefermentdue to his behaviour, and who had forced upon him a personalquarrel without any better reason than his attentions to a prettyyoung woman, agreeable to herself, and permitted and countenancedby her mother. He was determined, therefore, to take no rejectionunless from the young lady herself, believing that the heavymisfortunes of his painful wound and imprisonment were directinjuries received from the father, which might dispense with hisusing much ceremony towards him. How far his scheme had succeededwhen his nocturnal visit was discovered by Mr. Mervyn, our readersare already informed. 

Upon this unpleasant occurrence Captain Brown absented himselffrom the inn in which he had resided under the name of Dawson, sothat Colonel Mannering's attempts to discover and trace him wereunavailing. He resolved, however, that no difficulties shouldprevent his continuing his enterprise while Julia left him a rayof hope. The interest he had secured in her bosom was such as shehad been unable to conceal from him, and with all the courage ofromantic gallantry he determined upon perseverance. But we believethe reader will be as well pleased to learn his mode of thinkingand intention from his own communication to his special friend andconfidant, Captain Delaserre, a Swiss gentleman who had a companyin his regiment. 

EXTRACT

'Let me hear from you soon, dear Delaserre. Remember, I can learnnothing about regimental affairs but through your friendly medium, and I long to know what has become of Ayre's court-martial, andwhether Elliot gets the majority; also how recruiting comes on, and how the young officers like the mess. Of our kind friend theLieutenant-Colonel I need ask nothing; I saw him as I passedthrough Nottingham, happy in the bosom of his family. What ahappiness it is, Philip, for us poor devils, that we have a littleresting-place between the camp and the grave, if we can manage toescape disease, and steel, and lead, and the effects of hardliving. A retired old soldier is always a graceful and respectedcharacter. He grumbles a little now and then, but then his islicensed murmuring; were a lawyer, or a physician, or a clergymanto breathe a complaint of hard luck or want of preferment, ahundred tongues would blame his own incapacity as the cause. Butthe most stupid veteran that ever faltered out the thrice-toldtale of a siege and a battle, and a cock and a bottle, is listenedto with sympathy and reverence when he shakes his thin locks andtalks with indignation of the boys that are put over his head. Andyou and I, Delaserre, foreigners both--for what am I the betterthat I was originally a Scotchman, since, could I prove mydescent, the English would hardly acknowledge me a countryman?--wemay boast that we have fought out our preferment, and gained thatby the sword which we had not money to compass otherwise. TheEnglish are a wise people. While they praise themselves, andaffect to undervalue all other nations, they leave us, luckily, trap-doors and back-doors open, by which we strangers, lessfavoured by nature, may arrive at a share of their advantages. Andthus they are in some respects like a boastful landlord, whoexalts the value and flavour of his six-years-old mutton, while heis delighted to dispense a share of it to all the company. Inshort, you, whose proud family, and I, whose hard fate, made ussoldiers of fortune, have the pleasant recollection that in theBritish service, stop where we may upon our career, it is only forwant of money to pay the turnpike, and not from our beingprohibited to travel the road. If, therefore, you can persuadelittle Weischel to come into OURS, for God's sake let him buy theensigncy, live prudently, mind his duty, and trust to the fatesfor promotion. 

'And now, I hope you are expiring with curiosity to learn the endof my romance. I told you I had deemed it convenient to make a fewdays' tour on foot among the mountains of Westmoreland withDudley, a young English artist with whom I have formed someacquaintance. A fine fellow this, you must know, Delaserre: hepaints tolerably, draws beautifully, converses well, and playscharmingly on the flute; and, though thus well entitled to be acoxcomb of talent, is, in fact, a modest unpretending young man. On our return from our little tour I learned that the enemy hadbeen reconnoitring. Mr. Mervyn's barge had crossed the lake, I wasinformed by my landlord, with the squire himself and a visitor. 

'"What sort of person, landlord?"

'"Why, he was a dark officer-looking mon, at they called Colonel. Squoire Mervyn questioned me as close as I had been at 'sizes. Ihad guess, Mr. Dawson"(I told you that was my feigned name), "butI tould him nought of your vagaries, and going out a-laking in themere a-noights, not I; an I can make no sport, I'se spoil none;and Squoire Mervyn's as cross as poy-crust too, mon; he's ayemaundering an my guests but land beneath his house, though it bemarked for the fourth station in the survey. Noa, noa, e'en let unsmell things out o' themselves for Joe Hodges. "

'You will allow there was nothing for it after this but payinghonest Joe Hodges's bill and departing, unless I had preferredmaking him my confidant, for which I felt in no way inclined. Besides, I learned that our ci-devant Colonel was on full retreatfor Scotland, carrying off poor Julia along with him. I understandfrom those who conduct the heavy baggage that he takes his winterquarters at a place called Woodbourne, in ---shire in Scotland. He will be all on the alert just now, so I must let him enter hisentrenchments without any new alarm. And then, my good Colonel, towhom I owe so many grateful thanks, pray look to your defence. 

'I protest to you, Delaserre, I often think there is a littlecontradiction enters into the ardour of my pursuit. I think Iwould rather bring this haughty insulting man to the necessity ofcalling his daughter Mrs. Brown than I would wed her with his fullconsent, and with the King's permission to change my name for thestyle and arms of Mannering, though his whole fortune went withthem. There is only one circumstance that chills me a little:Julia is young and romantic. I would not willingly hurry her intoa step which her riper years might disapprove; no--nor would Ilike to have her upbraid me, were it but with a glance of her eye, with having ruined her fortunes, far less give her reason to say, as some have not been slow to tell their lords, that, had I lefther time for consideration, she would have been wiser and donebetter. No, Delaserre, this must not be. The picture presses closeupon me, because I am aware a girl in Julia's situation has nodistinct and precise idea of the value of the sacrifice she makes. She knows difficulties only by name; and, if she thinks of loveand a farm, it is a ferme ornee, such as is only to be found inpoetic description or in the park of a gentleman of twelvethousand a year. She would be ill prepared for the privations ofthat real Swiss cottage we have so often talked of, and for thedifficulties which must necessarily surround us even before weattained that haven. This must be a point clearly ascertained. Although Julia's beauty and playful tenderness have made animpression on my heart never to be erased, I must be satisfiedthat she perfectly understands the advantages she foregoes beforeshe sacrifices them for my sake. 

'Am I too proud, Delaserre, when I trust that even this trial mayterminate favourably to my wishes? Am I too vain when I supposethat the few personal qualities which I possess, with means ofcompetence, however moderate, and the determination ofconsecrating my life to her happiness, may make amends for all Imust call upon her to forego? Or will a difference of dress, ofattendance, of style, as it is called, of the power of shifting atpleasure the scenes in which she seeks amusement--will theseoutweigh in her estimation the prospect of domestic happiness andthe interchange of unabating affection? I say nothing of herfather: his good and evil qualities are so strangely mingled thatthe former are neutralised by the latter; and that which she mustregret as a daughter is so much blended with what she would gladlyescape from, that I place the separation of the father and childas a circumstance which weighs little in her remarkable case. Meantime I keep up my spirits as I may. I have incurred too manyhardships and difficulties to be presumptuous or confident insuccess, and I have been too often and too wonderfully extricatedfrom them to be despondent. 

'I wish you saw this country. I think the scenery would delightyou. At least it often brings to my recollection your glowingdescriptions of your native country. To me it has in a greatmeasure the charm of novelty. Of the Scottish hills, though bornamong them, as I have always been assured, I have but anindistinct recollection. Indeed, my memory rather dwells upon theblank which my youthful mind experienced in gazing on the levelsof the isle of Zealand, than on anything which preceded thatfeeling; but I am confident, from that sensation as well as fromthe recollections which preceded it, that hills and rocks havebeen familiar to me at an early period, and that, though now onlyremembered by contrast, and by the blank which I felt while gazingaround for them in vain, they must have made an indelibleimpression on my infant imagination. I remember, when we firstmounted that celebrated pass in the Mysore country, while most ofthe others felt only awe and astonishment at the height andgrandeur of the scenery, I rather shared your feelings and thoseof Cameron, whose admiration of such wild rocks was blended withfamiliar love, derived from early association. Despite my Dutcheducation, a blue hill to me is as a friend, and a roaring torrentlike the sound of a domestic song that hath soothed my infancy. Inever felt the impulse so strongly as in this land of lakes andmountains, and nothing grieves me so much as that duty preventsyour being with me in my numerous excursions among recesses. Somedrawings I have attempted, but I succeed vilely. Dudley, on thecontrary, draws delightfully, with that rapid touch which seemslike magic; while I labour and botch, and make this too heavy andthat too light, and produce at last a base caricature. I muststick to the flageolet, for music is the only one of the fine artswhich deigns to acknowledge me. 

'Did you know that Colonel Mannering was a draughtsman? I believenot, for he scorned to display his accomplishments to the view ofa subaltern. He draws beautifully, however. Since he and Julialeft Mervyn Hall, Dudley was sent for there. The squire, it seems, wanted a set of drawings made up, of which Mannering had done thefirst four, but was interrupted by his hasty departure in hispurpose of completing them. Dudley says he has seldom seenanything so masterly, though slight; and each had attached to it ashort poetical description. Is Saul, you will say, among theprophets? Colonel Mannering write poetry! Why, surely this manmust have taken all the pains to conceal his accomplishments thatothers do to display theirs. How reserved and unsociable heappeared among us! how little disposed to enter into anyconversation which could become generally interesting! And thenhis attachment to that unworthy Archer, so much below him in everyrespect; and all this because he was the brother of ViscountArcherfield, a poor Scottish peer! I think, if Archer had longersurvived the wounds in the affair of Cuddyboram, he would havetold something that might have thrown light upon theinconsistencies of this singular man's character. He repeated tome more than once, "I have that to say which will alter your hardopinion of our late Colonel. " But death pressed him too hard; andif he owed me any atonement, which some of his expressions seemedto imply, he died before it could be made. 

'I propose to make a further excursion through this country whilethis fine frosty weather serves, and Dudley, almost as good awalker as myself, goes with me for some part of the way. We parton the borders of Cumberland, when he must return to his lodgingsin Marybone, up three pair of stairs, and labour at what he callsthe commercial part of his profession. There cannot, he says, besuch a difference betwixt any two portions of existence as betweenthat in which the artist, if an enthusiast, collects the subjectsof his drawings and that which must necessarily be dedicated toturning over his portfolio and exhibiting them to the provokingindifference, or more provoking criticism, of fashionableamateurs. "During the summer of my year, " says Dudley, "I am asfree as a wild Indian, enjoying myself at liberty amid thegrandest scenes of nature; while during my winters and springs Iam not only cabined, cribbed, and confined in a miserable garret, but condemned to as intolerable subservience to the humour ofothers, and to as indifferent company, as if I were a literalgalley slave. " I have promised him your acquaintance, Delaserre;you will be delighted with his specimens of art, and he with yourSwiss fanaticism for mountains and torrents. 

'When I lose Dudley's company, I am informed that I can easilyenter Scotland by stretching across a wild country in the upperpart of Cumberland; and that route I shall follow, to give theColonel time to pitch his camp ere I reconnoitre his position. Adieu! Delaserre. I shall hardly find another opportunity ofwriting till I reach Scotland. '

CHAPTER XXII

 Jog on, jog on, the footpath way, And merrily bend the stile-a, A merry heart goes all the day, A sad one tires in a mile-a. 

 --Winter's Tale. 

Let the reader conceive to himself a clear frosty Novembermorning, the scene an open heath, having for the background thathuge chain of mountains in which Skiddaw and Saddleback arepreeminent; let him look along that BLIND ROAD, by which I meanthe track so slightly marked by the passengers' footsteps that itcan but be traced by a slight shade of verdure from the darkerheath around it, and, being only visible to the eye when at somedistance, ceases to be distinguished while the foot is actuallytreading it; along this faintly-traced path advances the object ofour present narrative. His firm step, his erect and free carriage, have a military air which corresponds well with his well-proportioned limbs and stature of six feet high. His dress is soplain and simple that it indicates nothing as to rank; it may bethat of a gentleman who travels in this manner for his pleasure, or of an inferior person of whom it is the proper and usual garb. Nothing can be on a more reduced scale than his travellingequipment. A volume of Shakspeare in each pocket, a small bundlewith a change of linen slung across his shoulders, an oaken cudgelin his hand, complete our pedestrian's accommodations, and in thisequipage we present him to our readers. 

Brown had parted that morning from his friend Dudley, and begunhis solitary walk towards Scotland. 

The first two or three miles were rather melancholy, from want ofthe society to which he had of late been accustomed. But thisunusual mood of mind soon gave way to the influence of his naturalgood spirits, excited by the exercise and the bracing effects ofthe frosty air. He whistled as he went along, not 'from want ofthought, ' but to give vent to those buoyant feelings which he hadno other mode of expressing. For each peasant whom he chanced tomeet he had a kind greeting or a good-humoured jest; the hardyCumbrians grinned as they passed, and said, 'That's a kind heart, God bless un!' and the market-girl looked more than once over hershoulder at the athletic form, which corresponded so well with thefrank and blythe address of the stranger. A rough terrier dog, hisconstant companion, who rivalled his master in glee, scampered atlarge in a thousand wheels round the heath, and came back to jumpup on him and assure him that he participated in the pleasure ofthe journey. Dr. Johnson thought life had few things better thanthe excitation produced by being whirled rapidly along in a post-chaise; but he who has in youth experienced the confident andindependent feeling of a stout pedestrian in an interestingcountry, and during fine weather, will hold the taste of the greatmoralist cheap in comparison. 

Part of Brown's view in choosing that unusual track which leadsthrough the eastern wilds of Cumberland into Scotland, had been adesire to view the remains of the celebrated Roman Wall, which aremore visible in that direction than in any other part of itsextent. His education had been imperfect and desultory; butneither the busy scenes in which he had been engaged, nor thepleasures of youth, nor the precarious state of his owncircumstances, had diverted him from the task of mentalimprovement. 'And this then is the Roman Wall, ' he said, scrambling up to a height which commanded the course of thatcelebrated work of antiquity. 'What a people! whose labours, evenat this extremity of their empire, comprehended such space, andwere executed upon a scale of such grandeur! In future ages, whenthe science of war shall have changed, how few traces will existof the labours of Vauban and Coehorn, while this wonderfulpeople's remains will even then continue to interest and astonishposterity! Their fortifications, their aqueducts, their theatres, their fountains, all their public works, bear the grave, solid, and majestic character of their language; while our modernlabours, like our modern tongues, seem but constructed out oftheir fragments. ' Having thus moralised, he remembered that he washungry, and pursued his walk to a small public-house, at which heproposed to get some refreshment. 

The alehouse, for it was no better, was situated in the bottom ofa little dell, through which trilled a small rivulet. It wasshaded by a large ash tree, against which the clay-built shed thatserved the purpose of a stable was erected, and upon which itseemed partly to recline. In this shed stood a saddled horse, employed in eating his corn. The cottages in this part ofCumberland partake of the rudeness which characterises those ofScotland. The outside of the house promised little for theinterior, notwithstanding the vaunt of a sign, where a tankard ofale voluntarily decanted itself into a tumbler, and ahieroglyphical scrawl below attempted to express a promise of'good entertainment for man and horse. ' Brown was no fastidioustraveller: he stopped and entered the cabaret. [Footnote: See Note2. ]

The first object which caught his eye in the kitchen was a tall, stout, country-looking man in a large jockey great-coat, the ownerof the horse which stood in the shed, who was busy discussing hugeslices of cold boiled beef, and casting from time to time an eyethrough the window to see how his steed sped with his provender. Alarge tankard of ale flanked his plate of victuals, to which heapplied himself by intervals. The good woman of the house wasemployed in baking. The fire, as is usual in that country, was ona stone hearth, in the midst of an immensely large chimney, whichhad two seats extended beneath the vent. On one of these sat aremarkably tall woman, in a red cloak and slouched bonnet, havingthe appearance of a tinker or beggar. She was busily engaged witha short black tobacco-pipe. 

At the request of Brown for some food, the landlady wiped with hermealy apron one corner of the deal table, placed a wooden trencherand knife and fork before the traveller, pointed to the round ofbeef, recommended Mr. Dinmont's good example, and finally filled abrown pitcher with her home-brewed. Brown lost no time in doingample credit to both. For a while his opposite neighbour and hewere too busy to take much notice of each other, except by a good-humoured nod as each in turn raised the tankard to his head. Atlength, when our pedestrian began to supply the wants of littleWasp, the Scotch store-farmer, for such was Mr. Dinmont, foundhimself at leisure to enter into conversation. 

'A bonny terrier that, sir, and a fell chield at the vermin, Iwarrant him; that is, if he's been weel entered, for it a' lies inthat. '

'Really, sir, ' said Brown, 'his education has been somewhatneglected, and his chief property is being a pleasant companion. '

'Ay, sir? that's a pity, begging your pardon, it's a great pitythat; beast or body, education should aye be minded. I have sixterriers at hame, forbye twa couple of slow-hunds, five grews, anda wheen other dogs. There's auld Pepper and auld Mustard, andyoung Pepper and young Mustard, and little Pepper and littleMustard. I had them a' regularly entered, first wi' rottens, thenwi' stots or weasels, and then wi' the tods and brocks, and nowthey fear naething that ever cam wi' a hairy skin on't. '

'I have no doubt, sir, they are thoroughbred; but, to have so manydogs, you seem to have a very limited variety of names for them?'

'O, that's a fancy of my ain to mark the breed, sir. The Deukehimsell has sent as far as Charlie's Hope to get ane o' DandyDinmont's Pepper and Mustard terriers. Lord, man, he sent TamHudson [Footnote: The real name of this veteran sportsman is nowrestored. ] the keeper, and sicken a day as we had wi' the foumartsand the tods, and sicken a blythe gae-down as we had again e'en!Faith, that was a night!'

'I suppose game is very plenty with you?'

'Plenty, man! I believe there's mair hares than sheep on my farm;and for the moor-fowl or the grey-fowl, they lie as thick as doosin a dookit. Did ye ever shoot a blackcock, man?'

'Really I had never even the pleasure to see one, except in themuseum at Keswick. '

'There now! I could guess that by your Southland tongue. It's veryodd of these English folk that come here, how few of them has seena blackcock! I'll tell you what--ye seem to be an honest lad, andif you'll call on me, on Dandy Dinmont, at Charlie's Hope, yeshall see a blackcock, and shoot a blackcock, and eat a blackcocktoo, man. '

'Why, the proof of the matter is the eating, to be sure, sir; andI shall be happy if I can find time to accept your invitation. '

'Time, man? what ails ye to gae hame wi' me the now? How d' yetravel?'

'On foot, sir; and if that handsome pony be yours, I should findit impossible to keep up with you. '

'No, unless ye can walk up to fourteen mile an hour. But ye cancome ower the night as far as Riccarton, where there is a public;or if ye like to stop at Jockey Grieve's at the Heuch, they wouldbe blythe to see ye, and I am just gaun to stop and drink a dramat the door wi' him, and I would tell him you're coming up. Orstay--gudewife, could ye lend this gentleman the gudeman'sgalloway, and I'll send it ower the Waste in the morning wi' thecallant?'

The galloway was turned out upon the fell, and was swear tocatch. --'Aweel, aweel, there's nae help for't, but come up themorn at ony rate. And now, gudewife, I maun ride, to get to theLiddel or it be dark, for your Waste has but a kittle character, ye ken yoursell. '

'Hout fie, Mr. Dinmont, that's no like you, to gie the country anill name. I wot, there has been nane stirred in the Waste sinceSawney Culloch, the travelling-merchant, that Rowley Overdees andJock Penny suffered for at Carlisle twa years since. There's noane in Bewcastle would do the like o' that now; we be a' true folknow. '

'Ay, Tib, that will be when the deil's blind; and his een's nosair yet. But hear ye, gudewife, I have been through maist feck o'Galloway and Dumfries-shire, and I have been round by Carlisle, and I was at the Staneshiebank Fair the day, and I would like illto be rubbit sae near hame, so I'll take the gate. '

'Hae ye been in Dumfries and Galloway?' said the old dame who satesmoking by the fireside, and who had not yet spoken a word. 

'Troth have I, gudewife, and a weary round I've had o't. '

'Then ye'll maybe ken a place they ca' Ellangowan?'

'Ellangowan, that was Mr. Bertram's? I ken the place weel eneugh. The Laird died about a fortnight since, as I heard. '

'Died!' said the old woman, dropping her pipe, and rising andcoming forward upon the floor--'died? are you sure of that?'

'Troth, am I, ' said Dinmont, 'for it made nae sma' noise in thecountry-side. He died just at the roup of the stocking andfurniture; it stoppit the roup, and mony folk were disappointed. They said he was the last of an auld family too, and mony weresorry; for gude blude's scarcer in Scotland than it has been. '

'Dead!' replied the old woman, whom our readers have alreadyrecognised as their acquaintance Meg Merrilies--'dead! that quitsa' scores. And did ye say he died without an heir?'

'Ay did he, gudewife, and the estate's sell'd by the same token;for they said they couldna have sell'd it if there had been anheir-male. '

'Sell'd!' echoed the gipsy, with something like a scream; 'and whadurst buy Ellangowan that was not of Bertram's blude? and whacould tell whether the bonny knave-bairn may not come back toclaim his ain? wha durst buy the estate and the castle ofEllangowan?'

'Troth, gudewife, just ane o' thae writer chields that buys a'thing; they ca' him Glossin, I think. '

'Glossin! Gibbie Glossin! that I have carried in my creels ahundred times, for his mother wasna muckle better than mysell--heto presume to buy the barony of Ellangowan! Gude be wi' us; it isan awfu' warld! I wished him ill; but no sic a downfa' as a' thatneither. Wae's me! wae's me to think o't!' She remained a momentsilent but still opposing with her hand the farmer's retreat, whobetwixt every question was about to turn his back, but good-humouredly stopped on observing the deep interest his answersappeared to excite. 

'It will be seen and heard of--earth and sea will not hold theirpeace langer! Can ye say if the same man be now the sheriff of thecounty that has been sae for some years past?'

'Na, he's got some other birth in Edinburgh, they say; but gudeday, gudewife, I maun ride. ' She followed him to his horse, and, while he drew the girths of his saddle, adjusted the walise, andput on the bridle, still plied him with questions concerning Mr. Bertram's death and the fate of his daughter; on which, however, she could obtain little information from the honest farmer. 

'Did ye ever see a place they ca' Derncleugh, about a mile fraethe Place of Ellangowan?'

'I wot weel have I, gudewife. A wild-looking den it is, wi' a whinauld wa's o' shealings yonder; I saw it when I gaed ower theground wi' ane that wanted to take the farm. '

'It was a blythe bit ance!' said Meg, speaking to herself. 'Did yenotice if there was an auld saugh tree that's maist blawn down, but yet its roots are in the earth, and it hangs ower the bitburn? Mony a day hae I wrought my stocking and sat on my sunkieunder that saugh. '

'Hout, deil's i' the wife, wi' her saughs, and her sunkies, andEllangowans. Godsake, woman, let me away; there's saxpence t' yeto buy half a mutchkin, instead o' clavering about thae auld-warldstories. '

'Thanks to ye, gudeman; and now ye hae answered a' my questions, and never speired wherefore I asked them, I'll gie you a bit cannyadvice, and ye maunna speir what for neither. Tib Mumps will beout wi' the stirrup-dram in a gliffing. She'll ask ye whether yegang ower Willie's Brae or through Conscowthart Moss; tell her onyane ye like, but be sure (speaking low and emphatically) to takthe ane ye dinna tell her. ' The farmer laughed and promised, andthe gipsy retreated. 

'Will you take her advice?' said Brown, who had been an attentivelistener to this conversation. 

'That will I no, the randy quean! Na, I had far rather Tib Mumpskenn'd which way I was gaun than her, though Tib's no muckle tolippen to neither, and I would advise ye on no account to stay inthe house a' night. '

In a moment after Tib, the landlady, appeared with her stirrup-cup, which was taken off. She then, as Meg had predicted, inquiredwhether he went the hill or the moss road. He answered, thelatter; and, having bid Brown good-bye, and again told him, 'hedepended on seeing him at Charlie's Hope, the morn at latest, ' herode off at a round pace. 

CHAPTER XXIII

 Gallows and knock are too powerful on the highway

 --Winter's Tale. 

The hint of the hospitable farmer was not lost on Brown. But whilehe paid his reckoning he could not avoid repeatedly fixing hiseyes on Meg Merrilies. She was in all respects the same witch-likefigure as when we first introduced her at Ellangowan Place. Timehad grizzled her raven locks and added wrinkles to her wildfeatures, but her height remained erect, and her activity wasunimpaired. It was remarked of this woman, as of others of thesame description, that a life of action, though not of labour, gave her the perfect command of her limbs and figure, so that theattitudes into which she most naturally threw herself were free, unconstrained, and picturesque. At present she stood by the windowof the cottage, her person drawn up so as to show to fulladvantage her masculine stature, and her head somewhat thrownback, that the large bonnet with which her face was shrouded mightnot interrupt her steady gaze at Brown. At every gesture he madeand every tone he uttered she seemed to give an almostimperceptible start. On his part, he was surprised to find that hecould not look upon this singular figure without some emotion. 'Have I dreamed of such a figure?' he said to himself, 'or doesthis wild and singular-looking woman recall to my recollectionsome of the strange figures I have seen in our Indian pagodas?'

While he embarrassed himself with these discussions, and thehostess was engaged in rummaging out silver in change of half-a-guinea, the gipsy suddenly made two strides and seized Brown'shand. He expected, of course, a display of her skill in palmistry, but she seemed agitated by other feelings. 

'Tell me, ' she said, 'tell me, in the name of God, young man, whatis your name, and whence you came?'

'My name is Brown, mother, and I come from the East Indies. '

'From the East Indies!' dropping his hand with a sigh; 'it cannotbe then. I am such an auld fool, that everything I look on seemsthe thing I want maist to see. But the East Indies! that cannotbe. Weel, be what ye will, ye hae a face and a tongue that puts mein mind of auld times. Good day; make haste on your road, and ifye see ony of our folk, meddle not and make not, and they'll doyou nae harm. '

Brown, who had by this time received his change, put a shillinginto her hand, bade his hostess farewell, and, taking the routewhich the farmer had gone before, walked briskly on, with theadvantage of being guided by the fresh hoof-prints of his horse. Meg Merrilies looked after him for some time, and then muttered toherself, 'I maun see that lad again; and I maun gang back toEllangowan too. The Laird's dead! aweel, death pays a' scores; hewas a kind man ance. The Sheriff's flitted, and I can keep cannyin the bush; so there's no muckle hazard o' scouring the cramp-ring. I would like to see bonny Ellangowan again or I die. '

Brown meanwhile proceeded northward at a round pace along themoorish tract called the Waste of Cumberland. He passed a solitaryhouse, towards which the horseman who preceded him had apparentlyturned up, for his horse's tread was evident in that direction. Alittle farther, he seemed to have returned again into the road. Mr. Dinmont had probably made a visit there either of business orpleasure. 'I wish, ' thought Brown, 'the good farmer had staid tillI came up; I should not have been sorry to ask him a few questionsabout the road, which seems to grow wilder and wilder. '

In truth, nature, as if she had designed this tract of country tobe the barrier between two hostile nations, has stamped upon it acharacter of wildness and desolation. The hills are neither highnor rocky, but the land is all heath and morass; the huts poor andmean, and at a great distance from each other. Immediately aroundthem there is generally some little attempt at cultivation; but ahalf-bred foal or two, straggling about with shackles on theirhind legs, to save the trouble of inclosures, intimate thefarmer's chief resource to be the breeding of horses. The people, too, are of a ruder and more inhospitable class than are elsewhereto be found in Cumberland, arising partly from their own habits, partly from their intermixture with vagrants and criminals, whomake this wild country a refuge from justice. So much were the menof these districts in early times the objects of suspicion anddislike to their more polished neighbours, that there was, andperhaps still exists, a by-law of the corporation of Newcastleprohibiting any freeman of that city to take for apprentice anative of certain of these dales. It is pithily said, 'Give a dogan ill name and hang him'; and it may be added, if you give a man, or race of men, an ill name they are very likely to do somethingthat deserves hanging. Of this Brown had heard something, andsuspected more, from the discourse between the landlady, Dinmont, and the gipsy; but he was naturally of a fearless disposition, hadnothing about him that could tempt the spoiler, and trusted to getthrough the Waste with daylight. In this last particular, however, he was likely to be disappointed. The way proved longer than hehad anticipated, and the horizon began to grow gloomy just as heentered upon an extensive morass. 

Choosing his steps with care and deliberation, the young officerproceeded along a path that sometimes sunk between two brokenblack banks of moss earth, sometimes crossed narrow but deepravines filled with a consistence between mud and water, andsometimes along heaps of gravel and stones, which had been swepttogether when some torrent or waterspout from the neighbouringhills overflowed the marshy ground below. He began to ponder how ahorseman could make his way through such broken ground; the tracesof hoofs, however, were still visible; he even thought he heardtheir sound at some distance, and, convinced that Mr. Dinmont'sprogress through the morass must be still slower than his own, heresolved to push on, in hopes to overtake him and have the benefitof his knowledge of the country. At this moment his little terriersprung forward, barking most furiously. 

Brown quickened his pace, and, attaining the summit of a smallrising ground, saw the subject of the dog's alarm. In a hollowabout a gunshot below him a man whom he easily recognised to beDinmont was engaged with two others in a desperate struggle. Hewas dismounted, and defending himself as he best could with thebutt of his heavy whip. Our traveller hastened on to hisassistance; but ere he could get up a stroke had levelled thefarmer with the earth, and one of the robbers, improving hisvictory, struck him some merciless blows on the head. The othervillain, hastening to meet Brown, called to his companion to comealong, 'for that one's CONTENT, ' meaning, probably, pastresistance or complaint. One ruffian was armed with a cutlass, theother with a bludgeon; but as the road was pretty narrow, 'barfire-arms, ' thought Brown, 'and I may manage them well enough. 'They met accordingly, with the most murderous threats on the partof the ruffians. They soon found, however, that their new opponentwas equally stout and resolute; and, after exchanging two or threeblows, one of them told him to 'follow his nose over the heath, inthe devil's name, for they had nothing to say to him. '

Brown rejected this composition as leaving to their mercy theunfortunate man whom they were about to pillage, if not to murderoutright; and the skirmish had just recommenced when Dinmontunexpectedly recovered his senses, his feet, and his weapon, andhastened to the scene of action. As he had been no easyantagonist, even when surprised and alone, the villains did notchoose to wait his joining forces with a man who had singly proveda match for them both, but fled across the bog as fast as theirfeet could carry them, pursued by Wasp, who had acted gloriouslyduring the skirmish, annoying the heels of the enemy, andrepeatedly effecting a moment's diversion in his master's favour. 

'Deil, but your dog's weel entered wi' the vermin now, sir!' werethe first words uttered by the jolly farmer as he came up, hishead streaming with blood, and recognised his deliverer and hislittle attendant. 

'I hope, sir, you are not hurt dangerously?'

'O, deil a bit, my head can stand a gay clour; nae thanks to them, though, and mony to you. But now, hinney, ye maun help me to catchthe beast, and ye maun get on behind me, for we maun off likewhittrets before the whole clanjamfray be doun upon us; the resto' them will no be far off. ' The galloway was, by good fortune, easily caught, and Brown made some apology for overloading theanimal. 

'Deil a fear, man, ' answered the proprietor; 'Dumple could carrysix folk, if his back was lang eneugh; but God's sake, haste ye, get on, for I see some folk coming through the slack yonder thatit may be just as weel no to wait for. '

Brown was of opinion that this apparition of five or six men, withwhom the other villains seemed to join company, coming across themoss towards them, should abridge ceremony; he therefore mountedDumple en croupe, and the little spirited nag cantered away withtwo men of great size and strength as if they had been children ofsix years old. The rider, to whom the paths of these wilds seemedintimately known, pushed on at a rapid pace, managing with muchdexterity to choose the safest route, in which he was aided by thesagacity of the galloway, who never failed to take the difficultpasses exactly at the particular spot, and in the special manner, by which they could be most safely crossed. Yet, even with theseadvantages, the road was so broken, and they were so often thrownout of the direct course by various impediments, that they did notgain much on their pursuers. 'Never mind, ' said the undauntedScotchman to his companion, 'if we were ance by Withershins'Latch, the road's no near sae soft, and we'll show them fair playfor't. '

They soon came to the place he named, a narrow channel, throughwhich soaked, rather than flowed, a small stagnant stream, mantledover with bright green mosses. Dinmont directed his steed towardsa pass where the water appeared to flow with more freedom over aharder bottom; but Dumple backed from the proposed crossing-place, put his head down as if to reconnoitre the swamp more nearly, stretching forward his fore-feet, and stood as fast as if he hadbeen cut out of stone. 

'Had we not better, ' said Brown, 'dismount, and leave him to hisfate; or can you not urge him through the swamp?'

'Na, na, ' said his pilot, 'we maun cross Dumple at no rate, he hasmair sense than mony a Christian. ' So saying, he relaxed thereins, and shook them loosely. 'Come now, lad, take your ain wayo't, let's see where ye'll take us through. '

Dumple, left to the freedom of his own will, trotted briskly toanother part of the latch, less promising, as Brown thought, inappearance, but which the animal's sagacity or experiencerecommended as the safer of the two, and where, plunging in, heattained the other side with little difficulty. 

'I'm glad we're out o' that moss, ' said Dinmont, 'where there'smair stables for horses than change-houses for men; we have theMaiden-way to help us now, at ony rate. ' Accordingly, theyspeedily gained a sort of rugged causeway so called, being theremains of an old Roman road which traverses these wild regions ina due northerly direction. Here they got on at the rate of nine orten miles an hour, Dumple seeking no other respite than what arosefrom changing his pace from canter to trot. 'I could gar him showmair action, ' said his master, 'but we are twa lang-legged chieldsafter a', and it would be a pity to stress Dumple; there wasna thelike o' him at Staneshiebank Fair the day. '

Brown readily assented to the propriety of sparing the horse, andadded that, as they were now far out of the reach of the rogues, he thought Mr. Dintnont had better tie a handkerchief round hishead, for fear of the cold frosty air aggravating the wound. 

'What would I do that for?' answered the hardy farmer; 'the bestway's to let the blood barken upon the cut; that saves plasters, hinney. '

Brown, who in his military profession had seen a great many hardblows pass, could not help remarking, 'he had never known suchsevere strokes received with so much apparent indifference. '

'Hout tout, man! I would never be making a humdudgeon about ascart on the pow; but we'll be in Scotland in five minutes now, and ye maun gang up to Charlie's Hope wi' me, that's a clearcase. '

Brown readily accepted the offered hospitality. Night was nowfalling when they came in sight of a pretty river winding its waythrough a pastoral country. The hills were greener and more abruptthan those which Brown had lately passed, sinking their grassysides at once upon the river. They had no pretensions tomagnificence of height, or to romantic shapes, nor did theirsmooth swelling slopes exhibit either rocks or woods. Yet the viewwas wild, solitary, and pleasingly rural. No inclosures, no roads, almost no tillage; it seemed a land which a patriarch would havechosen to feed his flocks and herds. The remains of here and therea dismantled and ruined tower showed that it had once harbouredbeings of a very different description from its presentinhabitants; those freebooters, namely, to whose exploits the warsbetween England and Scotland bear witness. 

Descending by a path towards a well-known ford, Dumple crossed thesmall river, and then, quickening his pace, trotted about a milebriskly up its banks, and approached two or three low thatchedhouses, placed with their angles to each other, with a greatcontempt of regularity. This was the farm-steading of Charlie'sHope, or, in the language of the country, 'the town. ' A mostfurious barking was set up at their approach by the whole threegenerations of Mustard and Pepper, and a number of allies, namesunknown. The farmer [Footnote: See Note 3. ] made his well-knownvoice lustily heard to restore order; the door opened, and a half-dressed ewe-milker, who had done that good office, shut it intheir faces, in order that she might run 'ben the house' to cry'Mistress, mistress, it's the master, and another man wi' him. 'Dumple, turned loose, walked to his own stable-door, and therepawed and whinnied for admission, in strains which were answeredby his acquaintances from the interior. Amid this bustle Brown wasfain to secure Wasp from the other dogs, who, with ardourcorresponding more to their own names than to the hospitabletemper of their owner, were much disposed to use the intruderroughly. 

In about a minute a stout labourer was patting Dumple, andintroducing him into the stable, while Mrs. Dinmont, a well-favoured buxom dame, welcomed her husband with unfeigned rapture. 'Eh, sirs! gudeman, ye hae been a weary while away!'

CHAPTER XXIV

 Liddell till now, except in Doric lays, Tuned to her murmurs by her love-sick swains, Unknown in song, though not a purer stream Rolls towards the western main

 Art of Preserving Health. 

The present store-farmers of the south of Scotland are a much morerefined race than their fathers, and the manners I am now todescribe have either altogether disappeared or are greatlymodified. Without losing the rural simplicity of manners, they nowcultivate arts unknown to the former generation, not only in theprogressive improvement of their possessions but in all thecomforts of life. Their houses are more commodious, their habitsof life regulated so as better to keep pace with those of thecivilised world, and the best of luxuries, the luxury ofknowledge, has gained much ground among their hills during thelast thirty years. Deep drinking, formerly their greatest failing, is now fast losing ground; and, while the frankness of theirextensive hospitality continues the same, it is, generallyspeaking, refined in its character and restrained in its excesses. 

'Deil's in the wife, ' said Dandie Dinmont, shaking off hisspouse's embrace, but gently and with a look of great affection;'deil's in ye, Ailie; d'ye no see the stranger gentleman?'

Ailie turned to make her apology--'Troth, I was sae weel pleasedto see the gudeman, that--but, gude gracious! what's the matterwi' ye baith?' for they were now in her little parlour, and thecandle showed the streaks of blood which Dinmont's wounded headhad plentifully imparted to the clothes of his companion as wellas to his own. 'Ye've been fighting again, Dandie, wi' some o' theBewcastle horse-coupers! Wow, man, a married man, wi' a bonnyfamily like yours, should ken better what a father's life's worthin the warld'; the tears stood in the good woman's eyes as shespoke. 

'Whisht! whisht! gudewife, ' said her husband, with a smack thathad much more affection than ceremony in it; 'never mind, nevermind; there's a gentleman that will tell you that, just when I hadga'en up to Lourie Lowther's, and had bidden the drinking of twacheerers, and gotten just in again upon the moss, and was whiggingcannily awa hame, twa landloupers jumpit out of a peat-hag on meor I was thinking, and got me down, and knevelled me sair aneuch, or I could gar my whip walk about their lugs; and troth, gudewife, if this honest gentleman hadna come up, I would have gotten mairlicks than I like, and lost mair siller than I could weel spare;so ye maun be thankful to him for it, under God. ' With that hedrew from his side-pocket a large greasy leather pocket-book, andbade the gudewife lock it up in her kist. 

'God bless the gentleman, and e'en God bless him wi' a' my heart;but what can we do for him, but to gie him the meat and quarterswe wadna refuse to the poorest body on earth--unless (her eyedirected to the pocketbook, but with a feeling of naturalpropriety which made the inference the most delicate possible), unless there was ony other way--' Brown saw, and estimated at itsdue rate, the mixture of simplicity and grateful generosity whichtook the downright way of expressing itself, yet qualified with somuch delicacy; he was aware his own appearance, plain at best, andnow torn and spattered with blood, made him an object of pity atleast, and perhaps of charity. He hastened to say his name wasBrown, a captain in the----regiment of cavalry, travelling forpleasure, and on foot, both from motives of independence andeconomy; and he begged his kind landlady would look at herhusband's wounds, the state of which he had refused to permit himto examine. Mrs. Dinmont was used to her husband's broken headsmore than to the presence of a captain of dragoons. She thereforeglanced at a table-cloth not quite clean, and conned over herproposed supper a minute or two, before, patting her husband onthe shoulder, she bade him sit down for 'a hard-headed loon, thatwas aye bringing himsell and other folk into collie-shangies. '

When Dandie Dinmont, after executing two or three caprioles, andcutting the Highland fling, by way of ridicule of his wife'sanxiety, at last deigned to sit down and commit his round, black, shaggy bullet of a head to her inspection, Brown thought he hadseen the regimental surgeon look grave upon a more trifling case. The gudewife, however, showed some knowledge of chirurgery; shecut away with her scissors the gory locks whose stiffened andcoagulated clusters interfered with her operations, and clapped onthe wound some lint besmeared with a vulnerary salve, esteemedsovereign by the whole dale (which afforded upon fair nightsconsiderable experience of such cases); she then fixed her plasterwith a bandage, and, spite of her patient's resistance, pulledover all a night-cap, to keep everything in its right place. Somecontusions on the brow and shoulders she fomented with brandy, which the patient did not permit till the medicine had paid aheavy toll to his mouth. Mrs. Dinmont then simply, but kindly, offered her assistance to Brown. 

He assured her he had no occasion for anything but theaccommodation of a basin and towel. 

'And that's what I should have thought of sooner, ' she said; 'andI did think o't, but I durst na open the door, for there's a' thebairns, poor things, sae keen to see their father. '

This explained a great drumming and whining at the door of thelittle parlour, which had somewhat surprised Brown, though hiskind landlady had only noticed it by fastening the bolt as soon asshe heard it begin. But on her opening the door to seek the basinand towel (for she never thought of showing the guest to aseparate room), a whole tide of white-headed urchins streamed in, some from the stable, where they had been seeing Dumple, andgiving him a welcome home with part of their four-hours scones;others from the kitchen, where they had been listening to oldElspeth's tales and ballads; and the youngest, half-naked, out ofbed, all roaring to see daddy, and to inquire what he had broughthome for them from the various fairs he had visited in hisperegrinations. Our knight of the broken head first kissed andhugged them all round, then distributed whistles, penny-trumpets, and gingerbread, and, lastly, when the tumult of their joy andwelcome got beyond bearing, exclaimed to his guest--'This is a'the gude-wife's fault, Captain; she will gie the bairns a' theirain way. '

'Me! Lord help me, ' said Ailie, who at that instant entered withthe basin and ewer, 'how can I help it? I have naething else togie them, poor things!'

Dinmont then exerted himself, and, between coaxing, threats, andshoving, cleared the room of all the intruders excepting a boy andgirl, the two eldest of the family, who could, as he observed, behave themselves 'distinctly. ' For the same reason, but with lessceremony, all the dogs were kicked out excepting the venerablepatriarchs, old Pepper and Mustard, whom frequent castigation andthe advance of years had inspired with such a share of passivehospitality that, after mutual explanation and remonstrance in theshape of some growling, they admitted Wasp, who had hithertojudged it safe to keep beneath his master's chair, to a share of adried-wedder's skin, which, with the wool uppermost and unshorn, served all the purposes of a Bristol hearth-rug. 

The active bustle of the mistress (so she was called in thekitchen, and the gudewife in the parlour) had already signed thefate of a couple of fowls, which, for want of time to dress themotherwise, soon appeared reeking from the gridiron, or brander, asMrs. Dinmont denominated it. A huge piece of cold beef-ham, eggs, butter, cakes, and barley-meal bannocks in plenty made up theentertainment, which was to be diluted with home-brewed ale ofexcellent quality and a case-bottle of brandy. Few soldiers wouldfind fault with such cheer after a day's hard exercise and askirmish to boot; accordingly Brown did great honour to theeatables. While the gudewife partly aided, partly instructed, agreat stout servant girl, with cheeks as red as her top-knot, toremove the supper matters and supply sugar and hot water (which, in the damsel's anxiety to gaze upon an actual live captain, shewas in some danger of forgetting), Brown took an opportunity toask his host whether he did not repent of having neglected thegipsy's hint. 

'Wha kens?' answered he; 'they're queer deevils; maybe I mightjust have 'scaped ae gang to meet the other. And yet I 'll no saythat neither; for if that randy wife was coming to Charlie's Hope, she should have a pint bottle o' brandy and a pound o' tobacco towear her through the winter. They're queer deevils; as my auldfather used to say, they're warst where they're warst guided. After a', there's baith gude and ill about the gipsies. '

This, and some other desultory conversation, served as a 'shoeing-horn' to draw on another cup of ale and another 'cheerer, ' asDinmont termed it in his country phrase, of brandy and water. Brown then resolutely declined all further conviviality for thatevening, pleading his own weariness and the effects of theskirmish, being well aware that it would have availed nothing tohave remonstrated with his host on the danger that excess mighthave occasioned to his own raw wound and bloody coxcomb. A verysmall bed-room, but a very clean bed, received the traveller, andthe sheets made good the courteous vaunt of the hostess, 'thatthey would be as pleasant as he could find ony gate, for they werewashed wi' the fairy-well water, and bleached on the bonny whitegowans, and bittled by Nelly and herself, and what could woman, ifshe was a queen, do mair for them?'

They indeed rivalled snow in whiteness, and had, besides, apleasant fragrance from the manner in which they had beenbleached. Little Wasp, after licking his master's hand to askleave, couched himself on the coverlet at his feet; and thetraveller's senses were soon lost in grateful oblivion. 

CHAPTER XXV

 Give ye, Britons, then, Your sportive fury, pitiless to pour Loose on the nightly robber of the fold. Him from his craggy winding haunts unearth'd, Let all the thunder of the chase pursue. 

 THOMSON'S Seasons. 

Brown rose early in the morning and walked out to look at theestablishment of his new friend. All was rough and neglected inthe neighbourhood of the house;--a paltry garden, no pains takento make the vicinity dry or comfortable, and a total absence ofall those little neatnesses which give the eye so much pleasure inlooking at an English farm-house. There were, notwithstanding, evident signs that this arose only from want of taste orignorance, not from poverty or the negligence which attends it. Onthe contrary, a noble cow-house, well filled with good milk-cows, a feeding-house, with ten bullocks of the most approved breed, astable, with two good teams of horses, the appearance of domesticsactive, industrious, and apparently contented with their lot; in aword, an air of liberal though sluttish plenty indicated thewealthy fanner. The situation of the house above the river formeda gentle declivity, which relieved the inhabitants of thenuisances that might otherwise have stagnated around it. At alittle distance was the whole band of children playing andbuilding houses with peats around a huge doddered oak-tree, whichwas called Charlie's Bush, from some tradition respecting an oldfreebooter who had once inhabited the spot. Between the farm-houseand the hill-pasture was a deep morass, termed in that country aslack; it had once been the defence of a fortalice, of which novestiges now remained, but which was said to have been inhabitedby the same doughty hero we have now alluded to. Brown endeavouredto make some acquaintance with the children, but 'the rogues fledfrom him like quicksilver, ' though the two eldest stood peepingwhen they had got to some distance. The traveller then turned hiscourse towards the hill, crossing the foresaid swamp by a range ofstepping-stones, neither the broadest nor steadiest that could beimagined. He had not climbed far up the hill when he met a mandescending. 

He soon recognised his worthy host, though a 'maud, ' as it iscalled, or a grey shepherd's plaid, supplied his travellingjockey-coat, and a cap, faced with wild-cat's fur, morecomrhodiously covered his bandaged head than a hat would havedone. As he appeared through the morning mist, Brown, accustomedto judge of men by their thewes and sinews, could not helpadmiring his height, the breadth of his shoulders, and the steadyfirmness of his step. Dinmont internally paid the same complimentto Brown, whose athletic form he now perused somewhat more atleisure than he had done formerly. After the usual greetings ofthe morning, the guest inquired whether his host found anyinconvenient consequences from the last night's affray. 

'I had maist forgotten't, ' said the hardy Borderer; 'but I thinkthis morning, now that I am fresh and sober, if you and I were atthe Withershins' Latch, wi' ilka ane a gude oak souple in hishand, we wadna turn back, no for half a dizzen o' yon scaff-raff. '

'But are you prudent, my good sir, ' said Brown, 'not to take anhour or two's repose after receiving such severe contusions?'

'Confusions!' replied the farmer, laughing in derision. 'Lord, Captain, naething confuses my head. I ance jumped up and laid thedogs on the fox after I had tumbled from the tap o' ChristenburyCraig, and that might have confused me to purpose. Na, naethingconfuses me, unless it be a screed o' drink at an orra time. Besides, I behooved to be round the hirsel this morning and seehow the herds were coming on; they're apt to be negligent wi'their footballs, and fairs, and trysts, when ane's away. And thereI met wi' Tarn o' Todshaw, and a wheen o' the rest o' the billieson the water side; they're a' for a fox-hunt this morning, --ye'llgang? I 'll gie ye Dumple, and take the brood mare mysell. '

'But I fear I must leave you this morning, Mr. Dinmont, ' repliedBrown. 

'The fient a bit o' that, ' exclaimed the Borderer. 'I'll no partwi' ye at ony rate for a fortnight mair. Na, na; we dinna meet sicfriends as you on a Bewcastle moss every night. '

Brown had not designed his journey should be a speedy one; hetherefore readily compounded with this hearty invitation byagreeing to pass a week at Charlie's Hope. 

On their return to the house, where the goodwife presided over anample breakfast, she heard news of the proposed fox-hunt, notindeed with approbation, but without alarm or surprise. 'Dand!ye're the auld man yet; naething will make ye take warning tillye're brought hame some day wi' your feet foremost. '

'Tut, lass!' answered Dandle, 'ye ken yoursell I am never a printhe waur o' my rambles. '

So saying, he exhorted Brown to be hasty in despatching hisbreakfast, as, 'the frost having given way, the scent would liethis morning primely. '

Out they sallied accordingly for Otterscope Scaurs, the farmerleading the way. They soon quitted the little valley, and involvedthemselves among hills as steep as they could be without beingprecipitous. The sides often presented gullies, down which, in thewinter season, or after heavy rain, the torrents descended withgreat fury. Some dappled mists still floated along the peaks ofthe hills, the remains of the morning clouds, for the frost hadbroken up with a smart shower. Through these fleecy screens wereseen a hundred little temporary streamlets, or rills, descendingthe sides of the mountains like silver threads. By small sheep-tracks along these steeps, over which Dinmont trotted with themost fearless confidence, they at length drew near the scene ofsport, and began to see other men, both on horse and foot, makingtoward the place of rendezvous. Brown was puzzling himself toconceive how a fox-chase could take place among hills, where itwas barely possible for a pony, accustomed to the ground, to trotalong, but where, quitting the track for half a yard's breadth, the rider might be either bogged or precipitated down the bank. This wonder was not diminished when he came to the place ofaction. 

They had gradually ascended very high, and now found themselves ona mountain-ridge, overhanging a glen of great depth, but extremelynarrow. Here the sportsmen had collected, with an apparatus whichwould have shocked a member of the Pychely Hunt; for, the objectbeing the removal of a noxious and destructive animal, as well asthe pleasures of the chase, poor Reynard was allowed much lessfair play than when pursued in form through an open country. Thestrength of his habitation, however, and the nature of the groundby which it was surrounded on all sides, supplied what was wantingin the courtesy of his pursuers. The sides of the glen were brokenbanks of earth and rocks of rotten stone, which sunk sheer down tothe little winding stream below, affording here and there a tuftof scathed brushwood or a patch of furze. Along the edges of thisravine, which, as we have said, was very narrow, but of profounddepth, the hunters on horse and foot ranged themselves; almostevery farmer had with him at least a brace of large and fiercegreyhounds, of the race of those deer-dogs which were formerlyused in that country, but greatly lessened in size from beingcrossed with the common breed. The huntsman, a sort of provincialofficer of the district, who receives a certain supply of meal, and a reward for every fox he destroys, was already at the bottomof the dell, whose echoes thundered to the chiding of two or threebrace of foxhounds. Terriers, including the whole generation ofPepper and Mustard, were also in attendance, having been sentforward under the care of a shepherd. Mongrel, whelp, and cur oflow degree filled up the burden of the chorus. The spectators onthe brink of the ravine, or glen, held their greyhounds in leashin readiness to slip them at the fox as soon as the activity ofthe party below should force him to abandon his cover. 

The scene, though uncouth to the eye of a professed sportsman, hadsomething in it wildly captivating. The shifting figures on themountain-ridge, having the sky for their background, appeared tomove in the air. The dogs, impatient of their restraint, andmaddened with the baying beneath, sprung here and there, andstrained at the slips, which prevented them from joining theircompanions. Looking down, the view was equally striking. The thinmists were not totally dispersed in the glen, so that it was oftenthrough their gauzy medium that the eye strove to discover themotions of the hunters below. Sometimes a breath of wind made thescene visible, the blue rill glittering as it twined itselfthrough its rude and solitary dell. They then could see theshepherds springing with fearless activity from one dangerouspoint to another, and cheering the dogs on the scent, the whole sodiminished by depth and distance that they looked like pigmies. Again the mists close over them, and the only signs of theircontinued exertions are the halloos of the men and the clamours ofthe hounds, ascending as it were out of the bowels of the earth. When the fox, thus persecuted from one stronghold to another, wasat length obl'ged to abandon his valley, and to break away for amore distant retreat, those who watched his motions from the topslipped their greyhounds, which, excelling the fox in swiftness, and equalling him in ferocity and spirit, soon brought theplunderer to his life's end. 

In this way, without any attention to the ordinary rules anddecorums of sport, but apparently as much to the gratificationboth of bipeds and quadrupeds as if all due ritual had beenfollowed, four foxes were killed on this active morning; and evenBrown himself, though he had seen the princely sports of India, and ridden a-tiger-hunting upon an elephant with the Nabob ofArcot, professed to have received an excellent morning'samusement. When the sport was given up for the day, most of thesportsmen, according to the established hospitality of thecountry, went to dine at Charlie's Hope. 

During their return homeward Brown rode for a short time besidethe huntsman, and asked him some questions concerning the mode inwhich he exercised his profession. The man showed an unwillingnessto meet his eye, and a disposition to be rid of his company andconversation, for which Brown could not easily account. He was athin, dark, active fellow, well framed for the hardy professionwhich he exercised. But his face had not the frankness of thejolly hunter; he was down-looked, embarrassed, and avoided theeyes of those who looked hard at him. After some unimportantobservations on the success of the day, Brown gave him a triflinggratuity, and rode on with his landlord. They found the goodwifeprepared for their reception; the fold and the poultry-yardfurnished the entertainment, and the kind and hearty welcome madeamends for all deficiencies in elegance and fashion. 

CHAPTER XXVI

 The Elliots and Armstrongs did convene, They were a gallant company!

 Ballad of Johnnie Armstrong

Without noticing the occupations of an intervening day or two, which, as they consisted of the ordinary silvan amusements ofshooting and coursing, have nothing sufficiently interesting todetain the reader, we pass to one in some degree peculiar toScotland, which may be called a sort of salmon-hunting. Thischase, in which the fish is pursued and struck with barbed spears, or a sort of long-shafted trident, called a waster, is muchpractised at the mouth of the Esk and in the other salmon riversof Scotland. The sport is followed by day and night, but mostcommonly in the latter, when the fish are discovered by means oftorches, or fire-grates, filled with blazing fragments of tar-barrels, which shed a strong though partial light upon the water. On the present occasion the principal party were embarked in acrazy boat upon a part of the river which was enlarged anddeepened by the restraint of a mill-wear, while others, like theancient Bacchanals in their gambols, ran along the banks, brandishing their torches and spears, and pursuing the salmon, some of which endeavoured to escape up the stream, while others, shrouding themselves under roots of trees, fragments of stones, and large rocks, attempted to conceal themselves from theresearches of the fishermen. These the party in the boat detectedby the slightest indications; the twinkling of a fin, the risingof an airbell, was sufficient to point out to these adroitsportsmen in what direction to use their weapon. 

The scene was inexpressibly animating to those accustomed to it;but, as Brown was not practised to use the spear, he soon tired ofmaking efforts which were attended with no other consequences thanjarring his arms against the rocks at the bottom of the river, upon which, instead of the devoted salmon, he often bestowed hisblow. Nor did he relish, though he concealed feelings which wouldnot have been understood, being quite so near the agonies of theexpiring salmon, as they lay flapping about in the boat, whichthey moistened with their blood. He therefore requested to be putashore, and, from the top of a heugh or broken bank, enjoyed thescene much more to his satisfaction. Often he thought of hisfriend Dudley the artist, when he observed the effect produced bythe strong red glare on the romantic banks under which the boatglided. Now the light diminished to a distant star that seemed totwinkle on the waters, like those which, according to the legendsof the country, the water-kelpy sends for the purpose ofindicating the watery grave of his victims. Then it advancednearer, brightening and enlarging as it again approached, till thebroad flickering flame rendered bank and rock and tree visible asit passed, tingeing them with its own red glare of dusky light, and resigning them gradually to darkness, or to pale moonlight, asit receded. By this light also were seen the figures in the boat, now holding high their weapons, now stooping to strike, nowstanding upright, bronzed by the same red glare into a colourwhich might have befitted the regions of Pandemonium. 

Having amused himself for some time with these effects of lightand shadow, Brown strolled homewards towards the farm-house, gazing in his way at the persons engaged in the sport, two orthree of whom are generally kept together, one holding the torch, the others with their spears, ready to avail themselves of thelight it affords to strike their prey. As he observed one manstruggling with a very weighty salmon which he had speared, butwas unable completely to raise from the water, Brown advancedclose to the bank to see the issue of his exertions. The man whoheld the torch in this instance was the huntsman, whose sulkydemeanour Brown had already noticed with surprise. 'Come here, sir! come here, sir! look at this ane! He turns up a side like asow. ' Such was the cry from the assistants when some of themobserved Brown advancing. 

'Ground the waster weel, man! ground the waster weel! Haud himdown! Ye haena the pith o' a cat!' were the cries of advice, encouragement, and expostulation from those who were on the bankto the sportsman engaged with the salmon, who stood up to hismiddle in water, jingling among broken ice, struggling against theforce of the fish and the strength of the current, and dubious inwhat manner he should attempt to secure his booty. As Brown cameto the edge of the bank, he called out--'Hold up your torch, friend huntsman!' for he had already distinguished his duskyfeatures by the strong light cast upon them by the blaze. But thefellow no sooner heard his voice, and saw, or rather concluded, itwas Brown who approached him, than, instead of advancing hislight, he let it drop, as if accidentally, into the water. 

'The deil's in Gabriel!' said the spearman, as the fragments ofglowing wood floated half-blazing, half-sparkling, but soonextinguished, down the stream. 'The deil's in the man! I'll nevermaster him without the light; and a braver kipper, could I butland him, never reisted abune a pair o' cleeks. '[Footnote: SeeNote 4] Some dashed into the water to lend their assistance, andthe fish, which was afterwards found to weigh nearly thirtypounds, was landed in safety. 

The behaviour of the huntsman struck Brown, although he had norecollection of his face, nor could conceive why he should, as itappeared he evidently did, shun his observation. Could he be oneof the footpads he had encountered a few days before? Thesupposition was not altogether improbable, although unwarranted byany observation he was able to make upon the man's figure andface. To be sure the villains wore their hats much slouched, andhad loose coats, and their size was not in any way so peculiarlydiscriminated as to enable him to resort to that criterion. Heresolved to speak to his host Dinmont on the subject, but forobvious reasons concluded it were best to defer the explanationuntil a cool hour in the morning. 

The sportsmen returned loaded with fish, upwards of one hundredsalmon having been killed within the range of their sport. Thebest were selected for the use of the principal farmers, theothers divided among their shepherds, cottars, dependents, andothers of inferior rank who attended. These fish, dried in theturf smoke of their cabins or shealings, formed a savoury additionto the mess of potatoes, mixed with onions, which was theprincipal part of their winter food. In the meanwhile a liberaldistribution of ale and whisky was made among them, besides whatwas called a kettle of fish, --two or three salmon, namely, plungedinto a cauldron and boiled for their supper. Brown accompanied hisjolly landlord and the rest of his friends into the large andsmoky kitchen, where this savoury mess reeked on an oaken table, massive enough to have dined Johnnie Armstrong and his merry-men. All was hearty cheer and huzza, and jest and clamorous laughter, and bragging alternately, and raillery between whiles. Ourtraveller looked earnestly around for the dark countenance of thefox-hunter; but it was nowhere to be seen. 

At length he hazarded a question concerning him. 'That was anawkward accident, my lads, of one of you, who dropped his torch inthe water when his companion was struggling with the large fish. '

'Awkward!' returned a shepherd, looking up (the same stout youngfellow who had speared the salmon); 'he deserved his paiks for't, to put out the light when the fish was on ane's witters! I'm weelconvinced Gabriel drapped the roughies in the water on purpose; hedoesna like to see ony body do a thing better than himsell. '

'Ay, ' said another, 'he's sair shamed o' himsell, else he wouldhave been up here the night; Gabriel likes a little o' the gudething as weel as ony o' us. '

'Is he of this country?' said Brown. 

'Na, na, he's been but shortly in office, but he's a fell hunter;he's frae down the country, some gate on the Dumfries side. '

'And what's his name, pray?'

'Gabriel. '

'But Gabriel what?'

'Oh, Lord kens that; we dinna mind folk's afternames muckle here, they run sae muckle into clans. '

'Ye see, sir, ' said an old shepherd, rising, and speaking veryslow, 'the folks hereabout are a' Armstrongs andElliots, [Footnote: See Note 5] and sic like--two or three givennames--and so, for distinction's sake, the lairds and farmers havethe names of their places that they live at; as, for example, Tamo' Todshaw, Will o' the Flat, Hobbie o' Sorbietrees, and our goodmaster here o' the Charlie's Hope. Aweel, sir, and then theinferior sort o' people, ye'll observe, are kend by sorts o' by-names some o' them, as Glaiket Christie, and the Deuke's Davie, ormaybe, like this lad Gabriel, by his employment; as, for example, Tod Gabbie, or Hunter Gabbie. He's no been lang here, sir, and Idinna think ony body kens him by ony other name. But it's no rightto rin him doun ahint his back, for he's a fell fox-hunter, thoughhe's maybe no just sae clever as some o' the folk hereawa wi' thewaster. '

After some further desultory conversation, the superior sportsmenretired to conclude the evening after their own manner, leavingthe others to enjoy themselves, unawed by their presence. Thatevening, like all those which Brown had passed at Charlie's Hope, was spent in much innocent mirth and conviviality. The lattermight have approached to the verge of riot but for the good women;for several of the neighbouring mistresses (a phrase of asignification how different from what it bears in more fashionablelife!) had assembled at Charlie's Hope to witness the event ofthis memorable evening. Finding the punch-bowl was so oftenreplenished that there was some danger of their gracious presencebeing forgotten, they rushed in valorously upon the recreantrevellers, headed by our good mistress Ailie, so that Venusspeedily routed Bacchus. The fiddler and piper next made theirappearance, and the best part of the night was gallantly consumedin dancing to their music. 

An otter-hunt the next day, and a badger-baiting the day after, consumed the time merrily. I hope our traveller will not sink inthe reader's estimation, sportsman though he may be, when I informhim that on this last occasion, after young Pepper had lost afore-foot and Mustard the second had been nearly throttled, hebegged, as a particular and personal favour of Mr. Dinmont, thatthe poor badger, who had made so gallant a defence, should bepermitted to retire to his earth without farther molestation. 

The farmer, who would probably have treated this request withsupreme contempt had it come from any other person, was contentedin Brown's case to express the utter extremity of his wonder. 'Weel, ' he said, 'that's queer aneugh! But since ye take his part, deil a tyke shall meddle wi' him mair in my day. We 'll e'en markhim, and ca' him the Captain's brock; and I'm sure I'm glad I cando ony thing to oblige you, --but, Lord save us, to care about abrock!'

After a week spent in rural sport, and distinguished by the mostfrank attentions on the part of his honest landlord, Brown badeadieu to the banks of the Liddel and the hospitality of Charlie'sHope. The children, with all of whom he had now become an intimateand a favourite, roared manfully in full chorus at his departure, and he was obliged to promise twenty times that he would soonreturn and play over all their favourite tunes upon the flageolettill they had got them by heart. 'Come back again, Captain, ' saidone little sturdy fellow, 'and Jenny will be your wife. ' Jenny wasabout eleven years old; she ran and hid herself behind her mammy. 

'Captain, come back, ' said a little fat roll-about girl of six, holding her mouth up to be kissed, 'and I'll be your wife myainsell. '

'They must be of harder mould than I, ' thought Brown, 'who couldpart from so many kind hearts with indifference. ' The good dametoo, with matron modesty, and an affectionate simplicity thatmarked the olden time, offered her cheek to the departing guest. 'It's little the like of us can do, ' she said, 'little indeed; butyet, if there were but ony thing--'

'Now, my dear Mrs. Dinmont, you embolden me to make a request:would you but have the kindness to weave me, or work me, just sucha grey plaid as the goodman wears?' He had learned the languageand feelings of the country even during the short time of hisresidence, and was aware of the pleasure the request would confer. 

'A tait o' woo' would be scarce amang us, ' said the goodwife, brightening, 'if ye shouldna hae that, and as gude a tweel as evercam aff a pirn. I'll speak to Johnnie Goodsire, the weaver at theCastletown, the morn. Fare ye weel, sir! and may ye be just ashappy yoursell as ye like to see a' body else; and that would be asair wish to some folk. '

I must not omit to mention that our traveller left his trustyattendant Wasp to be a guest at Charlie's Hope for a season. Heforesaw that he might prove a troublesome attendant in the eventof his being in any situation where secrecy and concealment mightbe necessary. He was therefore consigned to the care of the eldestboy, who promised, in the words of the old song, that he shouldhave

 A bit of his supper, a bit of his bed, and that he should be engaged in none of those perilous pastimesin which the race of Mustard and Pepper had suffered frequentmutilation. Brown now prepared for his journey, having taken atemporary farewell of his trusty little companion. 

There is an odd prejudice in these hills in favour of riding. Every farmer rides well, and rides the whole day. Probably theextent of their large pasture farms, and the necessity ofsurveying them rapidly, first introduced this custom; or a veryzealous antiquary might derive it from the times of the 'Lay ofthe Last Minstrel, ' when twenty thousand horsemen assembled at thelight of the beacon-fires. [Footnote: It would be affectation toalter this reference. But the reader will understand that it wasinserted to keep up the author's incognito, as he was not likelyto be suspected of quoting his own works. This explanation is alsoapplicable to one or two similar passages, in this and the othernovels, introduced for the same reason. ] But the truth isundeniable; they like to be on horseback, and can be withdifficulty convinced that any one chooses walking from othermotives than those of convenience or necessity. Accordingly, Dinmont insisted upon mounting his guest and accompanying him onhorseback as far as the nearest town in Dumfries-shire, where hehad directed his baggage to be sent, and from which he proposed topursue his intended journey towards Woodbourne, the residence ofJulia Mannering. 

Upon the way he questioned his companion concerning the characterof the fox-hunter; but gained little information, as he had beencalled to that office while Dinmont was making the round of theHighland fairs. 'He was a shake-rag like fellow, ' he said, 'and, he dared to say, had gipsy blood in his veins; but at ony rate hewas nane o' the smaiks that had been on their quarters in themoss; he would ken them weel if he saw them again. There are someno bad folk amang the gipsies too, to be sic a gang, ' addedDandie; 'if ever I see that auld randle-tree of a wife again, I'll gie her something to buy tobacco. I have a great notion shemeant me very fair after a'. '

When they were about finally to part, the good farmer held Brownlong by the hand, and at length said, 'Captain, the woo's sae weelup the year that it's paid a' the rent, and we have naething to dowi' the rest o' the siller when Ailie has had her new gown, andthe bairns their bits o' duds. Now I was thinking of some safehand to put it into, for it's ower muckle to ware on brandy andsugar; now I have heard that you army gentlemen can sometimes buyyoursells up a step, and if a hundred or twa would help ye on suchan occasion, the bit scrape o' your pen would be as good to me asthe siller, and ye might just take yer ain time o' settling it; itwad be a great convenience to me. ' Brown, who felt the fulldelicacy that wished to disguise the conferring an obligationunder the show of asking a favour, thanked his grateful friendmost heartily, and assured him he would have recourse to his pursewithout scruple should circumstances ever render it convenient forhim. And thus they parted with many expressions of mutual regard. 

CHAPTER XXVII

 If thou hast any love of mercy in thee, Turn me upon my face that I may die. 

 JOANNA BALLIE. 

Our traveller hired a post-chaise at the place where he separatedfrom Dinmont, with the purpose of proceeding to Kippletringan, there to inquire into the state of the family at Woodbourne, before he should venture to make his presence in the country knownto Miss Mannering. The stage was a long one of eighteen or twentymiles, and the road lay across the country. To add to theinconveniences of the journey, the snow began to fall prettyquickly. The postilion, however, proceeded on his journey for agood many miles without expressing doubt or hesitation. It was notuntil the night was completely set in that he intimated hisapprehensions whether he was in the right road. The increasingsnow rendered this intimation rather alarming, for, as it drovefull in the lad's face and lay whitening all around him, it servedin two different ways to confuse his knowledge of the country, andto diminish the chance of his recovering the right track. Brownthen himself got out and looked round, not, it may be wellimagined, from any better hope than that of seeing some house atwhich he might make inquiry. But none appeared; he could thereforeonly tell the lad to drive steadily on. The road on which theywere ran through plantations of considerable extent and depth, andthe traveller therefore conjectured that there must be agentleman's house at no great distance. At length, afterstruggling wearily on for about a mile, the post-boy stopped, andprotested his horses would not budge a foot farther; 'but he saw, 'he said, 'a light among the trees, which must proceed from ahouse; the only way was to inquire the road there. ' Accordingly, he dismounted, heavily encumbered with a long great-coat and apair of boots which might have rivalled in thickness the seven-fold shield of Ajax. As in this guise he was plodding forth uponhis voyage of discovery, Brown's impatience prevailed, and, jumping out of the carriage, he desired the lad to stop where hewas by the horses, and he would himself go to the house; a commandwhich the driver most joyfully obeyed. 

Our traveller groped along the side of the inclosure from whichthe light glimmered, in order to find some mode of approaching inthat direction, and, after proceeding for some space, at lengthfound a stile in the hedge, and a pathway leading into theplantation, which in that place was of great extent. This promisedto lead to the light which was the object of his search, andaccordingly Brown proceeded in that direction, but soon totallylost sight of it among the trees. The path, which at first seemedbroad and well marked by the opening of the wood through which itwinded, was now less easily distinguishable, although thewhiteness of the snow afforded some reflected light to assist hissearch. Directing himself as much as possible through the moreopen parts of the wood, he proceeded almost a mile without eitherrecovering a view of the light or seeing anything resembling ahabitation. Still, however, he thought it best to persevere inthat direction. It must surely have been a light in the hut of aforester, for it shone too steadily to be the glimmer of an ignisfatuus. The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly, and, although Brown conceived he still moved along what had onceat least been a pathway, it was now very unequal, and the snowconcealing those breaches and inequalities, the traveller had oneor two falls in consequence. He began now to think of turningback, especially as the falling snow, which his impatience hadhitherto prevented his attending to, was coming on thicker andfaster. 

Willing, however, to make a last effort, he still advanced alittle way, when to his great delight he beheld the light oppositeat no great distance, and apparently upon a level with him. Hequickly found that this last appearance was deception, for theground continued so rapidly to sink as made it obvious there was adeep dell, or ravine of some kind, between him and the object ofhis search. Taking every precaution to preserve his footing, hecontinued to descend until he reached the bottom of a very steepand narrow glen, through which winded a small rivulet, whosecourse was then almost choked with snow. He now found himselfembarrassed among the ruins of cottages, whose black gables, rendered more distinguishable by the contrast with the whitenedsurface from which they rose, were still standing; the side-wallshad long since given way to time, and, piled in shapeless heapsand covered with snow, offered frequent and embarrassing obstaclesto our traveller's progress. Still, however, he persevered, crossed the rivulet, not without some trouble, and at length, byexertions which became both painful and perilous, ascended itsopposite and very rugged bank, until he came on a level with thebuilding from which the gleam proceeded. 

