diff options
Diffstat (limited to '2516-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 2516-0.txt | 19800 |
1 files changed, 19800 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/2516-0.txt b/2516-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b0934b --- /dev/null +++ b/2516-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19800 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Redgauntlet, by Sir Walter Scott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Redgauntlet + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Posting Date: December 31, 2008 [EBook #2516] +Release Date: February, 2000, 2016 +Last Updated: August 31 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REDGAUNTLET *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + +REDGAUNTLET + +by Sir Walter Scott + + +CONTENTS. + + Introduction + Text + Letters I - XIII + Chapters I - XXIII + Conclusion + Notes + Glossary + + +Original Transcriber’s Note: Footnotes in the printed book have been +inserted in the etext in square brackets (“[]”) close to the place where +they were referenced by a suffix in the original text. Text in italics +has been written in capital letters. There are some numbered notes at +the end of the text that are referred to by their numbers with brief +notes, also in square brackets, embedded in the text. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +The Jacobite enthusiasm of the eighteenth century, particularly during +the rebellion of 1745, afforded a theme, perhaps the finest that could +be selected for fictitious composition, founded upon real or probable +incident. This civil war and its remarkable events were remembered by +the existing generation without any degree of the bitterness of spirit +which seldom fails to attend internal dissension. The Highlanders, who +formed the principal strength of Charles Edward’s army, were an ancient +and high-spirited race, peculiar in their habits of war and of peace, +brave to romance, and exhibiting a character turning upon points more +adapted to poetry than to the prose of real life. Their prince, young, +valiant, patient of fatigue, and despising danger, heading his army +on foot in the most toilsome marches, and defeating a regular force +in three battles--all these were circumstances fascinating to the +imagination, and might well be supposed to seduce young and enthusiastic +minds to the cause in which they were found united, although wisdom and +reason frowned upon the enterprise. + +The adventurous prince, as is well known, proved to be one of +those personages who distinguish themselves during some single and +extraordinarily brilliant period of their lives, like the course of a +shooting-star, at which men wonder, as well on account of the +briefness, as the brilliancy of its splendour. A long tract of darkness +overshadowed the subsequent life of a man who, in his youth, showed +himself so capable of great undertakings; and, without the painful task +of tracing his course farther, we may say the latter pursuits and habits +of this unhappy prince are those painfully evincing a broken heart, +which seeks refuge from its own thoughts in sordid enjoyments. + +Still, however, it was long ere Charles Edward appeared to be, perhaps +it was long ere he altogether became, so much degraded from his original +self; as he enjoyed for a time the lustre attending the progress and +termination of his enterprise. Those who thought they discerned in his +subsequent conduct an insensibility to the distresses of his followers, +coupled with that egotistical attention to his own interests which has +been often attributed to the Stuart family, and which is the natural +effect of the principles of divine right in which they were brought up, +were now generally considered as dissatisfied and splenetic persons, +who, displeased with the issue of their adventure and finding themselves +involved in the ruins of a falling cause, indulged themselves in +undeserved reproaches against their leader. Indeed, such censures were +by no means frequent among those of his followers who, if what was +alleged had been just, had the best right to complain. Far the greater +number of those unfortunate gentlemen suffered with the most dignified +patience, and were either too proud to take notice of ill-treatment an +the part of their prince, or so prudent as to be aware their complaints +would meet with little sympathy from the world. It may be added, that +the greater part of the banished Jacobites, and those of high rank and +consequence, were not much within reach of the influence of the prince’s +character and conduct, whether well regulated or otherwise. + +In the meantime that great Jacobite conspiracy, of which the +insurrection of 1745-6 was but a small part precipitated into action on +the failure of a far more general scheme, was resumed and again put into +motion by the Jacobites of England, whose force had never been broken, +as they had prudently avoided bringing it into the field. The surprising +effect which had been produced by small means, in 1745-6, animated their +hopes for more important successes, when the whole nonjuring interest +of Britain, identified as it then was with great part of the landed +gentlemen, should come forward to finish what had been gallantly +attempted by a few Highland chiefs. + +It is probable, indeed, that the Jacobites of the day were incapable of +considering that the very small scale on which the effort was made, was +in one great measure the cause of its unexpected success. The remarkable +speed with which the insurgents marched, the singularly good discipline +which they preserved, the union and unanimity which for some time +animated their councils, were all in a considerable degree produced +by the smallness of their numbers. Notwithstanding the discomfiture +of Charles Edward, the nonjurors of the period long continued to nurse +unlawful schemes, and to drink treasonable toasts, until age stole upon +them. Another generation arose, who did not share the sentiments which +they cherished; and at length the sparkles of disaffection, which had +long smouldered, but had never been heated enough to burst into actual +flame, became entirely extinguished. But in proportion as the political +enthusiasm died gradually away among men of ordinary temperament, it +influenced those of warm imaginations and weak understandings, and hence +wild schemes were formed, as desperate as they were adventurous. + +Thus a young Scottishman of rank is said to have stooped so low as to +plot the surprisal of St. James’s Palace, and the assassination of the +royal family. While these ill-digested and desperate conspiracies were +agitated among the few Jacobites who still adhered with more obstinacy +to their purpose, there is no question but that other plots might have +been brought to an open explosion, had it not suited the policy of Sir +Robert Walpole rather to prevent or disable the conspirators in their +projects, than to promulgate the tale of danger, which might thus have +been believed to be more widely diffused than was really the case. + +In one instance alone this very prudential and humane line of conduct +was departed from, and the event seemed to confirm the policy of the +general course. Doctor Archibald Cameron, brother of the celebrated +Donald Cameron of Lochiel, attainted for the rebellion of 1745, was +found by a party of soldiers lurking with a comrade in the wilds of Loch +Katrine five or six years after the battle of Culloden, and was there +seized. There were circumstances in his case, so far as was made known +to the public, which attracted much compassion, and gave to the judicial +proceedings against him an appearance of cold-blooded revenge on the +part of government; and the following argument of a zealous Jacobite in +his favour, was received as conclusive by Dr. Johnson and other persons +who might pretend to impartiality. Dr. Cameron had never borne arms, +although engaged in the Rebellion, but used his medical skill for the +service, indifferently, of the wounded of both parties. His return to +Scotland was ascribed exclusively to family affairs. His behaviour at +the bar was decent, firm, and respectful. His wife threw herself, on +three different occasions, before George II and the members of his +family, was rudely repulsed from their presence, and at length placed, +it was said, in the same prison with her husband, and confined with +unmanly severity. + +Dr. Cameron was finally executed with all the severities of the law of +treason; and his death remains in popular estimation a dark blot upon +the memory of George II, being almost publicly imputed to a mean and +personal hatred of Donald Cameron of Lochiel, the sufferer’s heroic +brother. + +Yet the fact was that whether the execution of Archibald Cameron was +political or otherwise, it might certainly have been justified, had +the king’s ministers so pleased, upon reasons of a public nature. The +unfortunate sufferer had not come to the Highlands solely upon his +private affairs, as was the general belief; but it was not judged +prudent by the English ministry to let it be generally known that +he came to inquire about a considerable sum of money which had been +remitted from France to the friends of the exiled family. He had also a +commission to hold intercourse with the well-known M’Pherson of Cluny, +chief of the clan Vourich, whom the Chevalier had left behind at his +departure from Scotland in 1746, and who remained during ten years of +proscription and danger, skulking from place to place in the Highlands, +and maintaining an uninterrupted correspondence between Charles and his +friends. That Dr. Cameron should have held a commission to assist this +chief in raking together the dispersed embers of disaffection, is in +itself sufficiently natural, and, considering his political principles, +in no respect dishonourable to his memory. But neither ought it to be +imputed to George II that he suffered the laws to be enforced against +a person taken in the act of breaking them. When he lost his hazardous +game, Dr. Cameron only paid the forfeit which he must have calculated +upon. The ministers, however, thought it proper to leave Dr. Cameron’s +new schemes in concealment, lest, by divulging them, they had indicated +the channel of communication which, it is now well known, they possessed +to all the plots of Charles Edward. But it was equally ill advised and +ungenerous to sacrifice the character of the king to the policy of the +administration. Both points might have been gained by sparing the +life of Dr. Cameron after conviction, and limiting his punishment to +perpetual exile. + +These repeated and successive Jacobite plots rose and burst like bubbles +on a fountain; and one of them, at least, the Chevalier judged of +importance enough to induce him to risk himself within the dangerous +precincts of the British capital. This appears from Dr. King’s ANECDOTES +OF HIS OWN TIMES. + +‘September, 1750.--I received a note from my Lady Primrose, who desired +to see me immediately. As soon as I waited on her, she led me into her +dressing-room, and presented me to--’ [the Chevalier, doubtless]. ‘If +I was surprised to find him there, I was still more astonished when he +acquainted me with the motives which had induced him to hazard a journey +to England at this juncture. The impatience of his friends who were in +exile had formed a scheme which was impracticable; but although it had +been as feasible as they had represented it to him, yet no preparation +had been made, nor was anything ready to carry it into execution. He was +soon convinced that he had been deceived; and, therefore, after a stay +in London of five days only, he returned to the place from whence he +came.’ Dr. King was in 1750 a keen Jacobite, as may be inferred from the +visit made by him to the prince under such circumstances, and from his +being one of that unfortunate person’s chosen correspondents. He, as +well as other men of sense and observation, began to despair of +making their fortune in the party which they had chosen. It was indeed +sufficiently dangerous; for, during the short visit just described, +one of Dr. King’s servants remarked the stranger’s likeness to Prince +Charles, whom he recognized from the common busts. + +The occasion taken for breaking up the Stuart interest we shall tell in +Dr. King’s own words:--‘When he (Charles Edward) was in Scotland, he had +a mistress whose name was Walkinshaw, and whose sister was at that time, +and is still, housekeeper at Leicester House. Some years after he was +released from his prison, and conducted out of France, he sent for +this girl, who soon acquired such a dominion over him, that she was +acquainted with all his schemes, and trusted with his most secret +correspondence. As soon as this was known in England, all those persons +of distinction who were attached to him were greatly alarmed: they +imagined that this wench had been placed in his family by the English +ministers; and, considering her sister’s situation, they seemed to have +some ground for their suspicion; wherefore, they dispatched a gentleman +to Paris, where the prince then was, who had instructions to insist that +Mrs. Walkinshaw should be removed to a convent for a certain term; but +her gallant absolutely refused to comply with this demand; and although +Mr. M’Namara, the gentleman who was sent to him, who has a natural +eloquence and an excellent understanding, urged the most cogent reasons, +and used all the arts of persuasion, to induce him to part with his +mistress, and even proceeded so far as to assure him, according to his +instructions, that an immediate interruption of all correspondence with +his most powerful friends in England, and, in short, that the ruin of +his interest, which was now daily increasing, would be the infallible +consequence of his refusal; yet he continued inflexible, and all +M’Namara’s entreaties and remonstrances were ineffectual. M’Namara +stayed in Paris some days beyond the time prescribed him, endeavouring +to reason the prince into a better temper; but finding him obstinately +persevere in his first answer, he took his leave with concern and +indignation, saying, as he passed out, “What has your family done, sir, +thus to draw down the vengeance of Heaven on every branch of it, through +so many ages?” It is worthy of remark, that in all the conferences which +M’Namara had with the prince on this occasion, the latter declared that +it was not a violent passion, or indeed any particular regard, which +attached him to Mrs. Walkinshaw and that he could see her removed from +him without any concern; but he would not receive directions, in respect +to his private conduct, from any man alive. When M’Namara returned +to London, and reported the prince’s answer to the gentlemen who had +employed him, they were astonished and confounded. However, they soon +resolved on the measures which they were to pursue for the future, and +determined no longer to serve a man who could not be persuaded to serve +himself, and chose rather to endanger the lives of his best and most +faithful friends, than part with an harlot, whom, as he often declared, +he neither loved nor esteemed.’ + +From this anecdote, the general truth of which is indubitable, the +principal fault of Charles Edward’s temper is sufficiently obvious. It +was a high sense of his own importance, and an obstinate adherence to +what he had once determined on--qualities which, if he had succeeded in +his bold attempt, gave the nation little room to hope that he would have +been found free from the love of prerogative and desire of arbitrary +power, which characterized his unhappy grandfather. He gave a notable +instance how far this was the leading feature of his character, when, +for no reasonable cause that can be assigned, he placed his own single +will in opposition to the necessities of France, which, in order to +purchase a peace become necessary to the kingdom, was reduced to gratify +Britain by prohibiting the residence of Charles within any part of the +French dominions. It was in vain that France endeavoured to lessen the +disgrace of this step by making the most flattering offers, in hopes +to induce the prince of himself to anticipate this disagreeable +alternative, which, if seriously enforced, as it was likely to be, he +had no means whatever of resisting, by leaving the kingdom as of his +own free will. Inspired, however, by the spirit of hereditary obstinacy, +Charles preferred a useless resistance to a dignified submission, and, +by a series of idle bravadoes, laid the French court under the necessity +of arresting their late ally, and sending him to close confinement +in the Bastille, from which he was afterwards sent out of the French +dominions, much in the manner in which a convict is transported to the +place of his destination. + +In addition to these repeated instances of a rash and inflexible temper, +Dr. King also adds faults alleged to belong to the prince’s character, +of a kind less consonant with his noble birth and high pretensions. +He is said by this author to have been avaricious, or parsimonious at +least, to such a degree of meanness, as to fail, even when he had +ample means, in relieving the sufferers who had lost their fortune, and +sacrificed all in his ill-fated attempt. [The approach is thus expressed +by Dr. King, who brings the charge:--‘But the most odious part of his +character is his love of money, a vice which I do not remember to have +been imputed by our historians to any of his ancestors, and is the +certain index of a base and little mind. I know it may be urged in his +vindication, that a prince in exile ought to be an economist. And so +he ought; but, nevertheless, his purse should be always open as long as +there is anything in it, to relieve the necessities of his friends and +adherents. King Charles II, during his banishment, would have shared the +last pistole in his pocket with his little family. But I have known this +gentleman, with two thousand louis-d’ors in his strong-box, pretend he +was in great distress, and borrow money from a lady in Paris who was not +in affluent circumstances. His most faithful servants, who had closely +attended him in all his difficulties, were ill rewarded.’--King’s +MEMOIRS.] We must receive, however, with some degree of jealousy what +is said by Dr. King on this subject, recollecting that he had left at +least, if he did not desert, the standard of the unfortunate prince, and +was not therefore a person who was likely to form the fairest estimate +of his virtues and faults. We must also remember that if the exiled +prince gave little, he had but little to give, especially considering +how late he nourished the scheme of another expedition to Scotland, for +which he was long endeavouring to hoard money. + +The case, also, of Charles Edward must be allowed to have been a +difficult one. He had to satisfy numerous persons, who, having lost +their all in his cause, had, with that all, seen the extinction of hopes +which they accounted nearly as good as certainties; some of these were +perhaps clamorous in their applications, and certainly ill pleased with +their want of success. Other parts of the Chevalier’s conduct may have +afforded grounds for charging him with coldness to the sufferings of his +devoted followers. One of these was a sentiment which has nothing in it +that is generous, but it was certainly a principle in which the young +prince was trained, and which may be too probably denominated peculiar +to his family, educated in all the high notions of passive obedience +and non-resistance. If the unhappy prince gave implicit faith to the +professions of statesmen holding such notions, which is implied by his +whole conduct. + + + + + +REDGAUNTLET + + + + +LETTER I + +DARSIE LATIMER TO ALAN FAIRFORD + +DUMFRIES. + +CUR ME EXANIMAS QUERELIS TUIS? In plain English, Why do you deafen me +with your croaking? The disconsolate tone in which you bade me farewell +at Noble House, [The first stage on the road from Edinburgh to Dumfries +via Moffat.] and mounted your miserable hack to return to your law +drudgery, still sounds in my ears. It seemed to say, ‘Happy dog! you can +ramble at pleasure over hill and dale, pursue every object of curiosity +that presents itself, and relinquish the chase when it loses interest; +while I, your senior and your better, must, in this brilliant season, +return to my narrow chamber and my musty books.’ + +Such was the import of the reflections with which you saddened our +parting bottle of claret, and thus I must needs interpret the terms of +your melancholy adieu. + +And why should this be so, Alan? Why the deuce should you not be sitting +precisely opposite to me at this moment, in the same comfortable George +Inn; thy heels on the fender, and thy juridical brow expanding its +plications as a pun rose in your fancy? Above all, why, when I fill this +very glass of wine, cannot I push the bottle to you, and say, ‘Fairford, +you are chased!’ Why, I say, should not all this be, except because Alan +Fairford has not the same true sense of friendship as Darsie Latimer, +and will not regard our purses as common, as well as our sentiments? + +I am alone in the world; my only guardian writes to me of a large +fortune which will be mine when I reach the age of twenty-five complete; +my present income is, thou knowest, more than sufficient for all +my wants; and yet thou--traitor as thou art to the cause of +friendship--dost deprive me of the pleasure of thy society, and +submittest, besides, to self-denial on thine own part, rather than my +wanderings should cost me a few guineas more! Is this regard for +my purse, or for thine own pride? Is it not equally absurd and +unreasonable, whichever source it springs from? For myself, I tell thee, +I have, and shall have, more than enough for both. This same methodical +Samuel Griffiths, of Ironmonger Lane, Guildhall, London, whose letter +arrives as duly as quarter-day, has sent me, as I told thee, double +allowance for this my twenty-first birthday, and an assurance, in his +brief fashion, that it will be again doubled for the succeeding years, +until I enter into possession of my own property. Still I am to refrain +from visiting England until my twenty-fifth year expires; and it is +recommended that I shall forbear all inquiries concerning my family, and +so forth, for the present. + +Were it not that I recollect my poor mother in her deep widow’s weeds, +with a countenance that never smiled but when she looked on me--and +then, in such wan and woful sort, as the sun when he glances through an +April cloud,--were it not, I say, that her mild and matron-like form +and countenance forbid such a suspicion, I might think myself the son of +some Indian director, or rich citizen, who had more wealth than grace, +and a handful of hypocrisy to boot, and who was breeding up privately, +and obscurely enriching, one of whose existence he had some reason to be +ashamed. But, as I said before, I think on my mother, and am convinced +as much as of the existence of my own soul, that no touch of shame could +arise from aught in which she was implicated. Meantime, I am wealthy, +and I am alone, and why does my friend scruple to share my wealth? + +Are you not my only friend? and have you not acquired a right to share +my wealth? Answer me that, Alan Fairford. When I was brought from the +solitude of my mother’s dwelling into the tumult of the Gaits’ Class at +the High School--when I was mocked for my English accent--salted with +snow as a Southern--rolled in the gutter for a Saxon pock-pudding,--who, +with stout arguments and stouter blows, stood forth my defender?--why, +Alan Fairford. Who beat me soundly when I brought the arrogance of an +only son, and of course a spoiled urchin, to the forms of the little +republic?--why, Alan. And who taught me to smoke a cobbler, pin a losen, +head a bicker, and hold the bannets?--[Break a window, head a skirmish +with stones, and hold the bonnet, or handkerchief, which used to divide +High School boys when fighting.] Alan, once more. If I became the pride +of the Yards, and the dread of the hucksters in the High School Wynd, +it was under thy patronage; and, but for thee, I had been contented with +humbly passing through the Cowgate Port, without climbing over the +top of it, and had never seen the KITTLE NINE-STEPS nearer than from +Bareford’s Parks. [A pass on the very brink of the Castle rock to the +north, by which it is just possible for a goat, or a High School boy, +to turn the corner of the building where it rises from the edge of the +precipice. This was so favourite a feat with the ‘hell and neck boys’ +of the higher classes, that at one time sentinels were posted to prevent +its repetition. One of the nine-steps was rendered more secure because +the climber could take hold of the root of a nettle, so precarious were +the means of passing this celebrated spot. The manning the Cowgate Port, +especially in snowball time, was also a choice amusement, as it offered +an inaccessible station for the boys who used these missiles to the +annoyance of the passengers. The gateway is now demolished; and probably +most of its garrison lie as low as the fortress. To recollect that +the author himself, however naturally disqualified, was one of those +juvenile dreadnoughts, is a sad reflection to one who cannot now step +over a brook without assistance.] + +You taught me to keep my fingers off the weak, and to clench my fist +against the strong--to carry no tales out of school--to stand forth like +a true man--obey the stern order of a PANDE MANUM, and endure my pawmies +without wincing, like one that is determined not to be the better for +them. In a word, before I knew thee, I knew nothing. + +At college it was the same. When I was incorrigibly idle, your example +and encouragement roused me to mental exertion, and showed me the way +to intellectual enjoyment. You made me an historian, a metaphysician +(INVITA MINERVA)--nay, by Heaven! you had almost made an advocate of me, +as well as of yourself. Yes, rather than part with you, Alan, I attended +a weary season at the Scotch Law Class; a wearier at the Civil; and with +what excellent advantage, my notebook, filled with caricatures of the +professors and my fellow students, is it not yet extant to testify? + + Thus far have I held on with thee untired; + +and, to say truth, purely and solely that I might travel the same road +with thee. But it will not do, Alan. By my faith, man, I could as soon +think of being one of those ingenious traders who cheat little Master +Jackies on the outside of the partition with tops, balls, bats, and +battledores, as a member of the long-robed fraternity within, who impose +on grown country gentlemen with bouncing brocards of law. [The Hall of +the Parliament House of Edinburgh was, in former days, divided into two +unequal portions by a partition, the inner side of which was consecrated +to the use of the Courts of Justice and the gentlemen of the law; while +the outer division was occupied by the stalls of stationers, toymen, and +the like, as in a modern bazaar. From the old play of THE PLAIN DEALER, +it seems such was formerly the case with Westminster Hall. Minos has now +purified his courts in both cities from all traffic but his own.] +Now, don’t you read this to your worthy father, Alan--he loves me well +enough, I know, of a Saturday night; but he thinks me but idle company +for any other day of the week. And here, I suspect, lies your real +objection to taking a ramble with me through the southern counties in +this delicious weather. I know the good gentleman has hard thoughts +of me for being so unsettled as to leave Edinburgh before the Session +rises; perhaps, too, he quarrels a little--I will not say with my want +of ancestry, but with my want of connexions. He reckons me a lone thing +in this world, Alan, and so, in good truth, I am; and it seems a reason +to him why you should not attach yourself to me, that I can claim no +interest in the general herd. + +Do not suppose I forget what I owe him, for permitting me to shelter for +four years under his roof: My obligations to him are not the less, but +the greater, if he never heartily loved me. He is angry, too, that I +will not, or cannot, be a lawyer, and, with reference to you, considers +my disinclination that way as PESSIMI EXEMPLI, as he might say. + +But he need not be afraid that a lad of your steadiness will be +influenced by such a reed shaken by the winds as I am. You will go on +doubting with Dirleton, and resolving those doubts with Stewart, +[‘Sir John Nisbett of Dirleton’s DOUBTS AND QUESTIONS UPON THE LAW, +ESPECIALLLY OF SCOTLAND;’ and ‘Sir James Stewart’s DIRLETON’S DOUBTS AND +QUESTIONS ON THE LAW OF SCOTLAND RESOLVED AND ANSWERED,’ are works +of authority in Scottish jurisprudence. As is generally the case, the +doubts are held more in respect than the solution.] until the cramp +speech [Till of late years, every advocate who catered at the Scottish +bar made a Latin address to the Court, faculty, and audience, in set +terms, and said a few words upon a text of the civil law, to show his +Latinity and jurisprudence. He also wore his hat for a minute, in order +to vindicate his right of being covered before the Court, which is said +to have originated from the celebrated lawyer, Sir Thomas Hope, having +two sons on the bench while he himself remained at the bar. Of late this +ceremony has been dispensed with, as occupying the time of the Court +unnecessarily. The entrant lawyer merely takes the oaths to government, +and swears to maintain the rules and privileges of his order.] has +been spoken more SOLITO from the corner of the bench, and with covered +head--until you have sworn to defend the liberties and privileges of the +College of Justice--until the black gown is hung on your shoulders, and +you are free as any of the Faculty to sue or defend. Then will I step +forth, Alan, and in a character which even your father will allow may be +more useful to you than had I shared this splendid termination of your +legal studies. In a word, if I cannot be a counsel, I am determined to +be a CLIENT, a sort of person without whom a lawsuit would be as dull +as a supposed case. Yes, I am determined to give you your first fee. One +can easily, I am assured, get into a lawsuit--it is only the getting out +which is sometimes found troublesome;--and, with your kind father for +an agent, and you for my counsel learned in the law, and the worshipful +Master Samuel Griffiths to back me, a few sessions shall not tire my +patience. In short, I will make my way into court, even if it should +cost me the committing a DELICT, or at least a QUASI DELICT.--You see +all is not lost of what Erskine wrote, and Wallace taught. + +Thus far I have fooled it off well enough; and yet, Alan, all is not +at ease within me. I am affected with a sense of loneliness, the more +depressing, that it seems to me to be a solitude peculiarly my own. In a +country where all the world have a circle of consanguinity, extending to +sixth cousins at least, I am a solitary individual, having only one kind +heart to throb in unison with my own. If I were condemned to labour +for my bread, methinks I should less regard this peculiar species of +deprivation, The necessary communication of master and servant would be +at least a tie which would attach me to the rest of my kind--as it is, +my very independence seems to enhance the peculiarity of my situation. +I am in the world as a stranger in the crowded coffeehouse, where he +enters, calls for what refreshment he wants, pays his bill, and is +forgotten so soon as the waiter’s mouth has pronounced his ‘Thank ye, +sir.’ + +I know your good father would term this SINNING MY MERCIES, [A +peculiar Scottish phrase expressive of ingratitude for the favours of +Providence.] and ask how I should feel if, instead of being able to +throw down my reckoning, I were obliged to deprecate the resentment of +the landlord for consuming that which I could not pay for. I cannot tell +how it is; but, though this very reasonable reflection comes across me, +and though I do confess that four hundred a year in possession, eight +hundred in near prospect, and the L--d knows how many hundreds more in +the distance, are very pretty and comfortable things, yet I would freely +give one half of them to call your father father, though he should +scold me for my idleness every hour of the day, and to call you brother, +though a brother whose merits would throw my own so completely into the +shade. + +The faint, yet not improbable, belief has often come across me, that +your father knows something more about my birth and condition than he +is willing to communicate; it is so unlikely that I should be left in +Edinburgh at six years old, without any other recommendation than +the regular payment of my board to old M--, [Probably Mathieson, +the predecessor of Dr. Adams, to whose memory the author and his +contemporaries owe a deep debt of gratitude.] of the High School. +Before that time, as I have often told you, I have but a recollection +of unbounded indulgence on my mother’s part, and the most tyrannical +exertion of caprice on my own. I remember still how bitterly she +sighed, how vainly she strove to soothe me, while, in the full energy +of despotism, I roared like ten bull-calves, for something which it was +impossible to procure for me. She is dead, that kind, that ill-rewarded +mother! I remember the long faces--the darkened rooms--the black +hangings--the mysterious impression made upon my mind by the hearse and +mourning coaches, and the difficulty which I had to reconcile all this +to the disappearance of my mother. I do not think I had before this +event formed, any idea, of death, or that I had even heard of that final +consummation of all that lives. The first acquaintance which I formed +with it deprived me of my only relation. + +A clergyman of venerable appearance, our only visitor, was my guide +and companion in a journey of considerable length; and in the charge of +another elderly man, substituted in his place, I know not how or why, I +completed my journey to Scotland--and this is all I recollect. + +I repeat the little history now, as I have a hundred times before, +merely because I would wring some sense out of it. Turn, then, thy +sharp, wire-drawing, lawyer-like ingenuity to the same task--make up my +history as though thou wert shaping the blundering allegations of some +blue-bonneted, hard-headed client, into a condescendence of facts +and circumstances, and thou shalt be, not my Apollo--QUID TIBI CUM +LYRA?--but my Lord Stair, [Celebrated as a Scottish lawyer.] Meanwhile, +I have written myself out of my melancholy and blue devils, merely by +prosing about them; so I will now converse half an hour with Roan Robin +in his stall--the rascal knows me already, and snickers whenever I cross +the threshold of the stable. + +The black which you bestrode yesterday morning promises to be an +admirable roadster, and ambled as easily with Sam and the portmanteau, +as with you and your load of law-learning. Sam promises to be steady, +and has hitherto been so. No long trial, you will say. He lays the +blame of former inaccuracies on evil company--the people who were at the +livery-stable were too seductive, I suppose--he denies he ever did the +horse injustice--would rather have wanted his own dinner, he says. +In this I believe him, as Roan Robin’s ribs and coat show no marks of +contradiction. However, as he will meet with no saints in the inns we +frequent, and as oats are sometimes as speedily converted into ale +as John Barleycorn himself, I shall keep a look-out after Master Sam. +Stupid fellow! had he not abused my good nature, I might have chatted +to him to keep my tongue in exercise; whereas now I must keep him at a +distance. + +Do you remember what Mr. Fairford said to me on this subject--it did not +become my father’s son to speak in that manner to Sam’s father’s son? +I asked you what your father could possibly know of mine; and you +answered, ‘As much, you supposed, as he knew of Sam’s--it was a +proverbial expression.’ This did not quite satisfy me; though I am sure +I cannot tell why it should not. But I am returning to a fruitless +and exhausted subject. Do not be afraid that I shall come back on +this well-trodden yet pathless field of conjecture. I know nothing so +useless, so utterly feeble and contemptible, as the groaning forth one’s +lamentations into the ears of our friends. + +I would fain promise you that my letters shall be as entertaining as +I am determined they shall be regular and well filled. We have an +advantage over the dear friends of old, every pair of them. +Neither David and Jonathan, nor Orestes and Pylades, nor Damon and +Pythias--although, in the latter case particularly, a letter by post +would have been very acceptable--ever corresponded together; for they +probably could not write, and certainly had neither post nor franks to +speed their effusions to each other; whereas yours, which you had from +the old peer, being handled gently, and opened with precaution, may be +returned to me again, and serve to make us free of his Majesty’s post +office, during the whole time of my proposed tour. [It is well known +and remembered, that when Members of Parliament enjoyed the unlimited +privilege of franking by the mere writing the name on the cover, it was +extended to the most extraordinary occasions. One noble lord, to express +his regard for a particular regiment, franked a letter for every rank +and file. It was customary also to save the covers and return them, +in order that the correspondence might be carried on as long as the +envelopes could hold together.] Mercy upon us, Alan! what letters I +shall have to send to you, with an account of all that I can collect, of +pleasant or rare, in this wild-goose jaunt of mine! All I stipulate is +that you do not communicate them to the SCOTS MAGAZINE; for though you +used, in a left-handed way, to compliment me on my attainments in the +lighter branches of literature, at the expense of my deficiency in the +weightier matters of the law, I am not yet audacious enough to enter the +portal which the learned Ruddiman so kindly opened for the acolytes of +the Muses.--VALE SIS MEMOR MEI. D. L. + +PS. Direct to the Post Office here. I shall leave orders to forward your +letters wherever I may travel. + + + + +LETTER II + +ALAN FAIRFORD TO DARSIE LATIMER + +NEGATUR, my dear Darsie--you have logic and law enough to understand the +word of denial. I deny your conclusion. The premises I admit, namely, +that when I mounted on that infernal hack, I might utter what seemed +a sigh, although I deemed it lost amid the puffs and groans of the +broken-winded brute, matchless in the complication of her complaints by +any save she, the poor man’s mare, renowned in song, that died + + A mile aboon Dundee. + + [Alluding, as all Scotsmen know, to the humorous old song:-- + + ‘The auld man’s mare’s dead, + The puir man’s mare’s dead, + The auld man’s mare’s dead, + A mile aboon Dundee.’] + +But credit me, Darsie, the sigh which escaped me, concerned thee more +than myself, and regarded neither the superior mettle of your cavalry, +nor your greater command of the means of travelling. I could certainly +have cheerfully ridden with you for a few days; and assure yourself I +would not have hesitated to tax your better filled purse for our joint +expenses. But you know my father considers every moment taken from the +law as a step down hill; and I owe much to his anxiety on my account, +although its effects are sometimes troublesome. For example: + +I found, on my arrival at the shop in Brown’s Square, that the old +gentleman had returned that very evening, impatient, it seems, of +remaining a night out of the guardianship of the domestic Lares. Having +this information from James, whose brow wore rather an anxious look on +the occasion, I dispatched a Highland chairman to the livery stable with +my Bucephalus, and slunk, with as little noise as might be, into my own +den, where I began to mumble certain half-gnawed and not half-digested +doctrines of our municipal code. I was not long seated, when my father’s +visage was thrust, in a peering sort of way, through the half-opened +door; and withdrawn, on seeing my occupation, with a half-articulated +HUMPH! which seemed to convey a doubt of the seriousness of my +application. If it were so, I cannot condemn him; for recollection of +thee occupied me so entirely during an hour’s reading, that although +Stair lay before me, and notwithstanding that I turned over three or +four pages, the sense of his lordship’s clear and perspicuous style +so far escaped me, that I had the mortification to find my labour was +utterly in vain. + +Ere I had brought up my lee-way, James appeared with his summons to our +frugal supper--radishes, cheese, and a bottle of the old ale-only two +plates though--and no chair set for Mr. Darsie, by the attentive James +Wilkinson. Said James, with his long face, lank hair, and very long +pig-tail in its leathern strap, was placed, as usual, at the back of +my father’s chair, upright as a wooden sentinel at the door of a +puppet-show. ‘You may go down, James,’ said my father; and exit +Wilkinson.--What is to come next? thought I; for the weather is not +clear on the paternal brow. + +My boots encountered his first glance of displeasure, and he asked me, +with a sneer, which way I had been riding. He expected me to answer, +‘Nowhere,’ and would then have been at me with his usual sarcasm, +touching the humour of walking in shoes at twenty shillings a pair. But +I answered with composure, that I had ridden out to dinner as far as +Noble House. He started (you know his way) as if I had said that I +had dined at Jericho; and as I did not choose to seem to observe his +surprise, but continued munching my radishes in tranquillity, he broke +forth in ire. + +‘To Noble House, sir! and what had you to do at Noble House, sir? Do +you remember you are studying law, sir?--that your Scots law trials are +coming on, sir?--that every moment of your time just now is worth hours +at another time?--and have you leisure to go to Noble House, sir?--and +to throw your books behind you for so many hours?--Had it been a turn in +the meadows, or even a game at golf--but Noble House, sir!’ + +‘I went so far with Darsie Latimer, sir, to see him begin his journey.’ + +‘Darsie Latimer?’ he replied in a softened tone--‘Humph!--Well, I do not +blame you for being kind to Darsie Latimer; but it would have done as +much good if you had walked with him as far as the toll-bar, and then +made your farewells--it would have saved horse-hire--and your reckoning, +too, at dinner.’ + +‘Latimer paid that, sir,’ I replied, thinking to soften the matter; but +I had much better have left it unspoken. + +‘The reckoning, sir!’ replied my father. ‘And did you sponge upon any +man for a reckoning? Sir, no man should enter the door of a public-house +without paying his lawing.’ + +‘I admit the general rule, sir,’ I replied; ‘but this was a parting-cup +between Darsie and me; and I should conceive it fell under the exception +of DOCH AN DORROCH.’ + +‘You think yourself a wit,’ said my father, with as near an approach to +a smile as ever he permits to gild the solemnity of his features; ‘but +I reckon you did not eat your dinner standing, like the Jews at their +Passover? and it was decided in a case before the town-bailies of +Cupar-Angus, when Luckie Simpson’s cow had drunk up Luckie Jamieson’s +browst of ale while it stood in the door to cool, that there was no +damage to pay, because the crummie drank without sitting down; such +being the very circumstance constituting DOCH AN DORROCH, which is a +standing drink, for which no reckoning is paid. Ha, sir! what says your +advocateship (FIERI) to that? EXEPTIO FIRMAT REGULAM--But come, fill +your glass, Alan; I am not sorry ye have shown this attention to Darsie +Latimer, who is a good lad, as times go; and having now lived under my +roof since he left the school, why, there is really no great matter in +coming under this small obligation to him.’ + +As I saw my father’s scruples were much softened by the consciousness of +his superiority in the legal argument, I took care to accept my pardon +as a matter of grace, rather than of justice; and only replied, we +should feel ourselves duller of an evening, now that you were absent. I +will give you my father’s exact words in reply, Darsie. You know him so +well, that they will not offend you; and you are also aware, that there +mingles with the good man’s preciseness and formality, a fund of shrewd +observation and practical good sense. + +‘It is very true,’ he said; ‘Darsie was a pleasant companion-but over +waggish, over waggish, Alan, and somewhat scatter-brained.--By the way, +Wilkinson must get our ale bottled in English pints now, for a quart +bottle is too much, night after night, for you and me, without his +assistance.--But Darsie, as I was saying, is an arch lad, and somewhat +light in the upper story--I wish him well through the world; but he has +little solidity, Alan, little solidity.’ + +I scorn to desert an absent friend, Darsie, so I said for you a little +more than my conscience warranted: but your defection from your legal +studies had driven you far to leeward in my father’s good opinion. + +‘Unstable as water, he shall not excel,’ said my father; ‘or, as the +Septuagint hath it, EFUSA EST SICUT AQUA--NON CRESCAT. He goeth to +dancing-houses, and readeth novels--SAT EST.’ + +I endeavoured to parry these texts by observing, that the dancing-houses +amounted only to one night at La Pique’s ball--the novels (so far as +matter of notoriety, Darsie) to an odd volume of TOM JONES. + +‘But he danced from night to morning,’ replied my father, ‘and he read +the idle trash, which the author should have been scourged for, at least +twenty times over. It was never out of his hand.’ + +I then hinted, that in all probability your fortune was now so easy as +to dispense with your prosecuting the law any further than you had done; +and therefore you might think you had some title to amuse yourself. This +was the least palatable argument of all. + +‘If he cannot amuse himself with the law,’ said my father, snappishly +‘it is the worse for him. If he needs not law to teach him to make a +fortune, I am sure he needs it to teach him how to keep one; and it +would better become him to be learning this, than to be scouring the +country like a land-louper, going he knows not where, to see he knows +not what, and giving treats at Noble House to fools like himself’ (an +angry glance at poor me), ‘Noble House, indeed!’ he repeated, with +elevated voice and sneering tone, as if there were something offensive +to him in the name, though I will venture to say that any place in which +you had been extravagant enough to spend five shillings, would have +stood as deep in his reprobation. + +Mindful of your idea, that my father knows more of your real situation +than he thinks proper to mention, I thought I would hazard a fishing +observation. ‘I did not see,’ I said, ‘how the Scottish law would be +useful to a young gentleman whose fortune would seem to be vested in +England.’--I really thought my father would have beat me. + +‘D’ye mean to come round me, sir, PER AMBAGES, as Counsellor Pest says? +What is it to you where Darsie Latimer’s fortune is vested, or whether +he hath any fortune, aye or no? And what ill would the Scottish law do +to him, though he had as much of it as either Stair or Bankton, sir? Is +not the foundation of our municipal law the ancient code of the Roman +Empire, devised at a time when it was so much renowned for its civil +polity, sir, and wisdom? Go to your bed, sir, after your expedition to +Noble House, and see that your lamp be burning and your book before you +ere the sun peeps. ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS--were it not a sin to call the +divine science of the law by the inferior name of art.’ + +So my lamp did burn, dear Darsie, the next morning, though the owner +took the risk of a domiciliary visitation, and lay snug in bed, trusting +its glimmer might, without further inquiry, be received as sufficient +evidence of his vigilance. And now, upon this the third morning after +your departure, things are but little better; for though the lamp burns +in my den, and VOET ON THE PANDECTS hath his wisdom spread open before +me, yet as I only use him as a reading-desk on which to scribble this +sheet of nonsense to Darsie Latimer, it is probable the vicinity will be +of little furtherance to my studies. + +And now, methinks, I hear thee call me an affected hypocritical varlet, +who, living under such a system of distrust and restraint as my father +chooses to govern by, nevertheless pretends not to envy you your freedom +and independence. + +Latimer, I will tell you no lies. I wish my father would allow me a +little more exercise of my free will, were it but that I might feel the +pleasure of doing what would please him of my own accord. A little more +spare time, and a little more money to enjoy it, would, besides, neither +misbecome my age nor my condition; and it is, I own, provoking to see so +many in the same situation winging the air at freedom, while I sit here, +caged up like a cobbler’s linnet, to chant the same unvaried lesson +from sunrise to sunset, not to mention the listening to so many lectures +against idleness, as if I enjoyed or was making use of the means of +amusement! But then I cannot at heart blame either the motive or the +object of this severity. For the motive, it is and can only be my +father’s anxious, devoted, and unremitting affection and zeal for my +improvement, with a laudable sense of the honour of the profession to +which he has trained me. + +As we have no near relations, the tie betwixt us is of even unusual +closeness, though in itself one of the strongest which nature can form. +I am, and have all along been, the exclusive object of my father’s +anxious hopes, and his still more anxious and engrossing fears; so what +title have I to complain, although now and then these fears and hopes +lead him to take a troublesome and incessant charge of all my motions? +Besides, I ought to recollect, and, Darsie, I do recollect, that my +father upon various occasions, has shown that he can be indulgent as +well as strict. The leaving his old apartments in the Luckenbooths was +to him like divorcing the soul from the body; yet Dr. R---- did but +hint that the better air of this new district was more favourable to +my health, as I was then suffering under the penalties of too rapid a +growth, when he exchanged his old and beloved quarters, adjacent to the +very Heart of Midlothian, for one of those new tenements (entire within +themselves) which modern taste has so lately introduced. Instance also +the inestimable favour which he conferred on me by receiving you into +his house, when you had only the unpleasant alternative of remaining, +though a grown-up lad, in the society of mere boys. [The diminutive and +obscure place called Brown’s Square, was hailed about the time of its +erection as an extremely elegant improvement upon the style of designing +and erecting Edinburgh residences. Each house was, in the phrase used +by appraisers, ‘finished within itself,’ or, in the still newer +phraseology, ‘self-contained.’ It was built about the year 1763-4; and +the old part of the city being near and accessible, this square soon +received many inhabitants, who ventured to remove to so moderate a +distance from the High Street.] This was a thing so contrary to all my +father’s ideas of seclusion, of economy, and of the safety to my morals +and industry, which he wished to attain, by preserving me from the +society of other young people, that, upon my word, I am always rather +astonished how I should have had the impudence to make the request, than +that he should have complied with it. + +Then for the object of his solicitude--Do not laugh, or hold up your +hands, my good Darsie; but upon my word I like the profession to which +I am in the course of being educated, and am serious in prosecuting the +preliminary studies. The law is my vocation--in an especial, and, I +may say, in an hereditary way, my vocation; for although I have not the +honour to belong to any of the great families who form in Scotland, as +in France, the noblesse of the robe, and with us, at least, carry their +heads as high, or rather higher, than the noblesse of the sword,--for +the former consist more frequently of the ‘first-born of Egypt,’--yet +my grandfather, who, I dare say, was a most excellent person, had the +honour to sign a bitter protest against the Union, in the respectable +character of town-clerk to the ancient Borough of Birlthegroat; and +there is some reason--shall I say to hope, or to suspect?--that he may +have been a natural son of a first cousin of the then Fairford of that +Ilk, who had been long numbered among the minor barons. Now my father +mounted a step higher on the ladder of legal promotion, being, as you +know as well as I do, an eminent and respected Writer to his Majesty’s +Signet; and I myself am destined to mount a round higher still, and wear +the honoured robe which is sometimes supposed, like Charity, to cover +a multitude of sins. I have, therefore, no choice but to climb upwards; +since we have mounted thus high, or else to fall down at the imminent +risk of my neck. So that I reconcile myself to my destiny; and while +you, are looking from mountain peaks, at distant lakes and firths, I am, +DE APICIBUS JURIS, consoling myself with visions of crimson and scarlet +gowns--with the appendages of handsome cowls, well lined with salary. + +You smile, Darsie, MORE TUO, and seem to say it is little worth while to +cozen one’s self with such vulgar dreams; yours being, on the contrary, +of a high and heroic character, bearing the same resemblance to mine, +that a bench, covered with purple cloth and plentifully loaded with +session papers, does to some Gothic throne, rough with barbaric pearl +and gold. But what would you have?--SUA QUEMQUE TRAHIT VOLUPTAS. And my +visions of preferment, though they may be as unsubstantial at present, +are nevertheless more capable of being realized, than your aspirations +after the Lord knows what. What says my father’s proverb? ‘Look to a +gown of gold, and you will at least get a sleeve of it.’ Such is my +pursuit; but what dost thou look to? The chance that the mystery, as +you call it, which at present overclouds your birth and connexions, will +clear up into something inexpressibly and inconceivably brilliant; +and this without any effort or exertion of your own, but purely by the +goodwill of Fortune. I know the pride and naughtiness of thy heart, and +sincerely do I wish that thou hadst more beatings to thank me for, than +those which thou dost acknowledge so gratefully. Then had I thumped +these Quixotical expectations out of thee, and thou hadst not, as +now, conceived thyself to be the hero of some romantic history, and +converted, in thy vain imaginations, honest Griffiths, citizen and +broker, who never bestows more than the needful upon his quarterly +epistles, into some wise Alexander or sage Alquife, the mystical and +magical protector of thy peerless destiny. But I know not how it was, +thy skull got harder, I think, and my knuckles became softer; not to +mention that at length thou didst begin to show about thee a spark of +something dangerous, which I was bound to respect at least, if I did not +fear it. + +And while I speak of this, it is not much amiss to advise thee to +correct a little this cock-a-hoop courage of thine. I fear much that, +like a hot-mettled horse, it will carry the owner into some scrape, out +of which he will find it difficult to extricate himself, especially if +the daring spirit which bore thee thither should chance to fail thee +at a pinch. Remember, Darsie, thou art not naturally courageous; on +the contrary, we have long since agreed that, quiet as I am, I have the +advantage in this important particular. My courage consists, I think, +in strength of nerves and constitutional indifference to danger; which, +though it never pushes me on adventure, secures me in full use of +my recollection, and tolerably complete self-possession, when danger +actually arrives. Now, thine seems more what may be called intellectual +courage; highness of spirit, and desire of distinction; impulses which +render thee alive to the love of fame, and deaf to the apprehension of +danger, until it forces itself suddenly upon thee. I own that, whether +it is from my having caught my father’s apprehensions, or that I have +reason to entertain doubts of my own, I often think that this wildfire +chase of romantic situation and adventure may lead thee into some +mischief; and then what would become of Alan Fairford? They might make +whom they pleased Lord Advocate or Solicitor-General, I should never +have the heart to strive for it. All my exertions are intended to +Vindicate myself one day in your eyes; and I think I should not care +a farthing for the embroidered silk gown, more than for an old woman’s +apron, unless I had hopes that thou shouldst be walking the boards to +admire, and perhaps to envy me. + +That this may be the case, I prithee--beware! See not a Dulcinea, in +every slipshod girl, who, with blue eyes, fair hair, a tattered plaid, +and a willow-wand in her grip, drives out the village cows to the +loaning. Do not think you will meet a gallant Valentine in every English +rider, or an Orson in every Highland drover. View things as they are, +and not as they may be magnified through thy teeming fancy. I have seen +thee look at an old gravel pit, till thou madest out capes, and bays, +and inlets, crags and precipices, and the whole stupendous scenery of +the Isle of Feroe, in what was, to all ordinary eyes, a mere horse-pond. +Besides, did I not once find thee gazing with respect at a lizard, in +the attitude of one who looks upon a crocodile? Now this is, doubtless, +so far a harmless exercise of your imagination; for the puddle cannot +drown you, nor the Lilliputian alligator eat you up. But it is different +in society, where you cannot mistake the character of those you converse +with, or suffer your fancy to exaggerate their qualities, good or bad, +without exposing yourself not only to ridicule, but to great and serious +inconveniences. Keep guard, therefore, on your imagination, my dear +Darsie; and let your old friend assure you, it is the point of your +character most pregnant with peril to its good and generous owner. +Adieu! let not the franks of the worthy peer remain unemployed; above +all, SIS MEMOR MEI. A. F. + + + + +LETTER III + +DARSIE LATIMER TO ALAN FAIRFORD + +SHEPHERD’S BUSH. + +I have received thine absurd and most conceited epistle. It is well +for thee that, Lovelace and Belford-like, we came under a convention +to pardon every species of liberty which we may take with each other; +since, upon my word, there are some reflections in your last which would +otherwise have obliged me to return forthwith to Edinburgh, merely to +show you I was not what you took me for. + +Why, what a pair of prigs hast thou made of us! I plunging into scrapes, +without having courage to get out of them--thy sagacious self, afraid +to put one foot before the other, lest it should run away from its +companion; and so standing still like a post, out of mere faintness +and coldness of heart, while all the world were driving full speed past +thee. Thou a portrait-painter! I tell thee, Alan, I have seen a better +seated on the fourth round of a ladder, and painting a bare-breeched +Highlander, holding a pint-stoup as big as himself, and a booted +Lowlander, in a bobwig, supporting a glass of like dimensions; the whole +being designed to represent the sign of the Salutation. + +How hadst thou the heart to represent thine own individual self, with +all thy motions, like those of a great Dutch doll, depending on the +pressure of certain springs, as duty, reflection, and the like; without +the impulse of which, thou wouldst doubtless have me believe thou +wouldst not budge an inch! But have I not seen Gravity out of his bed at +midnight? and must I, in plain terms, remind thee of certain mad pranks? +Thou hadst ever, with the gravest sentiments in thy mouth and the most +starched reserve in thy manner, a kind of lumbering proclivity towards +mischief, although with more inclination to set it a-going than address +to carry it through; and I cannot but chuckle internally, when I think +of having seen my most venerable monitor, the future president of some +high Scottish court, puffing, blowing, and floundering, like a clumsy +cart-horse in a bog where his efforts to extricate himself only plunged +him deeper at every awkward struggle, till some one--I myself, for +example--took compassion on the moaning monster, and dragged him out by +mane and tail. + +As for me, my portrait is, if possible, even more scandalously +caricatured, I fail or quail in spirit at the upcome! Where canst thou +show me the least symptom of the recreant temper, with which thou hast +invested me (as I trust) merely to set off the solid and impassible +dignity of thine own stupid indifference? If you ever saw me tremble, be +assured that my flesh, like that of the old Spanish general, only quaked +at the dangers into which my spirit was about to lead it. Seriously, +Alan, this imputed poverty of spirit is a shabby charge to bring against +your friend. I have examined myself as closely as I can, being, in very +truth, a little hurt at your having such hard thoughts of me, and on +my life I can see no reason for them. I allow you have, perhaps, some +advantage of me in the steadiness and indifference of your temper; but I +should despise myself, if I were conscious of the deficiency in courage +which you seem willing enough to impute to me. However, I suppose, this +ungracious hint proceeds from sincere anxiety for my safety; and so +viewing it, I swallow it as I would do medicine from a friendly doctor, +although I believed in my heart he had mistaken my complaint. + +This offensive insinuation disposed of, I thank thee, Alan, for the rest +of thy epistle. I thought I heard your good father pronouncing the word +Noble House, with a mixture of contempt and displeasure, as if the very +name of the poor little hamlet were odious to him, or as if you had +selected, out of all Scotland, the very place at which you had no call +to dine. But if he had had any particular aversion to that blameless +village and very sorry inn, is it not his own fault that I did not +accept the invitation of the Laird of Glengallacher, to shoot a buck +in what he emphatically calls ‘his country’? Truth is, I had a strong +desire to have complied with his lairdship’s invitation. To shoot a +buck! Think how magnificent an idea to one who never shot anything but +hedge-sparrows, and that with a horse-pistol purchased at a broker’s +stand in the Cowgate! You, who stand upon your courage, may remember +that I took the risk of firing the said pistol for the first time, while +you stood at twenty yards’ distance; and that, when you were persuaded +it would go off without bursting, forgetting all law but that of the +biggest and strongest, you possessed yourself of it exclusively for the +rest of the holidays. Such a day’s sport was no complete introduction to +the noble art of deer-stalking, as it is practised in the Highlands; but +I should not have scrupled to accept honest Glengallacher’s invitation, +at the risk of firing a rifle for the first time, had it not been for +the outcry which your father made at my proposal, in the full ardour of +his zeal for King George, the Hanover succession, and the Presbyterian +faith. I wish I had stood out, since I have gained so little upon +his good opinion by submission. All his impressions concerning the +Highlanders are taken from the recollections of the Forty-five, when he +retreated from the West Port with his brother volunteers, each to +the fortalice of his own separate dwelling, so soon as they heard the +Adventurer was arrived with his clans as near them as Kirkliston. The +flight of Falkirk--PARMA NON BENE SELECTA--in which I think your sire +had his share with the undaunted western regiment, does not seem to have +improved his taste for the company of the Highlanders; (quaere, +Alan, dost thou derive the courage thou makest such boast of from an +hereditary source?) and stories of Rob Roy Macgregor, and Sergeant Alan +Mhor Cameron, have served to paint them in still more sable colours to +his imagination. [Of Rob Roy we have had more than enough. Alan Cameron, +commonly called Sergeant Mhor, a freebooter of the same period, was +equally remarkable for strength, courage, and generosity.] + +Now, from all I can understand, these ideas, as applied to the present +state of the country, are absolutely chimerical. The Pretender is +no more remembered in the Highlands than if the poor gentleman were +gathered to his hundred and eight fathers, whose portraits adorn the +ancient walls of Holyrood; the broadswords have passed into other hands; +the targets are used to cover the butter churns; and the race has sunk, +or is fast sinking, from ruffling bullies into tame cheaters. Indeed, it +was partly my conviction that there is little to be seen in the north, +which, arriving at your father’s conclusions, though from different +premisses, inclined my course in this direction, where perhaps I shall +see as little. + +One thing, however, I HAVE seen; and it was with pleasure the more +indescribable, that I was debarred from treading the land which my eyes +were permitted to gaze upon, like those of the dying prophet from top +of Mount Pisgah,--I have seen, in a word, the fruitful shores of merry +England; merry England! of which I boast myself a native, and on which +I gaze, even while raging floods and unstable quicksands divide us, with +the filial affection of a dutiful son. + +Thou canst not have forgotten, Alan--for when didst thou ever forget +what was interesting to thy friend?--that the same letter from my friend +Griffiths, which doubled my income, and placed my motions at my own +free disposal, contained a prohibitory clause, by which, reason none +assigned, I was prohibited, as I respected my present safety and +future fortunes, from visiting England; every other part of the British +dominions, and a tour, if I pleased, on the Continent, being left to my +own choice.--Where is the tale, Alan, of a covered dish in the midst +of a royal banquet, upon which the eyes of every guest were immediately +fixed, neglecting all the dainties with which the table was loaded? This +cause of banishment from England--from my native country--from the land +of the brave, and the wise, and the free--affects me more than I am +rejoiced by the freedom and independence assigned to me in all other +respects. Thus, in seeking this extreme boundary of the country which +I am forbidden to tread, I resemble the poor tethered horse, which, you +may have observed, is always grazing on the very verge of the circle to +which it is limited by its halter. + +Do not accuse me of romance for obeying this impulse towards the South; +nor suppose that, to satisfy the imaginary longing of an idle curiosity, +I am in any danger of risking the solid comforts of my present +condition. Whoever has hitherto taken charge of my motions has shown me, +by convincing proofs more weighty than the assurances which they have +witheld, that my real advantage is their principal object. I should be, +therefore, worse than a fool did I object to their authority, even when +it seems somewhat capriciously exercised; for assuredly, at my age, I +might--intrusted as I am with the care and management of myself in every +other particular--expect that the cause of excluding me from England +should be frankly and fairly stated for my own consideration and +guidance. However, I will not grumble about the matter. I shall know the +whole story one day, I suppose; and perhaps, as you sometimes surmise, I +shall not find there is any mighty matter in it after all. + +Yet one cannot help wondering--but plague on it, if I wonder any +longer, my letter will be as full of wonders as one of Katterfelto’s +advertisements. I have a month’s mind, instead of this damnable +iteration of guesses and forebodings, to give thee the history of a +little adventure which befell me yesterday; though I am sure you will, +as usual, turn the opposite side of the spyglass on my poor narrative, +and reduce, MORE TUO, to the most petty trivialities, the circumstance +to which thou accusest me of giving undue consequence. Hang thee, Alan, +thou art as unfit a confidant for a youthful gallant with some spice +of imagination, as the old taciturn secretary of Facardin of Trebizond. +Nevertheless, we must each perform our separate destinies. I am doomed +to see, act, and tell; thou, like a Dutchman enclosed in the same +diligence with a Gascon, to hear, and shrug thy shoulders. + +Of Dumfries, the capital town of this county, I have but little to say, +and will not abuse your patience by reminding you that it is built on +the gallant river Nith, and that its churchyard, the highest place of +the old town, commands an extensive and fine prospect. Neither will I +take the traveller’s privilege of inflicting upon you the whole history +of Bruce poniarding the Red Comyn in the Church of the Dominicans +at this place, and becoming a king and patriot because he had been a +church-breaker and a murderer. The present Dumfriezers remember and +justify the deed, observing it was only a papist church--in evidence +whereof, its walls have been so completely demolished that no vestiges +of them remain. They are a sturdy set of true-blue Presbyterians, these +burghers of Dumfries; men after your father’s own heart, zealous for the +Protestant succession--the rather that many of the great families around +are suspected to be of a different way of thinking, and shared, a great +many of them, in the insurrection of the Fifteen, and some in the more +recent business of the Forty-five. The town itself suffered in the +latter era; for Lord Elcho, with a large party of the rebels, levied +a severe contribution upon Dumfries, on account of the citizens having +annoyed the rear of the Chevalier during his march into England. + +Many of these particulars I learned from Provost C--, who, happening to +see me in the market-place, remembered that I was an intimate of your +father’s, and very kindly asked me to dinner. Pray tell your father that +the effects of his kindness to me follow me everywhere. I became tired, +however, of this pretty town in the course of twenty-four hours, and +crept along the coast eastwards, amusing myself with looking out for +objects of antiquity, and sometimes making, or attempting to make, use +of my new angling-rod. By the way, old Cotton’s instructions, by which +I hoped to qualify myself for one of the gentle society of anglers, are +not worth a farthing for this meridian. I learned this by mere accident, +after I had waited four mortal hours. I shall never forget an impudent +urchin, a cowherd, about twelve years old, without either brogue or +bonnet, barelegged, and with a very indifferent pair of breeches--how +the villain grinned in scorn at my landing-net, my plummet, and the +gorgeous jury of flies which I had assembled to destroy all the fish +in the river. I was induced at last to lend the rod to the sneering +scoundrel, to see what he would make of it; and he had not only half +filled my basket in an hour, but literally taught me to kill two trouts +with my own hand. This, and Sam having found the hay and oats, not +forgetting the ale, very good at this small inn, first made me take +the fancy of resting here for a day or two; and I have got my grinning +blackguard of a piscator leave to attend on me, by paying sixpence a day +for a herd-boy in his stead. + +A notably clean Englishwoman keeps this small house, and my bedroom is +sweetened with lavender, has a clean sash-window, and the walls are, +moreover, adorned with ballads of Fair Rosamond and Cruel Barbara Allan. +The woman’s accent, though uncouth enough, sounds yet kindly in my ear; +for I have never yet forgotten the desolate effect produced on my +infant organs, when I heard on all sides your slow and broad northern +pronunciation, which was to me the tone of a foreign land. I am sensible +I myself have since that time acquired Scotch in perfection, and many a +Scotticism withal. Still the sound of the English accentuation comes to +my ears as the tones of a friend; and even when heard from the mouth of +some wandering beggar, it has seldom failed to charm forth my mite. +You Scotch, who are so proud of your own nationality, must make due +allowance for that of other folks. + +On the next morning I was about to set forth to the stream where I had +commenced angler the night before, but was prevented by a heavy shower +of rain from stirring abroad the whole forenoon; during all which time, +I heard my varlet of a guide as loud with his blackguard jokes in the +kitchen, as a footman in the shilling gallery; so little are modesty and +innocence the inseparable companions of rusticity and seclusion. + +When after dinner the day cleared, and we at length sallied out to the +river side, I found myself subjected to a new trick on the part of my +accomplished preceptor. Apparently, he liked fishing himself better than +the trouble of instructing an awkward novice such as I; and in hopes of +exhausting my patience, and inducing me to resign the rod, as I had done +the preceding day, my friend contrived to keep me thrashing the water +more than an hour with a pointless hook. I detected this trick at last, +by observing the rogue grinning with delight when he saw a large trout +rise and dash harmless away from the angle. I gave him a sound cuff, +Alan; but the next moment was sorry, and, to make amends, yielded +possession of the fishing-rod for the rest of the evening, he +undertaking to bring me home a dish of trouts for my supper, in +atonement for his offences. + +Having thus got honourably rid of the trouble of amusing myself in a way +I cared not for, I turned my steps towards the sea, or rather the Solway +Firth which here separates the two sister kingdoms, and which lay at +about a mile’s distance, by a pleasant walk over sandy knells, covered +with short herbage, which you call Links, and we English, Downs. + +But the rest of my adventure would weary out my fingers, and must +be deferred until to-morrow, when you shall hear from me, by way of +continuation; and, in the meanwhile, to prevent over-hasty conclusions, +I must just hint to you, we are but yet on the verge of the adventure +which it is my purpose to communicate. + + + + +LETTER IV + +THE SAME TO THE SAME + +SHEPHERD’S BUSH. + +I mentioned in my last, that having abandoned my fishing-rod as an +unprofitable implement, I crossed over the open downs which divided me +from the margin of the Solway. When I reached the banks of the great +estuary, which are here very bare and exposed, the waters had receded +from the large and level space of sand, through which a stream, +now feeble and fordable, found its way to the ocean. The whole was +illuminated by the beams of the low and setting sun, who showed +his ruddy front, like a warrior prepared for defence, over a huge +battlemented and turreted wall of crimson and black clouds, which +appeared like an immense Gothic fortress, into which the lord of day was +descending. His setting rays glimmered bright upon the wet surface of +the sands, and the numberless pools of water by which it was covered, +where the inequality of the ground had occasioned their being left by +the tide. + +The scene was animated by the exertions of a number of horsemen, who +were actually employed in hunting salmon. Aye, Alan, lift up your +hands and eyes as you will, I can give their mode of fishing no name so +appropriate; for they chased the fish at full gallop, and struck them +with their barbed spears, as you see hunters spearing boars in the old +tapestry. The salmon, to be sure, take the thing more quietly than the +boars; but they are so swift in their own element, that to pursue +and strike them is the task of a good horseman, with a quick eye, a +determined hand, and full command both of his horse and weapon. The +shouts of the fellows as they galloped up and down in the animating +exercise--their loud bursts of laughter when any of their number caught +a fall--and still louder acclamations when any of the party made a +capital stroke with his lance--gave so much animation to the whole +scene, that I caught the enthusiasm of the sport, and ventured forward +a considerable space on the sands. The feats of one horseman, in +particular, called forth so repeatedly the clamorous applause of his +companions, that the very banks rang again with their shouts. He was a +tall man, well mounted on a strong black horse, which he caused to turn +and wind like a bird in the air, carried a longer spear than the others, +and wore a sort of fur cap or bonnet, with a short feather in it, +which gave him on the whole rather a superior appearance to the other +fishermen. He seemed to hold some sort of authority among them, and +occasionally directed their motions both by voice and hand: at which +times I thought his gestures were striking, and his voice uncommonly +sonorous and commanding. + +The riders began to make for the shore, and the interest of the scene +was almost over, while I lingered on the sands, with my looks turned to +the shores of England, still gilded by the sun’s last rays, and, as it +seemed, scarce distant a mile from me. The anxious thoughts which +haunt me began to muster in my bosom, and my feet slowly and insensibly +approached the river which divided me from the forbidden precincts, +though without any formed intention, when my steps were arrested by +the sound of a horse galloping; and as I turned, the rider (the same +fisherman whom I had formerly distinguished) called out to me, in +an abrupt manner, ‘Soho, brother! you are too late for Bowness +to-night--the tide will make presently.’ + +I turned my head and looked at him without answering; for, to my +thinking, his sudden appearance (or rather, I should say, his unexpected +approach) had, amidst the gathering shadows and lingering light, +something in it which was wild and ominous. + +‘Are you deaf?’ he added--‘or are you mad?--or have you a mind for the +next world?’ + +‘I am a stranger,’ I answered,’ and had no other purpose than looking on +at the fishing--I am about to return to the side I came from.’ + +‘Best make haste then,’ said he. ‘He that dreams on the bed of the +Solway, may wake in the next world. The sky threatens a blast that will +bring in the waves three feet abreast.’ + +So saying, he turned his horse and rode off, while I began to walk back +towards the Scottish shore, a little alarmed at what I had heard; +for the tide advances with such rapidity upon these fatal sands, that +well-mounted horsemen lay aside hopes of safety, if they see its white +surge advancing while they are yet at a distance from the bank. + +These recollections grew more agitating, and, instead of walking +deliberately, I began a race as fast as I could, feeling, or thinking I +felt, each pool of salt water through which I splashed, grow deeper and +deeper. At length the surface of the sand did seem considerably more +intersected with pools and channels full of water--either that the tide +was really beginning to influence the bed of the estuary, or, as I must +own is equally probable, that I had, in the hurry and confusion of my +retreat, involved myself in difficulties which I had avoided in my more +deliberate advance. Either way, it was rather an unpromising state of +affairs, for the sands at the same time turned softer, and my footsteps, +so soon as I had passed, were instantly filled with water. I began to +have odd recollections concerning the snugness of your father’s parlour, +and the secure footing afforded by the pavement of Brown’s Square and +Scott’s Close, when my better genius, the tall fisherman, appeared once +more close to my side, he and his sable horse looming gigantic in the +now darkening twilight. + +‘Are you mad?’ he said, in the same deep tone which had before thrilled +on my ear, ‘or are you weary of your life? You will be presently amongst +the quicksands.’ I professed my ignorance of the way, to which he only +replied, ‘There is no time for prating--get up behind me.’ + +He probably expected me to spring from the ground with the activity +which these Borderers have, by constant practice, acquired in everything +relating to horsemanship; but as I stood irresolute, he extended his +hand, and grasping mine, bid me place my foot on the toe of his boot, +and thus raised me in a trice to the croupe of his horse. I was scarcely +securely seated, ere he shook the reins of his horse, who instantly +sprang forward; but annoyed, doubtless, by the unusual burden, treated +us to two or three bounds, accompanied by as many flourishes of his hind +heels. The rider sat like a tower, notwithstanding that the unexpected +plunging of the animal threw me forward upon him. The horse was soon +compelled to submit to the discipline of the spur and bridle, and went +off at a steady hand gallop; thus shortening the devious, for it was +by no means a direct path, by which the rider, avoiding the loose +quicksands, made for the northern bank. + +My friend, perhaps I may call him my preserver,--for, to a stranger, my +situation was fraught with real danger,--continued to press on at the +same speedy pace, but in perfect silence, and I was under too much +anxiety of mind to disturb him with any questions. At length we arrived +at a part of the shore with which I was utterly unacquainted, when I +alighted and began to return in the best fashion I could my thanks for +the important service which he had just rendered me. + +The stranger only replied by an impatient ‘pshaw!’ and was about to ride +off, and leave me to my own resources when I implored him to complete +his work of kindness by directing me to Shepherd’s Bush, which was, as I +informed him, my home for the present. + +‘To Shepherd’s Bush?’ he said; ‘it is but three miles but if you know +not the land better than the sand, you may break your neck before you +get there; for it is no road for a moping boy in a dark night; and, +besides, there are the brook and the fens to cross.’ + +I was a little dismayed at this communication of such difficulties as my +habits had not called on me to contend with. Once more the idea of thy +father’s fireside came across me; and I could have been well contented +to have swapped the romance of my situation, together with the glorious +independence of control which I possessed at the moment, for the +comforts of that chimney-corner, though I were obliged to keep my eyes +chained to Erskine’s LARGER INSTITUTES. + +I asked my new friend whether he could not direct me to any house of +public entertainment for the night; and supposing it probable he was +himself a poor man, I added, with the conscious dignity of a well-filled +pocket-book, that I could make it worth any man’s while to oblige me. +The fisherman making no answer, I turned away from him with as gallant +an appearance of indifference as I could command, and began to take, as +I thought, the path which he had pointed out to me. + +His deep voice immediately sounded after me to recall me. ‘Stay, young +man, stay--you have mistaken the road already.--I wonder your friends +sent out such an inconsiderate youth, without some one wiser than +himself to take care of him.’ + +‘Perhaps they might not have done so,’ said I, ‘if I had any friends who +cared about the matter.’ + +‘Well, sir,’ he said, ‘it is not my custom to open my house to +strangers, but your pinch is like to be a smart one; for, besides the +risk from bad roads, fords, and broken ground, and the night, +which looks both black and gloomy, there is bad company on the road +sometimes--at least it has a bad name, and some have come to harm; so +that I think I must for once make my rule give way to your necessity, +and give you a night’s lodging in my cottage. + +Why was it, Alan, that I could not help giving an involuntary shudder at +receiving an invitation so seasonable in itself, and so suitable to my +naturally inquisitive disposition? I easily suppressed this untimely +sensation; and as I returned thanks, and expressed my hope that I should +not disarrange, his family, I once more dropped a hint of my desire to +make compensation for any trouble I might occasion. The man answered +very coldly, ‘Your presence will no doubt give me trouble, sir, but it +is of a kind which your purse, cannot compensate; in a word, although +I am content to receive you as my guest, I am no publican to call a +reckoning.’ + +I begged his pardon, and, at his instance, once more seated myself +behind hint upon the good horse, which went forth steady as before--the +moon, whenever she could penetrate the clouds, throwing the huge shadow +of the animal, with its double burden, on the wild and bare ground over +which we passed. + +Thou mayst laugh till thou lettest the letter fall, if thou wilt, but +it reminded me of the magician Atlantes on his hippogriff with a knight +trussed up behind him, in the manner Ariosto has depicted that matter. +Thou art I know, matter-of-fact enough to affect contempt of that +fascinating and delicious poem; but think not that, to conform with +thy bad taste, I shall forbear any suitable illustration which now or +hereafter may occur to me. + +On we went, the sky blackening around us, and the wind beginning to pipe +such a wild and melancholy tune as best suited the hollow sounds of the +advancing tide, which I could hear at a distance, like the roar of some +immense monster defrauded of its prey. + +At length, our course was crossed by a deep dell or dingle, such as they +call in some parts of Scotland a den, and in others a cleuch or narrow +glen. It seemed, by the broken glances which the moon continued to +throw upon it, to be steep, precipitous, and full of trees, which are, +generally speaking, rather scarce upon these shores. The descent by +which we plunged into this dell was both steep and rugged, with two +or three abrupt turnings; but neither danger nor darkness impeded the +motion of the black horse, who seemed rather to slide upon his haunches, +than to gallop down the pass, throwing me again on the shoulders of the +athletic rider, who, sustaining no inconvenience by the circumstance, +continued to press the horse forward with his heel, steadily supporting +him at the same time by raising his bridle-hand, until we stood in +safety at the bottom of the steep--not a little to my consolation, as, +friend Alan, thou mayst easily conceive. + +A very short advance up the glen, the bottom of which we had attained by +this ugly descent, brought us in front of two or three cottages, one +of which another blink of moonshine enabled me to rate as rather better +than those of the Scottish peasantry in this part of the world; for the +sashes seemed glazed, and there were what are called storm-windows in +the roof, giving symptoms of the magnificence of a second story. The +scene around was very interesting; for the cottages, and the yards or +crofts annexed to them, occupied a haugh, or helm, of two acres, which +a brook of some consequence (to judge from its roar) had left upon one +side of the little glen while finding its course close to the farther +bank, and which appeared to be covered and darkened with trees, while +the level space beneath enjoyed such stormy smiles as the moon had that +night to bestow. + +I had little time for observation, for my companion’s loud whistle, +seconded by an equally loud halloo, speedily brought to the door of +the principal cottage a man and a woman, together with two large +Newfoundland dogs, the deep baying of which I had for some time heard. A +yelping terrier or two, which had joined the concert, were silent at +the presence of my conductor, and began to whine, jump up, and fawn upon +him. The female drew back when she beheld a stranger; the man, who had +a lighted lantern, advanced, and, without any observation, received the +horse from my host, and led him, doubtless, to stable, while I followed +my conductor into the house. When we had passed the HALLAN, [The +partition which divides a Scottish cottage.] we entered a well-sized +apartment, with a clean brick floor, where a fire blazed (much to my +contentment) in the ordinary projecting sort of a chimney, common in +Scottish houses. There were stone seats within the chimney; and ordinary +utensils, mixed with fishing-spears, nets, and similar implements of +sport, were hung around the walls of the place. The female who had first +appeared at the door, had now retreated into a side apartment. She was +presently followed by my guide, after he had silently motioned me to a +seat; and their place was supplied by an elderly woman, in a grey stuff +gown, with a check apron and toy, obviously a menial, though neater in +her dress than is usual in her apparent rank--an advantage which was +counterbalanced by a very forbidding aspect. But the most singular part +of her attire, in this very Protestant country, was a rosary, in which +the smaller beads were black oak, and those indicating the PATER-NOSTER +of silver, with a crucifix of the same metal. + +This person made preparations for supper, by spreading a clean though +coarse cloth over a large oaken table, placing trenchers and salt upon +it, and arranging the fire to receive a gridiron. I observed her motions +in silence; for she took no sort of notice of me, and as her looks were +singularly forbidding, I felt no disposition to commence conversation. + +When this duenna had made all preliminary arrangements, she took from +the well-filled pouch of my conductor, which he had hung up by the +door, one or two salmon, or GRILSES, as the smaller sort are termed, and +selecting that which seemed best and in highest season, began to cut +it into slices, and to prepare a GRILLADE; the savoury smell of which +affected me so powerfully that I began sincerely to hope that no delay +would intervene between the platter and the lip. + +As this thought came across me, the man who had conducted the horse to +the stable entered the apartment, and discovered to me a countenance yet +more uninviting than that of the old crone who was performing with such +dexterity the office of cook to the party. He was perhaps sixty years +old; yet his brow was not much furrowed, and his jet-black hair was only +grizzled, not whitened, by the advance of age. All his motions spoke +strength unabated; and, though rather undersized, he had very broad +shoulders, was square-made, thin-flanked, and apparently combined in his +frame muscular strength and activity; the last somewhat impaired perhaps +by years, but the first remaining in full vigour. A hard and harsh +countenance--eyes far sunk under projecting eyebrows, which were +grizzled like his hair--a wide mouth, furnished from ear to ear with it +range of unimpaired teeth, of uncommon whiteness, and a size and breadth +which might have become the jaws of an ogre, completed this delightful +portrait. He was clad like a fisherman, in jacket and trousers of the +blue cloth commonly used by seamen, and had a Dutch case-knife, like +that of a Hamburgh skipper, stuck into a broad buff belt, which seemed +as if it might occasionally sustain weapons of a description still less +equivocally calculated for violence. + +This man gave me an inquisitive, and, as I thought, a sinister look upon +entering the apartment; but without any further notice of me, took up +the office of arranging the table, which the old lady had abandoned for +that of cooking the fish, and, with more address than I expected from +a person of his coarse appearance, placed two chairs at the head of the +table, and two stools below; accommodating each seat to a cover, beside +which he placed an allowance of barley-bread, and a small jug, which he +replenished with ale from a large black jack. Three of these jugs +were of ordinary earthenware, but the fourth, which he placed by the +right-hand cover at, the upper end of the table, was a flagon of +silver, and displayed armorial bearings. Beside this flagon he placed a +salt-cellar of silver, handsomely wrought, containing salt of exquisite +whiteness, with pepper and other spices. A sliced lemon was also +presented on a small silver salver. The two large water-dogs, who +seemed perfectly to understand the nature of the preparations, seated +themselves one on each side of the table, to be ready to receive their +portion of the entertainment. I never saw finer animals, or which +seemed to be more influenced by a sense of decorum, excepting that they +slobbered a little as the rich scent from the chimney was wafted past +their noses. The small dogs ensconced themselves beneath the table. + +I am aware that I am dwelling upon trivial and ordinary circumstances, +and that perhaps I may weary out your patience in doing so. But conceive +me alone in this strange place, which seemed, from the universal +silence, to be the very temple of Harpocrates--remember that this is +my first excursion from home--forget not that the manner in which I had +been brought hither had the dignity of danger and something the air of +an adventure, and that there was a mysterious incongruity in all I had +hitherto witnessed; and you will not, I think, be surprised that these +circumstances, though trifling, should force themselves on my notice at +the time, and dwell in my memory afterwards. + +That a fisher, who pursued the sport perhaps for his amusement as well +as profit, should be well mounted and better lodged than the lower class +of peasantry, had in it nothing surprising; but there was something +about all that I saw which seemed to intimate that I was rather in +the abode of a decayed gentleman, who clung to a few of the forms and +observances of former rank, than in that of a common peasant, raised +above his fellows by comparative opulence. + +Besides the articles of plate which I have already noticed, the old man +now lighted and placed on the table a silver lamp, or CRUISIE as the +Scottish term it, filled with very pure oil, which in burning diffused +an aromatic fragrance, and gave me a more perfect view of the cottage +walls, which I had hitherto only seen dimly by the light of the fire. +The BINK [The frame of wooden shelves placed in a Scottish kitchen for +holding plates.] with its usual arrangement of pewter and earthenware, +which was most strictly and critically clean, glanced back the flame of +the lamp merrily from one side of the apartment. In a recess, formed +by the small bow of a latticed window, was a large writing-desk of +walnut-tree wood, curiously carved, above which arose shelves of the +same, which supported a few books and papers. The opposite side of the +recess contained (as far as I could discern, for it lay in shadow, and +I could at any rate have seen it but imperfectly from the place where +I was seated) one or two guns, together with swords, pistols, and +other arms a collection which, in a poor cottage, and in a country so +peaceful, appeared singular at least, if not even somewhat suspicious. + +All these observations, you may suppose, were made much sooner than I +have recorded, or you (if you have not skipped) have been able to read +them. They were already finished, and I was considering how I should +open some communication with the mute inhabitants of the mansion, when +my conductor re-entered from the side-door by which he had made his +exit. + +He had now thrown off his rough riding-cap, and his coarse jockey-coat, +And stood before me in a grey jerkin trimmed with black, which sat close +to, and set off, his large and sinewy frame, and a pair of trousers of +a lighter colour, cut as close to the body as they are used by +Highlandmen. His whole dress was of finer cloth than that of the old +man; and his linen, so minute was my observation, clean and unsullied. +His shirt was without ruffles, and tied at the collar with a black +ribbon, which showed his strong and muscular neck rising from it like +that of an ancient Hercules. His head was small, with a large forehead, +and well-formed ears. He wore neither peruke nor hair-powder; and his +chestnut locks, curling close to his head like those of an antique +statue, showed not the least touch of time, though the owner must have +been at least fifty. His features were high and prominent in such a +degree that one knew not whether to term them harsh or handsome. In +either case, the sparkling grey eye, aquiline nose, and well-formed +mouth, combined to render his physiognomy noble and expressive. An air +of sadness, or severity, or of both, seemed to indicate a melancholy, +and, at the same time, a haughty temper. I could not help running +mentally over the ancient heroes, to whom I might assimilate the noble +form and countenance before me. He was too young, and evinced too little +resignation to his fate, to resemble Belisarius. Coriolanus, standing by +the hearth of Tullus Aufidius, came nearer the mark; yet the gloomy and +haughty look of the stranger had, perhaps, still more of Marius, seated +among the ruins of Carthage. + +While I was lost in these imaginations, my host stood by the fire, +gazing on me with the same attention which I paid to him, until, +embarrassed by his look, I was about to break silence at all hazards. +But the supper, now placed upon the table, reminded me, by its +appearance, of those wants which I had almost forgotten while I was +gazing on the fine form of my conductor. He spoke at length, and I +almost started at the deep rich tone of his voice, though what he said +was but to invite me to sit down to the table. He himself assumed the +seat of honour, beside which the silver flagon was placed, and beckoned +to me to sit down beside him. + +Thou knowest thy father’s strict and excellent domestic discipline has +trained me to bear the invocation of a blessing before we break the +daily bread, for which we are taught to pray--I paused a moment, and, +without designing to do so, I suppose my manner made him sensible of +what I expected. The two domestics or inferiors, as I should have before +observed, were already seated at the bottom of the table, when my +host shot a glance of a very peculiar expression towards the old man, +observing, with something approaching to a sneer, ‘Cristal Nixon, say +grace--the gentleman expects one.’ + +‘The foul fiend shall be clerk, and say amen, when I turn chaplain,’ +growled out the party addressed, in tones which might have become the +condition of a dying bear; ‘if the gentleman is a whig, he may please +himself with his own mummery. My faith is neither in word nor writ, but +in barley-bread and brown ale.’ + +‘Mabel Moffat,’ said my guide, looking at the old woman, and raising his +sonorous voice, probably because she was hard of hearing, ‘canst thou +ask a blessing upon our victuals?’ + +The old woman shook her head, kissed the cross which hung from her +rosary, and was silent. + +‘Mabel will say grace for no heretic,’ said the master of the house, +with the same latent sneer on his brow and in his accent. + +At the same moment, the side-door already mentioned opened, and the +young woman (so she proved) whom I had first seen at the door of the +cottage, advanced a little way into the room, then stopped bashfully, as +if she had observed that I was looking at her, and asked the master of +the house, ‘if he had called?’ + +‘Not louder than to make old Mabel hear me,’ he replied; ‘and yet,’ be +added, as she turned to retire, ‘it is a shame a stranger should see a +house where not one of the family can or will say a grace--do thou be +our chaplain.’ + +The girl, who was really pretty, came forward with timid modesty, and, +apparently unconscious that she was doing anything uncommon, +pronounced the benediction in a silver-toned voice, and with affecting +simplicity--her cheek colouring just so much as to show that on a less +solemn occasion she would have felt more embarrassed. + +Now, if thou expectest a fine description of this young woman, Alan +Fairford, in order to entitle thee to taunt me with having found a +Dulcinea in the inhabitant of a fisherman’s cottage on the Solway Firth, +thou shalt be disappointed; for, having said she seemed very pretty, +and that she was a sweet and gentle-speaking creature, I have said all +concerning her that I can tell thee. She vanished when the benediction +was spoken. + +My host, with a muttered remark on the cold of our ride, and the keen +air of the Solway Sands, to which he did not seem to wish an answer, +loaded my plate from Mabel’s grillade, which, with a large wooden bowl +of potatoes, formed our whole meal. A sprinkling from the lemon gave a +much higher zest than the usual condiment of vinegar; and I promise +you that whatever I might hitherto have felt, either of curiosity or +suspicion, did not prevent me from making a most excellent supper, +during which little passed betwixt me and my entertainer, unless that +he did the usual honours of the table with courtesy, indeed, but +without even the affectation of hearty hospitality, which those in his +(apparent) condition generally affect on such occasions, even when they +do not actually feel it. On the contrary, his manner seemed that of a +polished landlord towards an unexpected and unwelcome guest, whom, +for the sake of his own credit, he receives with civility, but without +either goodwill or cheerfulness. + +If you ask how I learned all this, I cannot tell you; nor, were I to +write down at length the insignificant intercourse which took place +between us, would it perhaps serve to justify these observations. It is +sufficient to say, that in helping his dogs, which he did from time +to time with great liberality, he seemed to discharge a duty much more +pleasing to himself, than when he paid the same attention to his guest. +Upon the whole, the result on my mind was as I tell it you. + +When supper was over, a small case-bottle of brandy, in a curious frame +of silver filigree, circulated to the guests. I had already taken a +small glass of the liquor, and, when it had passed to Mabel and to +Cristal and was again returned to the upper end of the table, I could +not help taking the bottle in my hand, to look more at the armorial +bearings which were chased with considerable taste on the silver +framework. Encountering the eye of my entertainer, I instantly saw that +my curiosity was highly distasteful; he frowned, bit his lip, and +showed such uncontrollable signs of impatience, that, setting the bottle +immediately down, I attempted some apology. To this he did not deign +either to reply, or even to listen; and Cristal, at a signal from his +master, removed the object of my curiosity, as well as the cup, upon +which the same arms were engraved. + +Then ensued an awkward pause, which I endeavoured to break by observing, +that ‘I feared my intrusion upon his hospitality had put his family to +some inconvenience’. + +‘I hope you see no appearance of it, sir,’ he replied, with cold +civility. ‘What inconvenience a family so retired as ours may suffer +from receiving an unexpected guest is like to be trifling, in comparison +of what the visitor himself sustains from want of his accustomed +comforts. So far, therefore, as our connexion stands, our accounts stand +clear.’ + +Notwithstanding this discouraging reply, I blundered on, as is usual in +such cases, wishing to appear civil, and being, perhaps, in reality the +very reverse. ‘I was afraid,’ I said, that my presence had banished one +of the family’ (looking at the side-door) ‘from his table.’ + +‘If,’ he coldly replied, ‘I meant the young woman whom I had seen in the +apartment, he bid me observe that there was room enough at the table +for her to have seated herself, and meat enough, such as it was, for her +supper. I might, therefore, be assured, if she had chosen it, she would +have supped with us.’ + +There was no dwelling on this or any other topic longer; for my +entertainer, taking up the lamp, observed, that ‘my wet clothes might +reconcile me for the night to their custom of keeping early hours; that +he was under the necessity of going abroad by peep of day to-morrow +morning, and would call me up at the same time, to point out the way by +which I was to return to the Shepherd’s Bush.’ + +This left no opening for further explanation; nor was there room for it +on the usual terms of civility; for, as he neither asked my name, nor +expressed the least interest concerning my condition, I--the obliged +person--had no pretence to trouble him with such inquiries on my part. + +He took up the lamp, and led me through the side-door into a very small +room, where a bed had been hastily arranged for my accommodation, +and, putting down the lamp, directed me to leave my wet clothes on the +outside of the door, that they might be exposed to the fire during the +night. He then left me, having muttered something which was meant to +pass for good night. + +I obeyed his directions with respect to my clothes, the rather that, +in despite of the spirits which I had drunk, I felt my teeth begin +to chatter, and received various hints from an aguish feeling, that +a town-bred youth, like myself, could not at once rush into all the +hardihood of country sports with impunity. But my bed, though coarse and +hard, was dry and clean; and I soon was so little occupied with my heats +and tremors, as to listen with interest to a heavy foot, which seemed to +be that of my landlord, traversing the boards (there was no ceiling, +as you may believe) which roofed my apartment. Light, glancing through +these rude planks, became visible as soon as my lamp was extinguished; +and as the noise of the slow, solemn, and regular step continued, and I +could distinguish that the person turned and returned as he reached the +end of the apartment, it seemed clear to me that the walker was engaged +in no domestic occupation, but merely pacing to and fro for his own +pleasure. ‘An odd amusement this,’ I thought, ‘for one who had been +engaged at least a part of the preceding day in violent exercise, and +who talked of rising by the peep of dawn on the ensuing morning.’ + +Meantime I heard the storm, which had been brewing during the evening, +begin to descend with a vengeance; sounds as of distant-thunder (the +noise of the more distant waves, doubtless, on the shore) mingled +with the roaring of the neighbouring torrent, and with the crashing, +groaning, and even screaming of the trees in the glen whose boughs were +tormented by the gale. Within the house, windows clattered, and doors +clapped, and the walls, though sufficiently substantial for a building +of the kind, seemed to me to totter in the tempest. + +But still the heavy steps perambulating the apartment over my head were +distinctly heard amid the roar and fury of the elements. I thought more +than once I even heard a groan; but I frankly own that, placed in this +unusual situation, my fancy may have misled me. I was tempted several +times to call aloud, and ask whether the turmoil around us did not +threaten danger to the building which we inhabited; but when I thought +of the secluded and unsocial master of the dwelling, who seemed to avoid +human society, and to remain unperturbed amid the elemental war, it +seemed that to speak to him at that moment would have been to address +the spirit of the tempest himself, since no other being, I thought, +could have remained calm and tranquil while winds and waters were thus +raging around. + +In process of time, fatigue prevailed over anxiety and curiosity. The +storm abated, or my senses became deadened to its terrors, and I fell +asleep ere yet the mysterious paces of my host had ceased to shake the +flooring over my head. + +It might have been expected that the novelty of my situation, although +it did not prevent my slumbers, would have at least diminished their +profoundness, and shortened their duration. It proved otherwise, +however; for I never slept more soundly in my life, and only awoke when, +at morning dawn, my landlord shook me by the shoulder, and dispelled +some dream, of which, fortunately for you, I have no recollection, +otherwise you would have been favoured with it, in hopes you might have +proved a second Daniel upon the occasion. + +‘You sleep sound--’ said his full deep voice; ‘ere five years have +rolled over your head, your slumbers will be lighter--unless ere then +you are wrapped in the sleep which is never broken.’ + +‘How!’ said I, starting up in the bed; ‘do you know anything of me--of +my prospects--of my views in life?’ + +‘Nothing,’ he answered, with a grim smile; ‘but it is evident you are +entering upon the world young, inexperienced, and full of hopes, and I +do but prophesy to you what I would to any one in your condition. But +come; there lie your clothes--a brown crust and a draught of milk wait +you, if you choose to break your fast; but you must make haste.’ + +‘I must first,’ I said, ‘take the freedom to spend a few minutes alone, +before beginning the ordinary works of the day.’ + +‘Oh!--umph!--I cry your devotions pardon,’ he replied, and left the +apartment. + +Alan, there is something terrible about this man. + +I joined him, as I had promised, in the kitchen where we had supped +overnight, where I found the articles which he had offered me for +breakfast, without butter or any other addition. + +He walked up and down while I partook of the bread and milk; and the +slow measured weighty step seemed identified with those which I had +heard last night. His pace, from its funereal slowness, seemed to keep +time with some current of internal passion, dark, slow, and unchanged. +‘We run and leap by the side of a lively and bubbling brook,’ thought I, +internally, ‘as if we would run a race with it; but beside waters deep, +slow, and lonely, our pace is sullen and silent as their course. What +thoughts may be now corresponding with that furrowed brow, and bearing +time with that heavy step?’ + +‘If you have finished,’ said he, looking up to me with a glance of +impatience, as he observed that I ate no longer, but remained with my +eyes fixed upon him, ‘I wait to show you the way.’ + +We went out together, no individual of the family having been visible +excepting my landlord. I was disappointed of the opportunity which I +watched for of giving some gratuity to the domestics, as they seemed to +be. As for offering any recompense to the master of the household, it +seemed to me impossible to have attempted it. + +What would I have given for a share of thy composure, who wouldst have +thrust half a crown into a man’s hand whose necessities seemed to crave +it, conscious that you did right in making the proffer, and not caring +sixpence whether you hurt the feelings of him whom you meant to serve! +I saw thee once give a penny to a man with a long beard, who, from the +dignity of his exterior, might have represented Solon. I had not thy +courage, and therefore I made no tender to my mysterious host, although, +notwithstanding his display of silver utensils, all around the house +bespoke narrow circumstances, if not actual poverty. + +We left the place together. But I hear thee murmur thy very new and +appropriate ejaculation, OHE, JAM SATIS!--The rest for another time. +Perhaps I may delay further communication till I learn how my favours +are valued. + + + + +LETTER V + +ALAN FAIRFORD TO DARSIE LATIMER + +I have thy two last epistles, my dear Darsie, and expecting the third, +have been in no hurry to answer them. Do not think my silence ought to +be ascribed to my failing to take interest in them, for, truly, they +excel (though the task was difficult) thy usual excellings. Since +the moon-calf who earliest discovered the Pandemonium of Milton in an +expiring wood-fire--since the first ingenious urchin who blew bubbles +out of soap and water, thou, my best of friends, hast the highest knack +at making histories out of nothing. Wert thou to plant the bean in the +nursery-tale, thou wouldst make out, so soon as it began to germinate, +that the castle of the giant was about to elevate its battlements on the +top of it. All that happens to thee gets a touch of the wonderful and +the sublime from thy own rich imagination. Didst ever see what artists +call a Claude Lorraine glass, which spreads its own particular hue over +the whole landscape which you see through it?--thou beholdest ordinary +events just through such a medium. + +I have looked carefully at the facts of thy last long letter, and they +are just such as might have befallen any little truant of the High +School, who had got down to Leith Sands, gone beyond the PRAWN-DUB, wet +his hose and shoon, and, finally, had been carried home, in compassion, +by some high-kilted fishwife, cursing all the while the trouble which +the brat occasioned her. + +I admire the figure which thou must have made, clinging for dear life +behind the old fellow’s back--thy jaws chattering with fear, thy muscles +cramped with anxiety. Thy execrable supper of broiled salmon, which was +enough to ensure the nightmare’s regular visits for a twelvemonth, +may be termed a real affliction; but as for the storm of Thursday +last (such, I observe, was the date), it roared, whistled, howled, and +bellowed, as fearfully amongst the old chimney-heads in the Candlemaker +Row, as it could on the Solway shore, for the very wind of it--TESTE ME +PER TOTAM NOCTEM VIGILANTE. And then in the morning again, when--Lord +help you--in your sentimental delicacy you bid the poor man adieu, +without even tendering him half a crown for supper and lodging! + +You laugh at me for giving a penny (to be accurate, though, thou +shouldst have said sixpence) to an old fellow, whom thou, in thy high +flight, wouldst have sent home supperless, because he was like Solon or +Belisarius. But you forget that the affront descended like a benediction +into the pouch of the old gaberlunzie, who overflowed in blessings upon +the generous donor--long ere he would have thanked thee, Darsie, for +thy barren veneration of his beard and his bearing. Then you laugh at +my good father’s retreat from Falkirk, just as if it were not time for a +man to trudge when three or four mountain knaves, with naked claymores, +and heels as light as their fingers, were scampering after him, crying +FURINISH. You remember what he said himself when the Laird of Bucklivat +told him that FURINISH signified ‘stay a while’. ‘What the devil,’ +he said, surprised out of his Presbyterian correctness by the +unreasonableness of such a request under the circumstances, ‘would the +scoundrels have had me stop to have my head cut off?’ + +Imagine such a train at your own heels, Darsie, and ask yourself whether +you would not exert your legs as fast as you did in flying from the +Solway tide. And yet you impeach my father’s courage. I tell you he has +courage enough to do what is right, and to spurn what is wrong--courage +enough to defend a righteous cause with hand and purse, and to take +the part of the poor man against his oppressor, without fear of the +consequences to himself. This is civil courage, Darsie; and it is of +little consequence to most men in this age and country whether they ever +possess military courage or no. + +Do not think I am angry with you, though I thus attempt to rectify your +opinions on my father’s account. I am well aware that, upon the whole, +he is scarce regarded with more respect by me than by thee. And, while +I am in a serious humour, which it is difficult to preserve with one who +is perpetually tempting me to laugh at him, pray, dearest Darsie, let +not thy ardour for adventure carry thee into more such scrapes as that +of the Solway Sands. The rest of the story is a mere imagination; but +that stormy evening might have proved, as the clown says to Lear, ‘a +naughty night to swim in.’ + +As for the rest, if you can work mysterious and romantic heroes out of +old cross-grained fishermen, why, I for one will reap some amusement by +the metamorphosis. Yet hold! even there, there is some need of caution. +This same female chaplain--thou sayest so little of her, and so much of +every one else, that it excites some doubt in my mind. VERY PRETTY she +is, it seems--and that is all thy discretion informs me of. There are +cases in which silence implies other things than consent. Wert thou +ashamed or afraid, Darsie, to trust thyself with the praises of the very +pretty grace-sayer?--As I live, thou blushest! Why, do I not know thee +an inveterate squire of dames? and have I not been in thy confidence? +An elegant elbow, displayed when the rest of the figure was muffled in a +cardinal, or a neat well-turned ankle and instep, seen by chance as its +owner tripped up the Old Assembly Close, [Of old this almost deserted +alley formed the most common access betwixt the High Street and the +southern suburbs.] turned thy brain for eight days. Thou wert once +caught if I remember rightly, with a single glance of a single matchless +eye, which, when the fair owner withdrew her veil, proved to be single +in the literal sense of the word. And, besides, were you not another +time enamoured of a voice--a mere voice, that mingled in the psalmody at +the Old Greyfriars’ Church--until you discovered the proprietor of that +dulcet organ to be Miss Dolly MacIzzard, who is both ‘back and breast’, +as our saying goes? + +All these things considered, and contrasted with thy artful silence on +the subject of this grace-saying Nereid of thine, I must beg thee to be +more explicit upon that subject in thy next, unless thou wouldst have me +form the conclusion that thou thinkest more of her than thou carest to +talk of. + +You will not expect much news from this quarter, as you know the +monotony of my life, and are aware it must at present be devoted to +uninterrupted study. You have said a thousand times that I am only +qualified to make my way by dint of plodding, and therefore plod I must. + +My father seems to be more impatient of your absence than he was after +your first departure. He is sensible, I believe, that our solitary meals +want the light which your gay humour was wont to throw over them, and +feels melancholy as men do when the light of the sun is no longer upon +the landscape. If it is thus with him, thou mayst imagine it is much +more so with me, and canst conceive how heartily I wish that thy frolic +were ended, and thou once more our inmate.---- + +I resume my pen, after a few hours’ interval, to say that an incident +has occurred on which you will yourself be building a hundred castles +in the air, and which even I, jealous as I am of such baseless fabrics, +cannot but own affords ground for singular conjecture. + +My father has of late taken me frequently along with him when he +attends the courts, in his anxiety to see me properly initiated into the +practical forms of business. I own I feel something on his account +and my own from this over-anxiety, which, I dare say, renders us both +ridiculous. But what signifies my repugnance? my father drags me up to +his counsel learned in the law,--‘Are you quite ready to come on to-day, +Mr. Crossbite?--This is my son, designed for the bar--I take the liberty +to bring him with me to-day to the consultation, merely that he may see +how these things are managed.’ + +Mr. Crossbite smiles and bows; as a lawyer smiles on the solicitor who +employs him, and I dare say, thrusts his tongue into his cheek, and +whispers into the first great wig that passes him, ‘What the d--l does +old Fairford mean by letting loose his whelp on me?’ + +As I stood beside them, too much vexed at the childish part I was made +to play to derive much information from the valuable arguments of Mr. +Crossbite, I observed a rather elderly man, who stood with his eyes +firmly bent on my father, as if he only waited an end of the business in +which he was engaged, to address him. There was something, I thought, in +the gentleman’s appearance which commanded attention. Yet his dress was +not in the present taste, and though it had once been magnificent, was +now antiquated and unfashionable. His coat was of branched velvet, with +a satin lining, a waistcoat of violet-coloured silk, much embroidered; +his breeches the same stuff as the coat. He wore square-toed shoes, with +foretops, as they are called; and his silk stockings were rolled up over +his knee, as you may have seen in pictures, and here and there on some +of those originals who seem to pique themselves on dressing after the +mode of Methuselah. A CHAPEAU BRAS and sword necessarily completed his +equipment, which, though out of date, showed that it belonged to a man +of distinction. + +The instant Mr. Crossbite had ended what he had to say, this gentleman +walked up to my father, with, ‘Your servant, Mr. Fairford--it is long +since you and I met.’ + +My father, whose politeness, you know, is exact and formal, bowed, and +hemmed, and was confused, and at length professed that the distance +since they had met was so great, that though he remembered the face +perfectly, the name, he was sorry to any, had--really--somehow--escaped +his memory. + +‘Have you forgot Herries of Birrenswork?’ said the gentleman, and +my father bowed even more profoundly than before; though I think his +reception of his old friend seemed to lose some of the respectful +civility which he bestowed on him while his name was yet unknown. It now +seemed to be something like the lip-courtesy which the heart would have +denied had ceremony permitted. + +My father, however, again bowed low, and hoped he saw him well. + +‘So well, my good Mr. Fairford, that I come hither determined to renew +my acquaintance with one or two old friends, and with you in the first +place. I halt at my old resting place--you must dine with me to-day, +at Paterson’s, at the head of the Horse Wynd--it is near your new +fashionable dwelling, and I have business with you.’ + +My father excused himself respectfully, and not without +embarrassment--‘he was particularly engaged at home.’ + +‘Then I will dine with you, man,’ said Mr. Herries of Birrenswork; ‘the +few minutes you can spare me after dinner will suffice for my business; +and I will not prevent you a moment from minding your own--I am no +bottle-man.’ + +You have often remarked that my father, though a scrupulous ohserver of +the rites of hospitality, seems to exercise them rather as a duty than +as a pleasure; indeed, but for a conscientious wish to feed the hungry +and receive the stranger, his doors would open to guests much seldomer +than is the case. I never saw so strong an example of this peculiarity +(which I should otherwise have said is caricatured in your description) +as in his mode of homologating the self-given invitation of Mr. Herries. +The embarsassed brow, and the attempt at a smile which accompanied +his ‘We will expect the honour of seeing you in Brown Square at three +o’clock,’ could not deceive any one, and did not impose upon the old +laird. It was with a look of scorn that he replied, ‘I will relieve you +then till that hour, Mr. Fairford;’ and his whole manner seemed to say, +‘It is my pleasure to dine with you, and I care not whether I am welcome +or no.’ + +When he turned away, I asked my father who he was. + +‘An unfortunate gentleman,’ was the reply. + +‘He looks pretty well on his misfortunes,’ replied I. ‘I should not have +suspected that so gay an outside was lacking a dinner.’ + +‘Who told you that he does?’ replied my father; ‘he is OMNI SUSPICIONE +MAJOR, so far as worldly circumstances are concerned. It is to be hoped +he makes a good use of them; though, if he does, it will be for the +first time in his life.’ + +‘He has then been an irregular liver?’ insinuated I. + +My father replied by that famous brocard with which he silences all +unacceptable queries turning in the slightest degree upon the failings +of our neighbours,--‘If we mend our own faults, Alan, we shall all of us +have enough to do, without sitting in judgement upon other folks.’ + +Here I was again at fault; but rallying once more, I observed, he had +the air of a man of high rank and family. + +‘He is well entitled,’ said my father, ‘representing Herries of +Birrenswork; a branch of that great and once powerful family of Herries, +the elder branch whereof merged in the house of Nithesdale at the +death of Lord Robin the Philosopher, Anno Domini sixteen hundred and +sixty-seven.’ + +‘Has he still,’ said I, ‘his patrimonial estate of Birrenswork?’ + +‘No,’ replied my father; ‘so far back as his father’s time, it was +a mere designation--the property being forfeited by Herbert Herries +following his kinsman the Earl of Derwentwater to the Preston affair in +1715. But they keep up the designation, thinking, doubtless, that their +claims may be revived in more favourable times for Jacobites and for +popery; and folks who in no way partake of their fantastic capriccios +do yet allow it to pass unchallenged, EX COMITATE, if not EX +MISERICORDIA.--But were he the Pope and the Pretender both, we must get +some dinner ready for him, since he has thought fit to offer himself. So +hasten home, my lad, and tell Hannah, Cook Epps, and James Wilkinson, to +do their best; and do thou look out a pint or two of Maxwell’s best--it +is in the fifth bin--there are the keys of the wine-cellar. Do not leave +them in the lock--you know poor James’s failing, though he is an honest +creature under all other temptations--and I have but two bottles of the +old brandy left--we must keep it for medicine, Alan.’ + +Away went I--made my preparations--the hour of dinner came, and so did +Mr. Herries of Birrenswork. + +If I had thy power of imagination and description, Darsie, I could make +out a fine, dark, mysterious, Rembrandt-looking portrait of this same +stranger, which should be as far superior to thy fisherman as a shirt +of chain-mail is to a herring-net. I can assure you there is some matter +for description about him; but knowing my own imperfections, I can only +say, I thought him eminently disagreeable and ill-bred.--No, ILL-BRED +is not the proper word on the contrary, he appeared to know the rules of +good-breeding perfectly, and only to think that the rank of the company +did not require that he should attend to them--a view of the matter +infinitely more offensive than if his behaviour had been that of +uneducated and proper rudeness. While my father said grace, the laird +did all but whistle aloud; and when I, at my father’s desire, returned +thanks, he used his toothpick, as if he had waited that moment for its +exercise. + +So much for Kirk--with King, matters went even worse. My father, thou +knowest, is particularly full of deference to his guests; and in the +present care, he seemed more than usually desirous to escape every cause +of dispute. He so far compromised his loyalty as to announce merely ‘The +King’ as his first toast after dinner, instead of the emphatic ‘King +George’, which is his usual formula. Our guest made a motion with his +glass, so as to pass it over the water-decanter which stood beside him, +and added, ‘Over the water.’ + +My father coloured, but would not seem to hear this. Much more there +was of careless and disrespectful in the stranger’s manner and tone of +conversation; so that, though I know my father’s prejudices in favour +of rank and birth, and though I am aware his otherwise masculine +understanding has never entirely shaken off the slavish awe of the great +which in his earlier days they had so many modes of commanding, still I +could hardly excuse him for enduring so much insolence--such it seemed +to be as this self-invited guest was disposed to offer to him at his own +table. + +One can endure a traveller in the same carriage, if he treads upon your +toes by accident, or even through negligence; but it is very different +when, knowing that they are rather of a tender description, he continues +to pound away at them with his hoofs. In my poor opinion--and I am a man +of peace--you can, in that case, hardly avoid a declaration of war. + +I believe my father read my thoughts in my eye; for, pulling out his +watch, he said; ‘Half-past four, Alan--you should be in your own room by +this time--Birrenswork will excuse you.’ + +Our visitor nodded carelessly, and I had no longer any pretence to +remain. But as I left the room, I heard this magnate of Nithesdale +distinctly mention the name of Latimer. I lingered; but at length a +direct hint from my father obliged me to withdraw; and when, an hour +afterwards, I was summoned to partake of a cup of tea, our guest had +departed. He had business that evening in the High Street, and could not +spare time even to drink tea. I could not help saying, I considered his +departure as a relief from incivility. ‘What business has he to upbraid +us,’ I said, ‘with the change of our dwelling from a more inconvenient +to a better quarter of the town? What was it to him if we chose +to imitate some of the conveniences or luxuries of an English +dwelling-house, instead of living piled up above each other in flats? +Have his patrician birth and aristocratic fortunes given him any right +to censure those who dispose of the fruits of their own industry, +according to their own pleasure?’ + +My father took a long pinch of snuff, and replied, ‘Very well, Alan; +very well indeed. I wish Mr. Crossbite or Counsellor Pest had heard +you; they must have acknowledged that you have a talent for forensic +elocution; and it may not be amiss to try a little declamation at +home now and then, to gather audacity and keep yourself in breath. But +touching the subject of this paraffle of words, it’s not worth a pinch +of tobacco. D’ye think that I care for Mr. Herries of Birrenswork more +than any other gentleman who comes here about business, although I do +not care to go tilting at his throat, because he speaks like a grey +goose, as he is? But to say no more about him, I want to have Darsie +Latimer’s present direction; for it is possible I may have to write the +lad a line with my own hand--and yet I do not well know--but give me the +direction at all events.’ + +I did so, and if you have heard from my father accordingly, you know +more, probably, about the subject of this letter than I who write it. +But if you have not, then shall I have discharged a friend’s duty, in +letting you know that there certainly is something afloat between +this disagreeable laird and my father, in which you are considerably +interested. + +Adieu! and although I have given thee a subject for waking dreams, +beware of building a castle too heavy for the foundation; which, in the +present instance, is barely the word Latimer occurring in a conversation +betwixt a gentleman of Dumfriesshire and a W.S. of Edinburgh--CAETERA +PRORSUS IGNORO. + + + + +LETTER VI + +DARSIE LATIMER TO ALAN FAIRFORD + +(In continuation of Letters III and IV.) + +I told thee I walked out into the open air with my grave and stern +landlord. I could now see more perfectly than on the preceding night the +secluded glen in which stood the two or three cottages which appeared to +be the abode of him and his family. + +It was so narrow, in proportion to its depth, that no ray of the morning +sun was likely to reach it till it should rise high in the horizon. +Looking up the dell, you saw a brawling brook issuing in foamy haste +from a covert of underwood, like a race-horse impatient to arrive at the +goal; and, if you gazed yet; more earnestly, you might observe part of +a high waterfall glimmering through the foliage, and giving occasion, +doubtless, to the precipitate speed of the brook. Lower down, the +stream became more placid, and opened into a quiet piece of water which +afforded a rude haven to two or three fishermen’s boats, then lying high +and dry on the sand, the tide being out. Two or three miserable huts +could be seen beside this little haven, inhabited probably by the owners +of the boats, but inferior in every respect to the establishment of mine +host, though that was miserable enough. + +I had but a minute or two to make these observations, yet during that +space my companion showed symptoms of impatience, and more than once +shouted, ‘Cristal--Cristal Nixon,’ until the old man of the preceding +evening appeared at the door of one of the neighbouring cottages or +outhouses, leading the strong black horse which I before commemorated, +ready bridled and saddled. My conductor made Cristal a sign with his +finger, and, turning from the cottage door, led the way up the steep +path or ravine which connected the sequestered dell with the open +country. + +Had I been perfectly aware of the character of the road down which I +had been hurried with so much impetuosity on the preceding evening, I +greatly question if I should have ventured the descent; for it deserved +no better name than the channel of a torrent, now in a good measure +filled with water, that dashed in foam and fury into the dell, being +swelled with the rains of the preceding night. I ascended this ugly path +with some difficulty although on foot, and felt dizzy when I observed, +from such traces as the rains had not obliterated, that the horse seemed +almost to have slid down it upon his haunches the evening before. + +My host threw himself on his horse’s back, without placing a foot in the +stirrup--passed me in the perilous ascent, against which he pressed his +steed as if the animal had had the footing of a wild cat. The water and +mud splashed from his heels in his reckless course, and a few bounds +placed him on the top of the bank, where I presently joined him, and +found the horse and rider standing still as a statue; the former +panting and expanding his broad nostrils to the morning wind, the latter +motionless, with his eye fixed on the first beams of the rising sun, +which already began to peer above the eastern horizon and gild the +distant mountains of Cumberland and Liddesdale. + +He seemed in a reverie, from which he started at my approach, and, +putting his horse in motion, led the way at a leisurely pace through a +broken and sandy road, which traversed a waste, level, and uncultivated +tract of downs, intermixed with morass, much like that in the +neighbourhood of my quarters at Shepherd’s Bush. Indeed, the whole open +ground of this district, where it approaches the sea, has, except in a +few favoured spots, the same uniform and dreary character. + +Advancing about a hundred yards from the brink of the glen, we gained +a still more extensive command of this desolate prospect, which seemed +even more dreary, as contrasted with the opposite shores of Cumberland, +crossed and intersected by ten thousand lines of trees growing in +hedgerows, shaded with groves and woods of considerable extent, animated +by hamlets and villas, from which thin clouds of smoke already gave sign +of human life and human industry. + +My conductor had extended his arm, and was pointing the road to +Shepherd’s Bush, when the step of a horse was heard approaching us. He +looked sharply round, and having observed who was approaching, proceeded +in his instructions to me, planting himself at the same time in the very +middle of the path, which, at the place where we halted, had a slough on +the one side and a sandbank on the other. + +I observed that the rider who approached us slackened his horse’s pace +from a slow trot to a walk, as if desirous to suffer us to proceed, or +at least to avoid passing us at a spot where the difficulty of doing so +must have brought us very close to each other. You know my old failing, +Alan, and that I am always willing to attend to anything in preference +to the individual who has for the time possession of the conversation. + +Agreeably to this amiable propensity, I was internally speculating +concerning the cause of the rider keeping aloof from us, when my +companion, elevating his deep voice so suddenly and so sternly as at +once to recall my wandering thoughts, exclaimed, ‘In the name of the +devil, young man, do you think that others have no better use for their +time than you have, that you oblige me to repeat the same thing to you +three times over? Do you see, I say, yonder thing at a mile’s distance, +that looks like a finger-post, or rather like a gallows? I would it +had a dreaming fool hanging upon it, as an example to all meditative +moon-calves!--Yon gibbet-looking pole will guide you to the bridge, +where you must pass the large brook; then proceed straight forwards, +till several roads divide at a cairn. Plague on thee, thou art wandering +again! + +It is indeed quite true that at this moment the horseman approached us, +and my attention was again called to him as I made way to let him pass. +His whole exterior at once showed that he belonged to the Society of +Friends, or, as the world and the world’s law calls them, Quakers. +A strong and useful iron-grey galloway showed, by its sleek and +good condition, that the merciful man was merciful to his beast. His +accoutrements were in the usual unostentatious but clean and servicable +order which characterizes these sectaries. His long surtout of dark-grey +superfine cloth descended down to the middle of his leg, and was +buttoned up to his chin, to defend him against the morning air. As +usual, his ample beaver hung down without button or loop, and shaded a +comely and placid countenance, the gravity of which appeared to contain +some seasoning of humour, and had nothing in common with the pinched +puritanical air affected by devotees in general. The brow was open and +free from wrinkles, whether of age or hypocrisy. The eye was clear, +calm, and considerate, yet appeared to be disturbed by apprehension, +not to say fear, as, pronouncing the usual salutation of, ‘I wish thee a +good morrow, friend,’ he indicated, by turning his palfrey close to +one side of the path, a wish to glide past us with as little trouble as +possible--just as a traveller would choose to pass a mastiff of whose +peaceable intentions he is by no means confident. + +But my friend, not meaning, perhaps, that he should get off so easily, +put his horse quite across the path, so that, without plunging into the +slough, or scrambling up the bank, the Quaker could not have passed +him. Neither of these was an experiment without hazard greater than the +passenger seemed willing to incur. He halted, therefore, as if waiting +till my companion should make way for him; and, as they sat fronting +each other, I could not help thinking that they might have formed no bad +emblem of Peace and War; for although my conductor was unarmed, yet the +whole of his manner, his stern look, and his upright seat on horseback, +were entirely those of a soldier in undress, He accosted the Quaker +in these words, ‘So ho! friend Joshua, thou art early to the road this +morning. Has the spirit moved thee and thy righteous brethren to act +with some honesty, and pull down yonder tide-nets that keep the fish +from coming up the river?’ + +‘Surely, friend, not so,’ answered Joshua, firmly, but good-humouredly +at the same time; ‘thou canst not expect that our own hands should pull +down what our purses established. Thou killest the fish with spear, +line, and coble-net; and we, with snares and with nets, which work by +the ebb and the flow of the tide. Each doth what seems best in his eyes +to secure a share of the blessing which Providence hath bestowed on the +river, and that within his own bounds. I prithee seek no quarrel against +us, for thou shalt have no wrong at our hand.’ + +‘Be assured I will take none at the hand of any man, whether his hat be +cocked or broad-brimmed,’ answered the fisherman. ‘I tell you in fair +terms, Joshua Geddes, that you and your partners are using unlawful +craft to destroy the fish in the Solway by stake-nets and wears; and +that we, who fish fairly, and like men, as our fathers did, have daily +and yearly less sport and less profit. Do not think gravity or hypocrisy +can carry it off as you have done. The world knows you, and we know you. +You will destroy the salmon which makes the livelihood of fifty poor +families, and then wipe your mouth, and go to make a speech at meeting. +But do not hope it will last thus. I give you fair warning, we will be +upon you one morning soon, when we will not leave a stake standing in +the pools of the Solway; and down the tide they shall every one go, and +well if we do not send a lessee along with them.’ + +‘Friend,’ replied Joshua, with a constrained smile, ‘but that I know +thou dost not mean as thou sayst, I would tell thee we are under the +protection of this country’s laws; nor do we the less trust to obtain +their protection, that our principles permit us not, by any act of +violent resistance, to protect ourselves.’ + +‘All villainous cant and cowardice,’ exclaimed the fisherman, ‘and +assumed merely as a cloak to your hypocritical avarice.’ + +‘Nay, say not cowardice, my friend,’ answered the Quaker, ‘since thou +knowest there may be as much courage in enduring as in acting; and I +will be judged by this youth, or by any one else, whether there is not +more cowardice--even in the opinion of that world whose thoughts are the +breath in thy nostrils--in the armed oppressor who doth injury, than in +the defenceless and patient sufferer who endureth it with constancy.’ + +‘I will change no more words with you on the subject,’ said the +fisherman, who, as if something moved at the last argument which Mr. +Geddes had used, now made room for him to pass forward on his journey. +‘Do not forget, however,’ he added, ‘that you have had fair warning, +nor suppose that we will accept of fair words in apology for foul play. +These nets of yours are unlawful--they spoil our fishings--we will +have them down at all risks and hazards. I am a man of my word, friend +Joshua.’ + +‘I trust thou art,’ said the Quaker; ‘but thou art the rather bound to +be cautious in rashly affirming what thou wilt never execute. For I tell +thee, friend, that though there is as great a difference between thee +and one of our people as there is between a lion and a sheep, yet I know +and believe thou hast so much of the lion in thee, that thou wouldst +scarce employ thy strength and thy rage upon that which professeth no +means of resistance. Report says so much good of thee, at least, if it +says little more.’ + +‘Time will try,’ answered the fisherman; ‘and hark thee, Joshua, before +we part I will put thee in the way of doing one good deed, which, credit +me, is better than twenty moral speeches. Here is a stranger youth, whom +Heaven has so scantily gifted with brains, that he will bewilder himself +in the Sands, as he did last night, unless thou wilt kindly show him the +way to Shepherd’s Bush; for I have been in vain endeavouring to make +him comprehend the road thither. Hast thou so much charity under thy +simplicity, Quaker, as to do this good turn?’ + +‘Nay, it is thou, friend,’ answered Joshua, ‘that dost lack charity, to +suppose any one unwilling to do so simple a kindness.’ + +‘Thou art right--I should have remembered it can cost thee nothing. +Young gentlemen, this pious pattern of primitive simplicity will teach +thee the right way to the Shepherd’s Bush--aye, and will himself shear +thee like a sheep, if you come to buying and selling with him.’ + +He then abruptly asked me, how long I intended to remain at Shepherd’s +Bush. + +I replied, I was at present uncertain--as long probably, as I could +amuse myself in the neighbourhood. + +‘You are fond of sport?’ he added, in the same tone of brief inquiry. + +I answered in the affirmative, but added, I was totally inexperienced. + +‘Perhaps if you reside here for some days,’ he said, ‘we may meet again, +and I may have the chance of giving you a lesson.’ + +Ere I could express either thanks or assent, he turned short round with +a wave of his hand by way of adieu, and rode back to the verge of the +dell from which we had emerged together; and as he remained standing +upon the banks, I could long hear his voice while he shouted down to +those within its recesses. + +Meanwhile the Quaker and I proceeded on our journey for some time in +silence; he restraining his sober-minded steed to a pace which might +have suited a much less active walker than myself, and looking on +me from time to time with an expression of curiosity, mingled with +benignity. For my part, I cared not to speak first. It happened I had +never before been in company with one of this particular sect, and, +afraid that in addressing him I might unwittingly infringe upon some +of their prejudices or peculiarities, I patiently remained silent. At +length he asked me, whether I had been long in the service of the laird, +as men called him. + +I repeated the words ‘in his service?’ with such an accent of surprise, +as induced him to say, ‘Nay, but, friend, I mean no offence; perhaps I +should have said in his society--an inmate, I mean, in his house?’ + +‘I am totally unknown to the person from whom we have just parted,’ said +I, ‘and our connexion is only temporary. He had the charity to give me +his guidance from the Sands, and a night’s harbourage from the tempest. +So our acquaintance began, and there it is likely to end; for you may +observe that our friend is by no means apt to encourage familiarity.’ + +‘So little so,’ answered my companion, ‘that thy case is, I think, the +first in which I ever heard of his receiving any one into his house; +that is, if thou hast really spent the night there.’ + +‘Why should you doubt it?’ replied I; ‘there is no motive I can have to +deceive you, nor is the object worth it.’ + +‘Be not angry with me,’ said the Quaker; ‘but thou knowest that thine +own people do not, as we humbly endeavour to do, confine themselves +within the simplicity of truth, but employ the language of falsehood, +not only for profit, but for compliment, and sometimes for mere +diversion. I have heard various stories of my neighbour; of most of +which I only believe a small part, and even then they are difficult to +reconcile with each other. But this being the first time I ever beard +of his receiving a stranger within his dwelling, made me express some +doubts. I pray thee let them not offend thee.’ + +‘He does not,’ said I, ‘appear to possess in much abundance the means +of exercising hospitality, and so may be excused from offering it in +ordinary cases.’ + +‘That is to say, friend,’ replied Joshua, ‘thou hast supped ill, and +perhaps breakfasted worse. Now my small tenement, called Mount Sharon, +is nearer to us by two miles than thine inn; and although going +thither may prolong thy walk, as taking thee of the straighter road to +Shepherd’s Bush, yet methinks exercise will suit thy youthful limbs, +as well as a good plain meal thy youthful appetite. What sayst thou, my +young acquaintance?’ + +‘If it puts you not to inconvenience,’ I replied; for the invitation was +cordially given, and my bread and milk had been hastily swallowed, and +in small quantity. + +‘Nay,’ said Joshua, ‘use not the language of compliment with those who +renounce it. Had this poor courtesy been very inconvenient, perhaps I +had not offered it.’ + +‘I accept the invitation, then,’ said I, ‘in the same good spirit in +which you give it.’ + +The Quaker smiled, reached me his hand, I shook it, and we travelled on +in great cordiality with each other. The fact is, I was much entertained +by contrasting in my own mind, the open manner of the kind-hearted +Joshua Geddes, with the abrupt, dark, and lofty demeanour of my +entertainer on the preceding evening. Both were blunt and unceremonious; +but the plainness of the Quaker had the character of devotional +simplicity, and was mingled with the more real kindness, as if honest +Joshua was desirous of atoning, by his sincerity, for the lack of +external courtesy. On the contrary, the manners of the fisherman were +those of one to whom the rules of good behaviour might be familiar, but +who, either from pride or misanthropy, scorned to observe them. Still +I thought of him with interest and curiosity, notwithstanding so much +about him that was repulsive; and I promised myself, in the course of my +conversation with the Quaker, to learn all that he knew on the subject. +He turned the conversation, however, into a different channel, and +inquired into my own condition of life, and views in visiting this +remote frontier. + +I only thought it necessary to mention my name, and add, that I had been +educated to the law, but finding myself possessed of some independence, +I had of late permitted myself some relaxation, and was residing at +Shepherd’s Bush to enjoy the pleasure of angling. + +‘I do thee no harm, young man,’ said my new friend, ‘in wishing thee a +better employment for thy grave hours, and a more humane amusement (if +amusement thou must have) for those of a lighter character.’ + +‘You are severe, sir,’ I replied. ‘I heard you but a moment since refer +yourself to the protection of the laws of the country--if there be laws, +there must be lawyers to explain, and judges to administer them.’ + +Joshua smiled, and pointed to the sheep which were grazing on the downs +over which we were travelling. ‘Were a wolf,’ he said, ‘to come even now +upon yonder flocks, they would crowd for protection, doubtless, around +the shepherd and his dogs; yet they are bitten and harassed daily by +the one, shorn, and finally killed and eaten by the other. But I say not +this to shock you; for, though laws and lawyers are evils, yet they are +necessary evils in this probationary state of society, till man shall +learn to render unto his fellows that which is their due, according +to the light of his own conscience, and through no other compulsion. +Meanwhile, I have known many righteous men who have followed thy +intended profession in honesty and uprightness of walk. The greater +their merit, who walk erect in a path which so many find slippery. + +‘And angling,’ said I:--‘you object to that also as an amusement, +you who, if I understood rightly what passed between you and my late +landlord, are yourself a proprietor of fisheries.’ + +‘Not a proprietor,’ he replied, ‘I am only, in copartnery with others, +a tacksman or lessee of some valuable salmon-fisheries a little down the +coast. But mistake me not. The evil of angling, with which I class all +sports, as they are called, which have the sufferings of animals for +their end and object, does not consist in the mere catching and killing +those animals with which the bounty of Providence hath stocked the earth +for the good of man, but in making their protracted agony a principle of +delight and enjoyment. I do indeed cause these fisheries to be conducted +for the necessary taking, killing, and selling the fish; and, in the +same way, were I a farmer, I should send my lambs to market. But I +should as soon think of contriving myself a sport and amusement out of +the trade of the butcher as out of that of the fisher.’ + +We argued the point no further; for though I thought his arguments a +little too high-strained, yet as my mind acquitted me of having taken +delight in aught but the theory of field-sports, I did not think myself +called upon stubbornly to advocate a practice which had afforded me so +little pleasure. + +We had by this time arrived at the remains of an old finger-post, which +my host had formerly pointed out as a landmark. Here, a ruinous wooden +bridge, supported by long posts resembling crutches, served me to get +across the water, while my new friend sought a ford a good way higher +up, for the stream was considerably swelled. + +As I paused for his rejoining me, I observed an angler at a little +distance pouching trout after trout, as fast almost as he could cast his +line; and I own, in spite of Joshua’s lecture on humanity, I could not +but envy his adroitness and success, so natural is the love of sport +to our minds, or so easily are we taught to assimilate success in +field-sports with ideas of pleasure, and with the praise due to address +and agility. I soon recognized in the successful angler little Benjie, +who had been my guide and tutor in that gentle art, as you have learned +from my former letters. I called--I whistled--the rascal recognized me, +and, starting like a guilty thing, seemed hesitating whether to approach +or to run away; and when he determined on the former, it was to assail +me with a loud, clamorous, and exaggerated report of the anxiety of all +at the Shepherd’s Bush for my personal safety; how my landlady had wept, +how Sam and the ostler had not the heart to go to bed, but sat up all +night drinking--and how he himself had been up long before daybreak to +go in quest of me. + +‘And you were switching the water, I suppose,’ said I, ‘to discover my +dead body?’ + +This observation produced a long ‘Na--a--a’ of acknowledged detection; +but, with his natural impudence, and confidence in my good nature, he +immediately added, ‘that he thought I would like a fresh trout or twa +for breakfast, and the water being in such a rare trim for the saumon +raun, [The bait made of salmon-roe salted and preserved. In a swollen +river, and about the month of October, it is a most deadly bait.] he +couldna help taking a cast.’ + +While we were engaged in this discussion, the honest Quaker returned to +the farther end of the wooden bridge to tell me he could not venture to +cross the brook in its present state: but would be under the necessity +to ride round by the stone bridge, which was a mile and a half higher +up than his own house. He was about to give me directions how to proceed +without him, and inquire for his sister, when I suggested to him that, +if he pleased to trust his horse to little Benjie, the boy might carry +him round by the bridge, while we walked the shorter and more pleasant +road. + +Joshua shook his head, for he was well acquainted with Benjie, who, +he said, was the naughtiest varlet in the whole neighbourhood. +Nevertheless, rather than part company, he agreed to put the pony under +his charge for a short season, with many injunctions that he should not +attempt to mount, but lead the pony (even Solomon) by the bridle, under +the assurances of sixpence in case of proper demeanour, and penalty that +if he transgressed the orders given him, ‘verily he would be scourged.’ + +Promises cost Benjie nothing, and he showered them out wholesale; +till the Quaker at length yielded up the bridle to him, repeating his +charges, and enforcing them by holding up his forefinger. On my part, I +called to Benjie to leave the fish he had taken at Mount Sharon, making, +at the same time, an apologetic countenance to my new friend, not +being quite aware whether the compliment would be agreeable to such a +condemner of field-sports. + +He understood me at once, and reminded me of the practical distinction +betwixt catching the animals as an object of cruel and wanton sport, and +eating them as lawful and gratifying articles of food, after they were +killed. On the latter point he had no scruples; but, on the contrary, +assured me that this brook contained the real red trout, so highly +esteemed by all connoisseurs, and that, when eaten within an hour +of their being caught, they had a peculiar firmness of substance and +delicacy of flavour, which rendered them an agreeable addition to a +morning meal, especially when earned, like ours, by early rising, and an +hour or two’s wholesome exercise. + +But to thy alarm be it spoken, Alan, we did not come so far as the +frying of our fish without further adventure. So it is only to spare thy +patience, and mine own eyes, that I pull up for the present, and send +thee the rest of my story in a subsequent letter. + + + + +LETTER VII + +THE SAME TO THE SAME (In continuation.) + +Little Benjie, with the pony, having been sent off on the left side of +the brook, the Quaker and I sauntered on, like the cavalry and infantry +of the same army occupying the opposite banks of a river, and observing +the same line of march. But, while my worthy companion was assuring me +of a pleasant greensward walk to his mansion, little Benjie, who had +been charged to keep in sight, chose to deviate from the path assigned +him, and, turning to the right, led his charge, Solomon, out of our +vision. + +‘The villain means to mount him!’ cried Joshua, with more vivacity than +was consistent with his profession of passive endurance. + +I endeavoured to appease his apprehensions, as he pushed on, wiping his +brow with vexation, assuring him that, if the boy did mount, he would, +for his own sake, ride gently. + +‘You do not know him,’ said Joshua, rejecting all consolation; ‘HE do +anything gently!--no, he will gallop Solomon--he will misuse the sober +patience of the poor animal who has borne me so long! Yes, I was given +over to my own devices when I ever let him touch the bridle, for such a +little miscreant there never was before him in this country.’ + +He then proceeded to expatiate on every sort of rustic enormity of which +he accused Benjie. He had been suspected of snaring partridges--was +detected by Joshua himself in liming singing-birds--stood fully charged +with having worried several cats, by aid of a lurcher which attended +him, and which was as lean, and ragged, and mischievous, as his master. +Finally, Benjie stood accused of having stolen a duck, to hunt it with +the said lurcher, which was as dexterous on water as on land. I chimed +in with my friend, in order to avoid giving him further irritation, and +declared I should be disposed, from my own experience, to give up Benjie +as one of Satan’s imps. Joshua Geddes began to censure the phrase as +too much exaggerated, and otherwise unbecoming the mouth of a reflecting +person; and, just as I was apologizing for it, as being a term of common +parlance, we heard certain sounds on the opposite side of the brook, +which seemed to indicate that Solomon and Benjie were at issue together. +The sandhills behind which Benjie seemed to take his course, had +concealed from us, as doubtless he meant they should, his ascent into +the forbidden saddle, and, putting Solomon to his mettle, which he was +seldom called upon to exert, they had cantered away together in +great amity, till they came near to the ford from which the palfrey’s +legitimate owner had already turned back. + +Here a contest of opinions took place between the horse and his rider. +The latter, according to his instructions, attempted to direct Solomon +towards the distant bridge of stone; but Solomon opined that the ford +was the shortest way to his own stable. The point was sharply contested, +and we heard Benjie gee-hupping, tchek-tcheking, and, above all, +flogging in great style; while Solomon, who, docile in his general +habits, was now stirred beyond his patience, made a great trampling and +recalcitration; and it was their joint noise which we heard, without +being able to see, though Joshua might too well guess, the cause of it. + +Alarmed at these indications, the Quaker began to shout out, +‘Benjie--thou varlet! Solomon--thou fool!’ when the couple presented +themselves in full drive, Solomon having now decidedly obtained the +better of the conflict, and bringing his unwilling rider in high career +down to the ford. Never was there anger changed so fast into humane +fear, as that of my good companion. ‘The varlet will be drowned!’ he +exclaimed--‘a widow’s son!--her only son!--and drowned!--let me go’--And +he struggled with me stoutly as I hung upon him, to prevent him from +plunging into the ford. + +I had no fear whatever for Benjie; for the blackguard vermin, though he +could not manage the refractory horse, stuck on his seat like a monkey. +Solomon and Benjie scrambled through the ford with little inconvenience, +and resumed their gallop on the other side. + +It was impossible to guess whether on this last occasion Benjie was +running off with Solomon, or Solomon with Benjie; but, judging from +character and motives, I rather suspected the former. I could not help +laughing as the rascal passed me, grinning betwixt terror and delight, +perched on the very pommel of the saddle, and holding with extended arms +by bridle and mane while Solomon, the bit secured between his teeth, +and his head bored down betwixt his forelegs, passed his master in this +unwonted guise as hard as he could pelt. + +‘The mischievous bastard!’ exclaimed the Quaker, terrified out of his +usual moderation of speech--‘the doomed gallows-bird!--he will break +Solomon’s wind to a certainty.’ + +I prayed him to be comforted--assured, him a brushing gallop would do +his favourite no harm and reminded him of the censure he had bestowed on +me a minute before, for applying a harsh epithet to the boy. + +But Joshua was not without his answer; ‘Friend youth,’ he said, ‘thou +didst speak of the lad’s soul, which thou didst affirm belonged to the +enemy, and of that thou couldst say nothing of thine own knowledge; on +the contrary, I did but speak of his outward man, which will assuredly +be suspended by a cord, if he mendeth not his manners. Men say that, +young as he is, he is one of the laird’s gang.’ + +‘Of the laird’s gang!’ said I, repeating the words in surprise. ‘Do you +mean the person with whom I slept last night? I heard you call him the +laird. Is he at the head of a gang?’ + +‘Nay, I meant not precisely a gang,’ said the Quaker, who appeared in +his haste to have spoken more than he intended--a company, or party, I +should have said; but thus it is, friend Latimer, with the wisest men +when they permit themselves to be perturbed with passion, and speak as +in a fever, or as with the tongue of the foolish and the forward. And +although thou hast been hasty to mark my infirmity, yet I grieve not +that thou hast been a witness to it, seeing that the stumbles of the +wise may be no less a caution to youth and inexperience, than is the +fall of the foolish.’ + +This was a sort of acknowledgement of what I had already begun to +suspect--that my new friend’s real goodness of disposition, joined to +the acquired quietism of his religious sect, had been unable entirely to +check the effervescence of a temper naturally warm and hasty. + +Upon the present occasion, as if sensible he had displayed a greater +degree of emotion than became his character, Joshua avoided further +allusion to Benjie and Solomon, and proceeded to solicit my attention to +the natural objects around us, which increased in beauty and interest, +as, still conducted by the meanders of the brook, we left the common +behind us, and entered a more cultivated and enclosed country, where +arable and pasture ground was agreeably varied with groves and hedges. +Descending now almost close to the stream, our course lay through a +little gate, into a pathway kept with great neatness, the sides of which +were decorated with trees and flowering shrubs of the hardier species; +until, ascending by a gentle slope, we issued from the grove, and stood +almost at once in front of a low but very neat building, of an irregular +form; and my guide, shaking me cordially by the hand, made me welcome to +Mount Sharon. + +The wood through which we had approached this little mansion was thrown +around it both on the north and north-west, but, breaking off into +different directions, was intersected by a few fields well watered and +sheltered. The house fronted to the south-east, and from thence the +pleasure-ground, or, I should rather say, the gardens, sloped down +to the water. I afterwards understood that the father of the present +proprietor had a considerable taste for horticulture, which had been +inherited by his son, and had formed these gardens, which, with their +shaven turf, pleached alleys, wildernesses, and exotic trees and shrubs, +greatly excelled anything of the kind which had been attempted in the +neighbourhood. + +If there was a little vanity in the complacent smile with which Joshua +Geddes saw me gaze with delight on a scene so different from the naked +waste we had that day traversed in company, it might surely be permitted +to one who, cultivating and improving the beauties of nature, had found +therein, as he said, bodily health, and a pleasing relaxation for the +mind. At the bottom of the extended gardens the brook wheeled round in a +wide semicircle, and was itself their boundary. The opposite side was +no part of Joshua’s domain, but the brook was there skirted by a +precipitous rock of limestone, which seemed a barrier of nature’s own +erecting around his little Eden of beauty, comfort, and peace. + +‘But I must not let thee forget,’ said the kind Quaker, ‘amidst thy +admiration of these beauties of our little inheritance, that thy +breakfast has been a light one.’ + +So saying, Joshua conducted me to a small sashed door, opening under +a porch amply mantled by honeysuckle and clematis, into a parlour +of moderate size; the furniture of which, in plainness and excessive +cleanliness, bore the characteristic marks of the sect to which the +owner belonged. + +Thy father’s Hannah is generally allowed to be an exception to all +Scottish housekeepers, and stands unparalleled for cleanliness among +the women of Auld Reekie; but the cleanliness of Hannah is sluttishness +compared to the scrupulous purifications of these people, who seem to +carry into the minor decencies of life that conscientious rigour which +they affect in their morals. + +The parlour would have been gloomy, for the windows were small and the +ceiling low; but the present proprietor had rendered it more cheerful +by opening one end into a small conservatory, roofed with glass, and +divided from the parlour by a partition of the same. I have never before +seen this very pleasing manner of uniting the comforts of an apartment +with the beauties of a garden, and I wonder it is not more practised +by the great. Something of the kind is hinted at in a paper of the +SPECTATOR. + +As I walked towards the conservatory to view it more closely, the +parlour chimney engaged my attention. It was a pile of massive stone, +entirely out of proportion to the size of the apartment. On the front +had once been an armorial scutcheon; for the hammer, or chisel, which +had been employed to deface the shield or crest, had left uninjured +the scroll beneath, which bore the pious motto, ‘TRUST IN GOD.’ +Black-letter, you know, was my early passion, and the tombstones in the +Greyfriars’ churchyard early yielded up to my knowledge as a decipherer +what little they could tell of the forgotten dead. + +Joshua Geddes paused when he saw my eye fixed on this relic of +antiquity. ‘Thou canst read it?’ he said. + +I repeated the motto, and added, there seemed vestiges of a date. + +‘It should be 1537,’ said he; ‘for so long ago, at the least +computation, did my ancestors, in the blinded times of Papistry, possess +these lands, and in that year did they build their house.’ + +‘It is an ancient descent,’ said I, looking with respect upon the +monument. ‘I am sorry the arms have been defaced.’ + +It was perhaps impossible for my friend, Quaker as he was, to seem +altogether void of respect for the pedigree which he began to recount +to me, disclaiming all the while the vanity usually connected with +the subject; in short, with the air of mingled melancholy, regret, and +conscious dignity, with which Jack Fawkes used to tell us at college of +his ancestor’s unfortunate connexion with the Gunpowder Plot. + +‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,’ thus harangued Joshua Gleddes +of Mount Sharon; ‘if we ourselves are nothing in the sight of Heaven, +how much less than nothing must be our derivation from rotten bones and +mouldering dust, whose immortal spirits have long since gone to their +private account? Yes, friend Latimer, my ancestors were renowned among +the ravenous and bloodthirsty men who then dwelt in this vexed country; +and so much were they famed for successful freebooting, robbery, and +bloodshed, that they are said to have been called Geddes, as likening +them to the fish called a Jack, Pike, or Luce, and in our country +tongue, a GED--a goodly distinction truly for Christian men! Yet did +they paint this shark of the fresh waters upon their shields, and these +profane priests of a wicked idolatry, the empty boasters called heralds, +who make engraven images of fishes, fowls, and four-footed beasts, that +men may fall down and worship them, assigned the ged for the device and +escutcheon of my fathers, and hewed it over their chimneys, and placed +it above their tombs; and the men were elated in mind, and became yet +more ged-like, slaying, leading into captivity, and dividing the spoil, +until the place where they dwelt obtained the name of Sharing-Knowe, +from the booty which was there divided amongst them and their +accomplices. But a better judgement was given to my father’s father, +Philip Geddes, who, after trying to light his candle at some of the vain +wildfires then held aloft at different meetings and steeple-houses, at +length obtained a spark from the lamp of the blessed George Fox, who +came into Scotland spreading light among darkness, as he himself hath +written, as plentifully as fly the sparkles from the hoof of the horse +which gallops swiftly along the stony road.’--Here the good Quaker +interrupted himself with, ‘And that is very true, I must go speedily to +see after the condition of Solomon.’ + +A Quaker servant here entered the room with a tray, and inclining his +head towards his master, but not after the manner of one who bows, said +composedly, ‘Thou art welcome home, friend Joshua, we expected thee not +so early; but what hath befallen Solomon thy horse?’ + +‘What hath befallen him, indeed?’ said my friend; ‘hath he not been +returned hither by the child whom they call Benjie?’ + +‘He hath,’ said his domestic, ‘but it was after a strange fashion; for +he came hither at a swift and furious pace, and flung the child Benjie +from his back, upon the heap of dung which is in the stable-yard.’ + +‘I am glad of it,’ said Joshua, hastily,--‘glad of it, with all my heart +and spirit! But stay, he is the child of the widow--hath the boy any +hurt?’ + +‘Not so’ answered the servant, ‘for he rose and fled swiftly.’ + +Joshua muttered something about a scourge, and then inquired after +Solomon’s present condition. + +‘He seetheth like a steaming cauldron,’ answered the servant; ‘and +Bauldie, the lad, walketh him about the yard with a halter, lest he take +cold.’ + +Mr. Geddes hastened to the stable-yard to view personally the condition +of his favourite, and I followed to offer my counsel as a jockey. Don’t +laugh, Alan, sure I have jockeyship enough to assist a Quaker--in this +unpleasing predicament. + +The lad who was leading the horse seemed to be no Quaker, though his +intercourse with the family had given him a touch of their prim sobriety +of look and manner. He assured Joshua that his horse had received no +injury, and I even hinted that the exercise would be of service to him. +Solomon himself neighed towards his master, and rubbed his head against +the good Quaker’s shoulder, as if to assure him of his being quite well; +so that Joshua returned in comfort to his parlour, where breakfast was +now about to be displayed. + +I have since learned that the affection of Joshua for his pony is +considered as inordinate by some of his own sect; and that he has been +much blamed for permitting it to be called by the name of Solomon, or +any other name whatever; but he has gained so much respect and influence +among them that they overlook these foibles. + +I learned from him (whilst the old servant, Jehoiachim, entering and +re-entering, seemed to make no end of the materials which he brought in +for breakfast) that his grandfather Philip, the convert of George Fox, +had suffered much from the persecution to which these harmless devotees +were subjected on all sides during that intolerant period, and much +of their family estate had been dilapidated. But better days dawned +on Joshua’s father, who, connecting himself by marriage with a wealthy +family of Quakers in Lancashire, engaged successfully in various +branches of commerce, and redeemed the remnants of the property, +changing its name in sense, without much alteration of sound, from the +Border appellation of Sharing-Knowe, to the evangelical appellation of +Mount Sharon. + +This Philip Geddes, as I before hinted, had imbibed the taste for +horticulture and the pursuits of the florist, which are not uncommon +among the peaceful sect he belonged to. He had destroyed the remnants +of the old peel-house, substituting the modern mansion in its place; +and while he reserved the hearth of his ancestors, in memory of their +hospitality, as also the pious motto which they had chanced to assume, +he failed not to obliterate the worldly and military emblems displayed +upon the shield and helmet, together with all their blazonry. + +In a few minutes after Mr. Geddes had concluded the account; of himself +and his family, his sister Rachel, the only surviving member of it, +entered the room. Her appearance is remarkably pleasing, and although +her age is certainly thirty at least, she still retains the shape and +motion of an earlier period. The absence of everything like fashion +or ornament was, as usual, atoned for by the most perfect neatness and +cleanliness of her dress; and her simple close cap was particularly +suited to eyes which had the softness and simplicity of the dove’s. +Her features were also extremely agreeable, but had suffered a little +through the ravages of that professed enemy to beauty, the small-pox; a +disadvantage which was in part counterbalanced by a well-formed mouth, +teeth like pearls, and a pleasing sobriety of smile, that seemed to wish +good here and hereafter to every one she spoke to. You cannot make +any of your vile inferences here, Alan, for I have given a full-length +picture of Rachel Geddes; so that; you cannot say, in this case, as in +the letter I have just received, that she was passed over as a subject +on which I feared to dilate. More of this anon. + +Well, we settled to our breakfast after a blessing, or rather an +extempore prayer, which Joshua made upon the occasion, and which +the spirit moved him to prolong rather more than I felt altogether +agreeable. Then, Alan, there was such a dispatching of the good things +of the morning as you have not witnessed since you have seen Darsie +Latimer at breakfast. Tea and chocolate, eggs, ham, and pastry, not +forgetting the broiled fish, disappeared with a celerity which seemed +to astonish the good-humoured Quakers, who kept loading my plate +with supplies, as if desirous of seeing whether they could, by any +possibility, tire me out. One hint, however, I received, which put me in +mind where I was. Miss Geddes had offered me some sweet-cake, which, at +the moment, I declined; but presently afterwards, seeing it within +my reach, I naturally enough helped myself to a slice, and had just; +deposited it beside my plate, when Joshua, mine host, not with the +authoritative air of Sancho’s doctor, Tirteafuera, but in a very calm +and quiet manner, lifted it away and replaced it on the dish, observing +only, ‘Thou didst refuse it before, friend Latimer.’ + +These good folks, Alan, make no allowance for what your good father +calls the Aberdeen-man’s privilege, of ‘taking his word again;’ or what +the wise call second thoughts. + +Bating this slight hint that I was among a precise generation, there +was nothing in my reception that was peculiar--unless, indeed, I were to +notice the solicitous and uniform kindness with which all the attentions +of my new friends were seasoned, as if they were anxious to assure me +that the neglect of worldly compliments interdicted by their sect, only +served to render their hospitality more sincere. At length my hunger was +satisfied, and the worthy Quaker, who, with looks of great good nature, +had watched my progress, thus addressed his sister:-- + +‘This young man, Rachel, hath last night sojourned in the tents of our +neighbour whom men call the laird. I am sorry I had not met him the +evening before, for our neighbour’s hospitality is too unfrequently +exercised to be well prepared with the means of welcome.’ + +‘Nay, but, Joshua,’ said Rachel, ‘if our neighbour hath done a kindness, +thou shouldst not grudge him the opportunity; and if our young friend +hath fared ill for a night, he will the better relish what Providence +may send him of better provisions.’ + +‘And that he may do so at leisure,’ said Joshua, ‘we will pray him, +Rachel, to tarry a day or twain with us: he is young, and is but now +entering upon the world, and our habitation may, if he will, be like a +resting-place, from which he may look abroad upon the pilgrimage which +he must take, and the path which he has to travel.--What sayest thou, +friend Latimer? We constrain not our friends to our ways, and thou art, +I think, too wise to quarrel with us for following our own fashions; and +if we should even give thee a word of advice, thou wilt not, I think, be +angry, so that it is spoken in season.’ + +You know, Alan, how easily I am determined by anything resembling +cordiality--and so, though a little afraid of the formality of my host +and hostess, I accepted their invitation, provided I could get some +messenger to send to Shepherd’s Bush for my servant and portmanteau. + +‘Why, truly, friend,’ said Joshua, ‘thy outward frame would be improved +by cleaner garments; but I will do thine errand myself to the Widow +Gregson’s house of reception, and send thy lad hither with thy clothes. +Meanwhile, Rachel will show thee these little gardens, and then will put +thee in some way of spending thy time usefully, till our meal calls +us together at the second hour after noon. I bid thee farewell for +the present, having some space to walk, seeing I must leave the animal +Solomon to his refreshing rest.’ + +With these words, Mr. Joshua Geddes withdrew. Some ladies we have known +would have felt, or at least affected, reserve or embarrassment, at +being left to do the honours of the grounds to (it will be out, Alan)--a +smart young fellow--an entire stranger. She went out for a few minutes, +and returned in her plain cloak and bonnet, with her beaver gloves, +prepared to act as my guide, with as much simplicity as if she had been +to wait upon thy father. So forth I sallied with my fair Quakeress. + +If the house at Mount Sharon be merely a plain and convenient dwelling, +of moderate size and small pretensions, the gardens and offices, though +not extensive, might rival an earl’s in point of care and expense. +Rachel carried me first to her own favourite resort, a poultry-yard, +stocked with a variety of domestic fowls, of the more rare as well as +the most ordinary kinds, furnished with every accommodation which may +suit their various habits. A rivulet which spread into a pond for the +convenience of the aquatic birds, trickled over gravel as it passed +through the yards dedicated to the land poultry, which were thus amply +supplied with the means they use for digestion. + +All these creatures seemed to recognize the presence of their mistress, +and some especial favourites hastened to her feet, and continued to +follow her as far as their limits permitted. She pointed out their +peculiarities and qualities, with the discrimination of one who had made +natural history her study; and I own I never looked on barn-door +fowls with so much interest before--at least until they were boiled +or roasted. I could not help asking the trying question, how she could +order the execution of any of the creatures of which she seemed so +careful. + +‘It was painful,’ she said, ‘but it was according to the law of their +being. They must die; but they knew not when death was approaching; and +in making them comfortable while they lived, we contributed to their +happiness as much as the conditions of their existence permitted to us.’ + +I am not quite of her mind, Alan. I do not believe either pigs or +poultry would admit that the chief end of their being was to be killed +and eaten. However, I did not press the argument, from which my Quaker +seemed rather desirous to escape; for, conducting me to the greenhouse, +which was extensive, and filled with the choicest plants, she pointed +out an aviary which occupied the farther end, where, she said, she +employed herself with attending the inhabitants, without being disturbed +with any painful recollections concerning their future destination. + +I will not trouble you with any account of the various hot-houses +and gardens, and their contents. No small sum of money must have been +expended in erecting and maintaining them in the exquisite degree +of good order which they exhibited. The family, I understood, were +connected with that of the celebrated Millar, and had imbibed his taste +for flowers, and for horticulture. But instead of murdering botanical +names, I will rather conduct you to the POLICY, or pleasure-garden, +which the taste of Joshua or his father had extended on the banks +betwixt the house and river. This also, in contradistinction to the +prevailing simplicity, was ornamented in an unusual degree. There were +various compartments, the connexion of which was well managed, and +although the whole ground did not exceed five or six acres, it was so +much varied as to seem four times larger. The space contained close +alleys and open walks; a very pretty artificial waterfall; a fountain +also, consisting of a considerable jet-d’eau, whose streams glittered in +the sunbeams and exhibited a continual rainbow. There was a cabinet of +verdure, as the French call it, to cool the summer heat, and there was +a terrace sheltered from the north-east by a noble holly hedge, with all +its glittering spears where you might have the full advantage of the sun +in the clear frosty days of winter. + +I know that you, Alan, will condemn all this as bad and antiquated; for, +ever since Dodsley has described the Leasowes, and talked of Brown’s +imitations of nature and Horace Walpole’s late Essay on Gardening, you +are all for simple nature--condemn walking up and down stairs in the +open air and declare for wood and wilderness. But NE QUID NIMIS. I would +not deface a scene of natural grandeur or beauty, by the introduction +of crowded artificial decorations; yet such may, I think, be very +interesting, where the situation, in its natural state, otherwise has no +particular charms. + +So that when I have a country-house (who can say how soon?) you may +look for grottoes, and cascades, and fountains; nay if you vex me by +contradiction, perhaps I may go the length of a temple--so provoke me +not, for you see of what enormities I am capable. + +At any rate, Alan, had you condemned as artificial the rest of Friend +Geddes’s grounds, there is a willow walk by the very verge of the +stream, so sad, so solemn, and so silent, that it must have commanded +your admiration. The brook, restrained at the ultimate boundary of the +grounds by a natural dam-dike or ledge of rocks, seemed, even in +its present swollen state, scarcely to glide along: and the pale +willow-trees, dropping their long branches into the stream, gathered +around them little coronals of the foam that floated down from the more +rapid stream above. The high rock, which formed the opposite bank of the +brook, was seen dimly through the branches, and its pale and splintered +front, garlanded with long streamers of briers and other creeping +plants, seemed a barrier between the quiet path which we trod, and the +toiling and bustling world beyond. The path itself, following the sweep +of the stream, made a very gentle curve; enough, however, served by its +inflection completely to hide the end of the walk until you arrived at +it. A deep and sullen sound, which increased as you proceeded, prepared +you for this termination, which was indeed only a plain root-seat, from +which you looked on a fall of about six or seven feet, where the brook +flung itself over the ledge of natural rock I have already mentioned, +which there crossed its course. + +The quiet and twilight seclusion of this walk rendered it a fit scene +for confidential communing; and having nothing more interesting to +say to my fair Quaker, I took the liberty of questioning her about the +laird; for you are, or ought to be, aware, that next to discussing the +affairs of the heart, the fair sex are most interested in those of their +neighbours. + +I did not conceal either my curiosity, or the check which it had +received from Joshua, and I saw that my companion answered with +embarrassment. ‘I must not speak otherwise than truly,’ she said; ‘and +therefore I tell thee, that my brother dislikes, and that I fear, the +man of whom thou hast asked me. Perhaps we are both wrong--but he is a +man of violence, and hath great influence over many, who, following +the trade of sailors and fishermen, become as rude as the elements with +which they contend. He hath no certain name among them, which is +not unusual, their rude fashion being to distinguish each other +by nicknames; and they have called him the Laird of the Lakes (not +remembering there should be no one called Lord, save one only) in idle +derision; the pools of salt water left by the tide among the sands being +called the Lakes of Solway.’ + +‘Has he no other revenue than he derives from these sands?’ I asked. + +‘That I cannot answer,’ replied Rachel; ‘men say that he wants not +money, though he lives like an ordinary fisherman, and that he imparts +freely of his means to the poor around him. They intimate that he is +a man of consequence, once deeply engaged in the unhappy affair of the +rebellion, and even still too much in danger from the government +to assume his own name. He is often absent from his cottage at +Broken-burn-cliffs, for weeks and months.’ + +‘I should have thought,’ said I, ‘that the government would scarce, at +this time of day, be likely to proceed against any one even of the most +obnoxious rebels. Many years have passed away’-- + +‘It is true,’ she replied; ‘yet such persons may understand that their +being connived at depends on their living in obscurity. But indeed there +can nothing certain be known among these rude people. The truth is not +in them--most of them participate in the unlawful trade betwixt these +parts and the neighbouring shore of England; and they are familiar with +every species of falsehood and deceit.’ + +‘It is a pity,’ I remarked, ‘your brother should have neighbours of such +a description, especially as I understand he is at some variance with +them.’ + +‘Where, when, and about what matter?’ answered Miss Geddes, with an +eager and timorous anxiety, which made me regret having touched on the +subject. + +I told her, in a way as little alarming as I could devise, the purport +of what passed betwixt this Laird of the Lakes and her brother, at their +morning’s interview. + +‘You affright me much,’ answered she; ‘it is this very circumstance +which has scared me in the watches of the night. When my brother Joshua +withdrew from an active share in the commercial concerns of my father, +being satisfied with the portion of worldly substance which he already +possessed, there were one or two undertakings in which he retained an +interest, either because his withdrawing might have been prejudicial to +friends, or because he wished to retain some mode of occupying his time. +Amongst the more important of these is a fishing station on the coast, +where, by certain improved modes of erecting snares, opening at the +advance of the tide, and shutting at the reflux, many more fish are +taken than can be destroyed by those who, like the men of Broken-burn, +use only the boat-net and spear, or fishing-rod. They complain of these +tide-nets, as men call them, as an innovation, and pretend to a right +to remove and destroy them by the strong hand. I fear me, this man of +violence, whom they call the laird, will execute these his threats, +which cannot be without both loss and danger to my brother.’ + +‘Mr. Geddes,’ said I, ‘ought to apply to the civil, magistrate; there +are soldiers at Dumfries who would be detached for his protection.’ + +‘Thou speakest, friend Latimer,’ answered the lady, ‘as one who is +still in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. God forbid that +we should endeavour to preserve nets of flax and stakes of wood, or the +Mammon of gain which they procure for us, by the hands of men of war and +at the risk of spilling human blood.’ + +‘I respect your scruples,’ I replied; ‘but since such is your way +of thinking, your brother ought to avert the danger by compromise or +submission.’ + +‘Perhaps it would be best,’ answered Rachel; ‘but what can I say? Even +in the best-trained temper there may remain some leaven of the old Adam; +and I know not whether it is this or a better spirit that maketh my +brother Joshua determine, that though he will not resist force by force, +neither will he yield up his right to mere threats, or encourage wrong +to others by yielding to menaces. His partners, he says, confide in his +steadiness: and that he must not disappoint them by yielding up their +right for the fear of the threats of man, whose breath is in his +nostrils.’ + +This observation convinced me that the spirit of the old sharers of +the spoil was not utterly departed even from the bosom of the peaceful +Quaker; and I could not help confessing internally that Joshua had the +right, when he averred that there was as much courage in sufferance as +in exertion. + +As we approached the farther end of the willow walk, the sullen and +continuous sound of the dashing waters became still more and more +audible, and at length rendered it difficult for us to communicate +with each other. The conversation dropped, but apparently my companion +continued to dwell upon the apprehensions which it had excited. At the +bottom of the walk we obtained a view of the cascade, where the swollen +brook flung itself in foam and tumult over the natural barrier of rock, +which seemed in vain to attempt to bar its course. I gazed with delight, +and, turning to express my sentiment to my companion, I observed that +she had folded her hands in an attitude of sorrowful resignation, which +showed her thoughts were far from the scene which lay before her. +When she saw that her abstraction was observed, she resumed her former +placidity of manner; and having given me sufficient time to admire this +termination of our sober and secluded walk, proposed that me should +return to the house through her brother’s farm. ‘Even we Quakers, as +we are called, have our little pride,’ she said; ‘and my brother Joshua +would not forgive me, were I not to show thee the fields which he taketh +delight to cultivate after the newest and best fashion; for which, I +promise thee, he hath received much praise from good judges, as well as +some ridicule from those who think it folly to improve on the customs of +our ancestors.’ + +As she spoke, she opened a low door, leading through a moss and +ivy-covered wall, the boundary of the pleasure-ground, into the open +fields; through which we moved by a convenient path, leading, with good +taste and simplicity, by stile and hedgerow, through pasturage, and +arable, and woodland; so that in all ordinary weather, the good man +might, without even soiling his shoes, perform his perambulation round +the farm. There were seats also, on which to rest; and though not +adorned with inscriptions, nor quite so frequent in occurrence as those +mentioned in the account of the Leasowes, their situation was always +chosen with respect to some distant prospect to be commanded, or some +home-view to be enjoyed. + +But what struck me most in Joshua’s domain was the quantity and the +tameness of the game. The hen partridge scarce abandoned the roost, at +the foot of the hedge where she had assembled her covey, though the path +went close beside her; and the hare, remaining on her form, gazed at us +as we passed, with her full dark eye, or rising lazily and hopping to +a little distance, stood erect to look at us with more curiosity than +apprehension. I observed to Miss Geddes the extreme tameness of these +timid and shy animals, and she informed me that their confidence arose +from protection in the summer, and relief during the winter. + +‘They are pets,’ she said, ‘of my brother, who considers them as the +better entitled to his kindness that they are a race persecuted by the +world in general. He denieth himself,’ she said, ‘even the company of a +dog, that these creatures may here at least enjoy undisturbed security. +Yet this harmless or humane propensity, or humour, hath given offence,’ +she added, ‘to our dangerous neighbours.’ + +She explained this, by telling me that my host of the preceding night +was remarkable for his attachment to field-sports, which he pursued +without much regard to the wishes of the individuals over whose property +he followed them. The undefined mixture of respect and fear with which +he was generally regarded induced most of the neighbouring land-holders +to connive at what they would perhaps in another have punished as a +trespass; but Joshua Geddes would not permit the intrusion of any +one upon his premises, and as he had before offended several country +neighbours, who, because he would neither shoot himself nor permit +others to do so, compared him to the dog in the manger, so he now +aggravated the displeasure which the Laird of the Lakes had already +conceived against him, by positively debarring him from pursuing his +sport over his grounds--‘So that,’ said Rachel Geddes, ‘I sometimes wish +our lot had been cast elsewhere than in these pleasant borders, where, +if we had less of beauty around us, we might have had a neighbourhood of +peace and, goodwill.’ + +We at length returned to the house, where Miss Geddes showed me a small +study, containing a little collection of books, in two separate presses. + +‘These,’ said she, pointing to the smaller press, ‘will, if thou +bestowest thy leisure upon them, do thee good; and these,’ pointing to +the other and larger cabinet, ‘can, I believe, do thee little harm. Some +of our people do indeed hold, that every writer who is not with us +is against us; but brother Joshua is mitigated in his opinions, and +correspondeth with our friend John Scot of Amwell, who hath himself +constructed verses well approved of even in the world. I wish thee many +good thoughts till our family meet at the hour of dinner.’ + +Left alone, I tried both collections; the first consisted entirely +of religious and controversial tracts, and the latter formed a small +selection of history and of moral writers, both in prose and verse. + +Neither collection promising much amusement, thou hast, in these close +pages, the fruits of my tediousness; and truly, I think, writing history +(one’s self being the subject) is as amusing as reading that of foreign +countries, at any time. + +Sam, still more drunk than sober, arrived in due time with my +portmanteau, and enabled me to put my dress into order, better befitting +this temple of cleanliness and decorum, where (to conclude) I believe I +shall be a sojourner more days than one. [See Note 1.] + +PS.--I have noted your adventure, as you home-bred youths may perhaps +term it, concerning the visit of your doughty laird. We travellers hold +such an incident no great consequence, though it may serve to embellish +the uniform life of Brown’s Square. But art thou not ashamed to attempt +to interest one who is seeing the world at large, and studying human +nature on a large scale, by so bald a narrative? Why, what does it +amount to, after all, but that a Tory laird dined with a Whig lawyer? no +very uncommon matter, especially as you state Mr. Herries to have lost +the estate, though retaining the designation. The laird behaves with +haughtiness and impertinence--nothing out of character in that: is NOT +kicked down stairs, as he ought to have been, were Alan Fairford half +the man that he would wish his friends to think him. Aye, but then, as +the young lawyer, instead of showing his friend the door, chose to make +use of it himself, he overheard the laird aforesaid ask the old lawyer +concerning Darsie Latimer--no doubt earnestly inquiring after the +handsome, accomplished inmate of his family, who has so lately made +Themis his bow and declined the honour of following her farther. You +laugh at me for my air-drawn castles; but confess, have they not surer +footing, in general, than two words spoken by such a man as Herries? +And yet--and yet--I would rally the matter off, Alan; but in dark nights +even the glow-worm becomes an object of lustre, and to one plunged in +my uncertainty and ignorance, the slightest gleam that promises +intelligence is interesting. My life is like the subterranean river in +the Peak of Derby, visible only where it crosses the celebrated cavern. +I am here, and this much I know; but where I have sprung from, or +whither my course of life is like to tend, who shall tell me? Your +father, too, seemed interested and alarmed, and talked of writing; would +to Heaven he may!--I send daily to the post-town for letters. + + + + +LETTER VIII + +ALAN FAIRFORD TO DARSIE LATIMER + +Thou mayst clap thy wings and crow as thou pleasest. You go in search +of adventures, but adventures come to me unsought for; and oh! in what a +pleasing shape came mine, since it arrived in the form of a client--and +a fair client to boot! What think you of that, Darsie! you who are such +a sworn squire of dames? Will this not match my adventures with thine, +that hunt salmon on horseback, and will it not, besides, eclipse +the history of a whole tribe of Broadbrims?--But I must proceed +methodically. + +When I returned to-day from the College, I was surprised to see a broad +grin distending the adust countenance of the faithful James Wilkinson, +which, as the circumstance seldom happens above once a year, was matter +of some surprise. Moreover, he had a knowing glance with his eye, +which I should have as soon expected from a dumb-waiter--an article +of furniture to which James, in his usual state, may be happily +assimilated. ‘What the devil is the matter, James?’ + +‘The devil may be in the matter, for aught I ken,’ said James, with +another provoking grin; ‘for here has been a woman calling for you, +Maister Alan.’ + +‘A woman calling for me?’ said I in surprise; for you know well, that +excepting old Aunt Peggy, who comes to dinner of a Sunday, and the +still older Lady Bedrooket, who calls ten times a year for the +quarterly payment of her jointure of four hundred merks, a female scarce +approaches our threshold, as my father visits all his female clients at +their own lodgings. James protested, however, that there had been a +lady calling, and for me. ‘As bonny a lass as I have seen,’ added James, +‘since I was in the Fusileers, and kept company with Peg Baxter.’ Thou +knowest all James’s gay recollections go back to the period of his +military service, the years he has spent in ours having probably been +dull enough. + +‘Did the lady leave no name nor place of address?’ + +‘No,’ replied James; ‘but she asked when you wad be at hame, and I +appointed her for twelve o’clock, when the house wad be quiet, and your +father at the Bank.’ + +‘For shame, James! how can you think my father’s being at home or abroad +could be of consequence?--The lady is of course a decent person?’ + +‘I’se uphaud her that, sir--she is nane of your--WHEW’--(Here James +supplied a blank with a low whistle)--‘but I didna ken--my maister makes +an unco wark if a woman comes here.’ + +I passed into my own room, not ill-pleased that my father was absent, +notwithstanding I had thought it proper to rebuke James for having so +contrived it, I disarranged my books, to give them the appearance of a +graceful confusion on the table, and laying my foils (useless since your +departure) across the mantelpiece, that the lady might see I was TAM +MARTE QUAM MERCURIO--I endeavoured to dispose my dress so as to resemble +an elegant morning deshabille--gave my hair the general shade of powder +which marks the gentleman--laid my watch and seals on the table, to +hint that I understood the value of time;--and when I had made all these +arrangements, of which I am a little ashamed when I think of them, I had +nothing better to do than to watch the dial-plate till the index +pointed to noon. Five minutes elapsed, which. I allowed for variation +of clocks--five minutes more rendered me anxious and doubtful--and five +minutes more would have made me impatient. + +Laugh as thou wilt; but remember, Darsie, I was a lawyer, expecting his +first client--a young man, how strictly bred up I need not remind you, +expecting a private interview with a young and beautiful woman. But ere +the third term of five minutes had elapsed, the door-bell was heard to +tinkle low and modestly, as if touched by some timid hand. + +James Wilkinson, swift in nothing, is, as thou knowest, peculiarly slow +in answering the door-bell; and I reckoned on five minutes good, ere his +solemn step should have ascended the stair. Time enough, thought I, for +a peep through the blinds, and was hastening to the window accordingly. +But I reckoned without my host; for James, who had his own curiosity +as well as I, was lying PERDU in the lobby, ready to open at the first +tinkle; and there was, ‘This way, ma’am--Yes, ma’am--The lady, Mr. +Alan,’ before I could get to the chair in which I proposed to be +discovered, seated in all legal dignity. The consciousness of being +half-caught in the act of peeping, joined to that native air of awkward +bashfulness of which I am told the law will soon free me, kept me +standing on the floor in some confusion; while the lady, disconcerted +on her part, remained on the threshold of the room. James Wilkinson, who +had his senses most about him, and was perhaps willing to prolong his +stay in the apartment, busied himself in setting a chair for the lady, +and recalled me to my good-breeding by the hint. I invited her to take +possession of it, and bid James withdraw. + +My visitor was undeniably a lady, and probably considerably above the +ordinary rank--very modest, too, judging from the mixture of grace and +timidity with which she moved, and at my entreaty sat down. Her dress +was, I should suppose, both handsome and fashionable; but it was much +concealed by a walking-cloak of green silk, fancifully embroidered; in +which, though heavy for the season, her person was enveloped, and which, +moreover, was furnished with a hood. + +The devil take that hood, Darsie! for I was just able to distinguish +that, pulled as it was over the face, it concealed from me, as I was +convinced, one of the prettiest countenances I have seen, and which, +from a sense of embarrassment, seemed to be crimsoned with a deep blush. +I could see her complexion was beautiful--her chin finely turned--her +lips coral--and her teeth rivals to ivory. But further the deponent +sayeth not; for a clasp of gold, ornamented with it sapphire, closed +the envious mantle under the incognita’s throat, and the cursed hood +concealed entirely the upper part of the face. + +I ought to have spoken first, that is certain; but ere I could get my +phrases well arranged, the young lady, rendered desperate I suppose by +my hesitation opened the conversation herself. + +‘I fear I am an intruder, sir--I expected to meet an elderly gentleman.’ + +This brought me to myself. ‘My father, madam, perhaps. But you inquired +for Alan Fairford--my father’s name is Alexander.’ + +‘It is Mr. Alan Fairford, undoubtedly, with whom I wished to speak,’ she +said, with greater confusion; ‘but I was told that he was advanced in +life.’ + +‘Some mistake, madam, I presume, betwixt my father and myself--our +Christian names have the same initials, though the terminations are +different. I--I--I would esteem it a most fortunate mistake if I could +have the honour of supplying my father’s place in anything that could be +of service to you.’ + +‘You are very obliging, sir,’ A pause, during which she seemed +undetermined whether to rise or sit still. + +‘I am just about to be called to the bar, madam,’ said I, in hopes to +remove her scruples to open her case to me; ‘and if my advice or opinion +could be of the slightest use, although I cannot presume to say that +they are much to be depended upon, yet’-- + +The lady arose. ‘I am truly sensible of your kindness, sir; and I have +no doubt of your talents. I will be very plain with you--it is you whom +I came to visit; although, now that we have met, I find it will be much +better that I should commit my communication to writing.’ + +‘I hope, madam, you will not be so cruel--so tantalizing, I would +say. Consider, you are my first client--your business my first +consultation--do not do me the displeasure of withdrawing your +confidence because I am a few years younger than you seem to have +expected. My attention shall make amends for my want of experience.’ + +‘I have no doubt of either,’ said the lady, in a grave tone, calculated +to restrain the air of gallantry with which I had endeavoured to address +her. ‘But when you have received my letter you will find good reasons +assigned why a written communication will best suit my purpose. I wish +you, sir, a good morning.’ And she left the apartment, her poor baffled +counsel scraping, and bowing, and apologizing for anything that might +have been disagreeable to her, although the front of my offence seems to +be my having been discovered to be younger than my father. + +The door was opened--out she went--walked along the pavement, turned +down the close, and put the sun, I believe, into her pocket when she +disappeared, so suddenly did dullness and darkness sink down on the +square, when she was no longer visible. I stood for a moment as if I +had been senseless, not recollecting what a fund of entertainment I must +have supplied to our watchful friends on the other side of the green. +Then it darted on my mind that I might dog her, and ascertain at least +who or what she was. Off I set--ran down the close, where she was no +longer to be seen, and demanded of one of the dyer’s lads whether he had +seen a lady go down the close, or had observed which way she turned. + +‘A leddy!’--said the dyer, staring at me with his rainbow countenance. +‘Mr. Alan, what takes you out, rinning like daft, without your hat?’ + +‘The devil take my hat!’ answered I, running back, however, in quest of +it; snatched it up, and again sallied forth. But as I reached the head +of the close once more, I had sense enough to recollect that all pursuit +would be now in vain. Besides, I saw my friend, the journeyman dyer, in +close confabulation with a pea-green personage of his own profession, +and was conscious, like Scrub, that they talked of me, because they +laughed consumedly. I had no mind, by a second sudden appearance, to +confirm the report that Advocate Fairford was ‘gaen daft,’ which had +probably spread from Campbell’s Close-foot to the Meal-market Stairs; +and so slunk back within my own hole again. + +My first employment was to remove all traces of that elegant and +fanciful disposition of my effects, from which I had hoped for so much +credit; for I was now ashamed and angry at having thought an instant +upon the mode of receiving a visit which had commenced so agreeably, +but terminated in a manner so unsatisfactory. I put my folios in their +places--threw the foils into the dressing-closet--tormenting myself all +the while with the fruitless doubt, whether I had missed an opportunity +or escaped a stratagem, or whether the young person had been really +startled, as she seemed to intimate, by the extreme youth of her +intended legal adviser. The mirror was not unnaturally called in to aid; +and that cabinet-counsellor pronounced me rather short, thick-set, +with a cast of features fitter, I trust, for the bar than the ball--not +handsome enough for blushing virgins to pine for my sake, or even to +invent sham cases to bring them to my chambers--yet not ugly enough +either to scare those away who came on real business--dark, to be sure, +but--NIGRI SUNT HYACINTHI--there are pretty things to be said in favour +of that complexion. + +At length--as common sense will get the better in all cases when a man +will but give it fair play--I began to stand convicted in my own mind, +as an ass before the interview, for having expected too much--an ass +during the interview, for having failed to extract the lady’s real +purpose--and an especial ass, now that it was over, for thinking so much +about it. But I can think of nothing else, and therefore I am determined +to think of this to some good purpose. + +You remember Murtough O’Hara’s defence of the Catholic doctrine of +confession; because, ‘by his soul, his sins were always a great burden +to his mind, till he had told them to the priest; and once confessed, he +never thought more about them.’ I have tried his receipt, therefore; and +having poured my secret mortification into thy trusty ear, I will think +no more about this maid of the mist, + + Who, with no face, as ‘twere, outfaced me. + +--Four o’clock. Plague on her green mantle, she can be nothing +better than a fairy; she keeps possession of my head yet! All during +dinner-time I was terribly absent; but, luckily, my father gave the +whole credit of my reverie to the abstract nature of the doctrine, VINCO +VINCENTEM, ERGO VINCO TE; upon which brocard of law the professor this +morning lectured. So I got an early dismissal to my own crib, and here +am I studying, in one sense, VINCERE VINCENTEM, to get the better of +the silly passion of curiosity--I think--I think it amounts to nothing +else--which has taken such possession of my imagination, and is +perpetually worrying me with the question--will she write or no? She +will not--she will not! So says Reason, and adds, Why should she take +the trouble to enter into correspondence with one who, instead of a +bold, alert, prompt gallant, proved a chicken-hearted boy, and left her +the whole awkwardness of explanation, which he should have met half-way? +But then, says Fancy, she WILL write, for she was not a bit that sort +of person whom you, Mr. Reason, in your wisdom, take her to be. She was +disconcerted enough, without my adding to her distress by any impudent +conduct on my part. And she will write, for--By Heaven, she HAS written, +Darsie, and with a vengeance! Here is her letter, thrown into the +kitchen by a caddie, too faithful to be bribed, either by money or +whisky, to say more than that he received it, with sixpence, from an +ordinary-looking woman, as he was plying on his station near the Cross. + + +‘FOR ALAN FAIRFORD, ESQUIRE, BARRISTER. + +‘SIR, + +‘Excuse my mistake of to-day. I had accidentally learnt that Mr. Darsie +Latimer had an intimate friend and associate in Mr. A. Fairford. When I +inquired for such a person, he was pointed out to me at the Cross (as +I think the Exchange of your city is called) in the character of a +respectable elderly man--your father, as I now understand. On inquiry at +Brown’s Square, where I understood he resided, I used the full name of +Alan, which naturally occasioned you the trouble of this day’s visit. +Upon further inquiry, I am led to believe that you are likely to be the +person most active in the matter to which I am now about to direct your +attention; and I regret much that circumstances, arising out of my own +particular situation, prevent my communicating to you personally what I +now apprise you of in this matter. + +‘Your friend, Mr. Darsie Latimer, is in a situation of considerable +danger. You are doubtless aware that he has been cautioned not to trust +himself in England. Now, if he has not absolutely transgressed this +friendly injunction, he has at least approached as nearly to the menaced +danger as he could do, consistently with the letter of the prohibition. +He has chosen his abode in a neighbourhood very perilous to him; and +it is only by a speedy return to Edinburgh, or at least by a removal to +some more remote part of Scotland, that he can escape the machinations +of those whose enmity he has to fear. I must speak in mystery, but my +words are not the less certain; and, I believe, you know enough of your +friend’s fortunes to be aware that I could not write this much without +being even more intimate with them than you are. + +‘If he cannot, or will not, take the advice here given, it is my opinion +that you should join him, if possible, without delay, and use, by +your personal presence and entreaty, the arguments which may prove +ineffectual in writing. One word more, and I implore of your candour to +take it as it is meant. No one supposes that Mr. Fairford’s zeal in his +friend’s service needs to be quickened by mercenary motives. ‘But report +says, that Mr. Alan Fairford, not having yet entered on his professional +career, may, in such a case as this, want the means, though he cannot +want the inclination, to act with promptitude. The enclosed note Mr. +Alan Fairford must be pleased to consider as his first professional +emolument; and she who sends it hopes it will be the omen of unbounded +success, though the fee comes from a hand so unknown as that of ‘GREEN +MANTLE’. + +A bank-note of L20 was the enclosure, and the whole incident left me +speechless with astonishment. I am not able to read over the beginning +of my own letter, which forms the introduction to this extraordinary +communication. I only know that, though mixed with a quantity of foolery +(God knows very much different from my present feelings), it gives an +account sufficiently accurate, of the mysterious person from whom this +letter comes, and that I have neither time nor patience to separate the +absurd commentary from the text, which it is so necessary you should +know. + +Combine this warning, so strangely conveyed, with the caution impressed +on you by your London correspondent, Griffiths, against your visiting +England--with the character of your Laird of the Solway Lakes--with the +lawless habits of the people on that frontier country, where warrants +are not easily executed owing to the jealousy entertained by either +country of the legal interference of the other; remember, that even Sir +John Fielding said to my father that he could never trace a rogue beyond +the Briggend of Dumfries--think that the distinctions of Whig and +Tory, Papist and Protestant, still keep that country in a loose and +comparatively lawless state--think of all this, my dearest Darsie, and +remember that, while at this Mount Sharon of yours, you are residing +with a family actually menaced with forcible interference, and who, +while their obstinacy provokes violence, are by principle bound to +abstain from resistance. + +Nay, let me tell you, professionally, that the legality of the mode of +fishing practised by your friend Joshua is greatly doubted by our +best lawyers; and that, if the stake-nets be considered as actually an +unlawful obstruction raised in the channel of the estuary, an assembly +of persons who shall proceed, VIA FACTI, to pull dawn and destroy them, +would not, in the eye of the law, be esteemed guilty of a riot. So, by +remaining where you are, YOU are likely to be engaged in a quarrel with +which you have nothing to do, and thus to enable your enemies, whoever +these may be, to execute, amid the confusion of a general hubbub, +whatever designs they may have against your personal safety. +Black-fishers, poachers, and smugglers are a sort of gentry that will +not be much checked, either by your Quaker’s texts, or by your chivalry. +If you are Don Quixote enough to lay lance in rest, in defence of those +of the stake-net, and of the sad-coloured garment, I pronounce you but +a lost knight; for, as I said before, I doubt if these potent redressers +of wrongs, the justices and constables, will hold themselves warranted +to interfere. In a word, return, my dear Amadis; the adventure of the +Solway-nets is not reserved for your worship. Come back, and I will be +your faithful Sancho Panza upon a more hopeful quest. We will beat +about together, in search of this Urganda, the Unknown She of the Green +Mantle, who can read this, the riddle of thy fate, better than wise +Eppie of Buckhaven, [Well known in the Chap-Book, called the History of +Buckhaven.] or Cassandra herself. + +I would fain trifle, Darsie; for, in debating with you, jests will +sometimes go farther than arguments; but I am sick at heart and cannot +keep the ball up. If you have a moment’s regard for the friendship we +have so often vowed to each other, let my wishes for once prevail over +your own venturous and romantic temper. I am quite serious in thinking +that the information communicated to my father by this Mr. Herries, and +the admonitory letter of the young lady, bear upon each other; and that, +were you here, you might learn something from one or other, or from +both, that; might throw light on your birth and parentage. You will not, +surely, prefer an idle whim to the prospect which is thus held out to +you? + +I would, agreeably to the hint I have received in the young lady’s +letter (for I am confident that such is her condition), have ere now +been with you to urge these things, instead of pouring them out upon +paper. But you know that the day for my trials is appointed; I have +already gone through the form of being introduced to the examinators, +and have gotten my titles assigned me. All this should not keep me at +home, but my father would view any irregularity upon this occasion as a +mortal blow to the hopes which he has cherished most fondly during his +life; viz. my being called to the bar with some credit. For my own +part, I know there is no great difficulty in passing these formal +examinations, else how have some of our acquaintance got through them? +But, to my father, these formalities compose an august and serious +solemnity, to which he has long looked forward, and my absenting myself +at this moment would wellnigh drive him distracted. Yet I shall go +altogether distracted myself, if I have not an instant assurance from +you that you are hastening hither. Meanwhile I have desired Hannah to +get your little crib into the best order possible. I cannot learn +that my father has yet written to you; nor has he spoken more of his +communication with Birrenswork; but when I let him have some inkling +of the dangers you are at present incurring, I know my request that you +will return immediately will have his cordial support. + +Another reason yet--I must give a dinner, as usual, upon my admission, +to our friends; and my father, laying aside all his usual considerations +of economy, has desired it may be in the best style possible. +Come hither then, dear Darsie! or, I protest to you, I shall send +examination, admission-dinner, and guests to the devil, and come, in +person, to fetch you with a vengeance. Thine, in much anxiety, A. F. + + + + +LETTER IX + +ALEXANDER FAIRFORD, W.S., TO MR. DARSIE LATIMER + +DEAR MR. DARSIE, + +Having been your FACTOR LOCO TUTORIS or rather, I ought to say, in +correctness (since I acted without warrant from the court), your +NEGOTIORUM GESTOR, that connexion occasions my present writing. And +although having rendered an account of my intromissions, which have been +regularly approved of, not only by yourself (whom I could not prevail +upon to look at more than the docket and sum total), but also by the +worthy Mr. Samuel Griffiths of London, being the hand through whom the +remittances were made, I may, in some sense, be considered as to you +FUNCTUS OFFICIO; yet to speak facetiously, I trust you will not hold me +accountable as a vicious intromitter, should I still consider myself as +occasionally interested in your welfare. My motives for writing, at this +time, are twofold. + +I have met with a Mr. Herries of Birrenswork, a gentleman of very +ancient descent, but who hath in time past been in difficulties, nor +do I know if his affairs are yet well redd. Birrenswork says that he +believes he was very familiar with your father, whom he states to have +been called Ralph Latimer of Langcote Hall, in Westmoreland; and he +mentioned family affairs, which it may be of the highest importance to +you to be acquainted with; but as he seemed to decline communicating +them to me, I could not civilly urge him thereanent. Thus much I know, +that Mr. Herries had his own share in the late desperate and unhappy +matter of 1745, and was in trouble about it, although that is probably +now over. Moreover, although he did not profess the Popish religion +openly, he had an eye that way. And both of these are reasons why I have +hesitated to recommend him to a youth who maybe hath not altogether so +well founded his opinions concerning Kirk and State, that they might +not be changed by some sudden wind of doctrine. For I have observed +ye, Master Darsie, to be rather tinctured with the old leaven of +prelacy--this under your leave; and although God forbid that you should +be in any manner disaffected to the Protestant Hanoverian line, yet ye +have ever loved to hear the blawing, blazing stories which the Hieland +gentlemen tell of those troublous times, which, if it were their will, +they had better pretermit, as tending rather to shame than to honour. +It is come to me also by a sidewind, as I may say, that you have been +neighbouring more than was needful among some of the pestilent sect of +Quakers--a people who own neither priest nor king, nor civil magistrate, +nor the fabric of our law, and will not depone either IN CIVILIBUS +or CRIMINALIBUS, be the loss to the lieges what it may. Anent which +heresies, it were good ye read ‘The Snake in the Grass’ or ‘The Foot +out of the Snare,’ being both well-approved tracts, touching these +doctrines. + +Now, Mr. Darsie, ye are to judge for yourself whether ye can safely to +your soul’s weal remain longer among these Papists and Quakers--these +defections on the right hand, and failings away on the left; and truly +if you can confidently resist these evil examples of doctrine, I think +ye may as well tarry in the bounds where ye are, until you see Mr. +Herries of Birrenswork, who does assuredly know more of your matters +than I thought had been communicated to any man in Scotland. I would +fain have precognosced him myself on these affairs, but found him +unwilling to speak out, as I have partly intimated before. + +To call a new cause--I have the pleasure to tell you, that Alan has +passed his private Scots Law examinations with good approbation--a great +relief to my mind; especially as worthy Mr. Pest told me in my ear there +was no fear of ‘the callant’, as he familiarly called him, which gives +me great heart. His public trials, which are nothing in comparison +save a mere form, are to take place, by order of the Honourable Dean +of Faculty, on Wednesday first; and on Friday he puts on the gown, and +gives a bit chack of dinner to his friends and acquaintances, as is, you +know, the custom. Your company will be wished for there, Master Darsie, +by more than him, which I regret to think is impossible to have, as well +by your engagements, as that our cousin, Peter Fairford, comes from the +West on purpose, and we have no place to offer him but your chamber +in the wall. And, to be plain with you, after my use and wont, Master +Darsie, it may be as well that Alan and you do not meet till he is +hefted as it were to his new calling. You are a pleasant gentleman, and +full of daffing, which may well become you, as you have enough (as +I understand) to uphold your merry humour. If you regard the matter +wisely, you would perchance consider that a man of substance should have +a douce and staid demeanour; yet you are so far from growing grave and +considerate with the increase of your annual income, that the richer +you become, the merrier I think you grow. But this must be at your own +pleasure, so far as you are concerned. Alan, however (overpassing my +small savings), has the world to win; and louping and laughing, as you +and he were wont to do, would soon make the powder flee out of his wig, +and the pence out of his pocket. Nevertheless, I trust you will meet +when you return from your rambles; for there is a time, as the wise man +sayeth, for gathering, and a time for casting away; it is always the +part of a man of sense to take the gathering time first. I remain, +dear sir, your well-wishing friend; and obedient to command, ALEXANDER +FAIRFORD. + +PS.--Alan’s Thesis is upon the title DE PERICULO ET COMMODO REI +VENDITAE, and is a very pretty piece of Latinity.--Ross House, in our +neighbourhood, is nearly finished, and is thought to excel Duff House in +ornature. + + + + +LETTER X + +DARSIE LATIMER TO ALAN FAIRFORD + +The plot thickens, Alan. I have your letter, and also one from your +father. The last makes it impossible for me to comply with the kind +request which the former urges. No--I cannot be with you, Alan; and +that, for the best of all reasons--I cannot and ought not to counteract +your father’s anxious wishes. I do not take it unkind of him that he +desires my absence. It is natural that he should wish for his son +what his son so well deserves--the advantage of a wiser and steadier +companion than I seem to him. And yet I am sure I have often laboured +hard enough to acquire that decency of demeanour which can no more be +suspected of breaking bounds, than an owl of catching a butterfly. + +But it was in vain that I have knitted my brows till I had the headache, +in order to acquire the reputation of a grave, solid, and well-judging +youth. Your father always has discovered, or thought that he discovered, +a hare-brained eccentricity lying folded among the wrinkles of my +forehead, which rendered me a perilous associate for the future +counsellor and ultimate judge. Well, Corporal Nym’s philosophy must +be my comfort--‘Things must be as they may.’--I cannot come to your +father’s house, where he wishes not to see me; and as to your coming +hither,--by all that is dear to me, I vow that if you are guilty of such +a piece of reckless folly--not to say undutiful cruelty, considering +your father’s thoughts and wishes--I will never speak to you again as +long as I live! I am perfectly serious. And besides, your father, while +he in a manner prohibits me from returning to Edinburgh, gives me the +strongest reasons for continuing a little while longer in this country, +by holding out the hope that I may receive from your old friend, Mr. +Herries of Birrenswork, some particulars concerning my origin, with +which that ancient recusant seems to be acquainted. + +That gentleman mentioned the name of a family in Westmoreland, with +which he supposes me connected. My inquiries here after such a family +have been ineffectual, for the borderers, on either side, know little +of each other. But I shall doubtless find some English person of whom to +make inquiries, since the confounded fetterlock clapped on my movements +by old Griffiths, prevents me repairing to England in person. At +least, the prospect of obtaining some information is greater here than +elsewhere; it will be an apology for my making a longer stay in this +neighbourhood, a line of conduct which seems to have your father’s +sanction, whose opinion must be sounder than that of your wandering +damoselle. + +If the road were paved with dangers which leads to such a discovery, I +cannot for a moment hesitate to tread it. But in fact there is no peril +in the case. If the Tritons of the Solway shall proceed to pull down +honest Joshua’s tide-nets, I am neither Quixote enough in disposition, +nor Goliath enough in person, to attempt their protection. I have no +idea of attempting to prop a falling house by putting my shoulders +against it. And indeed, Joshua gave me a hint that the company which he +belongs to, injured in the way threatened (some of them being men who +thought after the fashion of the world), would pursue the rioters +at law, and recover damages, in which probably his own ideas of +non-resistance will not prevent his participating. Therefore the whole +affair will take its course as law will, as I only mean to interfere +when it may be necessary to direct the course of the plaintiffs to +thy chambers; and I request they may find thee intimate with all the +Scottish statutes concerning salmon fisheries, from the LEX AQUARUM, +downward. + +As for the Lady of the Mantle, I will lay a wager that the sun so +bedazzled thine eyes on that memorable morning, that everything thou +didst look upon seemed green; and notwithstanding James Wilkinson’s +experience in the Fusileers, as well as his negative whistle, I will +venture to hold a crown that she is but a what-shall-call-’um after all. +Let not even the gold persuade you to the contrary. She may make a shift +to cause you to disgorge that, and (immense spoil!) a session’s fees +to boot, if you look not all the sharper about you. Or if it should be +otherwise, and if indeed there lurk some mystery under this visitation, +credit me, it is one which thou canst not penetrate, nor can I as yet +even attempt to explain it; since, if I prove mistaken, and mistaken I +may easily be, I would be fain to creep into Phalaris’s bull, were +it standing before me ready heated, rather than be roasted with thy +raillery. Do not tax me with want of confidence; for the instant I can +throw any light on the matter thou shalt have it; but while I am only +blundering about in the dark, I do not choose to call wise folks to see +me, perchance, break my nose against a post. So if you marvel at this, + + E’en marvel on till time makes all things plain. + +In the meantime, kind Alan, let me proceed in my diurnal. + +On the third or fourth day after my arrival at Mount Sharon, Time, that +bald sexton to whom I have just referred you, did certainly limp more +heavily along with me than he had done at first. The quaint morality +of Joshua, and Huguenot simplicity of his sister, began to lose much of +their raciness with their novelty, and my mode of life, by dint of being +very quiet, began to feel abominably dull. It was, as thou say’st, as +if the Quakers had put the sun in their pockets--all around was soft +and mild, and even pleasant; but there was, in the whole routine, a +uniformity, a want of interest, a helpless and hopeless languor, which +rendered life insipid. No doubt, my worthy host and hostess felt none +of this void, this want of excitation, which was becoming oppressive to +their guest. They had their little round of occupations, charities, and +pleasures; Rachel had her poultry-yard and conservatory, and Joshua +his garden. Besides this, they enjoyed, doubtless, their devotional +meditations; and, on the whole, time glided softly and imperceptibly +on with them, though to me, who long for stream and cataract, it seemed +absolutely to stand still. I meditated returning to Shepherd’s Bush, and +began to think, with some hankering, after little Benjie and the rod. +The imp has ventured hither, and hovers about to catch a peep of me +now and then; I suppose the little sharper is angling for a few more +sixpences. But this would have been, in Joshua’s eyes, a return of the +washed sow to wallowing in the mire, and I resolved, while I remained +his guest, to spare him so violent a shock to his prejudices. The next +point was, to shorten the time of my proposed stay; but, alas! that I +felt to be equally impossible. I had named a week; and however rashly my +promise had been pledged, it must be held sacred, even according to the +letter, from which the Friends permit no deviation. + +All these considerations wrought me up to a kind of impatience yesterday +evening; so that I snatched up my hat, and prepared for a sally beyond +the cultivated farm and ornamented grounds of Mount Sharon, just as if +I were desirous to escape from the realms of art, into those of free and +unconstrained nature. + +I was scarcely more delighted when I first entered this peaceful +demesne, than I now was--such is the instability and inconsistency +of human nature!--when I escaped from it to the open downs, which had +formerly seemed so waste and dreary, The air I breathed felt purer and +more bracing. The clouds, riding high upon a summer breeze, drove, in +gay succession, over my head, now obscuring the sun, now letting its +rays stream in transient flashes upon various parts of the landscape, +and especially upon the broad mirror of the distant Firth of Solway. + +I advanced on the scene with the light step of a liberated captive; and, +like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim, could have found in my heart to sing as +I went on my way. It seemed as if my gaiety had accumulated while +suppressed, and that I was, in my present joyous mood, entitled to +expend the savings of the previous week. But just as I was about to +uplift a merry stave, I heard, to my joyful surprise, the voices of +three or more choristers, singing, with considerable success, the lively +old catch, + + For all our men were very very merry, + And all our men were drinking: + There were two men of mine, + Three men of thine, + And three that belonged to old Sir Thom o’ Lyne; + As they went to the ferry, they were very very merry, + And all our men were drinking.’ + +[The original of this catch is to be found in Cowley’s witty comedy of +THE GUARDIAN, the first edition. It does not exist in the second and +revised edition, called THE CUTTER OF COLEMAN STREET. + + CAPTAIN BLADE. Ha, ha, boys, another catch. + AND ALL OUR MEN ARE VERY VERY MERRY, + AND ALL OUR MEN WERE DRINKING. + CUTTER. ONE MAN OF MINE. + DOGREL. TWO MEN OF MINE. + BLADE. THREE MEN OF MINE. + CUTTER. AND ONE MAN OF MINE. + OMNES. AS WE WENT BY THE WAY WE WERE DRUNK, DRUNK, DAMNABLY + DRUNK, AND ALL OUR MEN WERE VERY VERY MERRY, &c. + +Such are the words, which are somewhat altered and amplified in the +text. The play was acted in presence of Charles II, then Prince of +Wales, in 1641. The catch in the text has been happily set to music.] + +As the chorus ended, there followed a loud and hearty laugh by way +of cheers. Attracted by sounds which were so congenial to my present +feelings, I made towards the spot from which they came,--cautiously, +however, for the downs, as had been repeatedly hinted to me, had no good +name; and the attraction of the music, without rivalling that of the +sirens in melody, might have been followed by similarly inconvenient +consequences to an incautious amateur. + +I crept on, therefore, trusting that the sinuosities of the ground, +broken as it was into knells and sand-pits, would permit me to obtain +a sight of the musicians before I should be observed by them. As I +advanced, the old ditty was again raised. The voices seemed those of a +man and two boys; they were rough, but kept good time, and were managed +with too much skill to belong to the ordinary country people. + + Jack looked at the sun, and cried, Fire, fire, fire; + Tom stabled his keffel in Birkendale mire; + Jem started a calf, and halloo’d for a stag; + Will mounted a gate-post instead of his nag: + For all our men were very very merry, + And all our men were drinking; + There were two men of mine, + Three men of thine, + And three that belonged to old Sir Thom o’ Lyne; + As they went to the ferry, they were very very merry, + For all our men were drinking. + +The voices, as they mixed in their several parts, and ran through them, +untwisting and again entwining all the links of the merry old catch, +seemed to have a little touch of the bacchanalian spirit which they +celebrated, and showed plainly that the musicians were engaged in the +same joyous revel as the MENYIE of old Sir Thom o’ Lyne. At length I +came within sight of them, three in number, where they sat cosily niched +into what you might call a BUNKER, a little sand-pit, dry and snug, and +surrounded by its banks, and a screen of whins in full bloom. + +The only one of the trio whom I recognized as a personal acquaintance +was the notorious little Benjie, who, having just finished his stave, +was cramming a huge luncheon of pie-crust into his mouth with one hand, +while in the other he held a foaming tankard, his eyes dancing with all +the glee of a forbidden revel; and his features, which have at all times +a mischievous archness of expression, confessing the full sweetness of +stolen waters, and bread eaten in secret. + +There was no mistaking the profession of the male and female, who were +partners with Benjie in these merry doings. The man’s long loose-bodied +greatcoat (wrap-rascal as the vulgar term it), the fiddle-case, with its +straps, which lay beside him, and a small knapsack which might contain +his few necessaries; a clear grey eye; features which, in contending +with many a storm, had not lost a wild and, careless expression of glee, +animated at present, when he was exercising for his own pleasure the +arts which he usually practised for bread,--all announced one of those +peripatetic followers of Orpheus whom the vulgar call a strolling +fiddler. Gazing more attentively, I easily discovered that though the +poor musician’s eyes were open, their sense was shut, and that the +ecstasy with which he turned them up to heaven only derived its apparent +expression from his own internal emotions, but received no assistance +from the visible objects around. Beside him sat his female companion, in +a man’s hat, a blue coat, which seemed also to have been an article of +male apparel, and a red petticoat. She was cleaner, in person and in +clothes, than such itinerants generally are; and, having been in her day +a strapping BONA ROBA, she did not even yet neglect some attention to +her appearance; wore a large amber necklace, and silver ear-rings, and +had her laid fastened across her breast with a brooch of the same metal. + +The man also looked clean, notwithstanding the meanness of his attire, +and had a decent silk handkerchief well knotted about his throat, under +which peeped a clean owerlay. His beard, also, instead of displaying a +grizzly stubble, unmowed for several days, flowed in thick and comely +abundance over the breast, to the length of six inches, and mingled with +his hair, which was but beginning to exhibit a touch of age. To sum up +his appearance, the loose garment which I have described was secured +around him by a large old-fashioned belt, with brass studs, in +which hung a dirk, with a knife and fork, its usual accompaniments. +Altogether, there was something more wild and adventurous-looking about +the man than I could have expected to see in an ordinary modern crowder; +and the bow which he now and then drew across the violin, to direct his +little choir, was decidedly that of no ordinary performer. + +You must understand that many of these observations were the fruits of +after remark; for I had scarce approached so near as to get a distinct +view of the party, when my friend Benjie’s lurching attendant, which he +calls by the appropriate name of Hemp, began to cock his tail and ears, +and, sensible of my presence, flew, barking like a fury, to the place +where I had meant to lie concealed till I heard another song. I was +obliged, however, to jump on my feet, and intimidate Hemp, who would +otherwise have bit me, by two sound kicks on the ribs, which sent him +howling back to his master. + +Little Benjie seemed somewhat dismayed at my appearance; but, +calculating on my placability, and remembering, perhaps, that the +ill-used Solomon was no palfrey of mine, he speedily affected great +glee, and almost in one breath assured the itinerants that I was ‘a +grand gentleman, and had plenty of money, and was very kind to poor +folk;’ and informed me that this was ‘Willie Steenson--Wandering Willie +the best fiddler that ever kittled thairm with horse-hair.’ + +The woman rose and curtsied; and Wandering Willie sanctioned his own +praises with a nod, and the ejaculation, ‘All is true that the little +boy says.’ + +I asked him if he was of this country. + +‘THIS country!’ replied the blind man--‘I am of every country in broad +Scotland, and a wee bit of England to the boot. But yet I am, in some +sense, of this country; for I was born within hearing of the roar of +Solway. Will I give your honour a touch of the auld bread-winner?’ + +He preluded as he spoke, in a manner which really excited my curiosity; +and then, taking the old tune of Galashiels for his theme, he graced +it with a number of wild, complicated, and beautiful variations; during +which it was wonderful to observe how his sightless face was lighted up +under the conscious pride and heartfelt delight in the exercise of his +own very considerable powers. + +‘What think you of that, now, for threescore and twa?’ + +I expressed my surprise and pleasure. + +‘A rant, man--an auld rant,’ said Willie; ‘naething like the music ye +hae in your ballhouses and your playhouses in Edinbro’; but it’s weel +aneugh anes in a way at a dykeside. Here’s another--it’s no a Scotch +tune, but it passes for ane--Oswald made it himsell, I reckon--he has +cheated mony ane, but he canna cheat Wandering Willie.’ + +He then played your favourite air of Roslin Castle, with a number of +beautiful variations, some of which I am certain were almost extempore. + +‘You have another fiddle there, my friend,’ said I--‘Have you a +comrade?’ But Willie’s ears were deaf, or his attention was still busied +with the tune. + +The female replied in his stead, ‘O aye, sir--troth we have a partner--a +gangrel body like oursells. No but my hinny might have been better if he +had liked; for mony a bein nook in mony a braw house has been offered to +my hinny Willie, if he wad but just bide still and play to the gentles.’ + +‘Whisht, woman! whisht!’ said the blind man, angrily, shaking his locks; +‘dinna deave the gentleman wi’ your havers. Stay in a house and play to +the gentles!--strike up when my leddy pleases, and lay down the bow when +my lord bids! Na, na, that’s nae life for Willie. Look out, Maggie--peer +out, woman, and see if ye can see Robin coming. Deil be in him! He has +got to the lee-side of some smuggler’s punch-bowl, and he wunna budge +the night, I doubt.’ + +‘That is your consort’s instrument,’ said I--’ Will you give me leave +to try my skill?’ I slipped at the same time a shilling into the woman’s +hand. + +‘I dinna ken whether I dare trust Robin’s fiddle to ye,’ said Willie, +bluntly. His wife gave him a twitch. ‘Hout awa, Maggie,’ he said in +contempt of the hint; ‘though the gentleman may hae gien ye siller, he +may have nae bowhand for a’ that, and I’ll no trust Robin’s fiddle wi’ +an ignoramus. But that’s no sae muckle amiss,’ he added, as I began to +touch the instrument; ‘I am thinking ye have some skill o’ the craft.’ + +To confirm him in this favourable opinion, I began to execute such +a complicated flourish as I thought must have turned Crowdero into +a pillar of stone with envy and wonder. I scaled the top of the +finger-board, to dive at once to the bottom--skipped with flying +fingers, like Timotheus, from shift to shift--struck arpeggios and +harmonic tones, but without exciting any of the astonishment which I had +expected. + +Willie indeed listened to me with considerable attention; but I was no +sooner finished, than he immediately mimicked on his own instrument +the fantastic complication of tones which I had produced, and made so +whimsical a parody of my performance, that, although somewhat angry, I +could not help laughing heartily, in which I was joined by Benjie, +whose reverence for me held him under no restraint; while the poor dame, +fearful, doubtless, of my taking offence at this familiarity, seemed +divided betwixt her conjugal reverence for her Willie, and her desire to +give him a hint for his guidance. + +At length the old man stopped of his own accord, and, as if he had +sufficiently rebuked me by his mimicry, he said, ‘But for a’ that, ye +will play very weel wi’ a little practice and some gude teaching. But ye +maun learn to put the heart into it, man--to put the heart into it.’ + +I played an air in simpler taste, and received more decided approbation. + +‘That’s something like it man. Od, ye are a clever birkie!’ + +The woman touched his coat again. ‘The gentleman is a gentleman, +Willie--ye maunna speak that gate to him, hinnie.’ + +‘The deevil I maunna!’ said Willie; ‘and what for maunna I?--If he was +ten gentles, he canna draw a bow like me, can he?’ + +‘Indeed I cannot, my honest friend,’ said I; ‘and if you will go with me +to a house hard by, I would be glad to have a night with you.’ + +Here I looked round, and observed Benjie smothering a laugh, which I was +sure had mischief in it. I seized him suddenly by the ear, and made him +confess that he was laughing at the thoughts of the reception which a +fiddler was likely to get from the Quakers at Mount Sharon. I chucked +him from me, not sorry that his mirth had reminded me in time of what I +had for the moment forgotten; and invited the itinerant to go with me to +Shepherd’s Bush, from which I proposed to send word to Mr. Geddes that +I should not return home that evening. But the minstrel declined this +invitation also. He was engaged for the night, he said, to a dance in +the neighbourhood, and vented a round execration on the laziness +or drunkenness of his comrade, who had not appeared at the place of +rendezvous. + +‘I will go with you instead of him,’ said I, in a sudden whim; ‘and I +will give you a crown to introduce me as your comrade.’ + +‘YOU gang instead of Rob the Rambler! My certie, freend, ye are no +blate!’ answered Wandering Willie, in a tone which announced death to my +frolic. + +But Maggie, whom the offer of the crown had not escaped, began to open +on that scent with a maundering sort of lecture. ‘Oh Willie! hinny +Willie, whan will ye learn to be wise? There’s a crown to be win for +naething but saying ae man’s name instead of anither. And, wae’s me! I +hae just a shilling of this gentleman’s gieing, and a boddle of my ain; +and ye wunna, bend your will sae muckle as to take up the siller that’s +flung at your feet! Ye will die the death of a cadger’s powney, in a +wreath of drift! and what can I do better than lie doun and die wi’ you? +for ye winna let me win siller to keep either you or mysell leevin.’ + +‘Haud your nonsense tongue, woman,’ said Willie, but less absolutely +than before. ‘Is he a real gentleman, or ane of the player-men?’ + +‘I’se uphaud him a real gentleman,’ said the woman. + +‘I’se uphaud ye ken little of the matter,’ said Willie; ‘let us see haud +of your hand, neebor, gin ye like. + +I gave him my hand. He said to himself, ‘Aye, aye, here are fingers that +have seen canny service.’ Then running his hand over my hair, my face, +and my dress, he went on with his soliloquy; ‘Aye, aye, muisted hair, +braidclaith o’ the best, and seenteen hundred linen on his back, at the +least o’ it. And how do you think, my braw birkie, that you are to pass +for a tramping fiddler?’ + +‘My dress is plain,’ said I,--indeed I had chosen my most ordinary suit, +out of compliment to my Quaker friends,--‘and I can easily pass for a +young farmer out upon a frolic. Come, I will double the crown I promised +you.’ + +‘Damn your crowns!’ said the disinterested man of music. ‘I would like +to have a round wi’ you, that’s certain;--but a farmer, and with a hand +that never held pleugh-stilt or pettle, that will never do. Ye may pass +for a trades-lad from Dumfries, or a student upon the ramble, or the +like o’ that. But hark ye, lad; if ye expect to be ranting among the +queans o’ lasses where ye are gaun, ye will come by the waur, I can tell +ye; for the fishers are wild chaps, and will bide nae taunts.’ + +I promised to be civil and cautious; and, to smooth the good woman, I +slipped the promised piece into her hand. The acute organs of the blind +man detected this little manoeuvre. + +‘Are ye at it again wi’ the siller, ye jaud? I’ll be sworn ye wad rather +hear ae twalpenny clink against another, than have a spring from Rory +Dall, [Blind Rorie, a famous musician according to tradition.] if +he was-coming alive again anes errand. Gang doun the gate to Lucky +Gregson’s and get the things ye want, and bide there till ele’en hours +in the morn; and if you see Robin, send him on to me.’ + +‘Am I no gaun to the ploy, then?’ said Maggie, in a disappointed tone. + +‘And what for should ye?’ said her lord and master; ‘to dance a’ night, +I’se warrant, and no to be fit to walk your tae’s-length the morn, and +we have ten Scots miles afore us? Na, na. Stable the steed, and pit your +wife to bed, when there’s night wark to do.’ + +‘Aweel, aweel, Willie hinnie, ye ken best; but oh, take an unco care o’ +yoursell, and mind ye haena the blessing o’ sight.’ + +‘Your tongue gars me whiles tire of the blessing of hearing, woman,’ +replied ‘Willie, in answer to this tender exhortation. + +But I now put in for my interest. ‘Hollo, good folks, remember that I am +to send the boy to Mount Sharon, and if you go to the Shepherd’s Bush, +honest woman, how the deuce am I to guide the blind man where he is +going? I know little or nothing of the country.’ + +‘And ye ken mickle less of my hinnie, sir,’ replied Maggie, ‘that +think he needs ony guiding; he’s the best guide himsell that ye’ll find +between Criffell and Carlisle. Horse-road and foot-path, parish-road +and kirk-road, high-road and cross-road, he kens ilka foot of ground in +Nithsdale.’ + +‘Aye, ye might have said in braid Scotland, gudewife,’ added the +fiddler. ‘But gang your ways, Maggie, that’s the first wise word ye hae +spoke the day. I wish it was dark night, and rain, and wind, for the +gentleman’s sake, that I might show him there is whiles when ane had +better want een than have them; for I am as true a guide by darkness as +by daylight.’ + +Internally as well pleased that my companion was not put to give me this +last proof of his skill, I wrote a note with a pencil, desiring Samuel +to bring my horses at midnight, when I thought my frolic would be +wellnigh over, to the place to which the bearer should direct him, and I +sent little Benjie with an apology to the worthy Quakers. + +As we parted in different directions, the good woman said, ‘Oh, sir, if +ye wad but ask Willie to tell ye ane of his tales to shorten the gate! +He can speak like ony minister frae the pu’pit, and he might have been a +minister himsell, but’-- + +‘Haud your tongue, ye fule!’ said Willie,--‘But stay, Meg--gie me +a kiss, ne maunna part in anger, neither.’--And thus our society +separated. + +[It is certain that in many cases the blind have, by constant exercise +of their other organs, learned to overcome a defect which one would +think incapable of being supplied. Every reader must remember the +celebrated Blind Jack of Knaresborough, who lived by laying out roads.] + + + + +LETTER XI + +THE SAME TO THE SAME + +You are now to conceive us proceeding in our different directions across +the bare downs. Yonder flies little Benjie to the northward with Hemp +scampering at his heels, both running as if for dear life so long as the +rogue is within sight of his employer, and certain to take the walk very +easy so soon as he is out of ken. Stepping westward, you see Maggie’s +tall form and high-crowned hat, relieved by the fluttering of her plaid +upon the left shoulder, darkening as the distance diminishes her size +and as the level sunbeams begin to sink upon the sea. She is taking her +quiet journey to the Shepherd’s Bush. + +Then, stoutly striding over the lea, you have a full view of Darsie +Latimer, with his new acquaintance, Wandering Willie, who, bating that +he touched the ground now and then with his staff, not in a doubtful +groping manner, but with the confident air of an experienced pilot, +heaving the lead when he has the soundings by heart, walks as firmly and +boldly as if he possessed the eyes of Argus. There they go, each with +his violin slung at his back, but one of them at least totally ignorant +whither their course is directed. + +And wherefore did you enter so keenly into such a mad frolic? says +my wise counsellor.--Why, I think, upon the whole, that as a sense of +loneliness, and a longing for that kindness which is interchanged in +society, led me to take up my temporary residence at Mount Sharon, the +monotony of my life there, the quiet simplicity of the conversation of +the Geddeses, and the uniformity of their amusements and employments, +wearied out my impatient temper, and prepared me for the first escapade +which chance might throw in my way. + +What would I have given that I could have procured that solemn grave +visage of thine, to dignify this joke, as it has done full many a one of +thine own! Thou hast so happy a knack of doing the most foolish things +in the wisest manner, that thou mightst pass thy extravagances for +rational actions, even in the eyes of Prudence herself. + +From the direction which my guide observed, I began to suspect that the +dell at Brokenburn was our probable destination; and it became important +to me to consider whether I could, with propriety, or even perfect +safety, intrude myself again upon the hospitality of my former host. I +therefore asked Willie whether we were bound for the laird’s, as folk +called him. + +‘Do ye ken the laird?’ said Willie, interrupting a sonata of Corelli, of +which he had whistled several bars with great precision. + +‘I know the laird a little,’ said I; ‘and therefore I was doubting +whether I ought to go to his town in disguise.’ + +‘I should doubt, not a little only, but a great deal, before I took ye +there, my chap,’ said Wandering Willie; ‘for I am thinking it wad be +worth little less than broken banes baith to you and me. Na, na, +chap, we are no ganging to the laird’s, but to a blithe birling at the +Brokenburn-foot, where there will be mony a braw lad and lass; and +maybe there may be some of the laird’s folks, for he never comes to sic +splores himsell. He is all for fowling-piece and salmon-spear, now that +pike and musket are out of the question.’ + +‘He has been at soldier, then?’ said I. + +‘I’se warrant him a soger,’ answered Willie; ‘but take my advice, and +speer as little about him as he does about you. Best to let sleeping +dogs lie. Better say naething about the laird, my man, and tell me +instead, what sort of a chap ye are that are sae ready to cleik in with +an auld gaberlunzie fiddler? Maggie says ye’re gentle, but a shilling +maks a’ the difference that Maggie kens between a gentle and a semple, +and your crowns wad mak ye a prince of the blood in her een. But I am +ane that ken full weel that ye may wear good claithes, and have a saft +hand, and yet that may come of idleness as weel as gentrice.’ + +I told him my name, with the same addition I had formerly given to +Mr. Joshua Geddes; that I was a law-student, tired of my studies, and +rambling about for exercise and amusement. + +‘And are ye in the wont of drawing up wi’ a’ the gangrel bodies that +ye meet on the high-road, or find cowering in a sand-bunker upon the +links?’ demanded Willie. + +‘Oh, no; only with honest folks like yourself, Willie,’ was my reply. + +‘Honest folks like me! How do ye ken whether I am honest, or what I am? +I may be the deevil himsell for what ye ken; for he has power to come +disguised like an angel of light; and besides he is a prime fiddler. He +played a sonata to Corelli, ye ken.’ + +There was something odd in this speech, and the tone in which it was +said. It seemed as if my companion was not always in his constant mind, +or that he was willing to try if he could frighten me. I laughed at the +extravagance of his language, however, and asked him in reply, if he +was fool enough to believe that the foul fiend would play so silly a +masquerade. + +‘Ye ken little about it--little about it,’ said the old man, shaking his +head and beard, and knitting his brows, ‘I could tell ye something about +that.’ + +What his wife mentioned of his being a tale-teller, as well as +a musician, now occurred to me; and as you know I like tales of +superstition, I begged to have a specimen of his talent as we went +along. + +‘It is very true,’ said the blind man, ‘that when I am tired of scraping +thairm or singing ballants, I whiles mak a tale serve the turn among +the country bodies; and I have some fearsome anes, that make the auld +carlines shake on the settle, and the bits o’ bairns skirl on their +minnies out frae their beds. But this that I am gaun to tell you was +a thing that befell in our ain house in my father’s time--that is, my +father was then a hafflins callant; and I tell it to you that it may be +a lesson to you, that are but a young, thoughtless chap, wha ye draw up +wi’ on a lonely road; for muckle was the dool and care that came o’t to +my gudesire.’ + +He commenced his tale accordingly, in a distinct narrative tone of voice +which he raised and depressed with considerable skill; at times sinking +almost into a whisper, and turning his clear but sightless eyeballs upon +my face, as if it had been possible for him to witness the impression +which his narrative made upon my features. I will not spare you a +syllable of it, although it be of the longest; so I make a dash--and +begin + +WANDERING WILLIE’S TALE. + +Ye maun have heard of Sir Robert Redgauntlet of that Ilk, who lived in +these parts before the dear years. The country will lang mind him; and +our fathers used to draw breath thick if ever they heard him named. He +was out wi’ the Hielandmen in Montrose’s time; and again he was in the +hills wi’ Glencairn in the saxteen hundred and fifty-twa; and sae when +King Charles the Second came in, wha was in sic favour as the Laird of +Redgauntlet? He was knighted at Lonon court, wi’ the king’s ain sword; +and being a redhot prelatist, he came down here, rampauging like a lion, +with commissions of lieutenancy (and of lunacy, for what I ken) to put +down a’ the Whigs and Covenanters in the country. Wild wark they made of +it; for the Whigs were as dour as the Cavaliers were fierce, and it was +which should first tire the other. Redgauntlet was ay for the strong +hand; and his name is kend as wide in the country as Claverhouse’s or +Tam Dalyell’s. Glen, nor dargle, nor mountain, nor cave, could hide the +puir hill-folk when Redgauntlet was out with bugle and bloodhound after +them, as if they had been sae mony deer. And troth when they fand them, +they didna mak muckle mair ceremony than a Hielandman wi’ a +roebuck--it was just, ‘Will ye tak the test?’--if not, ‘Make +ready--present--fire!’--and there lay the recusant. + +Far and wide was Sir Robert hated and feared. Men thought he had a +direct compact with Satan--that he was proof against steel--and that +bullets happed aff his buff-coat like hailstanes from a hearth--that +he had a mear that would turn a hare on the side of Carrifra-gawns [A +precipitous side of a mountain in Moffatdale.]--and muckle to the same +purpose, of whilk mair anon. The best blessing they wared on him was, +‘Deil scowp wi’ Redgauntlet!’ He wasna a bad master to his ain folk, +though, and was weel aneugh liked by his tenants; and as for the lackies +and troopers that raid out wi’ him to the persecutions, as the Whigs +caa’d those killing times, they wad hae drunken themsells blind to his +health at ony time. + +Now you are to ken that my gudesire lived on Redgauntlet’s grund--they +ca’ the place Primrose Knowe. We had lived on the grund, and under the +Redgauntlets, since the riding days, and lang before. It was a pleasant +bit; and I think the air is callerer and fresher there than onywhere +else in the country. It’s a’ deserted now; and I sat on the broken +door-cheek three days since, and was glad I couldna see the plight the +place was in; but that’s a’ wide o’ the mark. There dwelt my gudesire, +Steenie Steenson, a rambling, rattling chiel’ he had been in his young +days, and could play weel on the pipes; he was famous at ‘Hoopers and +Girders’--a’ Cumberland couldna, touch him at ‘Jockie Lattin’--and he +had the finest finger for the back-lilt between Berwick and Carlisle. +The like o’ Steenie wasna the sort that they made Whigs o’. And so he +became a Tory, as they ca’ it, which we now ca’ Jacobites, just out of a +kind of needcessity, that he might belang to some side or other. He had +nae ill will to the Whig bodies, and liked little to see the blude rin, +though, being obliged to follow Sir Robert in hunting and hoisting, +watching and warding, he saw muckle mischief, and maybe did some, that +he couldna avoid. + +Now Steenie was a kind of favourite with his master, and kend a’ the +folks about the castle, and was often sent for to play the pipes when +they were at their merriment. Auld Dougal MacCallum, the butler, that +had followed Sir Robert through gude and ill, thick and thin, pool and +stream, was specially fond of the pipes, and ay gae my gudesire his gude +word wi’ the laird; for Dougal could turn his master round his finger. + +Weel, round came the Revolution, and it had like to have broken +the hearts baith of Dougal and his master. But the change was not +a’thegether sae great as they feared, and other folk thought for. The +Whigs made an unco crawing what they wad do with their auld enemies, and +in special wi’ Sir Robert Redgauntlet. But there were ower mony great +folks dipped in the same doings, to mak a spick and span new warld. So +Parliament passed it a’ ower easy; and Sir Robert, bating that he was +held to hunting foxes instead of Covenanters, remained just the man he +was. [The caution and moderation of King William III, and his principles +of unlimited toleration, deprived the Cameronians of the opportunity +they ardently desired, to retaliate the injuries which they had received +during the reign of prelacy, and purify the land, as they called it, +from the pollution of blood. They esteemed the Revolution, therefore, +only a half measure, which neither comprehended the rebuilding the Kirk +in its full splendour, nor the revenge of the death of the Saints on +their persecutors.] His revel was as loud, and his hall as weel +lighted, as ever it had been, though maybe he lacked the fines of the +nonconformists, that used to come to stock his larder and cellar; for it +is certain he began to be keener about the rents than his tenants used +to find him before, and they behoved to be prompt to the rent-day, +or else the laird wasna pleased. And he was sic an awsome body, that +naebody cared to anger him; for the oaths he swore, and the rage that he +used to get into, and the looks that he put on, made men sometimes think +him a devil incarnate. + +Weel, my gudesire was nae manager--no that he was a very great +misguider--but he hadna the saving gift, and he got twa terms’ rent in +arrear. He got the first brash at Whitsunday put ower wi’ fair word +and piping; but when Martinmas came, there was a summons from the +grund-officer to come wi’ the rent on a day preceese, or else Steenie +behoved to flit. Sair wark he had to get the siller; but he was +weel-freended, and at last he got the haill scraped thegether--a +thousand merks--the maist of it was from a neighbour they ca’d Laurie +Lapraik--a sly tod. Laurie had walth o’ gear--could hunt wi’ the hound +and rin wi’ the hare--and be Whig or Tory, saunt or sinner, as the wind +stood. He was a professor in this Revolution warld, but he liked an orra +sough of this warld, and a tune on the pipes weel aneugh at a bytime; +and abune a’, he thought he had gude security for the siller he lent my +gudesire ower the stocking at Primrose Knowe. + +Away trots my gudesire to Redgauntlet Castle wi’ a heavy purse and a +light heart, glad to be out of the laird’s danger. Weel, the first thing +he learned at the castle was, that Sir Robert had fretted himsell into +a fit of the gout, because he did not appear before twelve’ o’clock. It +wasna a’thegether for sake of the money, Dougal thought; but because he +didna like to part wi’ my gudesire aff the grund. Dougal was glad to see +Steenie, and brought him into the great oak parlour, and there sat +the laird his leesome lane, excepting that he had beside him a great, +ill-favoured jackanape, that was a special pet of his; a cankered beast +it was, and mony an ill-natured trick it played--ill to please it was, +and easily angered--ran about the haill castle, chattering and yowling, +and pinching, and biting folk, specially before ill weather, or +disturbances in the state. Sir Robert caa’d it Major Weir, after the +warlock that was burnt; [A celebrated wizard, executed at Edinburgh for +sorcery and other crimes.] and few folk liked either the name or the +conditions of the creature--they thought there was something in it by +ordinar--and my gudesire was not just easy in mind when the door shut +on him, and he saw himself in the room wi’ naebody but the laird, Dougal +MacCallum, and the major, a thing that hadna chanced to him before. + +Sir Robert sat, or, I should say, lay, in a great armed chair, wi’ his +grand velvet gown, and his feet on a cradle; for he had baith gout and +gravel, and his face looked as gash and ghastly as Satan’s. Major Weir +sat opposite to him, in a red laced coat, and the laird’s wig on his +head; and ay as Sir Robert girned wi’ pain, the jackanape girned too, +like a sheep’s-head between a pair of tangs--an ill-faur’d, fearsome +couple they were. The laird’s buff-coat was hung on a pin behind him, +and his broadsword and his pistols within reach; for he keepit up the +auld fashion of having the weapons ready, and a horse saddled day and +night, just as he used to do when he was able to loup on horseback, and +away after ony of the hill-folk he could get speerings of. Some said it +was for fear of the Whigs taking vengeance, but I judge it was just his +auld custom--he wasna, gien to fear onything. The rental-book, wi’ +its black cover and brass clasps, was lying beside him; and a book of +sculduddry sangs was put betwixt the leaves, to keep it open at the +place where it bore evidence against the Goodman of Primrose Knowe, as +behind the hand with his mails and duties. Sir Robert gave my gudesire +a look, as if he would have withered his heart in his bosom. Ye maun ken +he had a way of bending his brows, that men saw the visible mark of a +horseshoe in his forehead, deep dinted, as if it had been stamped there. + +‘Are ye come light-handed, ye son of a toom whistle?’ said Sir Robert. +‘Zounds! if you are’-- + +My gudesire, with as gude acountenance as he could put on, made a leg, +and placed the bag of money on the table wi’ a dash, like a man that +does something clever. The laird drew it to him hastily--‘Is it all +here, Steenie, man?’ + +‘Your honour will find it right,’ said my gudesire. + +‘Here, Dougal,’ said the laird, ‘gie Steenie a tass of brandy +downstairs, till I count the siller and write the receipt.’ + +But they werena weel out of the room, when Sir Robert gied a +yelloch that garr’d the castle rock. Back ran Dougal--in flew the +livery-men--yell on yell gied the laird, ilk ane mair awfu’ than the +ither. My gudesire knew not whether to stand or flee, but he ventured +back into the parlour, where a’ was gaun hirdy-girdie--naebody to say +‘come in,’ or ‘gae out.’ Terribly the laird roared for cauld water to +his feet, and wine to cool his throat; and Hell, hell, hell, and its +flames, was ay the word in his mouth. They brought him water, and when +they plunged his swollen feet into the tub, he cried out it was burning; +and folk say that it DID bubble and sparkle like a seething cauldron. He +flung the cup at Dougal’s head, and said he had given him blood instead +of burgundy; and, sure aneugh, the lass washed clotted blood aff the +carpet; the neist day. The jackanape they caa’d Major Weir, it jibbered +and cried as if it was mocking its master; my gudesire’s head was like +to turn--he forgot baith siller and receipt, and downstairs he +banged; but as he ran, the shrieks came faint and fainter; there was a +deep-drawn shivering groan, and word gaed through the castle that the +laird was dead. + +Weel, away came my gudesire, wi’ his finger in his mouth, and his best +hope was that Dougal had seen the money-bag, and heard the laird +speak of writing the receipt. The young laird, now Sir John, came from +Edinburgh, to see things put to rights. Sir John and his father never +gree’d weel. Sir John had been bred an advocate, and afterwards sat in +the last Scots Parliament and voted for the Union, having gotten, it was +thought, a rug of the compensations--if his father could have come out +of his grave, he would have brained him for it on his awn hearthstane. +Some thought it was easier counting with the auld rough knight than the +fair-spoken young ane--but mair of that anon. + +Dougal MacCallum, poor body, neither grat nor grained, but gaed about +the house looking like a corpse, but directing, as was his duty, a’ +the order of the grand funeral. Now Dougal looked ay waur and waur when +night was coming, and was ay the last to gang to his bed, whilk was in +a little round just opposite the chamber of dais, whilk his master +occupied while he was living, and where he now lay in state, as they +caa’d it, weel-a-day! The night before the funeral, Dougal could keep +his awn counsel nae langer; he came doun with his proud spirit, and +fairly asked auld Hutcheon to sit in his room with him for an hour. When +they were in the round, Dougal took ae tass of brandy to himsell, and +gave another to Hutcheon, and wished him all health and lang life, and +said that, for himsell, he wasna lang for this world; for that, every +night since Sir Robert’s death, his silver call had sounded from the +state chamber, just as it used to do at nights in his lifetime, to call +Dougal to help to turn him in his bed. Dougal said that being alone +with the dead on that floor of the tower (for naebody cared to wake Sir +Robert Redgauntlet like another corpse) he had never daured to answer +the call, but that now his conscience checked him for neglecting his +duty; for, ‘though death breaks service,’ said MacCallum, ‘it shall +never break my service to Sir Robert; and I will answer his next +whistle, so be you will stand by me, Hutcheon.’ + +Hutcheon had nae will to the wark, but he had stood by Dougal in battle +and broil, and he wad not fail him at this pinch; so down the carles +sat ower a stoup of brandy, and Hutcheon, who was something of a clerk, +would have read a chapter of the Bible; but Dougal would hear naething +but a blaud of Davie Lindsay, whilk was the waur preparation. + +When midnight came, and the house was quiet as the grave, sure enough +the silver whistle sounded as sharp and shrill as if Sir Robert was +blowing it, and up got the twa auld serving-men, and tottered into the +room where the dead man lay. Hutcheon saw aneugh at the first glance; +for there were torches in the room, which showed him the foul fiend, in +his ain shape, sitting on the laird’s coffin! Ower he cowped as if he +had been dead. He could not tell how lang he lay in a trance at the +door, but when he gathered himself, he cried on his neighbour, and +getting nae answer, raised the house, when Dougal was found lying dead +within twa steps of the bed where his master’s coffin was placed. As for +the whistle, it was gaen anes and ay; but mony a time was it heard at +the top of the house on the bartizan, and amang the auld chimneys and +turrets where the howlets have their nests. Sir John hushed the matter +up, and the funeral passed over without mair bogle-wark. + +But when a’ was ower, and the laird was beginning to settle his affairs, +every tenant was called up for his arrears, and my gudesire for the full +sum that stood against him in the rental-book. Weel, away he trots to +the castle, to tell his story, and there he is introduced to Sir John, +sitting in his father’s chair, in deep mourning, with weepers and +hanging cravat, and a small wallring rapier by his side, instead of the +auld broadsword that had a hundredweight of steel about it, what with +blade, chape, and basket-hilt. I have heard their communing so often +tauld ower, that I almost think I was there mysell, though I couldna +be born at the time. (In fact, Alan, my companion mimicked, with a +good deal of humour, the flattering, conciliating tone of the tenant’s +address, and the hypocritical melancholy of the laird’s reply. His +grandfather, he said, had, while he spoke, his eye fixed on the +rental-book, as if it were a mastiff-dog that he was afraid would spring +up and bite him). + +‘I wuss ye joy, sir, of the head seat, and the white loaf, and the braid +lairdship. Your father was a kind man to friends and followers; muckle +grace to you, Sir John, to fill his shoon--his boots, I suld say, for he +seldom wore shoon, unless it were muils when he had the gout.’ + +‘Aye, Steenie,’ quoth the laird, sighing deeply, and putting his +napkin to his een, ‘his was a sudden call, and he will be missed in the +country; no time to set his house in order--weel prepared Godward, no +doubt, which is the root of the matter--but left us behind a tangled +heap to wind, Steenie.--Hem! hem! We maun go to business, Steenie; much +to do, and little time to do it in.’ + +Here he opened the fatal volume. I have heard of a thing they call +Doomsday Book--I am clear it has been a rental of back-ganging tenants. + +‘Stephen,’ said Sir John, still in the same soft, sleekit tone of +voice--‘Stephen Stevenson, or Steenson, ye are down here for a year’s +rent behind the hand--due at last term.’ + +STEPHEN. ‘Please your honour, Sir John, I paid it to your father.’ + +SIR JOHN. ‘Ye took a receipt, then, doubtless, Stephen; and can produce +it?’ + +STEPHEN. ‘Indeed I hadna time, an it like your honour; for nae sooner +had I set doun the siller, and just as his honour, Sir Robert, that’s +gaen, drew it till him to count it, and write out the receipt, he was +ta’en wi’ the pains that removed him.’ + +‘That was unlucky,’ said Sir John, after a pause. ‘But ye maybe paid +it in the presence of somebody, I want but a TALIS QUALIS evidence, +Stephen. I would go ower strictly to work with no poor man.’ + +STEPHEN. ‘Troth, Sir John, there was naebody in the room but Dougal +MacCallum the butler. But, as your honour kens, he has e’en followed his +auld master. + +‘Very unlucky again, Stephen,’ said Sir John, without altering his voice +a single note. ‘The man to whom ye paid the money is dead--and the man +who witnessed the payment is dead too--and the siller, which should have +been to the fore, is neither seen nor heard tell of in the repositories. +How am I to believe a’ this?’ + +STEPHEN. ‘I dinna, ken, your honour; but there is a bit memorandum +note of the very coins; for, God help me! I had to borrow out of twenty +purses; and I am sure that ilka man there set down will take his grit +oath for what purpose I borrowed the money.’ + +SIR JOHN. ‘I have little doubt ye BORROWED the money, Steenie. It is the +PAYMENT to my father that I want to have some proof of.’ + +STEPHEN. ‘The siller maun be about the house, Sir John. And since your +honour never got it, and his honour that was canna have taen it wi’ him, +maybe some of the family may have seen it.’ + +SIR JOHN. ‘We will examine the servants, Stephen; that is but +reasonable.’ + +But lackey and lass, and page and groom, all denied stoutly that they +had ever seen such a bag of money as my gudesire described. What was +waur, he had unluckily not mentioned to any living soul of them his +purpose of paying his rent. Ae quean had noticed something under his +arm, but she took it for the pipes. + +Sir John Redgauntlet ordered the servants out of the room, and then said +to my gudesire, ‘Now, Steenie, ye see ye have fair play; and, as I have +little doubt ye ken better where to find the siller than ony other body, +I beg, in fair terms, and for your own sake, that you will end this +fasherie; for, Stephen, ye maun pay or flit.’ + +‘The Lord forgie your opinion,’ said Stephen, driven almost to his wit’s +end--‘I am an honest man.’ + +‘So am I, Stephen,’ said his honour; ‘and so are all the folks in the +house, I hope. But if there be a knave amongst us, it must be he that +tells the story he cannot prove.’ He paused, and then added, mair +sternly, ‘If I understand your trick, sir, you want to take advantage +of some malicious reports concerning things in this family, and +particularly respecting my father’s sudden death, thereby to cheat me +out of the money, and perhaps take away my character, by insinuating +that I have received the rent I am demanding. Where do you suppose this +money to be? I insist upon knowing.’ + +My gudesire saw everything look so muckle against him, that he grew +nearly desperate--however, he shifted from one foot to another, looked +to every corner of the room, and made no answer. + +‘Speak out, sirrah,’ said the laird, assuming a look of his father’s, a +very particular ane, which he had when he was angry--it seemed as if the +wrinkles of his frown made that selfsame fearful shape of a horse’s +shoe in the middle of his brow;--‘Speak out, sir! I WILL know your +thoughts;--do you suppose that I have this money?’ + +‘Far be it frae me to say so,’ said Stephen. + +‘Do you charge any of my people with having taken it?’ + +‘I wad be laith to charge them that may be innocent,’ said my gudesire; +‘and if there be any one that is guilty, I have nae proof.’ + +‘Somewhere the money must be, if there is a word of truth in your +story,’ said Sir John; ‘I ask where you think it is--and demand a +correct answer?’ + +‘In HELL, if you will have my thoughts of it,’ said my gudesire, driven +to extremity, ‘in hell! with your father, his jackanape, and his silver +whistle.’ + +Down the stairs he ran (for the parlour was nae place for him after such +a word) and he heard the laird swearing blood and wounds behind him, +as fast; as ever did Sir Robert, and roaring for the bailie and the +baron-officer. + +Away rode my gudesire to his chief creditor (him they ca’d Laurie +Lapraik) to try if he could make onything out of him; but when he tauld +his story, he got but the worst word in his wame--thief, beggar, and +dyvour, were the saftest terms; and to the boot of these hard terms, +Laurie brought up the auld story of his dipping his hand in the blood +of God’s saunts, just as if a tenant could have helped riding with the +laird, and that a laird like Sir Robert Redgauntlet. My gudesire was, by +this time, far beyond the bounds of patience, and, while he and +Laurie were at deil speed the liars, he was wanchancie aneugh to abuse +Lapraik’s doctrine as weel as the man, ond said things that garr’d +folks’ flesh grue that heard them;--he wasna just himsell, and he had +lived wi’ a wild set in his day. + +At last they parted, and my gudesire was to ride hame through the wood +of Pitmurkie, that is a’ fou of black firs, as they say.--I ken the +wood, but the firs may be black or white for what I can tell.--At the +entry of the wood there is a wild common, and on the edge of the common, +a little lonely change-house, that was keepit then by an ostler-wife, +they suld hae caa’d her Tibbie Faw, and there puir Steenie cried for a +mutchkin of brandy, for he had had no refreshment the haill day. Tibbie +was earnest wi’ him to take a bite of meat, but he couldna think o’t, +nor would he take his foot out of the stirrup, and took off the brandy +wholely at twa draughts, and named a toast at each:--the first was the +memory of Sir Robert Redgauntlet, and might he never lie quiet in his +grave till he had righted his poor bond-tenant; and the second was a +health to Man’s Enemy, if he would but get him back the pock of siller +or tell him what came o’t, for he saw the haill world was like to regard +him as a thief and a cheat, and he took that waur than even the ruin of +his house and hauld. + +On he rode, little caring where. It was a dark night turned, and the +trees made it yet darker, and he let the beast take its ain road through +the wood; when all of a sudden, from tired and wearied that it was +before, the nag began to spring and flee, and stend, that my gudesire +could hardly keep the saddle. Upon the whilk, a horseman, suddenly +riding up beside him, said, ‘That’s a mettle beast of yours, freend; +will you sell him?’ So saying, he touched the horse’s neck with his +riding-wand, and it fell into its auld heigh-ho of a stumbling trot. +‘But his spunk’s soon out of him, I think,’ continued the stranger, ‘and +that is like mony a man’s courage, that thinks he wad do great things +till he come to the proof.’ + +My gudesire scarce listened to this, but spurred his horse, with ‘Gude +e’en to you, freend.’ + +But it’s like the stranger was ane that doesna lightly yield his point; +for, ride as Steenie liked, he was ay beside him at the selfsame pace. +At last my gudesire, Steenie Steenson, grew half angry, and, to say the +truth, half feared. + +‘What is it that ye want with me, freend?’ he said. ‘If ye be a robber, +I have nae money; if ye be a leal man, wanting company, I have nae heart +to mirth or speaking; and if ye want to ken the road, I scarce ken it +mysell.’ + +‘If you will tell me your grief,’ said the stranger, ‘I am one that, +though I have been sair miscaa’d in the world, am the only hand for +helping my freends.’ + +So my gudesire, to ease his ain heart, mair than from any hope of help, +told him the story from beginning to end. + +‘It’s a hard pinch,’ said the stranger; ‘but I think I can help you.’ + +‘If you could lend the money, sir, and take a lang day--I ken nae other +help on earth,’ said my gudesire. + +‘But there may be some under the earth,’ said the stranger. ‘Come, I’ll +be frank wi’ you; I could lend you the money on bond, but you would +maybe scruple my terms. Now, I can tell you, that your auld laird is +disturbed in his grave by your curses, and the wailing of your family, +and if ye daur venture to go to see him, he will give you the receipt.’ + +My gudesire’s hair stood on end at this proposal, but he thought his +companion might be some humoursome chield that was trying to frighten +him, and might end with lending him the money. Besides, he was bauld wi’ +brandy, and desperate wi’ distress; and he said he had courage to go +to the gate of hell, and a step farther, for that receipt. The stranger +laughed. + +Weel, they rode on through the thickest of the wood, when, all of a +sudden, the horse stopped at the door of a great house; and, but that he +knew the place was ten miles off, my father would have thought he was +at Redgauntlet Castle. They rode into the outer courtyard, through the +muckle faulding yetts and aneath the auld portcullis; and the whole +front of the house was lighted, and there were pipes and fiddles, and +as much dancing and deray within as used to be at Sir Robert’s house at +Pace and Yule, and such high seasons. They lap off, and my gudesire, as +seemed to him, fastened his horse to the very ring he had tied him to +that morning, when he gaed to wait on the young Sir John. + +‘God!’ said my gudesire, ‘if Sir Robert’s death be but a dream!’ + +He knocked at the ha’ door just as he was wont, and his auld +acquaintance, Dougal MacCallum--just after his wont, too,--came to open +the door, and said, ‘Piper Steenie, are ye there, lad? Sir Robert has +been crying for you.’ + +My gudesire was like a man in a dream--he looked for the stranger, but +he was gane for the time. At last he just tried to say, ‘Ha! Dougal +Driveower, are ye living? I thought ye had been dead.’ + +‘Never fash yoursell wi’ me,’ said Dougal, ‘but look to yoursell; and +see ye tak naethlng frae ony body here, neither meat, drink, or siller, +except just the receipt that is your ain.’ + +So saying, he led the way out through halls and trances that were weel +kend to my gudesire, and into the auld oak parlour; and there was as +much singing of profane sangs, and birling of red wine, and speaking +blasphemy and sculduddry, as had ever been in Redgauntlet Castle when it +was at the blithest. + +But, Lord take us in keeping, what a set of ghastly revellers they were +that sat around that table! My gudesire kend mony that had long before +gane to their place, for often had he piped to the most part in the +hall of Redgauntlet. There was the fierce Middleton, and the dissolute +Rothes, and the crafty Lauderdale; and Dalyell, with his bald head and +a beard to his girdle; and Earlshall, with Cameron’s blude on his hand; +and wild Bonshaw, that tied blessed Mr. Cargill’s limbs till the blude +sprung; and Dunbarton Douglas, the twice-turned traitor baith to country +and king. There was the Bluidy Advocate MacKenyie, who, for his worldly +wit and wisdom had been to the rest as a god. And there was Claverhouse, +as beautiful as when he lived, with his long, dark, curled locks +streaming down over his laced buff-coat, and his left hand always on his +right spule-blade, to hide the wound that the silver bullet had made. +[See Note 2.] He sat apart from them all, and looked at them with a +melancholy, haughty countenance; while the rest hallooed, and sang, and +laughed, that the room rang. But their smiles were fearfully contorted +from time to time; and their laugh passed into such wild sounds as made +my gudesire’s very nails grow blue, and chilled the marrow in his banes. + +They that waited at the table were just the wicked serving-men and +troopers, that had done their work and cruel bidding on earth. There +was the Lang Lad of the Nethertown, that helped to take Argyle; and +the bishop’s summoner, that they called the Deil’s Rattle-bag; and the +wicked guardsmen in their laced coats; and the savage Highland Amorites, +that shed blood like water; and many a proud serving-man, haughty of +heart and bloody of hand, cringing to the rich, and making them wickeder +than they would be; grinding the poor to powder, when the rich had +broken them to fragments. And mony, mony mair were coming and ganging, +a’ as busy in their vocation as if they had been alive. + +Sir Robert Redgauntlet, in the midst of a’ this fearful riot, cried, wi’ +a voice like thunder, on Steenie Piper to come to the board-head where +he was sitting; his legs stretched out before him, and swathed up with +flannel, with his holster pistols aside him, while the great broadsword +rested against his chair, just as my gudesire had seen him the last time +upon earth--the very cushion for the jackanape was close to him, but the +creature itself was not there--it wasna its hour, it’s likely; for he +heard them say as he came forward, ‘Is not the major come yet?’ And +another answered, ‘The jackanape will be here betimes the morn.’ And +when my gudesire came forward, Sir Robert, or his ghaist, or the deevil +in his likeness, said, ‘Weel, piper, hae ye settled wi’ my son for the +year’s rent?’ + +With much ado my father gat breath to say that Sir John would not settle +without his honour’s receipt. + +‘Ye shall hae that for a tune of the pipes, Steenie,’ said the +appearance of Sir Robert--‘Play us up “Weel hoddled, Luckie”.’ + +Now this was a tune my gudesire learned frae a warlock, that heard it +when they were worshipping Satan at their meetings, and my gudesire had +sometimes played it at the ranting suppers in Redgauntlet Castle, but +never very willingly; and now he grew cauld at the very name of it, and +said, for excuse, he hadna his pipes wi’ him. + +‘MacCallum, ye limb of Beelzebub,’ said the fearfu’ Sir Robert, ‘bring +Steenie the pipes that I am keeping for him!’ + +MacCallum brought a pair of pipes might have served the piper of Donald +of the Isles. But he gave my gudesire a nudge as he offered them; and +looking secretly and closely, Steenie saw that the chanter was of steel, +and heated to a white heat; so he had fair warning not to trust his +fingers with it. So he excused himself again, and said he was faint and +frightened, and had not wind aneugh to fill the bag. + +‘Then ye maun eat and drink, Steenie,’ said the figure; ‘for we +do little else here; and it’s ill speaking between a fou man and a +fasting.’ + +Now these were the very words that the bloody Earl of Douglas said to +keep the king’s messenger in hand while he cut the head off MacLellan of +Bombie, at the Threave Castle, [The reader is referred for particulars +to Pitscottie’s HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.] and that put Steenie mair and mair +on his guard. So he spoke up like a man, and said he came neither to +eat, or drink or make minstrelsy; but simply for his ain--to ken what +was come o’ the money he had paid, and to get a discharge for it; and +he was so stout-hearted by this time that he charged Sir Robert for +conscience-sake (he had no power to say the holy name) and as he hoped +for peace and rest, to spread no snares for him, but just to give him +his ain. + +The appearance gnashed its teeth and laughed, but it took from a large +pocket-book the receipt, and handed it to Steenie. ‘There is your +receipt, ye pitiful cur; and for the money, my dog-whelp of a son may go +look for it in the Cat’s Cradle.’ + +My gudesire uttered mony thanks, and was about to retire when Sir Robert +roared aloud, ‘Stop, though, thou sack-doudling son of a whore! I am not +done with thee. HERE we do nothing for nothing; and you must return on +this very day twelvemonth, to pay your master the homage that you owe me +for my protection.’ + +My father’s tongue was loosed of a suddenty, and he said aloud, ‘I refer +mysell to God’s pleasure, and not to yours.’ + +He had no sooner uttered the word than all was dark around him; and he +sank on the earth with such a sudden shock, that he lost both breath and +sense. + +How lang Steenie lay there, he could not tell; but when he came to +himsell, he was lying in the auld kirkyard of Redgauntlet parochine just +at the door of the family aisle, and the scutcheon of the auld knight, +Sir Robert, hanging over his head. There was a deep morning fog on grass +and gravestane around him, and his horse was feeding quietly beside the +minister’s twa cows. Steenie would have thought the whole was a dream, +but he had the receipt in his hand, fairly written and signed by the +auld laird; only the last letters of his name were a little disorderly, +written like one seized with sudden pain. + +Sorely troubled in his mind, he left that dreary place, rode through +the mist to Redgauntlet Castle, and with much ado he got speech of the +laird. + +‘Well, you dyvour bankrupt,’ was the first word, ‘have you brought me my +rent?’ + +‘No,’ answered my gudesire, ‘I have not; but I have brought your honour +Sir Robert’s receipt for it.’ + +‘Wow, sirrah? Sir Robert’s receipt! You told me he had not given you +one.’ + +‘Will your honour please to see if that bit line is right?’ + +Sir John looked at every line, and at every letter, with much attention; +and at last, at the date, which my gudesire had not observed,--‘FROM MY +APPOINTED PLACE,’ he read, ‘THIS TWENTY-FIFTH OF NOVEMBER.’--‘What! +That is yesterday!--Villain, thou must have gone to hell for this!’ + +‘I got it from your honour’s father--whether he be in heaven or hell, I +know not,’ said Steenie. + +‘I will delate you for a warlock to the Privy Council!’ said Sir +John. ‘I will send you to your master, the devil, with the help of a +tar-barrel and a torch!’ + +‘I intend to delate mysell to the Presbytery,’ said Steenie, ‘and tell +them all I have seen last night, whilk are things fitter for them to +judge of than a borrel man like me.’ + +Sir John paused, composed himsell, and desired to hear the full history; +and my gudesire told it him from point to point, as I have told it +you--word for word, neither more nor less. + +Sir John was silent again for a long time, and at last he said, very +composedly, ‘Steenie, this story of yours concerns the honour of many +a noble family besides mine; and if it be a leasing-making, to keep +yourself out of my danger, the least you can expect is to have a redhot +iron driven through your tongue, and that will be as bad as scauding +your fingers wi’ a redhot chanter. But yet it may be true, Steenie; and +if the money cast up I shall not know what to think of it. But where +shall we find the Cat’s Cradle? There are cats enough about the old +house, but I think they kitten without the ceremony of bed or cradle.’ + +‘We were best ask Hutcheon,’ said my gudesire; ‘he kens a’ the odd +corners about as weel as--another serving-man that is now gane, and that +I wad not like to name.’ + +Aweel, Hutcheon, when he was asked, told them, that a ruinous turret, +lang disused, next to the clock-house, only accessible by a ladder, +for the opening was on the outside, and far above the battlements, was +called of old the Cat’s Cradle. + +‘There will I go immediately,’ said Sir John; and he took (with what +purpose, Heaven kens) one of his father’s pistols from the hall-table, +where they had lain since the night he died, and hastened to the +battlements. + +It was a dangerous place to climb, for the ladder was auld and frail, +and wanted ane or twa rounds. However, up got Sir John, and entered at +the turret-door, where his body stopped the only little light that was +in the bit turret. Something flees at him wi’ a vengeance, maist dang +him back ower--bang gaed the knight’s pistol, and Hutcheon, that +held the ladder, and my gudesire that stood beside him, hears a loud +skelloch. A minute after, Sir John flings the body of the jackanape down +to them, and cries that the siller is fund, and that they should come up +and help him. And there was the bag of siller sure aneugh, and mony orra +thing besides, that had been missing for mony a day. And Sir John, when +he had riped the turret weel, led my gudesire into the dining-parlour, +and took him by the hand and spoke kindly to him, and said he was sorry +he should have doubted his word and that he would hereafter be a good +master to him to make amends. + +‘And now, Steenie,’ said Sir John, ‘although this vision of yours tend, +on the whole, to my father’s credit, as an honest man, that he should, +even after his death, desire to see justice done to a poor man like +you, yet you are sensible that ill-dispositioned men might make bad +constructions upon it, concerning his soul’s health. So, I think, we had +better lay the haill dirdum on that ill-deedie creature, Major Weir, and +say naething about your dream in the wood of Pitmurkie. You had taken +ower muckle brandy to be very certain about onything; and, Steenie, this +receipt’ (his hand shook while he held it out),--‘it’s but a queer kind +of document, and we will do best, I think, to put it quietly in the +fire.’ + +‘Od, but for as queer as it is, it’s a’ the voucher I have for my rent,’ +said my gudesire, who was afraid, it may be, of losing the benefit of +Sir Robert’s discharge. + +‘I will bear the contents to your credit in the rental-book, and give +you a discharge under my own hand,’ said Sir John, ‘and that on the +spot. And, Steenie, if you can hold your tongue about this matter, you +shall sit, from this term downward, at an easier rent.’ + +‘Mony thanks to your honour,’ said Steenie, who saw easily in what +corner the wind was; ‘doubtless I will be comformable to all your +honour’s commands; only I would willingly speak wi’ some powerful +minister on the subject, for I do not like the sort of sommons of +appointment whilk your honour’s father’-- + +‘Do not call the phantom my father!’ said Sir John, interrupting him. + +‘Weel, then, the thing that was so like him,’ said my gudesire; ‘he +spoke of my coming back to see him this time twelvemonth, and it’s a +weight on my conscience.’ + +‘Aweel, then,’ said Sir John, ‘if you be so much distressed in mind, you +may speak to our minister of the parish; he is a douce man, regards the +honour of our family, and the mair that he may look for some patronage +from me.’ + +Wi’ that, my father readily agreed that the receipt should be burnt, and +the laird threw it into the chimney with his ain hand. Burn it would +not for them, though; but away it flew up the lum, wi’ a lang train of +sparks at its tail, and a hissing noise like a squib. + +My gudesire gaed down to the Manse, and the minister, when he had heard +the story, said it was his real opinion that though my gudesire had gaen +very far in tampering with dangerous matters, yet, as he had refused the +devil’s arles (for such was the offer of meat and drink) and had refused +to do homage by piping at his bidding, he hoped, that if he held a +circumspect walk hereafter, Satan could take little advantage by what +was come and gane. And, indeed, my gudesire, of his ain accord, lang +foreswore baith the pipes and the brandy--it was not even till the +year was out, and the fatal day past, that he would so much as take the +fiddle, or drink usquebaugh or tippeny. + +Sir John made up his story about the jackanape as he liked himsell; +and some believe till this day there was no more in the matter than the +filching nature of the brute. Indeed, ye’ll no hinder some to threap +that it was nane o’ the auld Enemy that Dougal and my gudesire saw in +the laird’s room, but only that wanchancy creature, the major, capering +on the coffin; and that, as to the blawing on the laird’s whistle that +was heard after he was dead, the filthy brute could do that as weel as +the laird himsell, if no better. But Heaven kens the truth, whilk first +came out by the minister’s wife, after Sir John and her ain gudeman were +baith in the moulds. And then my gudesire, wha was failed in his limbs, +but not in his judgement or memory--at least nothing to speak of--was +obliged to tell the real narrative to his friends, for the credit of his +good name. He might else have been charged for a warlock. [See Note 3.] + +The shades of evening were growing thicker around us as my conductor +finished his long narrative with this moral--‘Ye see, birkie, it is nae +chancy thing to tak a stranger traveller for a guide, when you are in an +uncouth land.’ + +‘I should not have made that inference,’ said I. ‘Your grandfather’s +adventure was fortunate for himself, whom it saved from ruin and +distress; and fortunate for his landlord also, whom it prevented from +committing a gross act of injustice.’ + +‘Aye, but they had baith to sup the sauce o’t sooner or later,’ said +Wandering Willie--‘what was fristed wasna forgiven. Sir John died +before he was much over three-score; and it was just like of a moment’s +illness. And for my gudesire, though he departed in fullness of life, +yet there was my father, a yauld man of forty-five, fell down betwixt +the stilts of his pleugh, and rase never again, and left nae bairn but +me, a puir sightless, fatherless, motherless creature, could neither +work nor want. Things gaed weel aneugh at first; for Sir Redwald +Redgauntlet, the only son of Sir John, and the oye of auld Sir Robert, +and, waes me! the last of the honourable house, took the farm aff our +hands, and brought me into his household to have care of me. He liked +music, and I had the best teachers baith England and Scotland could gie +me. Mony a merry year was I wi’ him; but waes me! he gaed out with other +pretty men in the Forty-five--I’ll say nae mair about it--My head never +settled weel since I lost him; and if I say another word about it, deil +a bar will I have the heart to play the night.--Look out, my gentle +chap,’ he resumed in a different tone, ‘ye should see the lights at +Brokenburn glen by this time.’ + + + + +LETTER XII + +THE SAME TO THE SAME + + Tam Luter was their minstrel meet, + Gude Lord as he could lance, + He play’d sae shrill, and sang sae sweet, + Till Towsie took a trance. + Auld Lightfoot there he did forleet, + And counterfeited France; + He used himself as man discreet, + And up took Morrice danse sae loud, + At Christ’s Kirk on the Green that day. + KING JAMES I. + +I continue to scribble at length, though the subject may seem somewhat +deficient in interest. Let the grace of the narrative, therefore, +and the concern we take in each other’s matters, make amends for its +tenuity. We fools of fancy who suffer ourselves, like Malvolio, to be +cheated with our own visions, have, nevertheless, this advantage over +the wise ones of the earth, that we have our whole stock of enjoyments +under our own command, and can dish for ourselves an intellectual +banquet with most moderate assistance from external objects. It is, +to be sure, something like the feast which the Barmecide served up to +Alnaschar; and we cannot expect to get fat upon such diet. But then, +neither is there repletion nor nausea, which often succeed the grosser +and more material revel. On the whole, I still pray, with the Ode to +Castle Building-- + + Give me thy hope which sickens not the heart; + Give me thy wealth which has no wings to fly; + Give me the bliss thy visions can impart: + Thy friendship give me, warm in poverty! + +And so, despite thy solemn smile and sapient shake of the head, I will +go on picking such interest as I can out of my trivial adventures, even +though that interest should be the creation of my own fancy; nor will I +cease to indict on thy devoted eyes the labour of perusing the scrolls +in which I shall record my narrative. + +My last broke off as we were on the point of descending into the glen +at Brokenburn, by the dangerous track which I had first travelled EN +CROUPE, behind a furious horseman, and was now again to brave under the +precarious guidance of a blind man. + +It was now getting dark; but this was no inconvenience to my guide, who +moved on, as formerly, with instinctive security of step, so that we +soon reached the bottom, and I could see lights twinkling in the cottage +which had been my place of refuge on a former occasion. It was not +thither, however, that our course was directed. We left the habitation +of the laird to the left, and turning down the brook, soon approached +the small hamlet which had been erected at the mouth of the stream, +probably on account of the convenience which it afforded as a harbour +to the fishing-boats. A large, low cottage, full in our front, seemed +highly illuminated; for the light not only glanced from every window +and aperture in its frail walls, but was even visible from rents and +fractures in the roof, composed of tarred shingles, repaired in part by +thatch and divot. + +While these appearances engaged my attention, that of my companion was +attracted by a regular succession of sounds, like a bouncing on the +floor, mixed with a very faint noise of music, which Willie’s acute +organs at once recognized and accounted for, while to me it was almost +inaudible. The old man struck the earth with his staff in a violent +passion. ‘The whoreson fisher rabble! They have brought another violer +upon my walk! They are such smuggling blackguards, that they must run +in their very music; but I’ll sort them waur than ony gauger in the +country.--Stay--hark--it ‘s no a fiddle neither--it’s the pipe and tabor +bastard, Simon of Sowport, frae the Nicol Forest; but I’ll pipe and +tabor him!--Let me hae ance my left hand on his cravat, and ye shall see +what my right will do. Come away, chap--come away, gentle chap--nae time +to be picking and waling your steps.’ And on he passed with long and +determined strides, dragging me along with him. + +I was not quite easy in his company; for, now that his minstrel pride +was hurt, the man had changed from the quiet, decorous, I might almost +say respectable person, which he seemed while he told his tale, into the +appearance of a fierce, brawling, dissolute stroller. So that when he +entered the large hut, where a great number of fishers, with their wives +and daughters, were engaged in eating, drinking, and dancing, I was +somewhat afraid that the impatient violence of my companion might +procure us an indifferent reception. + +But the universal shout of welcome with which Wandering Willie was +received--the hearty congratulations--the repeated ‘Here’s t’ ye, +Willie!’--‘Where hae ya been, ye blind deevil?’ and the call upon him +to pledge them--above all, the speed with which the obnoxious pipe and +tabor were put to silence, gave the old man such effectual assurance of +undiminished popularity and importance, as at once put his jealousy to +rest, and changed his tone of offended dignity into one better fitted +to receive such cordial greetings. Young men and women crowded round, to +tell how much they were afraid some mischance had detained him, and how +two or three young fellows had set out in quest of him. + +‘It was nae mischance, praised be Heaven,’ said Willie, ‘but the absence +of the lazy loon Rob the Rambler, my comrade, that didna come to meet +me on the Links; but I hae gotten a braw consort in his stead, worth a +dozen of him, the unhanged blackguard.’ + +‘And wha is’t tou’s gotten, Wullie, lad?’ said half a score of voices, +while all eyes were turned on your humble servant, who kept the best +countenance he could, though not quite easy at becoming the centre to +which all eyes were pointed. + +‘I ken him by his hemmed cravat,’ said one fellow; ‘it’s Gil Hobson, the +souple tailor frae Burgh. Ye are welcome to Scotland, ye prick-the-clout +loon,’ he said, thrusting forth a paw; much the colour of a badger’s +back, and of most portentous dimensions. + +‘Gil Hobson? Gil whoreson!’ exclaimed Wandering Willie; ‘it’s a gentle +chap that I judge to be an apprentice wi’ auld Joshua Geddes, to the +quaker-trade.’ + +‘What trade be’s that, man?’ said he of the badger-coloured fist. + +‘Canting and lying,’--said Willie, which produced a thundering laugh; +‘but I am teaching the callant a better trade, and that is, feasting and +fiddling.’ + +Willie’s conduct in thus announcing something like my real character, +was contrary to compact; and yet I was rather glad he did so, for the +consequence of putting a trick upon these rude and ferocious men, might, +in case of discovery, have been dangerous to us both, and I was at the +same time delivered from the painful effort to support a fictitious +character. The good company, except perhaps one or two of the young +women whose looks expressed some desire for better acquaintance, gave +themselves no further trouble about me; but, while the seniors resumed +their places near an immense bowl or rather reeking cauldron of +brandy-punch, the younger arranged themselves on the floor and called +loudly on Willie to strike up. + +With a brief caution to me, to ‘mind my credit, for fishers have ears, +though fish have none,’ Willie led off in capital style, and I followed, +certainly not so as to disgrace my companion, who, every now and then, +gave me a nod of approbation. The dances were, of course, the Scottish +jigs, and reels, and ‘twasome dances’, with a strathspey or hornpipe for +interlude; and the want of grace on the part of the performers was amply +supplied by truth of ear, vigour and decision of step, and the agility +proper to the northern performers. My own spirits rose with the mirth +around me, and with old Willie’s admirable execution, and frequent ‘weel +dune, gentle chap, yet;’--and, to confess the truth, I felt a great deal +more pleasure in this rustic revel, than I have done at the more formal +balls and concerts in your famed city, to which I have sometimes made my +way. Perhaps this was because I was a person of more importance to the +presiding matron of Brokenburn-foot, than I had the means of rendering +myself to the far-famed Miss Nickie Murray, the patroness of your +Edinburgh assemblies. The person I mean was a buxom dame of about +thirty, her fingers loaded with many a silver ring, and three or four +of gold; her ankles liberally displayed from under her numerous blue, +white, and scarlet; short petticoats, and attired in hose of the finest +and whitest lamb’s-wool, which arose from shoes of Spanish cordwain, +fastened with silver buckles. She took the lead in my favour, and +declared, ‘that the brave young gentleman should not weary himself to +death wi’ playing, but take the floor for a dance or twa.’ + +‘And what’s to come of me, Dame Martin?’ said Willie. + +‘Come o’ thee?’ said the dame; ‘mishanter on the auld beard o’ ye! ye +could play for twenty hours on end, and tire out the haill countryside +wi’ dancing before ye laid down your bow, saving for a by-drink or the +like o’ that.’ + +‘In troth, dame,’ answered Willie, ‘ye are no sae far wrang; sae if my +comrade is to take his dance, ye maun gie me my drink, and then bob it +away like Madge of Middlebie.’ + +The drink was soon brought; but while Willie was partaking of it, +a party entered the hut, which arrested my attention at once, and +intercepted the intended gallantry with which I had proposed to present +my hand to the fresh-coloured, well-made, white-ankled Thetis, who had +obtained me manumission from my musical task. + +This was nothing less than the sudden appearance of the old woman whom +the laird had termed Mabel; Cristal Nixon, his male attendant; and the +young person who had said grace to us when I supped with him. + +This young person--Alan, thou art in thy way a bit of a conjurer--this +young person whom I DID NOT describe, and whom you, for that very +reason, suspected was not an indifferent object to me--is, I am sorry to +say it, in very fact not so much so as in prudence she ought. I will not +use the name of love on this occasion; for I have applied it too often +to transient whims and fancies to escape your satire, should I venture +to apply it now. For it is a phrase, I must confess, which I have +used--a romancer would say, profaned--a little too often, considering +how few years have passed over my head. But seriously, the fair chaplain +of Brokenburn has been often in my head when she had no business +there; and if this can give thee any clue for explaining my motives +in lingering about the country, and assuming the character of Willie’s +companion, why, hang thee, thou art welcome to make use of it--a +permission for which thou need’st not thank me much, as thou wouldst not +have failed to assume it whether it were given or no. + +Such being my feelings, conceive how they must have been excited, when, +like a beam upon a cloud, I saw this uncommonly beautiful girl enter the +apartment in which they were dancing; not, however, with the air of +an equal, but that of a superior, come to grace with her presence the +festival of her dependants. The old man and woman attended, with looks +as sinister as hers were lovely, like two of the worst winter months +waiting upon the bright-eyed May. + +When she entered--wonder if thou wilt--she wore A GREEN MANTLE, such as +thou hast described as the garb of thy fair client, and confirmed what +I had partly guessed from thy personal description, that my chaplain and +thy visitor were the same person. There was an alteration on her +brow the instant she recognized me. She gave her cloak to her female +attendant, and, after a momentary hesitation, as if uncertain whether to +advance or retire, she walked into the room with dignity and +composure, all making way, the men unbonneting, and the women curtsying +respectfully, as she assumed a chair which was reverently placed for her +accommodation, apart from others. + +There was then a pause, until the bustling mistress of the ceremonies, +with awkward but kindly courtesy, offered the young lady a glass of +wine, which was at first declined, and at length only thus far accepted, +that, bowing round to the festive company, the fair visitor wished them +all health and mirth, and just touching the brim with her lip, replaced +it on the salver. There was another pause; and I did not immediately +recollect, confused as I was by this unexpected apparition, that it +belonged to me to break it. At length a murmur was heard around me, +being expected to exhibit,--nay, to lead down the dance,--in consequence +of the previous conversation. + +‘Deil’s in the fiddler lad,’ was muttered from more quarters than +one--‘saw folk ever sic a thing as a shame-faced fiddler before?’ + +At length a venerable Triton, seconding his remonstrances with a hearty +thump on my shoulder, cried out, ‘To the floor--to the floor, and let us +see how ye can fling--the lasses are a’ waiting.’ + +Up I jumped, sprang from the elevated station which constituted our +orchestra, and, arranging my ideas as rapidly as I could, advanced +to the head of the room, and, instead of offering my hand to the +white-footed Thetis aforesaid, I venturously made the same proposal to +her of the Green Mantle. + +The nymph’s lovely eyes seemed to open with astonishment at the +audacity of this offer; and, from the murmurs I heard around me, I also +understood that it surprised, and perhaps offended, the bystanders. But +after the first moment’s emotion, she wreathed her neck, and drawing +herself haughtily up, like one who was willing to show that she was +sensible of the full extent of her own condescension, extended her hand +towards me, like a princess gracing a squire of low degree. + +There is affectation in all this, thought I to myself, if the Green +Mantle has borne true evidence--for young ladies do not make visits, or +write letters to counsel learned in the law, to interfere in the motions +of those whom they hold as cheap as this nymph seems to do me; and if +I am cheated by a resemblance of cloaks, still I am interested to show +myself, in some degree, worthy of the favour she has granted with so +much state and reserve. The dance to be performed was the old Scots Jig, +in which you are aware I used to play no sorry figure at La Pique’s, +when thy clumsy movements used to be rebuked by raps over the knuckles +with that great professor’s fiddlestick. The choice of the tune was left +to my comrade Willie, who, having finished his drink, feloniously struck +up the well-known and popular measure, + + Merrily danced the Quaker’s wife, + And merrily danced the Quaker. + +An astounding laugh arose at my expense, and I should have been +annihilated, but that the smile which mantled on the lip of my partner, +had a different expression from that of ridicule, and seemed to say, +‘Do not take this to heart.’ And I did not, Alan--my partner danced +admirably, and I like one who was determined, if outshone, which I could +not help, not to be altogether thrown into the shade. + +I assure you our performance, as well as Willie’s music, deserved +more polished spectators and auditors; but we could not then have been +greeted with such enthusiastic shouts of applause as attended while I +handed my partner to her seat, and took my place by her side, as one who +had a right to offer the attentions usual on such an occasion. She was +visibly embarrassed, but I was determined not to observe her confusion, +and to avail myself of the opportunity of learning whether this +beautiful creature’s mind was worthy of the casket in which nature had +lodged it. + +Nevertheless, however courageously I formed this resolution, you cannot +but too well guess the difficulties I must needs have felt in carrying +it into execution; since want of habitual intercourse with the charmers +of the other sex has rendered me a sheepish cur, only one grain less +awkward than thyself. Then she was so very beautiful, and assumed an +air of so much dignity, that I was like to fall under the fatal error of +supposing she should only be addressed with something very clever; and +in the hasty raking which my brains underwent in this persuasion, not a +single idea occurred that common sense did not reject as fustian on the +one hand, or weary, flat, and stale triticism on the other. I felt as +if my understanding were no longer my own, but was alternately under the +dominion of Aldeborontiphoscophornio, and that of his facetious friend +Rigdum-Funnidos. How did I envy at that moment our friend Jack Oliver, +who produces with such happy complacence his fardel of small talk, and +who, as he never doubts his own powers of affording amusement, passes +them current with every pretty woman he approaches, and fills up the +intervals of chat by his complete acquaintance with the exercise of the +fan, the FLACON, and the other duties of the CAVALIERE SERVENTE. Some +of these I attempted, but I suppose it was awkwardly; at least the Lady +Green Mantle received them as a princess accepts the homage of a clown. + +Meantime the floor remained empty, and as the mirth of the good meeting +was somewhat checked, I ventured, as a DERNIER RESSORT, to propose a +minuet. She thanked me, and told me haughtily enough, ‘she was here +to encourage the harmless pleasures of these good folks, but was not +disposed to make an exhibition of her own indifferent dancing for their +amusement.’ + +She paused a moment, as if she expected me to suggest something; and as +I remained silent and rebuked, she bowed her head more graciously, and +said, ‘Not to affront you, however, a country-dance, if you please.’ + +What an ass was I, Alan, not to have anticipated her wishes! Should I +not have observed that the ill-favoured couple, Mabel and Cristal, had +placed themselves on each side of her seat, like the supporters of the +royal arms? the man, thick, short, shaggy, and hirsute, as the lion; the +female, skin-dried, tight-laced, long, lean, and hungry-faced, like the +unicorn. I ought to have recollected, that under the close inspection +of two such watchful salvages, our communication, while in repose, could +not have been easy; that the period of dancing a minuet was not the very +choicest time for conversation; but that the noise, the exercise, +and the mazy confusion of a country-dance, where the inexperienced +performers were every now and then running against each other, and +compelling the other couples to stand still for a minute at a time, +besides the more regular repose afforded by the intervals of the dance +itself, gave the best possible openings for a word or two spoken in +season, and without being liable to observation. + +We had but just led down, when an opportunity of the kind occurred, and +my partner said, with great gentleness and modesty, ‘It is not perhaps +very proper in me to acknowledge an acquaintance that is not claimed; +but I believe I speak to Mr. Darsie Latimer?’ + +‘Darsie Latimer was indeed the person that had now the honour and +happiness’-- + +I would have gone on in the false gallop of compliment, but she cut me +short. ‘And why,’ she said, ‘is Mr. Latimer here, and in disguise, or at +least assuming an office unworthy of a man of education?--I beg pardon,’ +she continued,--‘I would not give you pain, but surely making, an +associate of a person of that description’-- + +She looked towards my friend Willie, and was silent. I felt heartily +ashamed of myself, and hastened to say it was an idle frolic, which want +of occupation had suggested, and which I could not regret, since it had +procured me the pleasure I at present enjoyed. + +Without seeming to notice my compliment, she took the next opportunity +to say, ‘Will Mr. Latimer permit a stranger who wishes him well to ask, +whether it is right that, at his active age, he should be in so far void +of occupation, as to be ready to adopt low society for the sake of idle +amusement?’ + +‘You are severe, madam,’ I answered; ‘but I cannot think myself degraded +by mixing with any society where I meet’-- + +Here I stopped short, conscious that I was giving my answer an +unhandsome turn. The ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINEM, the last to which a polite +man has recourse, may, however, be justified by circumstances, but +seldom or never the ARGUMENTUM AD FOEMINAM. + +She filled up the blank herself which I had left. ‘Where you meet ME, I +suppose you would say? But the case is different. I am, from my unhappy +fate, obliged to move by the will of others, and to be in places which +I would by my own will gladly avoid. Besides, I am, except for these few +minutes, no participator of the revels--a spectator only, and attended +by my servants. Your situation is different--you are here by choice, +the partaker and minister of the pleasures of a class below you in +education, birth, and fortunes. If I speak harshly, Mr. Latimer,’ she +added, with much sweetness of manner, ‘I mean kindly.’ + +I was confounded by her speech, ‘severe in youthful wisdom’; all +of naive or lively, suitable to such a dialogue, vanished from my +recollection, and I answered with gravity like her own, ‘I am, indeed, +better educated than these poor people; but you, madam, whose kind +admonition I am grateful for, must know more of my condition than I +do myself--I dare not say I am their superior in birth, since I know +nothing of my own, or in fortunes, over which hangs an impenetrable +cloud.’ + +‘And why should your ignorance on these points drive you into low +society and idle habits?’ answered my female monitor. ‘Is it manly to +wait till fortune cast her beams upon you, when by exertion of your own +energy you might distinguish yourself? Do not the pursuits of learning +lie open to you--of manly ambition--of war? But no--not of war, that has +already cost you too dear.’ + +‘I will be what you wish me to be,’ I replied with eagerness--‘You have +but to choose my path, and you shall see if I do not pursue it with +energy, were it only because you command me.’ + +‘Not because I command you,’ said the maiden, ‘but because reason, +common sense, manhood, and, in one word, regard for your own safety, +give the same counsel.’ + +‘At least permit me to reply, that reason and sense never assumed +a fairer form--of persuasion,’ I hastily added; for she turned from +me--nor did she give me another opportunity of continuing what I had +to say till the next pause of the dance, when, determined to bring our +dialogue to a point, I said, ‘You mentioned manhood also, and in the +same breath, personal danger. My ideas of manhood suggest that it is +cowardice to retreat before dangers of a doubtful character. You, who +appear to know so much of my fortunes that I might call you my guardian +angel, tell me what these dangers are, that I may judge whether manhood +calls on me to face or to fly them.’ + +She was evidently perplexed by this appeal. + +‘You make me pay dearly for acting as your humane adviser,’ she replied +at last: ‘I acknowledge an interest in your fate, and yet I dare not +tell you whence it arises; neither am I at liberty to say why, or from +whom, you are in danger; but it is not less true that danger is near +and imminent. Ask me no more, but, for your own sake, begone from this +country. Elsewhere you are safe--here you do but invite your fate.’ + +‘But am I doomed to bid thus farewell to almost the only human being who +has showed an interest in my welfare? Do not say so--say that we shall +meet again, and the hope shall be the leading star to regulate my +course!’ + +‘It is more than probable,’ she said--‘much more than probable, that we +may never meet again. The help which I now render you is all that may be +in my power; it is such as I should render to a blind man whom I might +observe approaching the verge of a precipice; it ought to excite no +surprise, and requires no gratitude.’ + +So saying, she again turned from me, nor did she address me until the +dance was on the point of ending, when she said, ‘Do not attempt to +speak to or approach me again in the course of the night; leave the +company as soon as you can, but not abruptly, and God be with you.’ + +I handed her to her seat, and did not quit the fair palm I held, without +expressing my feelings by a gentle pressure. She coloured slightly, and +withdrew her hand, but not angrily. Seeing the eyes of Cristal and Mabel +sternly fixed on me, I bowed deeply, and withdrew from her; my heart +saddening, and my eyes becoming dim in spite of me, as the shifting +crowd hid us from each other. + +It was my intention to have crept back to my comrade Willie, and resumed +my bow with such spirit as I might, although, at the moment, I would +have given half my income for an instant’s solitude. But my retreat was +cut off by Dame Martin, with the frankness--if it is not an inconsistent +phrase-of rustic coquetry, that goes straight up to the point. + +‘Aye, lad, ye seem unco sune weary, to dance sae lightly? Better the nag +that ambles a’ the day, than him that makes a brattle for a mile, and +then’s dune wi’ the road.’ + +This was a fair challenge, and I could not decline accepting it. +Besides, I could see Dame Martin was queen of the revels; and so many +were the rude and singular figures about me, that I was by no means +certain whether I might not need some protection. I seized on her +willing hand, and we took our places in the dance, where, if I did not +acquit myself with all the accuracy of step and movement which I had +before attempted, I at least came up to the expectations of my partner, +who said, and almost swore, ‘I was prime at it;’ while, stimulated +to her utmost exertions, she herself frisked like a kid, snapped her +fingers like castanets, whooped like a Bacchanal, and bounded from the +floor like a tennis-ball,--aye, till the colour of her garters was no +particular mystery. She made the less secret of this, perhaps, that they +were sky-blue, and fringed with silver. + +The time has been that this would have been special fun; or rather, last +night was the only time I can recollect these four years when it would +not have been so; yet, at this moment, I cannot tell you how I longed +to be rid of Dame Martin. I almost wished she would sprain one of those +‘many-twinkling’ ankles, which served her so alertly; and when, in the +midst of her exuberant caprioling, I saw my former partner leaving +the apartment, and with eyes, as I thought, turning towards me, this +unwillingness to carry on the dance increased to such a point, that I +was almost about to feign a sprain or a dislocation myself, in order to +put an end to the performance. But there were around me scores of old +women, all of whom looked as if they might have some sovereign recipe +for such an accident; and, remembering Gil Blas, and his pretended +disorder in the robber’s cavern, I thought it as wise to play Dame +Martin fair, and dance till she thought proper to dismiss me. What I did +I resolved to do strenuously, and in the latter part of the exhibition +I cut and sprang from the floor as high and as perpendicularly as Dame +Martin herself; and received, I promise you, thunders of applause, for +the common people always prefer exertion and agility to grace. At length +Dame Martin could dance no more, and, rejoicing at my release, I led her +to a seat, and took the privilege of a partner to attend her. + +‘Hegh, sirs,’ exclaimed Dame Martin, ‘I am sair forfoughen! Troth! +callant, I think ye hae been amaist the death o’ me.’ + +I could only atone for the alleged offence by fetching her some +refreshment, of which she readily partook. + +‘I have been lucky in my partners,’ I said, ‘first that pretty young +lady, and then you, Mrs. Martin.’ + +‘Hout wi’ your fleeching,’ said Dame Martin. ‘Gae wa--gae wa, lad; dinna +blaw in folk’s lugs that gate; me and Miss Lilias even’d thegither! Na, +na, lad--od, she is maybe four or five years younger than the like o’ +me,--bye and attour her gentle havings.’ + +‘She is the laird’s daughter?’ said I, in as careless a tone of inquiry +as I could assume. + +‘His daughter, man? Na, na, only his niece--and sib aneugh to him, I +think.’ + +‘Aye, indeed,’ I replied; ‘I thought she had borne his name?’ + +‘She bears her ain name, and that’s Lilias.’ + +‘And has she no other name?’ asked I. + +‘What needs she another till she gets a gudeman?’ answered my Thetis, +a little miffed perhaps--to use the women’s phrase--that I turned +the conversation upon my former partner, rather than addressed it to +herself. + +There was a little pause, which was interrupted by Dame Martin +observing, ‘They are standing up again.’ + +‘True,’ said I, having no mind to renew my late violent CAPRIOLE, and I +must go help old Willie.’ + +Ere I could extricate myself, I heard poor Thetis address herself to +a sort of merman in a jacket of seaman’s blue, and a pair of trousers +(whose hand, by the way, she had rejected at an earlier part of the +evening) and intimate that she was now disposed to take a trip. + +‘Trip away, then, dearie,’ said the vindictive man of the waters, +without offering his hand; ‘there,’ pointing to the floor, ‘is a roomy +berth for you.’ + +Certain I had made one enemy, and perhaps two, I hastened to my original +seat beside Willie, and began to handle my bow. But I could see that my +conduct had made an unfavourable impression; the words, ‘flory conceited +chap,’--‘hafflins gentle,’ and at length, the still more alarming +epithet of ‘spy,’ began to be buzzed about, and I was heartily glad when +the apparition of Sam’s visage at the door, who was already possessed of +and draining a can of punch, gave me assurance that my means of retreat +were at hand. I intimated as much to Willie, who probably had heard +more of the murmurs of the company than I had, for he whispered, ‘Aye, +aye,--awa wi’ ye--ower lang here--slide out canny--dinna let them see ye +are on the tramp.’ + +I slipped half a guinea into the old man’s hand, who answered, ‘Truts +pruts! nonsense but I ‘se no refuse, trusting ye can afford it. Awa wi’ +ye--and if ony body stops ye, cry on me.’ + +I glided, by his advice, along the room as if looking for a partner, +joined Sam, whom I disengaged with some difficulty from his can, and +we left the cottage together in a manner to attract the least possible +observation. The horses were tied in a neighbouring shed, and as +the moon was up, and I was now familiar with the road, broken and +complicated as it is, we soon reached the Shepherd’s Bush, where the old +landlady was sitting up waiting for us, under some anxiety of mind, to +account for which she did not hesitate to tell me that some folks had +gone to Brokenburn from her house, or neighbouring towns, that did not +come so safe back again. ‘Wandering Willie,’ she said, ‘was doubtless a +kind of protection.’ + +Here Willie’s wife, who was smoking in the chimney corner, took up the +praises of her ‘hinnie,’ as she called him, and endeavoured to awaken +my generosity afresh, by describing the dangers from which, as she was +pleased to allege, her husband’s countenance had assuredly been the +means of preserving me. I was not, however, to be fooled out of +more money at this time, and went to bed in haste, full of vanous +cogitations. + +I have since spent a couple of days betwixt Mount Sharon and this place, +and betwixt reading, writing to thee this momentous history, forming +plans for seeing the lovely Lilias, and--partly, I think, for the sake +of contradiction--angling a little in spite of Joshua’a scruples--though +I am rather liking the amusement better as I begin to have some success +in it. + +And now, my dearest Alan, you are in full possession of my secret--let +me as frankly into the recesses of your bosom. How do you feel towards +this fair ignis fatuus, this lily of the desert? Tell me honestly; for +however the recollection of her may haunt my own mind, my love for Alan +Fairford surpasses the love of woman, I know, too, that when you DO +love, it will be to + + Love once and love no more. + +A deep-consuming passion, once kindled in a breast so steady as yours, +would never be extinguished but with life. I am of another and more +volatile temper, and though I shall open your next with a trembling hand +and uncertain heart, yet let it bring a frank confession that this fair +unknown has made a deeper impression on your gravity than you reckoned +for, and you will see I can tear the arrow from my own wound, barb and +all. In the meantime, though I have formed schemes once more to see her, +I will, you may rely on it, take no step for putting them into practice. +I have refrained from this hitherto, and I give you my word of honour, +I shall continue to do so; yet why should you need any further assurance +from one who is so entirely yours as D.L. + +PS.--I shall be on thorns till I receive your answer. I read, and +re-read your letter, and cannot for my soul discover what your real +sentiments are. Sometimes I think you write of her as one in jest--and +sometimes I think that cannot be. Put me at ease as soon as possible. + + + + +LETTER XIII + +ALAN FAIRFORD TO DARSIE LATIMER + +I write on the instant, as you direct; and in a tragi-comic humour, for +I have a tear in my eye and a smile on my cheek. Dearest Darsie, sure +never a being but yourself could be so generous--sure never a being but +yourself could be so absurd! I remember when you were a boy you wished +to make your fine new whip a present to old Aunt Peggy, merely because +she admired it; and now, with like unreflecting and inappropriate +liberality, you would resign your beloved to a smoke-dried young +sophister, who cares not one of the hairs which it is his occupation to +split, for all the daughters of Eve. I in love with your Lilias--your +Green Mantle--your unknown enchantress!--why I scarce saw her for five +minutes, and even then only the tip of her chin was distinctly visible. +She was well made, and the tip of her chin was of a most promising cast +for the rest of the face; but, Heaven save you! she came upon business! +and for a lawyer to fall in love with a pretty client on a single +consultation, would be as wise as if he became enamoured of a +particularly bright sunbeam which chanced for a moment to gild his +bar-wig. I give you my word I am heart-whole and moreover, I assure you, +that before I suffer a woman to sit near my heart’s core, I must see her +full face, without mask or mantle, aye, and know a good deal of her +mind into the bargain. So never fret yourself on my account, my kind and +generous Darsie; but, for your own sake, have a care and let not an idle +attachment, so lightly taken up, lead you into serious danger. + +On this subject I feel so apprehensive, that now when I am decorated +with the honours of the gown, I should have abandoned my career at the +very starting to come to you, but for my father having contrived to +clog my heels with fetters of a professional nature. I will tell you the +matter at length, for it is comical enough; and why should not you +list to my juridical adventures, as well as I to those of your fiddling +knight-errantry? + +It was after dinner, and I was considering how I might best introduce +to my father the private resolution I had formed to set off for +Dumfriesshire, or whether I had not better run away at once, and plead +my excuse by letter, when, assuming the peculiar look with which he +communicates any of his intentions respecting me, that he suspects may +not be altogether acceptable, ‘Alan,’ he said, ‘ye now wear a gown--ye +have opened shop, as we would say of a more mechanical profession; and, +doubtless, ye think the floor of the courts is strewed with guineas, and +that ye have only to stoop down to gather them?’ + +‘I hope I am sensible, sir,’ I replied, ‘that I have some knowledge and +practice to acquire, and must stoop for that in the first place.’ + +‘It is well said,’ answered my father; and, always afraid to give too +much encouragement, added, ‘Very well said, if it be well acted up +to--Stoop to get knowledge and practice is the very word. Ye know very +well, Alan, that in the other faculty who study the ARS MEDENDI, before +the young doctor gets to the bedsides of palaces, he must, as they call +it, walk the hospitals; and cure Lazarus of his sores, before he be +admitted to prescribe for Dives, when he has gout or indigestion’-- + +‘I am aware, sir, that’-- + +‘Whisht--do not interrupt the court. Well--also the chirurgeons have +a useful practice, by which they put their apprentices and tyrones to +work; upon senseless dead bodies, to which, as they can do no good, so +they certainly can do as little harm; while at the same time the tyro, +or apprentice, gains experience, and becomes fit to whip off a leg or +arm from a living subject, as cleanly as ye would slice an onion.’ + +‘I believe I guess your meaning, sir,’ answered I; ‘and were it not for +a very particular engagement’-- + +‘Do not speak to me of engagements; but whisht--there is a good lad--and +do not interrupt the court.’ + +My father, you know, is apt--be it said with all filial duty--to be a +little prolix in his harangues. I had nothing for it but to lean back +and listen. + +‘Maybe you think, Alan, because I have, doubtless, the management of +some actions in dependence, whilk my worthy clients have intrusted +me with, that I may think of airting them your way INSTANTER; and so +setting you up in practice, so far as my small business or influence may +go; and, doubtless, Alan, that is a day whilk I hope may come round. But +then, before I give, as the proverb hath it, “My own fish-guts to my own +sea-maws,” I must, for the sake of my own character, be very sure that +my sea-maw can pick them to some purpose. What say ye?’ + +‘I am so far,’ answered I, ‘from wishing to get early into practice, +sir, that I would willingly bestow a few days’-- + +‘In further study, ye would say, Alan. But that is not the way +either--ye must walk the hospitals--ye must cure Lazarus--ye must cut +and carve on a departed subject, to show your skill.’ + +‘I am sure,’ I replied, ‘I will undertake the cause of any poor man with +pleasure, and bestow as much pains upon it as if it were a duke’s; but +for the next two or three days’-- + +‘They must be devoted to close study, Alan--very close study indeed; for +ye must stand primed for a hearing, IN PRESENTIA DOMINORUM, upon Tuesday +next.’ + +‘I, sir?’ I replied in astonishment--‘I have not opened my mouth in the +Outer House yet!’ + +‘Never mind the court of the Gentiles, man,’ said my father; ‘we will +have you into the Sanctuary at once--over shoes, over boots.’ + +‘But, sir, I should really spoil any cause thrust on me so hastily.’ + +‘Ye cannot spoil it, Alan,’ said my father, rubbing his hands with much +complacency; ‘that is the very cream of the business, man--it is just, +as I said before, a subject upon whilk all the TYRONES have been trying +their whittles for fifteen years; and as there have been about ten or a +dozen agents concerned, and each took his own way, the case is come to +that pass, that Stair or Amiston could not mend it; and I do not think +even you, Alan, can do it much harm--ye may get credit by it, but ye can +lose none.’ + +‘And pray what is the name of my happy client, sir?’ said I, +ungraciously enough, I believe. + +‘It is a well-known name in the Parliament House,’ replied my father. +‘To say the truth, I expect him every moment; it is Peter Peebles.’ [See +Note 4.] + +‘Peter Peebles!’ exclaimed I, in astonishment; ‘he is an insane +beggar--as poor as Job, and as mad as a March hare!’ + +‘He has been pleaing in the court for fifteen years,’ said my father, in +a tone of commiseration, which seemed to acknowledge that this fact +was enough to account for the poor man’s condition both in mind and +circumstances. + +‘Besides, sir,’ I added, ‘he is on the Poor’s Roll; and you know there +are advocates regularly appointed to manage those cases; and for me to +presume to interfere’-- + +‘Whisht, Alan!--never interrupt the court--all THAT is managed for ye +like a tee’d ball’ (my father sometimes draws his similes from his once +favourite game of golf); ‘you must know, Alan, that Peter’s cause was +to have been opened by young Dumtoustie--ye may ken the lad, a son of +Dumtoustie of that ilk, member of Parliament for the county of--, and a +nephew of the laird’s younger brother, worthy Lord Bladderskate, whilk +ye are aware sounds as like being akin to a peatship [Formerly, a +lawyer, supposed to be under the peculiar patronage of any particular +judge, was invidiously termed his PEAT or PET.] and a sheriffdom, as a +sieve is sib to a riddle. Now, Peter Drudgeit, my lord’s clerk, came to +me this morning in the House, like ane bereft of his wits; for it seems +that young Dumtoustie is ane of the Poor’s lawyers, and Peter Peebles’s +process had been remitted to him of course. But so soon as the +harebrained goose saw the pokes [Process-bags.] (as indeed, Alan, they +are none of the least) he took fright, called for his nag, lap on, and +away to the country is he gone; and so? said Peter, my lord is at his +wit’s end wi’ vexation, and shame, to see his nevoy break off the course +at the very starting. “I’ll tell you, Peter,” said I, “were I my lord, +and a friend or kinsman of mine should leave the town while the court +was sitting, that kinsman, or be he what he liked, should never darken +my door again.” And then, Alan, I thought to turn the ball our own way; +and I said that you were a gey sharp birkie, just off the irons, and if +it would oblige my lord, and so forth, you would open Peter’s cause on +Tuesday, and make some handsome apology for the necessary absence of +your learned friend, and the loss which your client and the court had +sustained, and so forth. Peter lap at the proposition like a cock at a +grossart; for, he said, the only chance was to get a new hand, that did +not ken the charge he was taking upon him; for there was not a lad of +two sessions’ standing that was not dead-sick of Peter Peebles and his +cause; and he advised me to break the matter gently to you at the +first; but I told him you were, a good bairn, Alan, and had no will and +pleasure in these matters but mine.’ + +What could I say, Darsie, in answer to this arrangement, so very well +meant--so very vexatious at the same time? To imitate the defection and +flight of young Dumtoustie, was at once to destroy my father’s hopes +of me for ever; nay, such is the keenness with which he regards all +connected with his profession, it might have been a step to breaking +his heart. I was obliged, therefore, to bow in sad acquiescence, when my +father called to James Wilkinson to bring the two bits of pokes he would +find on his table. + +Exit James, and presently re-enters, bending under the load of two huge +leathern bags, full of papers to the brim, and labelled on the greasy +backs with the magic impress of the clerks of court, and the title, +PEEBLES AGAINST PLAINSTANES. This huge mass was deposited on the table, +and my father, with no ordinary glee in his countenance, began to draw +out; the various bundles of papers, secured by none of your red tape +or whipcord, but stout, substantial casts of tarred rope, such as might +have held small craft at their moorings. + +I made a last and desperate effort to get rid of the impending job. ‘I +am really afraid, sir, that this case seems so much complicated, and +there is so little time to prepare, that we had better move the court to +supersede it till next session.’ + +‘How, sir?--how, Alan?’ said my father--‘Would you approbate and +reprobate, sir? You have accepted the poor man’s cause, and if you have +not his fee in your pocket, it is because he has none to give you; and +now would you approbate and reprobate in the same breath of your mouth? +Think of your oath of office, Alan, and your duty to your father, my +dear boy.’ + +Once more, what could I say? I saw from my father’s hurried and alarmed +manner, that nothing could vex him so much as failing in the point he +had determined to carry, and once more intimated my readiness to do my +best, under every disadvantage. + +‘Well, well, my boy,’ said my father, ‘the Lord will make your days long +in the land, for the honour you have given to your father’s grey hairs. +You may find wiser advisers, Alan, but none that can wish you better.’ + +My father, you know, does not usually give way to expressions of +affection, and they are interesting in proportion to their rarity. My +eyes began to fill at seeing his glisten; and my delight at having given +him such sensible gratification would have been unmixed but for the +thoughts of you. These out of the question, I could have grappled with +the bags, had they been as large as corn-sacks. But, to turn what +was grave into farce, the door opened, and Wilkinson ushered in Peter +Peebles. + +You must have seen this original, Darsie, who, like others in the same +predicament, continues to haunt the courts of justice, where he has made +shipwreck of time, means, and understanding. Such insane paupers have +sometimes seemed to me to resemble wrecks lying upon the shoals on the +Goodwin Sands, or in Yarmouth Roads, warning other vessels to keep aloof +from the banks on which they have been lost; or rather, such ruined +clients are like scarecrows and potato-bogies, distributed through the +courts to scare away fools from the scene of litigation. + +The identical Peter wears a huge greatcoat threadbare and patched +itself, yet carefully so disposed and secured by what buttons remain, +and many supplementary pins, as to conceal the still more infirm state +of his under garments. The shoes and stockings of a ploughman were, +however, seen to meet at his knees with a pair of brownish, blackish +breeches; a rusty-coloured handkerchief, that has been black in its +day, surrounded his throat, and was an apology for linen. His hair, half +grey, half black, escaped in elf-locks around a huge wig, made of tow, +as it seemed to me, and so much shrunk that it stood up on the very top +of his head; above which he plants, when covered, an immense cocked hat, +which, like the chieftain’s banner in an ancient battle, may be seen +any sederunt day betwixt nine and ten, high towering above all +the fluctuating and changeful scene in the Outer House, where his +eccentricities often make him the centre of a group of petulant and +teasing boys, who exercise upon him every art of ingenious torture. +His countenance, originally that of a portly, comely burgess, is now +emaciated with poverty and anxiety, and rendered wild by an insane +lightness about the eyes; a withered and blighted skin and complexion; +features begrimed with snuff, charged with the self-importance peculiar +to insanity; and a habit of perpetually speaking to himself. Such was +my unfortunate client; and I must allow, Darsie, that my profession had +need to do a great deal of good, if, as is much to be feared, it brings +many individuals to such a pass. + +After we had been, with a good deal of form, presented to each other, +at which time I easily saw by my father’s manner that he was desirous of +supporting Peter’s character in my eyes, as much as circumstances would +permit, ‘Alan,’ he said, ‘this is the gentleman who has agreed to accept +of you as his counsel, in place of young Dumtoustie.’ + +‘Entirely out of favour to my old acquaintance your father, said Peter. +with a benign and patronizing countenance, ‘out of respect to your +father, and my old intimacy with Lord Bladderskate. Otherwise, by the +REGIAM MAJESTATEM! I would have presented a petition and complaint +against Daniel Dumtoustie, Advocate, by name and surname--I would, by +all the practiques!--I know the forms of process; and I am not to be +triffled with.’ + +My father here interrupted my client, and reminded him that there was a +good deal of business to do, as he proposed to give the young counsel +an outline of the state of the conjoined process, with a view to letting +him into the merits of the cause, disencumbered from the points of form. +‘I have made a short abbreviate, Mr. Peebles,’ said he; ‘having sat up +late last night, and employed much of this morning in wading through +these papers, to save Alan some trouble, and I am now about to state the +result.’ + +‘I will state it myself,’ said Peter, breaking in without reverence upon +his solicitor. + +‘No, by no means,’ said my father; ‘I am your agent for the time.’ + +‘Mine eleventh in number,’ said Peter; ‘I have a new one every year; I +wish I could get a new coat as regularly.’ + +‘Your agent for the time,’ resumed my father; ‘and you, who are +acquainted with the forms, know that the client states the cause to the +agent--the agent to the counsel’-- + +‘The counsel to the Lord Ordinary,’ continued Peter, once set a-going, +like the peal of an alarm clock, ‘the Ordinary to the Inner House, the +President to the Bench. It is just like the rope to the man, the man to +the ox, the ox to the water, the water to the fire’-- + +‘Hush, for Heaven’s sake, Mr. Peebles,’ said my father, cutting his +recitation short; ‘time wears on--we must get to business--you must +not interrupt the court, you know.--Hem, hem! From this abbreviate it +appears’-- + +‘Before you begin,’ said Peter Peebles ‘I’ll thank you to order me a +morsel of bread and cheese, or some cauld meat, or broth, or the like +alimentary provision; I was so anxious to see your son, that I could not +eat a mouthful of dinner.’ + +Heartily glad, I believe, to have so good a chance of stopping his +client’s mouth effectually, my father ordered some cold meat; to which +James Wilkinson, for the honour of the house, was about to add the +brandy bottle, which remained on the sideboard, but, at a wink from my +father, supplied its place with small beer. Peter charged the provisions +with the rapacity of a famished lion; and so well did the diversion +engage him, that though, while my father stated the case, he looked at +him repeatedly, as if he meant to interrupt his statement, yet he always +found more agreeable employment for his mouth, and returned to the +cold beef with an avidity which convinced me he had not had such an +opportunity for many a day of satiating his appetite. Omitting much +formal phraseology, and many legal details, I will endeavour to give +you, in exchange for your fiddler’s tale, the history of a litigant, or +rather, the history of his lawsuit. + +‘Peter Peebles and Paul Plainstanes,’ said my father, entered into +partnership, in the year--, as mercers and linendrapers, in the +Luckenbooths, and carried on a great line of business to mutual +advantage. But the learned counsel needeth not to be told, SOCIETAS EST +MATER DISCORDIARUM, partnership oft makes pleaship. The company being +dissolved by mutual consent, in the year--, the affairs had to be wound +up, and after certain attempts to settle the matter extra-judicially, +it was at last brought into the court, and has branched out into several +distinct processes, most of whilk have been conjoined by the Ordinary. +It is to the state of these processes that counsel’s attention is +particularly directed. There is the original action of Peebles v. +Plainstanes, convening him for payment of 3000l., less or more, as +alleged balance due by Plainstanes. Secondly, there is a counter action, +in which Plainstanes is pursuer and Peebles defender, for 2500l., +less or more, being balance alleged per contra, to be due by Peebles. +Thirdly, Mr. Peeble’s seventh agent advised an action of Compt and +Reckoning at his instance, wherein what balance should prove due on +either side might be fairly struck and ascertained. Fourthly, to meet +the hypothetical case, that Peebles might be found liable in a balance +to Plainstanes, Mr. Wildgoose, Mr. Peebles’s eighth agent, recommended a +Multiplepoinding, to bring all parties concerned into the field.’ + +My brain was like to turn at this account of lawsuit within lawsuit, +like a nest of chip-boxes, with all of which I was expected to make +myself acquainted. + +‘I understand,’ I said, ‘that Mr. Peebles claims a sum of money from +Plainstanes--how then can he be his debtor? and if not his debtor, how +can he bring a Multiplepoinding, the very summons of which sets forth, +that the pursuer does owe certain monies, which he is desirous to pay by +warrant of a judge?’ [Multiplepoinding is, I believe, equivalent to what +is called in England a case of Double Distress.] + +‘Ye know little of the matter, I doubt, friend,’ said Mr. Peebles; ‘a +Multiplepoinding is the safest REMEDIUM JURIS in the whole; form of +process. I have known it conjoined with a declarator of marriage.--Your +beef is excellent,’ he said to my father, who in vain endeavoured to +resume his legal disquisition; ‘but something highly powdered--and the +twopenny is undeniable; but it is small swipes--small swipes--more of +hop than malt-with your leave, I’ll try your black bottle.’ + +My father started to help him with his own hand, and in due measure; +but, infinitely to my amusement, Peter got possession of the bottle by +the neck, and my father’s ideas of hospitality were far too scrupulous +to permit his attempting, by any direct means, to redeem it; so that +Peter returned to the table triumphant, with his prey in his clutch. + +‘Better have a wine-glass, Mr. Peebles,’ said my father, in an +admonitory tone, ‘you will find it pretty strong.’ + +‘If the kirk is ower muckle, we can sing mass in the quire,’ said Peter, +helping himself in the goblet out of which he had been drinking the +small beer. ‘What is it, usquebaugh?--BRANDY, as I am an honest man! I +had almost forgotten the name and taste of brandy. Mr. Fairford elder, +your good health’ (a mouthful of brandy), ‘Mr. Alan Fairford, wishing +you well through your arduous undertaking’ (another go-down of the +comfortable liquor). ‘And now, though you have given a tolerable +breviate of this great lawsuit, of whilk everybody has heard something +that has walked the boards in the Outer House (here’s to ye again, +by way of interim decreet) yet ye have omitted to speak a word of the +arrestments.’ + +‘I was just coming to that point, Mr. Peebles.’ + +‘Or of the action of suspension of the charge on the bill.’ + +‘I was just coming to that.’ + +‘Or the advocation of the Sheriff-Court process.’ + +‘I was just coming to it.’ + +‘As Tweed comes to Melrose, I think,’ said the litigant; and then +filling his goblet about a quarter full of brandy, as if in absence of +mind, ‘Oh, Mr. Alan Fairford, ye are a lucky man to buckle to such a +cause as mine at the very outset! it is like a specimen of all causes, +man. By the Regiam, there is not a REMEDIUM JURIS in the practiques +but ye’ll find a spice o’t. Here’s to your getting weel through with +it--Pshut--I am drinking naked spirits, I think. But if the heathen he +ower strong, we’ll christen him with the brewer’ (here he added a +little small beer to his beverage, paused, rolled his eyes, winked, +and proceeded),--‘Mr. Fairford--the action of assault and battery, +Mr. Fairford, when I compelled the villain Plainstanes to pull my +nose within two steps of King Charles’s statue, in the Parliament +Close--there I had him in a hose-net. Never man could tell me how to +shape that process--no counsel that ever selled mind could condescend +and say whether it were best to proceed by way of petition and +complaint, AD VINDICTAM PUBLICAM, with consent of his Majesty’s +advocate, or by action on the statute for battery PENDENTE LITE, whilk +would be the winning my plea at once, and so getting a back-door out of +court.--By the Regiam, that beef and brandy is unco het at my heart--I +maun try the ale again’ (sipped a little beer); ‘and the ale’s but +cauld, I maun e’en put in the rest of the brandy.’ + +He was as good as his word, and proceeded in so loud and animated +a style of elocution, thumping the table, drinking and snuffing +alternately, that my father, abandoning all attempts to interrupt him, +sat silent and ashamed, suffering, and anxious for the conclusion of the +scene. + +‘And then to come back to my pet process of all--my battery and assault +process, when I had the good luck to provoke him to pull my nose at +the very threshold of the court, whilk was the very thing I wanted--Mr. +Pest, ye ken him, Daddie Fairford? Old Pest was for making it out +HAMESUCKEN, for he said the court might be said--said--ugh!--to be my +dwelling-place. I dwell mair there than ony gate else, and the essence +of hamesucken is to strike a man in his dwelling-place--mind that, young +advocate--and so there’s hope Plainstanes may be hanged, as many has +for a less matter; for, my lords,--will Pest say to the Justiciary +bodies,--my lords, the Parliament House is Peebles’ place of +dwelling, says he--being COMMUNE FORUM, and COMMUNE FORUM EST COMMUNE +DOMICILIUM--Lass, fetch another glass of and score it--time to gae +hame--by the practiques, I cannot find the jug--yet there’s twa of them, +I think. By the Regiam, Fairford--Daddie Fairford--lend us twal pennies +to buy sneeshing, mine is done--Macer, call another cause.’ + +The box fell from his hands, and his body would at the same time have +fallen from the chair, had not I supported him. + +‘This is intolerable,’ said my father--‘Call a chairman, James +Wilkinson, to carry this degraded, worthless, drunken beast home.’ + +When Peter Peebles was removed from this memorable consultation, under +the care of an able-bodied Celt, my father hastily bundled up the +papers, as a showman, whose exhibition has miscarried, hastes to remove +his booth. ‘Here are my memoranda, Alan,’ he said, in a hurried way; +‘look them carefully over--compare them with the processes, and turn +it in your head before Tuesday. Many a good speech has been made for a +beast of a client; and hark ye, lad, hark ye--I never intended to cheat +you of your fee when all was done, though I would have liked to have +heard the speech first; but there is nothing like corning the horse +before the journey. Here are five goud guineas in a silk purse--of your +poor mother’s netting, Alan--she would have been a blithe woman to have +seen her young son with a gown on his back--but no more of that--be a +good boy, and to the work like a tiger.’ + +I did set to work, Darsie; for who could resist such motives? With my +father’s assistance, I have mastered the details, confused as they are; +and on Tuesday I shall plead as well for Peter Peebles as I could for +a duke. Indeed, I feel my head so clear on the subject as to be able +to write this long letter to you; into which, however, Peter and his +lawsuit have insinuated themselves so far as to show you how much they +at present occupy my thoughts. Once more, be careful of yourself, and +mindful of me, who am ever thine, while ALAN FAIRFORD. + +From circumstances, to be hereafter mentioned, it was long ere this +letter reached the person to whom it was addressed. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +NARRATIVE + +The advantage of laying before the reader, in the words of the actors +themselves, the adventures which we must otherwise have narrated in +our own, has given great popularity to the publication of epistolary +correspondence, as practised by various great authors, and by ourselves +in the preceding chapters. Nevertheless, a genuine correspondence of +this kind (and Heaven forbid it should be in any respect sophisticated +by interpolations of our own!) can seldom be found to contain all in +which it is necessary to instruct the reader for his full comprehension +of the story. Also it must often happen that various prolixities and +redundancies occur in the course of an interchange of letters, which +must hang as a dead weight on the progress of the narrative. To avoid +this dilemma, some biographers have used the letters of the personages +concerned, or liberal extracts from them, to describe particular +incidents, or express the sentiments which they entertained; while they +connect them occasionally with such portions of narrative, as may serve +to carry on the thread of the story. + +It is thus that the adventurous travellers who explore the summit of +Mont Blanc now move on through the crumbling snowdrift so slowly, that +their progress is almost imperceptible, and anon abridge their journey +by springing over the intervening chasms which cross their path, with +the assistance of their pilgrim-staves. Or, to make a briefer simile, +the course of story-telling which we have for the present adopted, +resembles the original discipline of the dragoons, who were trained to +serve either on foot or horseback, as the emergencies of the service +required. With this explanation, we shall proceed to narrate some +circumstances which Alan Fairford did not, and could not, write to his +correspondent. + +Our reader, we trust, has formed somewhat approaching to a distinct +idea of the principal characters who have appeared before him during +our narrative; but in case our good opinion of his sagacity has been +exaggerated, and in order to satisfy such as are addicted to the +laudable practice of SKIPPING (with whom we have at times a strong +fellow-feeling), the following particulars may not be superfluous. + +Mr. Saunders Fairford, as he was usually called, was a man of business +of the old school, moderate in his charges, economical and even +niggardly in his expenditure, strictly honest in conducting his own +affairs and those of his clients, but taught by long experience to be +wary and suspicious in observing the motions of others. Punctual as the +clock of Saint Giles tolled nine, the neat dapper form of the little +hale old gentleman was seen at the threshold of the court hall, or at +farthest, at the head of the Back Stairs, trimly dressed in a complete +suit of snuff-coloured brown, with stockings of silk or woollen as, +suited the weather; a bob-wig, and a small cocked hat; shoes blacked +as Warren would have blacked them; silver shoe-buckles, and a gold +stock-buckle. A nosegay in summer, and a sprig of holly in winter, +completed his well-known dress and appearance. His manners corresponded +with his attire, for they were scrupulously civil, and not a little +formal. He was an elder of the kirk, and, of course, zealous for King +George and the Government even to slaying, as he had showed by taking +up arms in their cause. But then, as he had clients and connexions +of business among families of opposite political tenets, he was +particularly cautious to use all the conventional phrases which the +civility of the time had devised, as an admissible mode of language +betwixt the two parties. Thus he spoke sometimes of the Chevalier, but +never either of the Prince, which would have been sacrificing his own +principles, or of the Pretender, which would have been offensive to +those of others. Again, he usually designated the Rebellion as the +AFFAIR of 1745, and spoke of any one engaged in it as a person who had +been OUT at a certain period. [OLD-FASHIONED SCOTTISH CIVILITY.--Such +were literally the points of politeness observed in general society +during the author’s youth, where it was by no means unusual in a company +assembled by chance, to find individuals who had borne arms on one +side or other in the civil broils of 1745. Nothing, according to my +recollection, could be more gentle and decorous than the respect +these old enemies paid to each other’s prejudices. But in this I speak +generally. I have witnessed one or two explosions.] So that, on the +whole, Mr. Fairford was a man much liked and respected on all sides, +though his friends would not have been sorry if he had given a dinner +more frequently, as his little cellar contained some choice old wine, of +which, on such rare occasions he was no niggard. + +The whole pleasure of this good old-fashioned man of method, besides +that which he really felt in the discharge of his daily business, was +the hope to see his son Alan, the only fruit of a union which death +early dissolved, attain what in the father’s eyes was the proudest of +all distinctions--the rank and fame of a well-employed lawyer. + +Every profession has its peculiar honours, and Mr. Fairford’s mind was +constructed upon so limited and exclusive a plan, that he valued nothing +save the objects of ambition which his own presented. He would have +shuddered at Alan’s acquiring the renown of a hero, and laughed with +scorn at the equally barren laurels of literature; it was by the path of +the law alone that he was desirous to see him rise to eminence, and +the probabilities of success or disappointment were the thoughts of his +father by day, and his dream by night. + +The disposition of Alan Fairford, as well as his talents, were such as +to encourage his father’s expectations. He had acuteness of intellect, +joined to habits of long and patient study, improved no doubt by the +discipline of his father’s house; to which, generally speaking, he +conformed with the utmost docility, expressing no wish for greater or +more frequent relaxation than consisted with his father’s anxious and +severe restrictions. When he did indulge in any juvenile frolics, his +father had the candour to lay the whole blame upon his more mercurial +companion, Darsie Latimer. + +This youth, as the reader must be aware, had been received as an inmate +into the family of Mr. Fairford, senior, at a time when some of the +delicacy of constitution which had abridged the life of his consort +began to show itself in the son, and when the father was, of course, +peculiarly disposed to indulge his slightest wish. That the young +Englishman was able to pay a considerable board, was a matter of no +importance to Mr. Fairford; it was enough that his presence seemed to +make his son cheerful and happy. He was compelled to allow that ‘Darsie +was a fine lad, though unsettled,’ and he would have had some difficulty +in getting rid of him, and the apprehensions which his levities excited, +had it not been for the voluntary excursion which gave rise to the +preceding correspondence, and in which Mr. Fairford secretly rejoiced, +as affording the means of separating Alan from his gay companion, at +least until he should have assumed, and become accustomed to, the duties +of his dry and laborious profession. + +But the absence of Darsie was far from promoting the end which the elder +Mr. Fairford had expected and desired. The young men were united by the +closest bonds of intimacy; and the more so, that neither of them sought +nor desired to admit any others into their society. Alan Fairford was +averse to general company, from a disposition naturally reserved, +and Darsie Latimer from a painful sense of his own unknown origin, +peculiarly afflicting in a country where high and low are professed +genealogists. The young men were all in all to each other; it is no +wonder, therefore, that their separation was painful, and that its +effects upon Alan Fairford, joined to the anxiety occasioned by the +tenor of his friend’s letters, greatly exceeded what the senior had +anticipated. The young man went through his usual duties, his studies, +and the examinations to which he was subjected, but with nothing like +the zeal and assiduity which he had formerly displayed; and his anxious +and observant father saw but too plainly that his heart was with his +absent comrade. + +A philosopher would have given way to this tide of feeling, in hopes to +have diminished its excess, and permitted the youths to have been +some time together, that their intimacy might have been broken off by +degrees; but Mr. Fairford only saw the more direct mode of continued +restraint, which, however, he was desirous of veiling under some +plausible pretext. In the anxiety which he felt on this occasion, he had +held communication with an old acquaintance, Peter Drudgeit, with whom +the reader is partly acquainted. ‘Alan,’ he said, ‘was ance wud, and +ay waur; and he was expecting every moment when he would start off in a +wildgoose-chase after the callant Latimer; Will Sampson, the horse-hirer +in Candlemaker Row, had given him a hint that Alan had been looking for +a good hack, to go to the country for a few days. And then to oppose +him downright--he could not but think on the way his poor mother was +removed. Would to Heaven he was yoked to some tight piece of business, +no matter whether well or ill paid, but some job that would hamshackle +him at least until the courts rose, if it were but for decency’s sake.’ + +Peter Drudgeit sympathized, for Peter had a son, who, reason or none, +would needs exchange the torn and inky fustian sleeves for the blue +jacket and white lapelle; and he suggested, as the reader knows, the +engaging our friend Alan in the matter of Poor Peter Peebles, just +opened by the desertion of young Dumtoustie, whose defection would be at +the same time concealed; and this, Drudgeit said, ‘would be felling two +dogs with one stone.’ + +With these explanations, the reader will hold a man of the elder +Fairford’s sense and experience free from the hazardous and impatient +curiosity with which boys fling a puppy into a deep pond, merely to see +if the creature can swim. However confident in his son’s talents, which +were really considerable, he would have been very sorry to have involved +him in the duty of pleading a complicated and difficult case, upon +his very first appearance at the bar, had he not resorted to it as an +effectual way to prevent the young man from taking a step which his +habits of thinking represented as a most fatal one at his outset of +life. + +Betwixt two evils, Mr. Fairford chose that which was in his own +apprehension the least; and, like a brave officer sending forth his son +to battle, rather chose he should die upon the breach, than desert the +conflict with dishonour. Neither did he leave him to his own unassisted +energies. Like Alpheus preceding Hercules, he himself encountered the +Augean mass of Peter Peebles’ law-matters. It was to the old man a +labour of love to place in a clear and undistorted view the real merits +of this case, which the carelessness and blunders of Peter’s former +solicitors had converted into a huge chaotic mass of unintelligible +technicality; and such was his skill and industry, that he was +able, after the severe toil of two or three days, to present to the +consideration of the young counsel the principal facts of the case, in +a light equally simple and comprehensible. With the assistance of a +solicitor so affectionate and indefatigable, Alan Fairford was enabled, +then the day of trial arrived, to walk towards the court, attended by +his anxious yet encouraging parent, with some degree of confidence that +he would lose no reputation upon this arduous occasion. + +They were met at the door of the court by Poor Peter Peebles in his +usual plenitude of wig and celsitude of hat. He seized on the young +pleader like a lion on his prey. ‘How is a’ wi’ you, Mr. Alan--how is +a’ wi’ you, man? The awfu’ day is come at last--a day that will be lang +minded in this house. Poor Peter Peebles against Plainstanes--conjoined +proceases--Hearing in presence--stands for the Short Roll for this +day--I have not been able to sleep for a week for thinking of it, and, I +dare to say, neither has the Lord President himsell--for such a cause!! +But your father garr’d me tak a wee drap ower muckle of his pint bottle +the other night; it’s no right to mix brandy wi’ business, Mr. Fairford. +I would have been the waur o’ liquor if I would have drank as muckle as +you twa would have had me. But there’s a time for a’ things, and if +ye will dine with me after the case is heard, or whilk is the same, or +maybe better, I’LL gang my ways hame wi’ YOU, and I winna object to a +cheerfu’ glass, within the bounds of moderation.’ + +Old Fairford shrugged his shoulders and hurried past the client, saw +his son wrapped in the sable bombazine, which, in his eyes, was more +venerable than an archbishop’s lawn, and could not help fondly patting +his shoulder, and whispering to him to take courage, and show he was +worthy to wear it. The party entered the Outer Hall of the court, (once +the place of meeting of the ancient Scottish Parliament), and which +corresponds to the use of Westminster Hall in England, serving as a +vestibule to the Inner House, as it is termed, and a place of dominion +to certain sedentary personages called Lords Ordinary. + +The earlier part of the morning was spent by old Fairford in reiterating +his instructions to Alan, and in running from one person to another, +from whom he thought he could still glean some grains of information, +either concerning the point at issue, or collateral cases. Meantime, +Poor Peter Peebles, whose shallow brain was altogether unable to bear +the importance of the moment, kept as close to his young counsel as +shadow to substance, affected now to speak loud, now to whisper in his +ear, now to deck his ghastly countenance with wreathed smiles, now to +cloud it with a shade of deep and solemn importance, and anon to contort +it with the sneer of scorn and derision. These moods of the client’s +mind were accompanied with singular ‘mockings and mowings,’ fantastic +gestures, which the man of rags and litigation deemed appropriate to his +changes of countenance. Now he brandished his arm aloft, now thrust his +fist straight out, as if to knock his opponent down. Now he laid his +open palm on his bosom, and now hinging it abroad, he gallantly snapped +his fingers in the air. + +These demonstrations, and the obvious shame and embarrassment of Alan +Fairford, did not escape the observation of the juvenile idlers in the +hall. They did not, indeed, approach Peter with their usual familiarity, +from some feeling of deference towards Fairford, though many accused +him of conceit in presuming to undertake, at this early stage of his +practice, a case of considerable difficulty. But Alan, notwithstanding +this forbearance, was not the less sensible that he and his companion +were the subjects of many a passing jest, and many a shout of laughter, +with which that region at all times abounds. + +At length the young counsel’s patience gave way, and as it threatened to +carry his presence of mind and recollection along with it, Alan frankly +told his father, that unless he was relieved from the infliction of his +client’s personal presence and instructions, he must necessarily throw +up his brief, and decline pleading the case. + +‘Hush, hush, my dear Alan,’ said the old gentleman, almost at his +own wit’s end upon hearing this dilemma; ‘dinna mind the silly +ne’er-do-weel; we cannot keep the man from hearing his own cause, though +he be not quite right in the head.’ + +‘On my life, sir,’ answered Alan, ‘I shall be unable to go on, he drives +everything out of my remembrance; and if I attempt to speak seriously of +the injuries he has sustained, and the condition he is reduced to, how +can I expect but that the very appearance of such an absurd scarecrow +will turn it all into ridicule?’ + +‘There is something in that,’ said Saunders Fairford, glancing a look +at Poor Peter, and then cautiously inserting his forefinger under his +bob-wig, in order to rub his temple and aid his invention; ‘he is no +figure for the fore-bar to see without laughing; but how to get rid +of him? To speak sense, or anything like it, is the last thing he will +listen to. Stay, aye,--Alan, my darling, hae patience; I’ll get him off +on the instant, like a gowff ba’.’ + +So saying, he hastened to his ally, Peter Drudgeit, who on seeing him +with marks of haste in his gait, and care upon his countenance, clapped +his pen behind his ear, with ‘What’s the stir now, Mr. Saunders? Is +there aught wrang?’ + +‘Here’s a dollar, man,’ said Mr. Saunders; ‘now, or never, Peter, do me +a good turn. Yonder’s your namesake, Peter Peebles, will drive the swine +through our bonny hanks of yarn; get him over to John’s Coffeehouse, +man--gie him his meridian--keep him there, drunk or sober, till the +hearing is ower.’ [The simile is obvious, from the old manufacture of +Scotland, when the gudewife’s thrift, as the yarn wrought in the winter +was called, when laid down to bleach by the burn-side, was peculiarly +exposed to the inroads of pigs, seldom well regulated about a Scottish +farm-house.] + +‘Eneugh said,’ quoth Peter Drudgeit, no way displeased with his own +share in the service required, ‘We’se do your bidding.’ + +Accordingly, the scribe was presently seen whispering in the ear of +Peter Peebles, whose response came forth in the following broken form:-- + +‘Leave the court for ae minute on this great day of judgement? not I, by +the Reg--Eh! what? Brandy, did ye say--French brandy?--couldna ye fetch +a stoup to the bar under your coat, man? Impossible? Nay, if it’s clean +impossible, and if we have an hour good till they get through the single +bill and the summar-roll, I carena if I cross the close wi’ you; I am +sure I need something to keep my heart up this awful day; but I’ll no +stay above an instant--not above a minute of time--nor drink aboon a +single gill,’ + +In a few minutes afterwards, the two Peters were seen moving through the +Parliament Close (which new-fangled affectation has termed a Square), +the triumphant Drudgeit leading captive the passive Peebles, whose legs +conducted him towards the dramshop, while his reverted eyes were +fixed upon the court. They dived into the Cimmerian abysses of John’s +Coffeehouse, [See Note 5.] formerly the favourite rendezvous of the +classical and genial Doctor Pitcairn, and were for the present seen no +more. + +Relieved from his tormentor, Alan Fairford had time to rally his +recollections, which, in the irritation of his spirits, had nearly +escaped him, and to prepare himself far a task, the successful discharge +or failure in which must, he was aware, have the deepest influence upon +his fortunes. He had pride, was not without a consciousness of talent, +and the sense of his father’s feelings upon the subject impelled him to +the utmost exertion. Above all, he had that sort of self-command +which is essential to success in every arduous undertaking, and he was +constitutionally free from that feverish irritability by which +those whose over-active imaginations exaggerate difficulties, render +themselves incapable of encountering such when they arrive. + +Having collected all the scattered and broken associations which were +necessary, Alan’s thoughts reverted to Dumfriesshire, and the precarious +situation in which he feared his beloved friend had placed himself; and +once and again he consulted his watch, eager to have his present task +commenced and ended, that he might hasten to Darsie’s assistance. The +hour and moment at length arrived. The macer shouted, with all his +well-remembered brazen strength of lungs, ‘Poor Peter Peebles VERSUS +Plainstanes, PER Dumtoustie ET Tough!--Maister Da-a-niel Dumtoustie!’ +Dumtoustie answered not the summons, which, deep and swelling as it was, +could not reach across the Queensferry; but our Maister Alan Fairford +appeared in his place. + +The court was very much crowded; for much amusement had been received +on former occasions when Peter had volunteered his own oratory, and +had been completely successful in routing the gravity of the whole +procedure, and putting to silence, not indeed the counsel of the +opposite party, but his own. + +Both bench and audience seemed considerably surprised at the juvenile +appearance of the young man who appeared in the room of Dumtoustie, for +the purpose of opening this complicated and long depending process, and +the common herd were disappointed at the absence of Peter the client, +the Punchinello of the expected entertainment. The judges looked with +a very favourable countenance on our friend Alan, most of them being +acquainted, more or less, with so old a practitioner as his father, and +all, or almost all, affording, from civility, the same fair play to the +first pleading of a counsel, which the House of Commons yields to the +maiden speech of one of its members. + +Lord Bladderskate was an exception to this general expression of +benevolence. He scowled upon Alan, from beneath his large, shaggy, grey +eyebrows, just as if the young lawyer had been usurping his nephew’s +honours, instead of covering his disgrace; and, from feelings which did +his lordship little honour, he privately hoped the young man would not +succeed in the cause which his kinsman had abandoned. + +Even Lord Bladderskate, however, was, in spite of himself, pleased with +the judicious and modest tone in which Alan began his address to the +court, apologizing for his own presumption, and excusing it by the +sudden illness of his learned brother, for whom the labour of opening +a cause of some difficulty and importance had been much more worthily +designed. He spoke of himself as he really was, and of young Dumtoustie +as what he ought to have been, taking care not to dwell on either topic +a moment longer than was necessary. The old judge’s looks became benign; +his family pride was propitiated, and, pleased equally with the modesty +and civility of the young man whom he had thought forward and officious, +he relaxed the scorn of his features into an expression of profound +attention; the highest compliment, and the greatest encouragement, which +a judge can render to the counsel addressing him. + +Having succeeded in securing the favourable attention of the court, +the young lawyer, using the lights which his father’s experience and +knowledge of business had afforded him, proceeded with an address and +clearness, unexpected from one of his years, to remove from the case +itself those complicated formalities with which it had been loaded, as a +surgeon strips from a wound the dressings which had been hastily wrapped +round it, in order to proceed to his cure SECUNDUM ARTEM. Developed of +the cumbrous and complicated technicalities of litigation, with which +the perverse obstinacy of the client, the inconsiderate haste or +ignorance of his agents, and the evasions of a subtle adversary, had +invested the process, the cause of Poor Peter Peebles, standing upon +its simple merits, was no bad subject for the declamation of a young +counsel, nor did our friend Alan fail to avail himself of its strong +points. + +He exhibited his client as a simple-hearted, honest, well-meaning +man, who, during a copartnership of twelve years, had gradually become +impoverished, while his partner (his former clerk) having no funds but +his share of the same business, into which he had been admitted without +any advance of stock, had become gradually more and more wealthy. + +‘Their association,’ said Alan, and the little flight was received +with some applause, ‘resembled the ancient story of the fruit which was +carved with a knife poisoned on one side of the blade only, so that +the individual to whom the envenomed portion was served, drew decay and +death from what afforded savour and sustenance to the consumer of the +other moiety.’ He then plunged boldly into the MARE MAGNUM of accompts +between the parties; he pursued each false statement from the waste-book +to the day-book, from the day-book to the bill-book, from the bill-book +to the ledger; placed the artful interpolations and insertions of the +fallacious Plainstanes in array against each other, and against the +fact; and availing himself to the utmost of his father’s previous +labours, and his own knowledge of accompts, in which he had been +sedulously trained, he laid before the court a clear and intelligible +statement of the affairs of the copartnery, showing, with precision, +that a large balance must, at the dissolution, have been due to his +client, sufficient to have enabled him to have carried on business on +his own account, and thus to have retained his situation in society as +an independent and industrious tradesman. ‘But instead of this justice +being voluntarily rendered by the former clerk to his former master,--by +the party obliged to his benefactor,--by one honest man to another,--his +wretched client had been compelled to follow his quondam clerk, his +present debtor, from court to court; had found his just claims met with +well-invented but unfounded counter-claims, had seen his party shift +his character of pursuer or defender, as often as Harlequin effects his +transformations, till, in a chase so varied and so long, the unhappy +litigant had lost substance, reputation, and almost the use of reason +itself, and came before their lordships an object of thoughtless +derision to the unreflecting, of compassion to the better-hearted, and +of awful meditation to every one who considered that, in a country where +excellent laws were administered by upright and incorruptible judges, a +man might pursue an almost indisputable claim through all the mazes of +litigation; lose fortune, reputation, and reason itself in the chase, +and now come before the supreme court of his country in the wretched +condition of his unhappy client, a victim to protracted justice, and to +that hope delayed which sickens the heart.’ + +The force of this appeal to feeling made as much impression on the Bench +as had been previously effected by the clearness of Alan’s argument. +The absurd form of Peter himself, with his tow-wig, was fortunately not +present to excite any ludicrous emotion, and the pause that took place +when the young lawyer had concluded his speech, was followed by a murmur +of approbation, which the ears of his father drank in as the sweetest +sounds that had ever entered them. Many a hand of gratulation was thrust +out to his grasp, trembling as it was with anxiety, and finally with +delight; his voice faltering as he replied, ‘Aye, aye, I kend Alan was +the lad to make a spoon or spoil a horn.’ [Said of an adventurous gipsy, +who resolves at all risks to convert a sheep’s horn into a spoon.] + +The counsel on the other side arose, an old practitioner, who had noted +too closely the impression made by Alan’s pleading not to fear the +consequences of an immediate decision. He paid the highest compliments +to his very young brother--‘the Benjamin, as he would presume to call +him, of the learned Faculty--said the alleged hardships of Mr. +Peebles were compensated by his being placed in a situation where +the benevolence of their lordships had assigned him gratuitously such +assistance as he might not otherwise have obtained at a high price--and +allowed his young brother had put many things in such a new point of +view, that, although he was quite certain of his ability to refute them, +he was honestly desirous of having a few hours to arrange his answer, +in order to be able to follow Mr. Fairford from point to point. He +had further to observe, there was one point of the case to which +his brother, whose attention had been otherwise so wonderfully +comprehensive, had not given the consideration which he expected; it was +founded on the interpretation of certain correspondence which had passed +betwixt the parties soon after the dissolution of the copartnery.’ + +The court having heard Mr. Tough, readily allowed him two days for +preparing himself, hinting at the same time that he might find his task +difficult, and affording the young counsel, with high encomiums upon the +mode in which he had acquitted himself, the choice of speaking, +either now or at the next calling of the cause, upon the point which +Plainstanes’s lawyer had adverted to. + +Alan modestly apologized for what in fact had been an omission very +pardonable in so complicated a case, and professed himself instantly +ready to go through that correspondence, and prove that it was in +form and substance exactly applicable to the view of the case he had +submitted to their lordships. He applied to his father, who sat behind +him, to hand him, from time to time, the letters, in the order in which +he meant to read and comment upon them. + +Old Counsellor Tough had probably formed an ingenious enough scheme to +blunt the effect of the young lawyer’s reasoning, by thus obliging him +to follow up a process of reasoning, clear and complete in itself, by +a hasty and extemporary appendix. If so, he seemed likely to be +disappointed; for Alan was well prepared on this as on other parts of +the cause, and recommenced his pleading with a degree of animation which +added force even to what he had formerly stated, and might perhaps have +occasioned the old gentleman to regret his having again called him up, +when his father, as he handed him the letters, put one into his hand +which produced a singular effect on the pleader. + +At the first glance, he saw that the paper had no reference to the +affairs of Peter Peebles; but the first glance also showed him, what, +even at that time, and in that presence, he could not help reading; and +which, being read, seemed totally to disconcert his ideas. He stopped +short in his harangue--gazed on the paper with a look of surprise and +horror-uttered an exclamation, and flinging down the brief which he had +in his hand, hurried out of court without returning a single word of +answer to the various questions, ‘What was the matter?’--‘Was he taken +unwell?’--‘Should not a chair be called?’ &c. &c. &c. + +The elder Mr. Fairford, who remained seated, and looking as senseless as +if he had been made of stone, was at length recalled to himself by the +anxious inquiries of the judges and the counsel after his son’s health. +He then rose with an air, in which was mingled the deep habitual +reverence in which he held the court, with some internal cause of +agitation, and with difficulty mentioned something of a mistake--a piece +of bad news--Alan, he hoped would be well enough to-morrow. But unable +to proceed further, he clasped his hands together, exclaiming, ‘My son! +my son!’ and left the court hastily, as if in pursuit of him. + +‘What’s the matter with the auld bitch next?’ [Tradition ascribes this +whimsical style of language to the ingenious and philosophical Lord +Kaimes.] said an acute metaphysical judge, though somewhat coarse in +his manners, aside to his brethren. ‘This is a daft cause, +Bladderskate--first, it drives the poor man mad that aught it--then your +nevoy goes daft with fright, and flies the pit--then this smart young +hopeful is aff the hooks with too hard study, I fancy--and now auld +Saunders Fairford is as lunatic as the best of them. What say ye till’t, +ye bitch?’ + +‘Nothing, my lord,’ answered Bladderskate, much too formal to admire the +levities in which his philosophical brother sometimes indulged--‘I say +nothing, but pray to Heaven to keep our own wits.’ + +‘Amen, amen,’ answered his learned brother; ‘for some of us have but few +to spare.’ + +The court then arose, and the audience departed, greatly wondering at +the talent displayed by Alan Fairford at his first appearance in a case +so difficult and so complicated, and assigning a hundred conjectural +causes, each different from the others, for the singular interruption +which had clouded his day of success. The worst of the whole was, that +six agents, who had each come to the separate resolution of thrusting a +retaining fee into Alan’s hand as he left the court, shook their heads +as they returned the money into their leathern pouches, and said, ‘that +the lad was clever, but they would like to see more of him before they +engaged him in the way of business--they did not like his lowping away +like a flea in a blanket.’ + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Had our friend Alexander Fairford known the consequences of his son’s +abrupt retreat from the court, which are mentioned in the end of the +last chapter, it might have accomplished the prediction of the lively +old judge, and driven him utterly distracted. As it was, he was +miserable enough. His son had risen ten degrees higher in his estimation +than ever by his display of juridical talents, which seemed to assure +him that the applause of the judges and professors of the law, which, in +his estimation, was worth that of all mankind besides, authorized to +the fullest extent the advantageous estimate which even his parental +partiality had been induced to form of Alan’s powers. On the other hand, +he felt that he was himself a little humbled, from a disguise which he +had practised towards this son of his hopes and wishes. + +The truth was, that on the morning of this eventful day, Mr. Alexander +Fairford had received from his correspondent and friend, Provost Crosbie +of Dumfries, a letter of the following tenor: + +‘DEAR SIR, ‘Your respected favour of 25th ultimo, per favour of +Mr. Darsie Latimer, reached me in safety, and I showed to the young +gentleman such attention as he was pleased to accept of. The object of +my present writing is twofold. First, the council are of opinion that +you should now begin to stir in the thirlage cause; and they think they +will be able, from evidence NOVITER REPERTUM, to enable you to amend +your condescendence upon the use and wont of the burgh, touching +the GRANA INVECTA ET ILLATA. So you will please consider yourself as +authorized to speak to Mr. Pest, and lay before him the papers which you +will receive by the coach. The council think that a fee of two guineas +may be sufficient on this occasion, as Mr. Pest had three for drawing +the original condescendence. + +‘I take the opportunity of adding that there has been a great riot among +the Solway fishermen, who have destroyed, in a masterful manner, +the stake-nets set up near the mouth of this river; and have besides +attacked the house of Quaker Geddes, one of the principal partners of +the Tide-net Fishing Company, and done a great deal of damage. Am sorry +to add, young Mr. Latimer was in the fray and has not since been heard +of. Murder is spoke of, but that may be a word of course. As the young +gentleman has behaved rather oddly while in these parts, as in declining +to dine with me more than once, and going about the country with +strolling fiddlers and such-like, I rather hope that his present absence +is only occasioned by a frolic; but as his servant has been making +inquiries of me respecting his master, I thought it best to acquaint +you in course of post. I have only to add that our sheriff has taken +a precognition, and committed one or two of the rioters. If I can be +useful in this matter, either by advertising for Mr. Latimer as +missing, publishing a reward, or otherwise, I will obey your respected +instructions, being your most obedient to command, ‘WILLIAM CROSBIE.’ + +When Mr. Fairford received this letter, and had read it to an end,’ his +first idea was to communicate it to his son, that an express might be +instantly dispatched, or a king’s messenger sent with proper authority +to search after his late guest. + +The habits of the fishers were rude; as he well knew, though not +absolutely sanguinary or ferocious; and there had been instances of +their transporting persons who had interfered in their smuggling trade +to the Isle of Man and elsewhere, and keeping them under restraint for +many weeks. On this account, Mr. Fairford was naturally led to +feel anxiety concerning the fate of his late inmate; and, at a less +interesting moment, would certainly have set out himself, or licensed +his son to go in pursuit of his friend. + +But, alas! he was both a father and an agent. In the one capacity, he +looked on his son as dearer to him than all the world besides; in the +other, the lawsuit which he conducted was to him like an infant to its +nurse, and the case of Poor Peter Peebles against Plainstanes was, he +saw, adjourned, perhaps SINE DIE, should this document reach the hands +of his son. The mutual and enthusiastical affection betwixt the young +men was well known to him; and he concluded that if the precarious state +of Latimer were made known to Alan Fairford, it would render him not +only unwilling, but totally unfit, to discharge the duty of the day to +which the old gentleman attached such ideas of importance. + +On mature reflection, therefore, he resolved, though not without +some feelings of compunction, to delay communicating to his son the +disagreeable intelligence which he had received, until the business of +the day should be ended. The delay, he persuaded himself, could be of +little consequence to Darsie Latimer, whose folly, he dared to say, had +led him into some scrape which would meet an appropriate punishment in +some accidental restraint, which would be thus prolonged for only a few +hours longer. Besides, he would have time to speak to the sheriff of the +county--perhaps to the King’s Advocate--and set about the matter in +a regular manner, or, as he termed it, as summing up the duties of +a solicitor, to AGE AS ACCORDS. [A Scots law phrase, of no very +determinate import, meaning, generally, to do what is fitting.] + +The scheme, as we have seen, was partially successful, and was only +ultimately defeated, as he confessed to himself with shame, by his own +very unbusiness-like mistake of shuffling the provost’s letter, in the +hurry and anxiety of the morning, among some papers belonging to Peter +Peebles’s affairs, and then handing it to his son, without observing +the blunder. He used to protest, even till the day of his death, that he +never had been guilty of such an inaccuracy as giving a paper out of his +hand without looking at the docketing, except on that unhappy occasion, +when, of all others, he had such particular reason to regret his +negligence. + +Disturbed by these reflections, the old gentleman had, for the first +time in his life, some disinclination, arising from shame and vexation, +to face his own son; so that to protract for a little the meeting, +which he feared would be a painful one, he went to wait upon the +sheriff-depute, who he found had set off for Dumfries in great haste to +superintend in person the investigation which had been set on foot by +his substitute. This gentleman’s clerk could say little on the subject +of the riot, excepting that it had been serious, much damage done to +property, and some personal violence offered to individuals; but, as far +as he had yet heard, no lives lost on the spot. + +Mr. Fairford was compelled to return home with this intelligence; and +on inquiring at James Wilkinson where his son was, received for answer, +that ‘Maister Alan was in his own room, and very busy.’ + +‘We must have our explanation over,’ said Saunders Fairford to himself. +‘Better a finger off, as ay wagging;’ and going to the door of his son’s +apartment, he knocked at first gently--then more loudly--but received +no answer. Somewhat alarmed at this silence, he opened the door of the +chamber it was empty--clothes lay mixed in confusion with the law-books +and papers, as if the inmate had been engaged in hastily packing for a +journey. As Mr. Fairford looked around in alarm, his eye was arrested +by a sealed letter lying upon his son’s writing-table, and addressed to +himself. It contained the following words:-- + +‘MY DEAREST FATHER, ‘You will not, I trust, be surprised, nor perhaps +very much displeased, to learn that I am on my way to Dumfriesshire, to +learn, by my own personal investigation, the present state of my dear +friend, and afford him such relief as may be in my power, and which, I +trust, will be effectual. I do not presume to reflect upon you, dearest +sir, for concealing from me information of so much consequence to my +peace of mind and happiness; but I hope your having done so will be, if +not an excuse, at least some mitigation of my present offence, in taking +a step of consequence without consulting your pleasure; and, I must +further own, under circumstances which perhaps might lead to your +disapprobation of my purpose. I can only say, in further apology, that +if anything unhappy, which Heaven forbid! shall have occurred to the +person who, next to yourself, is dearest to me in this world, I shall +have on my heart, as a subject of eternal regret, that being in a +certain degree warned of his danger and furnished with the means +of obviating it, I did not instantly hasten to his assistance, but +preferred giving my attention to the business of this unlucky morning. +No view of personal distinction, nothing, indeed, short of your earnest +and often expressed wishes, could have detained me in town till this +day; and having made this sacrifice to filial duty, I trust you will +hold me excused if I now obey the calls of friendship and humanity. Do +not be in the least anxious on my account; I shall know, I trust, how +to conduct myself with due caution in any emergence which may occur, +otherwise my legal studies for so many years have been to little +purpose. I am fully provided with money, and also with arms, in case of +need; but you may rely on my prudence in avoiding all occasions of using +the latter, short of the last necessity. God almighty bless you, my +dearest father! and grant that you may forgive the first, and, I trust, +the last act approaching towards premeditated disobedience, of which I +either have now, or shall hereafter have, to accuse myself. I remain, +till death, your dutiful and affectionate son, ALAN FAIRFORD.’ + +‘PS.--I shall write with the utmost regularity, acquainting you with my +motions, and requesting your advice. I trust my stay will be very short, +and I think it possible that I may bring back Darsie along with me.’ + +‘The paper dropped from the old man’s hand when he was thus assured +of the misfortune which he apprehended. His first idea was to get a +postchaise and pursue the fugitive; but he recollected that, upon the +very rare occasions when Alan had shown himself indocile to the PATRIA +POTESTAS, his natural ease and gentleness of disposition seemed hardened +into obstinacy, and that now, entitled, as arrived at the years of +majority and a member of the learned faculty, to direct his own motions, +there was great doubt, whether, in the event of his overtaking his son, +he might be able to prevail upon him to return back. In such a risk of +failure he thought it wiser to desist from his purpose, especially as +even his success in such a pursuit would give a ridiculous ECLAT to the +whole affair, which could not be otherwise than prejudicial to his son’s +rising character. + +Bitter, however, were Saunders Fairford’s reflections, as again +picking up the fatal scroll, he threw himself into his son’s leathern +easy-chair, and bestowed upon it a disjointed commentary, ‘Bring back +Darsie? little doubt of that--the bad shilling is sure enough to come +back again. I wish Darsie no worse ill than that he were carried where +the silly fool, Alan, should never see him again. It was an ill hour +that he darkened my doors in, for, ever since that, Alan has given up +his ain old-fashioned mother-wit for the tother’s capernoited maggots +and nonsense. Provided with money? you must have more than I know of, +then, my friend, for I trow I kept you pretty short, for your own good. +Can he have gotten more fees? or, does he think five guineas has neither +beginning nor end? Arms! What would he do with arms, or what would any +man do with them that is not a regular soldier under government, or else +a thief-taker? I have had enough of arms, I trow, although I carried +them for King George and the government. But this is a worse strait than +Falkirk field yet. God guide us, we are poor inconsistent creatures! To +think the lad should have made so able an appearance, and then bolted +off this gate, after a glaiket ne’er-do-weel, like a hound upon a false +scent! Las-a-day! it’s a sore thing to see a stunkard cow kick down +the pail when it’s reaming fou. But, after all, it’s an ill bird that +defiles its ain nest. I must cover up the scandal as well as I can. +What’s the matter now, James?’ + +‘A message, sir,’ said James Wilkinson, ‘from my Lord President; and he +hopes Mr. Alan is not seriously indisposed.’ + +‘From the Lord President? the Lord preserve us!--I’ll send an answer +this instant; bid the lad sit down, and ask him to drink, James. Let me +see,’ continued he, taking a sheet of gilt paper ‘how we are to draw our +answers.’ + +Ere his pen had touched the paper, James was in the room again. + +‘What now, James?’ + +‘Lord Bladderskate’s lad is come to ask how Mr. Alan is, as he left; the +court’-- + +‘Aye, aye, aye,’ answered Saunders, bitterly; ‘he has e’en made a +moonlight flitting, like my lord’s ain nevoy.’ + +‘Shall I say sae, sir?’ said James, who, as an old soldier, was literal +in all things touching the service. + +‘The devil! no, no!--Bid the lad sit down and taste our ale. I will +write his lordship an answer.’ + +Once more the gilt paper was resumed, and once more the door was opened +by James. + +‘Lord ------ sends his servitor to ask after Mr. Alan.’ + +‘Oh, the deevil take their civility!’ said poor Saunders, set him down +to drink too--I will write to his lordship.’ + +‘The lads will bide your pleasure, sir, as lang as I keep the bicker +fou; but this ringing is like to wear out the bell, I think; there are +they at it again.’ + +He answered the fresh summons accordingly, and came back to inform Mr. +Fairford that the Dean of Faculty was below, inquiring for Mr. Alan. +‘Will I set him down to drink, too?’ said James. + +‘Will you be an idiot, sir?’ said Mr. Fairford. ‘Show Mr. Dean into the +parlour.’ + +In going slowly downstairs, step by step, the perplexed man of business +had time enough to reflect, that if it be possible to put a fair gloss +upon a true story, the verity always serves the purpose better than any +substitute which ingenuity can devise. He therefore told his learned +visitor, that although his son had been incommoded by the heat of the +court, and the long train of hard study, by day and night, preceding +his exertions, yet he had fortunately so far recovered, as to be in +condition to obey upon the instant a sudden summons which had called him +to the country, on a matter of life and death. + +‘It should be a serious matter indeed that takes my young friend away +at this moment,’ said the good-natured dean. ‘I wish he had stayed to +finish his pleading, and put down old Tough. Without compliment, Mr. +Fairford, it was as fine a first appearance as I ever heard. I should +be sorry your son did not follow it up in a reply. Nothing like striking +while the iron is hot.’ + +Mr. Saunders Fairford made a bitter grimace as he acquiesced in an +opinion which was indeed decidedly his own; but he thought it most +prudent to reply, ‘that the affair which rendered his son Alan’s +presence in the country absolutely necessary, regarded the affairs of a +young gentleman of great fortune, who was a particular friend of Alan’s, +and who never took any material step in his affairs without consulting +his counsel learned in the law.’ + +‘Well, well, Mr. Fairford, you know best,’ answered the learned dean; +‘if there be death or marriage in the case, a will or a wedding is to +be preferred to all other business. I am happy Mr. Alan is so much +recovered as to be able for travel, and wish you a very good morning.’ + +Having thus taken his ground to the Dean of Faculty, Mr. Fairford +hastily wrote cards in answer to the inquiry of the three judges, +accounting for Alan’s absence in the same manner. These, being properly +sealed and addressed, he delivered to James with directions to dismiss +the particoloured gentry, who, in the meanwhile, had consumed a gallon +of twopenny ale, while discussing points of law, and addressing each +other by their masters’ titles. [The Scottish judges are distinguished +by the title of lord prefixed to their own temporal designation. As +the ladies of these official dignitaries do not bear any share in their +husbands’ honours, they are distinguished only by their lords’ family +name. They were not always contented with this species of Salique law, +which certainly is somewhat inconsistent. But their pretensions to title +are said to have been long since repelled by James V, the sovereign who +founded the College of Justice. ‘I,’ said he, ‘made the caries lords, +but who the devil made the carlines ladies?’] + +The exertion which these matters demanded, and the interest which so +many persons of legal distinction appeared to have taken in his +son, greatly relieved the oppressed spirit of Saunders Fairford, who +continued, to talk mysteriously of the very important business which had +interfered with his son’s attendance during the brief remainder of the +session. He endeavoured to lay the same unction to his own heart; but +here the application was less fortunate, for his conscience told him +that no end, however important, which could be achieved in Darsie +Latimer’s affairs, could be balanced against the reputation which Alan +was like to forfeit by deserting the cause of Poor Peter Peebles. + +In the meanwhile, although the haze which surrounded the cause, or +causes, of that unfortunate litigant had been for a time dispelled by +Alan’s eloquence, like a fog by the thunder of artillery, yet it seemed +once more to settle down upon the mass of litigation, thick as the +palpable darkness of Egypt, at the very sound of Mr. Tough’s voice, who, +on the second day after Alan’s departure, was heard in answer to the +opening counsel. Deep-mouthed, long-breathed, and pertinacious, taking +a pinch of snuff betwixt every sentence, which otherwise seemed +interminable--the veteran pleader prosed over all the themes which had +been treated so luminously by Fairford: he quietly and imperceptibly +replaced all the rubbish which the other had cleared away, and succeeded +in restoring the veil of obscurity and unintelligibility which had for +many years darkened the case of Peebles against Plainstanes; and +the matter was once more hung up by a remit to an accountant, with +instruction to report before answer. So different a result from that +which the public had been led to expect from Alan’s speech gave rise to +various speculations. + +The client himself opined, that it was entirely owing, first, to his +own absence during the first day’s pleading, being, as he said, +deboshed with brandy, usquebaugh, and other strong waters, at John’s +Coffee-house, PER AMBAGES of Peter Drudgeit, employed to that effect by +and through the device, counsel, and covyne of Saunders Fairford, +his agent, or pretended agent. Secondly by the flight and voluntary +desertion of the younger Fairford, the advocate; on account of which, he +served both father and son with a petition and complaint against them, +for malversation in office. So that the apparent and most probable issue +of this cause seemed to menace the melancholy Mr. Saunders Fairford, +with additional subject for plague and mortification; which was the more +galling, as his conscience told him that the case was really given away, +and that a very brief resumption of the former argument, with reference +to the necessary authorities and points of evidence, would have enabled +Alan, by the mere breath, as it were, of his mouth, to blow away the +various cobwebs with which Mr. Tough had again invested the proceedings. +But it went, he said, just like a decreet in absence, and was lost for +want of a contradictor. + +In the meanwhile, nearly a week passed over without Mr. Fairford hearing +a word directly from his son. He learned, indeed, by a letter from Mr. +Crosbie, that the young counsellor had safely reached Dumfries, but had +left that town upon some ulterior researches, the purpose of which +he had not communicated. The old man, thus left to suspense, and to +mortifying recollections, deprived also of the domestic society to which +he had been habituated, began to suffer in body as well as in mind. He +had formed the determination of setting out in person for Dumfriesshire, +when, after having been dogged, peevish, and snappish to his clerks and +domestics, to an unusual and almost intolerable degree, the acrimonious +humours settled in a hissing-hot fit of the gout, which is a well-known +tamer of the most froward spirits, and under whose discipline we shall, +for the present, leave him, as the continuation of this history assumes, +with the next division, a form somewhat different from direct narrative +and epistolary correspondence, though partaking of the character of +both. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +JOURNAL OF DARSIE LATIMER (The following address is written on the +inside of the envelope which contained the Journal.) + +Into what hands soever these leaves may fall, they will instruct +him, during a certain time at least, in the history of the life of an +unfortunate young man, who, in the heart of a free country, and without +any crime being laid to his charge, has been, and is, subjected to a +course of unlawful and violent restraint. He who opens this letter, is +therefore conjured to apply to the nearest magistrate, and, following +such indications as the papers may afford, to exert himself for the +relief of one, who, while he possesses every claim to assistance +which oppressed innocence can give, has, at the same time, both the +inclination and the means of being grateful to his deliverers. Or, if +the person obtaining these letters shall want courage or means to effect +the writer’s release, he is, in that case, conjured, by every duty of a +man to his fellow mortals, and of a Christian towards one who professes +the same holy faith, to take the speediest measures for conveying them +with speed and safety to the hands of Alan Fairford, Esq., Advocate, +residing in the family of his father, Alexander Fairford, Esq., Writer +to the Signet, Brown’s Square, Edinburgh. He may be assured of a liberal +reward, besides the consciousness of having discharged a real duty to +humanity. + +MY DEAREST ALAN, Feeling as warmly towards you in doubt and in distress, +as I ever did in the brightest days of our intimacy, it is to you whom +I address a history which may perhaps fall into very different hands. A +portion of my former spirit descends to my pen when I write your name, +and indulging the happy thought that you may be my deliverer from my +present uncomfortable and alarming situation, as you have been my guide +and counsellor on every former occasion, I will subdue the dejection +which would otherwise overwhelm me. Therefore, as, Heaven knows, I have +time enough to write, I will endeavour to pour my thoughts out, as fully +and freely as of old, though probably without the same gay and happy +levity. + +If the papers should reach other hands than yours, still I will not +regret this exposure of my feelings; for, allowing for an ample share of +the folly incidental to youth and inexperience, I fear not that I have +much to be ashamed of in my narrative; nay, I even hope that the open +simplicity and frankness with which I am about to relate every singular +and distressing circumstance, may prepossess even a stranger in my +favour; and that, amid the multitude of seemingly trivial circumstances +which I detail at length, a clue may be found to effect my liberation. + +Another chance certainly remains--the Journal, as I may call it, +may never reach the hands, either of the dear friend to whom it is +addressed, or those of an indifferent stranger, but may become the prey +of the persons by whom I am at present treated as a prisoner. Let it be +so--they will learn from it little but what they already know; that, +as a man and an Englishman, my soul revolts at the usage which I have +received; that I am determined to essay every possible means to obtain +my freedom; that captivity has not broken my spirit, and that, although +they may doubtless complete their oppression by murder, I am still +willing to bequeath my cause to the justice of my country. Undeterred, +therefore, by the probability that my papers may be torn from me, and +subjected to the inspection of one in particular, who, causelessly +my enemy already, may be yet further incensed at me for recording the +history of my wrongs, I proceed to resume the history of events which +have befallen me since the conclusion of my last letter to my dear Alan +Fairford, dated, if I mistake not, on the 5th day of this still current +month of August. + +Upon the night preceding the date of that letter, I had been present, +for the purpose of an idle frolic, at a dancing party at the village of +Brokenburn, about six miles from Dumfries; many persons must have seen +me there, should the fact appear of importance sufficient to require +investigation. I danced, played on the violin, and took part in the +festivity till about midnight, when my servant, Samuel Owen, brought me +my horses, and I rode back to a small inn called Shepherd’s Bush, kept +by Mrs. Gregson, which had been occasionally my residence for about a +fortnight past. I spent the earlier part of the forenoon in writing a +letter, which I have already mentioned, to you, my dear Alan, and which, +I think, you must have received in safety. Why did I not follow your +advice, so often given me? Why did I linger in the neighbourhood of a +danger, of which a kind voice had warned me? These are now unavailing +questions; I was blinded by a fatality, and remained, fluttering like a +moth around the candle, until I have been scorched to some purpose. + +The greater part of the day had passed, and time hung heavy on my hands. +I ought, perhaps, to blush at recollecting what has been often objected +to me by the dear friend to whom this letter is addressed, viz. the +facility with which I have, in moments of indolence, suffered my motions +to be, directed by any person who chanced to be near me, instead of +taking the labour of thinking or deciding for myself. I had employed for +some time, as a sort of guide and errand-boy, a lad named Benjamin, the +son of one widow Coltherd, who lives near the Shepherd’s Bush, and I +cannot but remember that, upon several occasions, I had of late suffered +him to possess more influence over my motions than at all became the +difference of our age and condition. At present, he exerted himself to +persuade me that it was the finest possible sport to see the fish taken +out from the nets placed in the Solway at the reflux of the tide, and +urged my going thither this evening so much, that, looking back on the +whole circumstances, I cannot but think he had some especial motive for +his conduct. These particulars I have mentioned, that if these papers +fall into friendly hands, the boy may be sought after and submitted to +examination. + +His eloquence being unable to persuade me that I should take any +pleasure in seeing the fruitless struggles of the fish when left in the +nets and deserted by the tide, he artfully suggested, that Mr. and Miss +Geddes, a respectable Quaker family well known in the neighbourhood +and with whom I had contracted habits of intimacy, would possibly be +offended if I did not make them an early visit. Both, he said, had been +particularly inquiring the reasons of my leaving their house rather +suddenly on the previous day. I resolved, therefore, to walk up to Mount +Sharon and make my apologies; and I agreed to permit the boy to attend +upon me, and wait my return from the house, that I might fish on my way +homeward to Shepherd’s Bush, for which amusement, he assured me, I would +find the evening most favourable. I mention this minute circumstance, +because I strongly suspect that this boy had a presentiment how the +evening was to terminate with me, and entertained the selfish though +childish wish of securing to himself an angling-rod which he had often +admired, as a part of my spoils. I may do the boy wrong, but I had +before remarked in him the peculiar art of pursuing the trifling objects +of cupidity proper to his age, with the systematic address of much riper +years. + +When we had commenced our walk, I upbraided him with the coolness of +the evening, considering the season, the easterly wind, and other +circumstances, unfavourable for angling. He persisted in his own story, +and made a few casts, as if to convince me of my error, but caught +no fish; and, indeed, as I am now convinced, was much more intent on +watching my motions than on taking any. When I ridiculed him once more +on his fruitless endeavours, he answered with a sneering smile, that +‘the trouts would not rise, because there was thunder in the air;’ an +intimation which, in one sense, I have found too true. + +I arrived at Mount Sharon; was received by my friends there with their +wonted kindness; and after being a little rallied on my having suddenly +left them on the preceding evening, I agreed to make atonement +by staying all night, and dismissed the lad who attended with my +fishing-rod, to carry that information to Shepherd’s Bush. It may be +doubted whether he went thither, or in a different direction. + +Betwixt eight and nine o’clock, when it began to become dark, we walked +on the terrace to enjoy the appearance of the firmament, glittering with +ten million stars; to which a slight touch of early frost gave tenfold +lustre. As we gazed on this splendid scene, Miss Geddes, I think, was +the first to point out to our admiration a shooting or falling star, +which, she said, drew a long train after it. Looking to the part of +the heavens which she pointed out, I distinctly observed two successive +sky-rockets arise and burst in the sky. + +‘These meteors,’ said Mr. Geddes, in answer to his sister’s observation, +‘are not formed in heaven, nor do they bode any good to the dwellers +upon earth.’ + +As he spoke, I looked to another quarter of the sky, and a rocket, as if +a signal in answer to those which had already appeared, rose high from +the earth, and burst apparently among the stars. + +Mr. Geddes seemed very thoughtful for some minutes, and then said to +his sister, ‘Rachel, though it waxes late. I must go down to the fishing +station, and pass the night in the overseer’s room there.’ + +‘Nay, then,’ replied the lady, ‘I am but too well assured that the sons +of Belial are menacing these nets and devices. Joshua, art thou a man of +peace, and wilt thou willingly and wittingly thrust thyself where thou +mayst be tempted by the old man Adam within thee, to enter into debate +and strife?’ + +‘I am a man of peace, Rachel,’ answered Mr. Geddes, ‘even to the utmost +extent which our friends can demand of humanity; and neither have I ever +used, nor, with the help of God, will I at any future time employ, the +arm of flesh to repel or to revenge injuries. But if I can, by mild +reasons and firm conduct, save those rude men from committing a crime, +and the property belonging to myself and others from sustaining damage, +surely I do but the duty of a man and a Christian.’ + +With these words, he ordered his horse instantly; and his sister, +ceasing to argue with him, folded her arms upon her bosom, and looked up +to heaven with a resigned and yet sorrowful countenance. + +These particulars may appear trivial; but it is better, in my present +condition, to exert my faculties in recollecting the past, and in +recording it, than waste them in vain and anxious anticipations of the +future. + +It would have been scarcely proper in me to remain in the house from +which the master was thus suddenly summoned away; and I therefore begged +permission to attend him to the fishing station, assuring his sister +that I would be a guarantee for his safety. + +That proposal seemed to give much pleasure to Miss Geddes. ‘Let it be +so, brother,’ she said; ‘and let the young man have the desire of his +heart, that there may be a faithful witness to stand by thee in the hour +of need, and to report how it shall fare with thee. + +‘Nay, Rachel,’ said the worthy man, ‘thou art to blame in this, that +to quiet thy apprehensions on my account, thou shouldst thrust into +danger--if danger it shall prove to be--this youth, our guest; for +whom, doubtless, in case of mishap, as many hearts will ache as may be +afflicted on our account.’ + +‘No, my good friend,’ said I, taking Mr. Geddes’s hand, ‘I am not so +happy as you suppose me. Were my span to be concluded this evening, few +would so much as know that such a being had existed for twenty years on +the face of the earth; and of these few, only one would sincerely regret +me. Do not, therefore, refuse me the privilege attending you; and of +showing, by so trifling an act of kindness, that if I have few friends, +I am at least desirous to serve them.’ + +‘Thou hast a kind heart, I warrant thee,’ said Joshua Geddes, returning +the pressure of my hand. ‘Rachel, the young man shall go with me. Why +should he not face danger, in order to do justice and preserve peace? +There is that within me,’ he added, looking upwards, and with a passing +enthusiasm which I had not before observed and the absence of +which perhaps rather belonged to the sect than to his own personal +character--‘I say, I have that within which assures me, that though the +ungodly may rage even like the storm of the ocean, they shall not have +freedom to prevail against us.’ + +Having spoken thus, Mr. Geddes appointed a pony to be saddled for my +use; and having taken a basket with some provisions, and a servant +to carry back the horses for which there was no accommodation at the +fishing station, we set off about nine o’clock at night, and after +three-quarters of an hour’s riding, arrived at our place of destination. + +The station consists, or then consisted, of huts for four or five +fishermen, a cooperage and shed, and a better sort of cottage at which +the superintendent resided. We gave our horses to the servant, to be +carried back to Mount Sharon; my companion expressing himself humanely +anxious for their safety--and knocked at the door of the house. At +first we only heard a barking of dogs; but these animals became quiet on +snuffing beneath the door, and acknowledging the presence of friends. A +hoarse voice then demanded, in rather unfriendly accents, who we were, +and what we wanted and it was not; until Joshua named himself, and +called upon his superintendent to open, that the latter appeared at the +door of the hut, attended by three large dogs of the Newfoundland breed. +He had a flambeau in his hand, and two large heavy ship-pistols stuck +into his belt. He was a stout elderly man, who had been a sailor, as I +learned, during the earlier part of his life, and was now much confided +in by the Fishing Company, whose concerns he directed under the orders +of Mr. Geddes. + +‘Thou didst not expect me to-night, friend Davies?’ said my friend to +the old man, who was arranging seats for us by the fire. + +‘No, Master Geddes,’ answered he, ‘I did not expect you, nor, to speak +the truth, did I wish for you either.’ + +‘These are plain terms: John Davies,’ answered Mr. Geddes. + +‘Aye, aye, sir, I know your worship loves no holiday speeches.’ + +‘Thou dost guess, I suppose, what brings us here so late, John Davies?’ +said Mr. Geddes. + +‘I do suppose, sir,’ answered the superintendent, ‘that it was because +those d--d smuggling wreckers on the coast are showing their lights to +gather their forces, as they did the night before they broke down the +dam-dyke and weirs up the country; but if that same be the case, I wish +once more you had stayed away, for your worship carries no fighting +tackle aboard, I think; and there will be work for such ere morning, +your worship.’ + +‘Worship is due to Heaven only, John Davies,’ said Geddes, ‘I have often +desired thee to desist from using that phrase to me.’ + +‘I won’t, then,’ said John; ‘no offence meant: But how the devil can a +man stand picking his words, when he is just going to come to blows?’ + +‘I hope not, John Davies,’ said Joshua Geddes. ‘Call in the rest of the +men, that I may give them their instructions.’ + +‘I may cry till doomsday Master Geddes, ere a soul answers--the cowardly +lubbers have all made sail--the cooper, and all the rest of them, so +soon as they heard the enemy were at sea. They have all taken to the +long-boat, and left the ship among the breakers, except little Phil and +myself--they have, by--!’ + +‘Swear not at all, John Davies--thou art an honest man; and I believe, +without an oath, that thy comrades love their own bones better than +my goods and chattels. And so thou hast no assistance but little Phil +against a hundred men or two?’ + +‘Why, there are the dogs, your honour knows, Neptune and Thetis--and +the puppy may do something; and then though your worship--I beg +pardon--though your honour be no great fighter, this young gentleman may +bear a hand.’ + +‘Aye, and I see you are provided with arms,’ said Mr. Geddes; ‘let me +see them.’ + +‘Aye, aye, sir; here be a pair of buffers will bite as well as +bark--these will make sure of two rogues at least. It would be a shame +to strike without firing a shot. Take care, your honour, they are +double-shotted.’ + +‘Aye, John Davies, I will take care of them, throwing the pistols into a +tub of water beside him; ‘and I wish I could render the whole generation +of them useless at the same moment.’ + +A deep shade of displeasure passed over John Davies’s weatherbeaten +countenance. ‘Belike your honour is going to take the command yourself, +then?’ he said, after a pause. ‘Why, I can be of little use now; and +since your worship, or your honour, or whatever you are, means to strike +quietly, I believe you will do it better without me than with me, for I +am like enough to make mischief, I admit; but I’ll never leave my post +without orders.’ + +‘Then you have mine, John Davies, to go to Mount Sharon directly, and +take the boy Phil with you. Where is he?’ + +‘He is on the outlook for these scums of the earth,’ answered Davies; +‘but it is to no purpose to know when they come, if we are not to stand +to our weapons.’ + +‘We will use none but those of sense and reason, John.’ + +‘And you may just as well cast chaff against the wind, as speak sense +and reason to the like of them.’ + +‘Well, well, be it so,’ said Joshua; ‘and now, John Davies, I know thou +art what the world calls a brave fellow, and I have ever found thee an +honest one. And now I command you to go to Mount Sharon, and let Phil +lie on the bank-side--see the poor boy hath a sea-cloak, though--and +watch what happens there, and let him bring you the news; and if +any violence shall be offered to the property there, I trust to your +fidelity to carry my sister to Dumfries to the house of our friends +the Corsacks, and inform the civil authorities of what mischief hath +befallen.’ + +The old seaman paused a moment. ‘It is hard lines for me,’ he said, ‘to +leave your honour in tribulation; and yet, staying here, I am only like +to make bad worse; and your honour’s sister, Miss Rachel, must be looked +to, that’s certain; for if the rogues once get their hand to mischief, +they will come to Mount Sharon after they have wasted and destroyed this +here snug little roadstead, where I thought to ride at anchor for life.’ + +‘Right, right, John Davies,’ said Joshua Geddes; ‘and best call the dogs +with you.’ + +‘Aye, aye, sir,’ said the veteran, ‘for they are something of my mind, +and would not keep quiet if they saw mischief doing; so maybe they might +come to mischief, poor dumb creatures. So God bless your honour--I +mean your worship--I cannot bring my mouth to say fare you well. Here, +Neptune, Thetis! come, dogs, come.’ + +So saying, and with a very crestfallen countenance, John Davies left the +hut. + +‘Now there goes one of the best and most faithful creatures that ever +was born,’ said Mr. Geddes, as the superintendent shut the door of the +cottage. ‘Nature made him with a heart that would not have suffered him +to harm a fly; but thou seest, friend Latimer, that as men arm their +bull-dogs with spiked collars, and their game-cocks with steel spurs, to +aid them in fight, so they corrupt, by education, the best and mildest +natures, until fortitude and spirit become stubbornness and ferocity. +Believe me, friend Latimer, I would as soon expose my faithful household +dog to a vain combat with a herd of wolves, as yon trusty creature to +the violence of the enraged multitude. But I need say little on this +subject to thee, friend Latimer, who, I doubt not, art trained to +believe that courage is displayed and honour attained, not by doing +and suffering as becomes a man that which fate calls us to suffer and +justice commands us to do, but because thou art ready to retort violence +for violence, and considerest the lightest insult as a sufficient cause +for the spilling of blood, nay, the taking of life. But, leaving these +points of controversy to a more fit season, let us see what our basket +of provision contains; for in truth, friend Latimer, I am one of those +whom neither fear nor anxiety deprives of their ordinary appetite.’ + +We found the means of good cheer accordingly, which Mr. Geddes seemed to +enjoy as much as if it had been eaten in a situation of perfect safety; +nay, his conversation appeared to be rather more gay than on ordinary +occasions. After eating our supper, we left the hut together, and walked +for a few minutes on the banks of the sea. It was high water, and the +ebb had not yet commenced. The moon shone broad and bright upon the +placid face of the Solway Firth, and showed a slight ripple upon the +stakes, the tops of which were just visible above the waves, and on +the dark-coloured buoys which marked the upper edge of the enclosure of +nets. At a much greater distance--for the estuary is here very wide--the +line of the English coast was seen on the verge of the water, resembling +one of those fog-banks on which mariners are said to gaze, uncertain +whether it be land or atmospherical delusion. + +‘We shall be undisturbed for some hours,’ said Mr. Geddes; ‘they will +not come down upon us: till the state of the tide permits them to +destroy the tide-nets. Is it not strange to think that human passions +will so soon transform such a tranquil scene as this into one of +devastation and confusion?’ + +It was indeed a scene of exquisite stillness; so much so, that the +restless waves of the Solway seemed, if not absolutely to sleep, at +least to slumber; on the shore no night-bird was heard--the cock had not +sung his first matins, and we ourselves walked more lightly than by day, +as if to suit the sounds of our own paces to the serene tranquillity +around us. At length, the plaintive cry of a dog broke the silence, and +on our return to the cottage, we found that the younger of the three +animals which had gone along with John Davies, unaccustomed, perhaps, +to distant journeys, and the duty of following to heel, had strayed from +the party, and, unable to rejoin them, had wandered back to the place of +its birth. + +‘Another feeble addition to our feeble garrison,’ said Mr. Geddes, as he +caressed the dog, and admitted it into the cottage. ‘Poor thing! as thou +art incapable of doing any mischief, I hope thou wilt sustain none. At +least thou mayst do us the good service of a sentinel, and permit us to +enjoy a quiet repose, under the certainty that thou wilt alarm us when +the enemy is at hand.’ + +There were two beds in the superintendent’s room, upon which we threw +ourselves. Mr. Geddes, with his happy equanimity of temper, was asleep +in the first five minutes. I lay for some time in doubtful and anxious +thoughts, watching the fire, and the motions of the restless dog, which, +disturbed probably at the absence of John Davies, wandered from the +hearth to the door and back again, then came to the bedside and licked +my hands and face, and at length, experiencing no repulse to its +advances, established itself at my feet, and went to sleep, an example +which I soon afterwards followed. + +The rage of narration, my dear Alan--for I will never relinquish the +hope that what I am writing may one day reach your hands--has +not forsaken me, even in my confinement, and the extensive though +unimportant details into which I have been hurried, renders it necessary +that I commence another sheet. Fortunately, my pygmy characters +comprehend a great many words within a small space of paper. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +DARSIE LATIMER’S JOURNAL, IN CONTINUATION + +The morning was dawning, and Mr. Geddes and I myself were still sleeping +soundly, when the alarm was given by my canine bedfellow, who first +growled deeply at intervals, and at length bore more decided testimony +to the approach of some enemy. I opened the door of the cottage, and +perceived, at the distance of about two hundred yards, a small but close +column of men, which I would have taken for a dark hedge, but that I +could perceive it was advancing rapidly and in silence. + +The dog flew towards them, but instantly ran howling back to me, having +probably been chastised by a stick or a stone. Uncertain as to the plan +of tactics or of treaty which Mr. Geddes might think proper to adopt, I +was about to retire into the cottage, when he suddenly joined me at the +door, and, slipping his arm through mine, said, ‘Let us go to meet them +manfully; we have done nothing to be ashamed of.--Friends,’ he said, +raising his voice as we approached them, ‘who and what are you, and with +what purpose are you here on my property?’ + +A loud cheer was the answer returned, and a brace of fiddlers who +occupied the front of the march immediately struck up the insulting air, +the words of which begin-- + + Merrily danced the Quaker’s wife, + And merrily danced the Quaker. + +Even at that moment of alarm, I think I recognized the tones of the +blind fiddler, Will, known by the name of Wandering Willie, from his +itinerant habits. They continued to advance swiftly and in great order, +in their front + + The fiery fiddlers playing martial airs; + +when, coming close up, they surrounded us by a single movement, and +there was a universal cry, ‘Whoop, Quaker--whoop, Quaker! Here have we +them both, the wet Quaker and the dry one.’ + +‘Hang up the wet Quaker to dry, and wet the dry one with a ducking,’ +answered another voice. + +‘Where is the sea-otter, John Davies, that destroyed more fish than any +sealch upon Ailsa Craig?’ exclaimed a third voice. ‘I have an old crow +to pluck with him, and a pock to put the feathers in.’ + +We stood perfectly passive; for, to have attempted resistance against +more than a hundred men, armed with guns, fish-spears, iron-crows, +spades, and bludgeons, would have been an act of utter insanity. Mr. +Geddes, with his strong sonorous voice, answered the question about the +superintendent in a manner the manly indifference of which compelled +them to attend to him. + +‘John Davies,’ he said, ‘will, I trust, soon be at Dumfries’-- + +‘To fetch down redcoats and dragoons against us, you canting old +villain!’ + +A blow was, at the same time, levelled at my friend, which I parried by +interposing the stick I had in my hand. I was instantly struck down, and +have a faint recollection of hearing some crying, ‘Kill the young spy!’ +and others, as I thought, interposing on my behalf. But a second blow +on the head, received in the scuffle, soon deprived me of sense and +consciousness, and threw me into it state of insensibility, from which +I did not recover immediately. When I did come to myself, I was lying +on the bed from which I had just risen before the fray, and my poor +companion, the Newfoundland puppy, its courage entirely cowed by the +tumult of the riot, had crept as close to me as it could, and lay +trembling and whining, as if under the most dreadful terror. I doubted +at first whether I had not dreamed of the tumult, until, as I attempted +to rise, a feeling of pain and dizziness assured me that the injury +I had sustained was but too real. I gathered together my senses +listened--and heard at a distance the shouts of the rioters, busy, +doubtless, in their work of devastation. I made a second effort to rise, +or at least to turn myself, for I lay with my face to the wall of +the cottage, but I found that my limbs were secured, and my motions +effectually prevented--not indeed by cords, but by linen or cloth +bandages swathed around my ankles, and securing my arms to my sides. +Aware of my utterly captive condition, I groaned betwixt bodily pain and +mental distress, + +A voice by my bedside whispered, in a whining tone, ‘Whisht a-ye, +hinnie--Whisht a-ye; haud your tongue, like a gude bairn--ye have cost +us dear aneugh already. My hinnie’s clean gane now.’ + +Knowing, as I thought, the phraseology of the wife of the itinerant +musician, I asked her where her husband was, and whether he had been +hurt. + +‘Broken,’ answered the dame, ‘all broken to pieces; fit for naught but +to be made spunks of--the best blood that was in Scotland.’ + +‘Broken?--blood?--is your husband wounded; has there been bloodshed +broken limbs?’ + +‘Broken limbs I wish,’ answered the beldam, ‘that my hinnie had broken +the best bane in his body, before he had broken his fiddle, that was the +best blood in Scotland--it was a Cremony, for aught that I ken.’ + +‘Pshaw--only his fiddle?’ said I. + +‘I dinna ken what waur your honour could have wished him to do, unless +he had broken his neck; and this is muckle the same to my hinnie Willie +and me. Chaw, indeed! It is easy to say chaw, but wha is to gie us ony +thing to chaw?--the bread-winner’s gane, and we may e’en sit down and +starve.’ + +‘No, no,’ I said, ‘I will pay you for twenty such fiddles.’ + +‘Twenty such! is that a’ ye ken about it? the country hadna the like +o’t. But if your honour were to pay us, as nae doubt wad be to your +credit here and hereafter, where are ye to get the siller?’ + +‘I have enough of money,’ said I, attempting to reach my hand towards my +side-pocket; ‘unloose these bandages, and I will pay you on the spot.’ + +This hint appeared to move her, and she was approaching the bedside, as +I hoped, to liberate me from my bonds, when a nearer and more desperate +shout was heard, as if the rioters were close by the hut. + +‘I daurna I daurna,’ said the poor woman, ‘they would murder me and my +hinnie Willie baith, and they have misguided us aneugh already;--but if +there is anything worldly I could do for your honour, leave out loosing +ye?’ + +What she said recalled me to my bodily suffering. Agitation, and the +effects of the usage I had received, had produced a burning thirst. I +asked for a drink of water. + +‘Heaven Almighty forbid that Epps Ainslie should gie ony sick gentleman +cauld well-water, and him in a fever. Na, na, hinnie, let me alane, I’ll +do better for ye than the like of that.’ + +‘Give me what you will,’ I replied; ‘let it but be liquid and cool.’ + +The woman gave me a large horn accordingly, filled with spirits and +water, which, without minute inquiry concerning the nature of its +contents, I drained at a draught. Either the spirits taken in such a +manner acted more suddenly than usual on my brain, or else there was +some drug mixed with the beverage. I remember little after drinking it +off, only that the appearance of things around me became indistinct; +that the woman’s form seemed to multiply itself, and to flit in various +figures around me, bearing the same lineaments as she herself did. I +remember also that the discordant noises and cries of those without the +cottage seemed to die away in a hum like that with which a nurse hushes +her babe. At length I fell into a deep sound sleep, or rather, a state +of absolute insensibility. + +I have reason to think this species of trance lasted for many hours; +indeed, for the whole subsequent day and part of the night. It was not +uniformly so profound, for my recollection of it is chequered with many +dreams, all of a painful nature, but too faint and too indistinct to be +remembered. At length the moment of waking came, and my sensations were +horrible. + +A deep sound, which, in the confusion of my senses, I identified with +the cries of the rioters, was the first thing of which I was sensible; +next, I became conscious that I was carried violently forward in some +conveyance, with an unequal motion, which gave me much pain. My position +was horizontal, and when I attempted to stretch my hands in order to +find some mode of securing myself against this species of suffering, I +found I was bound as before, and the horrible reality rushed on my +mind that I was in the hands of those who had lately committed a great +outrage on property, and were now about to kidnap, if not to murder me. +I opened my eyes, it was to no purpose--all around me was dark, for +a day had passed over during my captivity. A dispiriting sickness +oppressed my head--my heart seemed on fire, while my feet and hands were +chilled and benumbed with want of circulation. It was with the utmost +difficulty that I at length, and gradually, recovered in a sufficient +degree the power of observing external sounds and circumstances; and +when I did so, they presented nothing consolatory. + +Groping with my hands, as far as the bandages would permit, and +receiving the assistance of some occasional glances of the moonlight, I +became aware that the carriage in which I was transported was one of the +light carts of the country, called TUMBLERS, and that a little attention +had been paid to my accommodation, as I was laid upon some sacks covered +with matting, and filled with straw. Without these, my condition would +have been still more intolerable, for the vehicle, sinking now on one +side, and now on the other, sometimes sticking absolutely fast and +requiring the utmost exertions of the animal which drew it to put it +once more in motion, was subjected to jolts in all directions, which +were very severe. At other times it rolled silently and smoothly over +what seemed to be wet sand; and, as I heard the distant roar of the +tide, I had little doubt that we were engaged in passing the formidable +estuary which divides the two kingdoms. + +There seemed to be at least five or six people about the cart, some on +foot, others on horseback; the former lent assistance whenever it was in +danger of upsetting, or sticking fast in the quicksand; the others rode +before and acted as guides, often changing the direction of the vehicle +as the precarious state of the passage required. + +I addressed myself to the men around the cart, and endeavoured to move +their compassion. I had harmed, I said, no one, and for no action in my +life had deserved such cruel treatment, I had no concern whatever in +the fishing station which had incurred their displeasure, and my +acquaintance with Mr. Geddes was of a very late date. Lastly, and as my +strongest argument, I endeavoured to excite their fears, by informing +them that my rank in life would not permit me to be either murdered or +secreted with impunity; and to interest their avarice, by the promises +I made them of reward, if they would effect my deliverance. I only +received a scornful laugh in reply to my threats; my promises might have +done more, for the fellows were whispering together as if in hesitation, +and I began to reiterate and increase my offers, when the voice of one +of the horsemen, who had suddenly come up, enjoined silence to the +men on foot, and, approaching the side of the cart, said to me, with +a strong and determined voice, ‘Young man, there is no personal harm +designed to you. If you remain silent and quiet, you may reckon on +good treatment; but if you endeavour to tamper with these men in the +execution of their duty, I will take such measures for silencing you, as +you shall remember the longest day you have to live.’ + +I thought I knew the voice which uttered these threats; but, in such +a situation, my perceptions could not be supposed to be perfectly +accurate. I was contented to reply, ‘Whoever you are that speak to me, I +entreat the benefit of the meanest prisoner, who is not to be subjected, +legally to greater hardship than is necessary for the restraint of his +person. I entreat that these bonds, which hurt me so cruelly, may be +slackened at least, if not removed altogether.’ + +‘I will slacken the belts,’ said the former speaker; ‘nay, I will +altogether remove them, and allow you to pursue your journey in a more +convenient manner, provided you will give me your word of honour that +you will not attempt an escape?’ + +‘NEVER!’ I answered, with an energy of which despair alone could have +rendered me capable--‘I will never submit to loss of freedom a moment +longer than I am subjected to it by force.’ + +‘Enough,’ he replied; ‘the sentiment is natural; but do not on your side +complain that I, who am carrying on an important undertaking, use the +only means in my power for ensuring its success.’ + +I entreated to know what it was designed to do with me; but my +conductor, in a voice of menacing authority, desired me to be silent on +my peril; and my strength and spirits were too much exhausted to permit +my continuing a dialogue so singular, even if I could have promised +myself any good result by doing so. + +It is proper here to add, that, from my recollections at the time, and +from what has since taken place, I have the strongest possible belief +that the man with whom I held this expostulation was the singular person +residing at Brokenburn, in Dumfriesshire, and called by the fishers of +that hamlet, the Laird of the Solway Lochs. The cause for his inveterate +persecution I cannot pretend even to guess at. + +In the meantime, the cart was dragged heavily and wearily on, until the +nearer roar of the advancing tide excited the apprehension of another +danger. I could not mistake the sound, which I had heard upon another +occasion, when it was only the speed of a fleet horse which saved me +from perishing in the quicksands. Thou, my dear Alan, canst not but +remember the former circumstances; and now, wonderful contrast! the very +man, to the best of my belief, who then saved me from peril, was +the leader of the lawless band who had deprived me of my liberty. I +conjectured that the danger grew imminent; for I heard some words and +circumstances which made me aware that a rider hastily fastened his own +horse to the shafts of the cart in order to assist the exhausted animal +which drew it, and the vehicle was now pulled forward at a faster pace, +which the horses were urged to maintain by blows and curses. The +men, however, were inhabitants of the neighbourhood; and I had strong +personal reason to believe that one of them, at least, was intimately +acquainted with all the depths and shallows of the perilous paths in +which we were engaged. But they were in imminent danger themselves; and +if so, as from the whispering and exertions to push on with the cart +was much to be apprehended, there was little doubt that I should be left +behind as a useless encumbrance, and that, while I was in a condition +which rendered every chance of escape impracticable. These were awful +apprehensions; but it pleased Providence to increase them to a point +which my brain was scarcely able to endure. + +As we approached very near to a black line, which, dimly visible as it +was, I could make out to be the shore, we heard two or three sounds, +which appeared to be the report of fire-arms. Immediately all was bustle +among our party to get forward. Presently a fellow galloped up to us, +crying out, ‘Ware hawk! ware hawk! the land-sharks are out from Burgh, +and Allonby Tom will lose his cargo if you do not bear a hand.’ + +Most of my company seemed to make hastily for the shore on receiving +this intelligence. A driver was left with the cart; but at length, when, +after repeated and hairbreadth escapes, it actually stuck fast in a +slough or quicksand, the fellow, with an oath, cut the harness, and, as +I presume, departed with the horses, whose feet I heard splashing over +the wet sand and through the shallows, as he galloped off. + +The dropping sound of fire-arms was still continued, but lost almost +entirely in the thunder of the advancing surge. By a desperate effort I +raised myself in the cart, and attained a sitting posture, which served +only to show me the extent of my danger. There lay my native land--my +own England--the land where I was born, and to which my wishes, since +my earliest age, had turned with all the prejudices of national +feeling--there it lay, within a furlong of the place where I yet was; +that furlong, which an infant would have raced over in a minute, was yet +a barrier effectual to divide me for ever from England and from life. I +soon not only heard the roar of this dreadful torrent, but saw, by +the fitful moonlight, the foamy crests of the devouring waves, as they +advanced with the speed and fury of a pack of hungry wolves. + +The consciousness that the slightest ray of hope, or power of +struggling, was not left me, quite overcame the constancy which I had +hitherto maintained. My eyes began to swim--my head grew giddy and mad +with fear--I chattered and howled to the howling and roaring sea. One +or two great waves already reached the cart, when the conductor of the +party whom I have mentioned so often, was, as if by magic, at my side. +He sprang from his horse into the vehicle, cut the ligatures which +restrained me, and bade me get up and mount in the fiend’s name. + +Seeing I was incapable of obeying, he seized me as if I had been a +child of six months old, threw me across the horse, sprang on behind, +supporting with one hand, while he directed the animal with the other. +In my helpless and painful posture, I was unconscious of the degree +of danger which we incurred; but I believe at one time the horse was +swimming, or nearly so; and that it was with difficulty that my stern +and powerful assistant kept my head above water. I remember particularly +the shock which I felt when the animal, endeavouring to gain the bank, +reared, and very nearly fell back on his burden. The time during which +I continued in this dreadful condition did not probably exceed two or +three minutes, yet so strongly were they marked with horror and agony, +that they seem to my recollection a much more considerable space of +time. + +When I had been thus snatched from destruction, I had only power to say +to my protector,--or oppressor,--for he merited either name at my hand, +‘You do not, then, design to murder me?’ + +He laughed as he replied, but it was a sort of laughter which I scarce +desire to hear again,--‘Else you think I had let the waves do the work? +But remember, the shepherd saves his sheep from the torrent--is it to +preserve its life?--Be silent, however, with questions or entreaties. +What I mean to do, thou canst no more discover or prevent, than a man, +with his bare palm, can scoop dry the Solway.’ + +I was too much exhausted to continue the argument; and, still numbed and +torpid in all my limbs, permitted myself without reluctance to be placed +on a horse brought for the purpose. My formidable conductor rode on the +one side, and another person on the other, keeping me upright in the +saddle. In this manner we travelled forward at a considerable rate, +and by by-roads, with which my attendant seemed as familiar as with the +perilous passages of the Solway. + +At length, after stumbling through a labyrinth of dark and deep lanes, +and crossing more than one rough and barren heath, we found ourselves on +the edge of a highroad, where a chaise and four awaited, as it appeared, +our arrival. To my great relief, we now changed our mode of conveyance; +for my dizziness and headache had returned in so strong a degree, that I +should otherwise have been totally unable to keep my seat on horseback, +even with the support which I received. + +My doubted and dangerous companion signed to me to enter the +carriage--the man who had ridden on the left side of my horse stepped in +after me, and drawing up the blinds of the vehicle, gave the signal for +instant departure. + +I had obtained a glimpse of the countenance of my new companion, as by +the aid of a dark lantern the drivers opened the carriage door, and +I was wellnigh persuaded that I recognized in him the domestic of the +leader of this party, whom I had seen at his house in Brokenburn on a +former occasion. To ascertain the truth of my suspicion, I asked him +whether his name was not Cristal Nixon. + +‘What is other folk’s names to you,’ he replied, gruffly, ‘who cannot +tell your own father and mother?’ + +‘You know them, perhaps!’ I exclaimed eagerly. ‘You know them! and with +that secret is connected the treatment which I am now receiving? It must +be so, for in my life have I never injured any one. Tell me the cause of +my misfortunes, or rather, help me to my liberty, and I will reward you +richly.’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ replied my keeper; ‘but what use to give you liberty, who +know nothing how to use it like a gentleman, but spend your time with +Quakers and fiddlers, and such like raff! If I was your--hem, hem, hem!’ + +Here Cristal stopped short, just on the point, as it appeared, when some +information was likely to escape him. I urged him once more to be my +friend, and promised him all the stock of money which I had about me, +and it was not inconsiderable, if he would assist in my escape. + +He listened, as if to a proposition which had some interest, and +replied, but in a voice rather softer than before, ‘Aye, but men do not +catch old birds with chaff, my master. Where have you got the rhino you +are so flush of?’ + +‘I will give you earnest directly, and that in banknotes,’ said I; but +thrusting my hand into my side-pocket, I found my pocket-book was gone. +I would have persuaded myself that it was only the numbness of my hands +which prevented my finding it; but Cristal Nixon, who bears in his +countenance that cynicism which is especially entertained with human +misery, no longer suppressed his laughter. + +‘Oh, ho! my young master,’ he said; ‘we have taken good enough care you +have not kept the means of bribing poor folk’s fidelity. What, man, they +have souls as well as other people, and to make them break trust is +a deadly sin. And as for me, young gentleman, if you would fill Saint +Mary’s Kirk with gold, Cristal Nixon would mind it no more than so many +chucky-stones.’ + +I would have persisted, were it but in hopes of his letting drop that +which it concerned me to know, but he cut off further communication, by +desiring me to lean back in the corner and go to sleep. + +‘Thou art cock-brained enough already,’ he added, ‘and we shall have thy +young pate addled entirely, if you do not take some natural rest.’ + +I did indeed require repose, if not slumber; the draught which I had +taken continued to operate, and, satisfied in my own mind that no +attempt on my life was designed, the fear of instant death no longer +combated the torpor which crept over me--I slept, and slept soundly, but +still without refreshment. + +When I awoke, I found myself extremely indisposed; images of the past, +and anticipations of the future, floated confusedly through my brain. +I perceived, however, that my situation was changed, greatly for the +better. I was in a good bed, with the curtains drawn round it; I heard +the lowered voice and cautious step of attendants, who seemed to respect +my repose; it appeared as if I was in the hands either of friends, or of +such as meant me no personal harm. + +I can give but an indistinct account of two or three broken and feverish +days which succeeded, but if they were chequered with dreams and +visions of terror, other and more agreeable objects were also sometimes +presented. Alan Fairford will understand me when I say, I am convinced I +saw G.M. during this interval of oblivion. I had medical attendance, and +was bled more than once. I also remember a painful operation performed +on my head, where I had received a severe blow on the night of the riot. +My hair was cut short, and the bone of the skull examined, to discover +if the cranium had received any injury. + +On seeing the physician, it would have been natural to have appealed +to him on the subject of my confinement, and I remember more than once +attempting to do so. But the fever lay like a spell upon my tongue, and +when I would have implored the doctor’s assistance, I rambled from the +subject, and spoke I know not what nonsense. Some power, which I +was unable to resist, seemed to impel me into a different course of +conversation from what I intended, and though conscious, in some degree, +of the failure, I could not mend it; and resolved, therefore, to be +patient, until my capacity of steady thought and expression was restored +to me with my ordinary health, which had sustained a severe shock from +the vicissitudes to which I had been exposed. [See Note 6.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DARSIE LATIMER’S JOURNAL, IN CONTINUATION + +Two or three days, perhaps more, perhaps less, had been spent in bed, +where I was carefully attended, and treated, I believe, with as much +judgement as the case required, and I was at length allowed to quit +my bed, though not the chamber. I was now more able to make some +observation on the place of my confinement. + +The room, in appearance and furniture, resembled the best apartment in +a farmer’s house; and the window, two stories high, looked into a +backyard, or court, filled with domestic poultry. There were the usual +domestic offices about this yard. I could distinguish the brewhouse and +the barn, and I heard, from a more remote building, the lowing of the +cattle, and other rural sounds, announcing a large and well-stocked +farm. These were sights and sounds qualified to dispel any apprehension +of immediate violence. Yet the building seemed ancient and strong, a +part of the roof was battlemented, and the walls were of great thickness; +lastly, I observed, with some unpleasant sensations, that the windows +of my chamber had been lately secured with iron stanchions, and that +the servants who brought me victuals, or visited my apartment to render +other menial offices, always locked the door when they retired. + +The comfort and cleanliness of my chamber were of true English growth, +and such as I had rarely seen on the other side of the Tweed; the very +old wainscot, which composed the floor and the panelling of the room, +was scrubbed with a degree of labour which the Scottish housewife rarely +bestows on her most costly furniture. + +The whole apartments appropriated to my use consisted of the bedroom, a +small parlour adjacent, within which was a still smaller closet having +a narrow window which seemed anciently to have been used as a shot-hole, +admitting, indeed, a very moderate portion of light and air, but without +its being possible to see anything from it except the blue sky, and +that only by mounting on a chair. There were appearances of a separate +entrance into this cabinet, besides that which communicated with the +parlour, but it had been recently built up, as I discovered by removing +a piece of tapestry which covered the fresh mason-work. I found some +of my clothes here, with linen and other articles, as well as my +writing-case, containing pen, ink, and paper, which enables me, at my +leisure (which, God knows, is undisturbed enough) to make this record of +my confinement. It may be well believed, however, that I do not trust +to the security of the bureau, but carry the written sheets about my +person, so that I can only be deprived of them by actual violence. I +also am cautious to write in the little cabinet only, so that I can +hear any person approach me through the other apartments, and have time +enough to put aside my journal before they come upon me. + +The servants, a stout country fellow and a very pretty milkmaid-looking +lass, by whom I am attended, seem of the true Joan and Hedge school, +thinking of little and desiring nothing beyond the very limited sphere +of their own duties or enjoyments, and having no curiosity whatever +about the affairs of others. Their behaviour to me in particular, is, +at the same time, very kind and very provoking. My table is abundantly +supplied, and they seem anxious to comply with my taste in that +department. But whenever I make inquiries beyond ‘what’s for dinner’, +the brute of a lad baffles me by his ANAN, and his DUNNA KNAW, and if +hard pressed, turns his back on me composedly, and leaves the room. The +girl, too, pretends to be as simple as he; but an arch grin, which +she cannot always suppress, seems to acknowledge that she understands +perfectly well the game which she is playing, and is determined to keep +me in ignorance. Both of them, and the wench in particular, treat me +as they would do a spoiled child, and never directly refuse me anything +which I ask, taking care, at the same time, not to make their words good +by effectually granting my request. Thus, if I desire to go out, I am +promised by Dorcas that I shall walk in the park at night, and see the +cows milked, just as she would propose such an amusement to a child. But +she takes care never to keep her word, if it is in her power to do so. + +In the meantime, there has stolen on me insensibly an indifference to +my freedom--a carelessness about my situation, for which I am unable to +account, unless it be the consequence of weakness and loss of blood. I +have read of men who, immured as I am, have surprised the world by the +address with which they have successfully overcome the most formidable +obstacles to their escape; and when I have heard such anecdotes, I +have said to myself, that no one who is possessed only of a fragment +of freestone, or a rusty nail to grind down rivets and to pick locks, +having his full leisure to employ in the task, need continue the +inhabitant of a prison. Here, however, I sit, day after day, without a +single effort to effect my liberation. + +Yet my inactivity is not the result of despondency, but arises, in +part at least, from feelings of a very different cast. My story, long +a mysterious one, seems now upon the verge of some strange development; +and I feel a solemn impression that I ought to wait the course of +events, to struggle against which is opposing my feeble efforts to the +high will of fate. Thou, my Alan, wilt treat as timidity this passive +acquiescence, which has sunk down on me like a benumbing torpor; but if +thou hast remembered by what visions my couch was haunted, and dost but +think of the probability that I am in the vicinity, perhaps under the +same roof with G.M., thou wilt acknowledge that other feelings than +pusillanimity have tended in some degree to reconcile me to my fate. + +Still I own it is unmanly to submit with patience to this oppressive +confinement. My heart rises against it, especially when I sit down to +record my sufferings in this journal, and I am determined, as the first +step to my deliverance, to have my letters sent to the post-house. ---- + +I am disappointed. When the girl Dorcas, upon whom I had fixed for a +messenger, heard me talk of sending a letter, she willingly offered her +services, and received the crown which I gave her (for my purse had not +taken flight with the more valuable contents of my pocket-book) with a +smile which showed her whole set of white teeth. + +But when, with the purpose of gaining some intelligence respecting my +present place of abode, I asked to which post-town she was to send or +carry the letter, a stolid ‘ANAN’ showed me she was either ignorant of +the nature of a post-office, or that, for the present, she chose to seem +so.--‘Simpleton!’ I said, with some sharpness. + +‘O Lord, sir!’ answered the girl, turning pale, which they always do +when I show any sparks of anger, ‘Don’t put yourself in a passion--I’ll +put the letter in the post. + +‘What! and not know the name of the post-town?’ said I, out of patience. +‘How on earth do you propose to manage that?’ + +‘La you there, good master. What need you frighten a poor girl that is +no schollard, bating what she learned at the Charity School of Saint +Bees?’ + +‘Is Saint Bees far from this place, Dorcas? Do you send your letters +there?’ said I, in a manner as insinuating, and yet careless, as I could +assume. + +‘Saint Bees! La, who but a madman--begging your honour’s pardon--it’s a +matter of twenty years since fader lived at Saint Bees, which is twenty, +or forty, or I dunna know not how many miles from this part, to the +West, on the coast side; and I would not have left Saint Bees, but that +fader’-- + +‘Oh, the devil take your father!’ replied I. + +To which she answered, ‘Nay, but thof your honour be a little +how-come-so, you shouldn’t damn folk’s faders; and I won’t stand to it, +for one.’ + +‘Oh, I beg you a thousand pardons--I wish your father no ill in the +world--he was a very honest man in his way.’ + +‘WAS an honest man!’ she exclaimed; for the Cumbrians are, it would +seem, like their neighbours the Scotch, ticklish on the point of +ancestry,--‘He IS a very honest man as ever led nag with halter on head +to Staneshaw Bank Fair. Honest! He is a horse-couper.’ + +‘Right, right,’ I replied; ‘I know it--I have heard of your father-as +honest as any horse-couper of them all. Why, Dorcas, I mean to buy a +horse of him.’ + +‘Ah, your honour,’ sighed Dorcas, ‘he is the man to serve your honour +well--if ever you should get round again--or thof you were a bit off the +hooks, he would no more cheat you than’-- + +‘Well, well, we will deal, my girl, you may depend on’t. But tell me +now, were I to give you a letter, what would you do to get it forward?’ + +‘Why, put it into Squire’s own bag that hangs in hall,’ answered poor +Dorcas. ‘What else could I do? He sends it to Brampton, or to Carloisle, +or where it pleases him, once a week, and that gate.’ + +‘Ah!’ said I; ‘and I suppose your sweetheart John carries it?’ + +‘Noa--disn’t now--and Jan is no sweetheart of mine, ever since he danced +at his mother’s feast with Kitty Rutlege, and let me sit still; that a +did.’ + +‘It was most abominable in Jan, and what I could never have thought of +him,’ I replied. + +‘Oh, but a did though--a let me sit still on my seat, a did.’ + +‘Well, well, my pretty May, you will get a handsomer fellow than +Jan--Jan’s not the fellow for you, I see that.’ + +‘Noa, noa,’ answered the damsel; ‘but he is weel aneugh for a’ that, +mon. But I carena a button for him; for there is the miller’s son, that +suitored me last Appleby Fair, when I went wi’ oncle, is a gway canny +lad as you will see in the sunshine.’ + +‘Aye, a fine stout fellow. Do you think he would carry my letter to +Carlisle?’ + +‘To Carloisle! ‘Twould be all his life is worth; he maun wait on clap +and hopper, as they say. Odd, his father would brain him if he went to +Carloisle, bating to wrestling for the belt, or sic loike. But I ha’ +more bachelors than him; there is the schoolmaster, can write almaist as +weel as tou canst, mon.’ + +‘Then he is the very man to take charge of a letter; he knows the +trouble of writing one.’ + +‘Aye, marry does he, an tou comest to that, mon; only it takes him four +hours to write as mony lines. Tan, it is a great round hand loike, that +one can read easily, and not loike your honour’s, that are like midge’s +taes. But for ganging to Carloisle, he’s dead foundered, man, as cripple +as Eckie’s mear.’ + +‘In the name of God,’ said I, ‘how is it that you propose to get my +letter to the post?’ + +‘Why, just to put it into Squire’s bag loike,’ reiterated Dorcas; ‘he +sends it by Cristal Nixon to post, as you call it, when such is his +pleasure.’ + +Here I was, then, not much edified by having obtained a list of Dorcas’s +bachelors; and by finding myself, with respect to any information +which I desired, just exactly at the point where I set out. It was of +consequence to me, however, to accustom, the girl to converse with me +familiarly. If she did so, she could not always be on her guard, +and something, I thought, might drop from her which I could turn to +advantage. + +‘Does not the Squire usually look into his letter-bag, Dorcas?’ said I, +with as much indifference as I could assume. + +‘That a does,’ said Dorcas; ‘and a threw out a letter of mine to Raff +Miller, because a said’-- + +‘Well, well, I won’t trouble him with mine,’ said I, ‘Dorcas; but, +instead, I will write to himself, Dorcas. But how shall I address him?’ + +‘Anan?’ was again Dorcas’s resource. + +‘I mean how is he called? What is his name?’ + +‘Sure you honour should know best,’ said Dorcas. + +‘I know? The devil! You drive me beyond patience.’ + +‘Noa, noa! donna your honour go beyond patience--donna ye now,’ +implored the wench. ‘And for his neame, they say he has mair nor ane +in Westmoreland and on the Scottish side. But he is but seldom wi’ +us, excepting in the cocking season; and then we just call him Squoire +loike; and so do my measter and dame.’ + +‘And is he here at present?’ said I. + +‘Not he, not he; he is a buck-hoonting, as they tell me, somewhere up +the Patterdale way; but he comes and gangs like a flap of a whirlwind, +or sic loike.’ + +I broke off the conversation, after forcing on Dorcas a little silver +to buy ribbons, with which she was so much delighted that she exclaimed, +‘God! Cristal Nixon may say his worst on thee; but thou art a civil +gentleman for all him; and a quoit man wi’ woman folk loike.’ + +There is no sense in being too quiet with women folk, so I added a kiss +with my crown piece; and I cannot help thinking that I have secured +a partisan in Dorcas. At least, she blushed, and pocketed her little +compliment with one hand, while, with the other, she adjusted her +cherry-coloured ribbons, a little disordered by the struggle it cost me +to attain the honour of a salute. + +As she unlocked the door to leave the apartment, she turned back, +and looking on me with a strong expression of compassion, added the +remarkable words, ‘La--be’st mad or no, thou’se a mettled lad, after +all.’ + +There was something very ominous in the sound of these farewell words, +which seemed to afford me a clue to the pretext under which I was +detained in confinement, My demeanour was probably insane enough, while +I was agitated at once by the frenzy incident to the fever, and the +anxiety arising from my extraordinary situation. But is it possible they +can now establish any cause for confining me arising out of the state of +my mind? + +If this be really the pretext under which I am restrained from my +liberty, nothing but the sedate correctness of my conduct can remove the +prejudices which these circumstances may have excited in the minds of +all who have approached me during my illness. I have heard--dreadful +thought!