It was difficult, especially by so imperfect a light, to discoverthe nature of this edifice; but it seemed a square building ofsmall size, the upper part of which was totally ruinous. It had, perhaps, been the abode in former times of some lesser proprietor, or a place of strength and concealment, in case of need, for oneof greater importance. But only the lower vault remained, the archof which formed the roof in the present state of the building. Brown first approached the place from whence the light proceeded, which was a long narrow slit or loop-hole, such as usually are tobe found in old castles. Impelled by curiosity to reconnoitre theinterior of this strange place before he entered, Brown gazed inat this aperture. A scene of greater desolation could not well beimagined. There was a fire upon the floor, the smoke of which, after circling through the apartment, escaped by a hole broken inthe arch above. The walls, seen by this smoky light, had the rudeand waste appearance of a ruin of three centuries old at least. Acask or two, with some broken boxes and packages, lay about theplace in confusion. But the inmates chiefly occupied Brown'sattention. Upon a lair composed of straw, with a blanket stretchedover it, lay a figure, so still that, except that it was notdressed in the ordinary habiliments of the grave, Brown would haveconcluded it to be a corpse. On a steadier view he perceived itwas only on the point of becoming so, for he heard one or two ofthose low, deep, and hard-drawn sighs that precede dissolutionwhen the frame is tenacious of life. A female figure, dressed in along cloak, sate on a stone by this miserable couch; her elbowsrested upon her knees, and her face, averted from the light of aniron lamp beside her, was bent upon that of the dying person. Shemoistened his mouth from time to time with some liquid, andbetween whiles sung, in a low monotonous cadence, one of thoseprayers, or rather spells, which, in some parts of Scotland andthe north of England, are used by the vulgar and ignorant to speedthe passage of a parting spirit, like the tolling of the bell inCatholic days. She accompanied this dismal sound with a slowrocking motion of her body to and fro, as if to keep time with hersong. The words ran nearly thus:--

 Wasted, weary, wherefore stay, Wrestling thus with earth and clay? From the body pass away. Hark! the mass is singing. 

 From thee doff thy mortal weed, Mary Mother be thy speed, Saints to help thee at thy need. Hark! the knell is ringing. 

 Fear not snow-drift driving fast, Sleet, or hail, or levin blast. Soon the shroud shall lap thee fast, And the sleep be on thee cast That shall ne'er know waking. 

 Haste thee, haste thee, to be gone, Earth flits fast, and time draws on. Gasp thy gasp, and groan thy groan, Day is near the breaking. 

The songstress paused, and was answered by one or two deep andhollow groans, that seemed to proceed from the very agony of themortal strife. 'It will not be, ' she muttered to herself; 'hecannot pass away with that on his mind, it tethers him here--

 Heaven cannot abide it, Earth refuses to hide it. [Footnote: See Note 6. ]

I must open the door'; and, rising, she faced towards the door ofthe apartment, observing heedfully not to turn back her head, and, withdrawing a bolt or two (for, notwithstanding the miserableappearance of the place, the door was cautiously secured), shelifted the latch, saying, Open lock, end strife, Come death, and pass life. 

Brown, who had by this time moved from his post, stood before heras she opened the door. She stepped back a pace, and he entered, instantly recognising, but with no comfortable sensation, the samegipsy woman whom he had met in Bewcastle. She also knew him atonce, and her attitude, figure, and the anxiety of hercountenance, assumed the appearance of the well-disposed ogress ofa fairy tale, warning a stranger not to enter the dangerous castleof her husband. The first words she spoke (holding up her hands ina reproving manner) were, 'Said I not to ye, Make not, meddle not?Beware of the redding straik! [Footnote: The redding straik, namely, a blow received by a peacemaker who interferes betwixt twocombatants, to red or separate them, is proverbially said to bethe most dangerous blow a man can receive. ] You are come to nohouse o' fair-strae death. ' So saying, she raised the lamp andturned its light on the dying man, whose rude and harsh featureswere now convulsed with the last agony. A roll of linen about hishead was stained with blood, which had soaked also through theblankets and the straw. It was, indeed, under no natural diseasethat the wretch was suffering. Brown started back from thishorrible object, and, turning to the gipsy, exclaimed, 'Wretchedwoman, who has done this?'

'They that were permitted, ' answered Meg Merrilies, while shescanned with a close and keen glance the features of the expiringman. 'He has had a sair struggle; but it's passing. I kenn'd hewould pass when you came in. That was the death-ruckle; he'sdead. '

Sounds were now heard at a distance, as of voices. 'They arecoming, ' said she to Brown; 'you are a dead man if ye had as monylives as hairs. ' Brown eagerly looked round for some weapon ofdefence. There was none near. He then rushed to the door with theintention of plunging among the trees, and making his escape byflight from what he now esteemed a den of murderers, but Merriliesheld him with a masculine grasp. 'Here, ' she said, 'here, be stilland you are safe; stir not, whatever you see or hear, and nothingshall befall you. '

Brown, in these desperate circumstances, remembered this woman'sintimation formerly, and thought he had no chance of safety but inobeying her. She caused him to couch down among a parcel of strawon the opposite side of the apartment from the corpse, covered himcarefully, and flung over him two or three old sacks which layabout the place. Anxious to observe what was to happen, Brownarranged as softly as he could the means of peeping from under thecoverings by which he was hidden, and awaited with a throbbingheart the issue of this strange and most unpleasant adventure. Theold gipsy in the meantime set about arranging the dead body, composing its limbs, and straighting the arms by its side. 'Bestto do this, ' she muttered, 'ere he stiffen. ' She placed on thedead man's breast a trencher, with salt sprinkled upon it, set onecandle at the head and another at the feet of the body, andlighted both. Then she resumed her song, and awaited the approachof those whose voices had been heard without. 

Brown was a soldier, and a brave one; but he was also a man, andat this moment his fears mastered his courage so completely thatthe cold drops burst out from every pore. The idea of beingdragged out of his miserable concealment by wretches whose tradewas that of midnight murder, without weapons or the slightestmeans of defence, except entreaties, which would be only theirsport, and cries for help, which could never reach other ear thantheir own; his safety entrusted to the precarious compassion of abeing associated with these felons, and whose trade of rapine andimposture must have hardened her against every human feeling--thebitterness of his emotions almost choked him. He endeavoured toread in her withered and dark countenance, as the lamp threw itslight upon her features, something that promised those feelings ofcompassion which females, even in their most degraded state, canseldom altogether smother. There was no such touch of humanityabout this woman. The interest, whatever it was, that determinedher in his favour arose not from the impulse of compassion, butfrom some internal, and probably capricious, association offeelings, to which he had no clue. It rested, perhaps, on afancied likeness, such as Lady Macbeth found to her father in thesleeping monarch. Such were the reflections that passed in rapidsuccession through Brown's mind as he gazed from his hiding-placeupon this extraordinary personage. Meantime the gang did not yetapproach, and he was almost prompted to resume his originalintention of attempting an escape from the hut, and cursedinternally his own irresolution, which had consented to his beingcooped up where he had neither room for resistance nor flight. 

Meg Merrilies seemed equally on the watch. She bent her ear toevery sound that whistled round the old walls. Then she turnedagain to the dead body, and found something new to arrange oralter in its position. 'He's a bonny corpse, ' she muttered toherself, 'and weel worth the streaking. ' And in this dismaloccupation she appeared to feel a sort of professional pleasure, entering slowly into all the minutise, as if with the skill andfeelings of a connoisseur. A long, dark-coloured sea-cloak, whichshe dragged out of a corner, was disposed for a pall. The face sheleft bare, after closing the mouth and eyes, and arranged thecapes of the cloak so as to hide the bloody bandages, and give thebody, as she muttered, 'a mair decent appearance. '

At once three or four men, equally ruffians in appearance anddress, rushed into the hut. 'Meg, ye limb of Satan, how dare youleave the door open?' was the first salutation of the party. 

'And wha ever heard of a door being barred when a man was in thedead-thraw? how d'ye think the spirit was to get awa through boltsand bars like thae?'

'Is he dead, then?' said one who went to the side of the couch tolook at the body. 

'Ay, ay, dead enough, ' said another; 'but here's what shall givehim a rousing lykewake. ' So saying, he fetched a keg of spiritsfrom a corner, while Meg hastened to display pipes and tobacco. From the activity with which she undertook the task, Brownconceived good hope of her fidelity towards her guest. It wasobvious that she wished to engage the ruffians in their debauch, to prevent the discovery which might take place if by accident anyof them should approach too nearly the place of Brown'sconcealment. 

CHAPTER XXVIII

 Nor board nor garner own we now, Nor roof nor latched door, Nor kind mate, bound, by holy vow, To bless a good man's store Noon lulls us in a gloomy den, And night is grown our day; Uprouse ye, then, my merry men! And use it as ye may

 JOANNA BAILLIE. 

Brown could now reckon his foes: they were five in number; two ofthem were very powerful men, who appeared to be either real seamenor strollers who assumed that character; the other three, an oldman and two lads, were slighter made, and, from their black hairand dark complexion, seemed to belong to Meg's tribe. They passedfrom one to another the cup out of which they drank their spirits. 'Here's to his good voyage!' said one of the seamen, drinking; 'asqually night he's got, however, to drift through the sky in. '

We omit here various execrations with which these honest gentlemengarnished their discourse, retaining only such of their expletivesas are least offensive. 

' 'A does not mind wind and weather; 'a has had many a north-easter in his day. '

'He had his last yesterday, ' said another gruffly; 'and now oldMeg may pray for his last fair wind, as she's often done before. '

'I'll pray for nane o' him, ' said Meg, 'nor for you neither, yourandy dog. The times are sair altered since I was a kinchen-mort. Men were men then, and fought other in the open field, and therewas nae milling in the darkmans. And the gentry had kind hearts, and would have given baith lap and pannel to ony puir gipsy; andthere was not one, from Johnnie Faa the upright man to littleChristie that was in the panniers, would cloyed a dud from them. But ye are a' altered from the gude auld rules, and no wonder thatyou scour the cramp-ring and trine to the cheat sae often. Yes, yeare a' altered: you 'll eat the goodman's meat, drink his drink, sleep on the strammel in his barn, and break his house and cut histhroat for his pains! There's blood on your hands, too, ye dogs, mair than ever came there by fair righting. See how ye'll diethen. Lang it was ere he died; he strove, and strove sair, andcould neither die nor live; but you--half the country will seehow ye'll grace the woodie. '

The party set up a hoarse laugh at Meg's prophecy. 

'What made you come back here, ye auld beldam?' said one of thegipsies; 'could ye not have staid where you were, and spaedfortunes to the Cumberland flats? Bing out and tour, ye aulddevil, and see that nobody has scented; that's a' you're good fornow. '

'Is that a' I am good for now?' said the indignant matron. 'I wasgood for mair than that in the great fight between our folk andPatrico Salmon's; if I had not helped you with these very fambles(holding up her hands), Jean Baillie would have frummagem'd you, ye feckless do-little!'

There was here another laugh at the expense of the hero who hadreceived this amazon's assistance. 

'Here, mother, ' said one of the sailors, 'here's a cup of theright for you, and never mind that bully-huff. '

Meg drank the spirits, and, withdrawing herself from fartherconversation, sat down before the spot where Brown lay hid, insuch a posture that it would have been difficult for any one tohave approached it without her rising. The men, however, showed nodisposition to disturb her. 

They closed around the fire and held deep consultation together;but the low tone in which they spoke, and the cant language whichthey used, prevented Brown from understanding much of theirconversation. He gathered in general that they expressed greatindignation against some individual. 'He shall have his gruel, 'said one, and then whispered something very low into the ear ofhis comrade. 

'I'll have nothing to do with that, ' said the other. 

'Are you turned hen-hearted, Jack?'

'No, by G-d, no more than yourself, but I won't. It was somethinglike that stopped all the trade fifteen or twenty years ago. Youhave heard of the Loup?'

'I have heard HIM (indicating the corpse by a jerk of his head)tell about that job. G-d, how he used to laugh when he showed ushow he fetched him off the perch!'

'Well, but it did up the trade for one while, ' said Jack. 

'How should that be?' asked the surly villain. 

'Why, ' replied Jack, 'the people got rusty about it, and would notdeal, and they had bought so many brooms that--'

'Well, for all that, ' said the other, 'I think we should be downupon the fellow one of these darkmans and let him get it well. '

'But old Meg's asleep now, ' said another; 'she grows a driveller, and is afraid of her shadow. She'll sing out, some of these odd-come-shortlies, if you don't look sharp. '

'Never fear, ' said the old gipsy man; 'Meg's true-bred; she's thelast in the gang that will start; but she has some queer ways, andoften cuts queer words. '

With more of this gibberish they continued the conversation, rendering it thus, even to each other, a dark obscure dialect, eked out by significant nods and signs, but never expressingdistinctly, or in plain language, the subject on which it turned. At length one of them, observing Meg was still fast asleep, orappeared to be so, desired one of the lads 'to hand in the blackPeter, that they might flick it open. ' The boy stepped to the doorand brought in a portmanteau, which Brown instantly recognised forhis own. His thoughts immediately turned to the unfortunate lad hehad left with the carriage. Had the ruffians murdered him? was thehorrible doubt that crossed his mind. The agony of his attentiongrew yet keener, and while the villains pulled out and admired thedifferent articles of his clothes and linen, he eagerly listenedfor some indication that might intimate the fate of the postilion. But the ruffians were too much delighted with their prize, and toomuch busied in examining its contents, to enter into any detailconcerning the manner in which they had acquired it. Theportmanteau contained various articles of apparel, a pair ofpistols, a leathern case with a few papers, and some money, etc. , etc. At any other time it would have provoked Brown excessively tosee the unceremonious manner in which the thieves shared hisproperty, and made themselves merry at the expense of the owner. But the moment was too perilous to admit any thoughts but what hadimmediate reference to self-preservation. 

After a sufficient scrutiny into the portmanteau, and an equitabledivision of its contents, the ruffians applied themselves moreclosely to the serious occupation of drinking, in which they spentthe greater part of the night. Brown was for some time in greathopes that they would drink so deep as to render themselvesinsensible, when his escape would have been an easy matter. Buttheir dangerous trade required precautions inconsistent with suchunlimited indulgence, and they stopped short on this side ofabsolute intoxication. Three of them at length composed themselvesto rest, while the fourth watched. He was relieved in this duty byone of the others after a vigil of two hours. When the secondwatch had elapsed, the sentinel awakened the whole, who, toBrown's inexpressible relief, began to make some preparations asif for departure, bundling up the various articles which each hadappropriated. Still, however, there remained something to be done. Two of them, after some rummaging which not a little alarmedBrown, produced a mattock and shovel; another took a pickaxe frombehind the straw on which the dead body was extended. With theseimplements two of them left the hut, and the remaining three, twoof whom were the seamen, very strong men, still remained ingarrison. 

After the space of about half an hour, one of those who haddeparted again returned, and whispered the others. They wrapped upthe dead body in the sea cloak which had served as a pall, andwent out, bearing it along with them. The aged sibyl then arosefrom her real or feigned slumbers. She first went to the door, asif for the purpose of watching the departure of her late inmates, then returned, and commanded Brown, in a low and stifled voice, tofollow her instantly. He obeyed; but, on leaving the hut, he wouldwillingly have repossessed himself of his money, or papers atleast, but this she prohibited in the most peremptory manner. Itimmediately occurred to him that the suspicion of having removedanything of which he might repossess himself would fall upon thiswoman, by whom in all probability his life had been saved. Hetherefore immediately desisted from his attempt, contentinghimself with seizing a cutlass, which one of the ruffians hadflung aside among the straw. On his feet, and possessed of thisweapon, he already found himself half delivered from the dangerswhich beset him. Still, however, he felt stiffened and cramped, both with the cold and by the constrained and unaltered positionwhich he had occupied all night. But, as he followed the gipsyfrom the door of the hut, the fresh air of the morning and theaction of walking restored circulation and activity to hisbenumbed limbs. 

The pale light of a winter's morning was rendered more clear bythe snow, which was lying all around, crisped by the influence ofa severe frost. Brown cast a hasty glance at the landscape aroundhim, that he might be able again to know the spot. The littletower, of which only a single vault remained, forming the dismalapartment in which he had spent this remarkable night, was perchedon the very point of a projecting rock overhanging the rivulet. Itwas accessible only on one side, and that from the ravine or glenbelow. On the other three sides the bank was precipitous, so thatBrown had on the preceding evening escaped more dangers than one;for, if he had attempted to go round the building, which was oncehis purpose, he must have been dashed to pieces. The dell was sonarrow that the trees met in some places from the opposite sides. They were now loaded with snow instead of leaves, and thus formeda sort of frozen canopy over the rivulet beneath, which was markedby its darker colour, as it soaked its way obscurely throughwreaths of snow. In one place, where the glen was a little wider, leaving a small piece of flat ground between the rivulet and thebank, were situated the ruins of the hamlet in which Brown hadbeen involved on the preceding evening. The ruined gables, theinsides of which were japanned with turf-smoke, looked yet blackercontrasted with the patches of snow which had been driven againstthem by the wind, and with the drifts which lay around them. 

Upon this wintry and dismal scene Brown could only at present casta very hasty glance; for his guide, after pausing an instant as ifto permit him to indulge his curiosity, strode hastily before himdown the path which led into the glen. He observed, with somefeelings of suspicion, that she chose a track already marked byseveral feet, which he could only suppose were those of thedepredators who had spent the night in the vault. A moment'srecollection, however, put his suspicions to rest. It was not tobe thought that the woman, who might have delivered him up to hergang when in a state totally defenceless, would have suspended hersupposed treachery until he was armed and in the open air, and hadso many better chances of defence or escape. He therefore followedhis guide in confidence and silence. They crossed the small brookat the same place where it previously had been passed by those whohad gone before. The footmarks then proceeded through the ruinedvillage, and from thence down the glen, which again narrowed to aravine, after the small opening in which they were situated. Butthe gipsy no longer followed the same track; she turned aside, andled the way by a very rugged and uneven path up the bank whichoverhung the village. Although the snow in many places hid thepathway, and rendered the footing uncertain and unsafe, Megproceeded with a firm and determined step, which indicated anintimate knowledge of the ground she traversed. At length theygained the top of the bank, though by a passage so steep andintricate that Brown, though convinced it was the same by which hehad descended on the night before, was not a little surprised howhe had accomplished the task without breaking his neck. Above, thecountry opened wide and uninclosed for about a mile or two on theone hand, and on the other were thick plantations of considerableextent. 

Meg, however, still led the way along the bank of the ravine outof which they had ascended, until she heard beneath the murmur ofvoices. She then pointed to a deep plantation of trees at somedistance. 'The road to Kippletringan, ' she said, 'is on the otherside of these inclosures. Make the speed ye can; there's mairrests on your life than other folk's. But you have lost all--stay. ' She fumbled in an immense pocket, from which she produced agreasy purse--'Many's the awmous your house has gi'en Meg andhers; and she has lived to pay it back in a small degree;' and sheplaced the purse in his hand. 

'The woman is insane, ' thought Brown; but it was no time to debatethe point, for the sounds he heard in the ravine below probablyproceeded from the banditti. 'How shall I repay this money, ' hesaid, 'or how acknowledge the kindness you have done me?'

'I hae twa boons to crave, ' answered the sibyl, speaking low andhastily: 'one, that you will never speak of what you have seenthis night; the other, that you will not leave this country tillyou see me again, and that you leave word at the Gordon Arms whereyou are to be heard of, and when I next call for you, be it inchurch or market, at wedding or at burial, Sunday or Saturday, mealtime or fasting, that ye leave everything else and come withme. '

'Why, that will do you little good, mother. '

'But 'twill do yoursell muckle, and that's what I'm thinking o'. Iam not mad, although I have had eneugh to make me sae; I am notmad, nor doating, nor drunken. I know what I am asking, and I knowit has been the will of God to preserve you in strange dangers, and that I shall be the instrument to set you in your father'sseat again. Sae give me your promise, and mind that you owe yourlife to me this blessed night. '

'There's wildness in her manner, certainly, ' thought Brown, 'andyet it is more like the wildness of energy than of madness. '--'Well, mother, since you do ask so useless and trifling a favour, you have my promise. It will at least give me an opportunity torepay your money with additions. You are an uncommon kind ofcreditor, no doubt, but--'

'Away, away, then!' said she, waving her hand. 'Think not aboutthe goud, it's a' your ain; but remember your promise, and do notdare to follow me or look after me. ' So saying, she plunged againinto the dell, and descended it with great agility, the iciclesand snow-wreaths showering down after her as she disappeared. 

Notwithstanding her prohibition, Brown endeavoured to gain somepoint of the bank from which he might, unseen, gaze down into theglen; and with some difficulty (for it must be conceived that theutmost caution was necessary) he succeeded. The spot which heattained for this purpose was the point of a projecting rock, which rose precipitously from among the trees. By kneeling downamong the snow and stretching his head cautiously forward, hecould observe what was going on in the bottom of the dell. He saw, as he expected, his companions of the last night, now joined bytwo or three others. They had cleared away the snow from the footof the rock and dug a deep pit, which was designed to serve thepurpose of a grave. Around this they now stood, and lowered intoit something wrapped in a naval cloak, which Brown instantlyconcluded to be the dead body of the man he had seen expire. Theythen stood silent for half a minute, as if under some touch offeeling for the loss of their companion. But if they experiencedsuch, they did not long remain under its influence, for all handswent presently to work to fill up the grave; and Brown, perceivingthat the task would be soon ended, thought it best to take thegipsy woman's hint and walk as fast as possible until he shouldgain the shelter of the plantation. 

Having arrived under cover of the trees, his first thought was ofthe gipsy's purse. He had accepted it without hesitation, thoughwith something like a feeling of degradation, arising from thecharacter of the person by whom he was thus accommodated. But itrelieved him from a serious though temporary embarrassment. Hismoney, excepting a very few shillings, was in his portmanteau, andthat was in possession of Meg's friends. Some time was necessaryto write to his agent, or even to apply to his good host atCharlie's Hope, who would gladly have supplied him. In themeantime he resolved to avail himself of Meg's subsidy, confidenthe should have a speedy opportunity of replacing it with ahandsome gratuity. 'It can be but a trifling sum, ' he said tohimself, 'and I daresay the good lady may have a share of mybanknotes to make amends. '

With these reflections he opened the leathern purse, expecting tofind at most three or four guineas. But how much was he surprisedto discover that it contained, besides a considerable quantity ofgold pieces, of different coinages and various countries, thejoint amount of which could not be short of a hundred pounds, several valuable rings and ornaments set with jewels, and, asappeared from the slight inspection he had time to give them, ofvery considerable value. 

Brown was equally astonished and embarrassed by the circumstancesin which he found himself, possessed, as he now appeared to be, ofproperty to a much greater amount than his own, but which had beenobtained in all probability by the same nefarious means throughwhich he had himself been plundered. His first thought was toinquire after the nearest justice of peace, and to place in hishands the treasure of which he had thus unexpectedly become thedepositary, telling at the same time his own remarkable story. Buta moment's consideration brought several objections to this modeof procedure In the first place, by observing this course heshould break his promise of silence, and might probably by thatmeans involve the safety, perhaps the life, of this woman, who hadrisked her own to preserve his, and who had voluntarily endowedhim with this treasure--a generosity which might thus become themeans of her ruin. This was not to be thought of. Besides, he wasa stranger, and for a time at least unprovided with means ofestablishing his own character and credit to the satisfaction of astupid or obstinate country magistrate. 'I will think over thematter more maturely, ' he said; 'perhaps there may be a regimentquartered at the county town, in which case my knowledge of theservice and acquaintance with many officers of the army cannotfail to establish my situation and character by evidence which acivil judge could not sufficiently estimate. And then I shall havethe commanding officer's assistance in managing matters so as toscreen this unhappy madwoman, whose mistake or prejudice has beenso fortunate for me. A civil magistrate might think himselfobliged to send out warrants for her at once, and the consequence, in case of her being taken, is pretty evident. No, she has beenupon honour with me if she were the devil, and I will be equallyupon honour with her. She shall have the privilege of a court-martial, where the point of honour can qualify strict law. Besides, I may see her at this place, Kipple--Couple--what didshe call it? and then I can make restitution to her, and e'en letthe law claim its own when it can secure her. In the meanwhile, however, I cut rather an awkward figure for one who has the honourto bear his Majesty's commission, being little better than thereceiver of stolen goods. '

With these reflections, Brown took from the gipsy's treasure threeor four guineas, for the purpose of his immediate expenses, and, tying up the rest in the purse which contained them, resolved notagain to open it until he could either restore it to her by whomit was given, or put it into the hands of some public functionary. He next thought of the cutlass, and his first impulse was to leaveit in the plantation. But, when he considered the risk of meetingwith these ruffians, he could not resolve on parting with hisarms. His walking-dress, though plain, had so much of a militarycharacter as suited not amiss with his having such a weapon. Besides, though the custom of wearing swords by persons out ofuniform had been gradually becoming antiquated, it was not yet sototally forgotten as to occasion any particular remark towardsthose who chose to adhere to it. Retaining, therefore, his weaponof defence, and placing the purse of the gipsy in a privatepocket, our traveller strode gallantly on through the wood insearch of the promised highroad. 

CHAPTER XXIX

 All school day's friendship childhood innocence' We Hermia like two artificial gods Have with our needles created both one flower, Both on one sampler sitting on one cushion, Both warbling of one song both in one key As if our hands our sides, voices and minds Had been incorporate

 A Midsummer Night's Dream

JULIA MANNERING TO MATILDA MARCHMONT

'How can you upbraid me, my dearest Matilda, with abatement infriendship or fluctuation in affection? Is it possible for me toforget that you are the chosen of my heart, in whose faithfulbosom I have deposited every feeling which your poor Julia daresto acknowledge to herself? And you do me equal injustice inupbraiding me with exchanging your friendship for that of LucyBertram. I assure you she has not the materials I must seek for ina bosom confidante. She is a charming girl, to be sure, and I likeher very much, and I confess our forenoon and evening engagementshave left me less time for the exercise of my pen than ourproposed regularity of correspondence demands. But she is totallydevoid of elegant accomplishments, excepting the knowledge ofFrench and Italian, which she acquired from the most grotesquemonster you ever beheld, whom my father has engaged as a kind oflibrarian, and whom he patronises, I believe, to show his defianceof the world's opinion. Colonel Mannering seems to have formed adetermination that nothing shall be considered as ridiculous solong as it appertains to or is connected with him. I remember inIndia he had picked up somewhere a little mongrel cur, with bandylegs, a long back, and huge flapping ears. Of this uncouthcreature he chose to make a favourite, in despite of all taste andopinion; and I remember one instance which he alleged, of what hecalled Brown's petulance, was, that he had criticised severely thecrooked legs and drooping ears of Bingo. On my word, Matilda, Ibelieve he nurses his high opinion of this most awkward of allpedants upon a similar principle. He seats the creature at table, where he pronounces a grace that sounds like the scream of the manin the square that used to cry mackerel, flings his meat down histhroat by shovelfuls, like a dustman loading his cart, andapparently without the most distant perception of what he isswallowing, then bleats forth another unnatural set of tones byway of returning thanks, stalks out of the room, and immerseshimself among a parcel of huge worm-eaten folios that are asuncouth as himself! I could endure the creature well enough had Ianybody to laugh at him along with me; but Lucy Bertram, if I butverge on the border of a jest affecting this same Mr. Sampson(such is the horrid man's horrid name), looks so piteous that itdeprives me of all spirit to proceed, and my father knits hisbrow, flashes fire from his eye, bites his lip, and says somethingthat is extremely rude and uncomfortable to my feelings. 

'It was not of this creature, however, that I meant to speak toyou, only that, being a good scholar in the modern as well as theancient languages, he has contrived to make Lucy Bertram mistressof the former, and she has only, I believe, to thank her own goodsense, or obstinacy, that the Greek, Latin (and Hebrew, for aughtI know), were not added to her acquisitions. And thus she reallyhas a great fund of information, and I assure you I am dailysurprised at the power which she seems to possess of amusingherself by recalling and arranging the subjects of her formerreading. We read together every morning, and I begin to likeItalian much better than when we were teased by that conceitedanimal Cicipici. This is the way to spell his name, and notChichipichi; you see I grow a connoisseur. 

'But perhaps I like Miss Bertram more for the accomplishments shewants than for the knowledge she possesses. She knows nothing ofmusic whatever, and no more of dancing than is here common to themeanest peasants, who, by the way, dance with great zeal andspirit. So that I am instructor in my turn, and she takes withgreat gratitude lessons from me upon the harpsichord; and I haveeven taught her some of La Pique's steps, and you know he thoughtme a promising scholar. 

'In the evening papa often reads, and I assure you he is the bestreader of poetry you ever heard; not like that actor who made akind of jumble between reading and acting, --staring, and bendinghis brow, and twisting his face, and gesticulating as if he wereon the stage and dressed out in all his costume. My father'smanner is quite different; it is the reading of a gentleman, whoproduces effect by feeling, taste, and inflection of voice, not byaction or mummery. Lucy Bertram rides remarkably well, and I cannow accompany her on horseback, having become emboldened byexample. We walk also a good deal in spite of the cold. So, uponthe whole, I have not quite so much time for writing as I used tohave. 

'Besides, my love, I must really use the apology of all stupidcorrespondents, that I have nothing to say. My hopes, my fears, myanxieties about Brown are of a less interesting cast since I knowthat he is at liberty and in health. Besides, I must own I thinkthat by this time the gentleman might have given me someintimation what he was doing. Our intercourse may be an imprudentone, but it is not very complimentary to me that Mr. VanbeestBrown should be the first to discover that such is the case, andto break off in consequence. I can promise him that we might notdiffer much in opinion should that happen to be his, for I havesometimes thought I have behaved extremely foolishly in thatmatter. Yet I have so good an opinion of poor Brown, that I cannotbut think there is something extraordinary in his silence. 

'To return to Lucy Bertram. No, my dearest Matilda, she can never, never rival you in my regard, so that all your affectionatejealousy on that account is without foundation. She is, to besure, a very pretty, a very sensible, a very affectionate girl, and I think there are few persons to whose consolatory friendshipI could have recourse more freely in what are called the realevils of life. But then these so seldom come in one's way, and onewants a friend who will sympathise with distresses of sentiment aswell as with actual misfortune. Heaven knows, and you know, mydearest Matilda, that these diseases of the heart require the balmof sympathy and affection as much as the evils of a more obviousand determinate character. Now Lucy Bertram has nothing of thiskindly sympathy, nothing at all, my dearest Matilda. Were I sickof a fever, she would sit up night after night to nurse me withthe most unrepining patience; but with the fever of the heart, which my Matilda has soothed so often, she has no more sympathythan her old tutor. And yet what provokes me is, that the demuremonkey actually has a lover of her own, and that their mutualaffection (for mutual I take it to be) has a great deal ofcomplicated and romantic interest. She was once, you must know, agreat heiress, but was ruined by the prodigality of her father andthe villainy of a horrid man in whom he confided. And one of thehandsomest young gentlemen in the country is attached to her; but, as he is heir to a great estate, she discourages his addresses onaccount of the disproportion of their fortune. 

'But with all this moderation, and self-denial, and modesty, andso forth, Lucy is a sly girl. I am sure she loves young Hazlewood, and I am sure he has some guess of that, and would probably bringher to acknowledge it too if my father or she would allow him anopportunity. But you must know the Colonel is always himself inthe way to pay Miss Bertram those attentions which afford the bestindirect opportunities for a young gentleman in Hazlewood'ssituation. I would have my good papa take care that he does nothimself pay the usual penalty of meddling folks. I assure you, ifI were Hazlewood I should look on his compliments, his bowings, his cloakings, his shawlings, and his handings with some littlesuspicion; and truly I think Hazlewood does so too at some oddtimes. Then imagine what a silly figure your poor Julia makes onsuch occasions! Here is my father making the agreeable to myfriend; there is young Hazlewood watching every word of her lips, and every motion of her eye; and I have not the poor satisfactionof interesting a human being, not even the exotic monster of aparson, for even he sits with his mouth open, and his huge roundgoggling eyes fixed like those of a statue, admiring MessBaartram!

'All this makes me sometimes a little nervous, and sometimes alittle mischievous. I was so provoked at my father and the loversthe other day for turning me completely out of their thoughts andsociety, that I began an attack upon Hazlewood, from which it wasimpossible for him, in common civility, to escape. He insensiblybecame warm in his defence, --I assure you, Matilda, he is a veryclever as well as a very handsome young man, and I don't think Iever remember having seen him to the same advantage, --when, behold, in the midst of our lively conversation, a very soft sighfrom Miss Lucy reached my not ungratified ears. I was greatly toogenerous to prosecute my victory any farther, even if I had notbeen afraid of papa. Luckily for me, he had at that moment gotinto a long description of the peculiar notions and manners of acertain tribe of Indians who live far up the country, and wasillustrating them by making drawings on Miss Bertram's work-patterns, three of which he utterly damaged by introducing amongthe intricacies of the pattern his specimens of Oriental costume. But I believe she thought as little of her own gown at the momentas of the Indian turbands and cummerbands. However, it was quiteas well for me that he did not see all the merit of my littlemanoeuvre, for he is as sharp-sighted as a hawk, and a sworn enemyto the slightest shade of coquetry. 

'Well, Matilda, Hazlewood heard this same halfaudible sigh, andinstantly repented his temporary attentions to such an unworthyobject as your Julia, and, with a very comical expression ofconsciousness, drew near to Lucy's work-table. He made sometrifling observation, and her reply was one in which nothing butan ear as acute as that of a lover, or a curious observer likemyself, could have distinguished anything more cold and dry thanusual. But it conveyed reproof to the self-accusing hero, and hestood abashed accordingly. You will admit that I was called uponin generosity to act as mediator. So I mingled in theconversation, in the quiet tone of an unobserving and uninterestedthird party, led them into their former habits of easy chat, and, after having served awhile as the channel of communication throughwhich they chose to address each other, set them down to a pensivegame at chess, and very dutifully went to tease papa, who wasstill busied with his drawings. The chess-players, you mustobserve, were placed near the chimney, beside a little work-table, which held the board and men, the Colonel at some distance, withlights upon a library table; for it is a large old-fashioned room, with several recesses, and hung with grim tapestry, representingwhat it might have puzzled the artist himself to explain. 

'"Is chess a very interesting game, papa?"

'"I am told so, " without honouring me with much of his notice. 

'"I should think so, from the attention Mr. Hazlewood and Lucy arebestowing on it. "

'He raised his head "hastily and held his pencil suspended for aninstant. Apparently he saw nothing that excited his suspicions, for he was resuming the folds of a Mahratta's turban intranquillity when I interrupted him with--"How old is MissBertram, sir?"

"'How should I know, Miss? About your own age, I suppose. "

'"Older, I should think, sir. You are always telling me how muchmore decorously she goes through all the honours of the tea-table. Lord, papa, what if you should give her a right to preside onceand for ever!"

'"Julia, my dear, " returned papa, "you are either a fool outrightor you are more disposed to make mischief than I have yet believedyou. "

'"Oh, my dear sir! put your best construction upon it; I would notbe thought a fool for all the world. "

'"Then why do you talk like one?" said my father. 

'"Lord, sir, I am sure there is nothing so foolish in what I saidjust now. Everybody knows you are a very handsome man" (a smilewas just visible), "that is, for your time of life" (the dawn wasovercast), "which is far from being advanced, and I am sure Idon't know why you should not please yourself, if you have a mind. I am sensible I am but a thoughtless girl, and if a gravercompanion could render you more happy--"

'There was a mixture of displeasure and grave affection in themanner in which my father took my hand, that was a severe reproofto me for trifling with his feelings. "Julia, " he said, "I bearwith much of your petulance because I think I have in some degreedeserved it, by neglecting to superintend your educationsufficiently closely. Yet I would not have you give it the reinupon a subject so delicate. If you do not respect the feelings ofyour surviving parent towards the memory of her whom you havelost, attend at least to the sacred claims of misfortune; andobserve, that the slightest hint of such a jest reaching MissBertram's ears would at once induce her to renounce her presentasylum, and go forth, without a protector, into a world she hasalready felt so unfriendly. "

'What could I say to this, Matilda? I only cried heartily, beggedpardon, and promised to be a good girl in future. And so here am Ineutralised again, for I cannot, in honour or common good-nature, tease poor Lucy by interfering with Hazlewood, although she has solittle confidence in me; and neither can I, after this graveappeal, venture again upon such delicate ground with papa. So Iburn little rolls of paper, and sketch Turks' heads upon visitingcards with the blackened end--I assure you I succeeded in making asuperb Hyder-Ally last night--and I jingle on my unfortunateharpsichord, and begin at the end of a grave book and read itbackward. After all, I begin to be very much vexed about Brown'ssilence. Had he been obliged to leave the country, I am sure hewould at least have written to me. Is it possible that my fathercan have intercepted his letters? But no, that is contrary to allhis principles; I don't think he would open a letter addressed tome to-night, to prevent my jumping out of window to-morrow. Whatan expression I have suffered to escape my pen! I should beashamed of it, even to you, Matilda, and used in jest. But I neednot take much merit for acting as I ought to do. This same Mr. Vanbeest Brown is by no means so very ardent a lover as to hurrythe object of his attachment into such inconsiderate steps. Hegives one full time to reflect, that must be admitted. However, Iwill not blame him unheard, nor permit myself to doubt the manlyfirmness of a character which I have so often extolled to you. Were he capable of doubt, of fear, of the shadow of change, Ishould have little to regret. 

'And why, you will say, when I expect such steady and unalterableconstancy from a lover, why should I be anxious about whatHazlewood does, or to whom he offers his attentions? I ask myselfthe question a hundred times a day, and it only receives the verysilly answer that one does not like to be neglected, though onewould not encourage a serious infidelity. 

'I write all these trifles because you say that they amuse you, and yet I wonder how they should. I remember, in our stolenvoyages to the world of fiction, you always admired the grand andthe romantic, --tales of knights, dwarfs, giants, and distresseddamsels, oothsayers, visions, beckoning ghosts, and bloody hands;whereas I was partial to the involved intrigues of private life, or at farthest to so much only of the supernatural as is conferredby the agency of an Eastern genie or a beneficent fairy. YOU wouldhave loved to shape your course of life over the broad ocean, withits dead calms and howling tempests, its tornadoes, and itsbillows mountain-high; whereas I should like to trim my littlepinnace to a brisk breeze in some inland lake or tranquil bay, where there was just difficulty of navigation sufficient to giveinterest and to require skill without any sensible degree ofdanger. So that, upon the whole, Matilda, I think you should havehad my father, with his pride of arms and of ancestry, hischivalrous point of honour, his high talents, and his abstruse andmystic studies. You should have had Lucy Bertram too for yourfriend, whose fathers, with names which alike defy memory andorthography, ruled over this romantic country, and whose birthtook place, as I have been indistinctly informed, undercircumstances of deep and peculiar interest. You should have had, too, our Scottish residence, surrounded by mountains, and ourlonely walks to haunted ruins. And I should have had, in exchange, the lawns and shrubs, and green-houses and conservatories, of PinePark, with your good, quiet, indulgent aunt, her chapel in themorning, her nap after dinner, her hand at whist in the evening, not forgetting her fat coach-horses and fatter coachman. Takenotice, however, that Brown is not included in this proposedbarter of mine; his good-humour, lively conversation, and opengallantry suit my plan of life as well as his athletic form, handsome features, and high spirit would accord with a characterof chivalry. So, as we cannot change altogether out and out, Ithink we must e'en abide as we are. '

CHAPTER XXX

 I renounce your defiance; if you parley so roughly I'll barricade my gates against you. Do you see yon bay window? Storm, I care not, serving the good Duke of Norfolk

 Merry Devil of Edmonton. 

JULIA MANNERING to MATILDA MARCHMONT

'I rise from a sick-bed, my dearest Matilda, to communicate thestrange and frightful scenes which have just passed. Alas! howlittle we ought to jest with futurity! I closed my letter to youin high spirits, with some flippant remarks on your taste for theromantic and extraordinary in fictitious narrative. How little Iexpected to have had such events to record in the course of a fewdays! And to witness scenes of terror, or to contemplate them indescription, is as different, my dearest Matilda, as to bend overthe brink of a precipice holding by the frail tenure of a half-rooted shrub, or to admire the same precipice as represented inthe landscape of Salvator. But I will not anticipate my narrative. 

'The first part of my story is frightful enough, though it hadnothing to interest my feelings. You must know that this countryis particularly favourable to the commerce of a set of desperatemen from the Isle of Man, which is nearly opposite. Thesesmugglers are numerous, resolute, and formidable, and have atdifferent times become the dread of the neighbourhood when any onehas interfered with their contraband trade. The local magistrates, from timidity or worse motives, have become shy of acting againstthem, and impunity has rendered them equally daring and desperate. With all this my father, a stranger in the land, and invested withno official authority, had, one would think, nothing to do. But itmust be owned that, as he himself expresses it, he was born whenMars was lord of his ascendant, and that strife and bloodshed findhim out in circumstances and situations the most retired andpacific. 

'About eleven o'clock on last Tuesday morning, while Hazlewood andmy father were proposing to walk to a little lake about threemiles' distance, for the purpose of shooting wild ducks, and whileLucy and I were busied with arranging our plan of work and studyfor the day, we were alarmed by the sound of horses' feetadvancing very fast up the avenue. The ground was hardened by asevere frost, which made the clatter of the hoofs sound yet louderand sharper. In a moment two or three men, armed, mounted, andeach leading a spare horse loaded with packages, appeared on thelawn, and, without keeping upon the road, which makes a smallsweep, pushed right across for the door of the house. Theirappearance was in the utmost degree hurried and disordered, andthey frequently looked back like men who apprehended a close anddeadly pursuit. My father and Hazlewood hurried to the front doorto demand who they were, and what was their business. They wererevenue officers, they stated, who had seized these horses, loadedwith contraband articles, at a place about three miles off. Butthe smugglers had been reinforced, and were now pursuing them withthe avowed purpose of recovering the goods, and putting to deaththe officers who had presumed to do their duty. The men said that, their horses being loaded, and the pursuers gaining ground uponthem, they had fled to Woodbourne, conceiving that, as my fatherhad served the King, he would not refuse to protect the servantsof government when threatened to be murdered in the discharge oftheir duty. 

'My father, to whom, in his enthusiastic feelings of militaryloyalty, even a dog would be of importance if he came in theKing's name, gave prompt orders for securing the goods in thehall, arming the servants, and defending the house in case itshould be necessary. Hazlewood seconded him with great spirit, andeven the strange animal they call Sampson stalked out of his den, and seized upon a fowling-piece which my father had laid aside totake what they call a rifle-gun, with which they shoot tigers, etc. , in the East. The piece went off in the awkward hands of thepoor parson, and very nearly shot one of the excisemen. At thisunexpected and involuntary explosion of his weapon, the Dominie(such is his nickname) exclaimed, "Prodigious!" which is his usualejaculation when astonished. But no power could force the man topart with his discharged piece, so they were content to let himretain it, with the precaution of trusting him with no ammunition. This (excepting the alarm occasioned by the report) escaped mynotice at the time, you may easily believe; but, in talking overthe scene afterwards, Hazlewood made us very merry with theDominie's ignorant but zealous valour. 

'When my father had got everything into proper order for defence, and his people stationed at the windows with their firearms, hewanted to order us out of danger--into the cellar, I believe--butwe could not be prevailed upon to stir. Though terrified to death, I have so much of his own spirit that I would look upon the perilwhich threatens us rather than hear it rage around me withoutknowing its nature or its progress. Lucy, looking as pale as amarble statue, and keeping her eyes fixed on Hazlewood, seemed noteven to hear the prayers with which he conjured her to leave thefront of the house. But in truth, unless the hall-door should beforced, we were in little danger; the windows being almost blockedup with cushions and pillows, and, what the Dominie most lamented, with folio volumes, brought hastily from the library, leaving onlyspaces through which the defenders might fire upon the assailants. 

'My father had now made his dispositions, and we sat in breathlessexpectation in the darkened apartment, the men remaining allsilent upon their posts, in anxious contemplation probably of theapproaching danger. My father, who was quite at home in such ascene, walked from one to another and reiterated his orders thatno one should presume to fire until he gave the word. Hazlewood, who seemed to catch courage from his eye, acted as his aid-de-camp, and displayed the utmost alertness in bearing his directionsfrom one place to another, and seeing them properly carried intoexecution. Our force, with the strangers included, might amount toabout twelve men. 

'At length the silence of this awful period of expectation wasbroken by a sound which at a distance was like the rushing of astream of water, but as it approached we distinguished the thick-beating clang of a number of horses advancing very fast. I hadarranged a loophole for myself, from which I could see theapproach of the enemy. The noise increased and came nearer, and atlength thirty horsemen and more rushed at once upon the lawn. Younever saw such horrid wretches! Notwithstanding the severity ofthe season, they were most of them stripped to their shirts andtrowsers, with silk handkerchiefs knotted about their heads, andall well armed with carbines, pistols, and cutlasses. I, who am asoldier's daughter, and accustomed to see war from my infancy, wasnever so terrified in my life as by the savage appearance of theseruffians, their horses reeking with the speed at which they hadridden, and their furious exclamations of rage and disappointmentwhen they saw themselves baulked of their prey. They paused, however, when they saw the preparations made to receive them, andappeared to hold a moment's consultation among themselves. Atlength one of the party, his face blackened with gunpowder by wayof disguise, came forward with a white handkerchief on the end ofhis carbine, and asked to speak with Colonel Mannering. My father, to my infinite terror, threw open a window near which he wasposted, and demanded what he wanted. "We want our goods, which wehave been robbed of by these sharks, " said the fellow; "and ourlieutenant bids me say that, if they are delivered, we'll go offfor this bout without clearing scores with the rascals who tookthem; but if not, we'll burn the house, and have the heart's bloodof every one in it, "--a threat which he repeated more than once, graced by a fresh variety of imprecations, and the most horriddenunciations that cruelty could suggest. 

'"And which is your lieutenant?" said my father in reply. 

'"That gentleman on the grey horse, " said the miscreant, "with thered handkerchief bound about his brow. "

'"Then be pleased to tell that gentleman that, if he and thescoundrels who are with him do not ride off the lawn this instant, I will fire upon them without ceremony. " So saying, my father shutthe window and broke short the conference. 

'The fellow no sooner regained his troop than, with a loud hurra, or rather a savage yell, they fired a volley against our garrison. The glass of the windows was shattered in every direction, but theprecautions already noticed saved the party within from suffering. Three such volleys were fired without a shot being returned fromwithin. My father then observed them getting hatchets and crows, probably to assail the hall-door, and called aloud, "Let none firebut Hazlewood and me; Hazlewood, mark the ambassador. " He himselfaimed at the man on the grey horse, who fell on receiving hisshot. Hazlewood was equally successful. He shot the spokesman, whohad dismounted and was advancing with an axe in his hand. Theirfall discouraged the rest, who began to turn round their horses;and a few shots fired at them soon sent them off, bearing alongwith them their slain or wounded companions. We could not observethat they suffered any farther loss. Shortly after their retreat aparty of soldiers made their appearance, to my infinite relief. These men were quartered at a village some miles distant, and hadmarched on the first rumour of the skirmish. A part of themescorted the terrified revenue officers and their seizure to aneighbouring seaport as a place of safety, and at my earnestrequest two or three files remained with us for that and thefollowing day, for the security of the house from the vengeance ofthese banditti. 

'Such, dearest Matilda, was my first alarm. I must not forget toadd that the ruffians left, at a cottage on the roadside, the manwhose face was blackened with powder, apparently because he wasunable to bear transportation. He died in about half an hourafter. On examining the corpse, it proved to be that of aprofligate boor in the neighbourhood, a person notorious as apoacher and smuggler. We received many messages of congratulationfrom the neighbouring families, and it was generally allowed thata few such instances of spirited resistance would greatly checkthe presumption of these lawless men. My father distributedrewards among his servants, and praised Hazlewood's courage andcoolness to the skies. Lucy and I came in for a share of hisapplause, because we had stood fire with firmness, and had notdisturbed him with screams or expostulations. As for the Dominie, my father took an opportunity of begging to exchange snuff-boxeswith him. The honest gentleman was much flattered with theproposal, and extolled the beauty of his new snuff-boxexcessively. "It looked, " he said, "as well as if it were realgold from Ophir. " Indeed, it would be odd if it should not, beingformed in fact of that very metal; but, to do this honest creaturejustice, I believe the knowledge of its real value would notenhance his sense of my father's kindness, supposing it, as hedoes, to be pinchbeck gilded. He has had a hard task replacing thefolios which were used in the barricade, smoothing out the creasesand dog's-ears, and repairing the other disasters they havesustained during their service in the fortification. He brought ussome pieces of lead and bullets which these ponderous tomes hadintercepted during the action, and which he had extracted withgreat care; and, were I in spirits, I could give you a comicaccount of his astonishment at the apathy with which we heard ofthe wounds and mutilation suffered by Thomas Aquinas or thevenerable Chrysostom. But I am not in spirits, and I have yetanother and a more interesting incident to communicate. I feel, however, so much fatigued with my present exertion that I cannotresume the pen till to-morrow. I will detain this letternotwithstanding, that you may not feel any anxiety upon account ofyour own

'JULIA MANNERING. '

CHAPTER XXXI

 Here's a good world! Knew you of this fair work?

 King John. 

JULIA MANNERING to MATILDA MARCHMONT

'I must take up the thread of my story, my dearest Matilda, whereI broke off yesterday. 

'For two or three days we talked of nothing but our siege and itsprobable consequences, and dinned into my father's unwilling earsa proposal to go to Edinburgh, or at least to Dumfries, wherethere is remarkably good society, until the resentment of theseoutlaws should blow over. He answered with great composure that hehad no mind to have his landlord's house and his own property atWoodbourne destroyed; that, with our good leave, he had usuallybeen esteemed competent to taking measures for the safety orprotection of his family; that, if he remained quiet at home, heconceived the welcome the villains had received was not of anature to invite a second visit, but should he show any signs ofalarm, it would be the sure way to incur the very risk which wewere afraid of. Heartened by his arguments, and by the extremeindifference with which he treated the supposed danger, we beganto grow a little bolder, and to walk about as usual. Only thegentlemen were sometimes invited to take their guns when theyattended us, and I observed that my father for several nights paidparticular attention to having the house properly secured, andrequired his domestics to keep their arms in readiness in case ofnecessity. 

'But three days ago chanced an occurrence of a nature whichalarmed me more by far than the attack of the smugglers. 

'I told you there was a small lake at some distance fromWoodbourne, where the gentlemen sometimes go to shoot wild-fowl. Ihappened at breakfast to say I should like to see this place inits present frozen state, occupied by skaters and curlers, as theycall those who play a particular sort of game upon the ice. Thereis snow on the ground, but frozen so hard that I thought Lucy andI might venture to that distance, as the footpath leading therewas well beaten by the repair of those who frequented it forpastime. Hazlewood instantly offered to attend us, and westipulated that he should take his fowling-piece. He laughed agood deal at the idea of going a-shooting in the snow; but, torelieve our tremors, desired that a groom, who acts as gamekeeperoccasionally, should follow us with his gun. As for ColonelMannering, he does not like crowds or sights of any kind wherehuman figures make up the show, unless indeed it were a militaryreview, so he declined the party. 

'We set out unusually early, on a fine, frosty, exhilaratingmorning, and we felt our minds, as well as our nerves, braced bythe elasticity of the pure air. Our walk to the lake wasdelightful, or at least the difficulties were only such asdiverted us, --a slippery descent, for instance, or a frozen ditchto cross, which made Hazlewood's assistance absolutely necessary. I don't think Lucy liked her walk the less for these occasionalembarrassments. 

'The scene upon the lake was beautiful. One side of it is borderedby a steep crag, from which hung a thousand enormous icicles allglittering in the sun; on the other side was a little wood, nowexhibiting that fantastic appearance which the pine trees presentwhen their branches are loaded with snow. On the frozen bosom ofthe lake itself were a multitude of moving figures, some flittingalong with the velocity of swallows, some sweeping in the mostgraceful circles, and others deeply interested in a less activepastime, crowding round the spot where the inhabitants of tworival parishes contended for the prize at curling, --an honour ofno small importance, if we were to judge from the anxietyexpressed both by the players and bystanders. We walked round thelittle lake, supported by Hazlewood, who lent us each an arm. Hespoke, poor fellow, with great kindness to old and young, andseemed deservedly popular among the assembled crowd. At length wethought of retiring. 

'Why do I mention these trivial occurrences? Not, Heaven knows, from the interest I can now attach to them; but because, like adrowning man who catches at a brittle twig, I seize every apologyfor delaying the subsequent and dreadful part of my narrative. Butit must be communicated: I must have the sympathy of at least onefriend under this heart-rending calamity. 

'We were returning home by a footpath which led through aplantation of firs. Lucy had quitted Hazlewood's arm; it is onlythe plea of absolute necessity which reconciles her to accept hisassistance. I still leaned upon his other arm. Lucy followed usclose, and the servant was two or three paces behind us. Such wasour position, when at once, and as if he had started out of theearth, Brown stood before us at a short turn of the road! He wasvery plainly, I might say coarsely, dressed, and his wholeappearance had in it something wild and agitated. I screamedbetween surprise and terror. Hazlewood mistook the nature of myalarm, and, when Brown advanced towards me as if to speak, commanded him haughtily to stand back, and not to alarm the lady. Brown replied, with equal asperity, he had no occasion to takelessons from him how to behave to that or any other lady. I ratherbelieve that Hazlewood, impressed with the idea that he belongedto the band of smugglers, and had some bad purpose in view, heardand understood him imperfectly. He snatched the gun from theservant, who had come up on a line with us, and, pointing themuzzle at Brown, commanded him to stand off at his peril. Myscreams, for my terror prevented my rinding articulate language, only hastened the catastrophe. Brown, thus menaced, sprung uponHazlewood, grappled with him, and had nearly succeeded inwrenching the fowling-piece from his grasp, when the gun went offin the struggle, and the contents were lodged in Hazlewood'sshoulder, who instantly fell. I saw no more, for the whole scenereeled before my eyes, and I fainted away; but, by Lucy's report, the unhappy perpetrator of this action gazed a moment on the scenebefore him, until her screams began to alarm the people upon thelake, several of whom now came in sight. He then bounded over ahedge which divided the footpath from the plantation, and has notsince been heard of. The servant made no attempt to stop or securehim, and the report he made of the matter to those who came up tous induced them rather to exercise their humanity in recalling meto life, than show their courage by pursuing a desperado, described by the groom as a man of tremendous personal strength, and completely armed. 

'Hazlewood was conveyed home, that is, to Woodbourne, in safety; Itrust his wound will prove in no respect dangerous, though hesuffers much. But to Brown the consequences must be mostdisastrous. He is already the object of my father's resentment, and he has now incurred danger from the law of the country, aswell as from the clamorous vengeance of the father of Hazlewood, who threatens to move heaven and earth against the author of hisson's wound. How will he be able to shroud himself from thevindictive activity of the pursuit? how to defend himself, iftaken, against the severity of laws which, I am told, may evenaffect his life? and how can I find means to warn him of hisdanger? Then poor Lucy's ill-concealed grief, occasioned by herlover's wound, is another source of distress to me, and everythinground me appears to bear witness against that indiscretion whichhas occasioned this calamity. 

'For two days I was very ill indeed. The news that Hazlewood wasrecovering, and that the person who had shot him was nowhere to betraced, only that for certain he was one of the leaders of thegang of smugglers, gave me some comfort. The suspicion and pursuitbeing directed towards those people must naturally facilitateBrown's escape, and I trust has ere this ensured it. But patrolsof horse and foot traverse the country in all directions, and I amtortured by a thousand confused and unauthenticated rumours ofarrests and discoveries. 

'Meanwhile my greatest source of comfort is the generous candourof Hazlewood, who persists in declaring that, with whateverintentions the person by whom he was wounded approached our party, he is convinced the gun went off in the struggle by accident, andthat the injury he received was undesigned. The groom, on theother hand, maintains that the piece was wrenched out ofHazlewood's hands and deliberately pointed at his body, and Lucyinclines to the same opinion; I do not suspect them of wilfulexaggeration, yet such is the fallacy of human testimony, for theunhappy shot was most unquestionably discharged unintentionally. Perhaps it would be the best way to confide the whole secret toHazlewood; but he is very young, and I feel the utmost repugnanceto communicate to him my folly. I once thought of disclosing themystery to Lucy, and began by asking what she recollected of theperson and features of the man whom we had so unfortunately met;but she ran out into such a horrid description of a hedgeruffian, that I was deprived of all courage and disposition to own myattachment to one of such appearance as she attributed to him. Imust say Miss Bertram is strangely biassed by her prepossessions, for there are few handsomer men than poor Brown. I had not seenhim for a long time, and even in his strange and sudden apparitionon this unhappy occasion, and under every disadvantage, his formseems to me, on reflection, improved in grace and his features inexpressive dignity. Shall we ever meet again? Who can answer thatquestion? Write to me kindly, my dearest Matilda; but when did youotherwise? Yet, again, write to me soon, and write to me kindly. Iam not in a situation to profit by advice or reproof, nor have Imy usual spirits to parry them by raillery. I feel the terrors ofa child who has in heedless sport put in motion some powerfulpiece of machinery; and, while he beholds wheels revolving, chainsclashing, cylinders rolling around him, is equally astonished atthe tremendous powers which his weak agency has called intoaction, and terrified for the consequences which he is compelledto await, without the possibility of averting them. 

'I must not omit to say that my father is very kind andaffectionate. The alarm which I have received forms a sufficientapology for my nervous complaints. My hopes are, that Brown hasmade his escape into the sister kingdom of England, or perhaps toIreland or the Isle of Man. In either case he may await the issueof Hazlewood's wound with safety and with patience, for thecommunication of these countries with Scotland, for the purpose ofjustice, is not (thank Heaven) of an intimate nature. Theconsequences of his being apprehended would be terrible at thismoment. I endeavour to strengthen my mind by arguing against thepossibility of such a calamity. Alas! how soon have sorrows andfears, real as well as severe, followed the uniform and tranquilstate of existence at which so lately I was disposed to repine!But I will not oppress you any longer with my complaints. Adieu, my dearest Matilda! 'JULIA MANNERING. '

END OF VOLUME I

GUY MANNERING

BY SIR WALTER SCOTT

VOLUME II

GUY MANNERING

OR

THE ASTROLOGER

CHAPTER XXXII

 A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears. See how yon justice rails upon yon simple thief. Hark in thine ear: Change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

 --King Lear. 

Among those who took the most lively interest in endeavouring todiscover the person by whom young Charles Hazlewood had beenwaylaid and wounded was Gilbert Glossin, Esquire, late writer in----, now Laird of Ellangowan, and one of the worshipful commissionof justices of the peace for the county of----. His motives forexertion on this occasion were manifold; but we presume that ourreaders, from what they already know of this gentleman, willacquit him of being actuated by any zealous or intemperate love ofabstract justice. 

The truth was, that this respectable personage felt himself lessat ease than he had expected, after his machinations put him inpossession of his benefactor's estate. His reflections withindoors, where so much occurred to remind him of former times, werenot always the self-congratulations of successful stratagem. Andwhen he looked abroad he could not but be sensible that he wasexcluded from the society of the gentry of the county, to whoserank he conceived he had raised himself. He was not admitted totheir clubs, and at meetings of a public nature, from which hecould not be altogether excluded, he found himself thwarted andlooked upon with coldness and contempt. Both principle andprejudice cooperated in creating this dislike; for the gentlemenof the county despised him for the lowness of his birth, whilethey hated him for the means by which he had raised his fortune. With the common people his reputation stood still worse. Theywould neither yield him the territorial appellation of Ellangowannor the usual compliment of Mr. Glossin: with them he was bareGlossin; and so incredibly was his vanity interested by thistrifling circumstance, that he was known to give half-a-crown to abeggar because he had thrice called him Ellangowan in beseechinghim for a penny. He therefore felt acutely the general want ofrespect, and particularly when he contrasted his own character andreception in society with those of Mr. Mac-Morlan, who, in farinferior worldly circumstances, was beloved and respected both byrich and poor, and was slowly but securely laying the foundationof a moderate fortune, with the general good-will and esteem ofall who knew him. 

Glossin, while he repined internally at what he would fain havecalled the prejudices and prepossessions of the country, was toowise to make any open complaint. He was sensible his elevation wastoo recent to be immediately forgotten, and the means by which hehad attained it too odious to be soon forgiven. But time, thoughthe, diminishes wonder and palliates misconduct. With thedexterity, therefore, of one who made his fortune by studying theweak points of human nature, he determined to lie by foropportunities to make himself useful even to those who mostdisliked him; trusting that his own abilities, the disposition ofcountry gentlemen to get into quarrels, when a lawyer's advicebecomes precious, and a thousand other contingencies, of which, with patience and address, he doubted not to be able to availhimself, would soon place him in a more important and respectablelight to his neighbours, and perhaps raise him to the eminencesometimes attained by a shrewd, worldly, bustling man of business, when, settled among a generation of country gentlemen, he becomes, in Burns's language, The tongue of the trump to them a'. 

The attack on Colonel Mannering's house, followed by the accidentof Hazlewood's wound, appeared to Glossin a proper opportunity toimpress upon the country at large the service which could berendered by an active magistrate (for he had been in thecommission for some time), well acquainted with the law, and noless so with the haunts and habits of the illicit traders. He hadacquired the latter kind of experience by a former close alliancewith some of the most desperate smugglers, in consequence of whichhe had occasionally acted, sometimes as a partner, sometimes aslegal adviser, with these persons, But the connexion had beendropped many years; nor, considering how short the race of eminentcharacters of this description, and the frequent circumstancesoccur to make them retire from particular scenes of action, had hethe least reason to think that his present researches couldpossibly compromise any old friend who might possess means ofretaliation. The having been concerned in these practicesabstractedly was a circumstance which, according to his opinion, ought in no respect to interfere with his now using his experiencein behalf of the public, or rather to further his own privateviews. To acquire the good opinion and countenance of ColonelMannering would be no small object to a gentleman who was muchdisposed to escape from Coventry, and to gain the favour of oldHazlewood, who was a leading man in the county, was of moreimportance still. Lastly, if he should succeed in discovering, apprehending, and convicting the culprits, he would have thesatisfaction of mortifying, and in some degree disparaging, Mac-Morlan, to whom, as sheriff-substitute of the county, this sort ofinvestigation properly belonged, and who would certainly suffer inpublic opinion should the voluntary exertions of Glossin be moresuccessful than his own. 

Actuated by motives so stimulating, and well acquainted with thelower retainers of the law, Glossin set every spring in motion todetect and apprehend, if possible, some of the gang who hadattacked Woodbourne, and more particularly the individual who hadwounded Charles Hazlewood. He promised high rewards, he suggestedvarious schemes, and used his personal interest among his oldacquaintances who favoured the trade, urging that they had bettermake sacrifice of an understrapper or two than incur the odium ofhaving favoured such atrocious proceedings. But for some time allthese exertions were in vain. The common people of the countryeither favoured or feared the smugglers too much to afford anyevidence against them. At length this busy magistrate obtainedinformation that a man, having the dress and appearance of theperson who had wounded Hazlewood, had lodged on the evening beforethe rencontre at the Gordon Arms in Kippletringan. Thither Mr. Glossin immediately went, for the purpose of interrogating our oldacquaintance Mrs. Mac-Candlish. 

The reader may remember that Mr. Glossin did not, according tothis good woman's phrase, stand high in her books. She thereforeattended his summons to the parlour slowly and reluctantly, and, on entering the room, paid her respects in the coldest possiblemanner. The dialogue then proceeded as follows:--

'A fine frosty morning, Mrs. Mac-Candlish. '

'Ay, sir; the morning's weel eneugh, ' answered the landlady, drily. 

'Mrs. Mac-Candlish, I wish to know if the justices are to dinehere as usual after the business of the court on Tuesday?'

'I believe--I fancy sae, sir--as usual' (about to leave the room). 

'Stay a moment, Mrs. Mac-Candlish; why, you are in a prodigioushurry, my good friend! I have been thinking a club dining hereonce a month would be a very pleasant thing. '

'Certainly, sir; a club of RESPECTABLE gentlemen. '

'True, true, ' said Glossin, 'I mean landed proprietors andgentlemen of weight in the county; and I should like to set such athing a-going. '

The short dry cough with which Mrs. Mac-Candlish received thisproposal by no means indicated any dislike to the overtureabstractedly considered, but inferred much doubt how far it wouldsucceed under the auspices of the gentleman by whom it wasproposed. It was not a cough negative, but a cough dubious, and assuch Glossin felt it; but it was not his cue to take offence. 

'Have there been brisk doings on the road, Mrs. Mac-Candlish?Plenty of company, I suppose?'

'Pretty weel, sir, --but I believe I am wanted at the bar. '

'No, no; stop one moment, cannot you, to oblige an old customer?Pray, do you remember a remarkably tall young man who lodged onenight in your house last week?'

'Troth, sir, I canna weel say; I never take heed whether mycompany be lang or short, if they make a lang bill. '

'And if they do not, you can do that for them, eh, Mrs. Mac-Candlish? ha, ha, ha! But this young man that I inquire after wasupwards of six feet high, had a dark frock, with metal buttons, light-brown hair unpowdered, blue eyes, and a straight nose, travelled on foot, had no servant or baggage; you surely canremember having seen such a traveller?'

'Indeed, sir, ' answered Mrs. Mac-Candlish, bent on baffling hisinquiries, 'I canna charge my memory about the matter; there'smair to do in a house like this, I trow, than to look afterpassengers' hair, or their een, or noses either. '

'Then, Mrs. Mac-Candlish, I must tell you in plain terms that thisperson is suspected of having been guilty of a crime; and it is inconsequence of these suspicions that I, as a magistrate, requirethis information from you; and if you refuse to answer myquestions, I must put you upon your oath. '

'Troth, sir, I am no free to swear; [Footnote: Some of the strictdissenters decline taking an oath before a civil magistrate. ] weay gaed to the Antiburgher meeting. It's very true, in Bailie Mac-Candlish's time (honest man) we keepit the kirk, whilk was mostseemly in his station, as having office; but after his beingcalled to a better place than Kippletringan I hae gaen back toworthy Maister Mac-Grainer. And so ye see, sir, I am no clear toswear without speaking to the minister, especially against onysackless puir young thing that's gaun through the country, stranger and freendless like. '

'I shall relieve your scruples, perhaps, without troubling Mr. Mac-Grainer, when I tell you that this fellow whom I inquire afteris the man who shot your young friend Charles Hazlewood. '

'Gudeness! wha could hae thought the like o' that o' him? Na, ifit had been for debt, or e'en for a bit tuilzie wi' the gauger, the deil o' Nelly Mac-Candlish's tongue should ever hae wrangedhim. But if he really shot young Hazlewood--but I canna think it, Mr. Glossin; this will be some o' your skits now. I canna think ito' sae douce a lad; na, na, this is just some o' your auld skits. Ye'll be for having a horning or a caption after him. '

'I see you have no confidence in me, Mrs. Mac-Candlish; but lookat these declarations, signed by the persons who saw the crimecommitted, and judge yourself if the description of the ruffian benot that of your guest. '

He put the papers into her hand, which she perused very carefully, often taking off her spectacles to cast her eyes up to heaven, orperhaps to wipe a tear from them, for young Hazlewood was anespecial favourite with the good dame. 'Aweel, aweel, ' she said, when she had concluded her examination, 'since it's e'en sae, Igie him up, the villain. But O, we are erring mortals! I never sawa face I liked better, or a lad that was mair douce and canny: Ithought he had been some gentleman under trouble. But I gie himup, the villain! To shoot Charles Hazlewood, and before the youngladies, poor innocent things! I gie him up. '

'So you admit, then, that such a person lodged here the nightbefore this vile business?'

'Troth did he, sir, and a' the house were taen wi' him, he was sica frank, pleasant young man. It wasna for his spending, I'm sure, for he just had a mutton-chop and a mug of ale, and maybe a glassor twa o' wine; and I asked him to drink tea wi' mysell, and didnaput that into the bill; and he took nae supper, for he said he wasdefeat wi' travel a' the night afore. I daresay now it had been onsome hellicat errand or other. '

'Did you by any chance learn his name?'

'I wot weel did I, ' said the landlady, now as eager to communicateher evidence as formerly desirous to suppress it. 'He tell'd mehis name was Brown, and he said it was likely that an auld womanlike a gipsy wife might be asking for him. Ay, ay! tell me yourcompany, and I'll tell you wha ye are! O the villain! Aweel, sir, when he gaed away in the morning he paid his bill very honestly, and gae something to the chambermaid nae doubt; for Grizzy hasnaething frae me, by twa pair o' new shoo ilka year, and maybe abit compliment at Hansel Monanday--' Here Glossin found itnecessary to interfere and bring the good woman back to the point. 

'Ou then, he just said, "If there comes such a person to inquireafter Mr. Brown, you will say I am gone to look at the skaters onLoch Creeran, as you call it, and I will be back here to dinner. "But he never came back, though I expected him sae faithfully thatI gae a look to making the friar's chicken mysell, and to thecrappitheads too, and that's what I dinna do for ordinary, Mr. Glossin. But little did I think what skating wark he was gaunabout--to shoot Mr. Charles, the innocent lamb!'

Mr. Glossin having, like a prudent examinator, suffered hiswitness to give vent to all her surprise and indignation, nowbegan to inquire whether the suspected person had left anyproperty or papers about the inn. 

'Troth, he put a parcel--a sma' parcel--under my charge, and hegave me some siller, and desired me to get him half-a-dozenruffled sarks, and Peg Pasley's in hands wi' them e'en now; theymay serve him to gang up the Lawnmarket [Footnote: The processionof the criminals to the gallows of old took that direction, moving, as the school-boy rhyme had it, Up the Lawnmarket, Downthe West Bow, Up the lang ladder, And down the little tow. ] in, the scoundrel!' Mr. Glossin then demanded to see the packet, buthere mine hostess demurred. 

'She didna ken--she wad not say but justice should take itscourse--but when a thing was trusted to ane in her way, doubtlessthey were responsible; but she suld cry in Deacon Bearcliff, andif Mr. Glossin liked to tak an inventar o' the property, and gieher a receipt before the Deacon--or, what she wad like mucklebetter, an it could be sealed up and left in Deacon Bearcliff'shands--it wad mak her mind easy. She was for naething but justiceon a' sides. '

Mrs. Mac-Candlish's natural sagacity and acquired suspicion beinginflexible, Glossin sent for Deacon Bearcliff, to speak 'anent thevillain that had shot Mr. Charles Hazlewood. ' The Deaconaccordingly made his appearance with his wig awry, owing to thehurry with which, at this summons of the Justice, he had exchangedit for the Kilmarnock cap in which he usually attended hiscustomers. Mrs. Mac-Candlish then produced the parcel depositedwith her by Brown, in which was found the gipsy's purse. Onperceiving the value of the miscellaneous contents, Mrs. Mac-Candlish internally congratulated herself upon the precautions shehad taken before delivering them up to Glossin, while he, with anappearance of disinterested candour, was the first to propose theyshould be properly inventoried, and deposited with DeaconBearcliff, until they should be sent to the Crown-office. 'He didnot, ' he observed, 'like to be personally responsible for articleswhich seemed of considerable value, and had doubtless beenacquired by the most nefarious practices. '

He then examined the paper in which the purse had been wrapt up. It was the back of a letter addressed to V. Brown, Esquire, butthe rest of the address was torn away. The landlady, now as eagerto throw light upon the criminal's escape as she had formerly beendesirous of withholding it, for the miscellaneous contents of thepurse argued strongly to her mind that all was not right, --Mrs. Mac-Candlish, I say, now gave Glossin to understand that herposition and hostler had both seen the stranger upon the ice thatday when young Hazlewood was wounded. 

Our readers' old acquaintance Jock Jabos was first summoned, andadmitted frankly that he had seen and conversed upon the ice thatmorning with a stranger, who, he understood, had lodged at theGordon Arms the night before. 

'What turn did your conversation take?' said Glossin. 

'Turn? ou, we turned nae gate at a', but just keep it straightforward upon the ice like. '

'Well, but what did ye speak about?'

'Ou, he just asked questions like ony ither stranger, ' answeredthe postilion, possessed, as it seemed, with the refractory anduncommunicative spirit which had left his mistress. 

'But about what?' said Glossin. 

'Ou, just about the folk that was playing at the curling, andabout auld Jock Stevenson that was at the cock, and about theleddies, and sic like. '

'What ladies? and what did he ask about them, Jock?' said theinterrogator. 

'What leddies? Ou, it was Miss Jowlia Mannering and Miss LucyBertram, that ye ken fu' weel yoursell, Mr. Glossin; they werewalking wi' the young Laird of Hazlewood upon the ice. '

'And what did you tell him about them?' demanded Glossin. 

'Tut, we just said that was Miss Lucy Bertram of Ellangowan, thatshould ance have had a great estate in the country; and that wasMiss Jowlia Mannering, that was to be married to young Hazlewood, see as she was hinging on his arm. We just spoke about our countryclashes like; he was a very frank man. '

'Well, and what did he say in answer?'

'Ou, he just stared at the young leddies very keen-like, and askedif it was for certain that the marriage was to be between MissMannering and young Hazlewood; and I answered him that it was forpositive and absolute certain, as I had an undoubted right to saysae; for my third cousin Jean Clavers (she's a relation o' yourain, Mr. Glossin, ye wad ken Jean lang syne?), she's sib to thehouskeeper at Woodbourne, and she's tell'd me mair than ance thatthere was naething could be mair likely. '

'And what did the stranger say when you told him all this?' saidGlossin. 

'Say?' echoed the postilion, 'he said naething at a'; he juststared at them as they walked round the loch upon the ice, as ifhe could have eaten them, and he never took his ee aff them, orsaid another word, or gave another glance at the bonspiel, thoughthere was the finest fun amang the curlers ever was seen; and heturned round and gaed aff the loch by the kirkstile throughWoodbourne fir-plantings, and we saw nae mair o' him. '

'Only think, ' said Mrs. Mac-Candlish, 'what a hard heart he maunhae had, to think o' hurting the poor young gentleman in the verypresence of the leddy he was to be married to!'

'O, Mrs. Mac-Candlish, ' said Glossin, 'there's been many casessuch as that on the record; doubtless he was seeking revenge whereit would be deepest and sweetest. '

'God pity us!' said Deacon Bearcliff, 'we're puir frail creatureswhen left to oursells! Ay, he forgot wha said, "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay it. "'

'Weel, aweel, sirs, ' said Jabos, whose hard-headed anduncultivated shrewdness seemed sometimes to start the game whenothers beat the bush--'weel, weel, ye may be a' mista'en yet; I'llnever believe that a man would lay a plan to shoot another wi' hisain gun. Lord help ye, I was the keeper's assistant down at theIsle mysell, and I'll uphaud it the biggest man in Scotlandshouldna take a gun frae me or I had weized the slugs through him, though I'm but sic a little feckless body, fit for naething butthe outside o' a saddle and the fore-end o' a poschay; na, na, naeliving man wad venture on that. I'll wad my best buckskins, andthey were new coft at Kirkcudbright Fair, it's been a chance jobafter a'. But if ye hae naething mair to say to me, I am thinkingI maun gang and see my beasts fed'; and he departed accordingly. 

The hostler, who had accompanied him, gave evidence to the samepurpose. He and Mrs. Mac-Candlish were then reinterrogated whetherBrown had no arms with him on that unhappy morning. 'None, ' theysaid, 'but an ordinary bit cutlass or hanger by his side. '

'Now, ' said the Deacon, taking Glossin by the button (for, inconsidering this intricate subject, he had forgot Glossin's newaccession of rank), 'this is but doubtfu' after a', MaisterGilbert; for it was not sae dooms likely that he would go downinto battle wi' sic sma' means. '

Glossin extricated himself from the Deacon's grasp and from thediscussion, though not with rudeness; for it was his presentinterest to buy golden opinions from all sorts of people. Heinquired the price of tea and sugar, and spoke of providinghimself for the year; he gave Mrs. Mac-Candlish directions to havea handsome entertainment in readiness for a party of five friendswhom he intended to invite to dine with him at the Gordon Armsnext Saturday week; and, lastly, he gave a half-crown to JockJabos, whom the hostler had deputed to hold his steed. 

'Weel, ' said the Deacon to Mrs. Mac-Candlish, as he accepted heroffer of a glass of bitters at the bar, 'the deil's no sae ill ashe's ca'd. It's pleasant to see a gentleman pay the regard to thebusiness o' the county that Mr. Glossin does. '

'Ay, 'deed is't, Deacon, ' answered the landlady; 'and yet I wonderour gentry leave their ain wark to the like o' him. But as lang assiller's current, Deacon, folk maunna look ower nicely at whatking's head's on't. '

'I doubt Glossin will prove but shand after a', mistress, ' saidJabos, as he passed through the little lobby beside the bar; 'butthis is a gude half-crown ony way. '

CHAPTER XXXIII

 A man that apprehends death to be no more dreadful but as a drunken sleep, careless, reckless, and fearless of what's past, present, or to come; insensible of mortality, and desperately mortal. 

 --Measure for Measure. 

Glossin had made careful minutes of the information derived fromthese examinations. They threw little light upon the story, so faras he understood its purport; but the better-informed reader hasreceived through means of this investigation an account of Brown'sproceedings, between the moment when we left him upon his walk toKippletringan and the time when, stung by jealousy, he so rashlyand unhappily presented himself before Julia Mannering, and well-nigh brought to a fatal termination the quarrel which hisappearance occasioned. 

Glossin rode slowly back to Ellangowan, pondering on what he hadheard, and more and more convinced that the active and successfulprosecution of this mysterious business was an opportunity ofingratiating himself with Hazlewood and Mannering to be on noaccount neglected. Perhaps, also, he felt his professionalacuteness interested in bringing it to a successful close. It was, therefore, with great pleasure that, on his return to his housefrom Kippletringan, he heard his servants announce hastily, 'thatMac-Guffog, the thief-taker, and twa or three concurrents, had aman in hands in the kitchen waiting for his honour. '

He instantly jumped from horseback, and hastened into the house. 'Send my clerk here directly, ye'll find him copying the survey ofthe estate in the little green parlour. Set things to rights in mystudy, and wheel the great leathern chair up to the writing-table;set a stool for Mr. Scrow. Scrow (to the clerk, as he entered thepresence-chamber), hand down Sir George Mackenzie "On Crimes";open it at the section "Vis Publica et Privata, " and fold down aleaf at the passage "anent the bearing of unlawful weapons. " Nowlend me a hand off with my muckle-coat, and hang it up in thelobby, and bid them bring up the prisoner; I trow I'll sort him;but stay, first send up Mac-Guffog. Now, Mac-Guffog, where did yefind this chield?'

Mac-Guffog, a stout, bandy-legged fellow, with a neck like a bull, a face like a firebrand, and a most portentous squint of the lefteye, began, after various contortions by way of courtesy to theJustice, to tell his story, eking it out by sundry sly nods andknowing winks, which appeared to bespeak an intimatecorrespondence of ideas between the narrator and his principalauditor. 'Your honour sees I went down to yon place that yourhonour spoke o', that's kept by her that your honour kens o', bythe sea-side. So says she, "What are you wanting here? ye'll become wi' a broom in your pocket frae Ellangowan?"--So says I, "Deil a broom will come frae there awa, for ye ken, " says I, "hishonour Ellangowan himsell in former times--"'

'Well, well, ' said Glossin, 'no occasion to be particular, tellthe essentials. '

'Weel, so we sat niffering about some brandy that I said I wanted, till he came in. '

'Who?'

'He!' pointing with his thumb inverted to the kitchen, where theprisoner was in custody. 'So he had his griego wrapped close roundhim, and I judged he was not dry-handed; so I thought it was bestto speak proper, and so he believed I was a Manks man, and I keptay between him and her, for fear she had whistled. And then webegan to drink about, and then I betted he would not drink out aquartern of Hollands without drawing breath, and then he tried it, and just then Slounging Jock and Dick Spur'em came in, and weclinked the darbies on him, took him as quiet as a lamb; and nowhe's had his bit sleep out, and is as fresh as a May gowan, toanswer what your honour likes to speir. ' This narrative, deliveredwith a wonderful quantity of gesture and grimace, received at theconclusion the thanks and praises which the narrator expected. 

'Had he no arms?' asked the Justice. 

'Ay, ay, they are never without barkers and slashers. '

'Any papers?'

'This bundle, ' delivering a dirty pocket-book. 

'Go downstairs then, Mac-Guffog, and be in waiting. ' The officerleft the room. 

The clink of irons was immediately afterwards heard upon thestair, and in two or three minutes a man was introduced, handcuffed and fettered. He was thick, brawny, and muscular, andalthough his shagged and grizzled hair marked an age somewhatadvanced, and his stature was rather low, he appeared, nevertheless, a person whom few would have chosen to cope with inpersonal conflict. His coarse and savage features were stillflushed, and his eye still reeled under the influence of thestrong potation which had proved the immediate cause of hisseizure. But the sleep, though short, which Mac-Guffog had allowedhim, and still more a sense of the peril of his situation, hadrestored to him the full use of his faculties. The worthy judgeand the no less estimable captive looked at each other steadilyfor a long time without speaking. Glossin apparently recognisedhis prisoner, but seemed at a loss how to proceed with hisinvestigation. At length he broke silence. --'Soh, Captain, this isyou? you have been a stranger on this coast for some years. '

'Stranger?' replied the other. 'Strange enough, I think; for holdme der deyvil, if I been ever here before. '

'That won't pass, Mr. Captain. '

'That MUST pass, Mr. Justice, sapperment!'

'And who will you be pleased to call yourself, then, for thepresent, ' said Glossin, 'just until I shall bring some other folksto refresh your memory concerning who you are, or at least who youhave been?'

'What bin I? donner and blitzen! I bin Jans Jansen, from Cuxhaven;what sall Ich bin?'

Glossin took from a case which was in the apartment a pair ofsmall pocket pistols, which he loaded with ostentatious care. 'Youmay retire, ' said he to his clerk, 'and carry the people with you, Scrow; but wait in the lobby within call. '

The clerk would have offered some remonstrances to his patron onthe danger of remaining alone with such a desperate character, although ironed beyond the possibility of active exertion, butGlossin waved him off impatiently. When he had left the room theJustice took two short turns through the apartment, then drew hischair opposite to the prisoner, so as to confront him fully, placed the pistols before him in readiness, and said in a steadyvoice, 'You are Dirk Hatteraick of Flushing, are you not?'

The prisoner turned his eye instinctively to the door, as if heapprehended some one was listening. Glossin rose, opened the door, so that from the chair in which his prisoner sate he might satisfyhimself there was no eavesdropper within hearing, then shut it, resumed his seat, and repeated his question, 'You are DirkHatteraick, formerly of the Yungfrauw Haagenslaapen, are you not?'

'Tousand deyvils! and if you know that, why ask me?' said theprisoner. 

'Because I am surprised to see you in the very last place whereyou ought to be, if you regard your safety, ' observed Glossin, coolly. 

'Der deyvil! no man regards his own safety that speaks so to me!'

'What? unarmed, and in irons! well said, Captain!' repliedGlossin, ironically. 'But, Captain, bullying won't do; you'llhardly get out of this country without accounting for a littleaccident that happened at Warroch Point a few years ago. '

Hatteraick's looks grew black as midnight. 

'For my part, ' continued Glossin, 'I have no particular wish to behard upon an old acquaintance; but I must do my duty. I shall sendyou off to Edinburgh in a post-chaise and four this very day. '

'Poz donner! you would not do that?' said Hatteraick, in a lowerand more humbled tone; 'why, you had the matter of half a cargo inbills on Vanbeest and Vanbruggen. '

'It is so long since, Captain Hatteraick, ' answered Glossin, superciliously, 'that I really forget how I was recompensed for mytrouble. '

'Your trouble? your silence, you mean. '

'It was an affair in the course of business, ' said Glossin, 'and Ihave retired from business for some time. '

'Ay, but I have a notion that I could make you go steady about andtry the old course again, ' answered Dirk Hatteraick. 'Why, man, hold me der deyvil, but I meant to visit you and tell yousomething that concerns you. '

'Of the boy?' said Glossin, eagerly. 

'Yaw, Mynheer, ' replied the Captain, coolly. 

'He does not live, does he?'

'As lifelich as you or I, ' said Hatteraick. 

'Good God! But in India?' exclaimed Glossin. 

'No, tousand deyvils, here! on this dirty coast of yours, 'rejoined the prisoner. 

'But, Hatteraick, this, --that is, if it be true, which I do notbelieve, --this will ruin us both, for he cannot but remember yourneat job; and for me, it will be productive of the worstconsequences! It will ruin us both, I tell you. '

'I tell you, ' said the seaman, 'it will ruin none but you; for Iam done up already, and if I must strap for it, all shall out. '

'Zounds, ' said the Justice impatiently, 'what brought you back tothis coast like a madman?'

'Why, all the gelt was gone, and the house was shaking, and Ithought the job was clayed over and forgotten, ' answered theworthy skipper. 

'Stay; what can be done?' said Glossin, anxiously. 'I dare notdischarge you; but might you not be rescued in the way? Ay sure! aword to Lieutenant Brown, and I would send the people with you bythe coast-road. '

'No, no! that won't do. Brown's dead, shot, laid in the locker, man; the devil has the picking of him. 

'Dead? shot? At Woodbourne, I suppose?' replied Glossin. 

'Yaw, Mynheer. '

Glossin paused; the sweat broke upon his brow with the agony ofhis feelings, while the hard-featured miscreant who sat oppositecoolly rolled his tobacco in his cheek and squirted the juice intothe fire-grate. 'It would be ruin, ' said Glossin to himself, 'absolute ruin, if the heir should reappear; and then what mightbe the consequence of conniving with these men? Yet there is solittle time to take measures. Hark you, Hatteraick; I can't setyou at liberty; but I can put you where you may set yourself atliberty, I always like to assist an old friend. I shall confineyou in the old castle for to-night, and give these people doubleallowance of grog. MacGuffog will fall in the trap in which hecaught you. The stancheons on the window of the strong room, asthey call it, are wasted to pieces, and it is not above twelvefeet from the level of the ground without, and the snow liesthick. '

'But the darbies, ' said Hatteraick, looking upon his fetters. 

'Hark ye, ' said Glossin, going to a tool chest, and taking out asmall file, 'there's a friend for you, and you know the road to thesea by the stairs. ' Hatteraick shook his chains in ecstasy, as ifhe were already at liberty, and strove to extend his fettered handtowards his protector. Glossin laid his finger upon his lips witha cautious glance at the door, and then proceeded in hisinstructions. 'When you escape, you had better go to the Kaim ofDerncleugh. '

'Donner! that howff is blown. '

'The devil! well, then, you may steal my skiff that lies on thebeach there, and away. But you must remain snug at the Point ofWarroch till I come to see you. '

'The Point of Warroch?' said Hatteraick, his countenance againfalling; 'what, in the cave, I suppose? I would rather it wereanywhere else; es spuckt da: they say for certain that he walks. But, donner and blitzen! I never shunned him alive, and I won'tshun him dead. Strafe mich helle! it shall never be said DirkHatteraick feared either dog or devil! So I am to wait there tillI see you?'

'Ay, ay, ' answered Glossin, 'and now I must call in the men. ' Hedid so accordingly. 

'I can make nothing of Captain Jansen, as he calls himself, Mac-Guffog, and it's now too late to bundle him off to the countyjail. Is there not a strong room up yonder in the old castle?'

'Ay is there, sir; my uncle the constable ance kept a man therefor three days in auld Ellangowan's time. But there was an uncodust about it; it was tried in the Inner House afore theFeifteen. '

'I know all that, but this person will not stay there very long;it's only a makeshift for a night, a mere lock-up house tillfarther examination. There is a small room through which it opens;you may light a fire for yourselves there, and I 'll send youplenty of stuff to make you comfortable. But be sure you lock thedoor upon the prisoner; and, hark ye, let him have a fire in thestrong room too, the season requires it. Perhaps he'll make aclean breast to-morrow. '

With these instructions, and with a large allowance of food andliquor, the Justice dismissed his party to keep guard for thenight in the old castle, under the full hope and belief that theywould neither spend the night in watching nor prayer. 

There was little fear that Glossin himself should that night sleepover-sound. His situation was perilous in the extreme, for theschemes of a life of villainy seemed at once to be crumblingaround and above him. He laid himself to rest, and tossed upon hispillow for a long time in vain. At length he fell asleep, but itwas only to dream of his patron, now as he had last seen him, withthe paleness of death upon his features, then again transformedinto all the vigour and comeliness of youth, approaching to expelhim from the mansion-house of his fathers. Then he dreamed that, after wandering long over a wild heath, he came at length to aninn, from which sounded the voice of revelry; and that when heentered the first person he met was Frank Kennedy, all smashed andgory, as he had lain on the beach at Warroch Point, but with areeking punch-bowl in his hand. Then the scene changed to adungeon, where he heard Dirk Hatteraick, whom he imagined to beunder sentence of death, confessing his crimes to a clergyman. 'After the bloody deed was done, ' said the penitent, 'we retreatedinto a cave close beside, the secret of which was known but to oneman in the country; we were debating what to do with the child, and we thought of giving it up to the gipsies, when we heard thecries of the pursuers hallooing to each other. One man alone camestraight to our cave, and it was that man who knew the secret; butwe made him our friend at the expense of half the value of thegoods saved. By his advice we carried off the child to Holland inour consort, which came the following night to take us from thecoast. That man was--'

'No, I deny it! it was not I!' said Glossin, in half-utteredaccents; and, struggling in his agony to express his denial moredistinctly, he awoke. 

It was, however, conscience that had prepared this mentalphantasmagoria. The truth was that, knowing much better than anyother person the haunts of the smugglers, he had, while the otherswere searching in different directions, gone straight to the cave, even before he had learned the murder of Kennedy, whom he expectedto find their prisoner. He came upon them with some idea ofmediation, but found them in the midst of their guilty terrors, while the rage which had hurried them on to murder began, with allbut Hatteraick, to sink into remorse and fear. Glossin was thenindigent and greatly in debt, but he was already possessed of Mr. Bertram's ear, and, aware of the facility of his disposition, hesaw no difficulty in enriching himself at his expense, providedthe heir-male were removed, in which case the estate became theunlimited property of the weak and prodigal father. Stimulated bypresent gain and the prospect of contingent advantage, he acceptedthe bribe which the smugglers offered in their terror, andconnived at, or rather encouraged, their intention of carryingaway the child of his benefactor who, if left behind, was oldenough to have described the scene of blood which he hadwitnessed. The only palliative which the ingenuity of Glossincould offer to his conscience was, that the temptation was great, and came suddenly upon him, embracing as it were the veryadvantages on which his mind had so long rested, and promising torelieve him from distresses which must have otherwise speedilyoverwhelmed him. Besides, he endeavoured to think that self-preservation rendered his conduct necessary. He was, in somedegree, in the power of the robbers, and pleaded hard with hisconscience that, had he declined their offers, the assistancewhich he could have called for, though not distant, might not havearrived in time to save him from men who, on less provocation, hadjust committed murder. 

Galled with the anxious forebodings of a guilty conscience, Glossin now arose and looked out upon the night. The scene whichwe have already described in the third chapter of this story, wasnow covered with snow, and the brilliant, though waste, whitenessof the land gave to the sea by contrast a dark and livid tinge. Alandscape covered with snow, though abstractedly it may be calledbeautiful, has, both from the association of cold and barrennessand from its comparative infrequency, a wild, strange, anddesolate appearance. Objects well known to us in their commonstate have either disappeared, or are so strangely varied anddisguised that we seem gazing on an unknown world. But it was notwith such reflections that the mind of this bad man was occupied. His eye was upon the gigantic and gloomy outlines of the oldcastle, where, in a flanking tower of enormous size and thickness, glimmered two lights, one from the window of the strong room, where Hatteraick was confined, the other from that of the adjacentapartment, occupied by his keepers. 'Has he made his escape, orwill he be able to do so? Have these men watched, who neverwatched before, in order to complete my ruin? If morning finds himthere, he must be committed to prison; Mac-Morlan or some otherperson will take the matter up; he will be detected, convicted, and will tell all in revenge!'

While these racking thoughts glided rapidly through Glossin'smind, he observed one of the lights obscured, as by an opaque bodyplaced at the window. What a moment of interest! 'He has got clearof his irons! he is working at the stancheons of the window! theyare surely quite decayed, they must give way. O God! they havefallen outward, I heard them clink among the stones! the noisecannot fail to wake them. Furies seize his Dutch awkwardness! Thelight burns free again; they have torn him from the window, andare binding him in the room! No! he had only retired an instant onthe alarm of the falling bars; he is at the window again, and thelight is quite obscured now; he is getting out!'

A heavy sound, as of a body dropped from a height among the snow, announced that Hatteraick had completed his escape, and shortlyafter Glossin beheld a dark figure, like a shadow, steal along thewhitened beach and reach the spot where the skiff lay. New causefor fear! 'His single strength will be unable to float her, ' saidGlossin to himself; 'I must go to the rascal's assistance. But no!he has got her off, and now, thank God, her sail is spreadingitself against the moon; ay, he has got the breeze now; would toheaven it were a tempest, to sink him to the bottom!'

After this last cordial wish, he continued watching the progressof the boat as it stood away towards the Point of Warroch, untilhe could no longer distinguish the dusky sail from the gloomywaves over which it glided. Satisfied then that the immediatedanger was averted, he retired with somewhat more composure to hisguilty pillow. 

CHAPTER XXXIV

 Why dost not comfort me, and help me out From this unhallowed and blood-stained hole?

 Titus Andronicus. 

On the next morning, great was the alarm and confusion of theofficers when they discovered the escape of their prisoner. Mac-Guffog appeared before Glossin with a head perturbed with brandyand fear, and incurred a most severe reprimand for neglect ofduty. The resentment of the Justice appeared only to be suspendedby his anxiety to recover possession of the prisoner, and thethief-takers, glad to escape from his awful and incensed presence, were sent off in every direction (except the right one) to recovertheir prisoner, if possible. Glossin particularly recommended acareful search at the Kaim of Derncleugh, which was occasionallyoccupied under night by vagrants of different descriptions. Havingthus dispersed his myrmidons in various directions, he himselfhastened by devious paths through the wood of Warroch to hisappointed interview with Hatteraick, from whom he hoped to learnat more leisure than last night's conference admitted thecircumstances attending the return of the heir of Ellangowan tohis native country. 

With manoeuvres like those of a fox when he doubles to avoid thepack, Glossin strove to approach the place of appointment in amanner which should leave no distinct track of his course. 'Wouldto Heaven it would snow, ' he said, looking upward, 'and hide thesefoot-prints. Should one of the officers light upon them, he wouldrun the scent up like a bloodhound and surprise us. I must getdown upon the sea-beach, and contrive to creep along beneath therocks. '

And accordingly he descended from the cliffs with some difficulty, and scrambled along between the rocks and the advancing tide; nowlooking up to see if his motions were watched from the rocks abovehim, now casting a jealous glance to mark if any boat appearedupon the sea, from which his course might be discovered. 

But even the feelings of selfish apprehension were for a timesuperseded, as Glossin passed the spot where Kennedy's body hadbeen found. It was marked by the fragment of rock which had beenprecipitated from the cliff above, either with the body or afterit. The mass was now encrusted with small shell-fish, andtasselled with tangle and seaweed; but still its shape andsubstance were different from those of the other rocks which layscattered around. His voluntary walks, it will readily bebelieved, had never led to this spot; so that, finding himself nowthere for the first time after the terrible catastrophe, the sceneat once recurred to his mind with all its accompaniments ofhorror. He remembered how, like a guilty thing, gliding from theneighbouring place of concealment, he had mingled with eagerness, yet with caution, among the terrified group who surrounded thecorpse, dreading lest any one should ask from whence he came. Heremembered, too, with what conscious fear he had avoided gazingupon that ghastly spectacle. The wild scream of his patron, 'Mybairn! my bairn!' again rang in his ears. 'Good God!' heexclaimed, 'and is all I have gained worth the agony of thatmoment, and the thousand anxious fears and horrors which havesince embittered my life! O how I wish that I lay where thatwretched man lies, and that he stood here in life and health! Butthese regrets are all too late. '

Stifling, therefore, his feelings, he crept forward to the cave, which was so near the spot where the body was found that thesmugglers might have heard from their hiding-place the variousconjectures of the bystanders concerning the fate of their victim. But nothing could be more completely concealed than the entranceto their asylum. The opening, not larger than that of a fox-earth, lay in the face of the cliff directly behind a large black rock, or rather upright stone, which served at once to conceal it fromstrangers and as a mark to point out its situation to those whoused it as a place of retreat. The space between the stone and thecliff was exceedingly narrow, and, being heaped with sand andother rubbish, the most minute search would not have discoveredthe mouth of the cavern without removing those substances whichthe tide had drifted before it. For the purpose of furtherconcealment, it was usual with the contraband traders whofrequented this haunt, after they had entered, to stuff the mouthwith withered seaweed, loosely piled together as if carried thereby the waves. Dirk Hatteraick had not forgotten this precaution. 

Glossin, though a bold and hardy man, felt his heart throb and hisknees knock together when he prepared to enter this den of secretiniquity, in order to hold conference with a felon, whom he justlyaccounted one of the most desperate and depraved of men. 'But hehas no interest to injure me, ' was his consolatory reflection. Heexamined his pocket-pistols, however, before removing the weedsand entering the cavern, which he did upon hands and knees. Thepassage, which at first was low and narrow, just admittingentrance to a man in a creeping posture, expanded after a fewyards into a high arched vault of considerable width. The bottom, ascending gradually, was covered with the purest sand. Ere Glossinhad got upon his feet, the hoarse yet suppressed voice ofHatteraick growled through the recesses of the cave:--

'Hagel and donner! be'st du?'

'Are you in the dark?'

'Dark? der deyvil! ay, ' said Dirk Hatteraick; 'where should I havea glim?'

'I have brought light'; and Glossin accordingly produced a tinder-box and lighted a small lantern. 

'You must kindle some fire too, for hold mich der deyvil, Ich binganz gefrorne!'

'It is a cold place, to be sure, ' said Glossin, gathering togethersome decayed staves of barrels and pieces of wood, which hadperhaps lain in the cavern since Hatteraick was there last. 

'Cold? Snow-wasser and hagel! it's perdition; I could only keepmyself alive by rambling up and down this d--d vault, and thinkingabout the merry rouses we have had in it. '

The flame then began to blaze brightly, and Hatteraick hung hisbronzed visage and expanded his hard and sinewy hands over it, with an avidity resembling that of a famished wretch to whom foodis exposed. The light showed his savage and stern features, andthe smoke, which in his agony of cold he seemed to endure almostto suffocation, after circling round his head, rose to the dim andrugged roof of the cave, through which it escaped by some secretrents or clefts in the rock; the same doubtless that afforded airto the cavern when the tide was in, at which time the aperture tothe sea was filled with water. 

'And now I have brought you some breakfast, ' said Glossin, producing some cold meat and a flask of spirits. The latterHatteraick eagerly seized upon and applied to his mouth; and, after a hearty draught, he exclaimed with great rapture, 'Dasschmeckt! That is good, that warms the liver!' Then broke into thefragment of a High-Dutch song, --

 Saufen Bier und Brantewein, Schmeissen alle die Fenstern ein; Ich bin liederlich, Du bist liederlich; Sind wir nicht liederlich Leute a?

'Well said, my hearty Captain!' cried Glossin, endeavouring tocatch the tone of revelry, --

 'Gin by pailfuls, wine in rivers, Dash the window-glass to shivers! For three wild lads were we, brave boys, And three wild lads were we; Thou on the land, and I on the sand, And Jack on the gallows-tree!

That's it, my bully-boy! Why, you're alive again now! And now letus talk about our business. '

'YOUR business, if you please, ' said Hatteraick. 'Hagel anddonner! mine was done when I got out of the bilboes. '

'Have patience, my good friend; I'll convince you our interestsare just the same. '

Hatteraick gave a short dry cough, and Glossin, after a pause, proceeded. 

'How came you to let the boy escape?'

'Why, fluch and blitzen! he was no charge of mine. LieutenantBrown gave him to his cousin that's in the Middleburgh house ofVanbeest and Vanbruggen, and told him some goose's gazette abouthis being taken in a skirmish with the land-sharks; he gave himfor a footboy. Me let him escape! the bastard kinchin should havewalked the plank ere I troubled myself about him. '

'Well, and was he bred a foot-boy then?'

'Nein, nein; the kinchin got about the old man's heart, and hegave him his own name, and bred him up in the office, and thensent him to India; I believe he would have packed him back here, but his nephew told him it would do up the free trade for many aday if the youngster got back to Scotland. '

'Do you think the younker knows much of his own origin now?'

'Deyvil!' replied Hatteraick, 'how should I tell what he knowsnow? But he remembered something of it long. When he was but tenyears old he persuaded another Satan's limb of an English bastardlike himself to steal my lugger's khan--boat--what do you call it?to return to his country, as he called it; fire him! Before wecould overtake them they had the skiff out of channel as far asthe Deurloo; the boat might have been lost. '

'I wish to Heaven she had, with him in her!' ejaculated Glossin. 

'Why, I was so angry myself that, sapperment! I did give him a tipover the side; but split him! the comical little devil swam like aduck; so I made him swim astern for a mile to teach him manners, and then took him in when he was sinking. By the knocking NicholasI he'll plague you, now he's come over the herring-pond! When hewas so high he had the spirit of thunder and lightning. '

'How did he get back from India?'

'Why, how should I know? The house there was done up; and thatgave us a shake at Middleburgh, I think; so they sent me again tosee what could be done among my old acquaintances here, for weheld old stories were done away and forgotten. So I had got apretty trade on foot within the last two trips; but that stupidhounds-foot schelm, Brown, has knocked it on the head again, Isuppose, with getting himself shot by the colonel-man. '

'Why were not you with them?'

'Why, you see, sapperment! I fear nothing; but it was too farwithin land, and I might have been scented. '

'True. But to return to this youngster--'

'Ay, ay, donner and blitzen! HE'S your affair, ' said the Captain. 

'How do you really know that he is in this country?'

'Why, Gabriel saw him up among the hills. '

'Gabriel! who is he?'

'A fellow from the gipsies, that, about eighteen years since, waspressed on board that d--d fellow Pritchard's sloop-of-war. It washe came off and gave us warning that the Shark was coming roundupon us the day Kennedy was done; and he told us how Kennedy hadgiven the information. The gipsies and Kennedy had some quarrelbesides. This Gab went to the East Indies in the same ship withyour younker, and, sapperment! knew him well, though the other didnot remember him. Gab kept out of his eye though, as he had servedthe States against England, and was a deserter to boot; and hesent us word directly, that we might know of his being here, though it does not concern us a rope's end. '

'So, then, really, and in sober earnest, he is actually in thiscountry, Hatteraick, between friend and friend?' asked Glossin, seriously. 

'Wetter and donner, yaw! What do you take me for?'

'For a bloodthirsty, fearless miscreant!' thought Glossininternally; but said aloud, 'And which of your people was it thatshot young Hazlewood?'

'Sturmwetter!' said the Captain, 'do ye think we were mad? none ofUS, man. Gott! the country was too hot for the trade already withthat d-d frolic of Brown's, attacking what you call WoodbourneHouse. '

'Why, I am told, ' said Glossin, 'it was Brown who shot Hazlewood?'

'Not our lieutenant, I promise you; for he was laid six feet deepat Derncleugh the day before the thing happened. Tausend deyvils, man! do ye think that he could rise out of the earth to shootanother man?'

A light here began to break upon Glossin's confusion of ideas. 'Did you not say that the younker, as you call him, goes by thename of Brown?'

'Of Brown? yaw; Vanbeest Brown. Old Vanbeest Brown, of ourVanbeest and Vanbruggen, gave him his own name, he did. '

'Then, ' said Glossin, rubbing his hands, 'it is he, by Heaven, whohas committed this crime!'

'And what have we to do with that?' demanded Hatteraick. 

Glossin paused, and, fertile in expedients, hastily ran over hisproject in his own mind, and then drew near the smuggler with aconfidential air. 'You know, my dear Hatteraick, it is ourprincipal business to get rid of this young man?'

'Umph!' answered Dirk Hatteraick. 

'Not, ' continued Glossin--'not that I would wish any personal harmto him--if--if--if we can do without. Now, he is liable to beseized upon by justice, both as bearing the same name with yourlieutenant, who was engaged in that affair at Woodbourne, and forfiring at young Hazlewood with intent to kill or wound. '

'Ay, ay, ' said Dirk Hatteraick; 'but what good will that do you?He'll be loose again as soon as he shows himself to carry othercolours. '

'True, my dear Dirk; well noticed, my friend Hatteraick! But thereis ground enough for a temporary imprisonment till he fetch hisproofs from England or elsewhere, my good friend. I understand thelaw, Captain Hatteraick, and I'll take it upon me, simple GilbertGlossin of Ellangowan, justice of peace for the county of---, torefuse his bail, if he should offer the best in the country, untilhe is brought up for a second examination; now where d'ye thinkI'll incarcerate him?'

'Hagel and wetter! what do I care?'

'Stay, my friend; you do care a great deal. Do you know your goodsthat were seized and carried to Woodbourne are now lying in thecustom-house at Portanferry? (a small fishing-town). Now I willcommit this younker--'

'When you have caught him. '

'Ay, ay, when I have caught him; I shall not be long about that. Iwill commit him to the workhouse, or bridewell, which you know isbeside the custom-house. '

'Yaw, the rasp-house; I know it very well. '

'I will take care that the redcoats are dispersed through thecountry; you land at night with the crew of your lugger, receiveyour own goods, and carry the younker Brown with you back toFlushing. Won't that do?'

'Ay, carry him to Flushing, ' said the Captain, 'or--to America?'

'Ay, ay, my friend. '

'Or--to Jericho?'

'Psha! Wherever you have a mind. '

'Ay, or--pitch him overboard?'

'Nay, I advise no violence. '

'Nein, nein; you leave that to me. Sturmwetter! I know you of old. But, hark ye, what am I, Dirk Hatteraick, to be the better ofthis?'

'Why, is it not your interest as well as mine?' said Glossin;'besides, I set you free this morning. '

'YOU set me free! Donner and deyvil! I set myself free. Besides, it was all in the way of your profession, and happened a long timeago, ha, ha, ha!'

'Pshaw! pshaw! don't let us jest; I am not against making ahandsome compliment; but it's your affair as well as mine. '

'What do you talk of my affair? is it not you that keep theyounker's whole estate from him? Dirk Hatteraick never touched astiver of his rents. '

'Hush! hush! I tell you it shall be a joint business. '

'Why, will ye give me half the kitt?'

'What, half the estate? D'ye mean we should set up house togetherat Ellangowan, and take the barony ridge about?'

'Sturmwetter, no! but you might give me half the value--half thegelt. Live with you? nein. I would have a lusthaus of mine own onthe Middleburgh dyke, and a blumengarten like a burgomaster's. '

'Ay, and a wooden lion at the door, and a painted sentinel in thegarden, with a pipe in his mouth! But, hark ye, Hatteraick, whatwill all the tulips and flower-gardens and pleasure-houses in theNetherlands do for you if you are hanged here in Scotland?'

Hatteraick's countenance fell. 'Der deyvil! hanged!'

'Ay, hanged, mein Herr Captain. The devil can scarce save DirkHatteraick from being hanged for a murderer and kidnapper if theyounker of Ellangowan should settle in this country, and if thegallant Captain chances to be caught here reestablishing his fairtrade! And I won't say but, as peace is now so much talked of, their High Mightinesses may not hand him over to oblige their newallies, even if he remained in faderland. '

'Poz hagel, blitzen, and donner! I--I doubt you say true. '

'Not, ' said Glossin, perceiving he had made the desiredimpression, 'not that I am against being civil'; and he slid intoHatteraick's passive hand a bank-note of some value. 

'Is this all?' said the smuggler. 'You had the price of half acargo for winking at our job, and made us do your business too. '

' But, my good friend, you forget: In this case you will recoverall your own goods. '

'Ay, at the risk of all our own necks; we could do that withoutyou. '

'I doubt that, Captain Hatteraick, ' said Glossin, drily;' becauseyou would probably find a-'dozen'redcoats at the custom-house, whom it must be my business, if we agree about this matter, tohave removed. Come, come, I will be as liberal as I can, but youshould have a conscience. '

'Now strafe mich der deyfel! this provokes me more than all therest! You rob and you murder, and you want me to rob and murder, and play the silver-cooper, or kidnapper, as you call it, a dozentimes over, and then, hagel and windsturm! you speak to me ofconscience! Can you think of no fairer way of getting rid of thisunlucky lad?'

'No, mein Herr; but as I commit him to your charge-'

'To my charge! to the charge of steel and gunpowder! and--well, ifit must be, it must; but you have a tolerably good guess what'slike to come of it. '

'O, my dear friend, I trust no degree of severity will benecessary, ' replied Glossin. 

'Severity!' said the fellow, with a kind of groan, 'I wish you hadhad my dreams when I first came to this dog-hole, and tried tosleep among the dry seaweed. First, there was that d-d fellowthere, with his broken back, sprawling as he did when I hurled therock over a-top on him, ha, ha! You would have sworn he was lyingon the floor where you stand, wriggling like a crushed frog, andthen--'

'Nay, my friend, ' said Glossin, interrupting him, 'what signifiesgoing over this nonsense? If you are turned chicken-hearted, why, the game's up, that's all; the game's up with us both. '

'Chicken-hearted? no. I have not lived so long upon the account tostart at last, neither for devil nor Dutchman. '

'Well, then, take another schnaps; the cold's at your heart still. And now tell me, are any of your old crew with you?'

'Nein; all dead, shot, hanged, drowned, and damned. Brown was thelast. All dead but Gipsy Gab, and he would go off the country fora spill of money; or he'll be quiet for his own sake; or old Meg, his aunt, will keep him quiet for hers. '

'Which Meg?'

'Meg Merrilies, the old devil's limb of a gipsy witch. '

'Is she still alive?'

'Yaw. '

'And in this country?'

'And in this country. She was at the Kaim of Derncleugh, atVanbeest Brown's last wake, as they call it, the other night, withtwo of my people, and some of her own blasted gipsies. '

'That's another breaker ahead, Captain! Will she not squeak, thinkye?'

'Not she! she won't start; she swore by the salmon, [Footnote: Thegreat and invoidable oath of the strolling tribes. ] if we did thekinchin no harm, she would never tell how the gauger got it. Why, man, though I gave her a wipe with my hanger in the heat of thematter, and cut her arm, and though she was so long after introuble about it up at your borough-town there, der deyvil! oldMeg was as true as steel. '

'Why, that's true, as you say, ' replied Glossin. 'And yet if shecould be carried over to Zealand, or Hamburgh, or--or--anywhereelse, you know, it were as well. '

Hatteraick jumped upright upon his feet, and looked at Glossinfrom head to heel. 'I don't see the goat's foot, ' he said, 'andyet he must be the very deyvil! But Meg Merrilies is closer yetwith the kobold than you are; ay, and I had never such weather asafter having drawn her blood. Nein, nein, I 'll meddle with her nomore; she's a witch of the fiend, a real deyvil's kind, --butthat's her affair. Donner and wetter! I'll neither make normeddle; that's her work. But for the rest--why, if I thought thetrade would not suffer, I would soon rid you of the younker, ifyou send me word when he's under embargo. '

In brief and under tones the two worthy associates concerted theirenterprise, and agreed at which of his haunts Hatteraick should beheard of. The stay of his lugger on the coast was not difficult, as there were no king's vessels there at the time. 

CHAPTER XXXV

 You are one of those that will not serve God if the devil bids you. Because we come to do you service, you think we are ruffians. 

 --Othello. 

When Glossin returned home he found, among other letters andpapers sent to him, one of considerable importance. It was signedby Mr. Protocol, an attorney in Edinburgh, and, addressing him asthe agent for Godfrey Bertram, Esq. , late of Ellangowan, and hisrepresentatives, acquainted him with the sudden death of Mrs. Margaret Bertram of Singleside, requesting him to inform hisclients thereof, in case they should judge it proper to have anyperson present for their interest at opening the repositories ofthe deceased. Mr. Glossin perceived at once that the letter-writerwas unacquainted with the breach which had taken place between himand his late patron. The estate of the deceased lady should byrights, as he well knew, descend to Lucy Bertram; but it was athousand to one that the caprice of the old lady might havealtered its destination. After running over contingencies andprobabilities in his fertile mind, to ascertain what sort ofpersonal advantage might accrue to him from this incident, hecould not perceive any mode of availing himself of it, except inso far as it might go to assist his plan of recovering, or rathercreating, a character, the want of which he had alreadyexperienced, and was likely to feel yet more deeply. 'I must placemyself, ' he thought, 'on strong ground, that, if anything goeswrong with Dirk Hatteraick's project, I may have prepossessions inmy favour at least. ' Besides, to do Glossin justice, bad as hewas, he might feel some desire to compensate to Miss Bertram in asmall degree, and in a case in which his own interest did notinterfere with hers, the infinite mischief which he had occasionedto her family. He therefore resolved early the next morning toride over to Woodbourne. 

It was not without hesitation that he took this step, having thenatural reluctance to face Colonel Mannering which fraud andvillainy have to encounter honour and probity. But he had greatconfidence in his own savoir faire. His talents were naturallyacute, and by no means confined to the line of his profession. Hehad at different times resided a good deal in England, and hisaddress was free both from country rusticity and professionalpedantry; so that he had considerable powers both of address andpersuasion, joined to an unshaken effrontery, which he affected todisguise under plainness of manner. Confident, therefore, inhimself, he appeared at Woodbourne about ten in the morning, andwas admitted as a gentleman come to wait upon Miss Bertram. 

He did not announce himself until he was at the door of thebreakfast-parlour, when the servant, by his desire, said aloud--'Mr. Glossin, to wait upon Miss Bertram. ' Lucy, remembering thelast scene of her father's existence, turned as pale as death, andhad well-nigh fallen from her chair. Julia Mannering flew to herassistance, and they left the room together. There remainedColonel Mannering, Charles Hazlewood, with his arm in a sling, andthe Dominie, whose gaunt visage and wall-eyes assumed a mosthostile aspect on recognising Glossin. 

That honest gentleman, though somewhat abashed by the effect ofhis first introduction, advanced with confidence, and hoped he didnot intrude upon the ladies. Colonel Mannering, in a very uprightand stately manner, observed, that he did not know to what he wasto impute the honour of a visit from Mr. Glossin. 

'Hem! hem! I took the liberty to wait upon Miss Bertram, ColonelMannering, on account of a matter of business. '

'If it can be communicated to Mr. Mac-Morlan, her agent, sir, Ibelieve it will be more agreeable to Miss Bertram. '

'I beg pardon, Colonel Mannering, ' said Glossin, making a wretchedattempt at an easy demeanour; 'you are a man of the world; thereare some cases in which it is most prudent for all parties totreat with principals. '

'Then, ' replied Mannering, with a repulsive air, 'if Mr. Glossinwill take the trouble to state his object in a letter, I willanswer that Miss Bertram pays proper attention to it. '

'Certainly, ' stammered Glossin; 'but there are cases in which aviva voce conference--Hem! I perceive--I know--Colonel Manneringhas adopted some prejudices which may make my visit appearintrusive; but I submit to his good sense, whether he ought toexclude me from a hearing without knowing the purpose of my visit, or of how much consequence it may be to the young lady whom hehonours with his protection. '

'Certainly, sir, I have not the least intention to do so, ' repliedthe Colonel. 'I will learn Miss Bertram's pleasure on the subject, and acquaint Mr. Glossin, if he can spare time to wait for heranswer. ' So saying, he left the room. 

Glossin had still remained standing in the midst of the apartment. Colonel Mannering had made not the slightest motion to invite himto sit, and indeed had remained standing himself during theirshort interview. When he left the room, however, Glossin seizedupon a chair, and threw himself into it with an air betweenembarrassment and effrontery. He felt the silence of hiscompanions disconcerting and oppressive, and resolved to interruptit. 

'A fine day, Mr. Sampson. '

The Dominie answered with something between an acquiescent gruntand an indignant groan. 

'You never come down to see your old acquaintance on theEllangowan property, Mr. Sampson. You would find most of the oldstagers still stationary there. I have too much respect for thelate family to disturb old residenters, even under pretence ofimprovement. Besides, it's not my way, I don't like it; I believe, Mr. Sampson, Scripture particularly condemns those who oppress thepoor, and remove landmarks. '

'Or who devour the substance of orphans, ' subjoined the Dominie. 'Anathema, Maranatha!' So saying, he rose, shouldered the foliowhich he had been perusing, faced to the right about, and marchedout of the room with the strides of a grenadier. 

Mr. Glossin, no way disconcerted, or at least feeling it necessarynot to appear so, turned to young Hazlewood, who was apparentlybusy with the newspaper. --' Any news, sir?' Hazlewood raised hiseyes, looked at him, and pushed the paper towards him, as if to astranger in a coffee-house, then rose, and was about to leave theroom. 'I beg pardon, Mr. Hazlewood, but I can't help wishing youjoy of getting so easily over that infernal accident. ' This wasanswered by a sort of inclination of the head, as slight and stiffas could well be imagined. Yet it encouraged our man of law toproceed. --' I can promise you, Mr. Hazlewood, few people havetaken the interest in that matter which I have done, both for thesake of the country and on account of my particular respect foryour family, which has so high a stake in it; indeed, so very higha stake that, as Mr. Featherhead is 'turning old now, and asthere's a talk, since his last stroke, of his taking the ChilternHundreds, it might be worth your while to look about you. I speakas a friend, Mr. Hazlewood, and as one who understands the roll;and if in going over it together--'

'I beg pardon, sir, but I have no views in which your assistancecould be useful. '

'O, very well, perhaps you are right; it's quite time enough, andI love to see a young gentleman cautious. But I was talking ofyour wound. I think I have got a clue to that business--I think Ihave, and if I don't bring the fellow to condign punishment--!'

'I beg your pardon, sir, once more; but your zeal outruns mywishes. I have every reason to think the wound was accidental;certainly it was not premeditated. Against ingratitude andpremeditated treachery, should you find any one guilty of them, myresentment will be as warm as your own. ' This was Hazlewood'sanswer. 

'Another rebuff, ' thought Glossin; 'I must try him upon the othertack. ' 'Right, sir; very nobly said! I would have no more mercy onan ungrateful man than I would on a woodcock. And now we talk ofsport (this was a sort of diverting of the conversation whichGlossin had learned from his former patron), I see you often carrya gun, and I hope you will be soon able to take the field again. Iobserve you confine yourself always to your own side of theHazleshaws burn. I hope, my dear sir, you will make no scruple offollowing your game to the Ellangowan bank; I believe it is ratherthe best exposure of the two for woodcocks, although both arecapital. '

As this offer only excited a cold and constrained bow, Glossin wasobliged to remain silent, and was presently afterwards somewhatrelieved by the entrance of Colonel Mannering. 

'I have detained you some time, I fear, sir, ' said he, addressingGlossin; 'I wished to prevail upon Miss Bertram to see you, as, inmy opinion, her objections ought to give way to the necessity ofhearing in her own person what is stated to be of importance thatshe should know. But I find that circumstances of recentoccurrence, and not easily to be forgotten, have rendered her soutterly repugnant to a personal interview with Mr. Glossin that itwould be cruelty to insist upon it; and she has deputed me toreceive his commands, or proposal, or, in short, whatever he maywish to say to her. '

'Hem, hem! I am sorry, sir--I am very sorry, Colonel Mannering, that Miss Bertram should suppose--that any prejudice, in short--oridea that anything on my part--'

'Sir, ' said the inflexible Colonel, 'where no accusation is made, excuses or explanations are unnecessary. Have you any objection tocommunicate to me, as Miss Bertram's temporary guardian, thecircumstances which you conceive to interest her?'

'None, Colonel Mannering; she could not choose a more respectablefriend, or one with whom I, in particular, would more anxiouslywish to communicate frankly. '

'Have the goodness to speak to the point, sir, if you please. '

'Why, sir, it is not so easy all at once--but Mr. Hazlewood neednot leave the room, --I mean so well to Miss Bertram that I couldwish the whole world to hear my part of the conference. '

'My friend Mr. Charles Hazlewood will not probably be anxious, Mr. Glossin, to listen to what cannot concern him. And now, when hehas left us alone, let me pray you to be short and explicit inwhat you have to say. I am a soldier, sir, somewhat impatient offorms and introductions. ' So saying, he drew himself up in hischair and waited for Mr. Glossin's communication. 

'Be pleased to look at that letter, ' said Glossin, puttingProtocol's epistle into Mannering's hand, as the shortest way ofstating his business. 

The Colonel read it and returned it, after pencilling the name ofthe writer in his memorandum-book. 'This, sir, does not seem torequire much discussion. I will see that Miss Bertram's interestis attended to. '

'But, sir, --but, Colonel Mannering, ' added Glossin, 'there isanother matter which no one can explain but myself. This lady--this Mrs. Margaret Bertram, to my certain knowledge, made ageneral settlement of her affairs in Miss Lucy Bertram's favourwhile she lived with my old friend Mr. Bertram at Ellangowan. TheDominie--that was the name by which my deceased friend alwayscalled that very respectable man Mr. Sampson--he and I witnessedthe deed. And she had full power at that time to make such asettlement, for she was in fee of the estate of Singleside eventhen, although it was life rented by an elder sister. It was awhimsical settlement of old Singleside's, sir; he pitted the twocats his daughters against each other, ha, ha, ha!'

'Well, sir, ' said Mannering, without the slightest smile ofsympathy, 'but to the purpose. You say that this lady had power tosettle her estate on Miss Bertram, and that she did so?'

'Even so, Colonel, ' replied Glossin. 'I think I should understandthe law, I have followed it for many years; and, though I havegiven it up to retire upon a handsome competence, I did not throwaway that knowledge which is pronounced better than house andland, and which I take to be the knowledge of the law, since, asour common rhyme has it, 'Tis most excellent, To win the land that's gone and spent. 

No, no, I love the smack of the whip: I have a little, a verylittle law yet, at the service of my friends. '

Glossin ran on in this manner, thinking he had made a favourableimpression on Mannering. The Colonel, indeed, reflected that thismight be a most important crisis for Miss Bertram's interest, andresolved that his strong inclination to throw Glossin out atwindow or at door should not interfere with it. He put a strongcurb on his temper, and resolved to listen with patience at least, if without complacency. He therefore let Mr. Glossin get to theend of his self-congratulations, and then asked him if he knewwhere the deed was. 

'I know--that is, I think--I believe I can recover it. In suchcases custodiers have sometimes made a charge. '

'We won't differ as to that, sir, ' said the Colonel, taking outhis pocket-book. 

'But, my dear sir, you take me so very short. I said SOME PERSONSMIGHT make such a claim, I mean for payment of the expenses of thedeed, trouble in the affair, etc. But I, for my own part, onlywish Miss Bertram and her friends to be satisfied that I am actingtowards her with honour. There's the paper, sir! It would havebeen a satisfaction to me to have delivered it into Miss Bertram'sown hands, and to have wished her joy of the prospects which itopens. But, since her prejudices on the subject are invincible, itonly remains for me to transmit her my best wishes through you, Colonel Mannering, and to express that I shall willingly give mytestimony in support of that deed when I shall be called upon. Ihave the honour to wish you a good morning, sir. '

This parting speech was so well got up, and had so much the toneof conscious integrity unjustly suspected, that even ColonelMannering was staggered in his bad opinion. He followed him two orthree steps, and took leave of him with more politeness (thoughstill cold and formal) than he had paid during his visit. Glossinleft the house half pleased with the impression he had made, halfmortified by the stern caution and proud reluctance with which hehad been received. 'Colonel Mannering might have had morepoliteness, ' he said to himself. 'It is not every man that canbring a good chance of 400 Pounds a year to a penniless girl. Singleside must be up to 400 Pounds a year now; there'sReilageganbeg, Gillifidget, Loverless, Liealone, and theSpinster's Knowe--good 400 Pounds a year. Some people might havemade their own of it in my place; and yet, to own the truth, aftermuch consideration, I don't see how that is possible. '

Glossin was no sooner mounted and gone than the Colonel despatcheda groom for Mr. Mac-Morlan, and, putting the deed into his hand, requested to know if it was likely to be available to his friendLucy Bertram. Mac-Morlan perused it with eyes that sparkled withdelight, snapped his fingers repeatedly, and at length exclaimed, 'Available! it's as tight as a glove; naebody could make betterwark than Glossin, when he didna let down a steek on purpose. But(his countenance falling) the auld b---, that I should say so, might alter at pleasure!'

'Ah! And how shall we know whether she has done so?'

'Somebody must attend on Miss Bertram's part when the repositoriesof the deceased are opened. '

'Can you go?' said the Colonel. 

'I fear I cannot, ' replied Mac-Morlan; 'I must attend a jury trialbefore our court. '

'Then I will go myself, ' said the Colonel; 'I'll set out to-morrow. Sampson shall go with me; he is witness to thissettlement. But I shall want a legal adviser. '

'The gentleman that was lately sheriff of this county is high inreputation as a barrister; I will give you a card of introductionto him. '

'What I like about you, Mr. Mac-Morlan, ' said the Colonel, 'isthat you always come straight to the point. Let me have itinstantly. Shall we tell Miss Lucy her chance of becoming anheiress?'

'Surely, because you must have some powers from her, which I willinstantly draw out. Besides, I will be caution for her prudence, and that she will consider it only in the light of a chance. '

Mac-Morlan judged well. It could not be discerned from MissBertram's manner that she founded exulting hopes upon the prospectthus unexpectedly opening before her. She did, indeed, in thecourse of the evening ask Mr. Mac-Morlan, as if by accident, whatmight be the annual income of the Hazlewood property; but shall wetherefore aver for certain that she was considering whether anheiress of four hundred a year might be a suitable match for theyoung Laird?

CHAPTER XXXVI

 Give me a cup of sack, to make mine eyes look red. For I must speak in passion, and I will do it in King Cambyses' vein. 

 --Henry IV, part I. 

Mannering, with Sampson for his companion, lost no time in hisjourney to Edinburgh. They travelled in the Colonel's post-chariot, who, knowing his companion's habits of abstraction, didnot choose to lose him out of his own sight, far less to trust himon horseback, where, in all probability, a knavish stable-boymight with little address have contrived to mount him with hisface to the tail. Accordingly, with the aid of his valet, whoattended on horseback, he contrived to bring Mr. Sampson safe toan inn in Edinburgh--for hotels in those days there were none--without any other accident than arose from his straying twice uponthe road. On one occasion he was recovered by Barnes, whounderstood his humour, when, after engaging in close colloquy withthe schoolmaster of Moffat respecting a disputed quantity inHorace's 7th Ode, Book II, the dispute led on to anothercontroversy concerning the exact meaning of the word malobathro inthat lyric effusion. His second escapade was made for the purposeof visiting the field of Rullion Green, which was dear to hisPresbyterian predilections. Having got out of the carriage for aninstant, he saw the sepulchral monument of the slain at thedistance of about a mile, and was arrested by Barnes in hisprogress up the Pentland Hills, having on both occasions forgothis friend, patron, and fellow-traveller as completely as if hehad been in the East Indies. On being reminded that ColonelMannering was waiting for him, he uttered his usual ejaculation of'Prodigious! I was oblivious, ' and then strode back to his post. Barnes was surprised at his master's patience on both occasions, knowing by experience how little he brooked neglect or delay; butthe Dominie was in every respect a privileged person. His patronand he were never for a moment in each other's way, and it seemedobvious that they were formed to be companions through life. IfMannering wanted a particular book, the Dominie could bring it; ifhe wished to have accounts summed up or checked, his assistancewas equally ready; if he desired to recall a particular passage inthe classics, he could have recourse to the Dominie as to adictionary; and all the while this walking statue was neitherpresuming when noticed nor sulky when left to himself. To a proud, shy, reserved man, and such in many respects was Mannering, thissort of living catalogue and animated automaton had all theadvantages of a literary dumb-waiter. 

As soon as they arrived in Edinburgh, and were established at theGeorge Inn, near Bristo Port, then kept by old Cockburn (I love tobe particular), the Colonel desired the waiter to procure him aguide to Mr. Pleydell's, the advocate, for whom he had a letter ofintroduction from Mr. Mac-Morlan. He then commanded Barnes to havean eye to the Dominie, and walked forth with a chairman, who wasto usher him to the man of law. 

The period was near the end of the American war. The desire ofroom, of air, and of decent accommodation had not as yet made verymuch progress in the capital of Scotland. Some efforts had beenmade on the south side of the town towards building houses WITHINTHEMSELVES, as they are emphatically termed; and the New Town onthe north, since so much extended, was then just commenced. Butthe great bulk of the better classes, and particularly thoseconnected with the law, still lived in flats or dungeons of theOld Town. The manners also of some of the veterans of the law hadnot admitted innovation. One or two eminent lawyers still sawtheir clients in taverns, as was the general custom fifty yearsbefore; and although their habits were already considered as old-fashioned by the younger barristers, yet the custom of mixing wineand revelry with serious business was still maintained by thosesenior counsellors who loved the old road, either because it wassuch or because they had got too well used to it to travel anyother. Among those praisers of the past time, who withostentatious obstinacy affected the manners of a formergeneration, was this same Paulus Pleydell, Esq. , otherwise a goodscholar, an excellent lawyer, and a worthy man. 

Under the guidance of his trusty attendant, Colonel Mannering, after threading a dark lane or two, reached the High Street, thenclanging with the voices of oyster-women and the bells of pye-men;for it had, as his guide assured him, just' chappit eight upon theTron. ' It was long since Mannering had been in the street of acrowded metropolis, which, with its noise and clamour, its soundsof trade, of revelry, and of license, its variety of lights, andthe eternally changing bustle of its hundred groups, offers, bynight especially, a spectacle which, though composed of the mostvulgar materials when they are separately considered, has, whenthey are combined, a striking and powerful effect on theimagination. The extraordinary height of the houses was marked bylights, which, glimmering irregularly along their front, ascendedso high among the attics that they seemed at length to twinkle inthe middle sky. This coup d'aeil, which still subsists in acertain degree, was then more imposing, owing to the uninterruptedrange of buildings on each side, which, broken only at the spacewhere the North Bridge joins the main street, formed a superb anduniform place, extending from the front of the Lucken-booths tothe head of the Canongate, and corresponding in breadth and lengthto the uncommon height of the buildings on either side. 

Mannering had not much time to look and to admire. His conductorhurried him across this striking scene, and suddenly dived withhim into a very steep paved lane. Turning to the right, theyentered a scale staircase, as it is called, the state of which, sofar as it could be judged of by one of his senses, annoyedMannering's delicacy not a little. When they had ascendedcautiously to a considerable height, they heard a heavy rap at adoor, still two stories above them. The door opened, andimmediately ensued the sharp and worrying bark of a dog, thesqualling of a woman, the screams of an assaulted cat, and thehoarse voice of a man, who cried in a most imperative tone, 'Willye, Mustard? Will ye? down, sir, down!'

'Lord preserve us!' said the female voice, 'an he had worried ourcat, Mr. Pleydell would ne'er hae forgi'en me!'

'Aweel, my doo, the cat's no a prin the waur. So he's no in, yesay?'

'Na, Mr. Pleydell's ne'er in the house on Saturday at e'en, 'answered the female voice. 

'And the morn's Sabbath too, ' said the querist. 'I dinna ken whatwill be done. '

By this time Mannering appeared, and found a tall, strongcountryman, clad in a coat of pepper-and-salt-coloured mixture, with huge metal buttons, a glazed hat and boots, and a largehorsewhip beneath his arm, in colloquy with a slipshod damsel, whohad in one hand the lock of the door, and in the other a pail ofwhiting, or camstane, as it is called, mixed with water--acircumstance which indicates Saturday night in Edinburgh. 

'So Mr. Pleydell is not at home, my good girl?' said Mannering. 

'Ay, sir, he's at hame, but he's no in the house; he's aye out onSaturday at e'en. '

'But, my good girl, I am a stranger, and my business express. Willyou tell me where I can find him?'

' His honour, ' said the chairman, 'will be at Clerihugh's aboutthis time. Hersell could hae tell'd ye that, but she thought yewanted to see his house. '

'Well, then, show me to this tavern. I suppose he will see me, asI come on business of some consequence?'

'I dinna ken, sir, ' said the girl; 'he disna like to be disturbedon Saturdays wi' business; but he's aye civil to strangers. '

'I'll gang to the tavern too, ' said our friend Dinmont, 'for I ama stranger also, and on business e'en sic like. '

'Na, ' said the handmaiden, 'an he see the gentleman, he'll see thesimple body too; but, Lord's sake, dinna say it was me sent yethere!'

'Atweel, I am a simple body, that's true, hinny, but I am no cometo steal ony o' his skeel for naething, ' said the farmer in hishonest pride, and strutted away downstairs, followed by Manneringand the cadie. Mannering could not help admiring the determinedstride with which the stranger who preceded them divided thepress, shouldering from him, by the mere weight and impetus of hismotion, both drunk and sober passengers. 'He'll be a Teviotdaletup tat ane, ' said the chairman, 'tat's for keeping ta crown o' tacauseway tat gate; he 'll no gang far or he 'll get somebody tobell ta cat wi' him. '

His shrewd augury, however, was not fulfilled. Those who recoiledfrom the colossal weight of Dinmont, on looking up at his size andstrength, apparently judged him too heavy metal to be rashlyencountered, and suffered him to pursue his course unchallenged. Following in the wake of this first-rate, Mannering proceeded tillthe farmer made a pause, and, looking back to the chairman, said, 'I'm thinking this will be the close, friend. '

'Ay, ay, ' replied Donald, 'tat's ta close. '

Dinmont descended confidently, then turned into a dark alley, thenup a dark stair, and then into an open door. While he waswhistling shrilly for the waiter, as if he had been one of hiscollie dogs, Mannering looked round him, and could hardly conceivehow a gentleman of a liberal profession and good society shouldchoose such a scene for social indulgence. Besides the miserableentrance, the house itself seemed paltry and half ruinous. Thepassage in which they stood had a window to the close, whichadmitted a little light during the daytime, and a villainouscompound of smells at all times, but more especially towardsevening. Corresponding to this window was a borrowed light on theother side of the passage, looking into the kitchen, which had nodirect communication with the free air, but received in thedaytime, at second hand, such straggling and obscure light asfound its way from the lane through the window opposite. Atpresent the interior of the kitchen was visible by its own hugefires--a sort of Pandemonium, where men and women, half undressed, were busied in baking, broiling, roasting oysters, and preparingdevils on the gridiron; the mistress of the place, with her shoesslipshod, and her hair straggling like that of Megaera from undera round-eared cap, toiling, scolding, receiving orders, givingthem, and obeying them all at once, seemed the presidingenchantress of that gloomy and fiery region. 

Loud and repeated bursts of laughter from different quarters ofthe house proved that her labours were acceptable, and notunrewarded by a generous public. With some difficulty a waiter wasprevailed upon to show Colonel Mannering and Dinmont the roomwhere their friend learned in the law held his hebdomadalcarousals. The scene which it exhibited, and particularly theattitude of the counsellor himself, the principal figure therein, struck his two clients with amazement. 

Mr. Pleydell was a lively, sharp-looking gentleman, with aprofessional shrewdness in his eye, and, generally speaking, aprofessional formality in his manners. But this, like his three-tailed wig and black coat, he could slip off on a Saturdayevening, when surrounded by a party of jolly companions, anddisposed for what he called his altitudes. On the present occasionthe revel had lasted since four o'clock, and at length, under thedirection of a venerable compotator, who had shared the sports andfestivity of three generations, the frolicsome company had begunto practise the ancient and now forgotten pastime of HIGH JINKS. This game was played in several different ways. Most frequentlythe dice were thrown by the company, and those upon whom the lotfell were obliged to assume and maintain for a time a certainfictitious character, or to repeat a certain number of fescennineverses in a particular order. If they departed from the charactersassigned, or if their memory proved treacherous in the repetition, they incurred forfeits, which were either compounded for byswallowing an additional bumper or by paying a small sum towardsthe reckoning. At this sport the jovial company were closelyengaged when Mannering entered the room. 

Mr. Counsellor Pleydell, such as we have described him, wasenthroned as a monarch in an elbow-chair placed on the dining-table, his scratch wig on one side, his head crowned with abottle-slider, his eye leering with an expression betwixt fun andthe effects of wine, while his court around him resounded withsuch crambo scraps of verse as these:--

 Where is Gerunto now? and what's become of him? Gerunto's drowned because he could not swim, etc. , etc. 

Such, O Themis, were anciently the sports of thy Scottishchildren! Dinmont was first in the room. He stood aghast a moment, and then exclaimed, 'It's him, sure enough. Deil o' the like o'that ever I saw!'

At the sound of 'Mr. Dinmont and Colonel Mannering wanting tospeak to you, sir, ' Pleydell turned his head, and blushed a littlewhen he saw the very genteel figure of the English stranger. Hewas, however, of the opinion of Falstaff, 'Out, ye villains, playout the play!' wisely judging it the better way to appear totallyunconcerned. 'Where be our guards?' exclaimed this secondJustinian; 'see ye not a stranger knight from foreign partsarrived at this our court of Holyrood, with our bold yeoman AndrewDinmont, who has succeeded to the keeping of our royal flockswithin the forest of Jedwood, where, thanks to our royal care inthe administration of justice, they feed as safe as if they werewithin the bounds of Fife? Where be our heralds, our pursuivants, our Lyon, our Marchmount, our Carrick, and our Snowdown? Let thestrangers be placed at our board, and regaled as beseemeth theirquality and this our high holiday; to-morrow we will hear theirtidings. '

' So please you, my liege, to-morrow's Sunday, ' said one of thecompany. 

' Sunday, is it? then we will give no offence to the assembly ofthe kirk; on Monday shall be their audience. '

Mannering, who had stood at first uncertain whether to advance orretreat, now resolved to enter for the moment into the whim of thescene, though internally fretting at Mac-Morlan for sending him toconsult with a crack-brained humourist. He therefore advanced withthree profound congees, and craved permission to lay hiscredentials at the feet of the Scottish monarch, in order to beperused at his best leisure. The gravity with which heaccommodated himself to the humour of the moment, and the deep andhumble inclination with which he at first declined, and thenaccepted, a seat presented by the master of the ceremonies, procured him three rounds of applause. 

'Deil hae me, if they arena a' mad thegither!' said Dinmont, occupying with less ceremony a seat at the bottom of the table;'or else they hae taen Yule before it comes, and are gaun a-guisarding. '

A large glass of claret was offered to Mannering, who drank it tothe health of the reigning prince. 'You are, I presume to guess, 'said the monarch, 'that celebrated Sir Miles Mannering, sorenowned in the French wars, and may well pronounce to us if thewines of Gascony lose their flavour in our more northern realm. '

Mannering, agreeably flattered by this allusion to the fame of hiscelebrated ancestor, replied by professing himself only a distantrelation of the preux chevalier, and added, 'that in his opinionthe wine was superlatively good. '

'It's ower cauld for my stamach, ' said Dinmont, setting down theglass--empty however. 

'We will correct that quality, ' answered King Paulus, the first ofthe name; 'we have not forgotten that the moist and humid air ofour valley of Liddel inclines to stronger potations. Seneschal, let our faithful yeoman have a cup of brandy; it will be moregermain to the matter. '

'And now, ' said Mannering, 'since we have unwarily intruded uponyour majesty at a moment of mirthful retirement, be pleased to saywhen you will indulge a stranger with an audience on those affairsof weight which have brought him to your northern capital. '

The monarch opened Mac-Morlan's letter, and, running it hastilyover, exclaimed with his natural voice and manner, 'Lucy Bertramof Ellangowan, poor dear lassie!'

'A forfeit! a forfeit!' exclaimed a dozen voices; 'his majesty hasforgot his kingly character. '

'Not a whit! not a whit!' replied the king; 'I'll be judged bythis courteous knight. May not a monarch love a maid of lowdegree? Is not King Cophetua and the Beggar-maid an adjudged casein point?'

'Professional! professional! another forfeit, ' exclaimed thetumultuary nobility. 

'Had not our royal predecessors, ' continued the monarch, exaltinghis sovereign voice to drown these disaffected clamours, --'hadthey not their Jean Logies, their Bessie Carmichaels, theirOliphants, their Sandilands, and their Weirs, and shall it bedenied to us even to name a maiden whom we delight to honour? Nay, then, sink state and perish sovereignty! for, like a secondCharles V, we will abdicate, and seek in the private shades oflife those pleasures which are denied to a throne. '

So saying, he flung away his crown, and sprung from his exaltedstation with more agility than could have been expected from hisage, ordered lights and a wash-hand basin and towel, with a cup ofgreen tea, into another room, and made a sign to Mannering toaccompany him. In less than two minutes he washed his face andhands, settled his wig in the glass, and, to Mannering's greatsurprise, looked quite a different man from the childish Bacchanalhe had seen a moment before. 

'There are folks, ' he said, 'Mr. Mannering, before whom one shouldtake care how they play the fool, because they have either toomuch malice or too little wit, as the poet says. The bestcompliment I can pay Colonel Mannering is to show I am not ashamedto expose myself before him; and truly I think it is a complimentI have not spared to-night on your good-nature. But what's thatgreat strong fellow wanting?'

Dinmont, who had pushed after Mannering into the room, began witha scrape with his foot and a scratch of his head in unison. 'I amDandie Dinmont, sir, of the Charlie's Hope--the Liddesdale lad;ye'll mind me? It was for me ye won yon grand plea. '

'What plea, you loggerhead?' said the lawyer. 'D'ye think I canremember all the fools that come to plague me?'

'Lord, sir, it was the grand plea about the grazing o' the LangtaeHead!' said the farmer. 

'Well, curse thee, never mind; give me the memorial and come to meon Monday at ten, ' replied the learned counsel. 

'But, sir, I haena got ony distinct memorial. '

'No memorial, man?' said Pleydell. 

'Na, sir, nae memorial, ' answered Dandie; 'for your honour saidbefore, Mr. Pleydell, ye'll mind, that ye liked best to hear ushill-folk tell our ain tale by word o' mouth. '

'Beshrew my tongue, that said so!' answered the counsellor; 'itwill cost my ears a dinning. Well, say in two words what you'vegot to say. You see the gentleman waits. '

'Ou, sir, if the gentleman likes he may play his ain spring first;it's a' ane to Dandie. '

'Now, you looby, ' said the lawyer, 'cannot you conceive that yourbusiness can be nothing to Colonel Mannering, but that he may notchoose to have these great ears of thine regaled with hismatters?'

'Aweel, sir, just as you and he like, so ye see to my business, 'said Dandie, not a whit disconcerted by the roughness of thisreception. 'We're at the auld wark o' the marches again, Jock o'Dawston Cleugh and me. Ye see we march on the tap o' Touthop-riggafter we pass the Pomoragrains; for the Pomoragrains, andSlackenspool, and Bloodylaws, they come in there, and they belangto the Peel; but after ye pass Pomoragrains at a muckle greatsaucer-headed cutlugged stane that they ca' Charlie's Chuckie, there Dawston Cleugh and Charlie's Hope they march. Now, I say themarch rins on the tap o' the hill where the wind and water shears;but Jock o' Dawston Cleugh again, he contravenes that, and saysthat it bauds down by the auld drove-road that gaes awa by theKnot o' the Gate ower to Keeldar Ward; and that makes an uncodifference. '

'And what difference does it make, friend?' said Pleydell. 'Howmany sheep will it feed?'

'Ou, no mony, ' said Dandie, scratching his head; 'it's lying highand exposed: it may feed a hog, or aiblins twa in a good year. '

'And for this grazing, which may be worth about five shillings ayear, you are willing to throw away a hundred pound or two?'

'Na, sir, it's no for the value of the grass, ' replied Dinmont;'it's for justice. '

'My good friend, ' said Pleydell, 'justice, like charity, shouldbegin at home. Do you justice to your wife and family, and thinkno more about the matter. '

Dinmont still lingered, twisting his hat in his hand. 'It's no forthat, sir; but I would like ill to be bragged wi' him; he threepshe'll bring a score o' witnesses and mair, and I'm sure there's asmony will swear for me as for him, folk that lived a' their daysupon the Charlie's Hope, and wadna like to see the land lose itsright. '

'Zounds, man, if it be a point of honour, ' said the lawyer, 'whydon't your landlords take it up?'

'I dinna ken, sir (scratching his head again); there's been naeelection-dusts lately, and the lairds are unco neighbourly, andJock and me canna get them to yoke thegither about it a' that wecan say; but if ye thought we might keep up the rent--'

'No! no! that will never do, ' said Pleydell. 'Confound you, whydon't you take good cudgels and settle it?'

'Odd, sir, ' answered the farmer, 'we tried that three timesalready, that's twice on the land and ance at Lockerby Fair. But Idinna ken; we're baith gey good at single-stick, and it couldnaweel be judged. '

'Then take broadswords, and be d--d to you, as your fathers didbefore you, ' said the counsel learned in the law. 

'Aweel, sir, if ye think it wadna be again the law, it's a' ane toDandie. '

'Hold! hold!' exclaimed Pleydell, 'we shall have another LordSoulis' mistake. Pr'ythee, man, comprehend me; I wish you toconsider how very trifling and foolish a lawsuit you wish toengage in. '

'Ay, sir?' said Dandie, in a disappointed tone. 'So ye winna takeon wi' me, I'm doubting?'

'Me! not I. Go home, go home, take a pint and agree. ' Dandielooked but half contented, and still remained stationary. 'Anything more, my friend?'

'Only, sir, about the succession of this leddy that's dead, auldMiss Margaret Bertram o' Singleside. '

'Ay, what about her?' said the counsellor, rather surprised. 

'Ou, we have nae connexion at a' wi' the Bertrams, ' said Dandie;'they were grand folk by the like o' us; but Jean Liltup, that wasauld Singleside's housekeeper, and the mother of these twa youngladies that are gane--the last o' them's dead at a ripe age, Itrow--Jean Liltup came out o' Liddel water, and she was as nearour connexion as second cousin to my mother's half-sister. Shedrew up wi' Singleside, nae doubt, when she was his housekeeper, and it was a sair vex and grief to a' her kith and kin. But heacknowledged a marriage, and satisfied the kirk; and now I wad kenfrae you if we hae not some claim by law?'

'Not the shadow of a claim. '

'Aweel, we're nae puirer, ' said Dandie; 'but she may hae thoughton us if she was minded to make a testament. Weel, sir, I've saidmy say; I'se e'en wish you good-night, and--' putting his hand inhis pocket. 

'No, no, my friend; I never take fees on Saturday nights, orwithout a memorial. Away with you, Dandie. ' And Dandie made hisreverence and departed accordingly. 

CHAPTER XXXVII

 But this poor farce has neither truth nor art To please the fancy or to touch the heart Dark but not awful dismal but yet mean, With anxious bustle moves the cumbrous scene, Presents no objects tender or profound, But spreads its cold unmeaning gloom around

 Parish Register

'Your majesty, ' said Mannering, laughing, 'has solemnised yourabdication by an act of mercy and charity. That fellow will scarcethink of going to law. '

'O, you are quite wrong, ' said the experienced lawyer. 'The onlydifference is, I have lost my client and my fee. He'll never resttill he finds somebody to encourage him to commit the folly he haspredetermined. No! no! I have only shown you another weakness ofmy character: I always speak truth of a Saturday night. '

'And sometimes through the week, I should think, ' said Mannering, continuing the same tone. 

'Why, yes; as far as my vocation will permit. I am, as Hamletsays, indifferent honest, when my clients and their solicitors donot make me the medium of conveying their double-distilled lies tothe bench. But oportet vivere! it is a sad thing. And now to ourbusiness. I am glad my old friend Mac-Morlan has sent you to me;he is an active, honest, and intelligent man, long sheriff-substitute of the county of--under me, and still holds the office. He knows I have a regard for that unfortunate family ofEllangowan, and for poor Lucy. I have not seen her since she wastwelve years old, and she was then a sweet pretty girl, under themanagement of a very silly father. But my interest in her is of anearly date. I was called upon, Mr. Mannering, being then sheriffof that county, to investigate the particulars of a murder whichhad been committed near Ellangowan the day on which this poorchild was born; and which, by a strange combination that I wasunhappily not able to trace, involved the death or abstraction ofher only brother, a boy of about five years old. No, Colonel, Ishall never forget the misery of the house of Ellangowan thatmorning! the father half-distracted--the mother dead in prematuretravail--the helpless infant, with scarce any one to attend it, coming wawling and crying into this miserable world at such amoment of unutterable misery. We lawyers are not of iron, sir, orof brass, any more than you soldiers are of steel. We areconversant with the crimes and distresses of civil society, as youare with those that occur in a state of war, and to do our duty ineither case a little apathy is perhaps necessary. But the deviltake a soldier whose heart can be as hard as his sword, and hisdam catch the lawyer who bronzes his bosom instead of hisforehead! But come, I am losing my Saturday at e'en. Will you havethe kindness to trust me with these papers which relate to MissBertram's business? and stay--to-morrow you'll take a bachelor'sdinner with an old lawyer, --I insist upon it--at three precisely, and come an hour sooner. The old lady is to be buried on Monday;it is the orphan's cause, and we'll borrow an hour from the Sundayto talk over this business, although I fear nothing can be done ifshe has altered her settlement, unless perhaps it occurs withinthe sixty days, and then, if Miss Bertram can show that shepossesses the character of heir-at-law, why--But, hark! my liegesare impatient of their interregnum. I do not invite you to rejoinus, Colonel; it would be a trespass on your complaisance, unlessyou had begun the day with us, and gradually glided on from wisdomto mirth, and from mirth to-to-to--extravagance. Good-night. Harry, go home with Mr. Mannering to his lodging. Colonel, Iexpect you at a little past two to-morrow. '

The Colonel returned to his inn, equally surprised at the childishfrolics in which he had found his learned counsellor engaged, atthe candour and sound sense which he had in a moment summoned upto meet the exigencies of his profession, and at the tone offeeling which he displayed when he spoke of the friendless orphan. 

In the morning, while the Colonel and his most quiet and silent ofall retainers, Dominie Sampson, were finishing the breakfast whichBarnes had made and poured out, after the Dominie had scaldedhimself in the attempt, Mr. Pleydell was suddenly ushered in. Anicely dressed bob-wig, upon every hair of which a zealous andcareful barber had bestowed its proper allowance of powder; awell-brushed black suit, with very clean shoes and gold bucklesand stock-buckle; a manner rather reserved and formal thanintrusive, but withal showing only the formality of manner, by nomeans that of awkwardness; a countenance, the expressive andsomewhat comic features of which were in complete repose--allshowed a being perfectly different from the choice spirit of theevening before. A glance of shrewd and piercing fire in his eyewas the only marked expression which recalled the man of 'Saturdayat e'en. '

'I am come, ' said he, with a very polite address, 'to use my regalauthority in your behalf in spirituals as well as temporals; can Iaccompany you to the Presbyterian kirk, or Episcopal meeting-house? Tros Tyriusve, a lawyer, you know, is of both religions, orrather I should say of both forms;--or can I assist in passing thefore-noon otherwise? You'll excuse my old-fashioned importunity, Iwas born in a time when a Scotchman was thought inhospitable if heleft a guest alone a moment, except when he slept; but I trust youwill tell me at once if I intrude. '

'Not at all, my dear sir, ' answered Colonel Mannering. 'I amdelighted to put myself under your pilotage. I should wish much tohear some of your Scottish preachers whose talents have done suchhonour to your country--your Blair, your Robertson, or your Henry;and I embrace your kind offer with all my heart. Only, ' drawingthe lawyer a little aside, and turning his eye towards Sampson, 'my worthy friend there in the reverie is a little helpless andabstracted, and my servant, Barnes, who is his pilot in ordinary, cannot well assist him here, especially as he has expressed hisdetermination of going to some of your darker and more remoteplaces of worship. '

The lawyer's eye glanced at Dominie Sampson. 'A curiosity worthpreserving; and I'll find you a fit custodier. Here you, sir (tothe waiter), go to Luckie Finlayson's in the Cowgate for MilesMacfin the cadie, he'll be there about this time, and tell him Iwish to speak to him. '

The person wanted soon arrived. 'I will commit your friend to thisman's charge, ' said Pleydell; 'he'll attend him, or conduct him, wherever he chooses to go, with a happy indifference as to kirk ormarket, meeting or court of justice, or any other place whatever;and bring him safe home at whatever hour you appoint; so that Mr. Barnes there may be left to the freedom of his own will. '

This was easily arranged, and the Colonel committed the Dominie tothe charge of this man while they should remain in Edinburgh. 

'And now, sir, if you please, we shall go to the Grey-friarschurch, to hear our historian of Scotland, of the Continent, andof America. '

They were disappointed: he did not preach that morning. 'Nevermind, ' said the Counsellor, 'have a moment's patience and we shalldo very well. '

The colleague of Dr. Robertson ascended the pulpit. [Footnote:This was the celebrated Doctor Erskine, a distinguished clergyman, and a most excellent man. ] His external appearance was notprepossessing. A remarkably fair complexion, strangely contrastedwith a black wig without a grain of powder; a narrow chest and astooping posture; hands which, placed like props on either side ofthe pulpit, seemed necessary rather to support the person than toassist the gesticulation of the preacher; no gown, not even thatof Geneva, a tumbled band, and a gesture which seemed scarcevoluntary, were the first circumstances which struck a stranger. 'The preacher seems a very ungainly person, ' whispered Manneringto his new friend. 

'Never fear, he's the son of an excellent Scottish lawyer;[Footnote: The father of Doctor Erskine was an eminent lawyer, andhis Institutes of the Law of Scotland are to this day the text-book of students of that science. ] he'll show blood, I'll warranthim. '

The learned Counsellor predicted truly. A lecture was delivered, fraught with new, striking, and entertaining views of Scripturehistory, a sermon in which the Calvinism of the Kirk of Scotlandwas ably supported, yet made the basis of a sound system ofpractical morals, which should neither shelter the sinner underthe cloak of speculative faith or of peculiarity of opinion, norleave him loose to the waves of unbelief and schism. Somethingthere was of an antiquated turn of argument and metaphor, but itonly served to give zest and peculiarity to the style ofelocution. The sermon was not read: a scrap of paper containingthe heads of the discourse was occasionally referred to, and theenunciation, which at first seemed imperfect and embarrassed, became, as the preacher warmed in his progress, animated anddistinct; and although the discourse could not be quoted as acorrect specimen of pulpit eloquence, yet Mannering had seldomheard so much learning, metaphysical acuteness, and energy ofargument brought into the service of Christianity. 

'Such, ' he said, going out of the church, 'must have been thepreachers to whose unfearing minds, and acute though sometimesrudely exercised talents, we owe the Reformation. '

'And yet that reverend gentleman, ' said Pleydell, 'whom I love forhis father's sake and his own, has nothing of the sour orpharisaical pride which has been imputed to some of the earlyfathers of the Calvinistic Kirk of Scotland. His colleague and hediffer, and head different parties in the kirk, about particularpoints of church discipline; but without for a moment losingpersonal regard or respect for each other, or suffering malignityto interfere in an opposition steady, constant, and apparentlyconscientious on both sides. '

'And you, Mr. Pleydell, what do you think of their points ofdifference?'

'Why, I hope, Colonel, a plain man may go to heaven withoutthinking about them at all; besides, inter nos, I am a member ofthe suffering and Episcopal Church of Scotland--the shadow of ashade now, and fortunately so; but I love to pray where my fathersprayed before me, without thinking worse of the Presbyterian formsbecause they do not affect me with the same associations. ' Andwith this remark they parted until dinner-time. 

From the awkward access to the lawyer's mansion, Mannering wasinduced to form very moderate expectations of the entertainmentwhich he was to receive. The approach looked even more dismal bydaylight than on the preceding evening. The houses on each side ofthe lane were so close that the neighbours might have shaken handswith each other from the different sides, and occasionally thespace between was traversed by wooden galleries, and thus entirelyclosed up. The stair, the scale-stair, was not well cleaned; andon entering the house Mannering was struck with the narrowness andmeanness of the wainscotted passage. But the library, into whichhe was shown by an elderly, respectable-looking man-servant, was acomplete contrast to these unpromising appearances. It was a well-proportioned room, hung with a portrait or two of Scottishcharacters of eminence, by Jamieson, the Caledonian Vandyke, andsurrounded with books, the best editions of the best authors, andin particular an admirable collection of classics. 

'These, ' said Pleydell, 'are my tools of trade. A lawyer withouthistory or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if hepossesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himselfan architect. '

But Mannering was chiefly delighted with the view from thewindows, which commanded that incomparable prospect of the groundbetween Edinburgh and the sea--the Firth of Forth, with itsislands, the embayment which is terminated by the Law of NorthBerwick, and the varied shores of Fife to the northward, indentingwith a hilly outline the clear blue horizon. 

When Mr. Pleydell had sufficiently enjoyed the surprise of hisguest, he called his attention to Miss Bertram's affairs. 'I wasin hopes, ' he said, 'though but faint, to have discovered somemeans of ascertaining her indefeasible right to this property ofSingleside; but my researches have been in vain. The old lady wascertainly absolute fiar, and might dispose of it in full right ofproperty. All that we have to hope is, that the devil may not havetempted her to alter this very proper settlement. You must attendthe old girl's funeral to-morrow, to which you will receive aninvitation, for I have acquainted her agent with your being hereon Miss Bertram's part; and I will meet you afterwards at thehouse she inhabited, and be present to see fair play at theopening of the settlement. The old cat had a little girl, theorphan of some relation, who lived with her as a kind of slavishcompanion. I hope she has had the conscience to make herindependent, in consideration of the peine forte et dure to whichshe subjected her during her lifetime. '

Three gentlemen now appeared, and were introduced to the stranger. They were men of good sense, gaiety, and general information, sothat the day passed very pleasantly over; and Colonel Manneringassisted, about eight o'clock at night, in discussing thelandlord's bottle, which was, of course, a magnum. Upon his returnto the inn he found a card inviting him to the funeral of MissMargaret Bertram, late of Singleside, which was to proceed fromher own house to the place of interment in the Greyfriarschurchyard at one o'clock afternoon. 

At the appointed hour Mannering went to a small house in thesuburbs to the southward of the city, where he found the place ofmourning indicated, as usual in Scotland, by two rueful figureswith long black cloaks, white crapes and hat-bands, holding intheir hands poles, adorned with melancholy streamers of the samedescription. By two other mutes, who, from their visages, seemedsuffering under the pressure of some strange calamity, he wasushered into the dining-parlour of the defunct, where the companywere assembled for the funeral. 

In Scotland the custom, now disused in England, of inviting therelations of the deceased to the interment is universallyretained. On many occasions this has a singular and strikingeffect, but it degenerates into mere empty form and grimace incases where the defunct has had the misfortune to live unbelovedand die unlamented. The English service for the dead, one of themost beautiful and impressive parts of the ritual of the church, would have in such cases the effect of fixing the attention, anduniting the thoughts and feelings of the audience present in anexercise of devotion so peculiarly adapted to such an occasion. But according to the Scottish custom, if there be not real feelingamong the assistants, there is nothing to supply the deficiency, and exalt or rouse the attention; so that a sense of tedious form, and almost hypocritical restraint, is too apt to pervade thecompany assembled for the mournful solemnity. Mrs. MargaretBertram was unluckily one of those whose good qualities hadattached no general friendship. She had no near relations whomight have mourned from natural affection, and therefore herfuneral exhibited merely the exterior trappings of sorrow. 

Mannering, therefore, stood among this lugubrious company ofcousins in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth degree, composinghis countenance to the decent solemnity of all who were aroundhim, and looking as much concerned on Mrs. Margaret Bertram'saccount as if the deceased lady of Singleside had been his ownsister or mother. After a deep and awful pause, the company beganto talk aside, under their breaths, however, and as if in thechamber of a dying person. 

'Our poor friend, ' said one grave gentleman, scarcely opening hismouth, for fear of deranging the necessary solemnity of hisfeatures, and sliding his whisper from between his lips, whichwere as little unclosed as possible--'our poor friend has diedwell to pass in the world. '

'Nae doubt, ' answered the person addressed, with half-closed eyes;'poor Mrs. Margaret was aye careful of the gear. '

'Any news to-day, Colonel Mannering?' said one of the gentlemenwhom he had dined with the day before, but in a tone which might, for its impressive gravity, have communicated the death of hiswhole generation. 

'Nothing particular, I believe, sir, ' said Mannering, in thecadence which was, he observed, appropriated to the house ofmourning. 

'I understand, ' continued the first speaker, emphatically, andwith the air of one who is well informed--'I understand there IS asettlement. '

'And what does little Jenny Gibson get?'

'A hundred, and the auld repeater. '

'That's but sma' gear, puir thing; she had a sair time o't withthe auld leddy. But it's ill waiting for dead folk's shoon. '

'I am afraid, ' said the politician, who was close by Mannering, 'we have not done with your old friend Tippoo Sahib yet, I doubthe'll give the Company more plague; and I am told, but you'll knowfor certain, that East India Stock is not rising. '

'I trust it will, sir, soon. '

'Mrs. Margaret, ' said another person, mingling in theconversation, 'had some India bonds. I know that, for I drew theinterest for her; it would be desirable now for the trustees andlegatees to have the Colonel's advice about the time and mode ofconverting them into money. For my part I think--but there's Mr. Mortcloke to tell us they are gaun to lift. '

Mr. Mortcloke the undertaker did accordingly, with a visage ofprofessional length and most grievous solemnity, distribute amongthe pall-bearers little cards, assigning their respectivesituations in attendance upon the coffin. As this precedence issupposed to be regulated by propinquity to the defunct, theundertaker, however skilful a master of these lugubriousceremonies, did not escape giving some offence. To be related toMrs. Bertram was to be of kin to the lands of Singleside, and wasa propinquity of which each relative present at that moment wasparticularly jealous. Some murmurs there were on the occasion, andour friend Dinmont gave more open offence, being unable either torepress his discontent or to utter it in the key properlymodulated to the solemnity. 'I think ye might hae at least gi'enme a leg o' her to carry, ' he exclaimed, in a voice considerablylouder than propriety admitted. 'God! an it hadna been for therigs o' land, I would hae gotten her a' to carry mysell, for asmony gentles as are here. '

A score of frowning and reproving brows were bent upon theunappalled yeoman, who, having given vent to his displeasure, stalked sturdily downstairs with the rest of the company, totallydisregarding the censures of those whom his remarks hadscandalised. 

And then the funeral pomp set forth; saulies with their batons andgumphions of tarnished white crape, in honour of the well-preserved maiden fame of Mrs. Margaret Bertram. Six starvedhorses, themselves the very emblems of mortality, well cloaked andplumed, lugging along the hearse with its dismal emblazonry, creptin slow state towards the place of interment, preceded by JamieDuff, an idiot, who, with weepers and cravat made of white paper, attended on every funeral, and followed by six mourning coaches, filled with the company. Many of these now gave more free loose totheir tongues, and discussed with unrestrained earnestness theamount of the succession, and the probability of its destination. The principal expectants, however, kept a prudent silence, indeedashamed to express hopes which might prove fallacious; and theagent or man of business, who alone knew exactly how mattersstood, maintained a countenance of mysterious importance, as ifdetermined to preserve the full interest of anxiety and suspense. 

At length they arrived at the churchyard gates, and from thence, amid the gaping of two or three dozen of idle women with infantsin their arms, and accompanied by some twenty children, who rangambolling and screaming alongside of the sable procession, theyfinally arrived at the burial-place of the Singleside family. Thiswas a square enclosure in the Greyfriars churchyard, guarded onone side by a veteran angel without a nose, and having only onewing, who had the merit of having maintained his post for acentury, while his comrade cherub, who had stood sentinel on thecorresponding pedestal, lay a broken trunk among the hemlock, burdock, and nettles which grew in gigantic luxuriance around thewalls of the mausoleum. A moss-grown and broken inscriptioninformed the reader that in the year 1650 Captain Andrew Bertram, first of Singleside, descended of the very ancient and honourablehouse of Ellangowan, had caused this monument to be erected forhimself and his descendants. A reasonable number of scythes andhour-glasses, and death's heads and cross-bones, garnished thefollowing sprig of sepulchral poetry to the memory of the founderof the mausoleum:--

 Nathaniel's heart, Bezaleel's hand If ever any had, These boldly do I say had he, Who lieth in this bed. 

Here, then, amid the deep black fat loam into which her ancestorswere now resolved, they deposited the body of Mrs. MargaretBertram; and, like soldiers returning from a military funeral, thenearest relations who might be interested in the settlements ofthe lady urged the dog-cattle of the hackney coaches to all thespeed of which they were capable, in order to put an end tofarther suspense on that interesting topic. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII

 Die and endow a college or a cat. 

 POPE. 

There is a fable told by Lucian, that while a troop of monkeys, well drilled by an intelligent manager, were performing a tragedywith great applause, the decorum of the whole scene was at oncedestroyed, and the natural passions of the actors called forthinto very indecent and active emulation, by a wag who threw ahandful of nuts upon the stage. In like manner, the approachingcrisis stirred up among the expectants feelings of a nature verydifferent from those of which, under the superintendence of Mr. Mortcloke, they had but now been endeavouring to imitate theexpression. Those eyes which were lately devoutly cast up toheaven, or with greater humility bent solemnly upon earth, werenow sharply and alertly darting their glances through shuttles, and trunks, and drawers, and cabinets, and all the odd corners ofan old maiden lady's repositories. Nor was their search withoutinterest, though they did not find the will of which they were inquest. 

Here was a promissory note for 20 Pounds by the minister of thenonjuring chapel, interest marked as paid to Martinmas last, carefully folded up in a new set of words to the old tune of 'Overthe Water to Charlie'; there was a curious love correspondencebetween the deceased and a certain Lieutenant O'Kean of a marchingregiment of foot; and tied up with the letters was a documentwhich at once explained to the relatives why a connexion thatboded them little good had been suddenly broken off, being theLieutenant's bond for two hundred pounds, upon which NO interestwhatever appeared to have been paid. Other bills and bonds to alarger amount, and signed by better names (I mean commercially)than those of the worthy divine and gallant soldier, also occurredin the course of their researches, besides a hoard of coins ofevery size and denomination, and scraps of broken gold and silver, old earrings, hinges of cracked, snuff-boxes, mountings ofspectacles, etc. Etc. Etc. Still no will made its appearance, andColonel Mannering began full well to hope that the settlementwhich he had obtained from Glossin contained the ultimatearrangement of the old lady's affairs. But his friend Pleydell, who now came into the room, cautioned him against entertainingthis belief. 

'I am well acquainted with the gentleman, ' he said, 'who isconducting the search, and I guess from his manner that he knowssomething more of the matter than any of us. '

Meantime, while the search proceeds, let us take a brief glance atone or two of the company who seem most interested. 

Of Dinmont, who, with his large hunting-whip under his arm, stoodpoking his great round face over the shoulder of the hommed'affaires, it is unnecessary to say anything. That thin-lookingoldish person, in a most correct and gentleman-like suit ofmourning, is Mac-Casquil, formerly of Drumquag, who was ruined byhaving a legacy bequeathed to him of two shares in the Ayr bank. His hopes on the present occasion are founded on a very distantrelationship, upon his sitting in the same pew with the deceasedevery Sunday, and upon his playing at cribbage with her regularlyon the Saturday evenings, taking great care never to come off awinner. That other coarse-looking man, wearing his own greasy hairtied in a leathern cue more greasy still, is a tobacconist, arelation of Mrs. Bertram's mother, who, having a good stock intrade when the colonial war broke out, trebled the price of hiscommodity to all the world, Mrs. Bertram alone excepted, whosetortoise-shell snuff-box was weekly filled with the best rappee atthe old prices, because the maid brought it to the shop with Mrs. Bertram's respects to her cousin Mr. Quid. That young fellow, whohas not had the decency to put off his boots and buckskins, mighthave stood as forward as most of them in the graces of the oldlady, who loved to look upon a comely young man; but it is thoughthe has forfeited the moment of fortune by sometimes neglecting hertea-table when solemnly invited, sometimes appearing there when hehad been dining with blyther company, twice treading upon hercat's tail, and once affronting her parrot. 

To Mannering the most interesting of the group was the poor girlwho had been a sort of humble companion of the deceased, as asubject upon whom she could at all times expectorate her badhumour. She was for form's sake dragged into the room by thedeceased's favourite female attendant, where, shrinking intoa>corner as soon as possible, she saw with wonder and affright theintrusive researches of the strangers amongst those recesses towhich from childhood she had looked with awful veneration. Thisgirl was regarded with an unfavourable eye by all the competitors, honest Dinmont only excepted; the rest conceived they should findin her a formidable competitor, whose claims might at leastencumber and diminish their chance of succession. Yet she was theonly person present who seemed really to feel sorrow for thedeceased. Mrs. Bertram had been her protectress, although fromselfish motives, and her capricious tyranny was forgotten at themoment, while the tears followed each other fast down the cheeksof her frightened and friendless dependent. 'There's ower mucklesaut water there, Drumquag, ' said the tobacconist to the ex-proprietor, 'to bode ither folk muckle gude. Folk seldom greetthat gate but they ken what it's for. ' Mr. Mac-Casquil onlyreplied with a nod, feeling the propriety of asserting hissuperior gentry in presence of Mr. Pleydell and Colonel Mannering. 

'Very queer if there suld be nae will after a', friend, ' saidDinmont, who began to grow impatient, to the man of business. 

'A moment's patience, if you please. She was a good and prudentwoman, Mrs. Margaret Bertram--a good and prudent and well-judgingwoman, and knew how to choose friends and depositaries; she mayhave put her last will and testament, or rather her mortis causasettlement, as it relates to heritage, into the hands of some safefriend. '

'I'll bet a rump and dozen, ' said Pleydell, whispering to theColonel, 'he has got it in his own pocket. ' Then addressing theman of law, 'Come, sir, we'll cut this short, if you please: hereis a settlement of the estate of Singleside, executed severalyears ago, in favour of Miss Lucy Bertram of Ellangowan. ' Thecompany stared fearfully wild. 'You, I presume, Mr. Protocol, caninform us if there is a later deed?'

'Please to favour me, Mr. Pleydell'; and so saying, he took thedeed out of the learned counsel's hand, and glanced his eye overthe contents. 

'Too cool, ' said Pleydell, 'too cool by half; he has another deedin his pocket still. '

'Why does he not show it then, and be d-d to him!' said themilitary gentleman, whose patience began to wax threadbare. 

'Why, how should I know?' answered the barrister; 'why does a catnot kill a mouse when she takes him? The consciousness of powerand the love of teasing, I suppose. Well, Mr. Protocol, what sayyou to that deed?'

'Why, Mr. Pleydell, the deed is a well-drawn deed, properlyauthenticated and tested in forms of the statute. '

'But recalled or superseded by another of posterior date in yourpossession, eh?' said the Counsellor. 

'Something of the sort, I confess, Mr. Pleydell, ' rejoined the manof business, producing a bundle tied with tape, and sealed at eachfold and ligation with black wax. 'That deed, Mr. Pleydell, whichyou produce and found upon, is dated 1st June 17-; but this(breaking the seals and unfolding the document slowly) is datedthe 20th--no, I see it is the 2ist--of April of this present year, being ten years posterior. '

'Marry, hang her, brock!' said the Counsellor, borrowing anexclamation from Sir Toby Belch; 'just the month in whichEllangowan's distresses became generally public. But let us hearwhat she has done. '

Mr. Protocol accordingly, having required silence, began to readthe settlement aloud in a slow, steady, business-like tone. Thegroup around, in whose eyes hope alternately awakened and faded, and who were straining their apprehensions to get at the drift ofthe testator's meaning through the mist of technical language inwhich the conveyance had involved it, might have made a study forHogarth. 

The deed was of an unexpected nature. It set forth with conveyingand disponing all and whole the estate and lands of Singleside andothers, with the lands of Loverless, Liealone, Spinster's Knowe, and heaven knows what beside, 'to and in favours of (here thereader softened his voice to a gentle and modest piano) PeterProtocol, clerk to the signet, having the fullest confidence inhis capacity and integrity--these are the very words which myworthy deceased friend insisted upon my inserting--but in TRUSTalways (here the reader recovered his voice and style, and thevisages of several of the hearers, which had attained a longitudethat Mr. Mortcloke might have envied, were perceptibly shortened)--in TRUST always, and for the uses, ends, and purposes hereinaftermentioned. '

In these 'uses, ends, and purposes' lay the cream of the affair. The first was introduced by a preamble setting forth that thetestatrix was lineally descended from the ancient house ofEllangowan, her respected great-grandfather, Andrew Bertram, firstof Singleside, of happy memory, having been second son to AllanBertram, fifteenth Baron of Ellangowan. It proceeded to state thatHenry Bertram, son and heir of Godfrey Bertram, now of Ellangowan, had been stolen from his parents in infancy, but that she, thetestatrix, WAS WELL ASSURED THAT HE WAS YET ALIVE IN FOREIGNPARTS, AND BY THE PROVIDENCE OF HEAVEN WOULD BE RESTORED TO THEPOSSESSIONS OF HIS ANCESTORS, in which case the said PeterProtocol was bound and obliged, like as he bound and obligedhimself, by acceptance of these presents, to denude himself of thesaid lands of Singleside and others, and of all the other effectsthereby conveyed (excepting always a proper gratification for hisown trouble), to and in favour of the said Henry Bertram, upon hisreturn to his native country. And during the time of his residingin foreign parts, or in case of his never again returning toScotland, Mr. Peter Protocol, the trustee, was directed todistribute the rents of the land, and interest of the other funds(deducting always a proper gratification for his trouble in thepremises), in equal portions, among four charitable establishmentspointed out in the will. The power of management, of lettingleases, of raising and lending out money, in short, the fullauthority of a proprietor, was vested in this confidentialtrustee, and, in the event of his death, went to certain officialpersons named in the deed. There were only two legacies; one of ahundred pounds to a favourite waiting-maid, another of the likesum to Janet Gibson (whom the deed stated to have been supportedby the charity of the testatrix), for the purpose of binding heran apprentice to some honest trade. 

A settlement in mortmain is in Scotland termed a mortification, and in one great borough (Aberdeen, if I remember rightly) thereis a municipal officer who takes care of these public endowments, and is thence called the Master of Mortifications. One wouldalmost presume that the term had its origin in the effect whichsuch settlements usually produce upon the kinsmen of those by whomthey are executed. Heavy at least was the mortification whichbefell the audience who, in the late Mrs. Margaret Bertram'sparlour, had listened to this unexpected destination of the landsof Singleside. There was a profound silence after the deed hadbeen read over. 

Mr. Pleydell was the first to speak. He begged to look at thedeed, and, having satisfied himself that it was correctly drawnand executed, he returned it without any observation, only sayingaside to Mannering, 'Protocol is not worse than other people, Ibelieve; but this old lady has determined that, if he do not turnrogue, it shall not be for want of temptation. '

'I really think, ' said Mr. Mac-Casquil of Drumquag, who, havinggulped down one half of his vexation, determined to give vent tothe rest--'I really think this is an extraordinary case! I shouldlike now to know from Mr. Protocol, who, being sole and unlimitedtrustee, must have been consulted upon this occasion--I shouldlike, I say, to know how Mrs. Bertram could possibly believe inthe existence of a boy that a' the world kens was murdered many ayear since?'

'Really, sir, ' said Mr. Protocol, 'I do not conceive it ispossible for me to explain her motives more than she has doneherself. Our excellent deceased friend was a good woman, sir--apious woman--and might have grounds for confidence in the boy'ssafety which are not accessible to us, sir. '

'Hout, ' said the tobacconist, 'I ken very weel what were hergrounds for confidence. There's Mrs. Rebecca (the maid) sittingthere has tell'd me a hundred times in my ain shop, there was naekenning how her leddy wad settle her affairs, for an auld gipsywitch wife at Gilsland had possessed her with a notion that thecallant--Harry Bertram ca's she him?--would come alive again someday after a'. Ye'll no deny that, Mrs. Rebecca? though I dare tosay ye forgot to put your mistress in mind of what ye promised tosay when I gied ye mony a half-crown. But ye'll no deny what I amsaying now, lass?'

'I ken naething at a' about it, ' answered Rebecca, doggedly, andlooking straight forward with the firm countenance of one notdisposed to be compelled to remember more than was agreeable toher. 

'Weel said, Rebecca! ye're satisfied wi' your ain share ony way, 'rejoined the tobacconist. 

The buck of the second-head, for a buck of the first-head he wasnot, had hitherto been slapping his boots with his switch-whip, and looking like a spoiled child that has lost its supper. Hismurmurs, however, were all vented inwardly, or at most in asoliloquy such as this--'I am sorry, by G-d, I ever plagued myselfabout her. I came here, by G-d, one night to drink tea, and I leftKing and the Duke's rider Will Hack. They were toasting a round ofrunning horses; by G-d, I might have got leave to wear the jacketas well as other folk if I had carried it on with them; and shehas not so much as left me that hundred!'

'We'll make the payment of the note quite agreeable, ' said Mr. Protocol, who had no wish to increase at that moment the odiumattached to his office. 'And now, gentlemen, I fancy we have nomore to wait for here, and I shall put the settlement of myexcellent and worthy friend on record to-morrow, that everygentleman may examine the contents, and have free access to takean extract; and'--he proceeded to lock up the repositories of thedeceased with more speed than he had opened them--'Mrs. Rebecca, ye'll be so kind as to keep all right here until we can let thehouse; I had an offer from a tenant this morning, if such a thingshould be, and if I was to have any management. '

Our friend Dinmont, having had his hopes as well as another, hadhitherto sate sulky enough in the armchair formerly appropriatedto the deceased, and in which she would have been not a littlescandalised to have seen this colossal specimen of the masculinegender lolling at length. His employment had been rolling up intothe form of a coiled snake the long lash of his horse-whip, andthen by a jerk causing it to unroll itself into the middle of thefloor. The first words he said when he had digested the shockcontained a magnanimous declaration, which he probably was notconscious of having uttered aloud--'Weel, blude's thicker thanwater; she's welcome to the cheeses and the hams just the same. 'But when the trustee had made the above-mentioned motion for themourners to depart, and talked of the house being immediately let, honest Dinmont got upon his feet and stunned the company with thisblunt question, 'And what's to come o' this poor lassie then, Jenny Gibson? Sae mony o'us as thought oursells sib to the familywhen the gear was parting, we may do something for her amang ussurely. '

This proposal seemed to dispose most of the assembly instantly toevacuate the premises, although upon Mr. Protocol's motion theyhad lingered as if around the grave of their disappointed hopes. Drumquag said, or rather muttered, something of having a family ofhis own, and took precedence, in virtue of his gentle blood, todepart as fast as possible. The tobacconist sturdily stood forwardand scouted the motion--'A little huzzie like that was weel eneughprovided for already; and Mr. Protocol at ony rate was the properperson to take direction of her, as he had charge of her legacy';and after uttering such his opinion in a steady and decisive toneof voice, he also left the place. The buck made a stupid andbrutal attempt at a jest upon Mrs. Bertram's recommendation thatthe poor girl should be taught some honest trade; but encountereda scowl from Colonel Mannering's darkening eye (to whom, in hisignorance of the tone of good society, he had looked for applause)that made him ache to the very backbone. He shuffled downstairs, therefore, as fast as possible. 

Protocol, who was really a good sort of man, next expressed hisintention to take a temporary charge of the young lady, underprotest always that his so doing should be considered as merelyeleemosynary; when Dinmont at length got up, and, having shakenhis huge dreadnought great-coat, as a Newfoundland dog does hisshaggy hide when he comes out of the water, ejaculated, 'Weel, deil hae me then, if ye hae ony fash wi' her, Mr. Protocol, if shelikes to gang hame wi' me, that is. Ye see, Ailie and me we'reweel to pass, and we would like the lassies to hae a wee bit mairlair than oursells, and to be neighbour-like, that wad we. And yesee Jenny canna miss but to ken manners, and the like o' readingbooks, and sewing seams, having lived sae lang wi' a grand ladylike Lady Singleside; or, if she disna ken ony thing about it, I'mjealous that our bairns will like her a' the better. And I'll takecare o' the bits o' claes, and what spending siller she maun hae, so the hundred pound may rin on in your hands, Mr. Protocol, andI'll be adding something till't, till she'll maybe get aLiddesdale joe that wants something to help to buy the hirsel. What d'ye say to that, hinny? I'll take out a ticket for ye in thefly to Jethart; od, but ye maun take a powny after that o'er theLimestane Rig, deil a wheeled carriage ever gaed into Liddesdale. [Footnote: See Note I. ] And I'll be very glad if Mrs. Rebeccacomes wi' you, hinny, and stays a month or twa while ye'restranger like. '

While Mrs. Rebecca was curtsying, and endeavouring to make thepoor orphan girl curtsy instead of crying, and while Dandie, inhis rough way, was encouraging them both, old Pleydell hadrecourse to his snuff-box. 'It's meat and drink to me now, Colonel, ' he said, as he recovered himself, 'to see a clown likethis. I must gratify him in his own way, must assist him to ruinhimself; there's no help for it. Here, you Liddesdale--Dandie--Charlie's Hope--what do they call you?'

The farmer turned, infinitely gratified even by this sort ofnotice; for in his heart, next to his own landlord, he honoured alawyer in high practice. 

'So you will not be advised against trying that question aboutyour marches?'

'No, no, sir; naebody likes to lose their right, and to be laughedat down the haill water. But since your honour's no agreeable, andis maybe a friend to the other side like, we maun try some otheradvocate. '

'There, I told you so, Colonel Mannering! Well, sir, if you mustneeds be a fool, the business is to give you the luxury of alawsuit at the least possible expense, and to bring you offconqueror if possible. Let Mr. Protocol send me your papers, and Iwill advise him how to conduct your cause. I don't see, after all, why you should not have your lawsuits too, and your feuds in theCourt of Session, as well as your forefathers had theirmanslaughters and fire-raisings. '

'Very natural, to be sure, sir. We wad just take the auld gate asreadily, if it werena for the law. And as the law binds us, thelaw should loose us. Besides, a man's aye the better thought o' inour country for having been afore the Feifteen. '

'Excellently argued, my friend! Away with you, and send yourpapers to me. Come, Colonel, we have no more to do here. '

'God, we'll ding Jock o' Dawston Cleugh now after a'!' saidDinmont, slapping his thigh in great exultation. 

CHAPTER XXXIX

 I am going to the parliament; You understand this bag. If you have any business Depending there be short, and let me hear it, And pay your fees. 

 Little French Lawyer

'Shall you be able to carry this honest fellow's cause for him?'said Mannering. 

'Why, I don't know; the battle is not to the strong, but he shallcome off triumphant over Jock of Dawston if we can make it out. Iowe him something. It is the pest of our profession that we seldomsee the best side of human nature. People come to us with everyselfish feeling newly pointed and grinded; they turn down the verycaulkers of their animosities and prejudices, as smiths do withhorses' shoes in a white frost. Many a man has come to my garretyonder that I have at first longed to pitch out at the window, andyet at length have discovered that he was only doing as I mighthave done in his case, being very angry, and of course veryunreasonable. I have now satisfied myself that, if our professionsees more of human folly and human roguery than others, it isbecause we witness them acting in that channel in which they canmost freely vent themselves. In civilised society law is thechimney through which all that smoke discharges itself that usedto circulate through the whole house, and put every one's eyesout; no wonder, therefore, that the vent itself should sometimesget a little sooty. But we will take care our Liddesdale man'scause is well conducted and well argued, so all unnecessaryexpense will be saved: he shall have his pine-apple at wholesaleprice. '

'Will you do me the pleasure, ' said Mannering, as they parted, 'todine with me at my lodgings? My landlord says he has a bit of red-deer venison and some excellent wine. '

'Venison, eh?' answered the Counsellor alertly, but presentlyadded--'But no! it's impossible; and I can't ask you home neither. Monday's a sacred day; so's Tuesday; and Wednesday we are to beheard in the great teind case in presence, but stay--it's frostyweather, and if you don't leave town, and that venison would keeptill Thursday--'

'You will dine with me that day?'

'Under certification. '

'Well, then, I will indulge a thought I had of spending a weekhere; and if the venison will not keep, why we will see what elseour landlord can do for us. '

'O, the venison will keep, ' said Pleydell; 'and now good-bye. Lookat these two or three notes, and deliver them if you like theaddresses. I wrote them for you this morning. Farewell, my clerkhas been waiting this hour to begin a d-d information. ' And awaywalked Mr. Pleydell with great activity, diving through closes andascending covered stairs in order to attain the High Street by anaccess which, compared to the common route, was what the Straitsof Magellan are to the more open but circuitous passage round CapeHorn. 

On looking at the notes of introduction which Pleydell had thrustinto his hand, Mannering was gratified with seeing that they wereaddressed to some of the first literary characters of Scotland. 'To David Hume, Esq. '

To John Home, Esq. ' 'To Dr. Ferguson. ' 'To Dr. Black. ' 'To LordKaimes. ' 'To Mr. Button. ' 'To John Clerk, Esq. , of Eldin. ' 'ToAdam Smith, Esq. ' 'To Dr. Robertson. '

'Upon my word, my legal friend has a good selection ofacquaintances; these are names pretty widely blown indeed. AnEast-Indian must rub up his facultiesa little, and put his mind inorder, before he enters this sort of society. '

Mannering gladly availed himself of these introductions; and weregret deeply it is not in our power to give the reader an accountof the pleasure and information which he received in admission toa circle never closed against strangers of sense and information, and which has perhaps at no period been equalled, considering thedepth and variety of talent which it embraced and concentrated. 

Upon the Thursday appointed Mr. Pleydell made his appearance atthe inn where Colonel Mannering lodged. The venison proved in highorder, the claret excellent, and the learned counsel, a professedamateur in the affairs of the table, did distinguished honour toboth. I am uncertain, however, if even the good cheer gave himmore satisfaction than the presence of Dominie Sampson, from whom, in his own juridical style of wit, he contrived to extract greatamusement both for himself and one or two friends whom the Colonelregaled on the same occasion. The grave and laconic simplicity ofSampson's answers to the insidious questions of the barristerplaced the bonhomie of his character in a more luminous point ofview than Mannering had yet seen it. Upon the same occasion hedrew forth a strange quantity of miscellaneous and abstruse, though, generally speaking, useless learning. The lawyerafterwards compared his mind to the magazine of a pawnbroker, stowed with goods of every description, but so cumbrously piledtogether, and in such total disorganisation, that the owner cannever lay his hands upon any one article at the moment he hasoccasion for it. 

As for the advocate himself, he afforded at least as much exerciseto Sampson as he extracted amusement from him. When the man of lawbegan to get into his altitudes, and his wit, naturally shrewd anddry, became more lively and poignant, the Dominie looked upon himwith that sort of surprise with which we can conceive a tame bearmight regard his future associate, the monkey, on their beingfirst introduced to each other. It was Mr. Pleydell's delight tostate in grave and serious argument some position which he knewthe Dominie would be inclined to dispute. He then beheld withexquisite pleasure the internal labour with which the honest manarranged his ideas for reply, and tasked his inert and sluggishpowers to bring up all the heavy artillery of his learning fordemolishing the schismatic or heretical opinion which had beenstated, when behold, before the ordnance could be discharged, thefoe had quitted the post and appeared in a new position ofannoyance on the Dominie's flank or rear. Often did he exclaim'Prodigious!' when, marching up to the enemy in full confidence ofvictory, he found the field evacuated, and it may be supposed thatit cost him no little labour to attempt a new formation. 'He waslike a native Indian army, ' the Colonel said, 'formidable bynumerical strength and size of ordnance, but liable to be throwninto irreparable confusion by a movement to take them in flank. 'On the whole, however, the Dominie, though somewhat fatigued withthese mental exertions, made at unusual speed and upon thepressure of the moment, reckoned this one of the white days of hislife, and always mentioned Mr. Pleydell as a very erudite and fa-ce-ti-ous person. 

By degrees the rest of the party dropped off and left these threegentlemen together. Their conversation turned to Mrs. Bertram'ssettlements. 'Now what could drive it into the noddle of that oldharridan, ' said Pleydell, 'to disinherit poor Lucy Bertram underpretence of settling her property on a boy who has been so longdead and gone? I ask your pardon, Mr. Sampson, I forgot what anaffecting case this was for you; I remember taking yourexamination upon it, and I never had so much trouble to make anyone speak three words consecutively. You may talk of yourPythagoreans or your silent Brahmins, Colonel; go to, I tell youthis learned gentleman beats them all in taciturnity; but thewords of the wise are precious, and not to be thrown awaylightly. '

'Of a surety, ' said the Dominie, taking his blue-checquedhandkerchief from his eyes, 'that was a bitter day with me indeed;ay, and a day of grief hard to be borne; but He giveth strengthwho layeth on the load. '

Colonel Mannering took this opportunity to request Mr. Pleydell toinform him of the particulars attending the loss of the boy; andthe Counsellor, who was fond of talking upon subjects of criminaljurisprudence, especially when connected with his own experience, went through the circumstances at full length. 'And what is youropinion upon the result of the whole?'

'O, that Kennedy was murdered: it's an old case which has occurredon that coast before now, the case of Smuggler versus Exciseman. '

'What, then, is your conjecture concerning the fate of the child?'

'O, murdered too, doubtless, ' answered Pleydell. 'He was oldenough to tell what he had seen, and these ruthless scoundrelswould not scruple committing a second Bethlehem massacre if theythought their interest required it. '

The Dominie groaned deeply, and ejaculated, 'Enormous!'

'Yet there was mention of gipsies in the business too, Counsellor, ' said Mannering, 'and from what that vulgar-lookingfellow said after the funeral--'

'Mrs. Margaret Bertram's idea that the child was alive was foundedupon the report of a gipsy?' said Pleydell, catching at the half-spoken hint. 'I envy you the concatenation, Colonel; it is a shameto me not to have drawn the same conclusion. We'll follow thisbusiness up instantly. Here, hark ye, waiter, go down to LuckieWood's in the Cowgate; ye'll find my clerk Driver; he'll be setdown to high jinks by this time--for we and our retainers, Colonel, are exceedingly regular in our irregularities--tell himto come here instantly and I will pay his forfeits. '

'He won't appear in character, will he?' said Mannering. 

'Ah! "no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me, "' said Pleydell. 'But we must have some news from the land of Egypt, if possible. O, if I had but hold of the slightest thread of this complicatedskein, you should see how I would unravel it! I would work thetruth out of your Bohemian, as the French call them, better than amonitoire or a plainte de Tournelle; I know how to manage arefractory witness. '

While Mr. Pleydell was thus vaunting his knowledge of hisprofession, the waiter reentered with Mr. Driver, his mouth stillgreasy with mutton pies, and the froth of the last draught oftwopenny yet unsubsided on his upper lip, with such speed had heobeyed the commands of his principal. 'Driver, you must goinstantly and find out the woman who was old Mrs. MargaretBertram's maid. Inquire for her everywhere, but if you find itnecessary to have recourse to Protocol, Quid the tobacconist, orany other of these folks, you will take care not to appearyourself, but send some woman of your acquaintance; I daresay youknow enough that may be so condescending as to oblige you. Whenyou have found her out, engage her to come to my chambers tomorrowat eight o'clock precisely. '

'What shall I say to make her forthcoming?' asked the aid-de-camp. 

'Anything you choose, ' replied the lawyer. 'Is it my business tomake lies for you, do you think? But let her be in praesentia byeight o'clock, as I have said before. ' The clerk grinned, made hisreverence, and exit. 

'That's a useful fellow, ' said the Counsellor; 'I don't believehis match ever carried a process. He'll write to my dictatingthree nights in the week without sleep, or, what's the same thing, he writes as well and correctly when he's asleep as when he'sawake. Then he's such a steady fellow; some of them are alwayschanging their ale-houses, so that they have twenty cadiessweating after them, like the bare-headed captains traversing thetaverns of Eastcheap in search of Sir John Falstaff. But this is acomplete fixture; he has his winter seat by the fire and hissummer seat by the window in Luckie Wood's, betwixt which seatsare his only migrations; there he's to be found at all times whenhe is off duty. It is my opinion he never puts off his clothes orgoes to sleep; sheer ale supports him under everything. It ismeat, drink, and cloth, bed, board, and washing. '

'And is he always fit for duty upon a sudden turnout? I shoulddistrust it, considering his quarters. '

'O, drink, never disturbs him, Colonel; he can write for hoursafter he cannot speak. I remember being called suddenly to draw anappeal case. I had been dining, and it was Saturday night, and Ihad ill will to begin to it; however, they got me down toClerihugh's, and there we sat birling till I had a fair tappit hen[Footnote: See Note 2. ] under my belt, and then they persuaded meto draw the paper. Then we had to seek Driver, and it was all thattwo men could do to bear him in, for, when found, he was, as ithappened, both motionless and speechless. But no sooner was hispen put between his fingers, his paper stretched before him, andhe heard my voice, than he began to write like a scrivener; and, excepting that we were obliged to have somebody to dip his pen inthe ink, for he could not see the standish, I never saw a thingscrolled more handsomely. '

'But how did your joint production look the next morning?' saidthe Colonel. 

'Wheugh! capital! not three words required to be altered:[Footnote: See Note 3. ] it was sent off by that day's post. Butyou'll come and breakfast with me to-morrow, and hear this woman'sexamination?'

'Why, your hour is rather early. '

'Can't make it later. If I were not on the boards of the OuterHouse precisely as the nine-hours' bell rings, there would be areport that I had got an apoplexy, and I should feel the effectsof it all the rest of the session. '

'Well, I will make an exertion to wait upon you. '

Here the company broke up for the evening. 

In the morning Colonel Mannering appeared at the Counsellor'schambers, although cursing the raw air of a Scottish morning inDecember. Mr. Pleydell had got Mrs. Rebecca installed on one sideof his fire, accommodated her with a cup of chocolate, and wasalready deeply engaged in conversation with her. 'O no, I assureyou, Mrs. Rebecca, there is no intention to challenge yourmistress's will; and I give you my word of honour that your legacyis quite safe. You have deserved it by your conduct to yourmistress, and I wish it had been twice as much. '

'Why, to be sure, sir, it's no right to mention what is saidbefore ane; ye heard how that dirty body Quid cast up to me thebits o' compliments he gied me, and tell'd ower again ony loosecracks I might hae had wi' him; now if ane was talking loosely toyour honour, there's nae saying what might come o't. '

'I assure you, my good Rebecca, my character and your own age andappearance are your security, if you should talk as loosely as anamatory poet. '

'Aweel, if your honour thinks I am safe--the story is just this. Ye see, about a year ago, or no just sae lang, my leddy wasadvised to go to Gilsland for a while, for her spirits weredistressing her sair. Ellangowan's troubles began to be spoken o'publicly, and sair vexed she was; for she was proud o' her family. For Ellangowan himsell and her, they sometimes 'greed and sometimes no; but at last they didna 'gree at a' for twa or threeyear, for he was aye wanting to borrow siller, and that was whatshe couldna bide at no hand, and she was aye wanting it paid backagain, and that the Laird he liked as little. So at last they wereclean aff thegither. And then some of the company at Gilslandtells her that the estate was to be sell'd; and ye wad hae thoughtshe had taen an ill will at Miss Lucy Bertram frae that moment, for mony a time she cried to me, "O Becky, O Becky, if thatuseless peenging thing o' a lassie there at Ellangowan, that cannakeep her ne'er-do-weel father within bounds--if she had been but alad-bairn they couldna hae sell'd the auld inheritance for thatfool-body's debts"; and she would rin on that way till I was justwearied and sick to hear her ban the puir lassie, as if she wadnahae been a lad-bairn and keepit the land if it had been in herwill to change her sect. And ae day at the spaw-well below thecraig at Gilsland she was seeing a very bonny family o' bairns--they belanged to ane Mac-Crosky--and she broke out--"Is not it anodd like thing that ilka waf carle in the country has a son andheir, and that the house of Ellangowan is without malesuccession?" There was a gipsy wife stood ahint and heard her, amuckle sture fearsome-looking wife she was as ever I set een on. "Wha is it, " says she, "that dare say the house of Ellangowan willperish without male succession?" My mistress just turned on her;she was a high-spirited woman, and aye ready wi' an answer to a'body. "It's me that says it, " says she, "that may say it with asad heart. " Wi' that the gipsy wife gripped till her hand--"I kenyou weel eneugh, " says she, "though ye kenna me. But as sure asthat sun's in heaven, and as sure as that water's rinning to thesea, and as sure as there's an ee that sees and an ear that hearsus baith, Harry Bertram, that was thought to perish at WarrochPoint, never did die there. He was to have a weary weird o't tillhis ane-and-twentieth year, that was aye said o' him; but if yelive and I live, ye'll hear mair o' him this winter before thesnaw lies twa days on the Dun of Singleside. I want nane o' yoursiller, " she said, "to make ye think I am blearing your ee; fareye weel till after Martinmas. " And there she left us standing. '

'Was she a very tall woman?' interrupted Mannering. 

'Had she black hair, black eyes, and a cut above the brow?' addedthe lawyer. 

'She was the tallest woman I ever saw, and her hair was as blackas midnight, unless where it was grey, and she had a scar abunethe brow that ye might hae laid the lith of your finger in. Naebody that's seen her will ever forget her; and I am morallysure that it was on the ground o' what that gipsy-woman said thatmy mistress made her will, having taen a dislike at the youngleddy o' Ellangowan. And she liked her far waur after she wasobliged to send her L20; for she said Miss Bertram, no content wi'letting the Ellangowan property pass into strange hands, owing toher being a lass and no a lad, was coming, by her poverty, to be aburden and a disgrace to Singleside too. But I hope my mistress'sis a good will for a' that, for it would be hard on me to lose thewee bit legacy; I served for little fee and bountith, weel I wot. '

The Counsellor relieved her fears on this head, then inquiredafter Jenny Gibson, and understood she had accepted Mr. Dinmont'soffer. 'And I have done sae mysell too, since he was sae discreetas to ask me, ' said Mrs. Rebecca; 'they are very decent folk theDinmonts, though my lady didna dow to hear muckle about thefriends on that side the house. But she liked the Charlie's Hopehams and the cheeses and the muir-fowl that they were aye sending, and the lamb's-wool hose and mittens--she liked them weel eneugh. '

Mr. Pleydell now dismissed Mrs. Rebecca. When she was gone, 'Ithink I know the gipsy-woman, ' said the lawyer. 

'I was just going to say the same, ' replied Mannering. 

'And her name, ' said Pleydell--

'Is Meg Merrilies, ' answered the Colonel. 

'Are you avised of that?' said the Counsellor, looking at hismilitary friend with a comic expression of surprise. 

Mannering answered that he had known such a woman when he was atEllangowan upwards of twenty years before; and then made hislearned friend acquainted with all the remarkable particulars ofhis first visit there. 

Mr. Pleydell listened with great attention, and then replied, 'Icongratulated myself upon having made the acquaintance of aprofound theologian in your chaplain; but I really did not expectto find a pupil of Albumazar or Messahala in his patron. I have anotion, however, this gipsy could tell us some more of the matterthan she derives from astrology or second-sight. I had her throughhands once, and could then make little of her, but I must write toMac-Morlan to stir heaven and earth to find her out. I will gladlycome to--shire myself to assist at her examination; I am still inthe commission of the peace there, though I have ceased to besheriff. I never had anything more at heart in my life thantracing that murder and the fate of the child. I must write to thesheriff of Roxburghshire too, and to an active justice of peace inCumberland. '

'I hope when you come to the country you will make Woodbourne yourheadquarters?'

'Certainly; I was afraid you were going to forbid me. But we mustgo to breakfast now or I shall be too late. '

On the following day the new friends parted, and the Colonelrejoined his family without any adventure worthy of being detailedin these chapters. 

CHAPTER XL

 Can no rest find me, no private place secure me, But still my miseries like bloodhounds haunt me? Unfortunate young man, which way now guides thee, Guides thee from death? The country's laid around for thee. 

 Women Pleased. 

Our narrative now recalls us for a moment to the period when youngHazlewood received his wound. That accident had no sooner happenedthan the consequences to Miss Mannering and to himself rushed uponBrown's mind. From the manner in which the muzzle of the piece waspointed when it went off, he had no great fear that theconsequences would be fatal. But an arrest in a strange country, and while he was unprovided with any means of establishing hisrank and character, was at least to be avoided. He thereforeresolved to escape for the present to the neighbouring coast ofEngland, and to remain concealed there, if possible, until heshould receive letters from his regimental friends, andremittances from his agent; and then to resume his own character, and offer to young Hazlewood and his friends any explanation orsatisfaction they might desire. With this purpose he walkedstoutly forward, after leaving the spot where the accident hadhappened, and reached without adventure the village which we havecalled Portanferry (but which the reader will in vain seek forunder that name in the county map). A large open boat was justabout to leave the quay, bound for the little seaport of Allonby, in Cumberland. In this vessel Brown embarked, and resolved to makethat place his temporary abode, until he should receive lettersand money from England. 

In the course of their short voyage he entered into someconversation with the steersman, who was also owner of the boat, ajolly old man, who had occasionally been engaged in the smugglingtrade, like most fishers on the coast. After talking about objectsof less interest, Brown endeavoured to turn the discourse towardthe Mannering family. The sailor had heard of the attack upon thehouse at Woodbourne, but disapproved of the smugglers'proceedings. 

'Hands off is fair play; zounds, they'll bring the whole countrydown upon them. Na, na! when I was in that way I played at giff-gaff with the officers: here a cargo taen--vera weel, that wastheir luck; there another carried clean through, that was mine;na, na! hawks shouldna pike out hawks' een. '

'And this Colonel Mannering?' said Brown. 

'Troth, he's nae wise man neither, to interfere; no that I blamehim for saving the gangers' lives, that was very right; but itwasna like a gentleman to be righting about the poor folk's pockso' tea and brandy kegs. However, he's a grand man and an officerman, and they do what they like wi' the like o' us. '

'And his daughter, ' said Brown, with a throbbing heart, 'is goingto be married into a great family too, as I have heard?'

'What, into the Hazlewoods'?' said the pilot. 'Na, na, that's butidle clashes; every Sabbath day, as regularly as it came round, did the young man ride hame wi' the daughter of the lateEllangowan; and my daughter Peggy's in the service up atWoodbourne, and she says she's sure young Hazlewood thinks naemair of Miss Mannering than you do. '

Bitterly censuring his own precipitate adoption of a contrarybelief, Brown yet heard with delight that the suspicions ofJulia's fidelity, upon which he had so rashly acted, were probablyvoid of foundation. How must he in the meantime be suffering inher opinion? or what could she suppose of conduct which must havemade him appear to her regardless alike of her peace of mind andof the interests of their affection? The old man's connexion withthe family at Woodbourne seemed to offer a safe mode ofcommunication, of which he determined to avail himself. 

'Your daughter is a maid-servant at Woodbourne? I knew MissMannering in India, and, though I am at present in an inferiorrank of life, I have great reason to hope she would interestherself in my favour. I had a quarrel unfortunately with herfather, who was my commanding officer, and I am sure the younglady would endeavour to reconcile him to me. Perhaps your daughtercould deliver a letter to her upon the subject, without makingmischief between her father and her?'

The old man, a friend to smuggling of every kind, readily answeredfor the letter's being faithfully and secretly delivered; and, accordingly, as soon as they arrived at Allonby Brown wrote toMiss Mannering, stating the utmost contrition for what hadhappened through his rashness, and conjuring her to let him havean opportunity of pleading his own cause, and obtainingforgiveness for his indiscretion. He did not judge it safe to gointo any detail concerning the circumstances by which he had beenmisled, and upon the whole endeavcured to express himself withsuch ambiguity that, if the letter should fall into wrong hands, it would be difficult either to understand its real purport or totrace the writer. This letter the old man undertook faithfully todeliver to his daughter at Woodbourne; and, as his trade wouldspeedily again bring him or his boat to Allonby, he promisedfarther to take charge of any answer with which the young ladymight entrust him. 

And now our persecuted traveller landed at Allonby, and sought forsuch accommodations as might at once suit his temporary povertyand his desire of remaining as much unobserved as possible. Withthis view he assumed the name and profession of his friend Dudley, having command enough of the pencil to verify his pretendedcharacter to his host of Allonby. His baggage he pretended toexpect from Wigton; and keeping himself as much within doors aspossible, awaited the return of the letters which he had sent tohis agent, to Delaserre, and to his lieutenant-colonel. From thefirst he requested a supply of money; he conjured Delaserre, ifpossible, to join him in Scotland; and from the lieutenant-colonelhe required such testimony of his rank and conduct in the regimentas should place his character as a gentleman and officer beyondthe power of question. The inconvenience of being run short in hisfinances struck him so strongly that he wrote to Dinmont on thatsubject, requesting a small temporary loan, having no doubt that, being within sixty or seventy miles of his residence, he shouldreceive a speedy as well as favourable answer to his request ofpecuniary accommodation, which was owing, as he stated, to hishaving been robbed after their parting. And then, with impatienceenough, though without any serious apprehension, he waited theanswers of these various letters. 

It must be observed, in excuse of his correspondents, that thepost was then much more tardy than since Mr. Palmer's ingeniousinvention has taken place; and with respect to honest Dinmont inparticular, as he rarely received above one letter a quarter(unless during the time of his being engaged in a law-suit, whenhe regularly sent to the post-town), his correspondence usuallyremained for a month or two sticking in the postmaster's windowamong pamphlets, gingerbread, rolls, or ballads, according to thetrade which the said postmaster exercised. Besides, there was thena custom, not yet wholly obsolete, of causing a letter from onetown to another, perhaps within the distance of thirty miles, perform a circuit of two hundred miles before delivery; which hadthe combined advantage of airing the epistle thoroughly, of addingsome pence to the revenue of the post-office, and of exercisingthe patience of the correspondents. Owing to these circumstancesBrown remained several days in Allonby without any answerswhatever, and his stock of money, though husbanded with the utmosteconomy, began to wear very low, when he received by the hands ofa young fisherman the following letter:--

'You have acted with the most cruel indiscretion; you have shownhow little I can trust to your declarations that my peace andhappiness are dear to you; and your rashness has nearly occasionedthe death of a young man of the highest worth and honour. Must Isay more? must I add that I have been myself very ill inconsequence of your violence and its effects? And, alas! need Isay still farther, that I have thought anxiously upon them as theyare likely to affect you, although you have given me such slightcause to do so? The C. Is gone from home for several days, Mr. H. Is almost quite recovered, and I have reason to think that theblame is laid in a quarter different from that where it isdeserved. Yet do not think of venturing here. Our fate has beencrossed by accidents of a nature too violent and terrible topermit me to think of renewing a correspondence which has so oftenthreatened the most dreadful catastrophe. Farewell, therefore, andbelieve that no one can wish your happiness more sincerely than

 'J. M. '

This letter contained that species of advice which is frequentlygiven for the precise purpose that it may lead to a directlyopposite conduct from that which it recommends. At least sothought Brown, who immediately asked the young fisherman if hecame from Portanferry. 

'Ay, ' said the lad; 'I am auld Willie Johnstone's son, and I gotthat letter frae my sister Peggy, that's laundry maid atWoodbourne. '

'My good friend, when do you sail?'

'With the tide this evening. '

'I'll return with you; but, as I do not desire to go toPortanferry, I wish you could put me on shore somewhere on thecoast. '

'We can easily do that, ' said the lad. 

Although the price of provisions, etc. , was then very moderate, the discharging his lodgings, and the expense of his living, together with that of a change of dress, which safety as well as aproper regard to his external appearance rendered necessary, brought Brown's purse to a very low ebb. He left directions at thepost-office that his letters should be forwarded to Kippletringan, whither he resolved to proceed and reclaim the treasure which hehad deposited in the hands of Mrs. MacCandlish. He also felt itwould be his duty to assume his proper character as soon as heshould receive the necessary evidence for supporting it, and, asan officer in the king's service, give and receive everyexplanation which might be necessary with young Hazlewood. 'If heis not very wrong-headed indeed, ' he thought, 'he must allow themanner in which I acted to have been the necessary consequence ofhis own overbearing conduct. '

And now we must suppose him once more embarked on the SolwayFirth. The wind was adverse, attended by some rain, and theystruggled against it without much assistance from the tide. Theboat was heavily laden with goods (part of which were probablycontraband), and laboured deep in the sea. Brown, who had beenbred a sailor, and was indeed skilled in most athletic exercises, gave his powerful and effectual assistance in rowing, oroccasionally in steering the boat, and his advice in themanagement, which became the more delicate as the wind increased, and, being opposed to the very rapid tides of that coast, made thevoyage perilous. At length, after spending the whole night uponthe firth, they were at morning within sight of a beautiful bayupon the Scottish coast. The weather was now more mild. The snow, which had been for some time waning, had given way entirely underthe fresh gale of the preceding night. The more distant hills, indeed, retained their snowy mantle, but all the open country wascleared, unless where a few white patches indicated that it hadbeen drifted to an uncommon depth. Even under its wintryappearance the shore was highly interesting. The line of sea-coast, with all its varied curves, indentures, and embayments, swept away from the sight on either hand, in that varied, intricate, yet graceful and easy line which the eye loves so wellto pursue. And it was no less relieved and varied in elevationthan in outline by the different forms of the shore, the beach insome places being edged by steep rocks, and in others risingsmoothly from the sands in easy and swelling slopes. Buildings ofdifferent kinds caught and reflected the wintry sunbeams of aDecember morning, and the woods, though now leafless, gave reliefand variety to the landscape. Brown felt that lively and awakeninginterest which taste and sensibility always derive from thebeauties of nature when opening suddenly to the eye after thedulness and gloom of a night voyage. Perhaps--for who can presumeto analyse that inexplicable feeling which binds the person bornin a mountainous country to, his native hills--perhaps some earlyassociations, retaining their effect long after the cause wasforgotten, mingled in the feelings of pleasure with which heregarded the scene before him. 

'And what, ' said Brown to the boatman, 'is the name of that finecape that stretches into the sea with its sloping banks andhillocks of wood, and forms the right side of the bay?'

'Warroch Point, ' answered the lad. 

'And that old castle, my friend, with the modern house situatedjust beneath it? It seems at this distance a very large building. '

'That's the Auld Place, sir; and that's the New Place below it. We'll land you there if you like. '

'I should like it of all things. I must visit that ruin before Icontinue my journey. '

'Ay, it's a queer auld bit, ' said the fisherman; 'and that highesttower is a gude landmark as far as Ramsay in Man and the Point ofAyr; there was muckle fighting about the place lang syne. '

Brown would have inquired into farther particulars, but afisherman is seldom an antiquary. His boatman's local knowledgewas summed up in the information already given, 'that it was agrand landmark, and that there had been muckle fighting about thebit lang syne. '

'I shall learn more of it, ' said Brown to himself, 'when I getashore. '

The boat continued its course close under the point upon which thecastle was situated, which frowned from the summit of its rockysite upon the still agitated waves of the bay beneath. 'Ibelieve, ' said the steersman, 'ye'll get ashore here as dry as onygate. There's a place where their berlins and galleys, as theyca'd them, used to lie in lang syne, but it's no used now, becauseit's ill carrying gudes up the narrow stairs or ower the rocks. Whiles of a moonlight night I have landed articles there, though. '

While he thus spoke they pulled round a point of rock, and found avery small harbour, partly formed by nature, partly by theindefatigable labour of the ancient inhabitants of the castle, who, as the fisherman observed, had found it essential for theprotection of their boats and small craft, though it could notreceive vessels of any burden. The two points of rock which formedthe access approached each other so nearly that only one boatcould enter at a time. On each side were still remaining twoimmense iron rings, deeply morticed into the solid rock. Throughthese, according to tradition, there was nightly drawn a hugechain, secured by an immense padlock, for the protection of thehaven and the armada which it contained. A ledge of rock had, bythe assistance of the chisel and pickaxe, been formed into a sortof quay. The rock was of extremely hard consistence, and the taskso difficult that, according to the fisherman, a labourer whowrought at the work might in the evening have carried home in hisbonnet all the shivers which he had struck from the mass in thecourse of the day. This little quay communicated with a rudestaircase, already repeatedly mentioned, which descended from theold castle. There was also a communication between the beach andthe quay, by scrambling over the rocks. 

'Ye had better land here, ' said the lad, 'for the surf's runninghigh at the Shellicoat Stane, and there will no be a dry threadamang us or we get the cargo out. Na! na! (in answer to an offerof money) ye have wrought for your passage, and wrought far betterthan ony o' us. Gude day to ye; I wuss ye weel. '

So saying, he pushed oil in order to land his cargo on theopposite side of the bay; and Brown, with a small bundle in hishand, containing the trifling stock of necessaries which he hadbeen obliged to purchase at Allonby, was left on the rocks beneaththe ruin. 

And thus, unconscious as the most absolute stranger, and incircumstances which, if not destitute, were for the present highlyembarrassing, without the countenance of a friend within thecircle of several hundred miles, accused of a heavy crime, and, what was as bad as all the rest, being nearly penniless, did theharassed wanderer for the first time after the interval of so manyyears approach the remains of the castle where his ancestors hadexercised all but regal dominion. 

CHAPTER XLI

 Yes ye moss-green walls, Ye towers defenceless, I revisit ye Shame-stricken! Where are all your trophies now? Your thronged courts, the revelry, the tumult, That spoke the grandeur of my house, the homage Of neighbouring barons?

 Mysterious Mother. 

Entering the castle of Ellangowan by a postern doorway whichshowed symptoms of having been once secured with the most jealouscare, Brown (whom, since he has set foot upon the property of hisfathers, we shall hereafter call by his father's name of Bertram)wandered from one ruined apartment to another, surprised at themassive strength of some parts of the building, the rude andimpressive magnificence of others, and the great extent of thewhole. In two of these rooms, close beside each other, he sawsigns of recent habitation. In one small apartment were emptybottles, half-gnawed bones, and dried fragments of bread. In thevault which adjoined, and which was defended by a strong door, then left open, he observed a considerable quantity of straw, andin both were the relics of recent fires. How little was itpossible for Bertram to conceive that such trivial circumstanceswere closely connected with incidents affecting his prosperity, his honour, perhaps his life!

After satisfying his curiosity by a hasty glance through theinterior of the castle, Bertram now advanced through the greatgateway which opened to the land, and paused to look upon thenoble landscape which it commanded. Having in vain endeavoured toguess the position of Woodbourne, and having nearly ascertainedthat of Kippletringan, he turned to take a parting look at thestately ruins which he had just traversed. He admired the massiveand picturesque effect of the huge round towers, which, flankingthe gateway, gave a double portion of depth and majesty to thehigh yet gloomy arch under which it opened. The carved stoneescutcheon of the ancient family, bearing for their arms threewolves' heads, was hung diagonally beneath the helmet and crest, the latter being a wolf couchant pierced with an arrow. On eitherside stood as supporters, in full human size or larger, a salvageman PROPER, to use the language of heraldry, WREATHED ANDCINCTURED, and holding in his hand an oak tree ERADICATED, thatis, torn up by the roots. 

'And the powerful barons who owned this blazonry, ' thoughtBertram, pursuing the usual train of ideas which flows upon themind at such scenes--'do their posterity continue to possess thelands which they had laboured to fortify so strongly? or are theywanderers, ignorant perhaps even of the fame or power of theirfore-fathers, while their hereditary possessions are held by arace of strangers? Why is it, ' he thought, continuing to followout the succession of ideas which the scene prompted--'why is itthat some scenes awaken thoughts which belong as it were to dreamsof early and shadowy recollection, such as my old Brahmin moonshiewould have ascribed to a state of previous existence? Is it thevisions of our sleep that float confusedly in our memory, and arerecalled by the appearance of such real objects as in any respectcorrespond to the phantoms they presented to our imagination? Howoften do we find ourselves in society which we have never beforemet, and yet feel impressed with a mysterious and ill-definedconsciousness that neither the scene, the speakers, nor thesubject are entirely new; nay, feel as if we could anticipate thatpart of the conversation which has not yet taken place! It is evenso with me while I gaze upon that ruin; nor can I divest myself ofthe idea that these massive towers and that dark gateway, retiringthrough its deep-vaulted and ribbed arches, and dimly lighted bythe courtyard beyond, are not entirely strange to me. Can it bethat they have been familiar to me in infancy, and that I am toseek in their vicinity those friends of whom my childhood hasstill a tender though faint remembrance, and whom I earlyexchanged for such severe task-masters? Yet Brown, who, I think, would not have deceived me, always told me I was brought off fromthe eastern coast, after a skirmish in which my father was killed;and I do remember enough of a horrid scene of violence tostrengthen his account. '

It happened that the spot upon which young Bertram chanced tostation himself for the better viewing the castle was nearly thesame on which his father had died. It was marked by a large oldoak-tree, the only one on the esplanade, and which, having beenused for executions by the barons of Ellangowan, was called theJustice Tree. It chanced, and the coincidence was remarkable, thatGlossin was this morning engaged with a person whom he was in thehabit of consulting in such matters concerning some projectedrepairs and a large addition to the house of Ellangowan, and that, having no great pleasure in remains so intimately connected withthe grandeur of the former inhabitants, he had resolved to use thestones of the ruinous castle in his new edifice. Accordingly hecame up the bank, followed by the land-surveyor mentioned on aformer occasion, who was also in the habit of acting as a sort ofarchitect in case of necessity. In drawing the plans, etc. , Glossin was in the custom of relying upon his own skill. Bertram'sback was towards them as they came up the ascent, and he was quiteshrouded by the branches of the large tree, so that Glossin wasnot aware of the presence of the stranger till he was close uponhim. 

'Yes, sir, as I have often said before to you, the Old Place is aperfect quarry of hewn stone, and it would be better for theestate if it were all down, since it is only a den for smugglers. 'At this instant Bertram turned short round upon Glossin at thedistance of two yards only, and said--'Would you destroy this fineold castle, sir?'

His face, person, and voice were so exactly those of his father inhis best days, that Glossin, hearing his exclamation, and seeingsuch a sudden apparition in the shape of his patron, and on nearlythe very spot where he had expired, almost thought the grave hadgiven up its dead! He staggered back two or three paces, as if hehad received a sudden and deadly wound. He instantly recovered, however, his presence of mind, stimulated by the thrillingreflection that it was no inhabitant of the other world whichstood before him, but an injured man whom the slightest want ofdexterity on his part might lead to acquaintance with his rights, and the means of asserting them to his utter destruction. Yet hisideas were so much confused by the shock he had received that hisfirst question partook of the alarm. 

'In the name of God, how came you here?' said Glossin. 

'How came I here?' repeated Bertram, surprised at the solemnity ofthe address; 'I landed a quarter of an hour since in the littleharbour beneath the castle, and was employing a moment's leisurein viewing these fine ruins. I trust there is no intrusion?'

'Intrusion, sir? No, sir, ' said Glossin, in some degree recoveringhis breath, and then whispered a few words into his companion'sear, who immediately left him and descended towards the house. 'Intrusion, sir? no, sir; you or any gentleman are welcome tosatisfy your curiosity. '

'I thank you, sir, ' said Bertram. 'They call this the Old Place, Iam informed?'

'Yes, sir; in distinction to the New Place, my house there below. '

Glossin, it must be remarked, was, during the following dialogue, on the one hand eager to learn what local recollections youngBertram had retained of the scenes of his infancy, and on theother compelled to be extremely cautious in his replies, lest heshould awaken or assist, by some name, phrase, or anecdote, theslumbering train of association. He suffered, indeed, during thewhole scene the agonies which he so richly deserved; yet his prideand interest, like the fortitude of a North American Indian, manned him to sustain the tortures inflicted at once by thecontending stings of a guilty conscience, of hatred, of fear, andof suspicion. 

'I wish to ask the name, sir, ' said Bertram, 'of the family towhom this stately ruin belongs. '

'It is my property, sir; my name is Glossin. '

'Glossin--Glossin?' repeated Bertram, as if the answer weresomewhat different from what he expected. 'I beg your pardon, Mr. Glossin; I am apt to be very absent. May I ask if the castle hasbeen long in your family?'

'It was built, I believe, long ago by a family called Mac-Dingawaie, ' answered Glossin, suppressing for obvious reasons themore familiar sound of Bertram, which might have awakened therecollections which he was anxious to lull to rest, and slurringwith an evasive answer the question concerning the endurance ofhis own possession. 

'And how do you read the half-defaced motto, sir, ' said Bertram, 'which is upon that scroll above the entablature with the arms?'

'I--I--I really do not exactly know, ' replied Glossin. 

'I should be apt to make it out, OUR RIGHT MAKES OUR MIGHT. '

'I believe it is something of that kind, ' said Glossin. 

'May I ask, sir, ' said the stranger, 'if it is your family motto?'

'N--n--no--no--not ours. That is, I believe, the motto of theformer people; mine is--mine is--in fact, I have had somecorrespondence with Mr. Cumming of the Lyon Office in Edinburghabout mine. He writes me the Glossins anciently bore for a motto, "He who takes it, makes it. "'

'If there be any uncertainty, sir, and the case were mine, ' saidBertram, 'I would assume the old motto, which seems to me thebetter of the two. '

Glossin, whose tongue by this time clove to the roof of his mouth, only answered by a nod. 

'It is odd enough, ' said Bertram, fixing his eye upon the arms andgateway, and partly addressing Glossin, partly as it were thinkingaloud--'it is odd the tricks which our memory plays us. Theremnants of an old prophecy, or song, or rhyme of some kind orother, return to my recollection on hearing that motto; stay--itis a strange jingle of sounds:--

 The dark shall be light, And the wrong made right, When Bertram's right and Bertram's might Shall meet on---

I cannot remember the last line--on some particular height; HEIGHTis the rhyme, I am sure; but I cannot hit upon the precedingword. '

'Confound your memory, ' muttered Glossin, 'you remember by far toomuch of it!'

'There are other rhymes connected with these early recollections, 'continued the young man. 'Pray, sir, is there any song current inthis part of the world respecting a daughter of the King of theIsle of Man eloping with a Scottish knight?'

'I am the worst person in the world to consult upon legendaryantiquities, ' answered Glossin. 

'I could sing such a ballad, ' said Bertram, 'from one end toanother when I was a boy. You must know I left Scotland, which ismy native country, very young, and those who brought me updiscouraged all my attempts to preserve recollection of my nativeland, on account, I believe, of a boyish wish which I had toescape from their charge. '

'Very natural, ' said Glossin, but speaking as if his utmostefforts were unable to unseal his lips beyond the width of aquarter of an inch, so that his whole utterance was a kind ofcompressed muttering, very different from the round, bold, bullying voice with which he usually spoke. Indeed, his appearanceand demeanour during all this conversation seemed to diminish evenhis strength and stature; so that he appeared to wither into theshadow of himself, now advancing one foot, now the other, nowstooping and wriggling his shoulders, now fumbling with thebuttons of his waistcoat, now clasping his hands together; inshort, he was the picture of a mean-spirited, shuffling rascal inthe very agonies of detection. To these appearances Bertram wastotally inattentive, being dragged on as it were by the current ofhis own associations. Indeed, although he addressed Glossin, hewas not so much thinking of him as arguing upon the embarrassingstate of his own feelings and recollection. 'Yes, ' he said, 'Ipreserved my language among the sailors, most of whom spokeEnglish, and when I could get into a corner by myself I used tosing all that song over from beginning to end; I have forgot itall now, but I remember the tune well, though I cannot guess whatshould at present so strongly recall it to my memory. '

He took his flageolet from his pocket and played a simple melody. Apparently the tune awoke the corresponding associations of adamsel who, close beside a fine spring about halfway down thedescent, and which had once supplied the castle with water, wasengaged in bleaching linen. She immediately took up the song:--

 'Are these the Links of Forth, she said, Or are they the crooks of Dee, Or the bonnie woods of Warroch Head That I so fain would see?'

'By heaven, ' said Bertram, 'it is the very ballad! I must learnthese words from the girl. '

'Confusion!' thought Glossin; 'if I cannot put a stop to this allwill be out. O the devil take all ballads and ballad-makers andballad-singers! and that d--d jade too, to set up her pipe!'--'Youwill have time enough for this on some other occasion, ' he saidaloud; 'at present' (for now he saw his emissary with two or threemen coming up the bank)--'at present we must have some moreserious conversation together. '

'How do you mean, sir?' said Bertram, turning short upon him, andnot liking the tone which he made use of. 

'Why, sir, as to that--I believe your name is Brown?' saidGlossin. 'And what of that, sir?'

Glossin looked over his shoulder to see how near his party hadapproached; they were coming fast on. 'Vanbeest Brown? if Imistake not. '

'And what of that, sir?' said Bertram, with increasingastonishment and displeasure. 

'Why, in that case, ' said Glossin, observing his friends had nowgot upon the level space close beside them--'in that case you aremy prisoner in the king's name!' At the same time he stretched hishand towards Bertram's collar, while two of the men who had comeup seized upon his arms; he shook himself, however, free of theirgrasp by a violent effort, in which he pitched the mostpertinacious down the bank, and, drawing his cutlass, stood on thedefensive, while those who had felt his strength recoiled from hispresence and gazed at a safe distance. 'Observe, ' he called out atthe same time, 'that I have no purpose to resist legal authority;satisfy me that you have a magistrate's warrant, and areauthorised to make this arrest, and I will obey it quietly; butlet no man who loves his life venture to approach me till I amsatisfied for what crime, and by whose authority, I amapprehended. '

Glossin then caused one of the officers show a warrant for theapprehension of Vanbeest Brown, accused of the crime of wilfullyand maliciously shooting at Charles Hazlewood, younger ofHazlewood, with an intent to kill, and also of other crimes andmisdemeanours, and which appointed him, having been soapprehended, to be brought before the next magistrate forexamination. The warrant being formal, and the fact such as hecould not deny, Bertram threw down his weapon and submittedhimself to the officers, who, flying on him with eagernesscorresponding to their former pusillanimity, were about to loadhim with irons, alleging the strength and activity which he haddisplayed as a justification of this severity. But Glossin wasashamed or afraid to permit this unnecessary insult, and directedthe prisoner to be treated with all the decency, and even respect, that was consistent with safety. Afraid, however, to introduce himinto his own house, where still further subjects of recollectionmight have been suggested, and anxious at the same time to coverhis own proceedings by the sanction of another's authority, heordered his carriage (for he had lately set up a carriage) to begot ready, and in the meantime directed refreshments to be givento the prisoner and the officers, who were consigned to one of therooms in the old castle, until the means of conveyance forexamination before a magistrate should be provided. 

CHAPTER XLII

 Bring in the evidence. Thou robed man of justice, take thy place, And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity, Bench by his side; you are of the commission, Sit you too. 

 King Lear. 

While the carriage was getting ready, Glossin had a letter tocompose, about which he wasted no small time. It was to hisneighbour, as he was fond of calling him, Sir Robert Hazlewood ofHazlewood, the head of an ancient and powerful interest in thecounty, which had in the decadence of the Ellangowan familygradually succeeded to much of their authority and influence. Thepresent representative of the family was an elderly man, dotinglyfond of his own family, which was limited to an only son anddaughter, and stoically indifferent to the fate of all mankindbesides. For the rest, he was honourable in his general dealingsbecause he was afraid to suffer the censure of the world, and justfrom a better motive. He was presumptuously over-conceited on thescore of family pride and importance, a feeling considerablyenhanced by his late succession to the title of a Nova Scotiabaronet; and he hated the memory of the Ellangowan family, thoughnow a memory only, because a certain baron of that house wastraditionally reported to have caused the founder of the Hazlewoodfamily hold his stirrup until he mounted into his saddle. In hisgeneral deportment he was pompous and important, affecting aspecies of florid elocution, which often became ridiculous fromhis misarranging the triads and quaternions with which he loadedhis sentences. 

To this personage Glossin was now to write in such a conciliatorystyle as might be most acceptable to his vanity and family pride, and the following was the form of his note:--

'Mr. Gilbert Glossin' (he longed to add of Ellangowan, butprudence prevailed, and he suppressed that territorialdesignation)--'Mr. Gilbert Glossin has the honour to offer hismost respectful compliments to Sir Robert Hazlewood, and to informhim that he has this morning been fortunate enough to secure theperson who wounded Mr. C. Hazlewood. As Sir Robert Hazlewood mayprobably choose to conduct the examination of this criminalhimself, Mr. G. Glossin will cause the man to be carried to theinn at Kippletringan or to Hazlewood House, as Sir RobertHazlewood may be pleased to direct. And, with Sir RobertHazlewood's permission, Mr. G. Glossin will attend him at eitherof these places with the proofs and declarations which he has beenso fortunate as to collect respecting this atrocious business. '

 Addressed, 'Sir ROBERT HAZLEWOOD of Hazlewood, Bart. 'Hazlewood House, etc. Etc. 

 'ELLN GN. 

 'Tuesday. '

This note he despatched by a servant on horseback, and havinggiven the man some time to get ahead, and desired him to ridefast, he ordered two officers of justice to get into the carriagewith Bertram; and he himself, mounting his horse, accompanied themat a slow pace to the point where the roads to Kippletringan andHazlewood House separated, and there awaited the return of hismessenger, in order that his farther route might be determined bythe answer he should receive from the Baronet. In about half anhour, his servant returned with the following answer, handsomelyfolded, and sealed with the Hazlewood arms, having the Nova Scotiabadge depending from the shield:--

'Sir Robert Hazlewood of Hazlewood returns Mr. G. Glossin'scompliments, and thanks him for the trouble he has taken in amatter affecting the safety of Sir Robert's family. Sir R. H. Requests Mr, G. G. Will have the goodness to bring the prisoner toHazlewood House for examination, with the other proofs ordeclarations which he mentions. And after the business is over, incase Mr. G. G. Is not otherwise engaged, Sir R. And Lady Hazlewoodrequest his company to dinner. '

 Addressed, 'Mr. GILBERT GLOSSIN, etc. 'HAZLEWOOD HOUSE, Tuesday. '

'Soh!' thought Mr. Glossin, 'here is one finger in at least, andthat I will make the means of introducing my whole hand. But Imust first get clear of this wretched young fellow. I think I canmanage Sir Robert. He is dull and pompous, and will be alikedisposed to listen to my suggestions upon the law of the case andto assume the credit of acting upon them as his own proper motion. So I shall have the advantage of being the real magistrate, without the odium of responsibility. '

As he cherished these hopes and expectations, the carriageapproached Hazlewood House through a noble avenue of old oaks, which shrouded the ancient abbey-resembling building so called. Itwas a large edifice, built at different periods, part havingactually been a priory, upon the suppression of which, in the timeof Queen Mary, the first of the family had obtained a gift of thehouse and surrounding lands from the crown. It was pleasantlysituated in a large deer-park, on the banks of the river we havebefore mentioned. The scenery around was of a dark, solemn, andsomewhat melancholy cast, according well with the architecture ofthe house. Everything appeared to be kept in the highest possibleorder, and announced the opulence and rank of the proprietor. 

As Mr. Glossin's carriage stopped at the door of the hall, SirRobert reconnoitred the new vehicle from the windows. According tohis aristocratic feelings, there was a degree of presumption inthis novus homo, this Mr. Gilbert Glossin, late writer in---, presuming to set up such an accommodation at all; but his wrathwas mitigated when he observed that the mantle upon the panelsonly bore a plain cipher of G. G. This apparent modesty was indeedsolely owing to the delay of Mr. Gumming of the Lyon Office, who, being at that time engaged in discovering and matriculating thearms of two commissaries from North America, three English-Irishpeers, and two great Jamaica traders, had been more slow thanusual in finding an escutcheon for the new Laird of Ellangowan. But his delay told to the advantage of Glossin in the opinion ofthe proud Baronet. 

While the officers of justice detained their prisoner in a sort ofsteward's room, Mr. Glossin was ushered into what was called thegreat oak-parlour, a long room, panelled with well-varnishedwainscot, and adorned with the grim portraits of Sir RobertHazlewood's ancestry. The visitor, who had no internalconsciousness of worth to balance that of meanness of birth, felthis inferiority, and by the depth of his bow and theobsequiousness of his demeanour showed that the Laird ofEllangowan was sunk for the time in the old and submissive habitsof the quondam retainer of the law. He would have persuadedhimself, indeed, that he was only humouring the pride of the oldBaronet for the purpose of turning it to his own advantage, buthis feelings were of a mingled nature, and he felt the influenceof those very prejudices which he pretended to flatter. 

The Baronet received his visitor with that condescending paradewhich was meant at once to assert his own vast superiority, and toshow the generosity and courtesy with which he could waive it, anddescend to the level of ordinary conversation with ordinary men. He thanked Glossin for his attention to a matter in which 'youngHazlewood' was so intimately concerned, and, pointing to hisfamily pictures, observed, with a gracious smile, 'Indeed, thesevenerable gentlemen, Mr. Glossin, are as much obliged as I am inthis case for the labour, pains, care, and trouble which you havetaken in their behalf; and I have no doubt, were they capable ofexpressing themselves, would join me, sir, in thanking you for thefavour you have conferred upon the house of Hazlewood by takingcare, and trouble, sir, and interest in behalf of the younggentleman who is to continue their name and family. '

Thrice bowed Glossin, and each time more profoundly than before;once in honour of the knight who stood upright before him, once inrespect to the quiet personages who patiently hung upon thewainscot, and a third time in deference to the young gentleman whowas to carry on the name and family. Roturier as he was, SirRobert was gratified by the homage which he rendered, andproceeded in a tone of gracious familiarity: 'And now, Mr. Glossin, my exceeding good friend, you must allow me to availmyself of your knowledge of law in our proceedings in this matter. I am not much in the habit of acting as a justice of the peace; itsuits better with other gentlemen, whose domestic and familyaffairs require less constant superintendence, attention, andmanagement than mine. '

Of course, whatever small assistance Mr. Glossin could render wasentirely at Sir Robert Hazlewood's service; but, as Sir RobertHazlewood's name stood high in the list of the faculty, the saidMr. Glossin could not presume to hope it could be either necessaryor useful. 

'Why, my good sir, you will understand me only to mean that I amsomething deficient in the practical knowledge of the ordinarydetails of justice business. I was indeed educated to the bar, andmight boast perhaps at one time that I had made some progress inthe speculative and abstract and abstruse doctrines of ourmunicipal code; but there is in the present day so littleopportunity of a man of family and fortune rising to that eminenceat the bar which is attained by adventurers who are as willing toplead for John a' Nokes as for the first noble of the land, that Iwas really early disgusted with practice. The first case, indeed, which was laid on my table quite sickened me: it respected abargain, sir, of tallow between a butcher and a candlemaker; and Ifound it was expected that I should grease my mouth not only withtheir vulgar names, but with all the technical terms and phrasesand peculiar language of their dirty arts. Upon my honour, my goodsir, I have never been able to bear the smell of a tallow-candlesince. '

Pitying, as seemed to be expected, the mean use to which theBaronet's faculties had been degraded on this melancholy occasion, Mr. Glossin offered to officiate as clerk or assessor, or in anyway in which he could be most useful. 'And with a view topossessing you of the whole business, and in the first place, there will, I believe, be no difficulty in proving the main fact, that this was the person who fired the unhappy piece. Should hedeny it, it can be proved by Mr. Hazlewood, I presume?'

'Young Hazlewood is not at home to-day, Mr. Glossin. '

'But we can have the oath of the servant who attended him, ' saidthe ready Mr. Glossin; 'indeed, I hardly think the fact will bedisputed. I am more apprehensive that, from the too favourable andindulgent manner in which I have understood that Mr. Hazlewood hasbeen pleased to represent the business, the assault may beconsidered as accidental, and the injury as unintentional, so thatthe fellow may be immediately set at liberty to do more mischief. '

'I have not the honour to know the gentleman who now holds theoffice of king's advocate, ' replied Sir Robert, gravely; 'but Ipresume, sir--nay, I am confident, that he will consider the merefact of having wounded young Hazlewood of Hazlewood, even byinadvertency, to take the matter in its mildest and gentlest, andin its most favourable and improbable, light, as a crime whichwill be too easily atoned by imprisonment, and as more deservingof deportation. '

'Indeed, Sir Robert, ' said his assenting brother in justice, 'I amentirely of your opinion; but, I don't know how it is, I haveobserved the Edinburgh gentlemen of the bar, and even the officersof the crown, pique themselves upon an indifferent administrationof justice, without respect to rank and family; and I should fear---'

'How, sir, without respect to rank and family? Will you tell meTHAT doctrine can be held by men of birth and legal education? No, sir; if a trifle stolen in the street is termed mere pickery, butis elevated into sacrilege if the crime be committed in a church, so, according to the just gradations of society, the guilt of aninjury is enhanced by the rank of the person to whom it isoffered, done, or perpetrated, sir. '

Glossin bowed low to this declaration ex cathedra, but observed, that in the case of the very worst, and of such unnaturaldoctrines being actually held as he had already hinted, 'the lawhad another hold on Mr. Vanbeest Brown. '

'Vanbeest Brown! is that the fellow's name? Good God! that youngHazlewood of Hazlewood should have had his life endangered, theclavicle of his right shoulder considerably lacerated anddislodged, several large drops or slugs deposited in the acromionprocess, as the account of the family surgeon expressly bears, andall by an obscure wretch named Vanbeest Brown!'

'Why, really, Sir Robert, it is a thing which one can hardly bearto think of; but, begging ten thousand pardons for resuming what Iwas about to say, a person of the same name is, as appears fromthese papers (producing Dirk Hatteraick's pocket-book), mate tothe smuggling vessel who offered such violence at Woodbourne, andI have no doubt that this is the same individual; which, however, your acute discrimination will easily be able to ascertain. '

'The same, my good sir, he must assuredly be; it would beinjustice even to the meanest of the people to suppose there couldbe found among them TWO persons doomed to bear a name so shockingto one's ears as this of Vanbeest Brown. ' 'True, Sir Robert; mostunquestionably; there cannot be a shadow of doubt of it. But yousee farther, that this circumstance accounts for the man'sdesperate conduct. You, Sir Robert, will discover the motive forhis crime--you, I say, will discover it without difficulty on yourgiving your mind to the examination; for my part, I cannot helpsuspecting the moving spring to have been revenge for thegallantry with which Mr. Hazlewood, with all the spirit of hisrenowned forefathers, defended the house at Woodbourne againstthis villain and his lawless companions. '

'I will inquire into it, my good sir, ' said the learned Baronet. 'Yet even now I venture to conjecture that I shall adopt thesolution or explanation of this riddle, enigma, or mystery whichyou have in some degree thus started. Yes! revenge it must be;and, good Heaven! entertained by and against whom? entertained, fostered, cherished against young Hazlewood of Hazlewood, and inpart carried into effect, executed, and implemented by the hand ofVanbeest Brown! These are dreadful days indeed, my worthyneighbour (this epithet indicated a rapid advance in the Baronet'sgood graces)--days when the bulwarks of society are shaken totheir mighty base, and that rank which forms, as it were, itshighest grace and ornament is mingled and confused with the vilerparts of the architecture. O, my good Mr. Gilbert Glossin, in mytime, sir, the use of swords and pistols, and such honourablearms, was reserved by the nobility and gentry to themselves, andthe disputes of the vulgar were decided by the weapons whichnature had given them, or by cudgels cut, broken, or hewed out ofthe next wood. But now, sir, the clouted shoe of the peasant gallsthe kibe of the courtier. The lower ranks have their quarrels, sir, and their points of honour, and their revenges, which theymust bring, forsooth, to fatal arbitrament. But well, well! itwill last my time. Let us have in this fellow, this VanbeestBrown, and make an end of him, at least for the present. '

CHAPTER XLIII

 'Twas he Gave heat unto the injury, which returned, Like a petard ill lighted, into the bosom Of him gave fire to't. Yet I hope his hurt Is not so dangerous but he may recover

 Fair Maid of the Inn. 

The prisoner was now presented before the two worshipfulmagistrates. Glossin, partly from some compunctious visitings, andpartly out of his cautious resolution to suffer Sir RobertHazlewood to be the ostensible manager of the whole examination, looked down upon the table, and busied himself with reading andarranging the papers respecting the business, only now and thenthrowing in a skilful catchword as prompter, when he saw theprincipal, and apparently most active, magistrate stand in need ofa hint. As for Sir Robert Hazlewood, he assumed on his part ahappy mixture of the austerity of the justice combined with thedisplay of personal dignity appertaining to the baronet of ancientfamily. 

'There, constables, let him stand there at the bottom of thetable. Be so good as look me in the face, sir, and raise yourvoice as you answer the questions which I am going to put to you. '

'May I beg, in the first place, to know, sir, who it is that takesthe trouble to interrogate me?' said the prisoner; 'for the honestgentlemen who have brought me here have not been pleased tofurnish any information upon that point. '

'And pray, sir, ' answered Sir Robert, 'what has my name andquality to do with the questions I am about to ask you?'

'Nothing, perhaps, sir, ' replied Bertram; 'but it may considerablyinfluence my disposition to answer them. '

'Why, then, sir, you will please to be informed that you are inpresence of Sir Robert Hazlewood of Hazlewood, and another justiceof peace for this county--that's all. '

As this intimation produced a less stunning effect upon theprisoner than he had anticipated, Sir Robert proceeded in hisinvestigation with an increasing dislike to the object of it. 

'Is your name Vanbeest Brown, sir?'

'It is, ' answered the prisoner. 

'So far well; and how are we to design you farther, sir?' demandedthe Justice. 

'Captain in his Majesty's---regiment of horse, ' answered Bertram. 

The Baronet's ears received this intimation with astonishment; buthe was refreshed in courage by an incredulous look from Glossin, and by hearing him gently utter a sort of interjectional whistle, in a note of surprise and contempt. 'I believe, my friend, ' saidSir Robert, 'we shall find for you, before we part, a more humbletitle. '

'If you do, sir, ' replied his prisoner, 'I shall willingly submitto any punishment which such an imposture shall be thought todeserve. '

'Well, sir, we shall see, ' continued Sir Robert. 'Do you knowyoung Hazlewood of Hazlewood?'

'I never saw the gentleman who I am informed bears that nameexcepting once, and I regret that it was under very unpleasantcircumstances. '

'You mean to acknowledge, then, ' said the Baronet, 'that youinflicted upon young Hazlewood of Hazlewood that wound whichendangered his life, considerably lacerated the clavicle of hisright shoulder, and deposited, as the family surgeon declares, several large drops or slugs in the acromion process?'

'Why, sir, ' replied Bertram, 'I can only say I am equally ignorantof and sorry for the extent of the damage which the younggentleman has sustained. I met him in a narrow path, walking withtwo ladies and a servant, and before I could either pass them oraddress them, this young Hazlewood took his gun from his servant, presented it against my body, and commanded me in the most haughtytone to stand back. I was neither inclined to submit to hisauthority nor to leave him in possession of the means to injureme, which he seemed disposed to use with such rashness. Itherefore closed with him for the purpose of disarming him; and, just as I had nearly effected my purpose, the piece went offaccidentally, and, to my regret then and since, inflicted upon theyoung gentleman a severer chastisement than I desired, though I amglad to understand it is like to prove no more than his unprovokedfolly deserved. '

'And so, sir, ' said the Baronet, every feature swoln with offendeddignity, 'you, sir, admit, sir, that it was your purpose, sir, andyour intention, sir, and the real jet and object of your assault, sir, to disarm young Hazlewood of Hazlewood of his gun, sir, orhis fowling-piece, or his fuzee, or whatever you please to callit, sir, upon the king's highway, sir? I think this will do, myworthy neighbour! I think he should stand committed?'

'You are by far the best judge, Sir Robert, ' said Glossin, in hismost insinuating tone; 'but if I might presume to hint, there wassomething about these smugglers. '

'Very true, good sir. And besides, sir, you, Vanbeest Brown, whocall yourself a captain in his Majesty's service, are no better orworse than a rascally mate of a smuggler!'

'Really, sir, ' said Bertram, 'you are an old gentleman, and actingunder some strange delusion, otherwise I should be very angry withyou. '

'Old gentleman, sir! strange delusion, sir!' said Sir Robert, colouring with indignation. 'I protest and declare--Why, sir, have you any papers or letters that can establish your pretendedrank and estate and commission?'

'None at present, sir, ' answered Bertram; 'but in the return of apost or two---'

'And how do you, sir, ' continued the Baronet, 'if you are acaptain in his Majesty's service--how do you chance to betravelling in Scotland without letters of introduction, credentials, baggage, or anything belonging to your pretendedrank, estate, and condition, as I said before?'

'Sir, ' replied the prisoner, 'I had the misfortune to be robbed ofmy clothes and baggage. '

'Oho! then you are the gentleman who took a post-chaise from---toKippletringan, gave the boy the slip on the road, and sent two ofyour accomplices to beat the boy and bring away the baggage?'

'I was, sir, in a carriage, as you describe, was obliged to alightin the snow, and lost my way endeavouring to find the road toKippletringan. The landlady of the inn will inform you that on myarrival there the next day, my first inquiries were after theboy. '

'Then give me leave to ask where you spent the night, not in thesnow, I presume? You do not suppose that will pass, or be taken, credited, and received?'

'I beg leave, ' said Bertram, his recollection turning to the gipsyfemale and to the promise he had given her--'I beg leave todecline answering that question. '

'I thought as much, ' said Sir Robert. 'Were you not during thatnight in the ruins of Derncleugh?--in the ruins of Derncleugh, sir?'

'I have told you that I do not intend answering that question, 'replied Bertram. 

'Well, sir, then you will stand committed, sir, ' said Sir Robert, 'and be sent to prison, sir, that's all, sir. Have the goodness tolook at these papers; are you the Vanbeest Brown who is therementioned?'

It must be remarked that Glossin had shuffled among the paperssome writings which really did belong to Bertram, and which hadbeen found by the officers in the old vault where his portmanteauwas ransacked. 

'Some of these papers, ' said Bertram, looking over them, 'aremine, and were in my portfolio when it was stolen from the post-chaise. They are memoranda of little value, and, I see, have beencarefully selected as affording no evidence of my rank orcharacter, which many of the other papers would have establishedfully. They are mingled with ship-accounts and other papers, belonging apparently to a person of the same name. '

'And wilt thou attempt to persuade me, friend, ' demanded SirRobert, 'that there are TWO persons in this country at the sametime of thy very uncommon and awkwardly sounding name?'

'I really do not see, sir, as there is an old Hazlewood and ayoung Hazlewood, why there should not be an old and a youngVanbeest Brown. And, to speak seriously, I was educated inHolland, and I know that this name, however uncouth it may soundin British ears---'

Glossin, conscious that the prisoner was now about to enter upondangerous ground, interfered, though the interruption wasunnecessary, for the purpose of diverting the attention of SirRobert Hazlewood, who was speechless and motionless withindignation at the presumptuous comparison implied in Bertram'slast speech. In fact, the veins of his throat and of his templesswelled almost to bursting, and he sat with the indignant anddisconcerted air of one who has received a mortal insult from aquarter to which he holds it unmeet and indecorous to make anyreply. While, with a bent brow and an angry eye, he was drawing inhis breath slowly and majestically, and puffing it forth againwith deep and solemn exertion, Glossin stepped in to hisassistance. 'I should think now, Sir Robert, with greatsubmission, that this matter may be closed. One of the constables, besides the pregnant proof already produced, offers to make oaththat the sword of which the prisoner was this morning deprived(while using it, by the way, in resistance to a legal warrant) wasa cutlass taken from him in a fray between the officers andsmugglers just previous to their attack upon Woodbourne. And yet, 'he added, 'I would not have you form any rash construction uponthat subject; perhaps the young man can explain how he came bythat weapon. '

'That question, sir, ' said Bertram, 'I shall also leaveunanswered. '

'There is yet another circumstance to be inquired into, alwaysunder Sir Robert's leave, ' insinuated Glossin. 'This prisoner putinto the hands of Mrs. MacCandlish of Kippletringan a parcelcontaining a variety of gold coins and valuable articles ofdifferent kinds. Perhaps, Sir Robert, you might think it right toask how he came by property of a description which seldom occurs?'

'You, sir, Mr. Vanbeest Brown, sir, you hear the question, sir, which the gentleman asks you?'

'I have particular reasons for declining to answer that question, 'answered Bertram. 

'Then I am afraid, sir, ' said Glossin, who had brought matters tothe point he desired to reach, 'our duty must lay us under thenecessity to sign a warrant of committal. '

'As you please, sir, ' answered Bertram; 'take care, however, whatyou do. Observe that I inform you that I am a captain in hisMajesty's---regiment, and that I am just returned from India, andtherefore cannot possibly be connected with any of thosecontraband traders you talk of; that my lieutenant-colonel is nowat Nottingham, the major, with the officers of my corps, atKingston-upon-Thames. I offer before you both to submit to anydegree of ignominy if, within the return of the Kingston andNottingham posts, I am not able to establish these points. Or youmay write to the agent for the regiment if you please, and---'

'This is all very well, sir, ' said Glossin, beginning to fear lestthe firm expostulation of Bertram should make some impression onSir Robert, who would almost have died of shame at committing sucha solecism as sending a captain of horse to jail--'this is allvery well, sir; but is there no person nearer whom you could referto?'

'There are only two persons in this country who know anything ofme, ' replied the prisoner. 'One is a plain Liddesdale sheep-farmer, called Dinmont of Charlie's Hope; but he knows nothingmore of me than what I told him, and what I now tell you. '

'Why, this is well enough, Sir Robert!' said Glossin. 'I supposehe would bring forward this thick-skulled fellow to give his oathof credulity, Sir Robert, ha, ha, ha!'

'And what is your other witness, friend?' said the Baronet. 

'A gentleman whom I have some reluctance to mention because ofcertain private reasons, but under whose command I served sometime in India, and who is too much a man of honour to refuse histestimony to my character as a soldier and gentleman. '

'And who is this doughty witness, pray, sir?' said Sir Robert, 'some half-pay quartermaster or sergeant, I suppose?'

'Colonel Guy Mannering, late of the---regiment, in which, as Itold you, I have a troop. '

'Colonel Guy Mannering!' thought Glossin, 'who the devil couldhave guessed this?'

'Colonel Guy Mannering?' echoed the Baronet, considerably shakenin his opinion. 'My good sir, ' apart to Glossin, 'the young manwith a dreadfully plebeian name and a good deal of modestassurance has nevertheless something of the tone and manners andfeeling of a gentleman, of one at least who has lived in goodsociety; they do give commissions very loosely and carelessly andinaccurately in India. I think we had better pause till ColonelMannering shall return; he is now, I believe, at Edinburgh. '

'You are in every respect the best judge, Sir Robert, ' answeredGlossin--'in every possible respect. I would only submit to youthat we are certainly hardly entitled to dismiss this man upon anassertion which cannot be satisfied by proof, and that we shallincur a heavy responsibility by detaining him in private custody, without committing him to a public jail. Undoubtedly, however, youare the best judge, Sir Robert; and I would only say, for my ownpart, that I very lately incurred severe censure by detaining aperson in a place which I thought perfectly secure, and under thecustody of the proper officers. The man made his escape, and Ihave no doubt my own character for attention and circumspection asa magistrate has in some degree suffered. I only hint this: I willjoin in any step you, Sir Robert, think most advisable. ' But Mr. Glossin was well aware that such a hint was of power sufficient todecide the motions of his self-important but not self-relyingcolleague. So that Sir Robert Hazlewood summed up the business inthe following speech, which proceeded partly upon the suppositionof the prisoner being really a gentleman, and partly upon theopposite belief that he was a villain and an assassin:--

'Sir, Mr. Vanbeest Brown--I would call you Captain Brown if therewas the least reason or cause or grounds to suppose that you are acaptain, or had a troop in the very respectable corps you mention, or indeed in any other corps in his Majesty's service, as to whichcircumstance I beg to be understood to give no positive, settled, or unalterable judgment, declaration, or opinion, --I say, therefore, sir, Mr. Brown, we have determined, considering theunpleasant predicament in which you now stand, having been robbed, as you say, an assertion as to which I suspend my opinion, andbeing possessed of much and valuable treasure, and of a brass-handled cutlass besides, as to your obtaining which you willfavour us with no explanation, --I say, sir, we have determined andresolved and made up our minds to commit you to jail, or rather toassign you an apartment therein, in order that you may beforthcoming upon Colonel Mannering's return from Edinburgh. '

'With humble submission, Sir Robert, ' said Glossin, 'may I inquireif it is your purpose to send this young gentleman to the countyjail? For if that were not your settled intention, I would takethe liberty to hint that there would be less hardship in sendinghim to the bridewell at Portanferry, where he can be securedwithout public exposure, a circumstance which, on the mere chanceof his story being really true, is much to be avoided. '

'Why, there is a guard of soldiers at Portanferry, to be sure, forprotection of the goods in the custom-house; and upon the whole, considering everything, and that the place is comfortable for sucha place, I say, all things considered, we will commit this person, I would rather say authorise him to be detained, in the workhouseat Portanferry. '

The warrant was made out accordingly, and Bertram was informed hewas next morning to be removed to his place of confinement, as SirRobert had determined he should not be taken there under cloud ofnight, for fear of rescue. He was during the interval to bedetained at Hazlewood House. 

'It cannot be so hard as my imprisonment by the looties in India, 'he thought; 'nor can it last so long. But the deuce take the oldformal dunderhead, and his more sly associate, who speaks alwaysunder his breath; they cannot understand a plain man's story whenit is told them. '

In the meanwhile Glossin took leave of the Baronet with a thousandrespectful bows and cringing apologies for not accepting hisinvitation to dinner, and venturing to hope he might be pardonedin paying his respects to him, Lady Hazlewood, and young Mr. Hazlewood on some future occasion. 

'Certainly, sir, ' said the Baronet, very graciously. 'I hope ourfamily was never at any time deficient in civility to ourneighbours; and when I ride that way, good Mr. Glossin, I willconvince you of this by calling at your house as familiarly as isconsistent--that is, as can be hoped or expected. '

'And now, ' said Glossin to himself, 'to find Dirk Hatteraick andhis people, to get the guard sent off from the custom-house; andthen for the grand cast of the dice. Everything must depend uponspeed. How lucky that Mannering has betaken himself to Edinburgh!His knowledge of this young fellow is a most perilous addition tomy dangers. ' Here he suffered his horse to slacken his pace. 'Whatif I should try to compound with the heir? It's likely he might bebrought to pay a round sum for restitution, and I could give upHatteraick. But no, no, no! there were too many eyes on me--Hatteraick himself, and the gipsy sailor, and that old hag. No, no! I must stick to my original plan. ' And with that he struck hisspurs against his horse's flanks, and rode forward at a hard trotto put his machines in motion. 

CHAPTER XLIV

 A prison is a house of care, A place where none can thrive, A touchstone true to try a friend, A grave for one alive Sometimes a place of right, Sometimes a place of wrong, Sometimes a place of rogues and thieves, And honest men among

 Inscription on Edinburgh Tolbooth

Early on the following morning the carriage which had broughtBertram to Hazlewood House was, with his two silent and surlyattendants, appointed to convey him to his place of confinement atPortanferry. This building adjoined to the custom-houseestablished at that little seaport, and both were situated soclose to the sea-beach that it was necessary to defend the backpart with a large and strong rampart or bulwark of huge stones, disposed in a slope towards the surf, which often reached andbroke upon them. The front was surrounded by a high wall, enclosing a small courtyard, within which the miserable inmates ofthe mansion were occasionally permitted to take exercise and air. The prison was used as a house of correction, and sometimes as achapel of ease to the county jail, which was old, and far frombeing conveniently situated with reference to the Kippletringandistrict of the county. Mac-Guffog, the officer by whom Bertramhad at first been apprehended, and who was now in attendance uponhim, was keeper of this palace of little-ease. He caused thecarriage to be drawn close up to the outer gate, and got outhimself to summon the warders. The noise of his rap alarmed sometwenty or thirty ragged boys, who left off sailing their mimicsloops and frigates in the little pools of salt water left by thereceding tide, and hastily crowded round the vehicle to see whatluckless being was to be delivered to the prison-house out of'Glossin's braw new carriage. ' The door of the courtyard, afterthe heavy clanking of many chains and bars, was opened by Mrs. Mac-Guffog--an awful spectacle, being a woman for strength andresolution capable of maintaining order among her riotous inmates, and of administering the discipline of the house, as it wascalled, during the absence of her husband, or when he chanced tohave taken an overdose of the creature. The growling voice of thisAmazon, which rivalled in harshness the crashing music of her ownbolts and bars, soon dispersed in every direction the littlevarlets who had thronged around her threshold, and she nextaddressed her amiable helpmate:--

'Be sharp, man, and get out the swell, canst thou not?'

'Hold your tongue and be d-d, you--, ' answered her loving husband, with two additional epithets of great energy, but which we beg tobe excused from repeating. Then addressing Bertram--'Come, willyou get out, my handy lad, or must we lend you a lift?'

Bertram came out of the carriage, and, collared by the constableas he put his foot on the ground, was dragged, though he offeredno resistance, across the threshold, amid the continued shouts ofthe little sansculottes, who looked on at such distance as theirfear of Mrs. Mac-Guffog permitted. The instant his foot hadcrossed the fatal porch, the portress again dropped her chains, drew her bolts, and, turning with both hands an immense key, tookit from the lock and thrust it into a huge side-pocket of redcloth. 

Bertram was now in the small court already mentioned. Two or threeprisoners were sauntering along the pavement, and deriving as itwere a feeling of refreshment from the momentary glimpse withwhich the opening door had extended their prospect to the otherside of a dirty street. Nor can this be thought surprising, whenit is considered that, unless on such occasions, their view wasconfined to the grated front of their prison, the high and sablewalls of the courtyard, the heaven above them, and the pavementbeneath their feet--a sameness of landscape which, to use thepoet's expression, 'lay like a load on the wearied eye, ' and hadfostered in some a callous and dull misanthropy, in others thatsickness of the heart which induces him who is immured already ina living grave to wish for a sepulchre yet more calm andsequestered. 

Mac-Guffog, when they entered the courtyard, suffered Bertram topause for a minute and look upon his companions in affliction. When he had cast his eye around on faces on which guilt anddespondence and low excess had fixed their stigma--upon thespendthrift, and the swindler, and the thief, the bankrupt debtor, the 'moping idiot, and the madman gay, ' whom a paltry spirit ofeconomy congregated to share this dismal habitation, he felt hisheart recoil with inexpressible loathing from enduring thecontamination of their society even for a moment. 

'I hope, sir, ' he said to the keeper, 'you intend to assign me aplace of confinement apart?'

'And what should I be the better of that?'

'Why, sir, I can but be detained here a day or two, and it wouldbe very disagreeable to me to mix in the sort of company thisplace affords. '

'And what do I care for that?'

'Why then, sir, to speak to your feelings, ' said Bertram, 'I shallbe willing to make you a handsome compliment for this indulgence. '

'Ay, but when, Captain? when and how? that's the question, orrather the twa questions, ' said the jailor. 

'When I am delivered, and get my remittances from England, 'answered the prisoner. 

Mac-Guffog shook his head incredulously. 

'Why, friend, you do not pretend to believe that I am really amalefactor?' said Bertram. 

'Why, I no ken, ' said the fellow; 'but if you ARE on the account, ye're nae sharp ane, that's the daylight o't. '

'And why do you say I am no sharp one?'

'Why, wha but a crack-brained greenhorn wad hae let them keep upthe siller that ye left at the Gordon Arms?' said the constable. 'Deil fetch me, but I wad have had it out o' their wames! Ye hadnae right to be strippit o' your money and sent to jail without amark to pay your fees; they might have keepit the rest o' thearticles for evidence. But why, for a blind bottle-head, did notye ask the guineas? and I kept winking and nodding a' the time, and the donnert deevil wad never ance look my way!'

'Well, sir, ' replied Bertram, 'if I have a title to have thatproperty delivered up to me, I shall apply for it; and there is agood deal more than enough to pay any demand you can set up. '

'I dinna ken a bit about that, ' said Mac-Guffog; 'ye may be herelang eneugh. And then the gieing credit maun be considered in thefees. But, however, as ye DO seem to be a chap by common, thoughmy wife says I lose by my good-nature, if ye gie me an order formy fees upon that money I daresay Glossin will make itforthcoming; I ken something about an escape from Ellangowan. Ay, ay, he'll be glad to carry me through, and be neighbour-like. '

'Well, sir, ' replied Bertram, 'if I am not furnished in a day ortwo otherwise, you shall have such an order. '

'Weel, weel, then ye shall be put up like a prince, ' said Mac-Guffog. 'But mark ye me, friend, that we may have nae colly-shangie afterhend, these are the fees that I always charge a swellthat must have his lib-ken to himsell:--Thirty shillings a weekfor lodgings, and a guinea for garnish; half a guinea a week for asingle bed; and I dinna get the whole of it, for I must gie half acrown out of it to Donald Laider that's in for sheep-stealing, that should sleep with you by rule, and he'll expect clean strae, and maybe some whisky beside. So I make little upon that. '

'Well, sir, go on. '

'Then for meat and liquor, ye may have the best, and I nevercharge abune twenty per cent ower tavern price for pleasing agentleman that way; and that's little eneugh for sending in andsending out, and wearing the lassie's shoon out. And then if ye'redowie I will sit wi' you a gliff in the evening mysell, man, andhelp ye out wi' your bottle. I have drank mony a glass wi'Glossin, man, that did you up, though he's a justice now. And thenI'se warrant ye'll be for fire thir cauld nights, or if ye wantcandle, that's an expensive article, for it's against the rules. And now I've tell'd ye the head articles of the charge, and Idinna think there's muckle mair, though there will aye be some oddexpenses ower and abune. '

'Well, sir, I must trust to your conscience, if ever you happenedto hear of such a thing; I cannot help myself. '

'Na, na, sir, ' answered the cautious jailor, 'I'll no permit youto be saying that. I'm forcing naething upon ye; an ye dinna likethe price, ye needna take the article. I force no man; I was onlyexplaining what civility was. But if ye like to take the commonrun of the house, it's a' ane to me; I'll be saved trouble, that'sa'. '

'Nay, my friend, I have, as I suppose you may easily guess, noinclination to dispute your terms upon such a penalty, ' answeredBertram. 'Come, show me where I am to be, for I would fain bealone for a little while. '

'Ay, ay, come along then, Captain, ' said the fellow, with acontortion of visage which he intended to be a smile; 'and I'lltell you now--to show you that I HAVE a conscience, as ye ca't--d--n me if I charge ye abune six-pence a day for the freedom o' thecourt, and ye may walk in't very near three hours a day, and playat pitch-and-toss and hand ba' and what not. '

With this gracious promise he ushered Bertram into the house, andshowed him up a steep and narrow stone staircase, at the top ofwhich was a strong door, clenched with iron and studded withnails. Beyond this door was a narrow passage or gallery, havingthree cells on each side, wretched vaults, with iron bed-framesand straw mattresses. But at the farther end was a small apartmentof rather a more decent appearance, that is, having less the airof a place of confinement, since, unless for the large lock andchain upon the door, and the crossed and ponderous stanchions uponthe window, it rather resembled the 'worst inn's worst room. ' Itwas designed as a sort of infirmary for prisoners whose state ofhealth required some indulgence; and, in fact, Donald Laider, Bertram's destined chum, had been just dragged out of one of thetwo beds which it contained, to try whether clean straw and whiskymight not have a better chance to cure his intermitting fever. This process of ejection had been carried into force by Mrs. Mac-Guffog while her husband parleyed with Bertram in the courtyard, that good lady having a distinct presentiment of the manner inwhich the treaty must necessarily terminate. Apparently theexpulsion had not taken place without some application of thestrong hand, for one of the bed-posts of a sort of tent-bed wasbroken down, so that the tester and curtains hung forward into themiddle of the narrow chamber, like the banner of a chieftain half-sinking amid the confusion of a combat. 

'Never mind that being out o' sorts, Captain, ' said Mrs. Mac-Guffog, who now followed them into the room; then, turning herback to the prisoner, with as much delicacy as the actionadmitted, she whipped from her knee her ferret garter, and appliedit to splicing and fastening the broken bed-post; then used morepins than her apparel could well spare to fasten up the bed-curtains in festoons; then shook the bed-clothes into somethinglike form; then flung over all a tattered patch-work quilt, andpronounced that things were now 'something purpose-like. ' 'Andthere's your bed, Captain, ' pointing to a massy four-posted hulk, which, owing to the inequality of the floor, that had sunkconsiderably (the house, though new, having been built bycontract), stood on three legs, and held the fourth aloft as ifpawing the air, and in the attitude of advancing like an elephantpassant upon the panel of a coach, --'there's your bed and theblankets; but if ye want sheets, or bowster, or pillow, or onysort o' nappery for the table, or for your hands, ye 'll hae tospeak to me about it, for that's out o' the gudeman's line (Mac-Guffog had by this time left the room, to avoid, probably, anyappeal which might be made to him upon this new exaction), and henever engages for ony thing like that. '

'In God's name, ' said Bertram, 'let me have what is decent, andmake any charge you please. '

'Aweel, aweel, that's sune settled; we'll no excise you neither, though we live sae near the custom-house. And I maun see to getyou some fire and some dinner too, I'se warrant; but your dinnerwill be but a puir ane the day, no expecting company that would benice and fashious. ' So saying, and in all haste, Mrs. Mac-Guffogfetched a scuttle of live coals, and having replenished 'the rustygrate, unconscious of a fire' for months before, she proceededwith unwashed hands to arrange the stipulated bed-linen (alas, howdifferent from Ailie Dinmont's!), and, muttering to herself as shedischarged her task, seemed, in inveterate spleen of temper, togrudge even those accommodations for which she was to receivepayment. At length, however, she departed, grumbling between herteeth, that 'she wad rather lock up a haill ward than be fikingabout thae niff-naffy gentles that gae sae muckle fash wi' theirfancies. '

When she was gone Bertram found himself reduced to the alternativeof pacing his little apartment for exercise, or gazing out uponthe sea in such proportions as could be seen from the narrow panesof his window, obscured by dirt and by close iron bars, or readingover the records of brutal wit and blackguardism which despair hadscrawled upon the half-whitened walls. The sounds were asuncomfortable as the objects of sight; the sullen dash of thetide, which was now retreating, and the occasional opening andshutting of a door, with all its accompaniments of jarring boltsand creaking hinges, mingling occasionally with the dull monotonyof the retiring ocean. Sometimes, too, he could hear the hoarsegrowl of the keeper, or the shriller strain of his helpmate, almost always in the tone of discontent, anger, or insolence. Atother times the large mastiff chained in the courtyard answeredwith furious bark the insults of the idle loiterers who made asport of incensing him. 

At length the tedium of this weary space was broken by theentrance of a dirty-looking serving-wench, who made somepreparations for dinner by laying a half-dirty cloth upon a whole-dirty deal table. A knife and fork, which had not been worn out byovercleaning, flanked a cracked delf plate; a nearly emptymustard-pot, placed on one side of the table, balanced a salt-cellar, containing an article of a greyish, or rather a blackish, mixture, upon the other, both of stoneware, and bearing tooobvious marks of recent service. Shortly after, the same Hebebrought up a plate of beef-collops, done in the frying-pan, with ahuge allowance of grease floating in an ocean of lukewarm water;and, having added a coarse loaf to these savoury viands, sherequested to know what liquors the gentleman chose to order. Theappearance of this fare was not very inviting; but Bertramendeavoured to mend his commons by ordering wine, which he foundtolerably good, and, with the assistance of some indifferentcheese, made his dinner chiefly off the brown loaf. When his mealwas over the girl presented her master's compliments, and, ifagreeable to the gentleman, he would help him to spend theevening. Bertram desired to be excused, and begged, instead ofthis gracious society, that he might be furnished with paper, pen, ink, and candles. The light appeared in the shape of one longbroken tallow-candle, inclining over a tin candlestick coated withgrease; as for the writing materials, the prisoner was informedthat he might have them the next day if he chose to send out tobuy them. Bertram next desired the maid to procure him a book, andenforced his request with a shilling; in consequence of which, after long absence, she reappeared with two odd volumes of the'Newgate Calendar, ' which she had borrowed from Sam Silverquill, an idle apprentice, who was imprisoned under a charge of forgery. Having laid the books on the table she retired, and left Bertramto studies which were not ill adapted to his present melancholysituation. 

CHAPTER XLV

 But if thou shouldst be dragg'd in scorn To yonder ignominious tree, Thou shall not want one faithful friend To share the cruel fates' decree. 

 SHENSTONE. 

Plunged in the gloomy reflections which were naturally excited byhis dismal reading and disconsolate situation, Bertram for thefirst time in his life felt himself affected with a disposition tolow spirits. 'I have been in worse situations than this too, ' hesaid; 'more dangerous, for here is no danger; more dismal inprospect, for my present confinement must necessarily be short;more intolerable for the time, for here, at least, I have fire, food, and shelter. Yet, with reading these bloody tales of crimeand misery in a place so corresponding to the ideas which theyexcite, and in listening to these sad sounds, I feel a strongerdisposition to melancholy than in my life I ever experienced. ButI will not give way to it. Begone, thou record of guilt andinfamy!' he said, flinging the book upon the spare bed; 'aScottish jail shall not break, on the very first day, the spiritswhich have resisted climate, and want, and penury, and disease, and imprisonment in a foreign land. I have fought many a hardbattle with Dame Fortune, and she shall not beat me now if I canhelp it. '

Then bending his mind to a strong effort, he endeavoured to viewhis situation in the most favourable light. Delaserre must soon bein Scotland; the certificates from his commanding officer mustsoon arrive; nay, if Mannering were first applied to, who couldsay but the effect might be a reconciliation between them? He hadoften observed, and now remembered, that when his former coloneltook the part of any one, it was never by halves, and that heseemed to love those persons most who had lain under obligation tohim. In the present case a favour, which could be asked withhonour and granted with readiness, might be the means ofreconciling them to each other. From this his feelings naturallyturned towards Julia; and, without very nicely measuring thedistance between a soldier of fortune, who expected that herfather's attestation would deliver him from confinement, and theheiress of that father's wealth and expectations, he was buildingthe gayest castle in the clouds, and varnishing it with all thetints of a summer-evening sky, when his labour was interrupted bya loud knocking at the outer gate, answered by the barking of thegaunt half-starved mastiff which was quartered in the courtyard asan addition to the garrison. After much scrupulous precaution thegate was opened and some person admitted. The house-door was nextunbarred, unlocked, and unchained, a dog's feet pattered upstairsin great haste, and the animal was heard scratching and whining atthe door of the room. Next a heavy step was heard lumbering up, and Mac-Guffog's voice in the character of pilot--'This way, thisway; take care of the step; that's the room. ' Bertram's door wasthen unbolted, and to his great surprise and joy his terrier, Wasp, rushed into the apartment and almost devoured him withcaresses, followed by the massy form of his friend from Charlie'sHope. 

'Eh whow! Eh whow!' ejaculated the honest farmer, as he lookedround upon his friend's miserable apartment and wretchedaccommodation--'What's this o't! what's this o't!'

'Just a trick of fortune, my good friend, ' said Bertram, risingand shaking him heartily by the hand, 'that's all. '

'But what will be done about it? or what CAN be done about it?'said honest Dandie. 'Is't for debt, or what is't for?'

'Why, it is not for debt, ' answered Bertram; 'and if you have timeto sit down, I'll tell you all I know of the matter myself. '

'If I hae time?' said Dandie, with an accent on the word thatsounded like a howl of derision. 'Ou, what the deevil am I comehere for, man, but just ance errand to see about it? But ye'll nobe the waur o' something to eat, I trow; it's getting late ate'en. I tell'd the folk at the Change, where I put up Dumple, tosend ower my supper here, and the chield Mac-Guffog is agreeableto let it in; I hae settled a' that. And now let's hear yourstory. Whisht, Wasp, man! wow, but he's glad to see you, poorthing!'

Bertram's story, being confined to the accident of Hazlewood, andthe confusion made between his own identity and that of one of thesmugglers who had been active in the assault of Woodbourne, andchanced to bear the same name, was soon told. Dinmont listenedvery attentively. 'Aweel, ' he said, 'this suld be nae sic doomsdesperate business surely; the lad's doing weel again that washurt, and what signifies twa or three lead draps in his shouther?if ye had putten out his ee it would hae been another case. Buteh, as I wuss auld Sherra Pleydell was to the fore here! Od, hewas the man for sorting them, and the queerest rough-spoken deeviltoo that ever ye heard!'

'But now tell me, my excellent friend, how did you find out I washere?'

'Od, lad, queerly eneugh, ' said Dandie; 'but I'll tell ye thatafter we are done wi' our supper, for it will maybe no be sae weelto speak about it while that lang-lugged limmer o' a lass is gaunflisking in and out o' the room. '

Bertram's curiosity was in some degree put to rest by theappearance of the supper which his friend had ordered, which, although homely enough, had the appetising cleanliness in whichMrs. Mac-Guffog's cookery was so eminently deficient. Dinmontalso, premising he had ridden the whole day since breakfast-timewithout tasting anything 'to speak of, ' which qualifying phraserelated to about three pounds of cold roast mutton which he haddiscussed at his mid-day stage--Dinmont, I say, fell stoutly uponthe good cheer, and, like one of Homer's heroes, said little, either good or bad, till the rage of thirst and hunger wasappeased. At length, after a draught of home-brewed ale, he beganby observing, 'Aweel, aweel, that hen, ' looking upon thelamentable relics of what had been once a large fowl, 'wasna a badane to be bred at a town end, though it's no like our barn-doorchuckies at Charlie's Hope; and I am glad to see that this vexingjob hasna taen awa your appetite, Captain. '

'Why, really, my dinner was not so excellent, Mr. Dinmont, as tospoil my supper. '

'I daresay no, I daresay no, ' said Dandie. 'But now, hinny, thatye hae brought us the brandy, and the mug wi' the het water, andthe sugar, and a' right, ye may steek the door, ye see, for we wadhae some o' our ain cracks. ' The damsel accordingly retired andshut the door of the apartment, to which she added the precautionof drawing a large bolt on the outside. 

As soon as she was gone Dandie reconnoitred the premises, listenedat the key-hole as if he had been listening for the blowing of anotter, and, having satisfied himself that there were noeavesdroppers, returned to the table; and, making himself what hecalled a gey stiff cheerer, poked the fire, and began his story inan undertone of gravity and importance not very usual with him. 

'Ye see, Captain, I had been in Edinbro' for twa or three days, looking after the burial of a friend that we hae lost, and maybe Isuld hae had something for my ride; but there's disappointments ina' things, and wha can help the like o' that? And I had a wee bitlaw business besides, but that's neither here nor there. In short, I had got my matters settled, and hame I cam; and the morn awa tothe muirs to see what the herds had been about, and I thought Imight as weel gie a look to the Touthope Head, where Jock o'Dawston and me has the outcast about a march. Weel, just as I wascoming upon the bit, I saw a man afore me that I kenn'd was naneo' our herds, and it's a wild bit to meet ony other body, so whenI cam up to him it was Tod Gabriel, the fox-hunter. So I says tohim, rather surprised like, "What are ye doing up amang the crawshere, without your hounds, man? are ye seeking the fox without thedogs?" So he said, "Na, gudeman, but I wanted to see yoursell. "

'"Ay, " said I, "and ye'll be wanting eilding now, or something topit ower the winter?"

'"Na, na, " quo' he, "it's no that I'm seeking; but ye tak an uncoconcern in that Captain Brown that was staying wi' you, d'ye no?"

'"Troth do I, Gabriel, " says I; "and what about him, lad?"

'Says he, "There's mair tak an interest in him than you, and somethat I am bound to obey; and it's no just on my ain will that I'mhere to tell you something about him that will no please you. "

'"Faith, naething will please me, " quo' I, "that's no pleasing tohim. "

'"And then, " quo' he, "ye'll be ill-sorted to hear that he's liketo be in the prison at Portanferry, if he disna tak a' the bettercare o' himsell, for there's been warrants out to tak him as soonas he comes ower the water frae Allonby. And now, gudeman, an everye wish him weel, ye maun ride down to Portanferry, and let naegrass grow at the nag's heels; and if ye find him in confinement, ye maun stay beside him night and day for a day or twa, for he'llwant friends that hae baith heart and hand; and if ye neglect thisye'll never rue but ance, for it will be for a' your life. "

'"But, safe us, man, " quo' I, "how did ye learn a' this? it's anunco way between this and Portanferry. "

'"Never ye mind that, " quo' he, "them that brought us the newsrade night and day, and ye maun be aff instantly if ye wad do onygude; and sae I have naething mair to tell ye. " Sae he sat himselldoun and hirselled doun into the glen, where it wad hae been illfollowing him wi' the beast, and I cam back to Charlie's Hope totell the gudewife, for I was uncertain what to do. It wad lookunco-like, I thought, just to be sent out on a hunt-the-gowkerrand wi' a landlouper like that. But, Lord! as the gudewife setup her throat about it, and said what a shame it wad be if ye wasto come to ony wrang, an I could help ye; and then in cam yourletter that confirmed it. So I took to the kist, and out wi' thepickle notes in case they should be needed, and a' the bairns ranto saddle Dumple. By great luck I had taen the other beast toEdinbro', sae Dumple was as fresh as a rose. Sae aff I set, andWasp wi' me, for ye wad really hae thought he kenn'd where I wasgaun, puir beast; and here I am after a trot o' sixty mile or nearby. But Wasp rade thirty o' them afore me on the saddle, and thepuir doggie balanced itsell as ane of the weans wad hae dune, whether I trotted or cantered. '

In this strange story Bertram obviously saw, supposing the warningto be true, some intimation of danger more violent and imminentthan could be likely to arise from a few days' imprisonment. Atthe same time it was equally evident that some unknown friend wasworking in his behalf. 'Did you not say, ' he asked Dinmont, 'thatthis man Gabriel was of gipsy blood?'

'It was e'en judged sae, ' said Dinmont, 'and I think this maks itlikely; for they aye ken where the gangs o' ilk ither are to befound, and they can gar news flee like a footba' through thecountry an they like. An' I forgat to tell ye, there's been anunco inquiry after the auld wife that we saw in Bewcastle; theSheriff's had folk ower the Limestane Edge after her, and down theHermitage and Liddel, and a' gates, and a reward offered for herto appear o' fifty pound sterling, nae less; and Justice Forster, he's had out warrants, as I am tell'd, in Cumberland; and an uncoranging and ripeing they have had a' gates seeking for her; butshe'll no be taen wi' them unless she likes, for a' that. '

'And how comes that?' said Bertram. 

'Ou, I dinna ken; I daur say it's nonsense, but they say she hasgathered the fern-seed, and can gang ony gate she likes, like Jockthe Giant-killer in the ballant, wi' his coat o' darkness and hisshoon o' swiftness. Ony way she's a kind o' queen amang thegipsies; she is mair than a hundred year auld, folk say, and mindsthe coming in o' the moss-troopers in the troublesome times whenthe Stuarts were put awa. Sae, if she canna hide hersell, she kensthem that can hide her weel eneugh, ye needna doubt that. Od, an Ihad kenn'd it had been Meg Merrilies yon night at Tibb Mumps's, Iwad taen care how I crossed her. '

Bertram listened with great attention to this account, whichtallied so well in many points with what he had himself seen ofthis gipsy sibyl. After a moment's consideration he concluded itwould be no breach of faith to mention what he had seen atDerncleugh to a person who held Meg in such reverence as Dinmontobviously did. He told his story accordingly, often interrupted byejaculations, such as, 'Weel, the like o' that now!' or, 'Na, deilan that's no something now!'

When our Liddesdale friend had heard the whole to an end, he shookhis great black head--'Weel, I'll uphaud there's baith gude andill amang the gipsies, and if they deal wi' the Enemy, it's a'their ain business and no ours. I ken what the streeking thecorpse wad be, weel eneugh. Thae smuggler deevils, when ony o'them's killed in a fray, they 'll send for a wife like Meg fareneugh to dress the corpse; od, it's a' the burial they ever thinko'! and then to be put into the ground without ony decency, justlike dogs. But they stick to it, that they 'll be streekit, andhae an auld wife when they're dying to rhyme ower prayers, andballants, and charms, as they ca' them, rather than they'll hae aminister to come and pray wi' them--that's an auld threep o'theirs; and I am thinking the man that died will hae been ane o'the folk that was shot when they burnt Woodbourne. '

'But, my good friend, Woodbourne is not burnt, ' said Bertram. 

'Weel, the better for them that bides in't, ' answered the store-farmer. 'Od, we had it up the water wi' us that there wasna astane on the tap o' anither. But there was fighting, ony way; Idaur to say it would be fine fun! And, as I said, ye may take iton trust that that's been ane o' the men killed there, and thatit's been the gipsies that took your pockmanky when they fand thechaise stickin' in the snaw; they wadna pass the like o' that, itwad just come to their hand like the bowl o' a pint stoup. '

'But if this woman is a sovereign among them, why was she not ableto afford me open protection, and to get me back my property?'

'Ou, wha kens? she has muckle to say wi' them, but whiles they'lltak their ain way for a' that, when they're under temptation. Andthen there's the smugglers that they're aye leagued wi', she maybecouldna manage them sae weel. They're aye banded thegither; I'veheard that the gipsies ken when the smugglers will come aff, andwhere they're to land, better than the very merchants that dealwi' them. And then, to the boot o' that, she's whiles cracked-brained, and has a bee in her head; they say that, whether herspaeings and fortune-tellings be true or no, for certain shebelieves in them a' hersell, and is aye guiding hersell by somequeer prophecy or anither. So she disna aye gang the straight roadto the well. But deil o' sic a story as yours, wi' glamour anddead folk and losing ane's gate, I ever heard out o' the tale-books! But whisht, I hear the keeper coming. '

Mac-Guffog accordingly interrupted their discourse by the harshharmony of the bolts and bars, and showed his bloated visage atthe opening door. 'Come, Mr. Dinmont, we have put off locking upfor an hour to oblige ye; ye must go to your quarters. '

'Quarters, man? I intend to sleep here the night. There's a sparebed in the Captain's room. '

'It's impossible!' answered the keeper. 

'But I say it IS possible, and that I winna stir; and there's adram t' ye. '

Mac-Guffog drank off the spirits and resumed his objection. 'Butit's against rule, sir; ye have committed nae malefaction. '

'I'll break your head, ' said the sturdy Liddesdale man, 'if ye sayony mair about it, and that will be malefaction eneugh to entitleme to ae night's lodging wi' you, ony way. '

'But I tell ye, Mr. Dinmont, ' reiterated the keeper, 'it's againstrule, and I behoved to lose my post. '

'Weel, Mac-Guffog, ' said Dandie, 'I hae just twa things to say. Yeken wha I am weel eneugh, and that I wadna loose a prisoner. '

'And how do I ken that?' answered the jailor. 

'Weel, if ye dinna ken that, ' said the resolute farmer, 'ye kenthis: ye ken ye're whiles obliged to be up our water in the way o'your business. Now, if ye let me stay quietly here the night wi'the Captain, I'se pay ye double fees for the room; and if ye sayno, ye shall hae the best sark-fu' o' sair banes that ever ye hadin your life the first time ye set a foot by Liddel Moat!'

'Aweel, aweel, gudeman, ' said Mac-Guffog, 'a wilfu' man maun haehis way; but if I am challenged for it by the justices, I ken whasall bear the wyte, ' and, having sealed this observation with adeep oath or two, he retired to bed, after carefully securing allthe doors of the bridewell. The bell from the town steeple tollednine just as the ceremony was concluded. 

'Although it's but early hours, ' said the farmer, who had observedthat his friend looked somewhat pale and fatigued, 'I think we hadbetter lie down, Captain, if ye're no agreeable to anothercheerer. But troth, ye're nae glass-breaker; and neither am I, unless it be a screed wi' the neighbours, or when I'm on aramble. '

Bertram readily assented to the motion of his faithful friend, but, on looking at the bed, felt repugnance to trust himselfundressed to Mrs. Mac-Guffog's clean sheets. 

'I'm muckle o' your opinion, Captain, ' said Dandie. 'Od, this bedlooks as if a' the colliers in Sanquhar had been in't thegither. But it'll no win through my muckle coat. ' So saying, he flunghimself upon the frail bed with a force that made all its timberscrack, and in a few moments gave audible signal that he was fastasleep. Bertram slipped off his coat and boots and occupied theother dormitory. The strangeness of his destiny, and the mysterieswhich appeared to thicken around him, while he seemed alike to bepersecuted and protected by secret enemies and friends, arisingout of a class of people with whom he had no previous connexion, for some time occupied his thoughts. Fatigue, however, graduallycomposed his mind, and in a short time he was as fast asleep ashis companion. And in this comfortable state of oblivion we mustleave them until we acquaint the reader with some othercircumstances which occurred about the same period. 

CHAPTER XLVI

 Say from whence You owe this strange intelligence? or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you. 

 Macbeth. 

Upon the evening of the day when Bertram's examination had takenplace, Colonel Mannering arrived at Woodbourne from Edinburgh. Hefound his family in their usual state, which probably, so far asJulia was concerned, would not have been the case had she learnedthe news of Bertram's arrest. But as, during the Colonel'sabsence, the two young ladies lived much retired, thiscircumstance fortunately had not reached Woodbourne. A letter hadalready made Miss Bertram acquainted with the downfall of theexpectations which had been formed upon the bequest of herkinswoman. Whatever hopes that news might have dispelled, thedisappointment did not prevent her from joining her friend inaffording a cheerful reception to the Colonel, to whom she thusendeavoured to express the deep sense she entertained of hispaternal kindness. She touched on her regret that at such a seasonof the year he should have made, upon her account, a journey sofruitless. 

'That it was fruitless to you, my dear, ' said the Colonel, 'I domost deeply lament; but for my own share, I have made somevaluable acquaintances, and have spent the time I have been absentin Edinburgh with peculiar satisfaction; so that on that scorethere is nothing to be regretted. Even our friend the Dominie isreturned thrice the man he was, from having sharpened his wits incontroversy with the geniuses of the northern metropolis. '

'Of a surety, ' said the Dominie, with great complacency, 'I didwrestle, and was not overcome, though my adversary was cunning inhis art. '

'I presume, ' said Miss Mannering, 'the contest was somewhatfatiguing, Mr. Sampson?'

'Very much, young lady; howbeit I girded up my loins and stroveagainst him. '

'I can bear witness, ' said the Colonel; 'I never saw an affairbetter contested. The enemy was like the Mahratta cavalry: heassailed on all sides, and presented no fair mark for artillery;but Mr. Sampson stood to his guns notwithstanding, and fired away, now upon the enemy and now upon the dust which he had raised. Butwe must not fight our battles over again to-night; to-morrow weshall have the whole at breakfast. '

The next morning at breakfast, however, the Dominie did not makehis appearance. He had walked out, a servant said, early in themorning. It was so common for him to forget his meals that hisabsence never deranged the family. The housekeeper, a decent old-fashioned Presbyterian matron, having, as such, the highestrespect for Sampson's theological acquisitions, had it in chargeon these occasions to take care that he was no sufferer by hisabsence of mind, and therefore usually waylaid him on his return, to remind him of his sublunary wants, and to minister to theirrelief. It seldom, however, happened that he was absent from twomeals together, as was the case in the present instance. We mustexplain the cause of this unusual occurrence. 

The conversation which Mr. Pleydell had held with Mr. Mannering onthe subject of the loss of Harry Bertram had awakened all thepainful sensations which that event had inflicted upon Sampson. The affectionate heart of the poor Dominie had always reproachedhim that his negligence in leaving the child in the care of FrankKennedy had been the proximate cause of the murder of the one, theloss of the other, the death of Mrs. Bertram, and the ruin of thefamily of his patron. It was a subject which he never conversedupon, if indeed his mode of speech could be called conversation atany time; but it was often present to his imagination. The sort ofhope so strongly affirmed and asserted in Mrs. Bertram's lastsettlement had excited a corresponding feeling in the Dominie'sbosom, which was exasperated into a sort of sickening anxiety bythe discredit with which Pleydell had treated it. 'Assuredly, 'thought Sampson to himself, 'he is a man of erudition, and wellskilled in the weighty matters of the law; but he is also a man ofhumorous levity and inconsistency of speech, and wherefore shouldhe pronounce ex cathedra, as it were, on the hope expressed byworthy Madam Margaret Bertram of Singleside?'

All this, I say, the Dominie THOUGHT to himself; for had heuttered half the sentence, his jaws would have ached for a monthunder the unusual fatigue of such a continued exertion. The resultof these cogitations was a resolution to go and visit the scene ofthe tragedy at Warroch Point, where he had not been for manyyears; not, indeed, since the fatal accident had happened. Thewalk was a long one, for the Point of Warroch lay on the fartherside of the Ellangowan property, which was interposed between itand Woodbourne. Besides, the Dominie went astray more than once, and met with brooks swoln into torrents by the melting of thesnow, where he, honest man, had only the summer recollection oflittle trickling rills. 

At length, however, he reached the woods which he had made theobject of his excursion, and traversed them with care, muddlinghis disturbed brains with vague efforts to recall everycircumstance of the catastrophe. It will readily be supposed thatthe influence of local situation and association was inadequate toproduce conclusions different from those which he had formed underthe immediate pressure of the occurrences themselves. 'With many aweary sigh, therefore, and many a groan, ' the poor Dominiereturned from his hopeless pilgrimage, and weariedly plodded hisway towards Woodbourne, debating at times in his altered mind aquestion which was forced upon him by the cravings of an appetiterather of the keenest, namely, whether he had breakfasted thatmorning or no? It was in this twilight humour, now thinking of theloss of the child, then involuntarily compelled to meditate uponthe somewhat incongruous subject of hung beef, rolls, and butter, that his route, which was different from that which he had takenin the morning, conducted him past the small ruined tower, orrather vestige of a tower, called by the country people the Kaimof Derncleugh. 

The reader may recollect the description of this ruin in thetwenty-seventh chapter, as the vault in which young Bertram, underthe auspices of Meg Merrilies, witnessed the death of Hatteraick'slieutenant. The tradition of the country added ghostly terrors tothe natural awe inspired by the situation of this place, whichterrors the gipsies who so long inhabited the vicinity hadprobably invented, or at least propagated, for their ownadvantage. It was said that, during the times of the Galwegianindependence, one Hanlon Mac-Dingawaie, brother to the reigningchief, Knarth Mac-Dingawaie, murdered his brother and sovereign, in order to usurp the principality from his infant nephew, andthat, being pursued for vengeance by the faithful allies andretainers of the house, who espoused the cause of the lawful heir, he was compelled to retreat, with a few followers whom he hadinvolved in his crime, to this impregnable tower called the Kaimof Derucleugh, where he defended himself until nearly reduced byfamine, when, setting fire to the place, he and the smallremaining garrison desperately perished by their own swords, rather than fall into the hands of their exasperated enemies. Thistragedy, which, considering the wild times wherein it was placed, might have some foundation in truth, was larded with many legendsof superstition and diablerie, so that most of the peasants of theneighbourhood, if benighted, would rather have chosen to make aconsiderable circuit than pass these haunted walls. The lights, often seen around the tower, when used as the rendezvous of thelawless characters by whom it was occasionally frequented, wereaccounted for, under authority of these tales of witchery, in amanner at once convenient for the private parties concerned andsatisfactory to the public. 

Now it must be confessed that our friend Sampson, although aprofound scholar and mathematician, had not travelled so far inphilosophy as to doubt the reality of witchcraft or apparitions. Born, indeed, at a time when a doubt in the existence of witcheswas interpreted as equivalent to a justification of their infernalpractices, a belief of such legends had been impressed upon theDominie as an article indivisible from his religious faith, andperhaps it would have been equally difficult to have induced himto doubt the one as the other. With these feelings, and in a thickmisty day, which was already drawing to its close, Dominie Sampsondid not pass the Kaim of Derncleugh without some feelings of tacithorror. 

What, then, was his astonishment when, on passing the door--thatdoor which was supposed to have been placed there by one of thelatter Lairds of Ellangowan to prevent presumptuous strangers fromincurring the dangers of the haunted vault--that door, supposed tobe always locked, and the key of which was popularly said to bedeposited with the presbytery--that door, that very door, openedsuddenly, and the figure of Meg Merrilies, well known, though notseen for many a revolving year, was placed at once before the eyesof the startled Dominie! She stood immediately before him in thefootpath, confronting him so absolutely that he could not avoidher except by fairly turning back, which his manhood prevented himfrom thinking of. 

'I kenn'd ye wad be here, ' she said, with her harsh and hollowvoice; 'I ken wha ye seek; but ye maun do my bidding. '

'Get thee behind me!' said the alarmed Dominie. 'Avoid ye! Conjurote, scelestissima, nequissima, spurcissima, iniquissima atquemiserrima, conjuro te!!!'

Meg stood her ground against this tremendous volley ofsuperlatives, which Sampson hawked up from the pit of his stomachand hurled at her in thunder. 'Is the carl daft, ' she said, 'wi'his glamour?'

'Conjuro, ' continued the Dominie, 'abjuro, contestor atqueviriliter impero tibi!'

'What, in the name of Sathan, are ye feared for, wi' your Frenchgibberish, that would make a dog sick? Listen, ye stickitstibbler, to what I tell ye, or ye sail rue it while there's alimb o' ye hings to anither! Tell Colonel Mannering that I kenhe's seeking me. He kens, and I ken, that the blood will be wipedout, and the lost will be found, And Bertram's right and Bertram's might Shall meet on Ellangowan height. 

Hae, there's a letter to him; I was gaun to send it in anotherway. I canna write mysell; but I hae them that will baith writeand read, and ride and rin for me. Tell him the time's coming now, and the weird's dreed, and the wheel's turning. Bid him look atthe stars as he has looked at them before. Will ye mind a' this?'

'Assuredly, ' said the Dominie, 'I am dubious; for, woman, I amperturbed at thy words, and my flesh quakes to hear thee. '

'They'll do you nae ill though, and maybe muckle gude. '

'Avoid ye! I desire no good that comes by unlawful means. '

'Fule body that thou art, ' said Meg, stepping up to him, with afrown of indignation that made her dark eyes flash like lamps fromunder her bent brows--'Fule body! if I meant ye wrang, couldna Iclod ye ower that craig, and wad man ken how ye cam by your endmair than Frank Kennedy? Hear ye that, ye worricow?'

'In the name of all that is good, ' said the Dominie, recoiling, and pointing his long pewter-headed walking cane like a javelin atthe supposed sorceress--'in the name of all that is good, bide offhands! I will not be handled; woman, stand off, upon thine ownproper peril! Desist, I say; I am strong; lo, I will resist!' Herehis speech was cut short; for Meg, armed with supernaturalstrength (as the Dominie asserted), broke in upon his guard, putby a thrust which he made at her with his cane, and lifted himinto the vault, 'as easily, ' said he, 'as I could sway a Kitchen'sAtlas. '

'Sit down there, ' she said, pushing the half-throttled preacherwith some violence against a broken chair--'sit down there andgather your wind and your senses, ye black barrow-tram o' the kirkthat ye are. Are ye fou or fasting?'

'Fasting, from all but sin, ' answered the Dominie, who, recoveringhis voice, and finding his exorcisms only served to exasperate theintractable sorceress, thought it best to affect complaisance andsubmission, inwardly conning over, however, the wholesomeconjurations which he durst no longer utter aloud. But as theDominie's brain was by no means equal to carry on two trains ofideas at the same time, a word or two of his mental exercisesometimes escaped and mingled with his uttered speech in a mannerludicrous enough, especially as the poor man shrunk himselftogether after every escape of the kind, from terror of the effectit might produce upon the irritable feelings of the witch. 

Meg in the meanwhile went to a great black cauldron that wasboiling on a fire on the floor, and, lifting the lid, an odour wasdiffused through the vault which, if the vapours of a witch'scauldron could in aught be trusted, promised better things thanthe hell-broth which such vessels are usually supposed to contain. It was, in fact, the savour of a goodly stew, composed of fowls, hares, partridges, and moor-game boiled in a large mess withpotatoes, onions, and leeks, and from the size of the cauldronappeared to be prepared for half a dozen of people at least. 'Soye hae eat naething a' day?' said Meg, heaving a large portion ofthis mess into a brown dish and strewing it savourily with saltand pepper. [Footnote: See Note 4. ]

'Nothing, ' answered the Dominie, 'scelestissima!--that is, gudewife. '

'Hae then, ' said she, placing the dish before him, 'there's whatwill warm your heart. '

'I do not hunger, malefica--that is to say, Mrs. Merrilies!' forhe said unto himself, ' the savour is sweet, but it hath beencooked by a Canidia or an Ericthoe. '

'If ye dinna eat instantly and put some saul in ye, by the breadand the salt, I'll put it down your throat wi' the cutty spoon, scaulding as it is, and whether ye will or no. Gape, sinner, andswallow!'

Sampson, afraid of eye of newt, and toe of frog, tigers'chaudrons, and so forth, had determined not to venture; but thesmell of the stew was fast melting his obstinacy, which flowedfrom his chops as it were in streams of water, and the witch'sthreats decided him to feed. Hunger and fear are excellentcasuists. 

'Saul, ' said Hunger, 'feasted with the witch of Endor. ' 'And, 'quoth Fear, 'the salt which she sprinkled upon the food showethplainly it is not a necromantic banquet, in which that seasoningnever occurs. ' 'And, besides, ' says Hunger, after the firstspoonful, 'it is savoury and refreshing viands. '

'So ye like the meat?' said the hostess. 

'Yea, ' answered the Dominie, 'and I give thee thanks, sceleratissima!--which means, Mrs. Margaret. '

'Aweel, eat your fill; but an ye kenn'd how it was gotten ye maybewadna like it sae weel. ' Sampson's spoon dropped in the act ofconveying its load to his mouth. 'There's been mony a moonlightwatch to bring a' that trade thegither, ' continued Meg; 'the folkthat are to eat that dinner thought little o' your game laws. '

'Is that all?' thought Sampson, resuming his spoon and shovellingaway manfully; 'I will not lack my food upon that argument. '

'Now ye maun tak a dram?'

'I will, ' quoth Sampson, 'conjuro te--that is, I thank youheartily, ' for he thought to himself, in for a penny in for apound; and he fairly drank the witch's health in a cupful ofbrandy. When he had put this copestone upon Meg's good cheer, hefelt, as he said, 'mightily elevated, and afraid of no evil whichcould befall unto him. '

'Will ye remember my errand now?' said Meg Merrilies; 'I ken bythe cast o' your ee that ye're anither man than when you cam in. '

'I will, Mrs. Margaret, ' repeated Sampson, stoutly; 'I willdeliver unto him the sealed yepistle, and will add what you pleaseto send by word of mouth. '

'Then I'll make it short, ' says Meg. 'Tell him to look at thestars without fail this night, and to do what I desire him in thatletter, as he would wish

 That Bertram's right and Bertram's might Should meet on Ellangowan height. 

I have seen him twice when he saw na me; I ken when he was in thiscountry first, and I ken what's brought him back again. Up an' tothe gate! ye're ower lang here; follow me. '

Sampson followed the sibyl accordingly, who guided him about aquarter of a mile through the woods, by a shorter cut than hecould have found for himself; then they entered upon the common, Meg still marching before him at a great pace, until she gainedthe top of a small hillock which overhung the road. 

'Here, ' she said, 'stand still here. Look how the setting sunbreaks through yon cloud that's been darkening the lift a' day. See where the first stream o' light fa's: it's upon Donagild'sround tower, the auldest tower in the Castle o' Ellangowan; that'sno for naething! See as it's glooming to seaward abune yon sloopin the bay; that's no for naething neither. Here I stood on thisvery spot, ' said she, drawing herself up so as not to lose onehair-breadth of her uncommon height, and stretching out her longsinewy arm and clenched hand--'here I stood when I tauld the lastLaird o' Ellangowan what was coming on his house; and did that fa'to the ground? na, it hit even ower sair! And here, where I brakethe wand of peace ower him, here I stand again, to bid God blessand prosper the just heir of Ellangowan that will sune be broughtto his ain; and the best laird he shall be that Ellangowan hasseen for three hundred years. I'll no live to see it, maybe; butthere will be mony a blythe ee see it though mine be closed. Andnow, Abel Sampson, as ever ye lo'ed the house of Ellangowan, awaywi' my message to the English Colonel, as if life and death wereupon your haste!'

So saying, she turned suddenly from the amazed Dominie andregained with swift and long strides the shelter of the wood fromwhich she had issued at the point where it most encroached uponthe common. Sampson gazed after her for a moment in utterastonishment, and then obeyed her directions, hurrying toWoodbourne at a pace very unusual for him, exclaiming three times, 'Prodigious! prodigious! pro-di-gi-ous!'

CHAPTER XLVII

 It is not madness That I have utter'd, bring me to the test, And I the matter will re-word, which madness Would gambol from. Hamlet. 

As Mr. Sampson crossed the hall with a bewildered look, Mrs. Allan, the good housekeeper, who, with the reverent attentionwhich is usually rendered to the clergy in Scotland, was on thewatch for his return, sallied forth to meet him--'What's this o'tnow, Mr. Sampson, this is waur than ever! Ye'll really do yoursellsome injury wi' these lang fasts; naething's sae hurtful to thestamach, Mr. Sampson. If ye would but put some peppermint draps inyour pocket, or let Barnes cut ye a sandwich. '

'Avoid thee!' quoth the Dominie, his mind running still upon hisinterview with Meg Merrilies, and making for the dining-parlour. 

'Na, ye needna gang in there, the cloth's been removed an hoursyne, and the Colonel's at his wine; but just step into my room, Ihave a nice steak that the cook will do in a moment. '

'Exorciso te!' said Sampson; 'that is, I have dined. '

'Dined! it's impossible; wha can ye hae dined wi', you that gangsout nae gate?'

'With Beelzebub, I believe, ' said the minister. 

'Na, then he's bewitched for certain, ' said the housekeeper, letting go her hold; 'he's bewitched, or he's daft, and ony waythe Colonel maun just guide him his ain gate. Wae's me! Hech, sirs! It's a sair thing to see learning bring folk to this!' Andwith this compassionate ejaculation she retreated into her ownpremises. 

The object of her commiseration had by this time entered thedining-parlour, where his appearance gave great surprise. He wasmud up to the shoulders, and the natural paleness of his hue wastwice as cadaverous as usual, through terror, fatigue, andperturbation of mind. 

'What on earth is the meaning of this, Mr. Sampson?' saidMannering, who observed Miss Bertram looking much alarmed for hersimple but attached friend. 

'Exorciso, ' said the Dominie. 

'How, sir?' replied the astonished Colonel. 

'I crave pardon, honourable sir! but my wits---'

'Are gone a wool-gathering, I think; pray, Mr. Sampson, collectyourself, and let me know the meaning of all this. '

Sampson was about to reply, but finding his Latin formula ofexorcism still came most readily to his tongue, he prudentlydesisted from the attempt, and put the scrap of paper which he hadreceived from the gipsy into Mannering's hand, who broke the sealand read it with surprise. 'This seems to be some jest, ' he said, 'and a very dull one. '

'It came from no jesting person, ' said Mr. Sampson. 

'From whom then did it come?' demanded Mannering. 

The Dominie, who often displayed some delicacy of recollection incases where Miss Bertram had an interest, remembered the painfulcircumstances connected with Meg Merrilies, looked at the youngladies, and remained silent. 'We will join you at the tea-table inan instant, Julia, ' said the Colonel; 'I see that Mr. Sampsonwishes to speak to me alone. And now they are gone, what, inHeaven's name, Mr. Sampson, is the meaning of all this?'

'It may be a message from Heaven, ' said the Dominie, 'but it cameby Beelzebub's postmistress. It was that witch, Meg Merrilies, whoshould have been burned with a tar-barrel twenty years since for aharlot, thief, witch, and gipsy. '

'Are you sure it was she?' said the Colonel with great interest. 

'Sure, honoured sir? Of a truth she is one not to be forgotten, the like o' Meg Merrilies is not to be seen in any land. '

The Colonel paced the room rapidly, cogitating with himself. 'Tosend out to apprehend her; but it is too distant to send to Mac-Morlan, and Sir Robert Hazlewood is a pompous coxcomb; besides, the chance of not finding her upon the spot, or that the humour ofsilence that seized her before may again return. No, I will not, to save being thought a fool, neglect the course she points out. Many of her class set out by being impostors and end by becomingenthusiasts, or hold a kind of darkling conduct between bothlines, unconscious almost when they are cheating themselves orwhen imposing on others. Well, my course is a plain one at anyrate; and if my efforts are fruitless, it shall not be owing toover-jealousy of my own character for wisdom. '

With this he rang the bell, and, ordering Barnes into his privatesitting-room, gave him some orders, with the result of which thereader may be made hereafter acquainted. 

We must now take up another adventure, which is also to be woveninto the story of this remarkable day. 

Charles Hazlewood had not ventured to make a visit at Woodbourneduring the absence of the Colonel. Indeed, Mannering's wholebehaviour had impressed upon him an opinion that this would bedisagreeable; and such was the ascendency which the successfulsoldier and accomplished gentleman had attained over the youngman's conduct, that in no respect would he have ventured to offendhim. He saw, or thought he saw, in Colonel Mannering's generalconduct, an approbation of his attachment to Miss Bertram. Butthen he saw still more plainly the impropriety of any attempt at aprivate correspondence, of which his parents could not be supposedto approve, and he respected this barrier interposed betwixt themboth on Mannering's account and as he was the liberal and zealousprotector of Miss Bertram. 'No, ' said he to himself, 'I will notendanger the comfort of my Lucy's present retreat until I canoffer her a home of her own. '

With this valorous resolution, which he maintained although hishorse, from constant habit, turned his head down the avenue ofWoodbourne, and although he himself passed the lodge twice everyday, Charles Hazlewood withstood a strong inclination to ride downjust to ask how the young ladies were, and whether he could be ofany service to them during Colonel Mannering's absence. But on thesecond occasion he felt the temptation so severe that he resolvednot to expose himself to it a third time; and, contenting himselfwith sending hopes and inquiries and so forth to Woodbourne, heresolved to make a visit long promised to a family at somedistance, and to return in such time as to be one of the earliestamong Mannering's visitors who should congratulate his safearrival from his distant and hazardous expedition to Edinburgh. Accordingly he made out his visit, and, having arranged matters soas to be informed within a few hours after Colonel Manneringreached home, he finally resolved to take leave of the friendswith whom he had spent the intervening time, with the intention ofdining at Woodbourne, where he was in a great measuredomesticated; and this (for he thought much more deeply on thesubject than was necessary) would, he flattered himself, appear asimple, natural, and easy mode of conducting himself. 

Fate, however, of which lovers make so many complaints, was inthis case unfavourable to Charles Hazlewood. His horse's shoesrequired an alteration, in consequence of the fresh weather havingdecidedly commenced. The lady of the house where he was a visitorchose to indulge in her own room till a very late breakfast hour. His friend also insisted on showing him a litter of puppies whichhis favourite pointer bitch had produced that morning. The colourshad occasioned some doubts about the paternity--a weighty questionof legitimacy, to the decision of which Hazlewood's opinion wascalled in as arbiter between his friend and his groom, and whichinferred in its consequences which of the litter should bedrowned, which saved. Besides, the Laird himself delayed our younglover's departure for a considerable time, endeavouring, with longand superfluous rhetoric, to insinuate to Sir Robert Hazlewood, through the medium of his son, his own particular ideas respectingthe line of a meditated turnpike road. It is greatly to the shameof our young lover's apprehension that, after the tenth reiteratedaccount of the matter, he could not see the advantage to beobtained by the proposed road passing over the Lang Hirst, WindyKnowe, the Goodhouse Park, Hailziecroft, and then crossing theriver at Simon's Pool, and so by the road to Kippletringan; andthe less eligible line pointed out by the English surveyor, whichwould go clear through the main enclosures at Hazlewood, and cutwithin a mile or nearly so of the house itself, destroying theprivacy and pleasure, as his informer contended, of the grounds. In short, the adviser (whose actual interest was to have thebridge built as near as possible to a farm of his own) failed inevery effort to attract young Hazlewood's attention until hementioned by chance that the proposed line was favoured by 'thatfellow Glossin, ' who pretended to take a lead in the county. On asudden young Hazlewood became attentive and interested; and, having satisfied himself which was the line that Glossinpatronised, assured his friend it should not be his fault if hisfather did not countenance any other instead of that. But thesevarious interruptions consumed the morning. Hazlewood got onhorseback at least three hours later than he intended, and, cursing fine ladies, pointers, puppies, and turnpike acts ofparliament, saw himself detained beyond the time when he couldwith propriety intrude upon the family at Woodbourne. 

He had passed, therefore, the turn of the road which led to thatmansion, only edified by the distant appearance of the blue smokecurling against the pale sky of the winter evening, when hethought he beheld the Dominie taking a footpath for the housethrough the woods. He called after him, but in vain; for thathonest gentleman, never the most susceptible of extraneousimpressions, had just that moment parted from Meg Merrilies, andwas too deeply wrapt up in pondering upon her vaticinations tomake any answer to Hazlewood's call. He was therefore obliged tolet him proceed without inquiry after the health of the youngladies, or any other fishing question, to which he might by goodchance have had an answer returned wherein Miss Bertram's namemight have been mentioned. All cause for haste was now over, and, slackening the reins upon his horse's neck, he permitted theanimal to ascend at his own leisure the steep sandy track betweentwo high banks, which, rising to a considerable height, commandedat length an extensive view of the neighbouring country. 

Hazlewood was, however, so far from eagerly looking forward tothis prospect, though it had the recommendation that great part ofthe land was his father's, and must necessarily be his own, thathis head still turned backward towards the chimneys of Woodbourne, although at every step his horse made the difficulty of employinghis eyes in that direction become greater. From the reverie inwhich he was sunk he was suddenly roused by a voice, too harsh tobe called female, yet too shrill for a man: 'What's kept you onthe road sae lang? Maun ither folk do your wark?'

He looked up. The spokeswoman was very tall, had a voluminoushandkerchief rolled round her head, grizzled hair flowing in elf-locks from beneath it, a long red cloak, and a staff in her hand, headed with a sort of spear-point; it was, in short, MegMerrilies. Hazlewood had never seen this remarkable figure before;he drew up his reins in astonishment at her appearance, and made afull stop. 'I think, ' continued she, 'they that hae taen interestin the house of Ellangowan suld sleep nane this night; three menhae been seeking ye, and you are gaun hame to sleep in your bed. D' ye think if the lad-bairn fa's, the sister will do weel? Na, na!'

'I don't understand you, good woman, ' said Hazlewood. 'If youspeak of Miss---, I mean of any of the late Ellangowan family, tell me what I can do for them. '

'Of the late Ellangowan family?' she answered with greatvehemence--'of the LATE Ellangowan family! and when was thereever, or when will there ever be, a family of Ellangowan butbearing the gallant name of the bauld Bertrams?'

'But what do you mean, good woman?'

'I am nae good woman; a' the country kens I am bad eneugh, andbaith they and I may be sorry eneugh that I am nae better. But Ican do what good women canna, and daurna do. I can do what wouldfreeze the blood o' them that is bred in biggit wa's for naethingbut to bind bairns' heads and to hap them in the cradle. Hear me:the guard's drawn off at the custom-house at Portanferry, and it'sbrought up to Hazlewood House by your father's orders, because hethinks his house is to be attacked this night by the smugglers. There's naebody means to touch his house; he has gude blood andgentle blood--I say little o' him for himsell--but there's naebodythinks him worth meddling wi'. Send the horsemen back to theirpost, cannily and quietly; see an they winna hae wark the night, ay will they: the guns will flash and the swords will glitter inthe braw moon. '

'Good God! what do you mean?' said young Hazlewood; 'your wordsand manner would persuade me you are mad, and yet there is astrange combination in what you say. '

'I am not mad!' exclaimed the gipsy; 'I have been imprisoned formad--scourged for mad--banished for mad--but mad I am not. Hearye, Charles Hazlewood of Hazlewood: d'ye bear malice against himthat wounded you?'

'No, dame, God forbid; my arm is quite well, and I have alwayssaid the shot was discharged by accident. I should be glad to tellthe young man so himself. '

'Then do what I bid ye, ' answered Meg Merrilies, 'and ye 'll dohim mair gude than ever he did you ill; for if he was left to hisill-wishers he would be a bloody corpse ere morn, or a banishedman; but there's Ane abune a'. Do as I bid you; send back thesoldiers to Portanferry. There's nae mair fear o' Hazlewood Housethan there's o' Cruffel Fell. ' And she vanished with her usualcelerity of pace. 

It would seem that the appearance of this female, and the mixtureof frenzy and enthusiasm in her manner, seldom failed to producethe strongest impression upon those whom she addressed. Her words, though wild, were too plain and intelligible for actual madness, and yet too vehement and extravagant for sober-mindedcommunication. She seemed acting under the influence of animagination rather strongly excited than deranged; and it iswonderful how palpably the difference in such cases is impressedupon the mind of the auditor. This may account for the attentionwith which her strange and mysterious hints were heard and actedupon. It is certain, at least, that young Hazlewood was stronglyimpressed by her sudden appearance and imperative tone. He rode toHazlewood at a brisk pace. It had been dark for some time beforehe reached the house, and on his arrival there he saw aconfirmation of what the sibyl had hinted. 

Thirty dragoon horses stood under a shed near the offices, withtheir bridles linked together. Three or four soldiers attended asa guard, while others stamped up and down with their longbroadswords and heavy boots in front of the house. Hazlewood askeda non-commissioned officer from whence they came. 

'From Portanferry. '

'Had they left any guard there?'

'No; they had been drawn off by order of Sir Robert Hazlewood fordefence of his house against an attack which was threatened by thesmugglers. '

Charles Hazlewood instantly went in quest of his father, and, having paid his respects to him upon his return, requested to knowupon what account he had thought it necessary to send for amilitary escort. Sir Robert assured his son in reply that, fromthe information, intelligence, and tidings which had beencommunicated to, and laid before him, he had the deepest reason tobelieve, credit, and be convinced that a riotous assault wouldthat night be attempted and perpetrated against Hazlewood House bya set of smugglers, gipsies, and other desperadoes. 

'And what, my dear sir, ' said his son, 'should direct the fury ofsuch persons against ours rather than any other house in thecountry?'

'I should rather think, suppose, and be of opinion, sir, ' answeredSir Robert, 'with deference to your wisdom and experience, that onthese occasions and times the vengeance of such persons isdirected or levelled against the most important and distinguishedin point of rank, talent, birth, and situation who have checked, interfered with, and discountenanced their unlawful and illegaland criminal actions or deeds. '

Young Hazlewood, who knew his father's foible, answered, that thecause of his surprise did not lie where Sir Robert apprehended, but that he only wondered they should think of attacking a housewhere there were so many servants, and where a signal to theneighbouring tenants could call in such strong assistance; andadded, that he doubted much whether the reputation of the familywould not in some degree suffer from calling soldiers from theirduty at the custom-house to protect them, as if they were notsufficiently strong to defend themselves upon any ordinaryoccasion. He even hinted that, in case their house's enemiesshould observe that this precaution had been taken unnecessarily, there would be no end of their sarcasms. 

Sir Robert Hazlewood was rather puzzled at this intimation, for, like most dull men, he heartily hated and feared ridicule. Hegathered himself up and looked with a sort of pompousembarrassment, as if he wished to be thought to despise theopinion of the public, which in reality he dreaded. 

'I really should have thought, ' he said, 'that the injury whichhad already been aimed at my house in your person, being the nextheir and representative of the Hazlewood family, failing me--Ishould have thought and believed, I say, that this would havejustified me sufficiently in the eyes of the most respectable andthe greater part of the people for taking such precautions as arecalculated to prevent and impede a repetition of outrage. '

'Really, sir, ' said Charles, 'I must remind you of what I haveoften said before, that I am positive the discharge of the piecewas accidental. '

'Sir, it was not accidental, ' said his father, angrily; 'but youwill be wiser than your elders. '

'Really, sir, ' replied Hazlewood, 'in what so intimately concernsmyself---'

'Sir, it does not concern you but in a very secondary degree; thatis, it does not concern you, as a giddy young fellow who takespleasure in contradicting his father; but it concerns the country, sir, and the county, sir, and the public, sir, and the kingdom ofScotland, in so far as the interest of the Hazlewood family, sir, is committed and interested and put in peril, in, by, and throughyou, sir. And the fellow is in safe custody, and Mr. Glossinthinks---'

'Mr. Glossin, sir?'

'Yes, sir, the gentleman who has purchased Ellangowan; you knowwho I mean, I suppose?'

'Yes, sir, ' answered the young man; 'but I should hardly haveexpected to hear you quote such authority. Why, this fellow--allthe world knows him to be sordid, mean, tricking, and I suspecthim to be worse. And you yourself, my dear sir, when did you callsuch a person a gentleman in your life before?'

'Why, Charles, I did not mean gentleman in the precise sense andmeaning, and restricted and proper use, to which, no doubt, thephrase ought legitimately to be confined; but I meant to use itrelatively, as marking something of that state to which he haselevated and raised himself; as designing, in short, a decent andwealthy and estimable sort of a person. '

'Allow me to ask, sir, ' said Charles, 'if it was by this man'sorders that the guard was drawn from Portanferry?'

'Sir, ' replied the Baronet, 'I do apprehend that Mr. Glossin wouldnot presume to give orders, or even an opinion, unless asked, in amatter in which Hazlewood House and the house of Hazlewood--meaning by the one this mansion-house of my family, and by theother, typically, metaphorically, and parabolically, the familyitself, --I say, then, where the house of Hazlewood, or HazlewoodHouse, was so immediately concerned. '

'I presume, however, sir, ' said the son, 'this Glossin approved ofthe proposal?'

'Sir, ' replied his father, 'I thought it decent and right andproper to consult him as the nearest magistrate as soon as reportof the intended outrage reached my ears; and although he declined, out of deference and respect, as became our relative situations, to concur in the order, yet he did entirely approve of myarrangement. '

At this moment a horse's feet were heard coming very fast up theavenue. In a few minutes the door opened, and Mr. Mac-Morlanpresented himself. 'I am under great concern to intrude, SirRobert, but---'

'Give me leave, Mr. Mac-Morlan, ' said Sir Robert, with a graciousflourish of welcome; 'this is no intrusion, sir; for, yoursituation as sheriff-substitute calling upon you to attend to thepeace of the county, and you, doubtless, feeling yourselfparticularly called upon to protect Hazlewood House, you have anacknowledged and admitted and undeniable right, sir, to enter thehouse of the first gentleman in Scotland uninvited--alwayspresuming you to be called there by the duty of your office. '

'It is indeed the duty of my office, ' said Mac-Morlan, who waitedwith impatience an opportunity to speak, 'that makes me anintruder. '

'No intrusion!' reiterated the Baronet, gracefully waving hishand. 

'But permit me to say, Sir Robert, ' said the sheriff-substitute, 'I do not come with the purpose of remaining here, but to recallthese soldiers to Portanferry, and to assure you that I willanswer for the safety of your house. '

'To withdraw the guard from Hazlewood House!' exclaimed theproprietor in mingled displeasure and surprise; 'and YOU will beanswerable for it! And, pray, who are you, sir, that I should takeyour security and caution and pledge, official or personal, forthe safety of Hazlewood House? I think, sir, and believe, sir, andam of opinion, sir, that if any one of these family pictures werederanged or destroyed or injured it would be difficult for me tomake up the loss upon the guarantee which you so obligingly offerme. '

'In that case I shall be sorry for it, Sir Robert, ' answered thedownright Mac-Morlan; 'but I presume I may escape the pain offeeling my conduct the cause of such irreparable loss, as I canassure you there will be no attempt upon Hazlewood House whatever, and I have received information which induces me to suspect thatthe rumour was put afloat merely in order to occasion the removalof the soldiers from Portanferry. And under this strong belief andconviction I must exert my authority as sheriff and chiefmagistrate of police to order the whole, or greater part of them, back again. I regret much that by my accidental absence a gooddeal of delay has already taken place, and we shall not now reachPortanferry until it is late. '

As Mr. Mac-Morlan was the superior magistrate, and expressedhimself peremptory in the purpose of acting as such, the Baronet, though highly offended, could only say, 'Very well, sir; it isvery well. Nay, sir, take them all with you; I am far fromdesiring any to be left here, sir. We, sir, can protect ourselves, sir. But you will have the goodness to observe, sir, that you areacting on your own proper risk, sir, and peril, sir, andresponsibility, sir, if anything shall happen or befall toHazlewood House, sir, or the inhabitants, sir, or to the furnitureand paintings, sir. '

'I am acting to the best of my judgment and information, SirRobert, ' said Mac-Morlan, 'and I must pray of you to believe so, and to pardon me accordingly. I beg you to observe it is no timefor ceremony; it is already very late. '

But Sir Robert, without deigning to listen to his apologies, immediately employed himself with much parade in arming andarraying his domestics. Charles Hazlewood longed to accompany themilitary, which were about to depart for Portanferry, and whichwere now drawn up and mounted by direction and under the guidanceof Mr. Mac-Morlan, as the civil magistrate. But it would havegiven just pain and offence to his father to have left him at amoment when he conceived himself and his mansion-house in danger. Young Hazlewood therefore gazed from a window with suppressedregret and displeasure, until he heard the officer give the wordof command--'From the right to the front, by files, m-a-rch. Leading file, to the right wheel. Trot. ' The whole party ofsoldiers then getting into a sharp and uniform pace, were soonlost among the trees, and the noise of the hoofs died speedilyaway in the distance. 

CHAPTER XLVIII

 Wi' coulters and wi' forehammers We garr'd the bars bang merrily, Until we came to the inner prison, Where Willie o' Kinmont he did lie. 

 Old Border Ballad. 

We return to Portanferry, and to Bertram and his honest-heartedfriend, whom we left most innocent inhabitants of a place builtfor the guilty. The slumbers of the farmer were as sound as it waspossible. 

But Bertram's first heavy sleep passed away long before midnight, nor could he again recover that state of oblivion. Added to theuncertain and uncomfortable state of his mind, his body feltfeverish and oppressed. This was chiefly owing to the close andconfined air of the small apartment in which they slept. Afterenduring for some time the broiling and suffocating feelingattendant upon such an atmosphere, he rose to endeavour to openthe window of the apartment, and thus to procure a change of air. Alas! the first trial reminded him that he was in jail, and thatthe building being contrived for security, not comfort, the meansof procuring fresh air were not left at the disposal of thewretched inhabitants. 

Disappointed in this attempt, he stood by the unmanageable windowfor some time. Little Wasp, though oppressed with the fatigue ofhis journey on the preceding day, crept out of bed after hismaster, and stood by him rubbing his shaggy coat against his legs, and expressing by a murmuring sound the delight which he felt atbeing restored to him. Thus accompanied, and waiting until thefeverish feeling which at present agitated his blood shouldsubside into a desire for warmth and slumber, Bertram remained forsome time looking out upon the sea. 

The tide was now nearly full, and dashed hoarse and near below thebase of the building. Now and then a large wave reached even thebarrier or bulwark which defended the foundation of the house, andwas flung up on it with greater force and noise than those whichonly broke upon the sand. Far in the distance, under theindistinct light of a hazy and often overclouded moon, the oceanrolled its multitudinous complication of waves, crossing, bursting, and mingling with each other. 

'A wild and dim spectacle, ' said Bertram to himself, 'like thosecrossing tides of fate which have tossed me about the world frommy infancy upwards. When will this uncertainty cease, and how soonshall I be permitted to look out for a tranquil home, where I maycultivate in quiet, and without dread and perplexity, those artsof peace from which my cares have been hitherto so forciblydiverted? The ear of Fancy, it is said, can discover the voice ofsea-nymphs and tritons amid the bursting murmurs of the ocean;would that I could do so, and that some siren or Proteus wouldarise from these billows to unriddle for me the strange maze offate in which I am so deeply entangled! Happy friend!' he said, looking at the bed where Dinmont had deposited his bulky person, 'thy cares are confined to the narrow round of a healthy andthriving occupation! Thou canst lay them aside at pleasure, andenjoy the deep repose of body and mind which wholesome labour hasprepared for thee!'

At this moment his reflections were broken by little Wasp, who, attempting to spring up against the window, began to yelp and barkmost furiously. The sounds reached Dinmont's ears, but withoutdissipating the illusion which had transported him from thiswretched apartment to the free air of his own green hills. 'Hoy, Yarrow, man! far yaud, far yaud!' he muttered between his teeth, imagining, doubtless, that he was calling to his sheep-dog, andhounding him in shepherds' phrase against some intruders on thegrazing. The continued barking of the terrier within was answeredby the angry challenge of the mastiff in the courtyard, which hadfor a long time been silent, excepting only an occasional shortand deep note, uttered when the moon shone suddenly from among theclouds. Now his clamour was continued and furious, and seemed tobe excited by some disturbance distinct from the barking of Wasp, which had first given him the alarm, and which, with much trouble, his master had contrived to still into an angry note of lowgrowling. 

At last Bertram, whose attention was now fully awakened, conceivedthat he saw a boat upon the sea, and heard in good earnest thesound of oars and of human voices mingling with the dash of thebillows. 'Some benighted fishermen, ' he thought, 'or perhaps someof the desperate traders from the Isle of Man. They are veryhardy, however, to approach so near to the custom-house, wherethere must be sentinels. It is a large boat, like a long-boat, andfull of people; perhaps it belongs to the revenue service. 'Bertram was confirmed in this last opinion by observing that theboat made for a little quay which ran into the sea behind thecustom-house, and, jumping ashore one after another, the crew, tothe number of twenty hands, glided secretly up a small lane whichdivided the custom-house from the bridewell, and disappeared fromhis sight, leaving only two persons to take care of the boat. 

The dash of these men's oars at first, and latterly the suppressedsounds of their voices, had excited the wrath of the wakefulsentinel in the courtyard, who now exalted his deep voice intosuch a horrid and continuous din that it awakened his brutemaster, as savage a ban-dog as himself. His cry from a window, of'How now, Tearum, what's the matter, sir? down, d--n ye, down!'produced no abatement of Tearum's vociferation, which in partprevented his master from hearing the sounds of alarm which hisferocious vigilance was in the act of challenging. But the mate ofthe two-legged Cerberus was gifted with sharper ears than herhusband. She also was now at the window. 'B--t ye, gae down andlet loose the dog, ' she said; 'they're sporting the door of thecustom-house, and the auld sap at Hazlewood House has ordered offthe guard. But ye hae nae mair heart than a cat. ' And down theAmazon sallied to perform the task herself, while her helpmate, more jealous of insurrection within doors than of storm fromwithout, went from cell to cell to see that the inhabitants ofeach were carefully secured. 

These latter sounds with which we have made the reader acquaintedhad their origin in front of the house, and were consequentlyimperfectly heard by Bertram, whose apartment, as we have alreadynoticed, looked from the back part of the building upon the sea. He heard, however, a stir and tumult in the house, which did notseem to accord with the stern seclusion of a prison at the hour ofmidnight, and, connecting them with the arrival of an armed boatat that dead hour, could not but suppose that somethingextraordinary was about to take place. In this belief he shookDinmont by the shoulder. 'Eh! Ay! Oh! Ailie, woman, it's no timeto get up yet, ' groaned the sleeping man of the mountains. Moreroughly shaken, however, he gathered himself up, shook his ears, and asked, 'In the name of Providence what's the matter?'

'That I can't tell you, ' replied Bertram; 'but either the place ison fire or some extraordinary thing is about to happen. Are younot sensible of a smell of fire? Do you not hear what a noisethere is of clashing doors within the house and of hoarse voices, murmurs, and distant shouts on the outside? Upon my word, Ibelieve something very extraordinary has taken place. Get up, forthe love of Heaven, and let us be on our guard. '

Dinmont rose at the idea of danger, as intrepid and undismayed asany of his ancestors when the beacon-light was kindled. 'Od, Captain, this is a queer place! they winna let ye out in the day, and they winna let ye sleep in the night. Deil, but it wad breakmy heart in a fortnight. But, Lordsake, what a racket they'remaking now! Od, I wish we had some light. Wasp, Wasp, whisht, hinny; whisht, my bonnie man, and let's hear what they're doing. Deil's in ye, will ye whisht?'

They sought in vain among the embers the means of lighting theircandle, and the noise without still continued. Dinmont in his turnhad recourse to the window--'Lordsake, Captain! come here. Od, they hae broken the custom-house!'

Bertram hastened to the window, and plainly saw a miscellaneouscrowd of smugglers, and blackguards of different descriptions, some carrying lighted torches, others bearing packages and barrelsdown the lane to the boat that was lying at the quay, to which twoor three other fisher-boats were now brought round. They wereloading each of these in their turn, and one or two had alreadyput off to seaward. 'This speaks for itself, ' said Bertram; 'but Ifear something worse has happened. Do you perceive a strong smellof smoke, or is it my fancy?'

'Fancy?' answered Dinmont, 'there's a reek like a killogie. Od, ifthey burn the custom-house it will catch here, and we'll lunt likea tar-barrel a' thegither. Eh! it wad be fearsome to be burntalive for naething, like as if ane had been a warlock! Mac-Guffog, hear ye!' roaring at the top of his voice; 'an ye wad ever hae ahaill bane in your skin, let's out, man, let's out!'

The fire began now to rise high, and thick clouds of smoke rolledpast the window at which Bertram and Dinmont were stationed. Sometimes, as the wind pleased, the dim shroud of vapour hideverything from their sight; sometimes a red glare illuminatedboth land and sea, and shone full on the stern and fierce figureswho, wild with ferocious activity, were engaged in loading theboats. The fire was at length triumphant, and spouted in jets offlame out at each window of the burning building, while hugeflakes of flaming materials came driving on the wind against theadjoining prison, and rolling a dark canopy of smoke over all theneighbourhood. The shouts of a furious mob resounded far and wide;for the smugglers in their triumph were joined by all the rabbleof the little town and neighbourhood, now aroused and in completeagitation, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, some frominterest in the free trade, and most from the general love ofmischief and tumult natural to a vulgar populace. 

Bertram began to be seriously anxious for their fate. There was nostir in the house; it seemed as if the jailor had deserted hischarge, and left the prison with its wretched inhabitants to themercy of the conflagration which was spreading towards them. Inthe meantime a new and fierce attack was heard upon the outer gateof the correction house, which, battered with sledge-hammers andcrows, was soon forced. The keeper, as great a coward as a bully, with his more ferocious wife, had fled; their servants readilysurrendered the keys. The liberated prisoners, celebrating theirdeliverance with the wildest yells of joy, mingled among the mobwhich had given them freedom. 

In the midst of the confusion that ensued three or four of theprincipal smugglers hurried to the apartment of Bertram withlighted torches, and armed with cutlasses and pistols. 'Derdeyvil, ' said the leader, 'here's our mark!' and two of themseized on Bertram; but one whispered in his ear, ' Make noresistance till you are in the street. ' The same individual foundan instant to say to Dinmont--'Follow your friend, and help whenyou see the time come. '

In the hurry of the moment Dinmont obeyed and followed close. Thetwo smugglers dragged Bertram along the passage, downstairs, through the courtyard, now illuminated by the glare of fire, andinto the narrow street to which the gate opened, where in theconfusion the gang were necessarily in some degree separated fromeach other. A rapid noise, as of a body of horse advancing, seemedto add to the disturbance. 'Hagel and wetter, what is that?' saidthe leader; 'keep together, kinder; look to the prisoner. ' But inspite of his charge the two who held Bertram were the last of theparty. 

The sounds and signs of violence were heard in front. The pressbecame furiously agitated, while some endeavoured to defendthemselves, others to escape; shots were fired, and the glitteringbroadswords of the dragoons began to appear flashing above theheads of the rioters. 'Now, ' said the warning whisper of the manwho held Bertram's left arm, the same who had spoken before, 'shake off that fellow and follow me. '

Bertram, exerting his strength suddenly and effectually, easilyburst from the grasp of the man who held his collar on the rightside. The fellow attempted to draw a pistol, but was prostrated bya blow of Dinmont's fist, which an ox could hardly have receivedwithout the same humiliation. 'Follow me quick, ' said the friendlypartizan, and dived through a very narrow and dirty lane which ledfrom the main street. 

No pursuit took place. The attention of the smugglers had beenotherwise and very disagreeably engaged by the sudden appearanceof Mac-Morlan and the party of horse. The loud, manly voice of theprovincial magistrate was heard proclaiming the Riot Act, andcharging 'all those unlawfully assembled to disperse at their ownproper peril. ' This interruption would, indeed, have happened intime sufficient to have prevented the attempt, had not themagistrate received upon the road some false information which ledhim to think that the smugglers were to land at the bay ofEllangowan. Nearly two hours were lost in consequence of thisfalse intelligence, which it may be no lack of charity to supposethat Glossin, so deeply interested in the issue of that night'sdaring attempt, had contrived to throw in Mac-Morlan's way, availing himself of the knowledge that the soldiers had leftHazlewood House, which would soon reach an ear so anxious as his. 

In the meantime, Bertram followed his guide, and was in his turnfollowed by Dinmont. The shouts of the mob, the trampling of thehorses, the dropping pistol-shots, sunk more and more faintly upontheir ears, when at the end of the dark lane they found a post-chaise with four horses. 'Are you here, in God's name?' said theguide to the postilion who drove the leaders. 

'Ay, troth am I, ' answered Jock Jabos, 'and I wish I were ony gateelse. '

'Open the carriage then. You, gentlemen, get into it; in a shorttime you'll be in a place of safety, and (to Bertram) rememberyour promise to the gipsy wife!'

Bertram, resolving to be passive in the hands of a person who hadjust rendered him such a distinguished piece of service, got intothe chaise as directed. Dinmont followed; Wasp, who had kept closeby them, sprung in at the same time, and the carriage drove offvery fast. 'Have a care o' me, ' said Dinmont, 'but this is thequeerest thing yet! Od, I trust they'll no coup us. And thenwhat's to come o' Dumple? I would rather be on his back than inthe Deuke's coach, God bless him. '

Bertram observed, that they could not go at that rapid rate to anyvery great distance without changing horses, and that they mightinsist upon remaining till daylight at the first inn they stoppedat, or at least upon being made acquainted with the purpose andtermination of their journey, and Mr. Dinmont might there givedirections about his faithful horse, which would probably be safeat the stables where he had left him. 'Aweel, aweel, e'en sae beit for Dandie. Od, if we were ance out o' this trindling kist o' athing, I am thinking they wad find it hard wark to gar us gang onygate but where we liked oursells. '

While he thus spoke the carriage, making a sudden turn, showedthem through the left window the village at some distance, stillwidely beaconed by the fire, which, having reached a store-housewherein spirits were deposited, now rose high into the air, awavering column of brilliant light. They had not long time toadmire this spectacle, for another turn of the road carried theminto a close lane between plantations, through which the chaiseproceeded in nearly total darkness, but with unabated speed. 

CHAPTER XLIX

 The night drave on wi' sangs and clatter, And aye the ale was growing better

 Tam o'Shanter. 

We must now return to Woodbourne, which, it may be remembered, weleft just after the Colonel had given some directions to hisconfidential servant. When he returned, his absence of mind, andan unusual expression of thought and anxiety upon his features, struck the ladies, whom he joined in the drawing-room. Manneringwas not, however, a man to be questioned, even by those whom hemost loved, upon the cause of the mental agitation which thesesigns expressed. The hour of tea arrived, and the party werepartaking of that refreshment in silence when a carriage drove upto the door, and the bell announced the arrival of a visitor. 'Surely, ' said Mannering, 'it is too soon by some hours. '

There was a short pause, when Barnes, opening the door of thesaloon, announced Mr. Pleydell. In marched the lawyer, whose well-brushed black coat and well-powdered wig, together with his pointruffles, brown silk stockings, highly-varnished shoes, and goldbuckles, exhibited the pains which the old gentleman had taken toprepare his person for the ladies' society. He was welcomed byMannering with a hearty shake by the hand. 'The very man I wishedto see at this moment!'

'Yes, ' said the Counsellor, 'I told you I would take the firstopportunity; so I have ventured to leave the court for a week insession time--no common sacrifice; but I had a notion I could beuseful, and I was to attend a proof here about the same time. Butwill you not introduce me to the young ladies? Ah! there is one Ishould have known at once from her family likeness! Miss LucyBertram, my love, I am most happy to see you. ' And he folded herin his arms, and gave her a hearty kiss on each side of the face, to which Lucy submitted in blushing resignation. 

'On n'arrete pas dans un si beau chemin, ' continued the gay oldgentleman, and, as the Colonel presented him to Julia, took thesame liberty with that fair lady's cheek. Julia laughed, coloured, and disengaged herself. 'I beg a thousand pardons, ' said thelawyer, with a bow which was not at all professionally awkward;'age and old fashions give privileges, and I can hardly saywhether I am most sorry just now at being too well entitled toclaim them at all, or happy in having such an opportunity toexercise them so agreeably. '

'Upon my word, sir, ' said Miss Mannering, laughing, 'if you makesuch flattering apologies we shall begin to doubt whether we canadmit you to shelter yourself under your alleged qualifications. '

'I can assure you, Julia, ' said the Colonel, 'you are perfectlyright. My friend the Counsellor is a dangerous person; the lasttime I had the pleasure of seeing him he was closeted with a fairlady who had granted him a tete-a-tete at eight in the morning. '

'Ay, but, Colonel, ' said the Counsellor, 'you should add, I wasmore indebted to my chocolate than my charms for so distinguisheda favour from a person of such propriety of demeanour as Mrs. Rebecca. '

'And that should remind me, Mr. Pleydell, ' said Julia, 'to offeryou tea; that is, supposing you have dined. '

'Anything, Miss Mannering, from your hands, ' answered the gallantjurisconsult; 'yes, I have dined; that is to say, as people dineat a Scotch inn. '

'And that is indifferently enough, ' said the Colonel, with hishand upon the bell-handle; 'give me leave to order something. '

'Why, to say truth, 'replied Mr. Pleydell, 'I had rather not. Ihave been inquiring into that matter, for you must know I stoppedan instant below to pull off my boot-hose, "a world too wide formy shrunk shanks, "' glancing down with some complacency upon limbswhich looked very well for his time of life, 'and I had someconversation with your Barnes and a very intelligent person whom Ipresume to be the housekeeper; and it was settled among us, totare perspecta, --I beg Miss Mannering's pardon for my Latin, --thatthe old lady should add to your light family supper the moresubstantial refreshment of a brace of wild ducks. I told her(always under deep submission) my poor thoughts about the sauce, which concurred exactly with her own; and, if you please, I wouldrather wait till they are ready before eating anything solid. '

'And we will anticipate our usual hour of supper, ' said theColonel. 

'With all my heart, ' said Pleydell, 'providing I do not lose theladies' company a moment the sooner. I am of counsel with my oldfriend Burnet; [Footnote: See Note 5] I love the coena, the supperof the ancients, the pleasant meal and social glass that wash outof one's mind the cobwebs that business or gloom have beenspinning in our brains all day. '

The vivacity of Mr. Pleydell's look and manner, and the quietnesswith which he made himself at home on the subject of his littleepicurean comforts, amused the ladies, but particularly MissMannering, who immediately gave the Counsellor a great deal offlattering attention; and more pretty things were said on bothsides during the service of the tea-table than we have leisure torepeat. 

As soon as this was over, Mannering led the Counsellor by the arminto a small study which opened from the saloon, and where, according to the custom of the family, there were always lightsand a good fire in the evening. 

'I see, 'said Mr. Pleydell, 'you have got something to tell meabout the Ellangowan business. Is it terrestrial or celestial?What says my military Albumazar? Have you calculated the course offuturity? have you consulted your ephemerides, your almochoden, your almuten?'

'No, truly, Counsellor, ' replied Mannering, 'you are the onlyPtolemy I intend to resort to upon the present occasion. A secondProspero, I have broken my staff and drowned my book far beyondplummet depth. But I have great news notwithstanding. MegMerrilies, our Egyptian sibyl, has appeared to the Dominie thisvery day, and, as I conjecture, has frightened the honest man nota little. '

'Indeed?'

'Ay, and she has done me the honour to open a correspondence withme, supposing me to be as deep in astrological mysteries as whenwe first met. Here is her scroll, delivered to me by the Dominie. '

Pleydell put on his spectacles. 'A vile greasy scrawl, indeed; andthe letters are uncial or semi-uncial, as somebody calls yourlarge text hand, and in size and perpendicularity resemble theribs of a roasted pig; I can hardly make it out. '

'Read aloud, ' said Mannering. 

'I will try, ' answered the Lawyer. '"YOU ARE A GOOD SEEKER, BUT ABAD FINDER; YOU SET YOURSELF TO PROP A FALLING HOUSE, BUT HAD AGEY GUESS IT WOULD RISE AGAIN. LEND YOUR HAND TO THE WORK THAT'SNEAR, AS YOU LENT YOUR EE TO THE WEIRD THAT WAS FAR. HAVE ACARRIAGE THIS NIGHT BY TEN O'CLOCK AT THE END OF THE CROOKED DYKESAT PORTANFERRY, AND LET IT BRING THE FOLK TO WOODBOURNE THAT SHALLASK THEM, IF THEY BE THERE IN GOD'S NAME. "--Stay, here followssome poetry--

 "DARK SHALL BE LIGHT, AND WRONG DONE TO RIGHT, WHEN BERTRAM'S RIGHT AND BERTRAM'S MIGHT SHALL MEET ON ELLANGOWAN'S HEIGHT. "

A most mystic epistle truly, and closes in a vein of poetry worthyof the Cumaean sibyl. And what have you done?'

'Why, ' said Mannering, rather reluctantly, 'I was loth to risk anyopportunity of throwing light on this business. The woman isperhaps crazed, and these effusions may arise only from visions ofher imagination; but you were of opinion that she knew more ofthat strange story than she ever told. '

'And so, ' said Pleydell, 'you sent a carriage to the place named?'

'You will laugh at me if I own I did, ' replied the Colonel. 

'Who, I?' replied the Advocate. 'No, truly, I think it was thewisest thing you could do. '

'Yes, ' answered Mannering, well pleased to have escaped theridicule he apprehended; 'you know the worst is paying the chaise-hire. I sent a post-chaise and four from Kippletringan, withinstructions corresponding to the letter; the horses will have along and cold station on the outpost to-night if our intelligencebe false. '

'Ay, but I think it will prove otherwise, ' said the Lawyer. 'Thiswoman has played a part till she believes it; or, if she be athorough-paced impostor, without a single grain of self-delusionto qualify her knavery, still she may think herself bound to actin character; this I know, that I could get nothing out of her bythe common modes of interrogation, and the wisest thing we can dois to give her an opportunity of making the discovery her own way. And now have you more to say, or shall we go to the ladies?'

'Why, my mind is uncommonly agitated, ' answered the Colonel, 'and--but I really have no more to say; only I shall count the minutestill the carriage returns; but you cannot be expected to be soanxious. '

'Why, no; use is all in all, ' said the more experienced lawyer; 'Iam much interested certainly, but I think I shall be able tosurvive the interval, if the ladies will afford us some music. '

'And with the assistance of the wild ducks, by and by?' suggestedMannering. 

'True, Colonel; a lawyer's anxiety about the fate of the mostinteresting cause has seldom spoiled either his sleep ordigestion. [Footnote: See Note 6. ] And yet I shall be very eagerto hear the rattle of these wheels on their return, notwithstanding. '

So saying, he rose and led the way into the next room, where MissMannering, at his request, took her seat at the harpsichord, LucyBertram, who sung her native melodies very sweetly, wasaccompanied by her friend upon the instrument, and Juliaafterwards performed some of Scarlatti's sonatas with greatbrilliancy. The old lawyer, scraping a little upon thevioloncello, and being a member of the gentlemen's concert inEdinburgh, was so greatly delighted with this mode of spending theevening that I doubt if he once thought of the wild ducks untilBarnes informed the company that supper was ready. 

'Tell Mrs. Allan to have something in readiness, ' said theColonel; 'I expect--that is, I hope--perhaps some company may behere to-night; and let the men sit up, and do not lock the uppergate on the lawn until I desire you. '

'Lord, sir, ' said Julia, 'whom can you possibly expect to-night?'

'Why, some persons, strangers to me, talked of calling in theevening on business, ' answered her father, not withoutembarrassment, for he would have little brooked a disappointmentwhich might have thrown ridicule on his judgment; 'it is quiteuncertain. '

'Well, we shall not pardon them for disturbing our party, ' saidJulia, 'unless they bring as much good-humour and as susceptiblehearts as my friend and admirer, for so he has dubbed himself, Mr. Pleydell. '

'Ah, Miss Julia, ' said Pleydell, offering his arm with an air ofgallantry to conduct her into the eating-room, 'the time has been, when I returned from Utrecht in the year 1738--'

'Pray don't talk of it, ' answered the young lady; 'we like youmuch better as you are. Utrecht, in Heaven's name! I daresay youhave spent all the intervening years in getting rid so completelyof the effects of your Dutch education. '

'O forgive me, Miss Mannering, ' said the Lawyer, 'the Dutch are amuch more accomplished people in point of gallantry than theirvolatile neighbours are willing to admit. They are constant asclock-work in their attentions. '

' I should tire of that, ' said Julia. 

'Imperturbable in their good temper, ' continued Pleydell. 

'Worse and worse, ' said the young lady. 

'And then, ' said the old beau garcon, 'although for six timesthree hundred and sixty-five days your swain has placed thecapuchin round your neck, and the stove under your feet, anddriven your little sledge upon the ice in winter, and yourcabriole through the dust in summer, you may dismiss him at once, without reason or apology, upon the two thousand one hundred andninetieth day, which, according to my hasty calculation, andwithout reckoning leap-years, will complete the cycle of thesupposed adoration, and that without your amiable feelings havingthe slightest occasion to be alarmed for the consequences to thoseof Mynheer. '

'Well, ' replied Julia, ' that last is truly a Dutch recommendation, Mr. Pleydell; crystal and hearts would lose all their merit in theworld if it were not for their fragility. '

'Why, upon that point of the argument, Miss Mannering, it is asdifficult to find a heart that will break as a glass that willnot; and for that reason I would press the value of mine own, wereit not that I see Mr. Sampson's eyes have been closed, and hishands clasped for some time, attending the end of our conferenceto begin the grace. And, to say the truth, the appearance of thewild ducks is very appetising. ' So saying, the worthy Counsellorsat himself to table, and laid aside his gallantry for awhile todo honour to the good things placed before him. Nothing further isrecorded of him for some time, excepting an observation that theducks were roasted to a single turn, and that Mrs. Allan's sauceof claret, lemon, and cayenne was beyond praise. 

'I see, ' said Miss Mannering, 'I have a formidable rival in Mr. Pleydell's favour, even on the very first night of his avowedadmiration. '

'Pardon me, my fair lady, ' answered the Counsellor, 'your avowedrigour alone has induced me to commit the solecism of eating agood supper in your presence; how shall I support your frownswithout reinforcing my strength? Upon the same principle, and noother, I will ask permission to drink wine with you. '

'This is the fashion of Utrecht also, I suppose, Mr. Pleydell?'

'Forgive me, madam, ' answered the Counsellor; 'the Frenchthemselves, the patterns of all that is gallant, term theirtavern-keepers restaurateurs, alluding, doubtless, to the reliefthey afford the disconsolate lover when bowed down to the earth byhis mistress's severity. My own case requires so much relief thatI must trouble you for that other wing, Mr. Sampson, withoutprejudice to my afterwards applying to Miss Bertram for a tart. Bepleased to tear the wing, sir, instead of cutting it off. Mr. Barnes will assist you, Mr. Sampson; thank you, sir; and, Mr. Barnes, a glass of ale, if you please. '

While the old gentleman, pleased with Miss Mannering's livelinessand attention, rattled away for her amusement and his own, theimpatience of Colonel Mannering began to exceed all bounds. Hedeclined sitting down at table, under pretence that he never eatsupper; and traversed the parlour in which they were with hastyand impatient steps, now throwing up the window to gaze upon thedark lawn, now listening for the remote sound of the carriageadvancing up the avenue. At length, in a feeling of uncontrollableimpatience, he left the room, took his hat and cloak, and pursuedhis walk up the avenue, as if his so doing would hasten theapproach of those whom he desired to see. 'I really wish, ' saidMiss Bertram, ' Colonel Mannering would not venture out afternightfall. You must have heard, Mr. Pleydell, what a cruel frightwe had. '

'O, with the smugglers?' replied the Advocate; 'they are oldfriends of mine. I was the means of bringing some of them tojustice a long time since, when sheriff of this county. '

'And then the alarm we had immediately afterwards, ' added MissBertram, 'from the vengeance of one of these wretches. '

'When young Hazlewood was hurt; I heard of that too. '

'Imagine, my dear Mr. Pleydell, ' continued Lucy, 'how much MissMannering and I were alarmed when a ruffian, equally dreadful forhis great strength and the sternness of his features, rushed outupon us!'

'You must know, Mr. Pleydell, ' said Julia, unable to suppress herresentment at this undesigned aspersion of her admirer, 'thatyoung Hazlewood is so handsome in the eyes of the young ladies ofthis country that they think every person shocking who comes nearhim. '

'Oho!' thought Pleydell, who was by profession an observer oftones and gestures, ' there's something wrong here between my youngfriends. '--'Well, Miss Mannering, I have not seen young Hazlewoodsince he was a boy, so the ladies may be perfectly right; but Ican assure you, in spite of your scorn, that if you want to seehandsome men you must go to Holland; the prettiest fellow I eversaw was a Dutchman, in spite of his being called Vanbost, orVanbuster, or some such barbarous name. He will not be quite sohandsome now, to be sure. '

It was now Julia's turn to look a little out of countenance at thechance hit of her learned admirer, but that instant the Colonelentered the room. 'I can hear nothing of them yet, ' he said;'still, however, we will not separate. Where is Dominie Sampson?'

'Here, honoured sir. '

'What is that book you hold in your hand, Mr. Sampson?'

'It's even the learned De Lyra, sir. I would crave his honour Mr. Pleydell's judgment, always with his best leisure, to expound adisputed passage. '

'I am not in the vein, Mr. Sampson, ' answered Pleydell; 'here'smetal more attractive. I do not despair to engage these two youngladies in a glee or a catch, wherein I, even I myself, willadventure myself for the bass part. Hang De Lyra, man; keep himfor a fitter season. '

The disappointed Dominie shut his ponderous tome, much marvellingin his mind how a person possessed of the lawyer's erudition couldgive his mind to these frivolous toys. But the Counsellor, indifferent to the high character for learning which he wastrifling away, filled himself a large glass of Burgundy, and, after preluding a little with a voice somewhat the worse for thewear, gave the ladies a courageous invitation to join in 'We beThree Poor Mariners, ' and accomplished his own part therein withgreat eclat. 

'Are you not withering your roses with sitting up so late, myyoung ladies?' said the Colonel. 

'Not a bit, sir, ' answered Julia; 'your friend Mr. Pleydellthreatens to become a pupil of Mr. Sampson's to-morrow, so we mustmake the most of our conquest to-night. '

This led to another musical trial of skill, and that to livelyconversation. At length, when the solitary sound of one o'clockhad long since resounded on the ebon ear of night, and the nextsignal of the advance of time was close approaching, Mannering, whose impatience had long subsided into disappointment anddespair, looked at his watch and said, 'We must now give them up, 'when at that instant--But what then befell will require a separatechapter. 

CHAPTER L

 JUSTICE This does indeed confirm each circumstance The gipsy told! No orphan, nor without a friend art thou. _I_ am thy father, HERE'S thy mother, THERE Thy uncle, THIS thy first cousin, and THESE Are all thy near relations!

 The Critic. 

As Mannering replaced his watch, he heard a distant and hollowsound. 'It is a carriage for certain; no, it is but the sound ofthe wind among the leafless trees. Do come to the window, Mr. Pleydell. ' The Counsellor, who, with his large silk handkerchiefin his hand, was expatiating away to Julia upon some subject whichhe thought was interesting, obeyed the summons, first, however, wrapping the handkerchief round his neck by way of precautionagainst the cold air. The sound of wheels became now veryperceptible, and Pleydell, as if he had reserved all his curiositytill that moment, ran out to the hall. The Colonel rung for Barnesto desire that the persons who came in the carriage might be showninto a separate room, being altogether uncertain whom it mightcontain. It stopped, however, at the door before his purpose couldbe fully explained. A moment after Mr. Pleydell called out, 'Here's our Liddesdale friend, I protest, with a strapping youngfellow of the same calibre. ' His voice arrested Dinmont, whorecognised him with equal surprise and pleasure. 'Od, if it's yourhonour we'll a' be as right and tight as thack and rape can makeus. '

But while the farmer stopped to make his bow, Bertram, dizziedwith the sudden glare of light, and bewildered with thecircumstances of his situation, almost unconsciously entered theopen door of the parlour, and confronted the Colonel, who was justadvancing towards it. The strong light of the apartment left nodoubt of his identity, and he himself was as much confounded withthe appearance of those to whom he so unexpectedly presentedhimself as they were by the sight of so utterly unlooked-for anobject. It must be remembered that each individual present hadtheir own peculiar reasons for looking with terror upon whatseemed at first sight a spectral apparition. Mannering saw beforehim the man whom he supposed he had killed in India; Julia beheldher lover in a most peculiar and hazardous situation; and LucyBertram at once knew the person who had fired upon youngHazlewood. Bertram, who interpreted the fixed and motionlessastonishment of the Colonel into displeasure at his intrusion, hastened to say that it was involuntary, since he had been hurriedhither without even knowing whither he was to be transported. 

'Mr. Brown, I believe!' said Colonel Mannering. 

'Yes, sir, ' replied the young man, modestly, but with firmness, 'the same you knew in India; and who ventures to hope, that whatyou did then know of him is not such as should prevent hisrequesting you would favour him with your attestation to hischaracter as a gentleman and man of honour. '

'Mr. Brown, I have been seldom--never--so much surprised;certainly, sir, in whatever passed between us you have a right tocommand my favourable testimony. '

At this critical moment entered the Counsellor and Dinmont. Theformer beheld to his astonishment the Colonel but just recoveringfrom his first surprise, Lucy Bertram ready to faint with terror, and Miss Mannering in an agony of doubt and apprehension, whichshe in vain endeavoured to disguise or suppress. 'What is themeaning of all this?' said he; 'has this young fellow brought theGorgon's head in his hand? let me look at him. By Heaven!' hemuttered to himself, 'the very image of old Ellangowan! Yes, thesame manly form and handsome features, but with a world of moreintelligence in the face. Yes! the witch has kept her word. ' Theninstantly passing to Lucy, 'Look at that man, Miss Bertram, mydear; have you never seen any one like him?'

Lucy had only ventured one glance at this object of terror, bywhich, however, from his remarkable height and appearance, she atonce recognised the supposed assassin of young Hazlewood, aconviction which excluded, of course, the more favourableassociation of ideas which might have occurred on a closer view. 'Don't ask me about him, sir, ' said she, turning away her eyes;'send him away, for Heaven's sake! we shall all be murdered!'

'Murdered! where's the poker?' said the Advocate in some alarm;'but nonsense! we are three men besides the servants, and there ishonest Liddesdale, worth half-a-dozen, to boot; we have the majorvis upon our side. However, here, my friend Dandie--Davie--what dothey call you? keep between that fellow and us for the protectionof the ladies. '

'Lord! Mr. Pleydell, ' said the astonished farmer, 'that's CaptainBrown; d 'ye no ken the Captain?'

'Nay, if he's a friend of yours we may be safe enough, ' answeredPleydell; 'but keep near him. '

All this passed with such rapidity that it was over before theDominie had recovered himself from a fit of absence, shut the bookwhich he had been studying in a corner, and, advancing to obtain asight of the strangers, exclaimed at once upon beholding Bertram, 'If the grave can give up the dead, that is my dear and honouredmaster!'

'We're right after all, by Heaven! I was sure I was right, ' saidthe Lawyer; 'he is the very image of his father. Come, Colonel, what do you think of, that you do not bid your guest welcome? Ithink--I believe--I trust we're right; never saw such a likeness!But patience; Dominie, say not a word. Sit down, young gentleman. '

'I beg pardon, sir; if I am, as I understand, in ColonelMannering's house, I should wish first to know if my accidentalappearance here gives offence, or if I am welcome?'

Mannering instantly made an effort. 'Welcome? most certainly, especially if you can point out how I can serve you. I believe Imay have some wrongs to repair towards you, I have often suspectedso; but your sudden and unexpected appearance, connected withpainful recollections, prevented my saying at first, as I now say, that whatever has procured me the honour of this visit, it is anacceptable one. '

Bertram bowed with an air of distant yet civil acknowledgment tothe grave courtesy of Mannering. 

'Julia, my love, you had better retire. Mr. Brown, you will excusemy daughter; there are circumstances which I perceive rush uponher recollection. '

Miss Mannering rose and retired accordingly; yet, as she passedBertram, could not suppress the words, 'Infatuated! a secondtime!' but so pronounced as to be heard by him alone. Miss Bertramaccompanied her friend, much surprised, but without venturing asecond glance at the object of her terror. Some mistake she sawthere was, and was unwilling to increase it by denouncing thestranger as an assassin. He was known, she saw, to the Colonel, and received as a gentleman; certainly he either was not theperson she suspected or Hazlewood was right in supposing the shotaccidental. 

The remaining part of the company would have formed no bad groupfor a skilful painter. Each was too much embarrassed with his ownsensations to observe those of the others. Bertram mostunexpectedly found himself in the house of one whom he wasalternately disposed to dislike as his personal enemy and torespect as the father of Julia. Mannering was struggling betweenhis high sense of courtesy and hospitality, his joy at findinghimself relieved from the guilt of having shed life in a privatequarrel, and the former feelings of dislike and prejudice, whichrevived in his haughty mind at the sight of the object againstwhom he had entertained them. Sampson, supporting his shakinglimbs by leaning on the back of a chair, fixed his eyes uponBertram with a staring expression of nervous anxiety whichconvulsed his whole visage. Dinmont, enveloped in his loose shaggygreat-coat, and resembling a huge bear erect upon his hinder legs, stared on the whole scene with great round eyes that witnessed hisamazement. 

The Counsellor alone was in his element: shrewd, prompt, andactive, he already calculated the prospect of brilliant success ina strange, eventful, and mysterious lawsuit, and no young monarch, flushed with hopes, and at the head of a gallant army, couldexperience more glee when taking the field on his first campaign. He bustled about with great energy, and took the arrangement ofthe whole explanation upon himself. 

'Come, come, gentlemen, sit down; this is all in my province; youmust let me arrange it for you. Sit down, my dear Colonel, and letme manage; sit down, Mr. Brown, aut quocunque alio nomine vocaris;Dominie, take your seat; draw in your chair, honest Liddesdale. '

'I dinna ken, Mr. Pleydell, ' said Dinmont, looking at hisdreadnought coat, then at the handsome furniture of the room; 'Ihad maybe better gang some gate else, and leave ye till yourcracks, I'm no just that weel put on. '

The Colonel, who by this time recognised Dandie, immediately wentup and bid him heartily welcome; assuring him that, from what hehad seen of him in Edinburgh, he was sure his rough coat andthick-soled boots would honour a royal drawing-room. 

'Na, na, Colonel, we're just plain up-the-country folk; but naedoubt I would fain hear o' ony pleasure that was gaun to happenthe Captain, and I'm sure a' will gae right if Mr. Pleydell willtake his bit job in hand. '

'You're right, Dandie; spoke like a Hieland [Footnote: It may notbe unnecessary to tell southern readers that the mountainouscountry in the south western borders of Scotland is calledHieland, though totally different from the much more mountainousand more extensive districts of the north, usually calledHielands. ] oracle; and now be silent. Well, you are all seated atlast; take a glass of wine till I begin my catechism methodically. And now, ' turning to Bertram, 'my dear boy, do you know who orwhat you are?'

In spite of his perplexity the catechumen could not help laughingat this commencement, and answered, 'Indeed, sir, I formerlythought I did; but I own late circumstances have made me somewhatuncertain. '

'Then tell us what you formerly thought yourself. '

'Why, I was in the habit of thinking and calling myself VanbeestBrown, who served as a cadet or volunteer under Colonel Mannering, when he commanded the--regiment, in which capacity I was notunknown to him. '

'There, ' said the Colonel, 'I can assure Mr. Brown of hisidentity; and add, what his modesty may have forgotten, that hewas distinguished as a young man of talent and spirit. '

'So much the better, my dear sir, ' said Mr. Pleydell; 'but that isto general character. Mr. Brown must tell us where he was born. '

'In Scotland, I believe, but the place uncertain. '

'Where educated?'

'In Holland, certainly. '

'Do you remember nothing of your early life before you leftScotland?'

'Very imperfectly; yet I have a strong idea, perhaps more deeplyimpressed upon me by subsequent hard usage, that I was during mychildhood the object of much solicitude and affection. I have anindistinct remembrance of a good-looking man whom I used to callpapa, and of a lady who was infirm in health, and who, I think, must have been my mother; but it is an imperfect and confusedrecollection. I remember too a tall, thin, kind-tempered man inblack, who used to teach me my letters and walk out with me; and Ithink the very last time--'

Here the Dominie could contain no longer. While every succeedingword served to prove that the child of his benefactor stood beforehim, he had struggled with the utmost difficulty to suppress hisemotions; but when the juvenile recollections of Bertram turnedtowards his tutor and his precepts he was compelled to give way tohis feelings. He rose hastily from his chair, and with claspedhands, trembling limbs, and streaming eyes, called out aloud, 'Harry Bertram! look at me; was I not the man?'

'Yes!' said Bertram, starting from his seat as if a sudden lighthad burst in upon his mind; 'yes; that was my name! And that isthe voice and the figure of my kind old master!'

The Dominie threw himself into his arms, pressed him a thousandtimes to his bosom in convulsions of transport which shook hiswhole frame, sobbed hysterically, and at length, in the emphaticlanguage of Scripture, lifted up his voice and wept aloud. ColonelMannering had recourse to his handkerchief; Pleydell made wryfaces, and wiped the glasses of his spectacles; and honestDinmont, after two loud blubbering explosions, exclaimed, 'Deil'sin the man! he's garr'd me do that I haena done since my auldmither died. '

'Come, come, ' said the Counsellor at last, 'silence in the court. We have a clever party to contend with; we must lose no time ingathering our information; for anything I know there may besomething to be done before daybreak. '

'I will order a horse to be saddled if you please, ' said theColonel. 

'No, no, time enough, time enough. But come, Dominie, I haveallowed you a competent space to express your feelings. I mustcircumduce the term; you must let me proceed in my examination. '

The Dominie was habitually obedient to any one who chose to imposecommands upon him: he sunk back into his chair, spread hischequered handkerchief over his face, to serve, as I suppose, forthe Grecian painter's veil, and, from the action of his foldedhands, appeared for a time engaged in the act of mentalthanksgiving. He then raised his eyes over the screen, as if to beassured that the pleasing apparition had not melted into air; thenagain sunk them to resume his internal act of devotion, until hefelt himself compelled to give attention to the Counsellor, fromthe interest which his questions excited. 

'And now, ' said Mr. Pleydell, after several minute inquiriesconcerning his recollection of early events--'and now, Mr. Bertram, --for I think we ought in future to call you by your ownproper name--will you have the goodness to let us know everyparticular which you can recollect concerning the mode of yourleaving Scotland?'

'Indeed, sir, to say the truth, though the terrible outlines ofthat day are strongly impressed upon my memory, yet somehow thevery terror which fixed them there has in a great measureconfounded and confused the details. I recollect, however, that Iwas walking somewhere or other, in a wood, I think--'

'O yes, it was in Warroch wood, my dear, ' said the Dominie. 

'Hush, Mr. Sampson, ' said the Lawyer. 

'Yes, it was in a wood, ' continued Bertram, as long past andconfused ideas arranged themselves in his reviving recollection;'and some one was with me; this worthy and affectionate gentleman, I think. '

'O, ay, ay, Harry, Lord bless thee; it was even I myself. '

'Be silent, Dominie, and don't interrupt the evidence, ' saidPleydell. 'And so, sir?' to Bertram. 

'And so, sir, ' continued Bertram, 'like one of the changes of adream, I thought I was on horseback before my guide. '

'No, no, ' exclaimed Sampson, 'never did I put my own limbs, not tosay thine, into such peril. '

'On my word, this is intolerable! Look ye, Dominie, if you speakanother word till I give you leave, I will read three sentencesout of the Black Acts, whisk my cane round my head three times, undo all the magic of this night's work, and conjure Harry Bertramback again into Vanbeest Brown. '

'Honoured and worthy sir, ' groaned out the Dominie, 'I humblycrave pardon; it was but verbum volans. '

'Well, nolens volens, you must hold your tongue, ' said Pleydell. 

'Pray, be silent, Mr. Sampson, ' said the Colonel; 'it is of greatconsequence to your recovered friend that you permit Mr. Pleydellto proceed in his inquiries. '

'I am mute, ' said the rebuked Dominie. 

'On a sudden, ' continued Bertram, 'two or three men sprung outupon us, and we were pulled from horseback. I have littlerecollection of anything else, but that I tried to escape in themidst of a desperate scuffle, and fell into the arms of a verytall woman who started from the bushes and protected me for sometime; the rest is all confusion and dread, a dim recollection of asea-beach and a cave, and of some strong potion which lulled me tosleep for a length of time. In short, it is all a blank in mymemory until I recollect myself first an ill-used and half-starvedcabin-boy aboard a sloop, and then a schoolboy in Holland, underthe protection of an old merchant, who had taken some fancy forme. '

'And what account, ' said Mr. Pleydell, 'did your guardian give ofyour parentage?'

'A very brief one, ' answered Bertram, 'and a charge to inquire nofarther. I was given to understand that my father was concerned inthe smuggling trade carried on on the eastern coast of Scotland, and was killed in a skirmish with the revenue officers; that hiscorrespondents in Holland had a vessel on the coast at the time, part of the crew of which were engaged in the affair, and thatthey brought me off after it was over, from a motive ofcompassion, as I was left destitute by my father's death. As Igrew older there was much of this story seemed inconsistent withmy own recollections, but what could I do? I had no means ofascertaining my doubts, nor a single friend with whom I couldcommunicate or canvass them. The rest of my story is known toColonel Mannering: I went out to India to be a clerk in a Dutchhouse; their affairs fell into confusion; I betook myself to themilitary profession, and, I trust, as yet I have not disgracedit. '

'Thou art a fine young fellow, I'll be bound for thee, ' saidPleydell, 'and since you have wanted a father so long, I wish frommy heart I could claim the paternity myself. But this affair ofyoung Hazlewood--'

'Was merely accidental, ' said Bertram. 'I was travelling inScotland for pleasure, and, after a week's residence with myfriend Mr. Dinmont, with whom I had the good fortune to form anaccidental acquaintance--'

"It was my gude fortune that, " said Dinmont. "Odd, my brains wadhae been knockit out by twa black-guards if it hadna been for hisfour quarters. "

"Shortly after we parted at the town of----I lost my baggage bythieves, and it was while residing at Kippletringan I accidentallymet the young gentleman. As I was approaching to pay my respectsto Miss Mannering, whom I had known in India, Mr. Hazlewood, conceiving my appearance none of the most respectable, commandedme rather haughtily to stand back, and so gave occasion to thefray, in which I had the misfortune to be the accidental means ofwounding him. And now, sir, that I have answered all yourquestions--"

"No, no, not quite all, " said Pleydell, winking sagaciously;"there are some interrogatories which I shall delay till to-morrow, for it is time, I believe, to close the sederunt for thisnight, or rather morning. "

"Well, then, sir, " said the young man, "to vary the phrase, sinceI have answered all the questions which you have chosen to ask to-night, will you be so good as to tell me who you are that takesuch interest in my affairs, and whom you take me to be, since myarrival has occasioned such commotion?"

"Why, sir, for myself, " replied the Counsellor, "I am PaulusPleydell, an advocate at the Scottish bar; and for you, it is noteasy to say distinctly who you are at present, but I trust in ashort time to hail you by the title of Henry Bertram, Esq. , representative of one of the oldest families in Scotland, and heirof Tailzie and provision to the estate of Ellangowan. Ay, "continued he, shutting his eyes and speaking to himself, "we mustpass over his father, and serve him heir to his grandfather Lewis, the entailer; the only wise man of his family, that I ever heardof. "

They had now risen to retire to their apartments for the night, when Colonel Mannering walked up to Bertram, as he stoodastonished at the Counsellor's words. "I give you joy, " he said, "of the prospects which fate has opened before you. I was an earlyfriend of your father, and chanced to be in the house ofEllangowan, as unexpectedly as you are now in mine, upon the verynight in which you were born. I little knew this circumstancewhen--but I trust unkindness will be forgotten between us. Believeme, your appearance here as Mr. Brown, alive and well, hasrelieved me from most painful sensations; and your right to thename of an old friend renders your presence as Mr. Bertram doublywelcome. "

"And my parents?" said Bertram. 

"Are both no more; and the family property has been sold, but Itrust may be recovered. Whatever is wanted to make your righteffectual I shall be most happy to supply. "

"Nay, you may leave all that to me, " said the Counsellor; "'t ismy vocation, Hal; I shall make money of it. "

"I'm sure it's no for the like o'me, " observed Dinmont, "to speakto you gentlefolks; but if siller would help on the Captain'splea, and they say nae plea gangs ain weel without it--"

"Except on Saturday night, " said Pleydell. 

"Ay, but when your honour wadna take your fee ye wadna hae thecause neither, sae I'll ne'er fash you on a Saturday at e'enagain. But I was saying, there's some siller in the spleuchanthat's like the Captain's ain, for we've aye counted it such, baith Ailie and me. "

'No, no, Liddesdale; no occasion, no occasion whatever. Keep thycash to stock thy farm. '

'To stock my farm? Mr. Pleydell, your honour kens mony things, butye dinna ken the farm o' Charlie's Hope; it's sae weel stockitalready that we sell maybe sax hundred pounds off it ilka year, flesh and fell the gither; na, na. '

'Can't you take another then?'

'I dinna ken; the Deuke's no that fond o' led farms, and he cannabide to put away the auld tenantry; and then I wadna like mysellto gang about whistling [Footnote: See Note 7. ] and raising therent on my neighbours. '

'What, not upon thy neighbour at Dawston--Devilstone--how d 'yecall the place?'

'What, on Jock o' Dawston? hout na. He's a camsteary chield, andfasheous about marches, and we've had some bits o' sploresthegither; but deil o'meif I wad wrang Jock o' Dawston neither. '

'Thou'rt an honest fellow, ' said the Lawyer; 'get thee to bed. Thou wilt sleep sounder, I warrant thee, than many a man thatthrows off an embroidered coat and puts on a laced nightcap. Colonel, I see you are busy with our enfant trouve. But Barnesmust give me a summons of wakening at seven to-morrow morning, formy servant's a sleepy-headed fellow; and I daresay my clerk Driverhas had Clarence's fate, and is drowned by this time in a butt ofyour ale; for Mrs. Allan promised to make him comfortable, andshe'll soon discover what he expects from that engagement. Good-night, Colonel; good-night, Dominie Sampson; good-night, Dinmontthe Downright; good-night, last of all, to the new-foundrepresentative of the Bertrams, and the Mac-Dingawaies, theKnarths, the Arths, the Godfreys, the Dennises, and the Rolands, and, last and dearest title, heir of tailzie and provision of thelands and barony of Ellangowan, under the settlement of LewisBertram, Esq. , whose representative you are. '

And so saying, the old gentleman took his candle and left theroom; and the company dispersed, after the Dominie had once morehugged and embraced his 'little Harry Bertram, ' as he continued tocall the young soldier of six feet high. 

CHAPTER LI

 My imagination Carries no favour in it but Bertram's; I am undone, there is no living, none, If Bertram be away. --All's Well that Ends Well. 

At the hour which he had appointed the preceding evening theindefatigable lawyer was seated by a good fire and a pair of waxcandles, with a velvet cap on his head and a quilted silknightgown on his person, busy arranging his memoranda of proofsand indications concerning the murder of Frank Kennedy. An expresshad also been despatched to Mr. Mac-Morlan, requesting hisattendance at Woodbourne as soon as possible on business ofimportance. Dinmont, fatigued with the events of the eveningbefore, and finding the accommodations of Woodbourne muchpreferable to those of Mac-Guffog, was in no hurry to rise. Theimpatience of Bertram might have put him earlier in motion, butColonel Mannering had intimated an intention to visit him in hisapartment in the morning, and he did not choose to leave it. Before this interview he had dressed himself, Barnes having, byhis master's orders, supplied him with every accommodation oflinen, etc. , and now anxiously waited the promised visit of hislandlord. 

In a short time a gentle tap announced the Colonel, with whomBertram held a long and satisfactory conversation. Each, however, concealed from the other one circumstance. Mannering could notbring himself to acknowledge the astrological prediction; andBertram was, from motives which may be easily conceived, silentrespecting his love for Julia. In other respects their intercoursewas frank and grateful to both, and had latterly, upon theColonel's part, even an approach to cordiality. Bertram carefullymeasured his own conduct by that of his host, and seemed rather toreceive his offered kindness with gratitude and pleasure than topress for it with solicitation. 

Miss Bertram was in the breakfast-parlour when Sampson shuffledin, his face all radiant with smiles--a circumstance so uncommonthat Lucy's first idea was that somebody had been bantering himwith an imposition, which had thrown him into this ecstasy. Havingsate for some time rolling his eyes and gaping with his mouth likethe great wooden head at Merlin's exhibition, he at length began--'And what do you think of him, Miss Lucy?'

'Think of whom, Mr. Sampson?' asked the young lady. 

'Of Har--no--of him that you know about?' again demanded theDominie. 

'That I know about?' replied Lucy, totally at a loss to comprehendhis meaning. 

'Yes, the stranger, you know, that came last evening, in the postvehicle; he who shot young Hazelwood, ha, ha, ha!' burst forth theDominie, with a laugh that sounded like neighing. 

'Indeed, Mr. Sampson, ' said his pupil, 'you have chosen a strangesubject for mirth; I think nothing about the man, only I hope theoutrage was accidental, and that we need not fear a repetition ofit. '

'Accidental! ha, ha, ha!' again whinnied Sampson. 

'Really, Mr. Sampson, ' said Lucy, somewhat piqued, 'you areunusually gay this morning. '

'Yes, of a surety I am! ha, ha, ho! face-ti-ous, ho, ho, ha!'

'So unusually facetious, my dear sir, ' pursued the young lady, 'that I would wish rather to know the meaning of your mirth thanto be amused with its effects only. '

'You shall know it, Miss Lucy, ' replied poor Abel. 'Do youremember your brother?'

'Good God, how can you ask me? No one knows better than you he waslost the very day I was born. '

'Very true, very true, ' answered the Dominie, saddening at therecollection; 'I was strangely oblivious; ay, ay! too true. Butyou remember your worthy father?'

'How should you doubt it, Mr. Sampson? it is not so many weekssince--'

'True, true; ay, too true, ' replied the Dominie, his Houyhnhnmlaugh sinking into a hysterical giggle. 'I will be facetious nomore under these remembrances; but look at that young man!'

Bertram at this instant entered the room. 'Yes, look at him well, he is your father's living image; and as God has deprived you ofyour dear parents--O, my children, love one another!'

'It is indeed my father's face and form, ' said Lucy, turning verypale. Bertram ran to support her, the Dominie to fetch water tothrow upon her face (which in his haste he took from the boilingtea-urn), when fortunately her colour, returning rapidly, savedher from the application of this ill-judged remedy. 'I conjure youto tell me, Mr. Sampson, ' she said, in an interrupted yet solemnvoice, 'is this my brother?'

'It is, it is! Miss Lucy, it is little Harry Bertram, as sure asGod's sun is in that heaven!'

'And this is my sister?' said Bertram, giving way to all thatfamily affection which had so long slumbered in his bosom for wantof an object to expand itself upon. 

'It is, it is!--it is Miss Lucy Bertram, ' ejaculated Sampson, 'whom by my poor aid you will find perfect in the tongues ofFrance and Italy, and even of Spain, in reading and writing hervernacular tongue, and in arithmetic and book-keeping by doubleand single entry. I say nothing of her talents of shaping andhemming and governing a household, which, to give every one theirdue, she acquired not from me but from the housekeeper; nor do Itake merit for her performance upon stringed instruments, whereunto the instructions of an honourable young lady of virtueand modesty, and very facetious withal--Miss Julia Mannering--hathnot meanly contributed. Suum cuique tribuito. '

'You, then, ' said Bertram to his sister, 'are all that remains tome! Last night, but more fully this morning, Colonel Manneringgave me an account of our family misfortunes, though withoutsaying I should find my sister here. '

'That, ' said Lucy, 'he left to this gentleman to tell you--one ofthe kindest and most faithful of friends, who soothed my father'slong sickness, witnessed his dying moments, and amid the heaviestclouds of fortune would not desert his orphan. '

'God bless him for it!' said Bertram, shaking the Dominie's hand;'he deserves the love with which I have always regarded even thatdim and imperfect shadow of his memory which my childhoodretained. '

'And God bless you both, my dear children!' said Sampson; 'if ithad not been for your sake I would have been contented--hadHeaven's pleasure so been--to lay my head upon the turf beside mypatron. '

'But I trust, ' said Bertram--'I am encouraged to hope, we shallall see better days. All our wrongs shall be redressed, sinceHeaven has sent me means and friends to assert my right. '

'Friends indeed!' echoed the Dominie, 'and sent, as you truly say, by HIM to whom I early taught you to look up as the source of allthat is good. There is the great Colonel Mannering from theEastern Indies, a man of war from his birth upwards, but who isnot the less a man of great erudition, considering his imperfectopportunities; and there is, moreover, the great advocate Mr. Pleydell, who is also a man of great erudition, but who descendethto trifles unbeseeming thereof; and there is Mr. Andrew Dinmont, whom I do not understand to have possession of much erudition, butwho, like the patriarchs of old, is cunning in that whichbelongeth to flocks and herds; lastly, there is even I myself, whose opportunities of collecting erudition, as they have beengreater than those of the aforesaid valuable persons, have not, ifit becomes me to speak, been pretermitted by me, in so far as mypoor faculties have enabled me to profit by them. Of a surety, little Harry, we must speedily resume our studies. I will beginfrom the foundation. Yes, I will reform your education upward fromthe true knowledge of English grammar even to that of the Hebrewor Chaldaic tongue. '

The reader may observe that upon this occasion Sampson wasinfinitely more profuse of words than he had hitherto exhibitedhimself. The reason was that, in recovering his pupil, his mindwent instantly back to their original connexion, and he had, inhis confusion of ideas, the strongest desire in the world toresume spelling lessons and half-text with young Bertram. This wasthe more ridiculous, as towards Lucy he assumed no such powers oftuition. But she had grown up under his eye, and had beengradually emancipated from his government by increase in years andknowledge, and a latent sense of his own inferior tact in manners, whereas his first ideas went to take up Harry pretty nearly wherehe had left him. From the same feelings of reviving authority heindulged himself in what was to him a profusion of language; andas people seldom speak more than usual without exposingthemselves, he gave those whom he addressed plainly to understandthat, while he deferred implicitly to the opinions and commands, if they chose to impose them, of almost every one whom he metwith, it was under an internal conviction that in the article oferu-di-ti-on, as he usually pronounced the word, he was infinitelysuperior to them all put together. At present, however, thisintimation fell upon heedless ears, for the brother and sisterwere too deeply engaged in asking and receiving intelligenceconcerning their former fortunes to attend much to the worthyDominie. When Colonel Mannering left Bertram he went to Julia'sdressing-room and dismissed her attendant. 'My dear sir, ' she saidas he entered, 'you have forgot our vigils last night, and havehardly allowed me time to comb my hair, although you must besensible how it stood on end at the various wonders which tookplace. '

'It is with the inside of your head that I have some business atpresent, Julia; I will return the outside to the care of your Mrs. Mincing in a few minutes. '

'Lord, papa, ' replied Miss Mannering, 'think how entangled all myideas are, and you to propose to comb them out in a few minutes!If Mincing were to do so in her department she would tear half thehair out of my head. '

'Well then, tell me, ' said the Colonel, 'where the entanglementlies, which I will try to extricate with due gentleness?'

'O, everywhere, ' said the young lady; 'the whole is a wild dream. '

'Well then, I will try to unriddle it. ' He gave a brief sketch ofthe fate and prospects of Bertram, to which Julia listened with aninterest which she in vain endeavoured to disguise. 'Well, 'concluded her father, 'are your ideas on the subject moreluminous?'

'More confused than ever, my dear sir, ' said Julia. 'Here is thisyoung man come from India, after he had been supposed dead, likeAboulfouaris the great voyager to his sister Canzade and hisprovident brother Hour. I am wrong in the story, I believe--Canzade was his wife; but Lucy may represent the one and theDominie the other. And then this lively crack-brained Scotchlawyer appears like a pantomime at the end of a tragedy. And thenhow delightful it will be if Lucy gets back her fortune. '

'Now I think, ' said the Colonel, 'that the most mysterious part ofthe business is, that Miss Julia Mannering, who must have knownher father's anxiety about the fate of this young man Brown, orBertram, as we must now call him, should have met him whenHazlewood's accident took place, and never once mentioned to herfather a word of the matter, but suffered the search to proceedagainst this young gentleman as a suspicious character andassassin. '

Julia, much of whose courage had been hastily assumed to meet theinterview with her father, was now unable to rally herself; shehung down her head in silence, after in vain attempting to utter adenial that she recollected Brown when she met him. 

'No answer! Well, Julia, ' continued her father, gravely butkindly, 'allow me to ask you, Is this the only time you have seenBrown since his return from India? Still no answer. I must thennaturally suppose that it is not the first time. Still no reply. Julia Mannering, will you have the kindness to answer me? Was itthis young man who came under your window and conversed with youduring your residence at Mervyn Hall? Julia, I command--I entreatyou to be candid. '

Miss Mannering raised her head. 'I have been, sir--I believe I amstill--very foolish; and it is perhaps more hard upon me that Imust meet this gentleman, who has been, though not the causeentirely, yet the accomplice, of my folly, in your presence. ' Hereshe made a full stop. 

'I am to understand, then, ' said Mannering, 'that this was theauthor of the serenade at Mervyn Hall?'

There was something in this allusive change of epithet that gaveJulia a little more courage. 'He was indeed, sir; and if I am verywrong, as I have often thought, I have some apology. '

'And what is that?' answered the Colonel, speaking quick, and withsomething of harshness. 

'I will not venture to name it, sir; but (she opened a smallcabinet, and put some letters into his hands) I will give youthese, that you may see how this intimacy began, and by whom itwas encouraged. '

Mannering took the packet to the window--his pride forbade a moredistant retreat. He glanced at some passages of the letters withan unsteady eye and an agitated mind; his stoicism, however, camein time to his aid--that philosophy which, rooted in pride, yetfrequently bears the fruits of virtue. He returned towards hisdaughter with as firm an air as his feelings permitted him toassume. 

'There is great apology for you, Julia, as far as I can judge froma glance at these letters; you have obeyed at least one parent. Let us adopt a Scotch proverb the Dominie quoted the other day--"Let bygones be bygones, and fair play for the future. " I willnever upbraid you with your past want of confidence; do you judgeof my future intentions by my actions, of which hitherto you havesurely had no reason to complain. Keep these letters; they werenever intended for my eye, and I would not willingly read more ofthem than I have done, at your desire and for your exculpation. And now, are we friends? Or rather, do you understand me?'

'O, my dear, generous father, ' said Julia, throwing herself intohis arms, 'why have I ever for an instant misunderstood you?'

'No more of that, Julia, ' said the Colonel; 'we have both been toblame. He that is too proud to vindicate the affection andconfidence which he conceives should be given withoutsolicitation, must meet much, and perhaps deserved, disappointment. It is enough that one dearest and most regretted member of my familyhas gone to the grave without knowing me; let me not lose theconfidence of a child who ought to love me if she really loves herself. '

'O, no danger, no fear!' answered Julia; 'let me but have yourapprobation and my own, and there is no rule you can prescribe sosevere that I will not follow. '

'Well, my love, ' kissing her forehead, 'I trust we shall not callupon you for anything too heroic. With respect to this younggentleman's addresses, I expect in the first place that allclandestine correspondence, which no young woman can entertain fora moment without lessening herself in her own eyes and in those ofher lover--I request, I say, that clandestine correspondence ofevery kind may be given up, and that you will refer Mr. Bertram tome for the reason. You will naturally wish to know what is to bethe issue of such a reference. In the first place, I desire toobserve this young gentleman's character more closely thancircumstances, and perhaps my own prejudices, have permittedformerly. I should also be glad to see his birth established. Notthat I am anxious about his getting the estate of Ellangowan, though such a subject is held in absolute indifference nowhereexcept in a novel; but certainly Henry Bertram, heir ofEllangowan, whether possessed of the property of his ancestors ornot, is a very different person from Vanbeest Brown, the son ofnobody at all. His fathers, Mr. Pleydell tells me, aredistinguished in history as following the banners of their nativeprinces, while our own fought at Cressy and Poirtiers. In short, Ineither give nor withhold my approbation, but I expect you willredeem past errors; and, as you can now unfortunately only haverecourse to ONE parent, that you will show the duty of a child byreposing that confidence in me which I will say my inclination tomake you happy renders a filial debt upon your part. '

The first part of this speech affected Julia a good deal, thecomparative merit of the ancestors of the Bertrams and Manneringsexcited a secret smile, but the conclusion was such as to soften aheart peculiarly open to the feelings of generosity. 'No, my dearsir, ' she said, extending her hand, ' receive my faith, that fromthis moment you shall be the first person consulted respectingwhat shall pass in future between Brown--I mean Bertram--and me;and that no engagement shall be undertaken by me excepting whatyou shall immediately know and approve of. May I ask if Mr. Bertram is to continue a guest at Woodbourne?'

'Certainly, ' said the Colonel, 'while his affairs render itadvisable. '

'Then, sir, you must be sensible, considering what is alreadypast, that he will expect some reason for my withdrawing, Ibelieve I must say the encouragement, which he may think I havegiven. '

'I expect, Julia, ' answered Mannering, 'that he will respect myroof, and entertain some sense perhaps of the services I amdesirous to render him, and so will not insist upon any course ofconduct of which I might have reason to complain; and I expect ofyou that you will make him sensible of what is due to both. '

'Then, sir, I understand you, and you shall be implicitly obeyed. '

'Thank you, my love; my anxiety (kissing her) is on your account. Now wipe these witnesses from your eyes, and so to breakfast. '

CHAPTER LII

 And Sheriff I will engage my word to you, That I will by to morrow dinner time, Send him to answer thee or any man, For anything he shall be charged withal

 Henry IV Part I

When the several by-plays, as they may be termed, had taken placeamong the individuals of the Woodbourne family, as we haveintimated in the preceding chapter, the breakfast party at lengthassembled, Dandie excepted, who had consulted his taste in viands, and perhaps in society, by partaking of a cup of tea with Mrs. Allan, just laced with two teaspoonfuls of cogniac, and reinforcedwith various slices from a huge round of beef. He had a kind offeeling that he could eat twice as much, and speak twice as much, with this good dame and Barnes as with the grand folk in theparlour. Indeed, the meal of this less distinguished party wasmuch more mirthful than that in the higher circle, where there wasan obvious air of constraint on the greater part of theassistants. Julia dared not raise her voice in asking Bertram ifhe chose another cup of tea. Bertram felt embarrassed while eatinghis toast and butter under the eye of Mannering. Lucy, while sheindulged to the uttermost her affection for her recovered brother, began to think of the quarrel betwixt him and Hazlewood. TheColonel felt the painful anxiety natural to a proud mind when itdeems its slightest action subject for a moment to the watchfulconstruction of others. The Lawyer, while sedulously buttering hisroll, had an aspect of unwonted gravity, arising perhaps from theseverity of his morning studies. As for the Dominie, his state ofmind was ecstatic! He looked at Bertram--he looked at Lucy--hewhimpered--he sniggled--he grinned--he committed all manner ofsolecisms in point of form: poured the whole cream (no unluckymistake) upon the plate of porridge which was his own usualbreakfast, threw the slops of what he called his 'crowning dish oftea' into the sugar-dish instead of the slop-basin, and concludedwith spilling the scalding liquor upon old Plato, the Colonel'sfavourite spaniel, who received the libation with a howl that didlittle honour to his philosophy. 

The Colonel's equanimity was rather shaken by this last blunder. 'Upon my word, my good friend, Mr. Sampson, you forget thedifference between Plato and Zenocrates. '

'The former was chief of the Academics, the latter of the Stoics, 'said the Dominie, with some scorn of the supposition. 

'Yes, my dear sir, but it was Zenocrates, not Plato, who deniedthat pain was an evil. '

'I should have thought, ' said Pleydell, 'that very respectablequadruped which is just now limping out of the room upon three ofhis four legs was rather of the Cynic school. '

'Very well hit off. But here comes an answer from Mac-Morlan. '

It was unfavourable. Mrs. Mac-Morlan sent her respectfulcompliments, and her husband had been, and was, detained by somealarming disturbances which had taken place the preceding night atPortanferry, and the necessary investigation which they hadoccasioned. 

'What's to be done now. Counsellor?' said the Colonel to Pleydell. 

'Why, I wish we could have seen Mac-Morlan, ' said the Counsellor, 'who is a sensible fellow himself, and would besides have actedunder my advice. But there is little harm. Our friend here must bemade sui juris. He is at present an escaped prisoner, the law hasan awkward claim upon him; he must be placed rectus in curia, thatis the first object; for which purpose, Colonel, I will accompanyyou in your carriage down to Hazlewood House. The distance is notgreat; we will offer our bail, and I am confident I can easilyshow Mr. --I beg his pardon--Sir Robert Hazlewood, the necessity ofreceiving it. '

'With all my heart, ' said the Colonel; and, ringing the bell, gavethe necessary orders. 'And what is next to be done?'

'We must get hold of Mac-Morlan, and look out for more proof. '

'Proof!' said the Colonel, 'the thing is as clear as daylight:here are Mr. Sampson and Miss Bertram, and you yourself at oncerecognise the young gentleman as his father's image; and hehimself recollects all the very peculiar circumstances precedinghis leaving this country. What else is necessary to conviction?'

'To moral conviction nothing more, perhaps, ' said the experiencedlawyer, 'but for legal proof a great deal. Mr. Bertram'srecollections are his own recollections merely, and therefore arenot evidence in his own favour. Miss Bertram, the learned Mr. Sampson, and I can only say, what every one who knew the lateEllangowan will readily agree in, that this gentleman is his verypicture. But that will not make him Ellangowan's son and give himthe estate. '

'And what will do so?' said the Colonel. 

'Why, we must have a distinct probation. There are these gipsies;but then, alas! they are almost infamous in the eye of law, scarcecapable of bearing evidence, and Meg Merrilies utterly so, by thevarious accounts which she formerly gave of the matter, and herimpudent denial of all knowledge of the fact when I myselfexamined her respecting it. '

'What must be done then?' asked Mannering. 

'We must try, ' answered the legal sage, 'what proof can be got atin Holland among the persons by whom our young friend waseducated. But then the fear of being called in question for themurder of the gauger may make them silent; or, if they speak, theyare either foreigners or outlawed smugglers. In short, I seedoubts. '

'Under favour, most learned and honoured sir, ' said the Dominie, 'I trust HE who hath restored little Harry Bertram to his friendswill not leave His own work imperfect. '

'I trust so too, Mr. Sampson, ' said Pleydell; 'but we must use themeans; and I am afraid we shall have more difficulty in procuringthem than I at first thought. But a faint heart never won a fairlady; and, by the way (apart to Miss Mannering, while Bertram wasengaged with his sister), there's a vindication of Holland foryou! What smart fellows do you think Leyden and Utrecht must sendforth, when such a very genteel and handsome young man comes fromthe paltry schools of Middleburgh?'

'Of a verity, ' said the Dominie, jealous of the reputation of theDutch seminary--'of a verity, Mr. Pleydell, but I make it known toyou that I myself laid the foundation of his education. '

'True, my dear Dominie, ' answered the Advocate, 'that accounts forhis proficiency in the graces, without question. But here comesyour carriage, Colonel. Adieu, young folks. Miss Julia, keep yourheart till I come back again; let there be nothing done toprejudice my right whilst I am non valens agere. '

Their reception at Hazlewood House was more cold and formal thanusual; for in general the Baronet expressed great respect forColonel Mannering, and Mr. Pleydell, besides being a man of goodfamily and of high general estimation, was Sir Robert's oldfriend. But now he seemed dry and embarrassed in his manner. 'Hewould willingly, ' he said, 'receive bail, notwithstanding that theoffence had been directly perpetrated, committed, and done againstyoung Hazlewood of Hazlewood; but the young man had given himselfa fictitious description, and was altogether that sort of personwho should not be liberated, discharged, or let loose uponsociety; and therefore--'

'I hope, Sir Robert Hazlewood, ' said the Colonel, 'you do not meanto doubt my word when I assure you that he served under me ascadet in India?'

'By no means or account whatsoever. But you call him a cadet; nowhe says, avers, and upholds that he was a captain, or held a troopin your regiment. '

'He was promoted since I gave up the command. '

'But you must have heard of it?'

'No. I returned on account of family circumstances from India, andhave not since been solicitous to hear particular news from theregiment; the name of Brown, too, is so common that I might haveseen his promotion in the "Gazette" without noticing it. But a dayor two will bring letters from his commanding officer. '

'But I am told and informed, Mr. Pleydell, ' answered Sir Robert, still hesitating, 'that he does not mean to abide by this name ofBrown, but is to set up a claim to the estate of Ellangowan, underthe name of Bertram. '

'Ay, who says that?' said the Counsellor. 

'Or, ' demanded the soldier, 'whoever says so, does that give aright to keep him in prison?'

'Hush, Colonel, ' said the Lawyer; 'I am sure you would not, anymore than I, countenance him if he prove an impostor. And, amongfriends, who informed you of this, Sir Robert?'

'Why, a person, Mr, Pleydell, ' answered the Baronet, 'who ispeculiarly interested in investigating, sifting, and clearing outthis business to the bottom; you will excuse my being moreparticular. '

'O, certainly, ' replied Pleydell; 'well, and he says--?'

'He says that it is whispered about among tinkers, gipsies, andother idle persons that there is such a plan as I mentioned toyou, and that this young man, who is a bastard or natural son ofthe late Ellangowan, is pitched upon as the impostor from hisstrong family likeness. '

'And was there such a natural son, Sir Robert?' demanded theCounsellor. 

'O, certainly, to my own positive knowledge. Ellangowan had himplaced as cabin-boy or powder-monkey on board an armed sloop oryacht belonging to the revenue, through the interest of the lateCommissioner Bertram, a kinsman of his own. '

'Well, Sir Robert, ' said the Lawyer, taking the word out of themouth of the impatient soldier, 'you have told me news. I shallinvestigate them, and if I find them true, certainly ColonelMannering and I will not countenance this young man. In themeanwhile, as we are all willing to make him forthcoming to answerall complaints against him, I do assure you, you will act mostillegally, and incur heavy responsibility, if you refuse ourbail. '

'Why, Mr. Pleydell, ' said Sir Robert, who knew the high authorityof the Counsellor's opinion, 'as you must know best, and as youpromise to give up this young man--'

'If he proves an impostor, ' replied the Lawyer, with someemphasis. 

'Ay, certainly. Under that condition I will take your bail; thoughI must say an obliging, well-disposed, and civil neighbour ofmine, who was himself bred to the law, gave me a hint or cautionthis morning against doing so. It was from him I learned that thisyouth was liberated and had come abroad, or rather had brokenprison. But where shall we find one to draw the bail-bond?'

'Here, ' said the Counsellor, applying himself to the bell, 'sendup my clerk, Mr. Driver; it will not do my character harm if Idictate the needful myself. ' It was written accordingly andsigned, and, the Justice having subscribed a regular warrant forBertram alias Brown's discharge, the visitors took their leave. 

Each threw himself into his own corner of the post-chariot, andsaid nothing for some time. The Colonel first broke silence: 'Soyou intend to give up this poor young fellow at the first brush?'

'Who, I?' replied the Counsellor. 'I will not give up one hair ofhis head, though I should follow them to the court of last resortin his behalf; but what signified mooting points and showing one'shand to that old ass? Much better he should report to hisprompter, Glossin, that we are indifferent or lukewarm in thematter. Besides, I wished to have a peep at the enemies' game. '

'Indeed!' said the soldier. 'Then I see there are stratagems inlaw as well as war. Well, and how do you like their line ofbattle?'

'Ingenious, ' said Mr. Pleydell, 'but I think desperate; they arefinessing too much, a common fault on such occasions. '

During this discourse the carriage rolled rapidly towardsWoodbourne without anything occurring worthy of the reader'snotice, excepting their meeting with young Hazlewood, to whom theColonel told the extraordinary history of Bertram's reappearance, which he heard with high delight, and then rode on before to payMiss Bertram his compliments on an event so happy and sounexpected. 

We return to the party at Woodbourne. After the departure ofMannering, the conversation related chiefly to the fortunes of theEllangowan family, their domains, and their former power. 'It was, then, under the towers of my fathers, ' said Bertram, 'that Ilanded some days since, in circumstances much resembling those ofa vagabond! Its mouldering turrets and darksome arches even thenawakened thoughts of the deepest interest, and recollections whichI was unable to decipher. I will now visit them again with otherfeelings, and, I trust, other and better hopes. '

'Do not go there now, ' said his sister. 'The house of ourancestors is at present the habitation of a wretch as insidious asdangerous, whose arts and villainy accomplished the ruin and brokethe heart of our unhappy father. '

'You increase my anxiety, ' replied her brother, 'to confront thismiscreant, even in the den he has constructed for himself; I thinkI have seen him. '

'But you must consider, ' said Julia, 'that you are now left underLucy's guard and mine, and are responsible to us for all yourmotions, consider, I have not been a lawyer's mistress twelvehours for nothing, and I assure you it would be madness to attemptto go to Ellangowan just now. The utmost to which I can consentis, that we shall walk in a body to the head of the Woodbourneavenue, and from that perhaps we may indulge you with our companyas far as a rising ground in the common, whence your eyes may beblessed with a distant prospect of those gloomy towers whichstruck so strongly your sympathetic imagination. '

The party was speedily agreed upon; and the ladies, having takentheir cloaks, followed the route proposed, under the escort ofCaptain Bertram. It was a pleasant winter morning, and the coolbreeze served only to freshen, not to chill, the fair walkers. Asecret though unacknowledged bond of kindness combined the twoladies, and Bertram, now hearing the interesting accounts of hisown family, now communicating his adventures in Europe and inIndia, repaid the pleasure which he received. Lucy felt proud ofher brother, as well from the bold and manly turn of hissentiments as from the dangers he had encountered, and the spiritwith which he had surmounted them. And Julia, while she ponderedon her father's words, could not help entertaining hopes that theindependent spirit which had seemed to her father presumption inthe humble and plebeian Brown would have the grace of courage, noble bearing, and high blood in the far-descended heir ofEllangowan. 

They reached at length the little eminence or knoll upon thehighest part of the common, called Gibbie's Knowe--a spotrepeatedly mentioned in this history as being on the skirts of theEllangowan estate. It commanded a fair variety of hill and dale, bordered with natural woods, whose naked boughs at this seasonrelieved the general colour of the landscape with a dark purplehue; while in other places the prospect was more formallyintersected by lines of plantation, where the Scotch firsdisplayed their variety of dusky green. At the distance of two orthree miles lay the bay of Ellangowan, its waves rippling underthe influence of the western breeze. The towers of the ruinedcastle, seen high over every object in the neighbourhood, receiveda brighter colouring from the wintry sun. 

'There, ' said Lucy Bertram, pointing them out in the distance, 'there is the seat of our ancestors. God knows, my dear brother, Ido not covet in your behalf the extensive power which the lords ofthese ruins are said to have possessed so long, and sometimes tohave used so ill. But, O that I might see you in possession ofsuch relics of their fortune as should give you an honourableindependence, and enable you to stretch your hand for theprotection of the old and destitute dependents of our family, whomour poor father's death--'

'True, my dearest Lucy, ' answered the young heir of Ellangowan;'and I trust, with the assistance of Heaven, which has so farguided us, and with that of these good friends, whom their owngenerous hearts have interested in my behalf, such a consummationof my hard adventures is now not unlikely. But as a soldier I mustlook with some interest upon that worm-eaten hold of ragged stone;and if this undermining scoundrel who is now in possession dare todisplace a pebble of it--'

He was here interrupted by Dinmont, who came hastily after them upthe road, unseen till he was near the party: 'Captain, Captain!ye're wanted. Ye're wanted by her ye ken o'. '

And immediately Meg Merrilies, as if emerging out of the earth, ascended from the hollow way and stood before them. 'I sought yeat the house, ' she said, 'and found but him (pointing to Dinmont). But ye are right, and I was wrang; it is HERE we should meet, onthis very spot, where my eyes last saw your father. Remember yourpromise and follow me. '

CHAPTER LIII

 To hail the king in seemly sort The ladie was full fain, But King Arthur, all sore amazed, No answer made again 'What wight art thou, ' the ladie said, 'That will not speak to me? Sir, I may chance to ease thy pain, Though I be foul to see'

 The Marriage of Sir Gawaine. 

The fairy bride of Sir Gawaine, while under the influence of thespell of her wicked step-mother, was more decrepit probably, andwhat is commonly called more ugly, than Meg Merrilies; but I doubtif she possessed that wild sublimity which an excited imaginationcommunicated to features marked and expressive in their ownpeculiar character, and to the gestures of a form which, her sexconsidered, might be termed gigantic. Accordingly, the Knights ofthe Round Table did not recoil with more terror from theapparition of the loathly lady placed between 'an oak and a greenholly, ' than Lucy Bertram and Julia Mannering did from theappearance of this Galwegian sibyl upon the common of Ellangowan. 

'For God's sake, ' said Julia, pulling out her purse, 'give thatdreadful woman something and bid her go away. '

'I cannot, ' said Bertram; 'I must not offend her. '

'What keeps you here?' said Meg, exalting the harsh and roughtones of her hollow voice. 'Why do you not follow? Must your hourcall you twice? Do you remember your oath? "Were it at kirk ormarket, wedding or burial, "'--and she held high her skinnyforefinger in a menacing attitude. 

Bertram--turned round to his terrified companions. 'Excuse me fora moment; I am engaged by a promise to follow this woman. '

'Good Heavens! engaged to a madwoman?' said Julia. 

'Or to a gipsy, who has her band in the wood ready to murder you!'said Lucy. 

'That was not spoken like a bairn of Ellangowan, ' said Meg, frowning upon Miss Bertram. 'It is the ill-doers are ill-dreaders. '

'In short, I must go, ' said Bertram, 'it is absolutely necessary;wait for me five minutes on this spot. '

'Five minutes?' said the gipsy, 'five hours may not bring you hereagain. '

'Do you hear that?' said Julia; 'for Heaven's sake do not go!'

'I must, I must; Mr. Dinmont will protect you back to the house. '

'No, ' said Meg, 'he must come with you; it is for that he is here. He maun take part wi' hand and heart; and weel his part it is, forredding his quarrel might have cost you dear. '

'Troth, Luckie, it's very true, ' said the steady farmer; 'and ereI turn back frae the Captain's side I'll show that I haenaforgotten 't. '

'O yes, ' exclaimed both the ladies at once, 'let Mr. Dinmont gowith you, if go you must, on this strange summons. '

'Indeed I must, ' answered Bertram; 'but you see I am safelyguarded. Adieu for a short time; go home as fast as you can. '

He pressed his sister's hand, and took a yet more affectionatefarewell of Julia with his eyes. Almost stupefied with surpriseand fear, the young ladies watched with anxious looks the courseof Bertram, his companion, and their extraordinary guide. Her tallfigure moved across the wintry heath with steps so swift, so long, and so steady that she appeared rather to glide than to walk. Bertram and Dinmont, both tall men, apparently scarce equalled herin height, owing to her longer dress and high head-gear. Sheproceeded straight across the common, without turning aside to thewinding path by which passengers avoided the inequalities andlittle rills that traversed it in different directions. Thus thediminishing figures often disappeared from the eye, as they divedinto such broken ground, and again ascended to sight when theywere past the hollow. There was something frightful and unearthly, as it were, in the rapid and undeviating course which she pursued, undeterred by any of the impediments which usually incline atraveller from the direct path. Her way was as straight, andnearly as swift, as that of a bird through the air. At length theyreached those thickets of natural wood which extended from theskirts of the common towards the glades and brook of Derncleugh, and were there lost to the view. 

'This is very extraordinary, ' said Lucy after a pause, and turninground to her companion; 'what can he have to do with that oldhag?'

'It is very frightful, ' answered Julia, 'and almost reminds me ofthe tales of sorceresses, witches, and evil genii which I haveheard in India. They believe there in a fascination of the eye bywhich those who possess it control the will and dictate themotions of their victims. What can your brother have in commonwith that fearful woman that he should leave us, obviously againsthis will, to attend to her commands?'

'At least, ' said Lucy, 'we may hold him safe from harm; for shewould never have summoned that faithful creature Dinmont, of whosestrength, courage, and steadiness Henry said so much, to attendupon an expedition where she projected evil to the person of hisfriend. And now let us go back to the house till the Colonelreturns. Perhaps Bertram may be back first; at any rate, theColonel will judge what is to be done. '

Leaning, then, upon each other's arm, but yet occasionallystumbling, between fear and the disorder of their nerves, they atlength reached the head of the avenue, when they heard the treadof a horse behind. They started, for their ears were awake toevery sound, and beheld to their great pleasure young Hazlewood. 'The Colonel will be here immediately, ' he said; 'I galloped onbefore to pay my respects to Miss Bertram, with the sincerestcongratulations upon the joyful event which has taken place in herfamily. I long to be introduced to Captain Bertram, and to thankhim for the well-deserved lesson he gave to my rashness andindiscretion. '

'He has left us just now, ' said Lucy, 'and in a manner that hasfrightened us very much. '

Just at that moment the Colonel's carriage drove up, and, onobserving the ladies, stopped, while Mannering and his learnedcounsel alighted and joined them. They instantly communicated thenew cause of alarm. 

'Meg Merrilies again!' said the Colonel. 'She certainly is a mostmysterious and unaccountable personage; but I think she must havesomething to impart to Bertram to which she does not mean weshould be privy. '

'The devil take the bedlamite old woman, ' said the Counsellor;'will she not let things take their course, prout de lege, butmust always be putting in her oar in her own way? Then I fear fromthe direction they took they are going upon the Ellangowan estate. That rascal Glossin has shown us what ruffians he has at hisdisposal; I wish honest Liddesdale maybe guard sufficient. '

'If you please, ' said Hazlewood, 'I should be most happy to ridein the direction which they have taken. I am so well known in thecountry that I scarce think any outrage will be offered in mypresence, and I shall keep at such a cautious distance as not toappear to watch Meg, or interrupt any communication which she maymake. '

'Upon my word, ' said Pleydell (aside), 'to be a sprig whom Iremember with a whey face and a satchel not so very many yearsago, I think young Hazlewood grows a fine fellow. I am more afraidof a new attempt at legal oppression than at open violence, andfrom that this young man's presence would deter both Glossin andhis understrappers. --Hie away then, my boy; peer out--peer out, you 'll find them somewhere about Derncleugh, or very probably inWarroch wood. '

Hazlewood turned his horse. 'Come back to us to dinner, Hazlewood, ' cried the Colonel. He bowed, spurred his horse, andgalloped off. 

We now return to Bertram and Dinmont, who continued to followtheir mysterious guide through the woods and dingles between theopen common and the ruined hamlet of Derncleugh. As she led theway she never looked back upon her followers, unless to chide themfor loitering, though the sweat, in spite of the season, pouredfrom their brows. At other times she spoke to herself in suchbroken expressions as these: 'It is to rebuild the auld house, itis to lay the corner-stone; and did I not warn him? I tell'd him Iwas born to do it, if my father's head had been the stepping-stane, let alane his. I was doomed--still I kept my purpose in thecage and in the stocks; I was banished--I kept it in an unco land;I was scourged, I was branded--my resolution lay deeper thanscourge or red iron could reach;--and now the hour is come. '

'Captain, ' said Dinmont, in a half whisper, 'I wish she binnauncanny! her words dinna seem to come in God's name, or like otherfolks'. Od, they threep in our country that there ARE sic things. '

'Don't be afraid, my friend, ' whispered Bertram in return. 

'Fear'd! fient a haet care I, ' said the dauntless farmer; 'be shewitch or deevil, it's a' ane to Dandie Dinmont. '

'Haud your peace, gudeman, ' said Meg, looking sternly over hershoulder; 'is this a time or place for you to speak, think ye?'

'But, my good friend, ' said Bertram, 'as I have no doubt in yourgood faith or kindness, which I have experienced, you should inreturn have some confidence in me; I wish to know where you areleading us. '

'There's but ae answer to that, Henry Bertram, ' said the sibyl. 'Iswore my tongue should never tell, but I never said my fingershould never show. Go on and meet your fortune, or turn back andlose it: that's a' I hae to say. '

'Go on then, ' answered Bertram; 'I will ask no more questions. '

They descended into the glen about the same place where Meg hadformerly parted from Bertram. She paused an instant beneath thetall rock where he had witnessed the burial of a dead body andstamped upon the ground, which, notwithstanding all the care thathad been taken, showed vestiges of having been recently moved. 'Here rests ane, ' she said; 'he'll maybe hae neibours sune. '

She then moved up the brook until she came to the ruined hamlet, where, pausing with a look of peculiar and softened interestbefore one of the gables which was still standing, she said in atone less abrupt, though as solemn as before, 'Do you see thatblackit and broken end of a sheeling? There my kettle boiled forforty years; there I bore twelve buirdly sons and daughters. Whereare they now? where are the leaves that were on that auld ash treeat Martinmas! The west wind has made it bare; and I'm strippedtoo. Do you see that saugh tree? it's but a blackened rotten stumpnow. I've sate under it mony a bonnie summer afternoon, when ithung its gay garlands ower the poppling water. I've sat there, and, ' elevating her voice, 'I've held you on my knee, HenryBertram, and sung ye sangs of the auld barons and their bloodywars. It will ne'er be green again, and Meg Merrilies will neversing sangs mair, be they blythe or sad. But ye'll no forget her, and ye'll gar big up the auld wa's for her sake? And let somebodylive there that's ower gude to fear them of another warld. For ifever the dead came back amang the living, I'll be seen in thisglen mony a night after these crazed banes are in the mould. '

The mixture of insanity and wild pathos with which she spoke theselast words, with her right arm bare and extended, her left bentand shrouded beneath the dark red drapery of her mantle, mighthave been a study worthy of our Siddons herself. 'And now, ' shesaid, resuming at once the short, stern, and hasty tone which wasmost ordinary to her, 'let us to the wark, let us to the wark. '

She then led the way to the promontory on which the Kaim ofDerncleugh was situated, produced a large key from her pocket, andunlocked the door. The interior of this place was in better orderthan formerly. 'I have made things decent, ' she said; 'I may bestreekit here or night. There will be few, few at Meg's lykewake, for mony of our folk will blame what I hae done, and am to do!'

She then pointed to a table, upon which was some cold meat, arranged with more attention to neatness than could have beenexpected from Meg's habits. 'Eat, ' she said--'eat; ye'll need itthis night yet. '

Bertram, in complaisance, eat a morsel or two; and Dinmont, whoseappetite was unabated either by wonder, apprehension, or the mealof the morning, made his usual figure as a trencherman. She thenoffered each a single glass of spirits, which Bertram drankdiluted, and his companion plain. 

'Will ye taste naething yoursell, Luckie?' said Dinmont. 

'I shall not need it, ' replied their mysterious hostess. 'Andnow, ' she said, 'ye maun hae arms: ye maunna gang on dry-handed;but use them not rashly. Take captive, but save life; let the lawhae its ain. He maun speak ere he die. '

'Who is to be taken? who is to speak?' said Bertram, inastonishment, receiving a pair of pistols which she offered him, and which, upon examining, he found loaded and locked. 

'The flints are gude, ' she said, 'and the powder dry; I ken thiswark weel. '

Then, without answering his questions, she armed Dinmont also witha large pistol, and desired them to choose sticks for themselvesout of a parcel of very suspicious-looking bludgeons which shebrought from a corner. Bertram took a stout sapling, and Dandieselected a club which might have served Hercules himself. Theythen left the hut together, and in doing so Bertram took anopportunity to whisper to Dinmont, 'There's something inexplicablein all this. But we need not use these arms unless we seenecessity and lawful occasion; take care to do as you see me do. '

Dinmont gave a sagacious nod, and they continued to follow, overwet and over dry, through bog and through fallow, the footsteps oftheir conductress. She guided them to the wood of Warroch by thesame track which the late Ellangowan had used when riding toDerncleugh in quest of his child on the miserable evening ofKennedy's murder. 

When Meg Merrilies had attained these groves, through which thewintry sea-wind was now whistling hoarse and shrill, she seemed topause a moment as if to recollect the way. 'We maun go the precisetrack, ' she said, and continued to go forward, but rather in azigzag and involved course than according to her former steady anddirect line of motion. At length she guided them through the mazesof the wood to a little open glade of about a quarter of an acre, surrounded by trees and bushes, which made a wild and irregularboundary. Even in winter it was a sheltered and snugly sequesteredspot; but when arrayed in the verdure of spring, the earth sendingforth all its wild flowers, the shrubs spreading their waste ofblossom around it, and the weeping birches, which towered over theunderwood, drooping their long and leafy fibres to intercept thesun, it must have seemed a place for a youthful poet to study hisearliest sonnet, or a pair of lovers to exchange their firstmutual avowal of affection. Apparently it now awakened verydifferent recollections. Bertram's brow, when he had looked roundthe spot, became gloomy and embarrassed. Meg, after uttering toherself, 'This is the very spot!' looked at him with a ghastlyside-glance--'D'ye mind it?'

'Yes!' answered Bertram, 'imperfectly I do. '

'Ay!' pursued his guide, 'on this very spot the man fell from hishorse. I was behind that bourtree bush at the very moment. Sair, sair he strove, and sair he cried for mercy; but he was in thehands of them that never kenn'd the word! Now will I show you thefurther track; the last time ye travelled it was in these arms. '

She led them accordingly by a long and winding passage, almostovergrown with brushwood, until, without any very perceptibledescent, they suddenly found themselves by the seaside. Meg thenwalked very fast on between the surf and the rocks, until she cameto a remarkable fragment of rock detached from the rest. 'Here, 'she said in a low and scarcely audible whisper--'here the corpsewas found. '

'And the cave, ' said Bertram, in the same tone, 'is close besideit; are you guiding us there?'

'Yes, ' said the gipsy in a decided tone. 'Bend up both yourhearts; follow me as I creep in; I have placed the fire-wood so asto screen you. Bide behind it for a gliff till I say, "The hourand the man are baith come"; then rin in on him, take his arms, and bind him till the blood burst frae his finger nails. '

'I will, by my soul, ' said Henry, 'if he is the man I suppose--Jansen?'

'Ay, Jansen, Hatteraick, and twenty mair names are his. '

'Dinmont, you must stand by me now, ' said Bertram, 'for thisfellow is a devil. '

'Ye needna doubt that, ' said the stout yeoman; 'but I wish I couldmind a bit prayer or I creep after the witch into that hole thatshe's opening. It wad be a sair thing to leave the blessed sun andthe free air, and gang and be killed like a tod that's run toearth, in a dungeon like that. But, my sooth, they will be hard-bitten terriers will worry Dandie; so, as I said, deil hae me if Ibaulk you. ' This was uttered in the lowest tone of voice possible. The entrance was now open. Meg crept in upon her hands and knees, Bertram followed, and Dinmont, after giving a rueful glance towardthe daylight, whose blessings he was abandoning, brought up therear. 

CHAPTER LIV

 Die, prophet! in thy speech; For this, among the rest, was I ordained. 

 Henry VI. Part III. 

The progress of the Borderer, who, as we have said, was the lastof the party, was fearfully arrested by a hand, which caught holdof his leg as he dragged his long limbs after him in silence andperturbation through the low and narrow entrance of thesubterranean passage. The steel heart of the bold yeoman had well-nigh given way, and he suppressed with difficulty a shout, which, in the defenceless posture and situation which they then occupied, might have cost all their lives. He contented himself, however, with extricating his foot from the grasp of this unexpectedfollower. 'Be still, ' said a voice behind him, releasing him; 'Iam a friend--Charles Hazlewood. '

These words were uttered in a very low voice, but they producedsound enough to startle Meg Merrilies, who led the van, and who, having already gained the place where the cavern expanded, hadrisen upon her feet. She began, as if to confound any listeningear, to growl, to mutter, and to sing aloud, and at the same timeto make a bustle among some brushwood which was now heaped in thecave. 

'Here, beldam, deyvil's kind, ' growled the harsh voice of DirkHatteraick from the inside of his den, 'what makest thou there?'

'Laying the roughies to keep the cauld wind frae you, ye desperatedo-nae-good. Ye're e'en ower weel off, and wotsna; it will beotherwise soon. '

'Have you brought me the brandy, and any news of my people?' saidDirk Hatteraick. 

'There's the flask for ye. Your people--dispersed, broken, gone, or cut to ribbands by the redcoats. '

'Der deyvil! this coast is fatal to me. '

'Ye may hae mair reason to say sae. '

While this dialogue went forward, Bertram and Dinmont had bothgained the interior of the cave and assumed an erect position. Theonly light which illuminated its rugged and sable precincts was aquantity of wood burnt to charcoal in an iron grate, such as theyuse in spearing salmon by night. On these red embers Hatteraickfrom time to time threw a handful of twigs or splintered wood; butthese, even when they blazed up, afforded a light muchdisproportioned to the extent of the cavern; and, as its principalinhabitant lay upon the side of the grate most remote from theentrance, it was not easy for him to discover distinctly objectswhich lay in that direction. The intruders, therefore, whosenumber was now augmented unexpectedly to three, stood behind theloosely-piled branches with little risk of discovery. Dinmont hadthe sense to keep back Hazlewood with one hand till he whisperedto Bertram, 'A friend--young Hazlewood. '

It was no time for following up the introduction, and they allstood as still as the rocks around them, obscured behind the pileof brushwood, which had been probably placed there to break thecold wind from the sea, without totally intercepting the supply ofair. The branches were laid so loosely above each other that, looking through them towards the light of the fire-grate, theycould easily discover what passed in its vicinity, although a muchstronger degree of illumination than it afforded would not haveenabled the persons placed near the bottom of the cave to havedescried them in the position which they occupied. 

The scene, independent of the peculiar moral interest and personaldanger which attended it, had, from the effect of the light andshade on the uncommon objects which it exhibited, an appearanceemphatically dismal. The light in the fire-grate was the dark-redglare of charcoal in a state of ignition, relieved from time totime by a transient flame of a more vivid or duskier light, as thefuel with which Dirk Hatteraick fed his fire was better or worsefitted for his purpose. Now a dark cloud of stifling smoke rose upto the roof of the cavern, and then lighted into a reluctant andsullen blaze, which flashed wavering up the pillar of smoke, andwas suddenly rendered brighter and more lively by some drier fuel, or perhaps some splintered fir-timber, which at once converted thesmoke into flame. By such fitful irradiation they could see, moreor less distinctly, the form of Hatteraick, whose savage andrugged cast of features, now rendered yet more ferocious by thecircumstances of his situation and the deep gloom of his mind, assorted well with the rugged and broken vault, which rose in arude arch over and around him. The form of Meg Merrilies, whichstalked about him, sometimes in the light, sometimes partiallyobscured in the smoke or darkness, contrasted strongly with thesitting figure of Hatteraick as he bent over the flame, and fromhis stationary posture was constantly visible to the spectator, while that of the female flitted around, appearing or disappearinglike a spectre. 

Bertram felt his blood boil at the sight of Hatteraick. Heremembered him well under the name of Jansen, which the smugglerhad adopted after the death of Kennedy; and he remembered alsothat this Jansen, and his mate Brown, the same who was shot atWoodbourne, had been the brutal tyrants of his infancy. Bertramknew farther, from piecing his own imperfect recollections withthe narratives of Mannering and Pleydell, that this man was theprime agent in the act of violence which tore him from his familyand country, and had exposed him to so many distresses anddangers. A thousand exasperating reflections rose within hisbosom; and he could hardly refrain from rushing upon Hatteraickand blowing his brains out. 

At the same time this would have been no safe adventure. Theflame, as it rose and fell, while it displayed the strong, muscular, and broad-chested frame of the ruffian, glanced alsoupon two brace of pistols in his belt, and upon the hilt of hiscutlass: it was not to be doubted that his desperation wascommensurate with his personal strength and means of resistance. Both, indeed, were inadequate to encounter the combined power oftwo such men as Bertram himself and his friend Dinmont, withoutreckoning their unexpected assistant Hazlewood, who was unarmed, and of a slighter make; but Bertram felt, on a moment'sreflection, that there would be neither sense nor valour inanticipating the hangman's office, and he considered theimportance of making Hatteraick prisoner alive. He thereforerepressed his indignation, and awaited what should pass betweenthe ruffian and his gipsy guide. 

'And how are ye now?' said the harsh and discordant tones of hisfemale attendant. ' Said I not, it would come upon you--ay, and inthis very cave, where ye harboured after the deed?'

'Wetter and sturm, ye hag!' replied Hatteraick, 'keep yourdeyvil's matins till they're wanted. Have you seen Glossin?'

'No, ' replied Meg Merrilies; 'you've missed your blow, ye blood-spiller! and ye have nothing to expect from the tempter. '

'Hagel!' exclaimed the ruffian, 'if I had him but by the throat!And what am I to do then?'

'Do?' answered the gipsy; 'die like a man, or be hanged like adog!'

'Hanged, ye hag of Satan! The hemp's not sown that shall hang me. '

'It's sown, and it's grown, and it's heckled, and it's twisted. Did I not tell ye, when ye wad take away the boy Harry Bertram, inspite of my prayers, --did I not say he would come back when he haddree'd his weird in foreign land till his twenty-first year? Did Inot say the auld fire would burn down to a spark, but wad kindleagain?'

'Well, mother, you did say so, ' said Hatteraick, in a tone thathad something of despair in its accents; 'and, donner and blitzen!I believe you spoke the truth. That younker of Ellangowan has beena rock ahead to me all my life! And now, with Glossin's cursedcontrivance, my crew have been cut off, my boats destroyed, and Idaresay the lugger's taken; there were not men enough left onboard to work her, far less to fight her--a dredge-boat might havetaken her. And what will the owners say? Hagel and sturm! I shallnever dare go back again to Flushing. '

'You'll never need, ' said the gipsy. 

'What are you doing there, ' said her companion; 'and what makesyou say that?'

During this dialogue Meg was heaping some flax loosely together. Before answer to this question she dropped a firebrand upon theflax, which had been previously steeped in some spirituous liquor, for it instantly caught fire and rose in a vivid pyramid of themost brilliant light up to the very top of the vault. As itascended Meg answered the ruffian's question in a firm and steadyvoice: 'BECAUSE THE HOUR'S COME, AND THE MAN. '

At the appointed signal Bertram and Dinmont sprung over thebrushwood and rushed upon Hatteraick. Hazlewood, unacquainted withtheir plan of assault, was a moment later. The ruffian, whoinstantly saw he was betrayed, turned his first vengeance on MegMerrilies, at whom he discharged a pistol. She fell with apiercing and dreadful cry between the shriek of pain and the soundof laughter when at its highest and most suffocating height. 'Ikenn'd it would be this way, ' she said. 

Bertram, in his haste, slipped his foot upon the uneven rock whichfloored the cave--a fortunate stumble, for Hatteraick's secondbullet whistled over him with so true and steady an aim that, hadhe been standing upright, it must have lodged in his brain. Erethe smuggler could draw another pistol, Dinmont closed with him, and endeavoured by main force to pinion down his arms. Such, however, was the wretch's personal strength, joined to the effortsof his despair, that, in spite of the gigantic force with whichthe Borderer grappled him, he dragged Dinmont through the blazingflax, and had almost succeeded in drawing a third pistol, whichmight have proved fatal to the honest farmer, had not Bertram, aswell as Hazlewood, come to his assistance, when, by main force, and no ordinary exertion of it, they threw Hatteraick on theground, disarmed him, and bound him. This scuffle, though it takesup some time in the narrative, passed in less than a singleminute. When he was fairly mastered, after one or two desperateand almost convulsionary struggles, the ruffian lay perfectlystill and silent. 'He's gaun to die game ony how, ' said Dinmont;'weel, I like him na the waur for that. '

This observation honest Dandie made while he was shaking theblazing flax from his rough coat and shaggy black hair, some ofwhich had been singed in the scuffle. 'He is quiet now, ' saidBertram; 'stay by him and do not permit him to stir till I seewhether the poor woman be alive or dead. ' With Hazlewood'sassistance he raised Meg Merrilies. 

'I kenn'd it would be this way, ' she muttered, 'and it's e'en thisway that it should be. '

The ball had penetrated the breast below the throat. It did notbleed much externally; but Bertram, accustomed to see gunshotwounds, thought it the more alarming. 'Good God! what shall we dofor this poor woman?' said he to Hazlewood, the circumstancessuperseding the necessity of previous explanation or introductionto each other. 

'My horse stands tied above in the wood, ' said Hazlewood. 'I havebeen watching you these two hours. I will ride off for someassistants that may be trusted. Meanwhile, you had better defendthe mouth of the cavern against every one until I return. ' Hehastened away. Bertram, after binding Meg Merrilies's wound aswell as he could, took station near the mouth of the cave with acocked pistol in his hand; Dinmont continued to watch Hatteraick, keeping a grasp like that of Hercules on his breast. There was adead silence in the cavern, only interrupted by the low andsuppressed moaning of the wounded female and by the hard breathingof the prisoner. 

CHAPTER LV

 For though, seduced and led astray, Thoust travell'd far and wander'd long, Thy God hath seen thee all the way, And all the turns that led thee wrong

 The Hall of Justice. 

After the space of about three-quarters of an hour, which theuncertainty and danger of their situation made seem almost thriceas long, the voice of young Hazlewood was heard without. 'Here Iam, ' he cried, 'with a sufficient party. '

'Come in then, ' answered Bertram, not a little pleased to find hisguard relieved. Hazlewood then entered, followed by two or threecountrymen, one of whom acted as a peace-officer. They liftedHatteraick up and carried him in their arms as far as the entranceof the vault was high enough to permit them; then laid him on hisback and dragged him along as well as they could, for nopersuasion would induce him to assist the transportation by anyexertion of his own. He lay as silent and inactive in their handsas a dead corpse, incapable of opposing, but in no way aiding, their operations. When he was dragged into daylight and placederect upon his feet among three or four assistants who hadremained without the cave, he seemed stupefied and dazzled by thesudden change from the darkness of his cavern. While others weresuperintending the removal of Meg Merrilies, those who remainedwith Hatteraick attempted to make him sit down upon a fragment ofrock which lay close upon the high-water mark. A strong shudderingconvulsed his iron frame for an instant as he resisted theirpurpose. 'Not there! Hagel! you would not make me sit THERE?'

These were the only words he spoke; but their import, and the deeptone of horror in which they were uttered, served to show what waspassing in his mind. 

When Meg Merrilies had also been removed from the cavern, with allthe care for her safety that circumstances admitted, theyconsulted where she should be carried. Hazlewood had sent for asurgeon, and proposed that she should be lifted in the meantime tothe nearest cottage. But the patient exclaimed with greatearnestness, 'Na, na, na! to the Kaim o' Derncleugh--the Kaim o'Derncleugh; the spirit will not free itself o' the flesh butthere. '

'You must indulge her, I believe, ' said Bertram; 'her troubledimagination will otherwise aggravate the fever of the wound. '

They bore her accordingly to the vault. On the way her mind seemedto run more upon the scene which had just passed than on her ownapproaching death. 'There were three of them set upon him: Ibrought the twasome, but wha was the third? It would be HIMSELL, returned to work his ain vengeance!'

It was evident that the unexpected appearance of Hazlewood, whoseperson the outrage of Hatteraick left her no time to recognise, had produced a strong effect on her imagination. She oftenrecurred to it. Hazlewood accounted for his unexpected arrival toBertram by saying that he had kept them in view for some time bythe direction of Mannering; that, observing them disappear intothe cave, he had crept after them, meaning to announce himself andhis errand, when his hand in the darkness encountering the leg ofDinmont had nearly produced a catastrophe, which, indeed, nothingbut the presence of mind and fortitude of the bold yeoman couldhave averted. 

When the gipsy arrived at the hut she produced the key; and whenthey entered, and were about to deposit her upon the bed, shesaid, in an anxious tone, 'Na, na! not that way--the feet to theeast'; and appeared gratified when they reversed her postureaccordingly, and placed her in that appropriate to a dead body. 

'Is there no clergyman near, ' said Bertram, 'to assist thisunhappy woman's devotions?'

A gentleman, the minister of the parish, who had been CharlesHazlewood's tutor, had, with many others, caught the alarm thatthe murderer of Kennedy was taken on the spot where the deed hadbeen done so many years before, and that a woman was mortallywounded. From curiosity, or rather from the feeling that his dutycalled him to scenes of distress, this gentleman had come to theKaim of Derncleugh, and now presented himself. The surgeon arrivedat the same time, and was about to probe the wound; but Megresisted the assistance of either. 'It's no what man can do thatwill heal my body or save my spirit. Let me speak what I have tosay, and then ye may work your will; I'se be nae hindrance. Butwhere's Henry Bertram?' The assistants, to whom this name had beenlong a stranger, gazed upon each other. 'Yes!' she said, in astronger and harsher tone, 'I said HENRY BERTRAM OF ELLANGOWAN. Stand from the light and let me see him. '

All eyes were turned towards Bertram, who approached the wretchedcouch. The wounded woman took hold of his hand. 'Look at him, ' shesaid, 'all that ever saw his father or his grandfather, and bearwitness if he is not their living image?' A murmur went throughthe crowd; the resemblance was too striking to be denied. 'And nowhear me; and let that man, ' pointing to Hatteraick, who was seatedwith his keepers on a sea-chest at some distance--'let him denywhat I say if he can. That is Henry Bertram, son to GodfreyBertram, umquhile of Ellangowan; that young man is the very lad-bairn that Dirk Hatteraick carried off from Warroch wood the daythat he murdered the gauger. I was there like a wandering spirit, for I longed to see that wood or we left the country. I saved thebairn's life, and sair, sair I prigged and prayed they would leavehim wi' me. But they bore him away, and he's been lang ower thesea, and now he's come for his ain, and what should withstand him?I swore to keep the secret till he was ane-an'-twenty; I kenn'd hebehoved to dree his weird till that day cam. I keepit that oathwhich I took to them; but I made another vow to mysell, that if Ilived to see the day of his return I would set him in his father'sseat, if every step was on a dead man. I have keepit that oathtoo. I will be ae step mysell, he (pointing to Hatteraick) willsoon be another, and there will be ane mair yet. '

The clergyman, now interposing, remarked it was a pity thisdeposition was not regularly taken and written down, and thesurgeon urged the necessity of examining the wound, previously toexhausting her by questions. When she saw them removingHatteraick, in order to clear the room and leave the surgeon tohis operations, she called out aloud, raising herself at the sametime upon the couch, 'Dirk Hatteraick, you and I will never meetagain until we are before the judgment-seat; will ye own to what Ihave said, or will you dare deny it?' He turned his hardened browupon her, with a look of dumb and inflexible defiance. 'DirkHatteraick, dare ye deny, with my blood upon your hands, one wordof what my dying breath is uttering?' He looked at her with thesame expression of hardihood and dogged stubbornness, and movedhis lips, but uttered no sound. 'Then fareweel!' she said, 'andGod forgive you! your hand has sealed my evidence. When I was inlife I was the mad randy gipsy, that had been scourged andbanished and branded; that had begged from door to door, and beenhounded like a stray tyke from parish to parish; wha would haeminded HER tale? But now I am a dying woman, and my words will notfall to the ground, any more than the earth will cover my blood!'

She here paused, and all left the hut except the surgeon and twoor three women. After a very short examination he shook his headand resigned his post by the dying woman's side to the clergyman. 

A chaise returning empty to Kippletringan had been stopped on thehighroad by a constable, who foresaw it would be necessary toconvey Hatteraick to jail. The driver, understanding what wasgoing on at Derncleugh, left his horses to the care of ablackguard boy, confiding, it is to be supposed, rather in theyears and discretion of the cattle than in those of their keeper, and set off full speed to see, as he expressed himself, 'whaten asort o' fun was gaun on. ' He arrived just as the group of tenantsand peasants, whose numbers increased every moment, satiated withgazing upon the rugged features of Hatteraick, had turned theirattention towards Bertram. Almost all of them, especially the agedmen who had seen Ellangowan in his better days, felt andacknowledged the justice of Meg Merrilies's appeal. But the Scotchare a cautious people: they remembered there was another inpossession of the estate, and they as yet only expressed theirfeelings in low whispers to each other. Our friend Jock Jabos, thepostilion, forced his way into the middle of the circle; but nosooner cast his eyes upon Bertram than he started back inamazement, with a solemn exclamation, 'As sure as there's breathin man, it's auld Ellangowan arisen from the dead!'

This public declaration of an unprejudiced witness was just thespark wanted to give fire to the popular feeling, which burstforth in three distinct shouts: 'Bertram for ever!' 'Long life tothe heir of Ellangowan!' 'God send him his ain, and to live amongus as his forebears did of yore!'

'I hae been seventy years on the land, ' said one person. 

'I and mine hae been seventy and seventy to that, ' said another;'I have a right to ken the glance of a Bertram. '

'I and mine hae been three hundred years here, ' said another oldman, 'and I sail sell my last cow, but I'll see the young Lairdplaced in his right. '

The women, ever delighted with the marvellous, and not less sowhen a handsome young man is the subject of the tale, added theirshrill acclamations to the general all-hail. 'Blessings on him;he's the very picture o' his father! The Bertrams were aye thewale o' the country side!'

'Eh! that his puir mother, that died in grief and in doubt abouthim, had but lived to see this day!' exclaimed some female voices. 

'But we'll help him to his ain, kimmers, ' cried others; 'andbefore Glossin sail keep the Place of Ellangowan we'll howk himout o't wi' our nails!'

Others crowded around Dinmont, who was nothing both to tell whathe knew of his friend, and to boast the honour which he had incontributing to the discovery. As he was known to several of theprincipal farmers present, his testimony afforded an additionalmotive to the general enthusiasm. In short, it was one of thosemoments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish peoplemelts like a snow-wreath, and the dissolving torrent carries damand dyke before it. 

The sudden shouts interrupted the devotions of the clergyman; andMeg, who was in one of those dozing fits of stupefaction thatprecede the close of existence, suddenly started--'Dinna ye hear?dinna ye hear? He's owned! he's owned! I lived but for this. I ama sinfu' woman; but if my curse brought it down, my blessing hastaen it off! And now I wad hae liked to hae said mair. But itcanna be. Stay'--she continued, stretching her head towards thegleam of light that shot through the narrow slit which served fora window--'is he not there? Stand out o' the light, and let melook upon him ance mair. But the darkness is in my ain een, ' shesaid, sinking back, after an earnest gaze upon vacuity; 'it's a'ended now, Pass breath, Come death!'

And, sinking back upon her couch of straw, she expired without agroan. The clergyman and the surgeon carefully noted down all thatshe had said, now deeply regretting they had not examined her moreminutely, but both remaining morally convinced of the truth of herdisclosure. 

Hazlewood was the first to compliment Bertram upon the nearprospect of his being restored to his name and rank in society. The people around, who now learned from Jabos that Bertram was theperson who had wounded him, were struck with his generosity, andadded his name to Bertram's in their exulting acclamations. 

Some, however, demanded of the postilion how he had not recognisedBertram when he saw him some time before at Kippletringan. Towhich he gave the very natural answer--'Hout, what was I thinkingabout Ellangowan then? It was the cry that was rising e'en nowthat the young Laird was found, that put me on finding out thelikeness. There was nae missing it ance ane was set to lookfor't. '

The obduracy of Hatteraick during the latter part of this scenewas in some slight degree shaken. He was observed to twinkle withhis eyelids; to attempt to raise his bound hands for the purposeof pulling his hat over his brow; to look angrily and impatientlyto the road, as if anxious for the vehicle which was to remove himfrom the spot. At length Mr. Hazlewood, apprehensive that thepopular ferment might take a direction towards the prisoner, directed he should be taken to the post-chaise, and so removed tothe town of Kippletringan, to be at Mr. Mac-Morlan's disposal; atthe same time he sent an express to warn that gentleman of whathad happened. 'And now, ' he said to Bertram, 'I should be happy ifyou would accompany me to Hazlewood House; but as that might notbe so agreeable just now as I trust it will be in a day or two, you must allow me to return with you to Woodbourne. But you are onfoot. '--'O, if the young Laird would take my horse!'--'Or mine'--'Or mine, ' said half-a-dozen voices. --'Or mine; he can trot tenmile an hour without whip or spur, and he's the young Laird's fraethis moment, if he likes to take him for a herezeld, [Footnote:See Note 8. ] as they ca'd it lang syne. ' Bertram readily acceptedthe horse as a loan, and poured forth his thanks to the assembledcrowd for their good wishes, which they repaid with shouts andvows of attachment. 

While the happy owner was directing one lad to 'gae doun for thenew saddle'; another, ' just to rin the beast ower wi' a dry wispo' strae'; a third, 'to hie doun and borrow Dan Dunkieson's platedstirrups, ' and expressing his regret 'that there was nae time togie the nag a feed, that the young Laird might ken his mettle, 'Bertram, taking the clergyman by the arm, walked into the vaultand shut the door immediately after them. He gazed in silence forsome minutes upon the body of Meg Merrilies, as it lay before him, with the features sharpened by death, yet still retaining thestern and energetic character which had maintained in life hersuperiority as the wild chieftainess of the lawless people amongstwhom she was born. The young soldier dried the tears whichinvoluntarily rose on viewing this wreck of one who might be saidto have died a victim to her fidelity to his person and family. Hethen took the clergyman's hand and asked solemnly if she appearedable to give that attention to his devotions which befitted adeparting person. 

'My dear sir, ' said the good minister, 'I trust this poor womanhad remaining sense to feel and join in the import of my prayers. But let us humbly hope we are judged of by our opportunities ofreligious and moral instruction. In some degree she might beconsidered as an uninstructed heathen, even in the bosom of aChristian country; and let us remember that the errors and vicesof an ignorant life were balanced by instances of disinterestedattachment, amounting almost to heroism. To HIM who can aloneweigh our crimes and errors against our efforts towards virtue weconsign her with awe, but not without hope. '

'May I request, ' said Bertram, 'that you will see every decentsolemnity attended to in behalf of this poor woman? I have someproperty belonging to her in my hands; at all events I will beanswerable for the expense. You will hear of me at Woodbourne. '

Dinmont, who had been furnished with a horse by one of hisacquaintance, now loudly called out that all was ready for theirreturn; and Bertram and Hazlewood, after a strict exhortation tothe crowd, which was now increased to several hundreds, topreserve good order in their rejoicing, as the least ungovernedzeal might be turned to the disadvantage of the young Laird, asthey termed him, took their leave amid the shouts of themultitude. 

As they rode past the ruined cottages at Derncleugh, Dinmont said, 'I'm sure when ye come to your ain, Captain, ye'll no forget tobigg a bit cot-house there? Deil be in me but I wad do't mysell, an it werena in better hands. I wadna like to live in't, though, after what she said. Od, I wad put in auld Elspeth, the bedral'swidow; the like o' them's used wi' graves and ghaists and thaethings. '

A short but brisk ride brought them to Woodbourne. The news oftheir exploit had already flown far and wide, and the wholeinhabitants of the vicinity met them on the lawn with shouts ofcongratulation. 'That you have seen me alive, ' said Bertram toLucy, who first ran up to him, though Julia's eyes evenanticipated hers, 'you must thank these kind friends. '

With a blush expressing at once pleasure, gratitude, andbashfulness, Lucy curtsied to Hazlewood, but to Dinmont shefrankly extended her hand. The honest farmer, in the extravaganceof his joy, carried his freedom farther than the hint warranted, for he imprinted his thanks on the lady's lips, and was instantlyshocked at the rudeness of his own conduct. 'Lord sake, madam, Iask your pardon, ' he said. 'I forgot but ye had been a bairn o'myain; the Captain's sae namely, he gars ane forget himsell. '

Old Pleydell now advanced. 'Nay, if fees like these are going, ' hesaid--

'Stop, stop, Mr. Pleydell, ' said Julia, 'you had your feesbeforehand; remember last night. '

'Why, I do confess a retainer, ' said the Barrister; 'but if Idon't deserve double fees from both Miss Bertram and you when Iconclude my examination of Dirk Hatteraick to-morrow--Gad, I willso supple him! You shall see, Colonel; and you, my saucy misses, though you may not see, shall hear. '

'Ay, that's if we choose to listen, Counsellor, ' replied Julia. 

'And you think, ' said Pleydell, 'it's two to one you won't choosethat? But you have curiosity that teaches you the use of your earsnow and then. '

'I declare, Counsellor, ' answered the lively damsel, 'that suchsaucy bachelors as you would teach us the use of our fingers nowand then. '

'Reserve them for the harpsichord, my love, ' said the Counsellor. 'Better for all parties. '

While this idle chat ran on, Colonel Mannering introduced toBertram a plain good-looking man, in a grey coat and waistcoat, buckskin breeches, and boots. 'This, my dear sir, is Mr. Mac-Morlan. '

'To whom, ' said Bertram, embracing him cordially, 'my sister wasindebted for a home, when deserted by all her natural friends andrelations. '

The Dominie then pressed forward, grinned, chuckled, made adiabolical sound in attempting to whistle, and finally, unable tostifle his emotions, ran away to empty the feelings of his heartat his eyes. 

We shall not attempt to describe the expansion of heart and gleeof this happy evening. 

CHAPTER LVI

 How like a hateful ape, Detected grinning 'midst his pilfer'd hoard, A cunning man appears, whose secret frauds Are open'd to the day!

 Count Basil

There was a great movement at Woodbourne early on the followingmorning to attend the examination at Kippletringan. Mr. Pleydell, from the investigation which he had formerly bestowed on the darkaffair of Kennedy's death, as well as from the general deferencedue to his professional abilities, was requested by Mr. Mac-Morlanand Sir Robert Hazlewood, and another justice of peace whoattended, to take the situation of chairman and the lead in theexamination. Colonel Mannering was invited to sit down with them. The examination, being previous to trial, was private in otherrespects. 

The Counsellor resumed and reinterrogated former evidence. He thenexamined the clergyman and surgeon respecting the dyingdeclaration of Meg Merrilies. They stated that she distinctly, positively, and repeatedly declared herself an eye-witness ofKennedy's death by the hands of Hatteraick and two or three of hiscrew; that her presence was accidental; that she believed theirresentment at meeting him, when they were in the act of losingtheir vessel through the means of his information, led to thecommission of the crime; that she said there was one witness ofthe murder, but who refused to participate in it, still alive--hernephew, Gabriel Faa; and she had hinted at another person who wasan accessory after, not before, the fact; but her strength therefailed her. They did not forget to mention her declaration thatshe had saved the child, and that he was torn from her by thesmugglers for the purpose of carrying him to Holland. All theseparticulars were carefully reduced to writing. 

Dirk Hatteraick was then brought in, heavily ironed; for he hadbeen strictly secured and guarded, owing to his former escape. Hewas asked his name; he made no answer. His profession; he wassilent. Several other questions were put, to none of which hereturned any reply. Pleydell wiped the glasses of his spectaclesand considered the prisoner very attentively. 'A very truculent-looking fellow, ' he whispered to Mannering; 'but, as Dogberrysays, I'll go cunningly to work with him. Here, call in Soles--Soles the shoemaker. Soles, do you remember measuring somefootsteps imprinted on the mud at the wood of Warroch on--November17--, by my orders?' Soles remembered the circumstance perfectly. 'Look at that paper; is that your note of the measurement?' Solesverified the memorandum. 'Now, there stands a pair of shoes onthat table; measure them, and see if they correspond with any ofthe marks you have noted there. ' The shoemaker obeyed, anddeclared 'that they answered exactly to the largest of thefootprints. '

'We shall prove, ' said the Counsellor, aside to Mannering, 'thatthese shoes, which were found in the ruins at Derncleugh, belongedto Brown, the fellow whom you shot on the lawn at Woodbourne. Now, Soles, measure that prisoner's feet very accurately. '

Mannering observed Hatteraick strictly, and could notice a visibletremor. 'Do these measurements correspond with any of thefootprints?'

The man looked at the note, then at his foot-rule and measure, then verified his former measurement by a second. 'Theycorrespond, ' he said, 'within a hair-breadth to a foot-markbroader and shorter than the former. '

Hatteraick's genius here deserted him. 'Der deyvil!' he broke out, 'how could there be a footmark on the ground, when it was a frostas hard as the heart of a Memel log?'

'In the evening, I grant you, Captain Hatteraick, ' said Pleydell, 'but not in the forenoon. Will you favour me with informationwhere you were upon the day you remember so exactly?'

Hatteraick saw his blunder, and again screwed up his hard featuresfor obstinate silence. 'Put down his observation, however, ' saidPleydell to the clerk. 

At this moment the door opened, and, much to the surprise of mostpresent, Mr. Gilbert Glossin made his appearance. That worthygentleman had, by dint of watching and eavesdropping, ascertainedthat he was not mentioned by name in Meg Merrilies's dyingdeclaration--a circumstance certainly not owing to any favourabledisposition towards him, but to the delay of taking her regularexamination, and to the rapid approach of death. He thereforesupposed himself safe from all evidence but such as might arisefrom Hatteraick's confession; to prevent which he resolved to pusha bold face and join his brethren of the bench during hisexamination. 'I shall be able, ' he thought, 'to make the rascalsensible his safety lies in keeping his own counsel and mine; andmy presence, besides, will be a proof of confidence and innocence. If I must lose the estate, I must; but I trust better things. '

He entered with a profound salutation to Sir Robert Hazlewood. SirRobert, who had rather begun to suspect that his plebeianneighbour had made a cat's paw of him, inclined his head stiffly, took snuff, and looked another way. 

'Mr. Corsand, ' said Glossin to the other yokefellow of justice, 'your most humble servant. '

'Your humble servant, Mr. Glossin, ' answered Mr. Corsand drily, composing his countenance regis ad exemplar, that is to say, afterthe fashion of the Baronet. 

'Mac-Morlan, my worthy friend, ' continued Glossin, 'how d' ye do;always on your duty?'

'Umph, ' said honest Mac-Morlan, with little respect either to thecompliment or salutation. 

'Colonel Mannering (a low bow slightly returned), and Mr. Pleydell(another low bow), I dared not have hoped for your assistance topoor country gentlemen at this period of the session. '

Pleydell took snuff, and eyed him with a glance equally shrewd andsarcastic. 'I'll teach him, ' he said aside to Mannering, 'thevalue of the old admonition, Ne accesseris in consilium antequamvoceris. '

'But perhaps I intrude, gentlemen?' said Glossin, who could notfail to observe the coldness of his reception. 'Is this an openmeeting?'

'For my part, ' said Mr. Pleydell, 'so far from considering yourattendance as an intrusion, Mr. Glossin, I was never so pleased inmy life to meet with you; especially as I think we should, at anyrate, have had occasion to request the favour of your company inthe course of the day. '

'Well, then, gentlemen, ' said Glossin, drawing his chair to thetable, and beginning to bustle about among the papers, 'where arewe? how far have we got? where are the declarations?'

'Clerk, give me all these papers, ' said Mr. Pleydell. 'I have anodd way of arranging my documents, Mr. Glossin, another persontouching them puts me out; but I shall have occasion for yourassistance by and by. '

Glossin, thus reduced to inactivity, stole one glance at DirkHatteraick, but could read nothing in his dark scowl savemalignity and hatred to all around. 'But, gentlemen, ' saidGlossin, 'is it quite right to keep this poor man so heavilyironed when he is taken up merely for examination?'

This was hoisting a kind of friendly signal to the prisoner. 'Hehas escaped once before, ' said Mac-Morlan drily, and Glossin wassilenced. 

Bertram was now introduced, and, to Glossin's confusion, wasgreeted in the most friendly manner by all present, even by SirRobert Hazlewood himself. He told his recollections of his infancywith that candour and caution of expression which afforded thebest warrant for his good faith. 'This seems to be rather a civilthan a criminal question, ' said Glossin, rising; 'and as youcannot be ignorant, gentlemen, of the effect which this youngperson's pretended parentage may have on my patrimonial interest, I would rather beg leave to retire. '

'No, my good sir, ' said Mr. Pleydell, 'we can by no means spareyou. But why do you call this young man's claims pretended? Idon't mean to fish for your defences against them, if you haveany, but--'

'Mr. Pleydell, ' replied Glossin, 'I am always disposed to actabove-board, and I think I can explain the matter at once. Thisyoung fellow, whom I take to be a natural son of the lateEllangowan, has gone about the country for some weeks underdifferent names, caballing with a wretched old mad-woman, who, Iunderstand, was shot in a late scuffle, and with other tinkers, gipsies, and persons of that description, and a great brute farmerfrom Liddesdale, stirring up the tenants against their landlords, which, as Sir Robert Hazlewood of Hazlewood knows--'

'Not to interrupt you, Mr. Glossin, ' said Pleydell, 'I ask who yousay this young man is?'

'Why, I say, ' replied Glossin, 'and I believe that gentleman(looking at Hatteraick) knows, that the young man is a natural sonof the late Ellangowan, by a girl called Janet Lightoheel, who wasafterwards married to Hewit the shipwright, that lived in theneighbourhood of Annan. His name is Godfrey Bertram Hewit, bywhich name he was entered on board the Royal Caroline exciseyacht. '

'Ay?' said Pleydell, 'that is a very likely story! But, not topause upon some difference of eyes, complexion, and so forth--bepleased to step forward, sir. ' (A young seafaring man cameforward. ) 'Here, ' proceeded the Counsellor, 'is the real SimonPure; here's Godfrey Bertram Hewit, arrived last night fromAntigua via Liverpool, mate of a West-Indian, and in a fair way ofdoing well in the world, although he came somewhat irregularlyinto it. '

While some conversation passed between the other justices and thisyoung man, Pleydell lifted from among the papers on the tableHatteraick's old pocket-book. A peculiar glance of the smuggler'seye induced the shrewd lawyer to think there was something here ofinterest. He therefore continued the examination of the papers, laying the book on the table, but instantly perceived that theprisoner's interest in the research had cooled. 'It must be in thebook still, whatever it is, ' thought Pleydell; and again appliedhimself to the pocket-book, until he discovered, on a narrowscrutiny, a slit between the pasteboard and leather, out of whichhe drew three small slips of paper. Pleydell now, turning toGlossin, requested the favour that he would tell them if he hadassisted at the search for the body of Kennedy and the child ofhis patron on the day when they disappeared. 

'I did not--that is, I did, ' answered the conscience-struckGlossin. 

'It is remarkable though, ' said the Advocate, 'that, connected asyou were with the Ellangowan family, I don't recollect your beingexamined, or even appearing before me, while that investigationwas proceeding?'

'I was called to London, ' answered Glossin, 'on most importantbusiness the morning after that sad affair. '

'Clerk, ' said Pleydell, 'minute down that reply. I presume thebusiness, Mr. Glossin, was to negotiate these three bills, drawnby you on Messrs. Vanbeest and Vanbruggen, and accepted by oneDirk Hatteraick in their name on the very day of the murder. Icongratulate you on their being regularly retired, as I perceivethey have been. I think the chances were against it. ' Glossin'scountenance fell. 'This piece of real evidence, ' continued Mr. Pleydell, 'makes good the account given of your conduct on thisoccasion by a man called Gabriel Faa, whom we have now in custody, and who witnessed the whole transaction between you and thatworthy prisoner. Have you any explanation to give?'

'Mr. Pleydell, ' said Glossin, with great composure, 'I presume, ifyou were my counsel, you would not advise me to answer upon thespur of the moment to a charge which the basest of mankind seemready to establish by perjury. '

'My advice, ' said the Counsellor, 'would be regulated by myopinion of your innocence or guilt. In your case, I believe youtake the wisest course; but you are aware you must standcommitted?'

'Committed? for what, sir?' replied Glossin. 'Upon a charge ofmurder?'

'No; only as art and part of kidnapping the child. '

'That is a bailable offence. '

'Pardon me, ' said Pleydell, 'it is plagium, and plagium isfelony. '

'Forgive me, Mr. Pleydell, there is only one case upon record, Torrence and Waldie. They were, you remember, resurrection-women, who had promised to procure a child's body for some youngsurgeons. Being upon honour to their employers, rather thandisappoint the evening lecture of the students, they stole a livechild, murdered it, and sold the body for three shillings andsixpence. They were hanged, but for the murder, not for theplagium [Footnote: This is, in its circumstances and issue, actually a case tried and reported. ]--Your civil law has carriedyou a little too far. '

'Well, sir, but in the meantime Mr. Mac-Morlan must commit you tothe county jail, in case this young man repeats the same story. Officers, remove Mr. Glossin and Hatteraick, and guard them indifferent apartments. '

Gabriel, the gipsy, was then introduced, and gave a distinctaccount of his deserting from Captain Pritchard's vessel andjoining the smugglers in the action, detailed how Dirk Hatteraickset fire to his ship when he found her disabled, and under coverof the smoke escaped with his crew, and as much goods as theycould save, into the cavern, where they proposed to lie tillnightfall. Hatteraick himself, his mate Vanbeest Brown, and threeothers, of whom the declarant was one, went into the adjacentwoods to communicate with some of their friends in theneighbourhood. They fell in with Kennedy unexpectedly, andHatteraick and Brown, aware that he was the occasion of theirdisasters, resolved to murder him. He stated that he had seen themlay violent hands on the officer and drag him through the woods, but had not partaken in the assault nor witnessed its termination;that he returned to the cavern by a different route, where heagain met Hatteraick and his accomplices; and the captain was inthe act of giving an account how he and Brown had pushed a hugecrag over, as Kennedy lay groaning on the beach, when Glossinsuddenly appeared among them. To the whole transaction by whichHatteraick purchased his secrecy he was witness. Respecting youngBertram, he could give a distinct account till he went to India, after which he had lost sight of him until he unexpectedly metwith him in Liddesdale. Gabriel Faa farther stated that heinstantly sent notice to his aunt Meg Merrilies, as well as toHatteraick, who he knew was then upon the coast; but that he hadincurred his aunt's displeasure upon the latter account. Heconcluded, that his aunt had immediately declared that she woulddo all that lay in her power to help young Ellangowan to hisright, even if it should be by informing against Dirk Hatteraick;and that many of her people assisted her besides himself, from abelief that she was gifted with supernatural inspirations. Withthe same purpose, he understood his aunt had given to Bertram thetreasure of the tribe, of which she had the custody. Three or fourgipsies, by the express command of Meg Merrilies, mingled in thecrowd when the custom-house was attacked, for the purpose ofliberating Bertram, which he had himself effected. He said, thatin obeying Meg's dictates they did not pretend to estimate theirpropriety or rationality, the respect in which she was held by hertribe precluding all such subjects of speculation. Upon fartherinterrogation, the witness added, that his aunt had always saidthat Harry Bertram carried that round his neck which wouldascertain his birth. It was a spell, she said, that an Oxfordscholar had made for him, and she possessed the smugglers with anopinion that to deprive him of it would occasion the loss of thevessel. 

Bertram here produced a small velvet bag, which he said he hadworn round his neck from his earliest infancy, and which he hadpreserved, first from superstitious reverence, and latterly fromthe hope that it might serve one day to aid in the discovery ofhis birth. The bag, being opened, was found to contain a blue silkcase, from which was drawn a scheme of nativity. Upon inspectingthis paper, Colonel Mannering instantly admitted it was his owncomposition; and afforded the strongest and most satisfactoryevidence that the possessor of it must necessarily be the youngheir of Ellangowan, by avowing his having first appeared in thatcountry in the character of an astrologer. 

'And now, ' said Pleydell, 'make out warrants of commitment forHatteraick and Glossin until liberated in due course of law. Yet, 'he said, 'I am sorry for Glossin. '

'Now, I think, ' said Mannering, 'he's incomparably the leastdeserving of pity of the two. The other's a bold fellow, though ashard as flint. '

'Very natural, Colonel, ' said the Advocate, 'that you should beinterested in the ruffian and I in the knave, that's allprofessional taste; but I can tell you Glossin would have been apretty lawyer had he not had such a turn for the roguish part ofthe profession. '

'Scandal would say, ' observed Mannering, 'he might not be theworse lawyer for that. '

'Scandal would tell a lie, then, ' replied Pleydell, 'as sheusually does. Law's like laudanum: it's much more easy to use itas a quack does than to learn to apply it like a physician. '

CHAPTER LVII

 Unfit to live or die--O marble heart! After him, fellows, drag him to the block. 

 Measure for Measure. 

The jail at the county town of the shire of----was one of thoseold-fashioned dungeons which disgraced Scotland until of lateyears. When the prisoners and their guard arrived there, Hatteraick, whose violence and strength were well known, wassecured in what was called the condemned ward. This was a largeapartment near the top of the prison. A round bar ofiron, [Footnote: See Note 9. ] about the thickness of a man's armabove the elbow, crossed the apartment horizontally at the heightof about six inches from the floor; and its extremities werestrongly built into the wall at either end. Hatteraick's ankleswere secured within shackles, which were connected by a chain, atthe distance of about four feet, with a large iron ring, whichtravelled upon the bar we have described. Thus a prisoner mightshuffle along the length of the bar from one side of the room toanother, but could not retreat farther from it in any otherdirection than the brief length of the chain admitted. When hisfeet had been thus secured, the keeper removed his handcuffs andleft his person at liberty in other respects. A pallet-bed wasplaced close to the bar of iron, so that the shackled prisonermight lie down at pleasure, still fastened to the iron bar in themanner described. 

Hatteraick had not been long in this place of confinement beforeGlossin arrived at the same prison-house. In respect to hiscomparative rank and education, he was not ironed, but placed in adecent apartment, under the inspection of Mac-Guffog, who, sincethe destruction of the bridewell of Portanferry by the mob, hadacted here as an under-turnkey. When Glossin was enclosed withinthis room, and had solitude and leisure to calculate all thechances against him and in his favour, he could not prevail uponhimself to consider the game as desperate. 

'The estate is lost, ' he said, 'that must go; and, betweenPleydell and Mac-Morlan, they'll cut down my claim on it to atrifle. My character--but if I get off with life and liberty I'llwin money yet and varnish that over again. I knew not of thegauger's job until the rascal had done the deed, and, though I hadsome advantage by the contraband, that is no felony. But thekidnapping of the boy--there they touch me closer. Let me see. This Bertram was a child at the time; his evidence must beimperfect. The other fellow is a deserter, a gipsy, and an outlaw. Meg Merrilies, d-n her, is dead. These infernal bills! Hatteraickbrought them with him, I suppose, to have the means of threateningme or extorting money from me. I must endeavour to see the rascal;must get him to stand steady; must persuade him to put some othercolour upon the business. '

His mind teeming with schemes of future deceit to cover formervillainy, he spent the time in arranging and combining them untilthe hour of supper. Mac-Guffog attended as turnkey on thisoccasion. He was, as we know, the old and special acquaintance ofthe prisoner who was now under his charge. After giving theturnkey a glass of brandy, and sounding him with one or twocajoling speeches, Glossin made it his request that he would helphim to an interview with Dirk Hatteraick. 'Impossible! utterlyimpossible! it's contrary to the express orders of Mr. Mac-Morlan, and the captain (as the head jailor of a county jail is called inScotland) would never forgie me. '

'But why should he know of it?' said Glossin, slipping a couple ofguineas into Mac-Guffog's hand. 

The turnkey weighed the gold and looked sharp at Glossin. 'Ay, ay, Mr. Glossin, ye ken the ways o' this place. Lookee, at lock-uphour I'll return and bring ye upstairs to him. But ye must stay a'night in his cell, for I am under needcessity to carry the keys tothe captain for the night, and I cannot let you out again untilmorning; then I'll visit the wards half an hour earlier thanusual, and ye may get out and be snug in your ain birth when thecaptain gangs his rounds. '

When the hour of ten had pealed from the neighbouring steeple Mac-Guffog came prepared with a small dark lantern. He said softly toGlossin, 'Slip your shoes off and follow me. ' When Glossin was outof the door, Mac-Guffog, as if in the execution of his ordinaryduty, and speaking to a prisoner within, called aloud, 'Good-nightto you, sir, ' and locked the door, clattering the bolts with muchostentatious noise. He then guided Glossin up a steep and narrowstair, at the top of which was the door of the condemned ward; heunbarred and unlocked it, and, giving Glossin the lantern, made asign to him to enter, and locked the door behind him with the sameaffected accuracy. 

In the large dark cell into which he was thus introduced Glossin'sfeeble light for some time enabled him to discover nothing. Atlength he could dimly distinguish the pallet-bed stretched on thefloor beside the great iron bar which traversed the room, and onthat pallet reposed the figure of a man. Glossin approached him. 'Dirk Hatteraick!'

'Donner and hagel! it is his voice, ' said the prisoner, sitting upand clashing his fetters as he rose; 'then my dream is true!Begone, and leave me to myself; it will be your best. '

'What! my good friend, ' said Glossin, 'will you allow the prospectof a few weeks' confinement to depress your spirit?'

'Yes, ' answered the ruffian, sullenly, 'when I am only to bereleased by a halter! Let me alone; go about your business, andturn the lamp from my face!'

'Psha! my dear Dirk, don't be afraid, ' said Glossin; 'I have aglorious plan to make all right. '

'To the bottomless pit with your plans!' replied his accomplice;'you have planned me out of ship, cargo, and life; and I dreamtthis moment that Meg Merrilies dragged you here by the hair andgave me the long clasped knife she used to wear; you don't knowwhat she said. Sturmwetter! it will be your wisdom not to temptme!'

'But, Hatteraick, my good friend, do but rise and speak to me, 'said Glossin. 

'I will not!' answered the savage, doggedly. 'You have caused allthe mischief; you would not let Meg keep the boy; she would havereturned him after he had forgot all. '

'Why, Hatteraick, you are turned driveller!'

'Wetter! will you deny that all that cursed attempt atPortanferry, which lost both sloop and crew, was your device foryour own job?'

'But the goods, you know--'

'Curse the goods!' said the smuggler, 'we could have got plentymore; but, der deyvil! to lose the ship and the fine fellows, andmy own life, for a cursed coward villain, that always works hisown mischief with other people's hands! Speak to me no more; I'mdangerous. '

'But, Dirk--but, Hatteraick, hear me only a few words. '

'Hagel! nein. '

'Only one sentence. '

'Tousand curses! nein. '

'At least get up, for an obstinate Dutch brute!' said Glossin, losing his temper and pushing Hatteraick with his foot. 

'Donner and blitzen!' said Hatteraick, springing up and grapplingwith him; 'you WILL have it then?'

Glossin struggled and resisted; but, owing to his surprise at thefury of the assault, so ineffectually that he fell underHatteraick, the back part of his neck coming full upon the ironbar with stunning violence. The death-grapple continued. The roomimmediately below the condemned ward, being that of Glossin, was, of course, empty; but the inmates of the second apartment beneathfelt the shock of Glossin's heavy fall, and heard a noise as ofstruggling and of groans. But all sounds of horror were toocongenial to this place to excite much curiosity or interest. 

In the morning, faithful to his promise, Mac-Guffog came. 'Mr. Glossin, ' said he, in a whispering voice. 

'Call louder, ' answered Dirk Hatteraick. 

'Mr. Glossin, for God's sake come away!'

'He'll hardly do that without help, ' said Hatteraick. 

'What are you chattering there for, Mac-Guffog?' called out thecaptain from below. 

'Come away, for God's sake, Mr. Glossin!' repeated the turnkey. 

At this moment the jailor made his appearance with a light. Greatwas his surprise, and even horror, to observe Glossin's body lyingdoubled across the iron bar, in a posture that excluded all ideaof his being alive. Hatteraick was quietly stretched upon hispallet within a yard of his victim. On lifting Glossin it wasfound he had been dead for some hours. His body bore uncommonmarks of violence. The spine where it joins the skull had receivedsevere injury by his first fall. There were distinct marks ofstrangulation about the throat, which corresponded with theblackened state of his face. The head was turned backward over theshoulder, as if the neck had been wrung round with desperateviolence. So that it would seem that his inveterate antagonist hadfixed a fatal gripe upon the wretch's throat, and never quitted itwhile life lasted. The lantern, crushed and broken to pieces, laybeneath the body. 

Mac-Morlan was in the town, and came instantly to examine thecorpse. 'What brought Glossin here?' he said to Hatteraick. 

'The devil!' answered the ruffian. 

'And what did you do to him?'

'Sent him to hell before me!' replied the miscreant. 

'Wretch, ' said Mac-Morlan, 'you have crowned a life spent withouta single virtue with the murder of your own miserable accomplice!'

'Virtue?' exclaimed the prisoner. 'Donner! I was always faithfulto my shipowners--always accounted for cargo to the last stiver. Hark ye! let me have pen and ink and I'll write an account of thewhole to our house, and leave me alone a couple of hours, will ye;and let them take away that piece of carrion, donnerwetter!'

Mac-Morlan deemed it the best way to humour the savage; he wasfurnished with writing materials and left alone. When they againopened the door it was found that this determined villain hadanticipated justice. He had adjusted a cord taken from thetruckle-bed, and attached it to a bone, the relic of hisyesterday's dinner, which he had contrived to drive into a crevicebetween two stones in the wall at a height as great as he couldreach, standing upon the bar. Having fastened the noose, he hadthe resolution to drop his body as if to fall on his knees, and toretain that posture until resolution was no longer necessary. Theletter he had written to his owners, though chiefly upon thebusiness of their trade, contained many allusions to the younkerof Ellangowan, as he called him, and afforded absoluteconfirmation of all Meg Merrilies and her nephew had told. 

To dismiss the catastrophe of these two wretched men, I shall onlyadd, that Mac-Guffog was turned out of office, notwithstanding hisdeclaration (which he offered to attest by oath), that he hadlocked Glossin safely in his own room upon the night preceding hisbeing found dead in Dirk Hatteraick's cell. His story, however, found faith with the worthy Mr. Skriegh and other lovers of themarvellous, who still hold that the Enemy of Mankind brought thesetwo wretches together upon that night by supernaturalinterference, that they might fill up the cup of their guilt andreceive its meed by murder and suicide. 

CHAPTER LVIII

 To sum the whole--the close of all. 

 DEAN SWIFT. 

As Glossin died without heirs, and without payment of the price, the estate of Ellangowan was again thrown upon the hands of Mr. Godfrey Bertram's creditors, the right of most of whom was, however, defeasible in case Henry Bertram should establish hischaracter of heir of entail. This young gentleman put his affairsinto the hands of Mr. Pleydell and Mr. Mac-Morlan, with one singleproviso, that, though he himself should be obliged again to go toIndia, every debt justly and honourably due by his father shouldbe made good to the claimant. Mannering, who heard thisdeclaration, grasped him kindly by the hand, and from that momentmight be dated a thorough understanding between them. 

The hoards of Miss Margaret Bertram, and the liberal assistance ofthe Colonel, easily enabled the heir to make provision for paymentof the just creditors of his father, while the ingenuity andresearch of his law friends detected, especially in the accountsof Glossin, so many overcharges as greatly diminished the totalamount. In these circumstances the creditors did not hesitate torecognise Bertram's right, and to surrender to him the house andproperty of his ancestors. All the party repaired from Woodbourneto take possession, amid the shouts of the tenantry and theneighbourhood; and so eager was Colonel Mannering to superintendcertain improvements which he had recommended to Bertram, that heremoved with his family from Woodbourne to Ellangowan, although atpresent containing much less and much inferior accommodation. 

The poor Dominie's brain was almost turned with joy on returningto his old habitation. He posted upstairs, taking three steps atonce, to a little shabby attic, his cell and dormitory in formerdays, and which the possession of his much superior apartment atWoodbourne had never banished from his memory. Here one sadthought suddenly struck the honest man--the books! no three roomsin Ellangowan were capable to contain them. While this qualifyingreflection was passing through his mind, he was suddenly summonedby Mannering to assist in calculating some proportions relating toa large and splendid house which was to be built on the site ofthe New Place of Ellangowan, in a style corresponding to themagnificence of the ruins in its vicinity. Among the various roomsin the plan, the Dominie observed that one of the largest wasentitled THE LIBRARY; and close beside was a snug, well-proportioned chamber, entitled Mr. SAMPSON'S APARTMENT. 'Prodigious, prodigious, pro-di-gi-ous!' shouted the enrapturedDominie. 

Mr. Pleydell had left the party for some time; but he returned, according to promise, during the Christmas recess of the courts. He drove up to Ellangowan when all the family were abroad but theColonel, who was busy with plans of buildings and pleasure-grounds, in which he was well skilled, and took great delight. 

'Ah ha!' said the Counsellor, 'so here you are! Where are theladies? where is the fair Julia?'

'Walking out with young Hazlewood, Bertram, and Captain Delaserre, a friend of his, who is with us just now. They are gone to planout a cottage at Derncleugh. Well, have you carried through yourlaw business?'

'With a wet finger, ' answered the lawyer; 'got our youngster'sspecial service retoured into Chancery. We had him served heirbefore the macers. '

'Macers? who are they?'

'Why, it is a kind of judicial Saturnalia. You must know, that oneof the requisites to be a macer, or officer in attendance upon oursupreme court, is, that they shall be men of no knowledge. '

'Very well!'

'Now, our Scottish legislature, for the joke's sake I suppose, have constituted those men of no knowledge into a peculiar courtfor trying questions of relationship and descent, such as thisbusiness of Bertram, which often involve the most nice andcomplicated questions of evidence. '

'The devil they have! I should think that rather inconvenient, 'said Mannering. 

'O, we have a practical remedy for the theoretical absurdity. Oneor two of the judges act upon such occasions as prompters andassessors to their own doorkeepers. But you know what Cujaciussays, "Multa sunt in moribus dissentanea, multa sine ratione. "[Footnote: The singular inconsistency hinted at is now, in a greatdegree, removed. ] However, this Saturnalian court has done ourbusiness; and a glorious batch of claret we had afterwards atWalker's. Mac-Morlan will stare when he sees the bill. '

'Never fear, ' said the Colonel, 'we'll face the shock, andentertain the county at my friend Mrs. Mac-Candlish's to boot. '

'And choose Jock Jabos for your master of horse?' replied thelawyer. 

'Perhaps I may. '

'And where is Dandie, the redoubted Lord of Liddesdale?' demandedthe advocate. 

'Returned to his mountains; but he has promised Julia to make adescent in summer, with the goodwife, as he calls her, and I don'tknow how many children. '

'O, the curly-headed varlets! I must come to play at Blind Harryand Hy Spy with them. But what is all this?' added Pleydell, taking up the plans. 'Tower in the centre to be an imitation ofthe Eagle Tower at Caernarvon--corps de logis--the devil! Wings--wings! Why, the house will take the estate of Ellangowan on itsback and fly away with it!'

'Why, then, we must ballast it with a few bags of sicca rupees, 'replied the Colonel. 

'Aha! sits the wind there? Then I suppose the young dog carriesoff my mistress Julia?'

'Even so, Counsellor. '

'These rascals, the post-nati, get the better of us of the oldschool at every turn, ' said Mr. Pleydell. 'But she must convey andmake over her interest in me to Lucy. '

'To tell you the truth, I am afraid your flank will be turnedthere too, ' replied the Colonel. 

'Indeed?'

'Here has been Sir Robert Hazlewood, ' said Mannering, 'upon avisit to Bertram, thinking and deeming and opining--'

'O Lord! pray spare me the worthy Baronet's triads!'

'Well, sir, ' continued Mannering, 'to make short, he conceivedthat, as the property of Singleside lay like a wedge between twofarms of his, and was four or five miles separated fromEllangowan, something like a sale or exchange or arrangement mighttake place, to the mutual convenience of both parties. '

'Well, and Bertram--'

'Why, Bertram replied, that he considered the original settlementof Mrs. Margaret Bertram as the arrangement most proper in thecircumstances of the family, and that therefore the estate ofSingleside was the property of his sister. '

'The rascal!' said Pleydell, wiping his spectacles. 'He'll stealmy heart as well as my mistress. Et puis?'

'And then Sir Robert retired, after many gracious speeches; butlast week he again took the field in force, with his coach and sixhorses, his laced scarlet waistcoat, and best bob-wig--all verygrand, as the good-boy books say. '

'Ay! and what was his overture?'

'Why, he talked with great form of an attachment on the part ofCharles Hazlewood to Miss Bertram. '

'Ay, ay; he respected the little god Cupid when he saw him perchedon the Dun of Singleside. And is poor Lucy to keep house with thatold fool and his wife, who is just the knight himself inpetticoats?'

'No; we parried that. Singleside House is to be repaired for theyoung people, and to be called hereafter Mount Hazlewood. '

'And do you yourself, Colonel, propose to continue at Woodbourne?'

'Only till we carry these plans into effect. See, here's the planof my bungalow, with all convenience for being separate and sulkywhen I please. '

'And, being situated, as I see, next door to the old castle, youmay repair Donagild's tower for the nocturnal contemplation of thecelestial bodies? Bravo, Colonel!'

'No, no, my dear Counsellor! Here ends THE ASTROLOGER. '

END OF VOLUME II

THE END

NOTES TO VOLUME I

NOTE 1, p. 25

The groaning malt mentioned in the text was the ale brewed for thepurpose of being drunk after the lady or goodwife's safe delivery. The ken-no has a more ancient source, and perhaps the custom maybe derived from the secret rites of the Bona Dea. A large and richcheese was made by the women of the family, with great affectationof secrecy, for the refreshment of the gossips who were to attendat the 'canny' minute. This was the ken-no, so called because itsexistence was secret (that is, presumed to be so) from all themales of the family, but especially from the husband and master. He was accordingly expected to conduct himself as if he knew of nosuch preparation, to act as if desirous to press the female gueststo refreshments, and to seem surprised at their obstinate refusal. But the instant his back was turned the ken-no was produced; andafter all had eaten their fill, with a proper accompaniment of thegroaning malt, the remainder was divided among the gossips, eachcarrying a large portion home with the same affectation of greatsecrecy. 

NOTE 2, p. 198

It is fitting to explain to the reader the locality described inchapter xxii. There is, or rather I should say there WAS, a littleinn called Mumps's Hall, that is, being interpreted, Beggar'sHotel, near to Gilsland, which had not then attained its presentfame as a Spa. It was a hedge alehouse, where the Border farmersof either country often stopped to refresh themselves and theirnags, in their way to and from the fairs and trysts in Cumberland, and especially those who came from or went to Scotland, through abarren and lonely district, without either road or pathway, emphatically called the Waste of Bewcastle. At the period when theadventures described in the novel are supposed to have takenplace, there were many instances of attacks by freebooters onthose who travelled through this wild district, and Mumps's Ha'had a bad reputation for harbouring the banditti who committedsuch depredations. 

An old and sturdy yeoman belonging to the Scottish side, bysurname an Armstrong or Elliot, but well known by his soubriquetof Fighting Charlie of Liddesdale, and still remembered for thecourage he displayed in the frequent frays which took place on theBorder fifty or sixty years since, had the following adventure inthe Waste, which suggested the idea of the scene in the text:--

Charlie had been at Stagshawbank Fair, had sold his sheep orcattle, or whatever he had brought to market, and was on hisreturn to Liddesdale. There were then no country banks where cashcould be deposited and bills received instead, which greatlyencouraged robbery in that wild country, as the objects of plunderwere usually fraught with gold. The robbers had spies in the fair, by means of whom they generally knew whose purse was best stocked, and who took a lonely and desolate road homeward, --those, inshort, who were best worth robbing and likely to be most easilyrobbed. 

All this Charlie knew full well; but he had a pair of excellentpistols and a dauntless heart. He stopped at Mumps's Ha', notwithstanding the evil character of the place. His horse wasaccommodated where it might have the necessary rest and feed ofcorn; and Charlie himself, a dashing fellow, grew gracious withthe landlady, a buxom quean, who used all the influence in herpower to induce him to stop all night. The landlord was from home, she said, and it was ill passing the Waste, as twilight must needsdescend on him before he gained the Scottish side, which wasreckoned the safest. But Fighting Charlie, though he sufferedhimself to be detained later than was prudent, did not accountMumps's Ha' a safe place to quarter in during the night. He torehimself away, therefore, from Meg's good fare and kind words, andmounted his nag, having first examined his pistols, and tried bythe ramrod whether the charge remained in them. 

He proceeded a mile or two at a round trot, when, as the Wastestretched black before him, apprehensions began to awaken in hismind, partly arising out of Meg's unusual kindness, which he couldnot help thinking had rather a suspicious appearance. He thereforeresolved to reload his pistols, lest the powder had become damp;but what was his surprise, when he drew the charge, to findneither powder nor ball, while each barrel had been carefullyfilled with TOW, up to the space which the loading had occupied!and, the priming of the weapons being left untouched, nothing butactually drawing and examining the charge could have discoveredthe inefficiency of his arms till the fatal minute arrived whentheir services were required. Charlie bestowed a hearty Liddesdalecurse on his landlady, and reloaded his pistols with care andaccuracy, having now no doubt that he was to be waylaid andassaulted. He was not far engaged in the Waste, which was then, and is now, traversed only by such routes as are described in thetext, when two or three fellows, disguised and variously armed, started from a moss-hag, while by a glance behind him (for, marching, as the Spaniard says, with his beard on his shoulder, hereconnoitred in every direction) Charlie instantly saw retreat wasimpossible, as other two stout men appeared behind him at somedistance. The Borderer lost not a moment in taking his resolution, and boldly trotted against his enemies in front, who called loudlyon him to stand and deliver; Charlie spurred on, and presented hispistol. 'D--n your pistol, ' said the foremost robber, whom Charlieto his dying day protested he believed to have been the landlordof Mumps's Ha', 'd--n your pistol! I care not a curse for it. ' 'Ay, lad, ' said the deep voice of Fighting Charlie, 'but the TOW'S outnow. ' He had no occasion to utter another word; the rogues, surprised at finding a man of redoubted courage well armed, instead of being defenceless, took to the moss in every direction, and he passed on his way without farther molestation. 

The author has heard this story told by persons who received itfrom Fighting Charlie himself; he has also heard that Mumps's Ha'was afterwards the scene of some other atrocious villainy, forwhich the people of the house suffered. But these are all tales ofat least half a century old, and the Waste has been for many yearsas safe as any place in the kingdom. 

NOTE 3, p. 213

The author may here remark that the character of Dandie Dinmontwas drawn from no individual. A dozen, at least, of stoutLiddesdale yeomen with whom he has been acquainted, and whosehospitality he has shared in his rambles through that wildcountry, at a time when it was totally inaccessible save in themanner described in the text, might lay claim to be the prototypeof the rough, but faithful, hospitable, and generous farmer. Butone circumstance occasioned the name to be fixed upon a mostrespectable individual of this class, now no more. Mr. JamesDavidson of Hindlee, a tenant of Lord Douglas, besides the pointsof blunt honesty, personal strength, and hardihood designed to beexpressed in the character of Dandie Dinmont, had the humour ofnaming a celebrated race of terriers which he possessed by thegeneric names of Mustard and Pepper (according as their colour wasyellow or greyish-black), without any other individual distinctionexcept as according to the nomenclature in the text. Mr. Davidsonresided at Hindlee, a wild farm on the very edge of the Teviotdalemountains, and bordering close on Liddesdale, where the rivers andbrooks divide as they take their course to the Eastern and Westernseas. His passion for the chase in all its forms, but especiallyfor fox-hunting, as followed in the fashion described in chapterxxv, in conducting which he was skilful beyond most men in theSouth Highlands, was the distinguishing point in his character. 

When the tale on which these comments are written became ratherpopular, the name of Dandie Dinmont was generally given to him, which Mr. Davidson received with great good-humour, only saying, while he distinguished the author by the name applied to him inthe country, where his own is so common--'that the Sheriff had notwritten about him mair than about other folk, but only about hisdogs. ' An English lady of high rank and fashion, being desirous topossess a brace of the celebrated Mustard and Pepper terriers, expressed her wishes in a letter which was literally addressed toDandie Dinmont, under which very general direction it reached Mr. Davidson, who was justly proud of the application, and failed notto comply with a request which did him and his favouriteattendants so much honour. 

I trust I shall not be considered as offending the memory of akind and worthy man, if I mention a little trait of characterwhich occurred in Mr. Davidson's last illness. I use the words ofthe excellent clergyman who attended him, who gave the account toa reverend gentleman of the same persuasion:--

'I read to Mr. Davidson the very suitable and interesting truthsyou addressed to him. He listened to them with great seriousness, and has uniformly displayed a deep concern about his soul'ssalvation. He died on the first Sabbath of the year (1820); anapoplectic stroke deprived him in an instant of all sensation, buthappily his brother was at his bedside, for he had detained himfrom the meeting-house that day to be near him, although he felthimself not much worse than usual. So you have got the last littleMustard that the hand of Dandie Dinmont bestowed. 

'His ruling passion was strong even on the eve of death. Mr. Baillie's fox-hounds had started a fox opposite to his window afew weeks ago, and as soon as he heard the sound of the dogs hiseyes glistened; he insisted on getting out of bed, and with muchdifficulty got to the window and there enjoyed the fun, as hecalled it. When I came down to ask for him, he said, "he had seenReynard, but had not seen his death. If it had been the will ofProvidence, " he added, "I would have liked to have been after him;but I am glad that I got to the window, and am thankful for what Isaw, for it has done me a great deal of good. " Notwithstandingthese eccentricities (adds the sensible and liberal clergyman), Isincerely hope and believe he has gone to a better world, andbetter company and enjoyments. '

If some part of this little narrative may excite a smile, it isone which is consistent with the most perfect respect for thesimple-minded invalid and his kind and judicious religiousinstructor, who, we hope, will not be displeased with our giving, we trust, a correct edition of an anecdote which has been prettygenerally circulated. The race of Pepper and Mustard are in thehighest estimation at this day, not only for vermin-killing, butfor intelligence and fidelity. Those who, like the author, possessa brace of them, consider them as very desirable companions. 

NOTE 4, p. 232

The cleek here intimated is the iron hook, or hooks, dependingfrom the chimney of a Scottish cottage, on which the pot issuspended when boiling. The same appendage is often called thecrook. The salmon is usually dried by hanging it up, after beingsplit and rubbed with salt, in the smoke of the turf fire abovethe cleeks, where it is said to 'reist, ' that preparation being sotermed. The salmon thus preserved is eaten as a delicacy, underthe name of kipper, a luxury to which Dr. Redgill has given hissanction as an ingredient of the Scottish breakfast. --See theexcellent novel entitled MARRIAGE. 

NOTE 5, p. 234

The distinction of individuals by nicknames when they possess noproperty is still common on the Border, and indeed necessary, fromthe number of persons having the same name. In the small villageof Lustruther, in Roxburghshire, there dwelt, in the memory ofman, four inhabitants called Andrew, or Dandie, Oliver. They weredistinguished as Dandie Eassil-gate, Dandie Wassilgate, DandieThumbie, and Dandie Dumbie. The two first had their names fromliving eastward and westward in the street of the village; thethird from something peculiar in the conformation of his thumb;the fourth from his taciturn habits. 

It is told as a well-known jest, that a beggar woman, repulsedfrom door to door as she solicited quarters through a village ofAnnandale, asked, in her despair, if there were no Christians inthe place. To which the hearers, concluding that she inquired forsome persons so surnamed, answered, 'Na, na, there are naeChristians here; we are a' Johnstones and Jardines. '

NOTE 6, p. 244

The mysterious rites in which Meg Merrilies is described asengaging belong to her character as a queen of her race. All knowthat gipsies in every country claim acquaintance with the gift offortune-telling; but, as is often the case, they are liable to thesuperstitions of which they avail themselves in others. Thecorrespondent of Blackwood, quoted in the Introduction to thisTale, gives us some information on the subject of their credulity. 

'I have ever understood, ' he says, speaking of the Yetholmgipsies, ' that they are extremely superstitious, carefullynoticing the formation of the clouds, the flight of particularbirds, and the soughing of the winds, before attempting anyenterprise. They have been known for several successive days toturn back with their loaded carts, asses, and children, uponmeeting with persons whom they considered of unlucky aspect; nordo they ever proceed on their summer peregrinations without somepropitious omen of their fortunate return. They also burn theclothes of their dead, not so much from any apprehension ofinfection being communicated by them, as the conviction that thevery circumstance of wearing them would shorten the days of theirliving. They likewise carefully watch the corpse by night and daytill the time of interment, and conceive that "the deil tinkles atthe lyke-wake" of those who felt in their dead-thraw the agoniesand terrors of remorse. '

These notions are not peculiar to the gipsies; but, having beenonce generally entertained among the Scottish common people, arenow only found among those who are the most rude in their habitsand most devoid of instruction. The popular idea, that theprotracted struggle between life and death is painfully prolongedby keeping the door of the apartment shut, was received as certainby the superstitious eld of Scotland. But neither was it to bethrown wide open. To leave the door ajar was the plan adopted bythe old crones who understood the mysteries of deathbeds andlykewakes. In that case there was room for the imprisonedspirit to escape; and yet an obstacle, we have been assured, wasoffered to the entrance of any frightful form which mightotherwise intrude itself. The threshold of a habitation was insome sort a sacred limit, and the subject of much superstition. Abride, even to this day, is always lifted over it, a rule derivedapparently from the Romans. 

NOTES TO VOLUME 2

NOTE 1, p. 93

The roads of Liddesdale, in Dandie Dinmont's days, could not besaid to exist, and the district was only accessible through asuccession of tremendous morasses. About thirty years ago theauthor himself was the first person who ever drove a little opencarriage into these wilds, the excellent roads by which they arenow traversed being then in some progress. The people stared withno small wonder at a sight which many of them had never witnessedin their lives before. 

NOTE 2, p. 102

The Tappit Hen contained three quarts of claret--

 Weel she loed a Hawick gill, And leugh to see a tappit hen. 

I have seen one of these formidable stoups at Provost Haswell's, at Jedburgh, in the days of yore It was a pewter measure, theclaret being in ancient days served from the tap, and had thefigure of a hen upon the lid. In later times the name was given toa glass bottle of the same dimensions. These are rare apparitionsamong the degenerate topers of modern days. 

NOTE 3, p. 102

The account given by Mr. Pleydell of his sitting down in the midstof a revel to draw an appeal case was taken from a story told meby an aged gentleman of the elder President Dundas of Amiston(father of the younger President and of Lord Melville). It hadbeen thought very desirable, while that distinguished lawyer wasking's counsel, that his assistance should be obtained in drawingan appeal case, which, as occasion for such writings then rarelyoccurred, was held to be matter of great nicety. The solicitoremployed for the appellant, attended by my informant acting as hisclerk, went to the Lord Advocate's chambers in the FishmarketClose, as I think. It was Saturday at noon, the Court was justdismissed, the Lord Advocate had changed his dress and bootedhimself, and his servant and horses were at the foot of the closeto carry him to Arniston. It was scarcely possible to get him tolisten to a word respecting business. The wily agent, however, onpretence of asking one or two questions, which would not detainhim half an hour, drew his Lordship, who was no less an eminentban vivant than a lawyer of unequalled talent, to take a whet at acelebrated tavern, when the learned counsel became graduallyinvolved in a spirited discussion of the law points of the case. At length it occurred to him that he might as well ride toArniston in the cool of the evening. The horses were directed tobe put in the stable, but not to be unsaddled. Dinner was ordered, the law was laid aside for a time, and the bottle circulated veryfreely. At nine o'clock at night, after he had been honouringBacchus for so many hours, the Lord Advocate ordered his horses tobe unsaddled; paper, pen, and ink were brought; he began todictate the appeal case, and continued at his task till fouro'clock the next morning. By next day's post the solicitor sentthe case to London, a chef-d'oeuvre of its kind; and in which, myinformant assured me, it was not necessary on revisal to correctfive words. I am not, therefore, conscious of having oversteppedaccuracy in describing the manner in which Scottish lawyers of theold time occasionally united the worship of Bacchus with that ofThemis. My informant was Alexander Keith, Esq. , grandfather to myfriend, the present Sir Alexander Keith of Ravelstone, andapprentice at the time to the writer who conducted the cause. 

NOTE 4, p. 180

We must again have recourse to the contribution to Blackwood'sMagazine, April 1817:--

'To the admirers of good eating, gipsy cookery seems to havelittle to recommend it. I can assure you, however, that the cookof a nobleman of high distinction, a person who never reads even anovel without an eye to the enlargement of the culinary science, has added to the "Almanach des Gourmands" a certain Potage a laMeg Merrilies de Derndeugh, consisting of game and poultry of allkinds, stewed with vegetables into a soup, which rivals in savourand richness the gallant messes of Camacho's wedding; and whichthe Baron of Bradwardine would certainly have reckoned among theepulae lautiores. '

The artist alluded to in this passage is Mons. Florence, cook toHenry and Charles, late Dukes of Buccleuch, and of highdistinction in his profession. 

NOTE 5, p. 212

The Burnet whose taste for the evening meal of the ancients isquoted by Mr. Pleydellwas the celebrated metaphysician andexcellent man, Lord Monboddo, whose coenae will not be soonforgotten by those who have shared his classic hospitality. As aScottish judge he took the designation of his family estate. Hisphilosophy, as is well known, was of a fanciful and somewhatfantastic character; but his learning was deep, and he waspossessed of a singular power of eloquence, which reminded thehearer of the os rotundum of the Grove or Academe. Enthusiastically partial to classical habits, his entertainmentswere always given in the evening, when there was a circulation ofexcellent Bourdeaux, in flasks garlanded with roses, which werealso strewed on the table after the manner of Horace. The bestsociety, whether in respect of rank or literary distinction, wasalways to be found in St. John's Street, Canongate. Theconversation of the excellent old man, his high, gentleman-like, chivalrous spirit, the learning and wit with which he defended hisfanciful paradoxes, the kind and liberal spirit of hishospitality, must render these noctes coenaeque dear to all who, like the author (though then young), had the honour of sitting athis board. 

NOTE 6, p. 215

It is probably true, as observed by Counsellor Pleydell, that alawyer's anxiety about his case, supposing him to have been sometime in practice, will seldom disturb his rest or digestion. Clients will, however, sometimes fondly entertain a differentopinion. I was told by an excellent judge, now no more, of acountry gentleman who, addressing his leading counsel, myinformer, then an advocate in great practice, on the morning ofthe day on which the case was to be pleaded, said, with singularbonhomie, 'Weel, my Lord (the counsel was Lord Advocate), theawful day is come at last. I have nae been able to sleep a winkfor thinking of it; nor, I daresay, your Lordship either. '

NOTE 7, p. 235

Whistling, among the tenantry of a large estate, is when anindividual gives such information to the proprietor or hismanagers as to occasion the rent of his neighbour's farms beingraised, which, for obvious reasons, is held a very unpopularpractice. 

NOTE 8, p. 286

This hard word is placed in the mouth of one of the aged tenants. In the old feudal tenures the herezeld constituted the best horseor other animal on the vassals' lands, become the right of thesuperior. The only remnant of this custom is what is called thesasine, or a fee of certain estimated value, paid to the sheriffof the county, who gives possession to the vassals of the crown. 

NOTE 9, p. 301

This mode of securing prisoners was universally practised inScotland after condemnation. When a man received sentence of deathhe was put upon THE GAD, as it was called, that is, secured to thebar of iron in the manner mentioned in the text. The practicesubsisted in Edinburgh till the old jail was taken down some yearssince, and perhaps may be still in use. 

GLOSSARY

'A, he, I. A', all. Abide, endure. Ablins, aiblins, perhaps. Abune, above. Ae, one. Aff, off. Afore, before. A-guisarding, masquerading. Ahint, behind. Aik, an oak. Ails, hinders, prevents. Ain, own. Amang, among. An, if. Ance, once. Ane, one. Anent, about. Aneuch, enough. Auld, old. Auld threep, a superstitious notion. Avise, advise, deliberate. Awa', away. Aweel, well. Awfu', awful. Awmous, alms. Aye, ever. 

 bairn, a child. Baith, both. Ballant, a ballad. Banes, bones. Bannock, a flat round or oval cake. Barken, stiffen, dry to a crust. Barrow-trams, the shafts of a hand barrow. Baulks, ridges. Berling, a galley. Bield, a shelter, a house. Biggit, built. Billie, a brother, a companion. Bing out and tour, go out and watch. Binna, be not. Birk, a birch tree. Bit, a little. Bittle, beat with a bat. Bittock, a little bit. Black Peter, a portmanteau. Blate, shy, bashful. Blawn, blown. Blear, obscure. Blude, bluid, blood. Blunker, a cloth printer. Blythe, glad. Boddle, a copper coin worth one third of a penny. Bogle, a goblin, a spectre. Bonnet, a cap. Bonnie, bonny, pretty, fine. Bonspiel, a match game at curling. Bottle-head, beetle-head, stupid fellow. Bow, a boll. Bowster, a bolster. Braw, fine. Brigg, a bridge. Brock, a badger, a dirty fellow. Brod, a church collection plate. Buckkar, a smuggling lugger. Bully-huff, a bully, a braggart. Burn, a brook. Bye, besides. 

 ca', call. Cake-house, a house of entertainment. Callant, a stripling. Cam, came. Canny, lucky, cautious. Cantle, a fragment. Canty, cheerful. Capons, castrated cocks. Carle, a churl, an old man. Cast, lot, fate. Chapping-stick, a stick to strike with. Cheerer, spirits and hot water. Chield, a young man. Chumlay, a chimney. Clanjamfray, rabble. Clashes, lies, scandal. Claught, clutched, caught. Clecking, hatching. Clodded, threw heavily. Close, a lane, a narrow passage. Clour, a heavy blow. Cloyed a dud, stolen a rag. Collieshangie, an uproar. Come o' will, a child of love. Cottar, cottage. Cramp-ring, shackles, fetters. Cranking, creaking. Craw, crow. Creel, a basket. Cuddy, an ass. Cusp, an entrance to a house. Cusser, a courser, a stallion. 

 daft, mad, foolish. Darkmans, night. Daurna, dare not. Day-dawing, dawn. Dead-thraw, death-agony. Death-ruckle, death-rattle. Deil-be-lickit, nothing, naught. Dike, a wall, a ditch. Dinging, slamming. Dingle, a dell, a hollow. Dizzen, a dozen. Doo, a dove. Dooket, dukit, a dovecot. Doun, down. Douse the glim, put out the light. Dow, list, wish. Drap, a drop. Drumming, driving. Dub, a puddle. Duds, clothes. 

 eassel, provincial for eastward. Een, eyes. Endlang, along. Eneugh, enough. Evening, putting on the same level. 

 faem, foam. Fair-strae, natural. Fambles, hands. Fash, trouble. Fauld, a fold. Fause, false. Feared, afraid. Fearsome, frightful. Feck, a quantity. Feckless, feeble. Fell, a skin. Fernseed, gather the, make invisible. Fie, mad, foredoomed. Fient a bit, never a bit fient a haet, not the least. Fire-raising, setting fire. Firlot, a quarter of a boll. Fit, a foot. Flesh, fleesh, a fleece. Flick, cut. Flit, remove. Fond, glad to. Forbears, ancestors. Forbye, besides. Foumart, a polecat. Fowk, people. Frae, from. Frummagem'd, throttled, hanged. Fu', full. Fule-body, a foolish person. 

 gae, go. Gaed, went. Gane, gone. Gang, go. Gang-there-out, wandering. Gangrel, vagrant. Gar, make. Gate, gait, way. Gaun, going. Gay, gey, very. Gelding, a castrated horse. Gentle or semple, high born or common people. Gie, give. Gliffing, a surprise, an instant. Glower, glare. Gowan, a field daisy. Gowd, gold. Gowpen, a double handful. Greet, weep. Grieve, an overseer. Grippet, grasped, caught. Grunds, grounds. Gude, guid, good. Gudeman, master of a house. Gyre-carlings, witches. 

 ha', hall. Hadden, held, gone. Hae, have. Hafflin, half grown. Haick, hack. Haill, whole. Hallan, a partition. Hame, home. Hank, a skein of yarn. Hansel, a present. Hantle, a quantity. Haud, hauld, hold. Hauden, held. Heezie, a lift. Herds, herders. Heuch, a crag, a steep bank. Hinging, hanging. Hinney, honey. Hirsel, a flock. Hizzie, a housewife, a hussy. Hog, a young sheep. Horning, a warrant for a debtor. Houdie, a midwife. Howm, flat low ground. Humble-cow, a cow without horns. Hunds, hounds. 

 ilka, every. Ingans, onions. Ingleside, fireside. I'se, I'll. Ither, other. 

 jaw-hole, a sink. Jethart, Jedburgh. Jo, a sweetheart. 

 kahn, a skiff. Kaim, a low ridge, a comb. Kain, part of a farm-rent paid in fowls. Keep, a stronghold. Keepit, kept, attended. Ken, know. Kenna, do not know. Kibe, an ulcerated chilblain, a chapped heel. Killogie, the open space before a kiln fire. Kilt, upset. Kilting, girding or tucking up. Kimmer, a female gossip. Kinder, children. Kipper, cured salmon. Kirk, church. Kist, a chest, a coffin. Kitchen-mort, kinchen-mort, a girl. Kittle, tickle, ticklish. Kitt, a number, the whole. Knave, a boy. Knevell, knead, beat severely. Kobold, a hobgoblin. 

 laird, lord of the manor. Lampit, a limpet. Landloupers, persons of wandering tendencies. Lang, long. Lang or, long before. Lang-lugged, long-eared. Langsyne, long ago. Lap and paunel, liquor and food. Lassie, a young girl. Latch, mire. Leddy, a lady. Lee, pasture land. Leg bail, to give, to run away. Letter-gae, the precentor is called by Allan Ramsay 'the letter-gae of haly rhyme. ' leugh, laughed. Levin, lightning, scorn. Licks, blows. Lift, the sky. Like, as it were. Limmer, a jade, a hussy. Links, the windings of a river. Lippen, trust. Loan, an open place, a lane. Loaning, a milking place. Long bowls, ninepins. Looby, a booby, a lout. Loon, a clown, a rogue. Loup, leap, start. Low, blaze, flame. Luckie, an old woman. Lugs, ears. Lunt, blaze, torch. Lykewake, a watch at night over a dead body. 

 mair, more. Mair by token, especially. Maist, most. Maun, must. Meddling and making, interfering. Messan, a little dog. Milling in the darkmans, murder by night. Mind, remember. Minded, looked after. Mirk, dark; pit mirk, pitch dark. Moaned, mourned. Monanday, Monday. Mony, many. Moonshie, a secretary. Morn, tomorrow. Moss, a morass. Moss-hag, a pit, a slough. Muckle, great, much. Muir, a moor, a heath. Muscavado, unrefined sugar. Mutchkin, a measure equal to an English pint. 

 na, nae, no. Nane, none. Nathless, nevertheless. Needna, need not. Nice, simple. Now, the, at once. 

 odd-come-shortly, chance time not far in the future. Ony, any. Or, ere. Orra, odd, occasional. Orra time, occasionally. O't, of it. Out, out in rebellion. Out of house and hauld, destitute. Outcast, a falling out, a quarrel. Ower, over. Owt, the exterior, out. 

 paiks, punishment. Parritch, oatmeal porridge. Peat-hag, a bog. Penny-stane, a stone quoit. Periapts, amulets. Pike, pick. Pinners, a headdress. Pirn, a reel. Pit, put. Plash, splash. Plough-gate of land, land that can be tilled with one plough. Pock, a pouch, a bag. Poinded, impounded. Poschay, a post-chaise. Pouches, pockets. Pow, the head. Powny, a pony. Preceese, exact. Precentor, a leader of congregational singing. Prin, a pin. Puir, poor. 

 quean, a young woman, a wench. 

 rade, rode. Ramble, a spree. Rampauging, raging. Randle-tree, a horizontal bar across a chimney, on which pot-hooks are hung; sometimes used as an opprobrious epithet. Randy, wild. Ranging and riping, scouring and searching. Rape, rope. Rasp-house, a custom-house. Red cock craw, kindle a fire. Redding-straik, a blow received when trying to separate combatants. Reek, smoke. Reif and wear, robbery and injury. Reise, a bough. Reist, smoke. Reiver, a robber. Retour, return of a writ. Rin, run. Ripe, search. Rive, rend, rob. Rotten, rottan, a rat. Roup, an auction. Roupit, sold at auction. Routing, snoring, bellowing. Rubbit, robbed. Rump and dozen, meat and drink, a good dinner. Run goods, smuggled goods. 

 sack, sackcloth. Sae, so. Saft, soft. Sain, bless. Sair, sore. Sail, shall. Samyn, the same. Sang, song. Sark, a shirt. Saugh, a willow tree. Saul, soul. Saut, salt. Sax, six. Scaff-raff, riff raff. Scart, scratched, written on. Schnaps, a dram of liquor. Scones, flat round cakes. Scouring the cramp-ring, said metaphorically for being thrown into fetters or, generally, into prison. Screed o' drink, a drinking bout. Sell'd, sold. Semple, simple, poor people. Shake-rag, a tatterdemalion. Shanks, legs. Shealing, sheiling, a shed, a hut. Shear, cut. Sherra, a sheriff. Shoeing-horn, something that leads to more drinking. Shoon, shoes. Shouther, a shoulder. Sic, so, such. Siclike, such. Siller, money. Sinsyne, since. Skeel, a bucket, a tub. Slack, a hollow, a morass. Slap, a breach. Sleepery, sleepy. Slow-hund, a sleuth hound. Sma', small. Smack, smaik, a rogue, a low wretch. Snaw, snow. Soup o' drink, a spoonful. Souple, a cudgel. Spae, foretell. Speir, ask. Sprug, a sparrow. Spunk, a spark. Start, betray. Stell, a stall, a covert. Stickit, stopped, hindered. Stir your gear, disturb your goods. Stark, a heifer, a bullock. Stiver, a small Dutch coin. Stoppit, stopped. Stoup, a drinking vessel, a wooden pitcher. Stown, stolen. Strae, straw. Strammel, straw. Streik, stretch. Suld, should. Sune, soon. Sunkets, delicacies, provisions of any kind. Sunkie, a low stool. Swear, difficult. Swure, swore. Syne, since. 

 ta'en, taken. Tait, a tuft. Tak, take. Tap, the top. Tass, a cup. Tat, that. Tell'd, told. Tent, care. Thack, thatch. Thae, those. Thegither, together. Thereawa', thence, thereabout. Thrapple, the windpipe, the throat. Thristle, a thistle. Till, to. Tippenny, ale at twopence a bottle. Tod, a fox. Tolbooth, a jail. Toom, empty. Tow, a rope. Trine to the cheat, get hanged. Troking, intercourse, trafficking. Trow, trust. Tulzie, tuilzie, a scuffle, a brawl. Twa, two. Tweel, a web. Tyke, a cur. 

 umwhile, formerly, late. Uncanny, weird, unlucky. Unco, strange, very. Uphaud, uphold. Upright man, the leader (and greatest rogue) of the gang. 

 wa', wall. Wad, would. Wadded, wedded. Wae, woe. Waefu', woeful. Wale, choice. Ware, spend. Wark, work. Warld, the world. Warlock, a wizard. Waster, a long spear. Waur, worse. Wean, a young child. Wear, war. Weary fa', curse. Wedder, a wether. Wee, small. Weel, well. Weel-faured, well-favored, prepossessing. Weize, direct, incline. Wessel, westward. Wha, who. Whaap, the (or the Hope), is the sheltered part or hollow of the hill. Hoff, howff, haaf, and haven are all modifications of the same word. Wheen, a few. Whigging, jogging. Whiles, sometimes. Whilk, which. Whin, a few. Whinger, a kind of knife, a hanger. Whistle, give information against one. Whittret, a weasel. Wi', with. Win, get. Witters, the barbs of the spear. Woo', wool. Woodie, wuddie, a rope, a halter, the gallows. Worricow, a hobgoblin. Wots na, does not know. Wrang, wrong. Wrang side of the blanket, illegitimate. Writer, an attorney. Wuddie, a rope, the gallows. Wuss, wish. 

 yaffing, chattering, barking. Yet, yere, your. Yont, beyond.