--of men who, for various reasons, have been trepanned into +the custody of the keepers of private madhouses, and whose brain, +after years of misery, became at length unsettled, through irresistible +sympathy with the wretched beings among whom they were classed. This +shall not be my case, if, by strong internal resolution, it is in human +nature to avoid the action of exterior and contagious sympathies. + +Meantime I sat down to compose and arrange my thoughts, for my purposed +appeal to my jailer--so I must call him--whom I addressed in the +following manner; having at length, and after making several copies, +found language to qualify the sense of resentment which burned in +the first, drafts of my letter, and endeavoured to assume a tone more +conciliating. I mentioned the two occasions on which he had certainly +saved my life, when at the utmost peril; and I added, that whatever was +the purpose of the restraint, now practised on me, as I was given to +understand, by his authority, it could not certainly be with any view +to ultimately injuring me. He might, I said, have mistaken me for some +other person; and I gave him what account I could of my situation and +education, to correct such an error. I supposed it next possible, that +he might think me too weak for travelling, and not capable of taking +care of myself; and I begged to assure him, that I was restored to +perfect health, and quite able to endure the fatigue of a journey. +Lastly, I reminded him, in firm though measured terms, that the +restraint which I sustained was an illegal one, and highly punishable +by the laws which protect the liberties of the subject. I ended by +demanding that he would take me before a magistrate; or, at least, that +he would favour me with a personal interview and explain his meaning +with regard to me. + +Perhaps this letter was expressed in a tone too humble for the +situation of an injured man, and I am inclined to think so when I again +recapitulate its tenor. But what could I do? I was in the power of one +whose passions seem as violent as his means of gratifying them appear +unbounded. I had reason, too, to believe (this to thee, Alan) that all +his family did not approve of the violence of his conduct towards me; my +object, in fine, was freedom, and who would not sacrifice much to attain +it? + +I had no means of addressing my letter excepting ‘For the Squire’s +own hand.’ He could be at no great distance, for in the course of +twenty-four hours I received an answer. It was addressed to Darsie +Latimer, and contained these words: ‘You have demanded an interview with +me. You have required to be carried before a magistrate. Your first wish +shall be granted--perhaps the second also. Meanwhile, be assured that +you are a prisoner for the time, by competent authority, and that +such authority is supported by adequate power. Beware, therefore, of +struggling with a force sufficient to crush you, but abandon yourself to +that train of events by which we are both swept along, and which it is +impossible that either of us can resist.’ + +These mysterious words were without signature of any kind, and left +me nothing more important to do than to prepare myself for the meeting +which they promised. For that purpose I must now break off, and make +sure of the manuscript--so far as I can, in my present condition, be +sure of anything--by concealing it within the lining of my coat, so as +not to be found without strict search. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +LATIMER’S JOURNAL, IN CONTINUATION + +The important interview expected at the conclusion of my last took place +sooner than I had calculated; for the very day I received the letter, +and just when my dinner was finished, the squire, or whatever he is +called, entered the room so suddenly that I almost thought I beheld an +apparition. The figure of this man is peculiarly noble and stately, +and his voice has that deep fullness of accent which implies unresisted +authority. I had risen involuntarily as he entered; we gazed on each +other for a moment in silence, which was at length broken by my visitor. + +‘You have desired to see me,’ he said. ‘I am here; if you have aught +to say let me hear it; my time is too brief to be consumed in childish +dumb-show.’ + +‘I would ask of you,’ said I, ‘by what authority I am detained in this +place of confinement, and for what purpose?’ + +‘I have told you already,’ said he, ‘that my authority is sufficient, +and my power equal to it; this is all which it is necessary for you at +present to know.’ + +‘Every British subject has a right to know why he suffers restraint,’ +I replied; ‘nor can he be deprived of liberty without a legal warrant. +Show me that by which you confine me thus.’ + +‘You shall see more,’ he said; ‘you shall see the magistrate by whom it +is granted, and that without a moment’s delay.’ + +This sudden proposal fluttered and alarmed me; I felt, nevertheless, +that I had the right cause, and resolved to plead it boldly, although +I could well have desired a little further time for preparation. He +turned, however, threw open the door of the apartment, and commanded me +to follow him. I felt some inclination, when I crossed the threshold of +my prison-chamber, to have turned and run for it; but I knew not where +to find the stairs--had reason to think the outer doors would be secured +and, to conclude, so soon as I had quitted the room to follow the proud +step of my conductor, I observed that I was dogged by Cristal Nixon, who +suddenly appeared within two paces of me, and with whose great personal +strength, independent of the assistance he might have received from +his master, I saw no chance of contending. I therefore followed, +unresistingly and in silence; along one or two passages of much greater +length than consisted with the ideas I had previously entertained of +the size of the house. At length a door was flung open, and we entered +a large, old-fashioned parlour, having coloured glass in the windows, +oaken panelling on the wall, a huge grate, in which a large faggot +or two smoked under an arched chimney-piece of stone which bore some +armorial device, whilst the walls were adorned with the usual number +of heroes in armour, with large wigs instead of helmets, and ladies in +sacques, smelling to nosegays. + +Behind a long table, on which were several books, sat a smart +underbred-looking man, wearing his own hair tied in a club, and who, +from the quire of paper laid before him, and the pen which he handled +at my entrance, seemed prepared to officiate as clerk. As I wish to +describe these persons as accurately as possible, I may add, he wore a +dark-coloured coat, corduroy breeches, and spatterdashes. At the +upper end of the same table, in an ample easy-chair covered with black +leather, reposed a fat personage, about fifty years old, who either was +actually a country justice, or was well selected to represent such a +character. His leathern breeches were faultless in make, his jockey +boots spotless in the varnish, and a handsome and flourishing pair of +boot-garters, as they are called, united the one part of his garments to +the other; in fine, a richly-laced scarlet waistcoat and a purple coat +set off the neat though corpulent figure of the little man, and threw an +additional bloom upon his plethoric aspect. I suppose he had dined, +for it was two hours past noon, and he was amusing himself, and aiding +digestion, with a pipe of tobacco. There was an air of importance in his +manner which corresponded to the rural dignity of his exterior, and a +habit which he had of throwing out a number of interjectional sounds, +uttered with a strange variety of intonation running from bass up to +treble in a very extraordinary manner, or breaking off his sentences +with a whiff of his pipe, seemed adopted to give an air of thought and +mature deliberation to his opinions and decisions. Notwithstanding +all this, Alan, it might be DOOTED, as our old Professor used to say, +whether the Justice was anything more then an ass. Certainly, besides a +great deference for the legal opinion of his clerk, which might be quite +according to the order of things, he seemed to be wonderfully under the +command of his brother squire, if squire either of them were, and indeed +much more than was consistent with so much assumed consequence of his +own. + +‘Ho--ha--aye--so--so--hum--humph--this is the young man, I +suppose--hum--aye--seems sickly. Young gentleman, you may sit down.’ + +I used the permission given, for I had been much more reduced by my +illness than I was aware of, and felt myself really fatigued, even by +the few paces I had walked, joined to the agitation I suffered. + +‘And your name, young man, is--humph--aye--ha--what is it?’ + +‘Darsie Latimer.’ + +‘Right--aye--humph--very right. Darsie Latimer is the very +thing--ha--aye--where do you come from?’ + +‘From Scotland, sir,’ I replied. + +‘A native of Scotland--a--humph--eh--how is it?’ + +‘I am an Englishman by birth, sir.’ + +‘Right--aye--yes, you are so. But pray, Mr. Darsie Latimer, have you +always been called by that name, or have you any other?--Nick, write +down his answers, Nick.’ + +‘As far as I remember, I never bore any other,’ was my answer. + +‘How, no? well, I should not have thought so, Hey, neighbour, would +you?’ + +Here he looked towards the other squire, who had thrown himself into a +chair; and, with his legs stretched out before him, and his arms folded +on his bosom, seemed carelessly attending to what was going forward. +He answered the appeal of the Justice by saying, that perhaps the young +man’s memory did not go back to a very early period. + +‘Ah--eh--ha--you hear the gentleman. Pray, how far may your memory be +pleased to run back to?--umph?’ + +‘Perhaps, sir, to the age of three years, or a little further.’ + +‘And will you presume to say, sir,’ said the squire, drawing himself +suddenly erect in his seat, and exerting the strength of his powerful +voice, ‘that you then bore your present name?’ + +I was startled at the confidence with which this question was put, and +in vain rummaged my memory for the means of replying. ‘At least,’ I +said, ‘I always remember being called Darsie; children, at that early +age, seldom get more than their Christian name.’ + +‘Oh, I thought so,’ he replied, and again stretched himself on his seat, +in the same lounging posture as before. + +‘So you were called Darsie in your infancy,’ said the Justice; +‘and--hum--aye--when did you first take the name of Latimer?’ + +‘I did not take it, sir; it was given to me.’ + +‘I ask you,’ said the lord of the mansion, but with less severity in his +voice than formerly, ‘whether you can remember that you were ever called +Latimer, until you had that name given you in Scotland?’ + +‘I will be candid: I cannot recollect an instance that I was so called +when in England, but neither can I recollect when the name was first +given me; and if anything is to be founded on these queries and my +answers, I desire my early childhood may be taken into consideration.’ + +‘Hum--aye--yes,’ said the Justice; ‘all that requires consideration +shall be duly considered. Young man--eh--I beg to know the name of your +father and mother?’ + +This was galling a wound that has festered for years, and I did not +endure the question so patiently as those which preceded it; but +replied, ‘I demand, in my turn, to know if I am before an English +Justice of the Peace?’ + +‘His worship, Squire Foxley, of Foxley Hall, has been of the quorum +these twenty years,’ said Master Nicholas. + +‘Then he ought to know, or you, sir, as his clerk, should inform him,’ +said I, ‘that I am the complainer in this case, and that my complaint +ought to be heard before I am subjected to cross-examination.’ + +‘Humph--hoy--what, aye--there is something in that, neighbour,’ said +the poor Justice, who, blown about by every wind of doctrine, seemed +desirous to attain the sanction of his brother squire. + +‘I wonder at you, Foxley,’ said his firm-minded acquaintance; ‘how can +you render the young man justice unless you know who he is?’ + +‘Ha--yes--egad, that’s true,’ said Mr. Justice Foxley; ‘and now--looking +into the matter more closely--there is, eh, upon the whole--nothing +at all in what he says--so, sir, you must tell your father’s name, and +surname.’ + +‘It is out of my power, sir; they are not known to me, since you must +needs know so much of my private affairs.’ + +The Justice collected a great AFFLATUS in his cheeks, which puffed them +up like those of a Dutch cherub, while his eyes seemed flying out of his +head, from the effort with which he retained his breath. He then blew +it forth with,--‘Whew!--Hoom--poof--ha!--not know your parents, +youngster?--Then I must commit you for a vagrant, I warrant you. OMNE +IGNOTUM PRO TERRIBILI, as we used to say at Appleby school; that is, +every one that is not known to the Justice; is a rogue and a vagabond. +Ha!--aye, you may sneer, sir; but I question if you would have known the +meaning of that Latin, unless I had told you.’ + +I acknowledged myself obliged for a new edition of the adage, and an +interpretation which I could never have reached alone and unassisted. I +then proceeded to state my case with greater confidence. The Justice +was an ass, that was clear; but if was scarcely possible he could be so +utterly ignorant as not to know what was necessary in so plain a case as +mine. I therefore informed him of the riot which had been committed on +the Scottish side of the Solway Firth, explained how I came to be placed +in my present situation, and requested of his worship to set me at +liberty. I pleaded my cause with as much earnestness as I could, casting +an eye from time to time upon the opposite party, who seemed entirely +indifferent to all the animation with which I accused him. + +As for the Justice, when at length I had ceased, as really not +knowing what more to say in a case so very plain, he replied, +‘Ho--aye--aye--yes--wonderful! and so this is all the gratitude you show +to this good gentleman for the great charge and trouble he hath had with +respect to and concerning of you?’ + +‘He saved my life, sir, I acknowledge, on one occasion certainly, and +most probably on two; but his having done so gives him no right over my +person. I am not, however, asking for any punishment or revenge; on the +contrary, I am content to part friends with the gentleman, whose motives +I am unwilling to suppose are bad, though his actions have been, towards +me, unauthorized and violent.’ + +This moderation, Alan, thou wilt comprehend, was not entirely dictated +by my feelings towards the individual of whom I complained; there were +other reasons, in which regard for him had little share. It seemed, +however, as if the mildness with which I pleaded my cause had more +effect upon him than anything I had yet said. We was moved to the point +of being almost out of countenance; and took snuff repeatedly, as if to +gain time to stifle some degree of emotion. + +But on Justice Foxley, on whom my eloquence was particularly designed to +make impression, the result was much less favourable. He consulted in a +whisper with Mr. Nicholas, his clerk--pshawed, hemmed, and elevated +his eyebrows, as if in scorn of my supplication. At length, having +apparently made up his mind, he leaned back in his chair, and smoked +his pipe with great energy, with a look of defiance, designed to make me +aware that all my reasoning was lost on him. + +At length, when I stopped, more from lack of breath than want of +argument, he opened his oracular jaws, and made the following reply, +interrupted by his usual interjectional ejaculations, and by long +volumes of smoke:--‘Hem--aye--eh--poof. And, youngster, do you think +Matthew Foxley, who has been one of the quorum for these twenty years, +is to be come over with such trash as would hardly cheat an apple-woman? +Poof--poof--eh! Why, man--eh--dost thou not know the charge is not a +bailable matter--and that--hum--aye--the greatest man--poof--the Baron +of Graystock himself, must stand committed? and yet you pretend to have +been kidnapped by this gentleman, and robbed of property, and what not; +and--eh--poof--you would persuade me all you want is to get away from +him? I do believe--eh--that it IS all you want. Therefore, as you are +a sort of a slip-string gentleman, and--aye--hum--a kind of idle +apprentice, and something cock-brained withal, as the honest folks +of the house tell me--why, you must e’en remain under custody of your +guardian, till your coming of age, or my Lord Chancellor’s warrant, +shall give you the management of your own affairs, which, if you can +gather your brains again, you will even then not be--aye--hem--poof--in +particular haste to assume.’ + +The time occupied by his worship’s hums, and haws, and puffs of tobacco +smoke, together with the slow and pompous manner in which he spoke, gave +me a minute’s space to collect my ideas, dispersed as they were by the +extraordinary purport of this annunciation. + +‘I cannot conceive, sir,’ I replied, ‘by what singular tenure this +person claims my obedience as a guardian; it is a barefaced imposture. I +never in my life saw him, until I came unhappily to this country, about +four weeks since.’ + +‘Aye, sir--we--eh--know, and are aware--that--poof--you do not like +to hear some folk’s names; and that--eh--you understand me--there are +things, and sounds, and matters, conversation about names, and suchlike, +which put you off the hooks--which I have no humour to witness. +Nevertheless, Mr. Darsie--or--poof--Mr. Darsie Latimer--or--poof, +poof--eh--aye, Mr. Darsie without the Latimer--you have acknowledged +as much to-day as assures me you will best be disposed of under the +honourable care of my friend here--all your confessions--besides that, +poof--eh--I know him to be a most responsible person--a--hay--aye--most +responsible and honourable person--Can you deny this?’ + +‘I know nothing of him,’ I repeated; ‘not even his name; and I have not, +as I told you, seen him in the course of my whole life, till a few weeks +since.’ + +‘Will you swear to that?’ said the singular man, who seemed to await the +result of this debate, secure as a rattle-snake is of the prey which +has once felt its fascination. And while he said these words in deep +undertone, he withdrew his chair a little behind that of the Justice, so +as to be unseen by him or his clerk, who sat upon the same side; while +he bent on me a frown so portentous, that no one who has witnessed the +look can forget it during the whole of his life. The furrows of the +brow above the eyes became livid and almost black, and were bent into +a semicircular, or rather elliptical form, above the junction of the +eyebrows. I had heard such a look described in an old tale of DIABLERIE, +which it was my chance to be entertained with not long since; when +this deep and gloomy contortion of the frontal muscles was not unaptly +described as forming the representation of a small horseshoe. + +The tale, when told, awaked a dreadful vision of infancy, which +the withering and blighting look now fixed on me again forced on +my recollection, but with much more vivacity. Indeed, I was so much +surprised, and, I must add, terrified, at the vague ideas which were +awakened in my mind by this fearful sign, that I kept my eyes fixed on +the face in which it was exhibited, as on a frightful vision; until, +passing his handkerchief a moment across his countenance, this +mysterious man relaxed at once the look which had for me something +so appalling. ‘The young man will no longer deny that he has seen me +before,’ said he to the Justice, in a tone of complacency; ‘and I trust +he will now be reconciled to my temporary guardianship, which may end +better for him than he expects.’ + +‘Whatever I expect,’ I replied, summoning my scattered recollections +together, ‘I see I am neither to expect justice nor protection from this +gentleman, whose office it is to render both to the lieges. For you, +sir, how strangely you have wrought yourself into the fate of an unhappy +young man or what interest you can pretend in me, you yourself only can +explain. That I have seen you before is certain; for none can forget the +look with which you seem to have the power of blighting those upon whom +you cast it.’ + +The Justice seemed not very easy under this hint, ‘Ha!--aye,’ he said; +‘it is time to be going, neighbour. I have a many miles to ride, and I +care not to ride darkling in these parts. You and I, Mr. Nicholas, must +be jogging.’ + +The Justice fumbled with his gloves, in endeavouring to draw them on +hastily, and Mr. Nicholas bustled to get his greatcoat and whip. Their +landlord endeavoured to detain them, and spoke of supper and beds. Both, +pouring forth many thanks for his invitation, seemed as if they would +much rather not, and Mr. Justice Foxley was making a score of apologies, +with at least a hundred cautionary hems and eh-ehs, when the girl Dorcas +burst into the room, and announced a gentleman on justice business. + +‘What gentleman?--and whom does he want?’ + +‘He is cuome post on his ten toes,’ said the wench; ‘and on justice +business to his worship loike. I’se uphald him a gentleman, for he +speaks as good Latin as the schule-measter; but, lack-a-day! he has +gotten a queer mop of a wig.’ + +The gentleman, thus announced and described, bounced into the room. +But I have already written as much as fills a sheet of my paper, and my +singular embarrassments press so hard on me that I have matter to fill +another from what followed the intrusion of--my dear Alan--your crazy +client--Poor Peter Peebles! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LATIMER’S JOURNAL, IN CONTINUATION + +Sheet 2. + +I have rarely in my life, till the last alarming days, known what it +was to sustain a moment’s real sorrow. What I called such, was, I am +now well convinced, only the weariness of mind which, having nothing +actually present to complain of, turns upon itself and becomes anxious +about the past and the future; those periods with which human life has +so little connexion, that Scripture itself hath said, ‘Sufficient for +the day is the evil thereof.’ + +If, therefore, I have sometimes abused prosperity, by murmuring at +my unknown birth and uncertain rank in society, I will make amends by +bearing my present real adversity with patience and courage, and, if I +can, even with gaiety. What can they--dare they-do to me? Foxley, I am +persuaded, is a real Justice of Peace, and country gentleman of estate, +though (wonderful to tell!) he is an ass notwithstanding; and +his functionary in the drab coat must have a shrewd guess at the +consequences of being accessory to an act of murder or kidnapping. Men +invite not such witnesses to deeds of darkness. I have also--Alan, I +have hopes, arising out of the family of the oppressor himself. I am +encouraged to believe that G.M. is likely again to enter on the field. +More I dare not here say; nor must I drop a hint which another eye than +thine might be able to construe. Enough, my feelings are lighter than +they have been; and, though fear and wonder are still around me, they +are unable entirely to overcloud the horizon. + +Even when I saw the spectral form of the old scarecrow of the Parliament +House rush into the apartment where I had undergone so singular an +examination, I thought of thy connexion with him, and could almost have +parodied Lear-- + + Death!--nothing could have thus subdued nature + To such a lowness, but his ‘learned lawyers.’ + +He was e’en as we have seen him of yore, Alan, when, rather to keep thee +company than to follow my own bent, I formerly frequented the halls of +justice. The only addition to his dress, in the capacity of a traveller, +was a pair of boots, that seemed as if they might have seen the field +of Sheriffmoor; so large and heavy that, tied as they were to the +creature’s wearied hams with large bunches of worsted tape of various +colours, they looked as if he had been dragging them along, either for a +wager or by way of penance. + +Regardless of the surprised looks of the party on whom he thus intruded +himself, Peter blundered into the middle of the apartment, with his head +charged like a ram’s in the act of butting, and saluted them thus:-- + +‘Gude day to ye, gude day to your honours. Is’t here they sell the fugie +warrants?’ + +I observed that on his entrance, my friend--or enemy--drew himself +back, and placed himself as if he would rather avoid attracting the +observation of the new-comer. I did the same myself, as far as I was +able; for I thought it likely that Mr. Peebles might recognize me, as +indeed I was too frequently among the group of young juridical aspirants +who used to amuse themselves by putting cases for Peter’s solution, and +playing him worse tricks; yet I was uncertain whether I had better avail +myself of our acquaintance to have the advantage, such as it might +be, of his evidence before the magistrate, or whether to make him, +if possible, bearer of a letter which might procure me more effectual +assistance. I resolved, therefore, to be guided by circumstances, and +to watch carefully that nothing might escape me. I drew back as far as +I could, and even reconnoitred the door and passage, to consider whether +absolute escape might not be practicable. But there paraded Cristal +Nixon, whose little black eyes, sharp as those of a basilisk, seemed, +the instant when they encountered mine, to penetrate my purpose. + +I sat down, as much out of sight of all parties as I could, and listened +to the dialogue which followed--a dialogue how much more interesting to +me than any I could have conceived, in which Peter Peebles was to be one +of the dramatis personae! + +‘Is it here where ye sell the warrants--the fugies, ye ken?’ said Peter. + +‘Hey--eh--what!’ said Justice Foxley; ‘what the devil does the fellow +mean?--What would you have a warrant for?’ + +‘It is to apprehend a young lawyer that is IN MEDITATIONE FUGAE; for he +has ta’en my memorial and pleaded my cause, and a good fee I gave +him, and as muckle brandy as he could drink that day at his father’s +house--he loes the brandy ower weel for sae youthful a creature.’ + +‘And what has this drunken young dog of a lawyer done to you, that +you are come to me--eh--ha? Has he robbed you? Not unlikely if he be a +lawyer--eh--Nick--ha?’ said Justice Foxley. + +‘He has robbed me of himself, sir,’ answered Peter; ‘of his help, +comfort, aid, maintenance, and assistance, whilk, as a counsel to a +client, he is bound to yield me RATIONE OFFICII--that is it, ye see. He +has pouched my fee, and drucken a mutchkin of brandy, and now he’s ower +the march, and left my cause, half won half lost--as dead a heat as e’er +was run ower the back-sands. Now, I was advised by some cunning laddies +that are used to crack a bit law wi’ me in the House, that the best +thing I could do was to take heart o’ grace and set out after him; so I +have taken post on my ain shanks, forby a cast in a cart, or the like. I +got wind of him in Dumfries, and now I have run him ower to the English +side, and I want a fugie warrant against him.’ + +How did my heart throb at this information, dearest Alan! Thou art near +me then, and I well know with what kind purpose; thou hast abandoned all +to fly to my assistance; and no wonder that, knowing thy friendship and +faith, thy sound sagacity and persevering disposition, ‘my bosom’s +lord should now sit lightly on his throne’; that gaiety should almost +involuntarily hover on my pen; and that my heart should beat like that +of a general, responsive to the drums of his advancing ally, without +whose help the battle must have been lost. + +I did not suffer myself to be startled by this joyous surprise, but +continued to bend my strictest attention to what followed among this +singular party. That Poor Peter Peebles had been put on this wildgoose +chase by some of his juvenile advisers in the Parliament House, he +himself had intimated; but he spoke with much confidence, and the +Justice, who seemed to have some secret apprehension of being put to +trouble in the matter, and, as sometimes occurs on the English frontier, +a jealousy lest the superior acuteness of their northern neighbours +might overreach their own simplicity, turned to his clerk with a +perplexed countenance. + +‘Eh--oh--Nick--d--n thee--Hast thou got nothing to say? This is more +Scots law, I take it, and more Scotsmen.’ (Here he cast a side-glance at +the owner of the mansion, and winked to his clerk.) ‘I would Solway were +as deep as it is wide, and we had then some chance of keeping of them +out.’ + +Nicholas conversed an instant aside with the supplicant, and then +reported:-- + +‘The man wants a border-warrant, I think; but they are only granted for +debt--now he wants one to catch a lawyer.’ + +‘And what for no?’ answered Peter Peebles, doggedly; ‘what for no, I +would be glad to ken? If a day’s labourer refuse to work, ye’ll grant a +warrant to gar him do out his daurg--if a wench quean rin away from +her hairst, ye’ll send her back to her heuck again--if sae mickle as a +collier or a salter make a moonlight flitting, ye will cleek him by the +back-spaul in a minute of time--and yet the damage canna amount to mair +than a creelfu’ of coals, and a forpit or twa of saut; and here is a +chield taks leg from his engagement, and damages me to the tune of sax +thousand punds sterling; that is, three thousand that I should win, and +three thousand mair that I am like to lose; and you that ca’ yourself a +justice canna help a poor man to catch the rinaway? A bonny like justice +I am like to get amang ye!’ + +‘The fellow must be drunk,’ said the clerk. + +‘Black fasting from all but sin,’ replied the supplicant; ‘I havena had +mair than a mouthful of cauld water since I passed the Border, and deil +a ane of ye is like to say to me, “Dog, will ye drink?”’ + +The Justice seemed moved by this appeal. ‘Hem---tush, man,’ replied he; +‘thou speak’st to us as if thou wert in presence of one of thine own +beggarly justices--get downstairs--get something to eat, man (with +permission of my friend to make so free in his house), and a mouthful to +drink, and I warrant we get ye such justice as will please ye.’ + +‘I winna refuse your neighbourly offer,’ said Poor Peter Peebles, making +his bow; ‘muckle grace be wi’ your honour, and wisdom to guide you in +this extraordinary cause.’ + +When I saw Peter Peebles about to retire from the room, I could not +forbear an effort to obtain from him such evidence as might give me some +credit with the Justice. I stepped forward, therefore, and, saluting +him, asked him if he remembered me? + +After a stare or two, and a long pinch of snuff, recollection seemed +suddenly to dawn on Peter Peebles. ‘Recollect ye!’ he said; ‘by my troth +do I.---Haud him a grip, gentlemen!--constables, keep him fast! where +that ill-deedie hempy is, ye are sure that Alan Fairford is not far off. +Haud him fast, Master Constable; I charge ye wi’ him, for I am mista’en +if he is not at the bottom of this rinaway business. He was aye getting +the silly callant Alan awa wi’ gigs, and horse, and the like of that, to +Roslin, and Prestonpans, and a’ the idle gates he could think of. He’s a +rinaway apprentice, that ane.’ + +‘Mr. Peebles,’ I said, ‘do not do me wrong. I am sure you can say no +harm of me justly, but can satisfy these gentlemen, if you will, that I +am a student of law in Edinburgh--Darsie Latimer by name.’ + +‘Me satisfy! how can I satisfy the gentlemen,’ answered Peter, ‘that am +sae far from being satisfied mysell? I ken naething about your name, and +can only testify, NIHIL NOVIT IN CAUSA.’ + +‘A pretty witness you have brought forward in your favour,’ said Mr. +Foxley. ‘But--ha--aye---I’ll ask him a question or two. Pray, friend, +will you take your oath to this youth being a runaway apprentice?’ + +‘Sir,’ said Peter, ‘I will make oath to onything in reason; when a case +comes to my oath it’s a won cause: But I am in some haste to prie your +worship’s good cheer;’ for Peter had become much more respectful in +his demeanour towards the Justice since he had heard some intimation of +dinner. + +‘You shall have--eh--hum--aye--a bellyful, if it be possible to fill it. +First let me know if this young man be really what he pretends. Nick, +make his affidavit.’ + +‘Ow, he is just a wud harum-scarum creature, that wad never take to his +studies; daft, sir, clean daft.’ + +‘Deft!’ said the Justice; ‘what d’ye mean by deft--eh?’ + +‘Just Fifish,’ replied Peter; ‘wowf--a wee bit by the East Nook or sae; +it’s a common case--the ae half of the warld thinks the tither daft. I +have met with folk in my day that thought I was daft mysell; and, for my +part, I think our Court of Session clean daft, that have had the great +cause of Peebles against Plainstanes before them for this score of +years, and have never been able to ding the bottom out of it yet.’ + +‘I cannot make out a word of his cursed brogue,’ said the Cumbrian +justice; ‘can you, neighbour--eh? What can he mean by DEFT?’ + +‘He means MAD,’ said the party appealed to, thrown off his guard by +impatience of this protracted discussion. + +‘Ye have it--ye have it,’ said Peter; ‘that is, not clean skivie, but--’ + +Here he stopped, and fixed his eye on the person he addressed with an +air of joyful recognition.--‘Aye, aye, Mr. Herries of Birrenswork, is +this your ainsell in blood and bane? I thought ye had been hanged at +Kennington Common, or Hairiebie, or some of these places, after the +bonny ploy ye made in the Forty-five.’ + +‘I believe you are mistaken, friend,’ said Herries, sternly, with whose +name and designation I was thus made unexpectedly acquainted. + +‘The deil a bit,’ answered the undaunted Peter Peebles; I mind ye weel, +for ye lodged in my house the great year of Forty-five, for a great +year it was; the Grand Rebellion broke out, and my cause--the great +cause--Peebles against Plainstanes, ET PER CONTRA--was called in the +beginning of the winter session, and would have been heard, but that +there was a surcease of justice, with your plaids, and your piping, and +your nonsense.’ + +‘I tell you, fellow,’ said Herries, yet more fiercely, ‘you have +confused me with some of the other furniture of your crazy pate.’ + +‘Speak like a gentleman, sir,’ answered Peebles; ‘these are not legal +phrases, Mr. Herries of Birrenswork. Speak in form of law, or I sall bid +ye gude day, sir. I have nae pleasure in speaking to proud folk, though +I am willing to answer onything in a legal way; so if you are for +a crack about auld langsyne, and the splores that you and Captain +Redgimlet used to breed in my house, and the girded cask of brandy that +ye drank and ne’er thought of paying for it (not that I minded it muckle +in thae days, though I have felt a lack of it sin syne), why I will +waste an hour on ye at ony time.--and where is Captain Redgimlet now? +he was a wild chap, like yoursell, though they arena sae keen after you +poor bodies for these some years bygane; the heading and hanging is weel +ower now--awful job--awful job--will ye try my sneeshing?’ + +He concluded his desultory speech by thrusting out his large bony paw, +filled with a Scottish mull of huge dimensions, which Herries, who had +been standing like one petrified by the assurance of this unexpected +address, rejected with a contemptuous motion of his hand, which spilled +some of the contents of the box. + +‘Aweel, aweel,’ said Peter Peebles, totally unabashed by the repulse, +‘e’en as ye like, a wilful man maun hae his way; but,’ he added, +stooping down and endeavouring to gather the spilled snuff from the +polished floor, ‘I canna afford to lose my sneeshing for a’ that ye are +gumple-foisted wi’ me.’ + +My attention had been keenly awakened, during this extraordinary and +unexpected scene. I watched, with as much attention as my own agitation +permitted me to command, the effect produced on the parties concerned. +It was evident that our friend, Peter Peebles, had unwarily let out +something which altered the sentiments of Justice Foxley and his clerk +towards Mr. Herries, with whom, until he was known and acknowledged +under that name, they had appeared to be so intimate. They talked with +each other aside, looked at a paper or two which the clerk selected +from the contents of a huge black pocket-book, and seemed, under the +influence of fear and uncertainty, totally at a loss what line of +conduct to adopt. + +Herries made a different, and far more interesting figure. However +little Peter Peebles might resemble the angel Ithuriel, the appearance +of Herries, his high and scornful demeanour, vexed at what seemed +detection yet fearless of the consequences, and regarding the whispering +magistrate and his clerk with looks in which contempt predominated over +anger or anxiety, bore, in my opinion, no slight resemblance to + + the regal port + And faded splendour wan + +with which the poet has invested the detected King of the powers of the +air. + +As he glanced round, with a look which he had endeavoured to compose to +haughty indifference, his eye encountered mine, and, I thought, at +the first glance sank beneath it. But he instantly rallied his natural +spirit, and returned me one of those extraordinary looks, by which he +could contort so strangely the wrinkles on his forehead. I started; but, +angry at myself for my pusillanimity, I answered him by a look of the +same kind, and catching the reflection of my countenance in a large +antique mirror which stood before me, I started again at the real or +imaginary resemblance which my countenance, at that moment, bore to that +of Herries. Surely my fate is somehow strangely interwoven with that of +this mysterious individual. I had no time at present to speculate upon +the subject, for the subsequent conversation demanded all my attention. + +The Justice addressed Herries, after a pause of about five minutes, in +which, all parties seemed at some loss how to proceed. He spoke with +embarrassment, and his faltering voice, and the long intervals which +divided his sentences, seemed to indicate fear of him whom he addressed. + +‘Neighbour,’ he said, ‘I could not have thought this; or, if I--eh--DID +think--in a corner of my own mind as it were--that you, I say--that you +might have unluckily engaged in--eh--the matter of the Forty-five--there +was still time to have forgot all that.’ + +‘And is it so singular that a man should have been out in the +Forty-five?’ said Herries, with contemptuous composure;--‘your father, I +think, Mr. Foxley, was out with Derwentwater in the Fifteen.’ + +‘And lost half of his estate,’ answered Foxley, with more rapidity than +usual; ‘and was very near--hem--being hanged into the boot. But this +is--another guess job--for--eh--Fifteen is not Forty-five; and my father +had a remission, and you, I take it, have none.’ + +‘Perhaps I have,’ said Herries indifferently; ‘or if I have not, I am +but in the case of half a dozen others whom government do not think +worth looking after at this time of day, so they give no offence or +disturbance.’ + +‘But you have given both, sir,’ said Nicholas Faggot, the clerk, who, +having some petty provincial situation, as I have since understood, +deemed himself bound to be zealous for government, ‘Mr. Justice Foxley +cannot be answerable for letting you pass free, now your name and +surname have been spoken plainly out. There are warrants out against you +from the Secretary of State’s office.’ + +‘A proper allegation, Mr. Attorney! that, at the distance of so +many years, the Secretary of State should trouble himself about the +unfortunate relics of a ruined cause,’ answered Mr. Herries. + +‘But if it be so,’ said the clerk, who seemed to assume more confidence +upon the composure of Herries’s demeanour; ‘and if cause has been given +by the conduct of a gentleman himself, who hath been, it is +alleged, raking up old matters, and mixing them with new subjects of +disaffection--I say, if it be so, I should advise the party, in his +wisdom, to surrender himself quietly into the lawful custody of the next +Justice of Peace--Mr. Foxley, suppose--where, and by whom, the matter +should be regularly inquired into. I am only putting a case,’ he added, +watching with apprehension the effect which his words were likely to +produce upon the party to whom they were addressed. + +‘And were I to receive such advice,’ said Herries, with the same +composure as before--‘putting the case, as you say, Mr. Faggot--I +should request to see the warrant which countenanced such a scandalous +proceeding.’ + +Mr. Nicholas, by way of answer, placed in his hand a paper, and seemed +anxiously to expect the consequences which were to ensue. Mr. Herries +looked it over with the same equanimity as before, and then continued, +‘And were such a scrawl as this presented to me in my own house, I would +throw it into the chimney, and Mr. Faggot upon the top of it.’ + +Accordingly, seconding the word with the action, he flung the warrant +into the fire with one hand, and fixed the other, with a stern and +irresistible grip, on the breast of the attorney, who, totally unable to +contend with him, in either personal strength or mental energy, trembled +like a chicken in the raven’s clutch. He got off, however, for the +fright; for Herries, having probably made him fully sensible of the +strength of his grasp, released him, with a scornful laugh. + +‘Deforcement--spulzie-stouthrief--masterful rescue!’ exclaimed Peter +Peebles, scandalized at the resistance offered to the law in the person +of Nicholas Faggot. But his shrill exclamations were drowned in the +thundering voice of Herries, who, calling upon Cristal Nixon, ordered +him to take the bawling fool downstairs, fill his belly, and then give +him a guinea, and thrust him out of doors. Under such injunctions, Peter +easily suffered himself to be withdrawn from the scene. + +Herries then turned to the Justice, whose visage, wholly abandoned by +the rubicund hue which so lately beamed upon it, hung out the same pale +livery as that of his dismayed clerk. ‘Old friend and acquaintance,’ +he said, ‘you came here at my request on a friendly errand, to convince +this silly young man of the right which I have over his person for the +present. I trust you do not intend to make your visit the pretext of +disquieting me about other matters? All the world knows that I have been +living at large, in these northern counties, for some months, not to say +years, and might have been apprehended at any time, had the necessities +of the state required, or my own behaviour deserved it. But no English +magistrate has been ungenerous enough to trouble a gentleman under +misfortune, on account of political opinions and disputes which have +been long ended by the success of the reigning powers. I trust, my good +friend, you will not endanger yourself by taking any other view of the +subject than you have done ever since we were acquainted?’ + +The Justice answered with more readiness, as well as more spirit than +usual, ‘Neighbour Ingoldsby--what you say--is--eh--in some sort +true; and when you were coming and going at markets, horse-races, +and cock-fights, fairs, hunts, and such-like--it was--eh--neither my +business nor my wish to dispel--I say--to inquire into and dispel the +mysteries which hung about you; for while you were a good companion +in the field, and over a bottle now and then--I did not--eh--think +it necessary to ask--into your private affairs. And if I thought +you were--ahem--somewhat unfortunate in former undertakings, and +enterprises, and connexions, which might cause you to live unsettledly +and more private, I could have--eh--very little pleasure--to aggravate +your case by interfering, or requiring explanations, which are often +more easily asked than given. But when there are warrants and witnesses +to names--and those names, christian and surname, belong to--eh--an +attainted person--charged--I trust falsely--with--ahem-taking advantage +of modern broils and heart-burnings to renew our civil disturbances, the +case is altered; and I must--ahem--do my duty.’ + +The Justice, got on his feet as he concluded this speech, and looked +as bold as he could. I drew close beside him and his clerk, Mr. Faggot, +thinking the moment favourable for my own liberation, and intimated +to Mr. Foxley my determination to stand by him. But Mr. Herries only +laughed at the menacing posture which we assumed. ‘My good neighbour,’ +said he, ‘you talk of a witness. Is yon crazy beggar a fit witness in an +affair of this nature?’ + +‘But you do not deny that you are Mr. Herries of Birrenswork, mentioned +in the Secretary of State’s warrant?’ said Mr. Foxley. + +‘How can I deny or own anything about it?’ said Herries, with a sneer. +‘There is no such warrant in existence now; its ashes, like the poor +traitor whose doom it threatened, have been dispersed to the four winds +of heaven. There is now no warrant in the world.’ + +‘But you will not deny,’ said the Justice, ‘that you were the person +named in it; and that--eh--your own act destroyed it?’ + +‘I will neither deny my name nor my actions, Justice,’ replied Mr. +Herries, ‘when called upon by competent authority to avow or defend +them. But I will resist all impertinent attempts either to intrude into +my private motives, or to control my person. I am quite well prepared to +do so; and I trust that you, my good neighbour and brother sportsman, +in your expostulation, and my friend Mr. Nicholas Faggot here, in his +humble advice and petition that I should surrender myself, will consider +yourselves as having amply discharged your duty to King George and +government.’ + +The cold and ironical tone in which he made this declaration; the look +and attitude, so nobly expressive of absolute confidence in his own +superior strength and energy, seemed to complete the indecision which +had already shown itself on the side of those whom he addressed. + +The Justice looked to the clerk--the clerk to the Justice; the former +HA’D, EH’D, without bringing forth an articulate syllable; the latter +only said, ‘As the warrant is destroyed, Mr. Justice, I presume you do +not mean to proceed with the arrest?’ + +‘Hum--aye--why, no--Nicholas--it would not be quite advisable--and as +the Forty-five was an old affair--and--hem--as my friend here will, +I hope, see his error--that is, if he has not seen it already--and +renounce the Pope, the Devil, and the Pretender--I mean no harm, +neighbour--I think we--as we have no POSSE, or constables, or the +like--should order our horses--and, in one word, look the matter over.’ + +‘Judiciously resolved,’ said the person whom this decision affected; +‘but before you go, I trust you will drink and be friends?’ + +‘Why,’ said the Justice, rubbing his brow, ‘our business has +been--hem--rather a thirsty one.’ + +‘Cristal Nixon,’ said Mr. Herries, ‘let us have a cool tankard +instantly, large enough to quench the thirst of the whole commission.’ + +While Cristal was absent on this genial errand, there was a pause, of +which I endeavoured to avail myself by bringing back the discourse to +my own concerns. ‘Sir,’ I said to Justice Foxley, ‘I have no direct +business with your late discussion with Mr. Herries, only just thus +far--You leave me, a loyal subject of King George, an unwilling prisoner +in the hands of a person whom you have reason to believe unfriendly to +the king’s cause. I humbly submit that this is contrary to your duty +as a magistrate, and that you ought to make Mr. Herries aware of the +illegality of his proceedings, and take steps for my rescue, either upon +the spot, or, at least, as soon as possible after you have left this +case’-- + +‘Young man,’ said Mr. Justice Foxley, ‘I would have you remember you are +under the power, the lawful power--ahem--of your guardian.’ + +‘He calls himself so, indeed,’ I replied; ‘but he has shown no evidence +to establish so absurd a claim; and if he had, his circumstances, as an +attainted traitor excepted from pardon, would void such a right if it +existed. I do therefore desire you, Mr. Justice, and you, his clerk, to +consider my situation, and afford me relief at your peril.’ + +‘Here is a young fellow now,’ said the Justice, with much-embarrassed +looks, ‘thinks that I carry the whole statute law of England in my head, +and a POSSE COMITATUS to execute them in my pocket! Why, what good would +my interference do?--but--hum--eh--I will speak to your guardian in your +favour.’ + +He took Mr. Herries aside, and seemed indeed to urge something upon him +with much earnestness; and perhaps such a species of intercession was +all which, in the circumstances, I was entitled to expect from him. + +They often looked at me as they spoke together; and as Cristal Nixon +entered with a huge four-pottle tankard, filled with the beverage +his master had demanded, Herries turned away from Mr. Foxley somewhat +impatiently, saying with emphasis, ‘I give you my word of honour, that +you have not the slightest reason to apprehend anything on his account.’ +He then took up the tankard, and saying aloud in Gaelic, ‘SLAINT AN +REY,’ [The King’s health.] just tasted the liquor, and handed the +tankard to Justice Foxley, who, to avoid the dilemma of pledging him to +what might be the Pretender’s health, drank to Mr. Herries’s own, with +much pointed solemnity, but in a draught far less moderate. + +The clerk imitated the example of his principal, and I was fain to +follow their example, for anxiety and fear are at least as thirsty as +sorrow is said to be. In a word, we exhausted the composition of ale, +sherry, lemon-juice, nutmeg, and other good things, stranded upon the +silver bottom of the tankard the huge toast, as well as the roasted +orange, which had whilom floated jollily upon the brim, and rendered +legible Dr. Byrom’s celebrated lines engraved thereon-- + + God bless the King!--God bless the Faith’s defender! + God bless--No harm in blessing--the Pretender. + Who that Pretender is, and who that King,-- + God bless us all!--is quite another thing. + +I had time enough to study this effusion of the Jacobite muse, while the +Justice was engaged in the somewhat tedious ceremony of taking leave. +That of Mr. Faggot was less ceremonious; but I suspect something besides +empty compliment passed betwixt him and Mr. Herries; for I remarked that +the latter slipped a piece of paper into the hand of the former, which +might perhaps be a little atonement for the rashness with which he had +burnt the warrant, and imposed no gentle hand on the respectable minion +of the law by whom it was exhibited; and I observed that he made this +propitiation in such a manner as to be secret from the worthy clerk’s +principal. + +When this was arranged, the party took leave of each other with much +formality on the part of Squire Foxley, amongst whose adieus the +following phrase was chiefly remarkable: ‘I presume you do not intend to +stay long in these parts?’ + +‘Not for the present, Justice, you may be sure; there are good reasons +to the contrary. But I have no doubt of arranging my affairs so that we +shall speedily have sport together again.’ + +He went to wait upon the Justice to the courtyard; and, as he did +so, commanded Cristal Nixon to see that I returned into my apartment. +Knowing it would be to no purpose to resist or tamper with that stubborn +functionary, I obeyed in silence, and was once more a prisoner in my +former quarters. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +LATIMER’S JOURNAL, IN CONTINUATION + +I spent more than an hour, after returning to the apartment which I may +call my prison, in reducing to writing the singular circumstances which +I had just witnessed. Methought I could now form some guess at the +character of Mr. Herries, upon whose name and situation the late +scene had thrown considerable light--one of those fanatical Jacobites, +doubtless, whose arms, not twenty years since, had shaken the British +throne, and some of whom, though their party daily diminished in +numbers, energy, and power, retained still an inclination to renew the +attempt they had found so desperate. He was indeed perfectly different +from the sort of zealous Jacobites whom it had been my luck hitherto to +meet with. Old ladies of family over their hyson, and grey-haired lairds +over their punch, I had often heard utter a little harmless treason; +while the former remembered having led down a dance with the Chevalier, +and the latter recounted the feats they had performed at Preston, +Clifton, and Falkirk. + +The disaffection of such persons was too unimportant to excite the +attention of government. I had heard, however, that there still +existed partisans of the Stuart family of a more daring and dangerous +description; men who, furnished with gold from Rome, moved, secretly and +in disguise, through the various classes of society, and endeavoured to +keep alive the expiring zeal of their party. + +I had no difficulty in assigning an important post among this class of +persons, whose agency and exertion are only doubted by those who look +on the surface of things, to this Mr. Herries, whose mental energies, as +well as his personal strength and activity, seemed to qualify him +well to act so dangerous a part; and I knew that all along the Western +Border, both in England and Scotland, there are so many nonjurors, that +such a person may reside there with absolute safety, unless it becomes, +in a very especial degree, the object of the government to secure his +person; and which purpose, even then, might be disappointed by early +intelligence, or, as in the case of Mr. Foxley, by the unwillingness +of provincial magistrates to interfere in what is now considered an +invidious pursuit of the unfortunate. + +There have, however, been rumours lately, as if the present state of the +nation or at least of some discontented provinces, agitated by a +variety of causes but particularly by the unpopularity of the present +administration, may seem to this species of agitators a favourable +period for recommencing their intrigues; while, on the other hand, +government may not, at such a crisis, be inclined to look upon them +with the contempt which a few years ago would have been their most +appropriate punishment. + +That men should be found rash enough to throw away their services and +lives in a desperate cause, is nothing new in history, which abounds +with instances of similar devotion--that Mr. Herries is such an +enthusiast is no less evident; but all this explains not his conduct +towards me. Had he sought to make me a proselyte to his ruined cause, +violence and compulsion were arguments very unlikely to prevail with any +generous spirit. But even if such were his object, of what use to him +could be the acquisition of a single reluctant partisan, who could bring +only his own person to support any quarrel which he might adopt? He had +claimed over me the rights of a guardian; he had more than hinted that +I was in a state of mind which could not dispense with the authority of +such a person. Was this man, so sternly desperate in his purpose--he +who seemed willing to take on his own shoulders the entire support of +a cause which had been ruinous to thousands--was he the person that had +the power of deciding on my fate? Was it from him those dangers flowed, +to secure me against which I had been educated under such circumstances +of secrecy and precaution? + +And if this was so, of what nature was the claim which he asserted?--Was +it that of propinquity? And did I share the blood, perhaps the features, +of this singular being?--Strange as it may seem, a thrill of awe, which +shot across my mind at that instant, was not unmingled with a wild and +mysterious feeling of wonder, almost amounting to pleasure. I remembered +the reflection of my own face in the mirror at one striking moment +during the singular interview of the day, and I hastened to the outward +apartment to consult a glass which hung there, whether it were possible +for my countenance to be again contorted into the peculiar frown which +so much resembled the terrific look of Herries. But I folded my brows +in vain into a thousand complicated wrinkles, and I was obliged to +conclude, either that the supposed mark on my brow was altogether +imaginary, or that it could not be called forth by voluntary effort; or, +in fine, what seemed most likely, that it was such a resemblance as the +imagination traces in the embers of a wood fire, or among the varied +veins of marble, distinct at one time, and obscure or invisible at +another, according as the combination of lines strikes the eye or +impresses the fancy. + +While I was moulding my visage like a mad player, the door suddenly +opened, and the girl of the house entered. Angry and ashamed at being +detected in my singular occupation, I turned round sharply, and, I +suppose, chance produced the change on my features which I had been in +vain labouring to call forth. + +The girl started back, with her ‘Don’t ya look so now--don’t ye, for +love’s sake--you be as like the ould squoire as--But here a comes,’ she +said, huddling away out of the room; ‘and if you want a third, there is +none but ould Harry, as I know of, that can match ye for a brent broo!’ + +As the girl muttered this exclamation, and hastened out of the room, +Herries entered. He stopped on observing that I had looked again to the +mirror, anxious to trace the look by which the wench had undoubtedly +been terrified. He seemed to guess what was passing in my mind, for, as +I turned towards him, he observed, ‘Doubt not that it is stamped on your +forehead--the fatal mark of our race; though it is not now so apparent +as it will become when age and sorrow, and the traces of stormy passions +and of bitter penitence, shall have drawn their furrows on your brow.’ + +‘Mysterious man,’ I replied, ‘I know not of what you speak; your +language is as dark as your purposes!’ + +‘Sit down, then,’ he said, ‘and listen; thus far, at least, must the +veil of which you complain be raised. When withdrawn, it will only +display guilt and sorrow--guilt followed by strange penalty, and sorrow +which Providence has entailed upon the posterity of the mourners.’ + +He paused a moment, and commenced his narrative, which he told with the +air of one, who, remote as the events were which he recited, took +still the deepest interest in them. The tone of his voice, which I have +already described as rich and powerful, aided by its inflections the +effects of his story, which I will endeavour to write down, as nearly as +possible, in the very words which he used. + +‘It was not of late years that the English learned that their best +chance of conquering their independent neighbours must be by introducing +amongst them division and civil war. You need not be reminded of the +state of thraldom to which Scotland was reduced by the unhappy wars +betwixt the domestic factions of Bruce and Baliol, nor how, after +Scotland had been emancipated from a foreign yoke by the conduct and +valour of the immortal Bruce, the whole fruits of the triumphs of +Bannockburn were lost in the dreadful defeats of Dupplin and Halidon; +and Edward Baliol, the minion and feudatory of his namesake of England, +seemed, for a brief season, in safe and uncontested possession of the +throne so lately occupied by the greatest general and wisest prince in +Europe. But the experience of Bruce had not died with him. There +were many who had shared his martial labours, and all remembered the +successful efforts by which, under circumstances as disadvantageous as +those of his son, he had achieved the liberation of Scotland. + +‘The usurper, Edward Baliol, was feasting with a few of his favourite +retainers in the castle of Annan, when he was suddenly surprised by a +chosen band of insurgent patriots. Their chiefs were, Douglas, Randolph, +the young Earl of Moray, and Sir Simon Fraser; and their success was so +complete, that Baliol was obliged to fly for his life scarcely +clothed, and on a horse which there was no leisure to saddle. It was of +importance to seize his person, if possible, and his flight was closely +pursued by a valiant knight of Norman descent, whose family had been +long settled in the marches of Dumfriesshire. Their Norman appellation +was Fitz-Aldin, but this knight, from the great slaughter which he had +made of the Southron, and the reluctance which he had shown to admit +them to quarter during the former war of that bloody period, had +acquired the name of Redgauntlet, which he transmitted to his +posterity’-- + +‘Redgauntlet!’ I involuntarily repeated. + +‘Yes, Redgauntlet,’ said my alleged guardian, looking at me keenly; +‘does that name recall any associations to your mind?’ + +‘No,’ I replied, ‘except that I had lately heard it given to the hero of +a supernatural legend.’ + +‘There are many such current concerning the family,’ he answered; and +then proceeded in his narrative. + +‘Alberick Redgauntlet, the first of his house so termed, was, as may be +supposed from his name, of a stern and implacable disposition, which +had been rendered more so by family discord. An only son, now a youth +of eighteen, shared so much the haughty spirit of his father, that he +became impatient of domestic control, resisted paternal authority, and +finally fled from his father’s house, renounced his political opinions, +and awakened his mortal displeasure by joining the adherents of Baliol. +It was said that his father cursed, in his wrath, his degenerate +offspring, and swore that if they met he should perish by his hand. +Meantime, circumstances seemed to promise atonement for this great +deprivation. The lady of Alberick Redgauntlet was again, after many +years, in a situation which afforded her husband the hope of a more +dutiful heir. + +‘But the delicacy and deep interest of his wife’s condition did not +prevent Alberick from engaging in the undertaking of Douglas and Moray. +He had been the most forward in the attack of the castle, and was now +foremost in the pursuit of Baliol, eagerly engaged in dispersing or +cutting down the few daring followers who endeavoured to protect the +usurper in his flight. + +‘As these were successively routed or slain, the formidable Redgauntlet, +the mortal enemy of the House of Baliol, was within two lances’ length +of the fugitive Edward Baliol, in a narrow pass, when a youth, one of +the last who attended the usurper in his flight, threw himself +between them, received the shock of the pursuer, and was unhorsed and +overthrown. The helmet rolled from his head, and the beams of the sun, +then rising over the Solway, showed Redgauntlet the features of his +disobedient son, in the livery, and wearing the cognizance, of the +usurper. + +‘Redgauntlet beheld his son lying before his horse’s feet; but he also +saw Baliol, the usurper of the Scottish crown, still, as it seemed, +within his grasp, and separated from him only by the prostrate body of +his overthrown adherent. Without pausing to inquire whether young Edward +was wounded, he dashed his spurs into his horse, meaning to leap over +him, but was unhappily frustrated in his purpose. The steed made indeed +a bound forward, but was unable to clear the body of the youth, and +with its hind foot struck him in the forehead, as he was in the act of +rising. The blow was mortal. It is needless to add, that the pursuit was +checked, and Baliol escaped. + +‘Redgauntlet, ferocious as he is described, was yet overwhelmed with the +thoughts of the crime he had committed. When he returned to his castle, +it was to encounter new domestic sorrows. His wife had been prematurely +seized with the pangs of labour upon hearing the dreadful catastrophe +which had taken place. The birth of an infant boy cost her her life. +Redgauntlet sat by her corpse for more than twenty-four hours without +changing either feature or posture, so far as his terrified domestics +could observe. The Abbot of Dundrennan preached consolation to him in +vain. Douglas, who came to visit in his affliction a patriot of such +distinguished zeal, was more successful in rousing his attention. He +caused the trumpets to sound an English point of war in the courtyard, +and Redgauntlet at once sprang to his arms, and seemed restored to the +recollection which had been lost in the extent of his misery. + +‘From that moment, whatever he might feel inwardly, he gave way to no +outward emotion. Douglas caused his infant to be brought; but even the +iron-hearted soldiers were struck with horror to observe that, by the +mysterious law of nature, the cause of his mother’s death, and the +evidence of his father’s guilt, was stamped on the innocent face of the +babe, whose brow was distinctly marked by the miniature resemblance of a +horseshoe. Redgauntlet himself pointed it out to Douglas, saying, with a +ghastly smile, “It should have been bloody.” + +‘Moved, as he was, to compassion for his brother-in-arms, and steeled +against all softer feelings by the habits of civil war, Douglas +shuddered at this sight, and displayed a desire to leave the house which +was doomed to be the scene of such horrors. As his parting advice, he +exhorted Alberick Redgauntlet to make a pilgrimage to Saint Ninian’s of +Whiteherne, then esteemed a shrine of great sanctity; and departed with +a precipitation which might have aggravated, had that been possible, +the forlorn state of his unhappy friend. But that seems to have been +incapable of admitting any addition. Sir Alberick caused the bodies +of his slaughtered son and the mother to be laid side by side in the +ancient chapel of his house, after he had used the skill of a celebrated +surgeon of that time to embalm them; and it was said that for many weeks +he spent; some hours nightly in the vault where they reposed. + +‘At length he undertook the proposed pilgrimage to Whiteherne, where +he confessed himself for the first time since his misfortune, and was +shrived by an aged monk, who afterwards died in the odour of sanctity. +It is said that it was then foretold to the Redgauntlet, that on account +of his unshaken patriotism his family should continue to be powerful +amid the changes of future times; but that, in detestation of his +unrelenting cruelty to his own issue, Heaven had decreed that the valour +of his race should always be fruitless, and that the cause which they +espoused should never prosper. + +‘Submitting to such penance as was there imposed, Sir Alberick went, +it is thought, on a pilgrimage either to Rome, or to the Holy Sepulchre +itself. He was universally considered as dead; and it was not till +thirteen years afterwards, that in the great battle of Durham, fought +between David Bruce and Queen Philippa of England, a knight, bearing +a horseshoe for his crest, appeared in the van of the Scottish army, +distinguishing himself by his reckless and desperate valour; who being +at length overpowered and slain, was finally discovered to be the brave +and unhappy Sir Alberick Redgauntlet.’ + +‘And has the fatal sign,’ said I, when Herries had ended his narrative, +‘descended on all the posterity of this unhappy house?’ + +‘It has been so handed down from antiquity, and is still believed,’ said +Herries. ‘But perhaps there is, in the popular evidence, something of +that fancy which creates what it sees. Certainly, as other families have +peculiarities by which they are distinguished, this of Redgauntlet is +marked in most individuals by a singular indenture of the forehead, +supposed to be derived from the son of Alberick, their ancestor, and +brother to the unfortunate Edward, who had perished in so piteous a +manner. It is certain there seems to have been a fate upon the House of +Redgauntlet, which has been on the losing side in almost all the civil +broils which have divided the kingdom of Scotland from David Bruce’s +days, till the late valiant and unsuccessful attempt of the Chevalier +Charles Edward.’ + +He concluded with a deep sigh, as one whom the subject had involved in a +train of painful reflections. + +‘And am I then,’ I exclaimed, ‘descended from this unhappy race? Do you +belong to it? And if so, why do I sustain restraint and hard usage at +the hands of a relation?’ + +‘Inquire no further for the present,’ he said. ‘The line of conduct +which I am pursuing towards you is dictated, not by choice but by +necessity. You were withdrawn from the bosom of your family and the +care of your legal guardian, by the timidity and ignorance of a doting +mother, who was incapable of estimating the arguments or feelings of +those who prefer honour and principle to fortune, and even to life. The +young hawk, accustomed only to the fostering care of its dam, must be +tamed by darkness and sleeplessness, ere it is trusted on the wing for +the purposes of the falconer.’ + +I was appalled at this declaration, which seemed to threaten a long +continuance, and a dangerous termination, of my captivity. I deemed it +best, however, to show some spirit, and at the same time to mingle a +tone of conciliation. ‘Mr. Herries,’ I said ‘(if I call you rightly by +that name), let us speak upon this matter without the tone of mystery +and fear in which you seem inclined to envelop it. I have been long, +alas! deprived of the care of that affectionate mother to whom you +allude--long under the charge of strangers--and compelled to form my +own resolutions upon the reasoning of my own mind. Misfortune--early +deprivation--has given me the privilege of acting for myself; and +constraint shall not deprive me of an Englishman’s best privilege.’ + +‘The true cant of the day,’ said Herries, in a tone of scorn. ‘The +privilege of free action belongs to no mortal--we are tied down by +the fetters of duty--our mortal path is limited by the regulations +of honour--our most indifferent actions are but meshes of the web of +destiny by which we are all surrounded.’ + +He paced the room rapidly, and proceeded in a tone of enthusiasm +which, joined to some other parts of his conduct, seems to intimate an +over-excited imagination, were it not contradicted by the general tenor +of his speech and conduct. + +‘Nothing,’ he said, in an earnest yet melancholy voice--‘nothing is the +work of chance--nothing is the consequence of free-will--the liberty of +which the Englishman boasts gives as little real freedom to its owner as +the despotism, of an Eastern sultan permits to his slave. The usurper, +William of Nassau, went forth to hunt, and thought, doubtless, that it +was by an act of his own royal pleasure that the horse of his murdered +victim was prepared for his kingly sport. But Heaven had other views; +and before the sun was high, a stumble of that very animal over an +obstacle so inconsiderable as a mole-hillock, cost the haughty rider +his life and his usurped crown, Do you think an inclination of the rein +could have avoided that trifling impediment? I tell you, it crossed his +way as inevitably as all the long chain of Caucasus could have done. +Yes, young man, in doing and suffering, we play but the part allotted by +Destiny, the manager of this strange drama, stand bound to act no more +than is prescribed, to say no more than is set down for us; and yet we +mouth about free-will and freedom of thought and action, as if Richard +must not die, or Richmond conquer, exactly where the Author has decreed +it shall be so!’ + +He continued to pace the room after this speech, with folded arms and +downcast looks; and the sound of his steps and tone of his voice brought +to my remembrance, that I had heard this singular person, when I met him +on a former occasion, uttering such soliloquies in his solitary chamber. +I observed that, like other Jacobites, in his inveteracy against the +memory of King William, he had adopted the party opinion, that the +monarch, on the day he had his fatal accident, rode upon a horse once +the property of the unfortunate Sir John Friend, executed for high +treason in 1698. + +It was not my business to aggravate, but, if possible, rather to soothe +him in whose power I was so singularly placed. When I conceived that the +keenness of his feelings had in some degree subsided, I answered him +as follows:--‘I will not--indeed I feel myself incompetent to argue +a question of such metaphysical subtlety, as that which involves the +limits betwixt free-will and predestination. Let us hope we may live +honestly and die hopefully, without being obliged to form a decided +opinion upon a point so far beyond our comprehension.’ + +‘Wisely resolved,’ he interrupted, with a sneer--‘there came a note from +some Geneva, sermon.’ + +‘But,’ I proceeded, ‘I call your attention to the fact that I, as well +as you, am acted upon by impulses, the result either of my own free +will, or the consequences of the part which is assigned to me by +destiny. These may be--nay, at present they are--in direct contradiction +to those by which you are actuated; and how shall we decide which +shall have precedence?--YOU perhaps feel yourself destined to act as my +jailer. I feel myself, on the contrary, destined to attempt and effect +my escape. One of us must be wrong, but who can say which errs till the +event has decided betwixt us?’ + +‘I shall feel myself destined to have recourse to severe modes of +restraint,’ said he, in the same tone of half jest, half earnest which I +had used. + +‘In that case,’ I answered, ‘it will be my destiny to attempt everything +for my freedom.’ + +‘And it may be mine, young man,’ he replied, in a deep and stern tone, +‘to take care that you should rather die than attain your purpose.’ + +This was speaking out indeed, and I did not allow him to go unanswered. +‘You threaten me in vain,’ said I; ‘the laws of my country will protect +me; or whom they cannot protect, they will avenge.’ + +I spoke this firmly, and he seemed for a moment silenced; and the scorn +with which he at last answered me, had something of affectation in it. + +‘The laws!’ he said; ‘and what, stripling, do you know of the laws of +your country? Could you learn jurisprudence under a base-born blotter +of parchment, such as Saunders Fairford; or from the empty pedantic +coxcomb, his son, who now, forsooth, writer himself advocate? When +Scotland was herself, and had her own king and legislature, such +plebeian cubs, instead of being called to the bar of her supreme courts, +would scarce have been admitted to the honour of bearing a sheepskin +process-bag.’ + +Alan, I could not bear this, but answered indignantly, that he knew not +the worth and honour from which he was detracting. + +‘I know as much of these Fairfords as I do of you,’ he replied. + +‘As much,’ said I, ‘and as little; for you can neither estimate their +real worth nor mine. I know you saw them when last in Edinburgh.’ + +‘Ha!’ he exclaimed, and turned on me an inquisitive look. + +‘It is true,’ said I; ‘you cannot deny it; and having thus shown you +that I know something of your motions, let me warn you I have modes of +communication with which you are not acquainted. Oblige me not to use +them to your prejudice.’ + +‘Prejudice me!’ he replied. ‘Young man, I smile at, and forgive your +folly. Nay, I will tell you that of which you are not aware, namely, +that it was from letters received from these Fairfords that I first +suspected, what the result of my visit to them confirmed, that you were +the person whom I had sought for years.’ + +‘If you learned this,’ said I, ‘from the papers which were about my +person on the night when I was under the necessity of becoming your +guest at Brokenburn, I do not envy your indifference to the means of +acquiring information. It was dishonourable to’-- + +‘Peace, young man,’ said Herries, more calmly than I might have +expected; ‘the word dishonour must not be mentioned as in conjunction +with my name. Your pocket-book was in the pocket of your coat, and did +not escape the curiosity of another, though it would have been sacred +from mine, My servant, Cristal Nixon, brought me the intelligence after +you were gone. I was displeased with the manner in which he had acquired +his information; but it was not the less my duty to ascertain its truth, +and for that purpose I went to Edinburgh. I was in hopes to persuade +Mr. Fairford to have entered into my views; but I found him too much +prejudiced to permit me to trust him. He is a wretched, yet a timid +slave of the present government, under which our unhappy country is +dishonourably enthralled; and it would have been altogether unfit and +unsafe to have entrusted him with the secret either of the right which +I possess to direct your actions, or of the manner in which I purpose to +exercise it.’ + +I was determined to take advantage of his communicative humour, and +obtain, if possible, more light upon his purpose. He seemed most +accessible to being piqued on the point of honour, and I resolved to +avail myself, but with caution, of his sensibility upon that topic. ‘You +say,’ I replied, ‘that you are not friendly to indirect practices, and +disapprove of the means by which your domestic obtained information +of my name and quality--Is it honourable to avail yourself of that +knowledge which is dishonourably obtained?’ + +‘It is boldly asked,’ he replied; ‘but, within certain necessary +limits, I dislike not boldness of expostulation. You have, in this short +conference, displayed more character and energy than I was prepared to +expect. You will, I trust, resemble a forest plant, which has indeed, +by some accident, been brought up in the greenhouse, and thus rendered +delicate and effeminate, but which regains its native firmness and +tenacity when exposed for a season to the winter air. I will answer +your question plainly. In business, as in war, spies and informers are +necessary evils, which all good men detest; but which yet all prudent +men must use, unless they mean to fight and act blindfold. But nothing +can justify the use of falsehood and treachery in our own person.’ + +‘You said to the elder Mr. Fairford,’ continued I, with the same +boldness, which I began to find was my best game, ‘that I was the son of +Ralph Latimer of Langcote Hall? How do you reconcile this with your late +assertion that my name is not Latimer?’ + +He coloured as he replied, ‘The doting old fool lied; or perhaps mistook +my meaning. I said, that gentleman might be your father. To say truth, +I wished you to visit England, your native country; because, when you +might do so, my rights over you would revive.’ + +This speech fully led me to understand a caution which had been often +impressed upon me, that, if I regarded my safety, I should not cross +the southern Border; and I cursed my own folly, which kept me fluttering +like a moth around the candle, until I was betrayed into the calamity +with which I had dallied. ‘What are those rights,’ I said, ‘which you +claim over me? To what end do you propose to turn them?’ + +‘To a weighty one, you may be certain,’ answered Mr. Herries; ‘but I do +not, at present, mean to communicate to you either its nature or extent. +You may judge of its importance, when, in order entirely to possess +myself of your person, I condescended to mix myself with the fellows who +destroyed the fishing station of yon wretched Quaker. That I held him in +contempt, and was displeased at the greedy devices with which he ruined +a manly sport, is true enough; but, unless as it favoured my designs on +you, he might have, for me, maintained his stake-nets till Solway should +cease to ebb and flow.’ + +‘Alas!’ I said, ‘it doubles my regret to have been the unwilling cause +of misfortune to an honest and friendly man.’ + +‘Do not grieve for that,’ said Herries; ‘honest Joshua is one of +those who, by dint of long prayers, can possess themselves of widow’s +houses--he will quickly repair his losses. When he sustains any mishap, +he and the other canters set it down as a debt against Heaven, and, by +way of set-off, practise rogueries without compunction, till the they +make the balance even, or incline it to the winning side. Enough of this +for the present.--I must immediately shift my quarters; for, although I +do not fear the over-zeal of Mr. Justice Foxley or his clerk will +lead them to any extreme measure, yet that mad scoundrel’s unhappy +recognition of me may make it more serious for them to connive at me, +and I must not put their patience to an over severe trial. You must +prepare to attend me, either as a captive or a companion; if as the +latter, you must give your parole of honour to attempt no escape. Should +you be so ill advised as to break your word once pledged, be assured +that I will blow your brains out without a moment’s scruple.’ + +‘I am ignorant of your plans and purposes,’ I replied, ‘and cannot but +hold them dangerous. I do not mean to aggravate my present situation by +any unavailing resistance to the superior force which detains me; but +I will not renounce the right of asserting my natural freedom should it +favourable opportunity occur. I will, therefore, rather be your prisoner +than your confederate.’ + +‘That is spoken fairly,’ he said; ‘and yet not without the canny caution +of one brought up in the Gude Town of Edinburgh. On my part, I will +impose no unnecessary hardship upon you; but, on the contrary, your +journey shall be made as easy as is consistent with your being kept +safely. Do you feel strong enough to ride on horseback as yet, or would +you prefer a carriage? The former mode of travelling is best adapted to +the country through which we are to travel, but you are at liberty to +choose between them.’ + +I said, ‘I felt my strength gradually returning, and that I should much +prefer travelling on horseback. A carriage,’ I added, ‘is so close’-- + +‘And so easily guarded,’ replied Herries, with a look as if he would +have penetrated my very thoughts,--‘that, doubtless, you think horseback +better calculated for an escape.’ + +‘My thoughts are my own,’ I answered; ‘and though you keep my person +prisoner, these are beyond your control.’ + +‘Oh, I can read the book,’ he said, ‘without opening the leaves. But I +would recommend to you to make no rash attempt, and it will be my +care to see that you have no power to make any that is likely to +be effectual. Linen, and all other necessaries for one in your +circumstances, are amply provided, Cristal Nixon will act as your +valet,--I should rather, perhaps, say, your FEMME DE CHAMBRE. Your +travelling dress you may perhaps consider as singular; but it is such +as the circumstances require; and, if you object to use the articles +prepared for your use, your mode of journeying will be as personally +unpleasant as that which conducted you hither.--Adieu--We now know each +other better than we did--it will not be my fault if the consequences of +further intimacy be not a more favourable mutual opinion.’ + +He then left me, with a civil good night, to my own reflections, +and only turned back to say that we should proceed on our journey +at daybreak next morning, at furthest; perhaps earlier, he said; but +complimented me by supposing that, as I was a sportsman, I must always +be ready for a sudden start. + +We are then at issue, this singular man and myself. His personal views +are to a certain point explained. He has chosen an antiquated and +desperate line of politics, and he claims, from some pretended tie of +guardianship or relationship, which he does not deign to explain but +which he seems to have been able to pass current on a silly country +Justice and his knavish clerk, a right to direct and to control my +motions. The danger which awaited me in England, and which I might have +escaped had I remained in Scotland, was doubtless occasioned by the +authority of this man. But what my poor mother might fear for me as a +child--what my English friend, Samuel Griffiths, endeavoured to guard +against during my youth and nonage, is now, it seems, come upon me; +and, under a legal pretext, I am detained in what must be a most illegal +manner, by a person, foe, whose own political immunities have been +forfeited by his conduct. It matters not--my mind is made up neither +persuasion nor threats shall force me into the desperate designs which +this man meditates. Whether I am of the trifling consequence which my +life hitherto seems to intimate, or whether I have (as would appear from +my adversary’s conduct) such importance, by birth or fortune, as may +make me a desirable acquisition to a political faction, my resolution +is taken in either case. Those who read this journal, if it shall be +perused by impartial eyes, shall judge of me truly; and if they consider +me as a fool in encountering danger unnecessarily, they shall have no +reason to believe me a coward or a turncoat, when I find myself engaged +in it. I have been bred in sentiments of attachment to the family on the +throne and in these sentiments I will live and die. I have, indeed, some +idea that Mr. Herries has already discovered that I am made of different +and more unmalleable metal than he had at first believed. There were +letters from my dear Alan Fairford, giving a ludicrous account of my +instability of temper, in the same pocket-book, which, according to the +admission of my pretended guardian, fell under the investigation of +his domestic during the night I passed at Brokenburn, where, as I now +recollect, my wet clothes, with the contents of my pockets, were, with +the thoughtlessness of a young traveller, committed too rashly to the +care of a strange servant. And my kind friend and hospitable landlord, +Mr. Alexander Fairford, may also, and with justice, have spoken of my +levities to this man. But he shall find he has made a false estimate +upon these plausible grounds, since-- + +I must break off for the present. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LATIMER’S JOURNAL, IN CONTINUATION + +There is at length a halt--at length I have gained so much privacy as to +enable me to continue my journal. It has become a sort of task of duty +to me, without the discharge of which I do not feel that the business +of the day is performed. True, no friendly eye may ever look upon these +labours, which have amused the solitary hours of an unhappy prisoner. +Yet, in the meanwhile, the exercise of the pen seems to act as a +sedative upon my own agitated thoughts and tumultuous passions. I never +lay it down but I rise stronger in resolution, more ardent in hope. A +thousand vague fears, wild expectations, and indigested schemes, +hurry through one’s thoughts in seasons of doubt and of danger. But by +arresting them as they flit across the mind, by throwing them on paper, +and even by that mechanical act compelling ourselves to consider them +with scrupulous and minute attention, we may perhaps escape becoming the +dupes of our own excited imagination; just as a young horse is cured of +the vice of starting by being made to stand still and look for some time +without any interruption at the cause of its terror. + +There remains but one risk, which is that of discovery. But besides the +small characters, in which my residence in Mr. Fairford’s house enabled +me to excel, for the purpose of transferring as many scroll sheets as +possible to a huge sheet of stamped paper, I have, as I have elsewhere +intimated, had hitherto the comfortable reflection that if the record +of my misfortunes should fall into the hands of him by whom they are +caused, they would, without harming any one, show him the real character +and disposition of the person who has become his prisoner--perhaps his +victim. Now, however, that other names, and other characters, are to be +mingled with the register of my own sentiments, I must take additional +care of these papers, and keep them in such a manner that, in case +of the least hazard of detection, I may be able to destroy them at a +moment’s notice. I shall not soon or easily forget the lesson I have +been taught, by the prying disposition which Cristal Nixon, this man’s +agent and confederate, manifested at Brokenburn, and which proved the +original cause of my sufferings. + +My laying aside the last sheet of my journal hastily was occasioned by +the unwonted sound of a violin, in the farmyard beneath my windows. It +will not appear surprising to those who have made music their study, +that, after listening to a few notes, I became at once assured that the +musician was no other than the itinerant, formerly mentioned as present +at the destruction of Joshua Geddes’s stake-nets, the superior delicacy +and force of whose execution would enable me to swear to his bow amongst +a whole orchestra. I had the less reason to doubt his identity, because +he played twice over the beautiful Scottish air called Wandering Willie; +and I could not help concluding that he did so for the purpose of +intimating his own presence, since what the French called the nom de +guerre of the performer was described by the tune. + +Hope will catch at the most feeble twig for support in extremity. I knew +this man, though deprived of sight, to be bold, ingenious, and perfectly +capable of acting as a guide. I believed I had won his goodwill, +by having, in a frolic, assumed the character of his partner; and I +remembered that in a wild, wandering, and disorderly course of life, +men, as they become loosened from the ordinary bonds of civil society, +hold those of comradeship more closely sacred; so that honour is +sometimes found among thieves, and faith and attachment in such as the +law has termed vagrants. The history of Richard Coeur de Lion and his +minstrel, Blondel, rushed, at the same time, on my mind, though I +could not even then suppress a smile at the dignity of the example when +applied to a blind fiddler and myself. Still there was something in all +this to awaken a hope that, if I could open a correspondence with +this poor violer, he might be useful in extricating me from my present +situation. + +His profession furnished me with some hope that this desired +communication might be attained; since it is well known that, in +Scotland, where there is so much national music, the words and airs +of which are generally known, there is a kind of freemasonry amongst +performers, by which they can, by the mere choice of a tune, express +a great deal to the hearers. Personal allusions are often made in this +manner, with much point and pleasantry; and nothing is more usual at +public festivals, than that the air played to accompany a particular +health or toast, is made the vehicle of compliment, of wit, and +sometimes of satire. [Every one must remember instances of this festive +custom, in which the adaptation of the tune to the toast was remarkably +felicitous. Old Neil Gow, and his son Nathaniel, were peculiarly happy +on such occasions.] + +While these things passed through my mind rapidly, I heard my friend +beneath recommence, for the third time, the air from which his own +name had been probably adopted, when he was interrupted by his rustic +auditors. + +‘If thou canst play no other spring but that, mon, ho hadst best put up +ho’s pipes and be jogging. Squoire will be back anon, or Master Nixon, +and we’ll see who will pay poiper then.’ + +Oho, thought I, if I have no sharper ears than those of my friends Jan +and Dorcas to encounter, I may venture an experiment upon them; and, as +most expressive of my state of captivity, I sang two or three lines of +the 137th Psalm-- + + By Babel’s streams we sat and wept. + +The country people listened with attention, and when I ceased, I heard +them whisper together in tones of commiseration, ‘Lack-a-day, poor soul! +so pretty a man to be beside his wits!’ + +‘An he be that gate,’ said Wandering Willie, in a tone calculated to +reach my ears, ‘I ken naething will raise his spirits like a spring.’ +And he struck up, with great vigour and spirit, the lively Scottish air, +the words of which instantly occurred to me-- + + Oh whistle and I’ll come t’ye, my lad, + Oh whistle and I’ll come t’ye, my lad; + Though father and mother and a’ should gae mad, + Oh whistle and I’ll come t’ye, my lad. + +I soon heard a clattering noise of feet in the courtyard, which I +concluded to be Jan and Dorcas dancing a jig in their Cumberland wooden +clogs. Under cover of this din, I endeavoured to answer Willie’s signal +by whistling, as loud as I could--- + + Come back again and loe me + When a’ the lave are gane. + +He instantly threw the dancers out, by changing his air to + + There’s my thumb, I’ll ne’er beguile thee. + +I no longer doubted that a communication betwixt us was happily +established, and that, if I had an opportunity of speaking to the poor +musician, I should find him willing to take my letter to the post, +to invoke the assistance of some active magistrate, or of the +commanding-officer of Carlisle Castle, or, in short, to do whatever +else I could point out, in the compass of his power, to contribute to +my liberation. But to obtain speech of him, I must have run the risk +of alarming the suspicions of Dorcas, if not of her yet more stupid +Corydon. My ally’s blindness prevented his receiving any communication +by signs from the window--even if I could have ventured to make +them, consistently with prudence--so that notwithstanding the mode of +intercourse we had adopted was both circuitous and peculiarly liable to +misapprehension, I saw nothing I could do better than to continue it, +trusting my own and my correspondent’s acuteness in applying to the airs +the meaning they were intended to convey. I thought of singing the words +themselves of some significant song, but feared I might, by doing so, +attract suspicion. I endeavoured, therefore, to intimate my speedy +departure from my present place of residence, by whistling the +well-known air with which festive parties in Scotland usually conclude +the dance:-- + + Good night and joy be wi’ ye a’, + For here nae langer maun I stay; + There’s neither friend nor foe, of mine + But wishes that I were away. + +It appeared that Willie’s powers of intelligence were much more active +than mine, and that, like a deaf person accustomed to be spoken to by +signs, he comprehended, from the very first notes, the whole meaning I +intended to convey; and he accompanied me in the air with his violin, +in such a manner as at once to show he understood my meaning, and to +prevent my whistling from being attended to. + +His reply was almost immediate, and was conveyed in the old martial air +of ‘Hey, Johnnie lad, cock up your beaver.’ I ran over the words, and +fixed on the following stanza, as most applicable to my circumstances:-- + + Cock up your beaver, and cock it fu’ sprush; + We’ll over the Border and give them a brush; + There’s somebody there we’ll teach better behaviour, + Hey, Johnnie lad, cock up your beaver. + +If these sounds alluded, as I hope they do, to the chance of assistance +from my Scottish friends, I may indeed consider that a door is open to +hope and freedom. I immediately replied with:-- + + My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here; + My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer; + A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe, + My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go. + + Farewell to the Highlands! farewell to the North! + The birth-place of valour, the cradle of worth; + Wherever I wander, wherever I rove, + The hills of the Highlands for ever I love. + +Willie instantly played, with a degree of spirit which might have +awakened hope in Despair herself, if Despair could be supposed to +understand Scotch music, the fine old Jacobite air, + + For a’ that, and a’ that, + And twice as much as a’ that. + +I next endeavoured to intimate my wish to send notice of my condition to +my friends; and, despairing to find an air sufficiently expressive of my +purpose, I ventured to sing a verse, which, in various forms, occurs so +frequently in old ballads-- + + Whare will I get a bonny boy + That will win hose and shoon: + That will gae down to Durisdeer, + And bid my merry men come? + +He drowned the latter part of the verse by playing, with much emphasis, + + Kind Robin loes me. + +Of this, though I ran over the verses of the song in my mind, I could +make nothing; and before I could contrive any mode of intimating my +uncertainty, a cry arose in the courtyard that Cristal Nixon was coming. +My faithful Willie was obliged to retreat; but not before he had half +played, half hummed, by way of farewell, + + Leave thee--leave thee, lad-- + I’ll never leave thee; + The stars shall gae withershins + Ere I will leave thee. + +I am thus, I think, secure of one trusty adherent in my misfortunes; +and, however whimsical it may be to rely much on a man of his idle +profession and deprived of sight withal, it is deeply impressed on +my mind that his services may be both useful and necessary. There +is another quarter from which I look for succour, and which I have +indicated to thee, Alan, in more than one passage of my journal. Twice, +at the early hour of daybreak, I have seen the individual alluded to in +the court of the farm, and twice she made signs of recognition in +answer to the gestures by which I endeavoured to make her comprehend my +situation; but on both occasions she pressed her finger on her lips, as +expressive of silence and secrecy. + +The manner in which G.M. entered upon the scene for the first time, +seems to assure me of her goodwill, so far as her power may reach; and I +have many reasons to believe it is considerable. Yet she seemed hurried +and frightened during the very transitory moments of our interview, and +I think was, upon the last occasion, startled by the entrance of some +one into the farmyard, just as she was on the point of addressing me. +You must not ask whether I am an early riser, since such objects are +only to be seen at daybreak; and although I have never again seen her, +yet I have reason to think she is not distant. It was but three +nights ago, that, worn out by the uniformity of my confinement, I had +manifested more symptoms of despondence than I had before exhibited, +which I conceive may have attracted the attention of the domestics, +through whom the circumstance might transpire. On the next morning, the +following lines lay on my table; but how conveyed there, I cannot tell. +The hand in which they were written is a beautiful Italian manuscript:-- + + As lords their labourers’ hire delay, + Fate quits our toil with hopes to come, + Which, if far short of present pay, + Still, owns a debt and names a sum. + + Quit not the pledge, frail sufferer, then, + Although a distant date be given; + Despair is treason towards man, + And blasphemy to Heaven. + +That these lines were written with the friendly purpose of inducing me +to keep up my spirits, I cannot doubt; and I trust the manner in which I +shall conduct myself may show that the pledge is accepted. + +The dress is arrived in which it seems to be my self-elected guardian’s +pleasure that I shall travel; and what does it prove to be?--A skirt, or +upper-petticoat of camlet, like those worn by country ladies of moderate +rank when on horseback, with such a riding-mask as they frequently use +on journeys to preserve their eyes and complexion from the sun and dust, +and sometimes, it is suspected, to enable then to play off a little +coquetry. From the gayer mode of employing the mask, however, I suspect +I shall be precluded; for instead of being only pasteboard, covered with +black velvet, I observe with anxiety that mine is thickened with a plate +of steel, which, like Quixote’s visor, serves to render it more strong +and durable. + +This apparatus, together with a steel clasp for securing the mask behind +me with a padlock, gave me fearful recollections of the unfortunate +being, who, never being permitted to lay aside such a visor, acquired +the well-known historical epithet of the Man in the Iron Mask. I +hesitated a moment whether I should, so far submit to the acts of +oppression designed against me as to assume this disguise, which was, +of course, contrived to aid their purposes. But when I remembered Mr. +Herries’s threat, that I should be kept close prisoner in a carriage, +unless I assumed the dress which should be appointed for me; and I +considered the comparative degree of freedom which I might purchase +by wearing the mask and female dress as easily and advantageously +purchased. Here, therefore, I must pause for the present, and await what +the morning may bring forth. + +[To carry on the story from the documents before us, we think it proper +here to drop the journal of the captive Darsie Latimer, and adopt, +instead, a narrative of the proceedings of Alan Fairford in pursuit of +his friend, which forms another series in this history.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD + +The reader ought, by this time, to have formed some idea of the +character of Alan Fairford. He had a warmth of heart which the study +of the law and of the world could not chill, and talents which they had +rendered unusually acute. Deprived of the personal patronage enjoyed by +most of his contemporaries, who assumed the gown under the protection of +their aristocratic alliances and descents, he early saw that he should +have that to achieve for himself which fell to them as a right of birth. +He laboured hard in silence and solitude, and his labours were crowned +with success. But Alan doted on his friend Darsie, even more than he +loved his profession, and, as we have seen, threw everything aside when +he thought Latimer in danger; forgetting fame and fortune, and hazarding +even the serious displeasure of his father, to rescue him whom he loved +with an elder brother’s affection. Darsie, though his parts were more +quick and brilliant than those of his friend, seemed always to the +latter a being under his peculiar charge, whom he was called upon +to cherish and protect in cases where the youth’s own experience was +unequal to the exigency; and now, when, the fate of Latimer seeming +worse than doubtful, Alan’s whole prudence and energy were to be exerted +in his behalf, an adventure which might have seemed perilous to most +youths of his age had no terrors for him. He was well acquainted with +the laws of his country, and knew how to appeal to them; and, besides +his professional confidence, his natural disposition was steady, sedate, +persevering, and undaunted. With these requisites he undertook a quest +which, at that time, was not unattended with actual danger, and had much +in it to appal a more timid disposition. + +Fairford’s first inquiry concerning his friend was of the chief +magistrate of Dumfries, Provost Crosbie, who had sent the information +of Darsie’s disappearance. On his first application, he thought he +discerned in the honest dignitary a desire to get rid of the subject. +The provost spoke of the riot at the fishing station as an ‘outbreak +among those lawless loons the fishermen, which concerned the sheriff,’ +he said, ‘more than us poor town council bodies, that have enough to do +to keep peace within burgh, amongst such a set of commoners as the town +are plagued with.’ + +‘But this is not all, Provost Crosbie,’ said Mr. Alan Fairford; ‘A young +gentleman of rank and fortune has disappeared amongst their hands--you +know him. My father gave him a letter to you--Mr. Darsie Latimer.’ + +‘Lack-a-day, yes! lack-a-day, yes!’ said the provost; ‘Mr. Darsie +Latimer--he dined at my house--I hope he is well?’ + +‘I hope so too,’ said Alan, rather indignantly; ‘but I desire more +certainty on that point. You yourself wrote my father that he had +disappeared.’ + +‘Troth, yes, and that is true,’ said the provost. ‘But did he not go +back to his friends in Scotland? it was not natural to think he would +stay here.’ + +‘Not unless he is under restraint,’ said Fairford, surprised at the +coolness with which the provost seemed to take up the matter. + +‘Rely on it, sir,’ said Mr. Crosbie, ‘that if he has not returned to his +friends in Scotland, he must have gone to his friends in England.’ + +‘I will rely on no such thing,’ said Alan; ‘if there is law or justice +in Scotland, I will have the thing cleared to the very bottom.’ + +‘Reasonable, reasonable,’ said the provost, ‘so far as is possible; but +you know I have no power beyond the ports of the burgh.’ + +‘But you are in the commission besides, Mr. Crosbie; a justice of peace +for the county.’ + +‘True, very true--that is,’ said the cautious magistrate, ‘I will not +say but my name may stand on the list, but I cannot remember that I have +ever qualified.’ [By taking the oaths to government.] + +‘Why, in that case,’ said young Fairford, ‘there are ill-natured people +might doubt your attachment to the Protestant line, Mr. Crosbie.’ + +‘God forbid, Mr. Fairford! I who have done and suffered in the +Forty-five. I reckon the Highlandmen did me damage to the amount of +100l. Scots, forby all they ate and drank--no, no, sir, I stand beyond +challenge; but as for plaguing myself with county business, let them +that aught the mare shoe the mare. The commissioners of supply would see +my back broken before they would help me in the burgh’s work, and all +the world kens the difference of the weight between public business in +burgh and landward. What are their riots to me? have we not riots enough +of our own?--But I must be getting ready, for the council meets this +forenoon. I am blithe to see your father’s son on the causeway of our +ancient burgh, Mr. Alan Fairford. Were you a twelve-month aulder, we +would make a burgess of you, man. I hope you will come and dine with +me before you go away. What think you of to-day at two o’clock--just a +roasted chucky and a drappit egg?’ + +Alan Fairford resolved that his friend’s hospitality should not, as it +seemed the inviter intended, put a stop to his queries. ‘I must delay +you for a moment,’ he said, ‘Mr. Crosbie; this is a serious affair; a +young gentleman of high hopes, my own dearest friend, is missing--you +cannot think it will be passed over slightly, if a man of your high +character and known zeal for the government do not make some active +inquiry. Mr. Crosbie, you are my father’s friend, and I respect you as +such--but to others it will have a bad appearance.’ + +The withers of the provost were not unwrung; he paced the room in much +tribulation, repeating, ‘But what can I do, Mr. Fairford? I warrant +your friend casts up again--he will come back again, like the ill +shilling--he is not the sort of gear that tynes--a hellicat boy, running +through the country with a blind fiddler and playing the fiddle to +a parcel of blackguards, who can tell where the like of him may have +scampered to?’ + +‘There are persons apprehended, and in the jail of the town, as I +understand from the sheriff-substitute,’ said Mr. Fairford; ‘you +must call them before you, and inquire what they know of this young +gentleman.’ + +‘Aye, aye--the sheriff-depute did commit some poor creatures, I +believe--wretched ignorant fishermen bodies, that had been quarrelling +with Quaker Geddes and his stake-nets, whilk, under favour of your gown +be it spoken, Mr. Fairford, are not over and above lawful, and the town +clerk thinks that they may be lawfully removed VIA FACTI--but that is by +the by. But, sir, the creatures were a’ dismissed for want of evidence; +the Quaker would not swear to them, and what could the sheriff and me +do but just let them loose? Come awa, cheer up, Master Alan, and take a +walk till dinner-time--I must really go to the council.’ + +‘Stop a moment, provost,’ said Alan; ‘I lodge a complaint before you as +a magistrate, and you will find it serious to slight it over. You must +have these men apprehended again.’ + +‘Aye, aye--easy said; but catch them that can,’ answered the provost; +‘they are ower the march by this time, or by the point of Cairn.--Lord +help ye! they are a kind of amphibious deevils, neither land nor water +beasts neither English nor Scots--neither county nor stewartry, as we +say--they are dispersed like so much quicksilver. You may as well try to +whistle a sealgh out of the Solway, as to get hold of one of them till +all the fray is over.’ + +‘Mr. Crosbie, this will not do,’ answered the young counsellor; ‘there +is a person of more importance than such wretches as you describe +concerned in this unhappy business--I must name to you a certain Mr. +Herries.’ + +He kept his eye on the provost as he uttered the name, which he did +rather at a venture, and from the connexion which that gentleman, and +his real or supposed niece, seemed to have with the fate of Darsie +Latimer, than from any distinct cause of suspicion which he entertained. +He thought the provost seemed embarrassed, though he showed much desire +to assume an appearance of indifference, in which he partly succeeded. + +‘Herries!’ he said--‘What Herries?--There are many of that name--not +so many as formerly, for the old stocks are wearing out; but there is +Herries of Heathgill, and Herries of Auchintulloch, and Herries’-- + +‘To save you further trouble, this person’s designation is Herries of +Birrenswork.’ + +‘Of Birrenswork?’ said Mr. Crosbie; ‘I have you now, Mr. Alan. Could you +not as well have said, the Laird of Redgauntlet?’ + +Fairford was too wary to testify any surprise at this identification of +names, however unexpected. ‘I thought,’ said he, ‘he was more generally +known by the name of Herries. I have seen and been in company with him +under that name, I am sure.’ + +‘Oh aye; in Edinburgh, belike. You know Redgauntlet was unfortunate a +great while ago, and though he was maybe not deeper in the mire than +other folk, yet, for some reason or other, he did not get so easily +out.’ + +‘He was attainted, I understand; and has no remission,’ said Fairford. + +The cautious provost only nodded, and said, ‘You may guess, therefore, +why it is so convenient he should hold his mother’s name, which is also +partly his own, when he is about Edinburgh. To bear his proper name +might be accounted a kind of flying in the face of government, ye +understand. But he has been long connived at--the story is an old +story--and the gentleman has many excellent qualities, and is of a very +ancient and honourable house--has cousins among the great folk--counts +kin with the advocate and with the sheriff--hawks, you know, Mr. Alan, +will not pike out hawks’ een--he is widely connected--my wife is a +fourth cousin of Redgauntlet’s.’ + +HINC ILLAE LACHRYMAE! thought Alan Fairford to himself; but the hint +presently determined him to proceed by soft means and with caution. ‘I +beg you to understand,’ said Fairford, ‘that in the investigation I am +about to make, I design no harm to Mr. Herries, or Redgauntlet--call him +what you will. All I wish is, to ascertain the safety of my friend. I +know that he was rather foolish in once going upon a mere frolic, in +disguise, to the neighbourhood of this same gentleman’s house. In his +circumstances, Mr. Redgauntlet may have misinterpreted the motives, and +considered Darsie Latimer as a spy. His influence, I believe, is great +among the disorderly people you spoke of but now?’ + +The provost answered with another sagacious shake of his head, that +would have done honour to Lord Burleigh in the CRITIC. + +‘Well, then,’ continued Fairford,’ is it not possible that, in the +mistaken belief that Mr. Latimer was a spy, he may, upon such suspicion, +have caused him to be carried off and confined somewhere? Such things +are done at elections, and on occasions less pressing than when men +think their lives are in danger from an informer.’ + +‘Mr. Fairford,’ said the provost, very earnestly, ‘I scarce think such +a mistake possible; or if, by any extraordinary chance, it should have +taken place, Redgauntlet, whom I cannot but know well, being as I have +said my wife’s first cousin (fourth cousin, I should say) is altogether +incapable of doing anything harsh to the young gentleman--he might send +him ower to Ailsay for a night or two, or maybe land him on the north +coast of Ireland, or in Islay, or some of the Hebrides; but depend upon +it, he is incapable of harming a hair of his head.’ + +‘I am determined not to trust to that, provost,’ answered Fairford +firmly; ‘and I am a good deal surprised at your way of talking so +lightly of such an aggression on the liberty of the subject. You are +to consider, and Mr. Herries or Mr. Redgauntlet’s friends would do very +well also to consider, how it would sound in the ears of an English +Secretary of State, that an attainted traitor (for such is this +gentleman) has not only ventured to take up his abode in this +realm--against the king of which he has been in arms--but is suspected +of having proceeded, by open force and violence, against the person +of one of the lieges, a young man who is neither without friends nor +property to secure his being righted.’ + +The provost looked at the young counsellor with a face in which +distrust, alarm, and vexation seemed mingled. ‘A fashious job,’ he said +at last, ‘a fashious job; and it will be dangerous meddling with it. +I should like ill to see your father’s son turn informer against an +unfortunate gentleman.’ + +‘Neither do I mean it,’ answered Alan, ‘provided that unfortunate +gentleman and his friends give me a quiet opportunity of securing my +friend’s safety. If I could speak with Mr. Redgauntlet, and hear his own +explanation, I should probably be satisfied. If I am forced, to denounce +him to government, it will be in his new capacity of a kidnapper. I may +not be able, nor is it my business, to prevent his being recognized in +his former character of an attainted person, excepted from the general +pardon.’ + +‘Master Fairford,’ said the provost, ‘would ye ruin the poor innocent +gentleman on an idle suspicion?’ + +‘Say no more of it, Mr. Crosbie; my line of conduct is +determined--unless that suspicion is removed.’ + +‘Weel, sir,’ said the provost, ‘since so it be, and since you say that +you do not seek to harm Redgauntlet personally, I’ll ask a man to dine +with us to-day that kens as much about his matters as most folk. You +must think, Mr. Alan Fairford, though Redgauntlet be my wife’s near +relative, and though, doubtless, I wish him weel, yet I am not the +person who is like to be intrusted with his incomings and outgoings. I +am not a man for that--I keep the kirk, and I abhor Popery--I have stood +up for the House of Hanover, and for liberty and property--I carried +arms, sir, against the Pretender, when three of the Highlandmen’s +baggage-carts were stopped at Ecclefechan; and I had an especial loss of +a hundred pounds’-- + +‘Scots,’ interrupted Fairford. ‘You forget you told me all this before.’ + +‘Scots or English, it was too much for me to lose,’ said the provost; +so you see I am not a person to pack or peel with Jacobites, and such +unfreemen as poor Redgauntlet.’ + +‘Granted, granted, Mr. Crosbie; and what then?’ said Alan Fairford. + +‘Why, then, it follows, that if I am to help you at this pinch, if +cannot be by and through my ain personal knowledge, but through some +fitting agent or third person.’ + +‘Granted again,’ said Fairford. ‘And pray who may this third person be?’ + +‘Wha but Pate Maxwell of Summertrees--him they call Pate-in-Peril.’ + +‘An old Forty-five man, of course?’ said Fairford. + +‘Ye may swear that,’ replied the provost--‘as black a Jacobite as the +auld leaven can make him; but a sonsy, merry companion, that none of us +think it worth while to break wi’ for all his brags and his clavers. +You would have thought, if he had had but his own way at Derby, he would +have marched Charlie Stuart through between Wade and the Duke, as a +thread goes through the needle’s ee, and seated him in Saint James’s +before you could have said haud your hand. But though he is a windy body +when he gets on his auld-warld stories, he has mair gumption in him than +most people--knows business, Mr. Alan, being bred to the law; but never +took the gown, because of the oaths, which kept more folk out then than +they do now--the more’s the pity.’ + +‘What! are you sorry, provost, that Jacobitism is upon the decline?’ +said Fairford. + +‘No, no,’ answered the provost--‘I am only sorry for folks losing the +tenderness of conscience which they used to have. I have a son breeding +to the bar, Mr. Fairford; and, no doubt, considering my services and +sufferings, I might have looked for some bit postie to him; but if the +muckle tykes come in--I mean a’ these Maxwells, and Johnstones, and +great lairds, that the oaths used to keep out lang syne--the bits o’ +messan doggies, like my son, and maybe like your father’s son, Mr. Alan, +will be sair put to the wall.’ + +‘But to return to the subject, Mr. Crosbie,’ said Fairford, ‘do you +really think it likely that this Mr. Maxwell will be of service in this +matter?’ + +‘It’s very like he may be, for he is the tongue of the trump to the +whole squad of them,’ said the provost; ‘and Redgauntlet, though he will +not stick at times to call him a fool, takes more of his counsel than +any man’s else that I am aware of. If Fate can bring him to a communing, +the business is done. He’s a sharp chield, Pate-in-Peril.’ + +‘Pate-in-Peril!’ repeated Alan; ‘a very singular name.’ + +‘Aye, and it was in as queer a way he got it; but I’ll say naething +about that,’ said the provost, ‘for fear of forestalling his market; +for ye are sure to hear it once at least, however oftener, before the +punch-bowl gives place to the teapot.--And now, fare ye weel; for there +is the council-bell clinking in earnest; and if I am not there before it +jows in, Bailie Laurie will be trying some of his manoeuvres.’ + +The provost, repeating his expectation of seeing Mr. Fairford at two +o’clock, at length effected his escape from the young counsellor, and +left him at a considerable loss how to proceed. The sheriff, it seems, +had returned to Edinburgh, and he feared to find the visible repugnance +of the provost to interfere with this Laird of Birrenswork, or +Redgauntlet, much stronger amongst the country gentlemen, many of +whom were Catholics as well as Jacobites, and most others unwilling to +quarrel with kinsmen and friends, by prosecuting with severity political +offences which had almost run a prescription. + +To collect all the information in his power, and not to have recourse +to the higher authorities until he could give all the light of which +the case was capable, seemed the wiser proceeding in a choice of +difficulties. He had some conversation with the procurator-fiscal, who, +as well as the provost, was an old correspondent of his father. Alan +expressed to that officer a purpose of visiting Brokenburn, but was +assured by him, that it would be a step attended with much danger to his +own person, and altogether fruitless; that the individuals who had +been ringleaders in the riot were long since safely sheltered in their +various lurking-holes in the Isle of Man, Cumberland, and elsewhere; and +that those who might remain would undoubtedly commit violence on any +who visited their settlement with the purpose of inquiring into the late +disturbances. + +There were not the same objections to his hastening to Mount Sharon, +where he expected to find the latest news of his friend; and there +was time enough to do so, before the hour appointed for the provost’s +dinner. Upon the road, he congratulated himself on having obtained one +point of almost certain information. The person who had in a manner +forced himself upon his father’s hospitality, and had appeared desirous +to induce Darsie Latimer to visit England, against whom, too, a sort of +warning had been received from an individual connected with and residing +in his own family, proved to be a promoter of the disturbance in which +Darsie had disappeared. + +What could be the cause of such an attempt on the liberty of an +inoffensive and amiable man? It was impossible it could be merely owing +to Redgauntlet’s mistaking Darsie for a spy; for though that was the +solution which Fairford had offered to the provost, he well knew that, +in point of fact, he himself had been warned by his singular visitor of +some danger to which his friend was exposed, before such suspicion could +have been entertained; and the injunctions received by Latimer from his +guardian, or him who acted as such, Mr. Griffiths of London, pointed to +the same thing. He was rather glad, however, that he had not let Provost +Crosbie into his secret further than was absolutely necessary; since it +was plain that the connexion of his wife with the suspected party was +likely to affect his impartiality as a magistrate. + +When Alan Fairford arrived at Mount Sharon, Rachel Geddes hastened to +meet him, almost before the servant could open the door. She drew back +in disappointment when she beheld a stranger, and said, to excuse her +precipitation, that ‘she had thought it was her brother Joshua returned +from Cumberland.’ + +‘Mr. Geddes is then absent from home?’ said Fairford, much disappointed +in his turn. + +‘He hath been gone since yesterday, friend,’ answered Rachel, once more +composed to the quietude which characterizes her sect, but her pale +cheek and red eye giving contradiction to her assumed equanimity. + +‘I am,’ said Fairford, hastily, ‘the particular friend of a young man +not unknown to you, Miss Geddes--the friend of Darsie Latimer--and +am come hither in the utmost anxiety, having understood from Provost +Crosbie, that he had disappeared in the night when a destructive attack +was made upon the fishing-station of Mr. Geddes.’ + +‘Thou dost afflict me, friend, by thy inquiries,’ said Rachel, more +affected than before; ‘for although the youth was like those of the +worldly generation, wise in his own conceit, and lightly to be moved by +the breath of vanity, yet Joshua loved him, and his heart clave to him +as if he had been his own son. And when he himself escaped from the sons +of Belial, which was not until they had tired themselves with reviling, +and with idle reproach, and the jests of the scoffer, Joshua, my +brother, returned to them once and again, to give ransom for the +youth called Darsie Latimer, with offers of money and with promise of +remission, but they would not hearken to him. Also, he went before the +head judge, whom men call the sheriff, and would have told him of the +youth’s peril; but he would in no way hearken to him unless he would +swear unto the truth of his words, which thing he might not do without +sin, seeing it is written, Swear not at all--also, that our conversation +shall be yea or nay. Therefore, Joshua returned to me disconsolate, +and said, “Sister Rachel, this youth hath run into peril for my sake; +assuredly I shall not be guiltless if a hair of his head be harmed, +seeing I have sinned in permitting him to go with me to the fishing +station when such evil was to be feared. Therefore, I will take my +horse, even Solomon, and ride swiftly into Cumberland, and I will make +myself friends with Mammon of Unrighteousness, among the magistrates of +the Gentiles, and among their mighty men; and it shall come to pass that +Darsie Latimer shall be delivered, even if it were at the expense of +half my substance.” And I said, “Nay, my brother, go not, for they +will but scoff at and revile thee; but hire with thy silver one of the +scribes, who are eager as hunters in pursuing their prey, and he shall +free Darsie Latimer from the men of violence by his cunning, and thy +soul shall be guiltless of evil towards the lad.” But he answered and +said, “I will not be controlled in this matter.” And he is gone forth +and hath not returned, and I fear me that he may never return; for +though he be peaceful, as becometh one who holds all violence as offence +against his own soul, yet neither the floods of water, nor the fear of +the snare, nor the drawn sword of the adversary brandished in the path, +will overcome his purpose. Wherefore the Solway may swallow him up, or +the sword of the enemy may devour him--nevertheless, my hope is better +in Him who directeth all things, and ruleth over the waves of the sea, +and overruleth the devices of the wicked, and who can redeem us even as +a bird from the fowler’s net.’ + +This was all that Fairford could learn from Miss Geddes; but he heard +with pleasure that the good Quaker, her brother, had many friends among +those of his own profession in Cumberland, and without exposing himself +to so much danger as his sister seemed to apprehend, he trusted he might +be able to discover some traces of Darsie Latimer. He himself rode back +to Dumfries, having left with Miss Geddes his direction in that +place, and an earnest request that she would forward thither whatever +information she might obtain from her brother. + +On Fairford’s return to Dumfries, he employed the brief interval which +remained before dinner-time, in writing an account of what had befallen +Latimer and of the present uncertainty of his condition, to Mr. Samuel +Griffiths, through whose hands the remittances for his friend’s service +had been regularly made, desiring he would instantly acquaint him with +such parts of his history as might direct him in the search which he +was about to institute through the border counties, and which he pledged +himself not; to give up until he had obtained news of his friend, alive +or dead, The young lawyer’s mind felt easier when he had dispatched this +letter. He could not conceive any reason why his friend’s life should be +aimed at; he knew Darsie had done nothing by which his liberty could +be legally affected; and although, even of late years, there had been +singular histories of men, and women also, who had been trepanned, +and concealed in solitudes and distant islands in order to serve some +temporary purpose, such violences had been chiefly practised by the rich +on the poor, and by the strong on the feeble; whereas, in the present +case, this Mr. Herries, or Redgauntlet, being amenable, for more reasons +than one, to the censure of the law, must be the weakest in any struggle +in which it could be appealed to. It is true, that his friendly anxiety +whispered that the very cause which rendered this oppressor less +formidable, might make him more desperate. Still, recalling his +language, so strikingly that of the gentleman, and even of the man +of honour, Alan Fairford concluded, that though, in his feudal pride, +Redgauntlet might venture on the deeds of violence exercised by the +aristocracy in other times, he could not be capable of any action of +deliberate atrocity. And in these convictions he went to dine with +Provost Crosbie, with a heart more at ease than might have been +expected. [See Note 7.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD, CONTINUED + +Five minutes had elapsed after the town clock struck two, before +Alan Fairford, who had made a small detour to put his letter into the +post-house, reached the mansion of Mr. Provost Crosbie, and was at once +greeted by the voice of that civic dignitary, and the rural dignitary +his visitor, as by the voices of men impatient for their dinner. + +‘Come away, Mr. Fairford--the Edinburgh time is later than ours,’ said +the provost. + +And, ‘Come away, young gentleman,’ said the laird; ‘I remember your +father weel at the Cross thirty years ago--I reckon you are as late in +Edinburgh as at London, four o’clock hours--eh?’ + +‘Not quite so degenerate,’ replied Fairford; ‘but certainly many +Edinburgh people are so ill-advised as to postpone their dinner +till three, that they may have full time to answer their London +correspondents.’ + +‘London correspondents!’ said Mr. Maxwell; ‘and pray what the devil have +the people of Auld Reekie to do with London correspondents?’ [Not much +in those days, for within my recollection the London post; was brought +north in a small mail-cart; and men are yet as live who recollect when +it came down with only one single letter for Edinburgh, addressed to the +manager of the British Linen Company.] + +‘The tradesmen must have their goods,’ said Fairford. + +‘Can they not buy our own Scottish manufactures, and pick their +customers pockets in a more patriotic manner?’ + +‘Then the ladies must have fashions,’ said Fairford. + +‘Can they not busk the plaid over their heads, as their mothers did? A +tartan screen, and once a year a new cockernony from Paris, should +serve a countess. But ye have not many of them left, I think--Mareschal, +Airley, Winton, Vemyss, Balmerino, all passed and gone--aye, aye, the +countesses and ladies of quality will scarce take up too much of your +ball-room floor with their quality hoops nowadays.’ + +‘There is no want of crowding, however, sir,’ said Fairford; ‘they begin +to talk of a new Assembly room.’ + +‘A new Assembly room!’ said the old Jacobite laird--‘Umph--I mind +quartering three hundred men in the old Assembly room [I remember +hearing this identical answer given by an old Highland gentleman of the +Forty-Five, when he heard of the opening of the New Assembly Rooms in +George Street.]--But come, come--I’ll ask no more questions--the answers +all smell of new lords new lands, and do but spoil my appetite, which +were a pity, since here comes Mrs. Crosbie to say our mutton’s ready.’ + +It was even so. Mrs. Crosbie had been absent, like Eve, ‘on hospitable +cares intent,’ a duty which she did not conceive herself exempted from, +either by the dignity of her husband’s rank in the municipality, or the +splendour of her Brussels silk gown, or even by the more highly prized +lustre of her birth; for she was born a Maxwell, and allied, as her +husband often informed his friends, to several of the first families in +the county. She had been handsome, and was still a portly, good-looking +woman of her years; and though her peep into the kitchen had somewhat +heightened her complexion, it was no more than a modest touch of rouge +might have done. + +The provost was certainly proud of his lady, nay, some said he was +afraid of her; for of the females of the Redgauntlet family there went a +rumour, that, ally where they would, there was a grey mare as surely in +the stables of their husbands, as there is a white horse in Wouvermans’ +pictures. The good dame, too, was supposed to have brought a spice of +politics into Mr. Crosbie’s household along with her; and the provost’s +enemies at the council-table of the burgh used to observe that he +uttered there many a bold harangue against the Pretender, and in favour +of King George and government, of which he dared not have pronounced +a syllable in his own bedchamber; and that, in fact, his wife’s +predominating influence had now and then occasioned his acting, +or forbearing to act, in a manner very different from his general +professions of zeal for Revolution principles. If this was in any +respect true, it was certain, on the other hand, that Mrs. Crosbie, in +all external points, seemed to acknowledge the ‘lawful sway and right +supremacy’ of the head of the house, and if she did not in truth +reverence her husband, she at least seemed to do so. + +This stately dame received Mr. Maxwell (a cousin of course) with +cordiality, and Fairford with civility; answering at the same time with +respect, to the magisterial complaints of the provost, that dinner was +just coming up. ‘But since you changed poor Peter MacAlpin, that used +to take care of the town-clock, my dear, it has never gone well a single +day.’ + +‘Peter MacAlpin, my dear,’ said the provost,’ made himself too busy for +a person in office, and drunk healths and so forth, which it became no +man to drink or to pledge, far less one that is in point of office a +servant of the public, I understand that he lost the music bells in +Edinburgh, for playing “Ower the Water to Charlie,” upon the tenth of +June. He is a black sheep, and deserves no encouragement.’ + +‘Not a bad tune though, after all,’ said Summertrees; and, turning to +the window, he half hummed, half whistled, the air in question, then +sang the last verse aloud: + + ‘Oh I loe weel my Charlie’s name, + Though some there be that abhor him; + But oh to see the deil gang hame + Wi’ a’ the Whigs before him! + Over the water, and over the sea, + And over the water to Charlie; + Come weal, come woe, we’ll gather and go, + And live or die with Charlie.’ + +Mrs. Crosbie smiled furtively on the laird, wearing an aspect at the +same time of deep submission; while the provost, not choosing to hear +his visitor’s ditty, took a turn through the room, in unquestioned +dignity and independence of authority. + +‘Aweel, aweel, my dear,’ said the lady, with a quiet smile of +submission, ‘ye ken these matters best, and you will do your +pleasure--they are far above my hand--only, I doubt if ever the +town-clock will go right, or your meals be got up so regular as I should +wish, till Peter MacAlpin gets his office back again. The body’s auld, +and can neither work nor want, but he is the only hand to set a clock.’ + +It may be noticed in passing, that notwithstanding this prediction, +which, probably, the fair Cassandra had the full means of accomplishing, +it was not till the second council day thereafter that the misdemeanours +of the Jacobite clock-keeper were passed over, and he was once more +restored to his occupation of fixing the town’s time, and the provost’s +dinner-hour. + +Upon the present occasion the dinner passed pleasantly away. Summertrees +talked and jested with the easy indifference of a man who holds himself +superior to his company. He was indeed an important person, as was +testified by his portly appearance; his hat laced with POINT D’ESPAGNE; +his coat and waistcoat once richly embroidered, though now almost +threadbare; the splendour of his solitaire, and laced ruffles, though +the first was sorely creased, and the other sullied; not to forget the +length of his silver-hilted rapier. His wit, or rather humour, bordered +on the sarcastic, and intimated a discontented man; and although he +showed no displeasure when the provost attempted a repartee, yet it +seemed that he permitted it upon mere sufferance, as a fencing-master, +engaged with a pupil, will sometimes permit the tyro to hit him, solely +by way of encouragement. The laird’s own jests, in the meanwhile, were +eminently successful, not only with the provost and his lady, but with +the red-cheeked and red-ribboned servant-maid who waited at table, and +who could scarce perform her duty with propriety, so effectual were the +explosions of Summertrees. Alan Fairford alone was unmoved among all +this mirth; which was the less wonderful, that, besides the important +subject which occupied his thoughts, most of the laird’s good things +consisted in sly allusions to little parochial or family incidents, +with which the Edinburgh visitor was totally unacquainted: so that the +laughter of the party sounded in his ear like the idle crackling of +thorns under the pot, with this difference, that they did not accompany +or second any such useful operation as the boiling thereof. + +Fairford was glad when the cloth was withdrawn; and when Provost Crosbie +(not without some points of advice from his lady touching the precise +mixture of the ingredients) had accomplished the compounding of a noble +bowl of punch, at which the old Jacobite’s eyes seemed to glisten, the +glasses were pushed round it, filled, and withdrawn each by its owner, +when the provost emphatically named the toast, ‘The King,’ with an +important look to Fairford, which seemed to say, You can have no doubt +whom I mean, and therefore there is no occasion to particularize the +individual. + +Summertrees repeated the toast, with a sly wink to the lady, while +Fairford drank his glass in silence. + +‘Well, young advocate,’ said the landed proprietor, ‘I am glad to see +there is some shame, if there is little honesty, left in the Faculty. +Some of your black gowns, nowadays, have as little of the one as of the +other.’ + +‘At least, sir,’ replied Mr. Fairford, ‘I am so much of a lawyer as not +willingly to enter into disputes which I am not retained to support--it +would be but throwing away both time and argument.’ + +‘Come, come,’ said the lady, ‘we will have no argument in this house +about Whig or Tory--the provost kens what he maun SAY, and I ken what he +should THINK; and for a’ that has come and gane yet, there may be a time +coming when honest men may say what they think, whether they be provosts +or not.’ + +‘D’ye hear that, provost?’ said Summertrees; ‘your wife’s a witch, man; +you should nail a horseshoe on your chamber door--Ha, ha, ha!’ + +This sally did not take quite so well as former efforts of the laird’s +wit. The lady drew up, and the provost said, half aside, ‘The sooth +bourd is nae bourd. [The true joke is no joke.] You will find the +horseshoe hissing hot, Summertrees.’ + +‘You can speak from experience, doubtless, provost,’ answered the +laird; ‘but I crave pardon--I need not tell Mrs. Crosbie that I have all +respect for the auld and honourable House of Redgauntlet.’ + +‘And good reason ye have, that are sae sib to them,’ quoth the lady, +‘and kend weel baith them that are here, and them that are gane.’ + +‘In troth, and ye may say sae, madam,’ answered the laird; ‘for poor +Harry Redgauntlet, that suffered at Carlisle, was hand and glove with +me; and yet we parted on short leave-taking.’ + +‘Aye, Summertrees,’ said the provost; ‘that was when you played +Cheat-the-woodie, and gat the by-name of Pate-in-Peril. I wish you would +tell the story to my young friend here. He likes weel to hear of a sharp +trick, as most lawyers do.’ + +‘I wonder at your want of circumspection, provost,’ said the +laird,--much after the manner of a singer when declining to sing the +song that is quivering upon his tongue’s very end. ‘Ye should mind there +are some auld stories that cannot be ripped up again with entire safety +to all concerned. TACE is Latin for a candle,’ + +‘I hope,’ said the lady, ‘you are not afraid of anything being said out +of this house to your prejudice, Summertrees? I have heard the story +before; but the oftener I hear it, the more wonderful I think it.’ + +‘Yes, madam; but it has been now a wonder of more than nine days, and it +is time it should be ended,’ answered Maxwell. + +Fairford now thought it civil to say, ‘that he had often heard of Mr. +Maxwell’s wonderful escape, and that nothing could be more agreeable to +him than to hear the right version of it.’ + +But Summertrees was obdurate, and refused to take up the time of the +company with such ‘auld-warld nonsense.’ + +‘Weel, weel,’ said the provost, ‘a wilful man maun hae his way. What do +your folk in the country think about the disturbances that are beginning +to spunk out in the colonies?’ + +‘Excellent, sir, excellent. When things come to the worst; they will +mend; and to the worst they are coming. But as to that nonsense ploy +of mine, if ye insist on hearing the particulars,’--said the laird, who +began to be sensible that the period of telling his story gracefully was +gliding fast away. + +‘Nay,’ said the provost, ‘it was not for myself, but this young +gentlemen.’ + +‘Aweel, what for should I not pleasure the young gentlemen? I’ll +just drink to honest folk at hame and abroad, and deil ane else. And +then--but you have heard it before, Mrs. Crosbie?’ + +‘Not so often as to think it tiresome, I assure ye,’ said the lady; and +without further preliminaries, the laird addressed Alan Fairford. + +‘Ye have heard of a year they call the FORTY-FIVE, young gentleman; +when the Southrons’ heads made their last acquaintance with Scottish +claymores? There was a set of rampauging chields in the country then +that they called rebels--I never could find out what for--Some men +should have been wi’ them that never came, provost--Skye and the Bush +aboon Traquair for that, ye ken.--Weel, the job was settled at last. +Cloured crowns were plenty, and raxed necks came into fashion. I dinna +mind very weel what I was doing, swaggering about the country with dirk +and pistol at my belt for five or six months, or thereaway; but I had +a weary waking out of a wild dream. When did I find myself on foot in a +misty morning, with my hand, just for fear of going astray, linked into +a handcuff, as they call it, with poor Harry Redgauntlet’s fastened into +the other; and there we were, trudging along, with about a score more +that had thrust their horns ower deep in the bog, just like ourselves, +and a sergeant’s guard of redcoats, with twa file of dragoons, to +keep all quiet, and give us heart to the road. Now, if this mode of +travelling was not very pleasant, the object did not particularly +recommend it; for, you understand, young man, that they did not trust +these poor rebel bodies to be tried by juries of their ain kindly +countrymen, though ane would have thought they would have found Whigs +enough in Scotland to hang us all; but they behoved to trounce us away +to be tried at Carlisle, where the folk had been so frightened, that +had you brought a whole Highland clan at once into the court, they would +have put their hands upon their een, and cried, “hang them a’,” just to +be quit of them.’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ said the provost, ‘that was a snell law, I grant ye.’ + +‘Snell!’ said the wife, ‘snell! I wish they that passed it had the jury +I would recommend them to!’ + +‘I suppose the young lawyer thinks it all very right,’ said Summertrees, +looking at Fairford--‘an OLD lawyer might have thought otherwise. +However, the cudgel was to be found to beat the dog, and they chose +a heavy one. Well, I kept my spirits better than my companion, poor +fellow; for I had the luck to have neither wife nor child to think +about, and Harry Redgauntlet had both one and t’other.--You have seen +Harry, Mrs. Crosbie?’ + +‘In troth have I,’ said she, with the sigh which we give to early +recollections, of which the object is no more. ‘He was not so tall as +his brother, and a gentler lad every way. After he married the great +English fortune, folk called him less of a Scottishman than Edward.’ + +‘Folk lee’d, then,’ said Summertrees; ‘poor Harry was none of your +bold-speaking, ranting reivers, that talk about what they did yesterday, +or what they will do to-morrow; it was when something was to do at the +moment that you should have looked at Harry Redgauntlet. I saw him at +Culloden, when all was lost, doing more than twenty of these bleezing +braggarts, till the very soldiers that took him cried not to hurt +him--for all somebody’s orders, provost--for he was the bravest fellow +of them all. Weel, as I went by the side of Harry, and felt him raise my +hand up in the mist of the morning, as if he wished to wipe his eye--for +he had not that freedom without my leave--my very heart was like to +break for him, poor fellow. In the meanwhile, I had been trying and +trying to make my hand as fine as a lady’s, to see if I could slip it +out of my iron wristband. You may think,’ he said, laying his broad bony +hand on the table, ‘I had work enough with such a shoulder-of-mutton +fist; but if you observe, the shackle-bones are of the largest, and so +they were obliged to keep the handcuff wide; at length I got my hand +slipped out, and slipped in again; and poor Harry was sae deep in his +ain thoughts, I could not make him sensible what I was doing.’ + +‘Why not?’ said Alan Fairford, for whom the tale began to have some +interest. + +‘Because there was an unchancy beast of a dragoon riding close beside +us on the other side; and if I had let him into my confidence as well as +Harry, it would not have been long before a pistol-ball slapped through +my bonnet.--Well, I had little for it but to do the best I could for +myself; and, by my conscience, it was time, when the gallows was staring +me in the face. We were to halt for breakfast at Moffat. Well did I know +the moors we were marching over, having hunted and hawked on every acre +of ground in very different times. So I waited, you see, till I was on +the edge of Errickstane-brae--Ye ken the place they call the Marquis’s +Beef-stand, because the Annandale loons used to put their stolen cattle +in there?’ + +Fairford intimated his ignorance, + +‘Ye must have seen it as ye came this way; it looks as if four hills +were laying their heads together, to shut out daylight from the dark +hollow space between them. A d--d deep, black, blackguard-looking +abyss of a hole it is, and goes straight down from the roadside, as +perpendicular as it can do, to be a heathery brae. At the bottom, there +is a small bit of a brook, that you would think could hardly find, its +way out from the hills that are so closely jammed round it.’ + +‘A bad pass, indeed,’ said Alan. + +‘You may say that,’ continued the laird. ‘Bad as it was, sir, it was +my only chance; and though my very flesh creeped when I thought what a +rumble I was going to get, yet I kept my heart up all the same. And so, +just when we came on the edge of this Beef-stand of the Johnstones, I +slipped out my hand from the handcuff, cried to Harry Gauntlet, ‘Follow +me!’--whisked under the belly of the dragoon horse--flung my plaid round +me with the speed of lightning--threw myself on my side, for there was +no keeping my feet, and down the brae hurled I, over heather and fern, +and blackberries, like a barrel down Chalmer’s Close, in Auld Reekie. +G--, sir, I never could help laughing when I think how the scoundrel +redcoats must have been bumbazed; for the mist being, as I said, thick, +they had little notion, I take it, that they were on the verge of such +a dilemma. I was half way down--for rowing is faster wark than +rinning--ere they could get at their arms; and then it was flash, flash, +flash--rap, rap, rap--from the edge of the road; but my head was too +jumbled to think anything either of that or the hard knocks I got among +the stones. I kept my senses thegither, whilk has been thought wonderful +by all that ever saw the place; and I helped myself with my hands as +gallantly as I could, and to the bottom I came. There I lay for half +a moment; but the thoughts of a gallows is worth all the salts and +scent-bottles in the world for bringing a man to himself. Up I sprang, +like a four-year-auld colt. All the hills were spinning round with me, +like so many great big humming-tops. But there was nae time to think of +that neither; more especially as the mist had risen a little with the +firing. I could see the villains, like sae mony craws on the edge of +the brae; and I reckon that they saw me; for some of the loons were +beginning to crawl down the hill, but liker auld wives in their red +cloaks, coming frae a field preaching, than such a souple lad as I was. +Accordingly, they soon began to stop and load their pieces. Good-e’en to +you, gentlemen, thought I, if that is to be the gate of it. If you have +any further word with me, you maun come as far as Carriefraw-gauns. And +so off I set, and never buck went faster ower the braes than I did; and +I never stopped till I had put three waters, reasonably deep, as the +season was rainy, half a dozen mountains, and a few thousand acres +of the worst moss and ling in Scotland, betwixt me and my friends the +redcoats.’ + +‘It was that job which got you the name of Pate-in-Peril,’ said the +provost, filling the glasses, and exclaiming with great emphasis, +while his guest, much animated with the recollections which the +exploit excited, looked round with an air of triumph for sympathy and +applause,--‘Here is to your good health; and may you never put your neck +in such a venture again.’ [The escape of a Jacobite gentleman while on +the road to Carlisle to take his trial for his share in the affair of +1745, took place at Errickstane-brae, in the singular manner ascribed to +the Laird of Summertrees in the text. The author has seen in his youth +the gentleman to whom the adventure actually happened. The distance of +time makes some indistinctness of recollection, but it is believed the +real name was MacEwen or MacMillan.] + +‘Humph!--I do not know,’ answered Summertrees. ‘I am not like to be +tempted with another opportunity--[An old gentleman of the author’s name +was engaged in the affair of 1715, and with some difficulty was saved +from the gallows by the intercession of the Duchess of Buccleugh and +Monmouth. Her Grace, who maintained a good deal of authority over her +clan, sent for the object of her intercession, and warning him of the +risk which he had run, and the trouble she had taken on his account, +wound up her lecture by intimating that in case of such disloyalty +again, he was not to expect her interest in his favour. ‘An it please +your Grace,’ said the stout old Tory, ‘I fear I am too old to see +another opportunity.’] Yet who knows?’ And then he made a deep pause. + +‘May I ask what became of your friend, sir?’ said Alan Fairford. + +‘Ah, poor Harry!’ said Summertrees. ‘I’ll tell you what, sir, it takes +time to make up one’s mind to such a venture, as my friend the provost +calls it; and I was told by Neil Maclean,--who was next file to us, +but had the luck to escape the gallows by some sleight-of-hand trick +or other,--that, upon my breaking off, poor Harry stood like one +motionless, although all our brethren in captivity made as much tumult +as they could, to distract the attention of the soldiers. And run he did +at last; but he did not know the ground, and either from confusion, or +because he judged the descent altogether perpendicular, he fled up +the hill to the left, instead of going down at once, and so was easily +pursued and taken. If he had followed my example, he would have found +enough among the shepherds to hide him, and feed him, as they did me, +on bearmeal scenes and braxy mutton, till better days came round again.’ +[BRAXY MUTTON.--The flesh of sheep that has died of disease, not by +the hand of the butcher. In pastoral countries it is used as food with +little scruple.] + +‘He suffered then for his share in the insurrection?’ said Alan. + +‘You may swear that,’ said Summertrees. ‘His blood was too red to be +spared when that sort of paint was in request. He suffered, sir, as +you call it--that is, he was murdered in cold blood, with many a pretty +fellow besides. Well, we may have our day next--what is fristed is not +forgiven--they think us all dead and buried--but’--Here he filled his +glass, and muttering some indistinct denunciations, drank it off, and +assumed his usual manner, which had been a little disturbed towards the +end of the narrative. + +‘What became of Mr. Redgauntlet’s child?’ said Fairford. + +MISTER Redgauntlet! He was Sir Henry Redgauntlet, as his son, if the +child now lives, will be Sir Arthur--I called him Harry from intimacy, +and Redgauntlet, as the chief of his name--His proper style was Sir +Henry Redgauntlet.’ + +‘His son, therefore, is dead?’ said Alan Fairford. ‘It is a pity so +brave a line should draw to a close.’ + +‘He has left a brother,’ said Summertrees, ‘Edward Hugh Redgauntlet, who +has now the representation of the family. And well it is; for though he +be unfortunate in many respects, he will keep up the honour of the house +better than a boy bred up amongst these bitter Whigs, the relations of +his elder brother Sir Henry’s lady. Then they are on no good terms with +the Redgauntlet line--bitter Whigs they are in every sense. It was a +runaway match betwixt Sir Henry and his lady. Poor thing, they would not +allow her to see him when in confinement--they had even the meanness to +leave him without pecuniary assistance; and as all his own property was +seized upon and plundered, he would have wanted common necessaries, but +for the attachment of a fellow who was a famous fiddler--a blind man--I +have seen him with Sir Henry myself, both before the affair broke out +and while it was going on. I have heard that he fiddled in the streets +of Carlisle, and carried what money he got to his master, while he was +confined in the castle.’ + +‘I do not believe a word of it,’ said Mrs. Crosbie, kindling with +indignation. ‘A Redgauntlet would have died twenty times before he had +touched a fiddler’s wages.’ + +‘Hout fye--hout fye--all nonsense and pride,’ said the Laird of +Summertrees. ‘Scornful dogs will eat dirty puddings, cousin Crosbie--ye +little ken what some of your friends were obliged to do yon time for a +sowp of brose, or a bit of bannock. G--d, I carried a cutler’s wheel for +several weeks, partly for need, and partly for disguise--there I went +bizz--bizz--whizz--zizz, at every auld wife’s door; and if ever you want +your shears sharpened, Mrs. Crosbie, I am the lad to do it for you, if +my wheel was but in order.’ + +‘You, must ask my leave first,’ said the provost; ‘for I have been told +you had some queer fashions of taking a kiss instead of a penny, if you +liked your customer.’ + +‘Come, come, provost,’ said the lady; rising, ‘if the maut gets abune +the meal with you, it is time for me to take myself away--And you will +come to my room, gentlemen, when you want a cup of tea.’ + +Alan Fairford was not sorry for the lady’s departure. She seemed too +much alive to the honour of the house of Redgauntlet, though only a +fourth cousin, not to be alarmed by the inquiries which he proposed +to make after the whereabout of its present head. Strange confused +suspicions arose in his mind, from his imperfect recollection of the +tale of Wandering Willie, and the idea forced itself upon him that his +friend Darsie Latimer might be the son of the unfortunate Sir Henry. But +before indulging in such speculations, the point was to discover what +had actually become of him. If he were in the hands of his uncle, might +there not exist some rivalry in fortune, or rank, which might induce so +stern a man as Redgauntlet to use unfair measures towards a youth whom +he would find himself unable to mould to his purpose? He considered +these points in silence, during several revolutions of the glasses +as they wheeled in galaxy round the bowl, waiting until the provost, +agreeably to his own proposal, should mention the subject, for which he +had expressly introduced him to Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees. + +Apparently the provost had forgot his promise, or at least was in no +great haste to fulfil it. He debated with great earnestness upon the +Stamp Act, which was then impending over the American colonies, and upon +other political subjects of the day, but said not a word of Redgauntlet. +Alan soon saw that the investigation he meditated must advance, if at +all, on his own special motion, and determined to proceed accordingly. + +Acting upon this resolution, he took the first opportunity afforded by +a pause in the discussion of colonial politics, to say, ‘I must remind +you, Provost Crosbie, of your kind promise to procure some intelligence +upon the subject I am so anxious about.’ + +‘Gadso!’ said the provost, after a moment’s hesitation, ‘it is very +true.--Mr. Maxwell, we wish to consult you on a piece of important +business. You must know indeed I think you must have heard, that the +fishermen at Brokenburn, and higher up the Solway, have made a raid upon +Quaker Geddes’s stake-nets, and levelled all with the sands.’ + +‘In troth I heard it, provost, and I was glad to hear the scoundrels had +so much pluck left as to right themselves against a fashion which would +make the upper heritors a sort of clocking-hens, to hatch the fish that +folk below them were to catch and eat.’ + +‘Well, sir,’ said Alan, ‘that is not the present point. But a young +friend of mine was with Mr. Geddes at the time this violent procedure +took place, and he has not since been heard of. Now, our friend, the +provost, thinks that you may be able to advise’-- + +Here he was interrupted by the provost and Summertrees speaking out +both at once, the first endeavouring to disclaim all interest in the +question, and the last to evade giving an answer. + +‘Me think!’ said the provost; ‘I never thought twice about it, Mr. +Fairford; it was neither fish, nor flesh, nor salt herring of mine.’ + +‘And I “able to advise”!’ said Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees; ‘what the +devil can I advise you to do, excepting to send the bellman through the +town to cry your lost sheep, as they do spaniel dogs or stray ponies?’ + +‘With your pardon,’ said Alan, calmly, but resolutely, ‘I must ask a +more serious answer.’ + +‘Why, Mr. Advocate,’ answered Summertrees, ‘I thought it was your +business to give advice to the lieges, and not to take it from poor +stupid country gentlemen.’ + +‘If not exactly advice, it is sometimes our duty to ask questions, Mr. +Maxwell.’ + +‘Aye, sir, when you have your bag-wig and your gown on, we must +allow you the usual privilege of both gown and petticoat, to ask what +questions you please. But when you are out of your canonicals, the case +is altered. How come you, sir, to suppose that I have any business with +this riotous proceeding, or should know more than you do what happened +there? the question proceeds on an uncivil supposition.’ + +‘I will explain,’ said Alan, determined to give Mr. Maxwell no +opportunity of breaking off the conversation. ‘You are an intimate of +Mr. Redgauntlet--he is accused of having been engaged in this affray, +and of having placed under forcible restraint the person of my friend, +Darsie Latimer, a young man of property and consequence, whose fate I am +here for the express purpose of investigating. This is the plain +state of the case; and all parties concerned,--your friend, in +particular,--will have reason to be thankful for the temperate manner +in which it is my purpose to conduct the matter, if I am treated with +proportionate frankness.’ + +‘You have misunderstood me,’ said Maxwell, with a tone changed to +more composure; ‘I told you I was the friend of the late Sir Henry +Redgauntlet, who was executed, in 1745, at Hairibie, near Carlisle, but +I know no one who at present bears the name of Redgauntlet.’ + +‘You know Mr. Herries of Birrenswork,’ said Alan, smiling, ‘to whom the +name of Redgauntlet belongs?’ + +Maxwell darted a keen reproachful look towards the provost, but +instantly smoothed his brow, and changed his tone to that of confidence +and candour. + +‘You must not be angry, Mr. Fairford, that the poor persecuted nonjurors +are a little upon the QUI VIVE when such clever young men as you are +making inquiries after us. I myself now, though I am quite out of the +scrape, and may cock my hat at the Cross as I best like, sunshine or +moonshine, have been yet so much accustomed to walk with the lap of my +cloak cast over my face, that, faith, if a redcoat walk suddenly up +to me, I wish for my wheel and whetstone again for a moment. Now +Redgauntlet, poor fellow, is far worse off--he is, you may have heard, +still under the lash of the law,--the mark of the beast is still on his +forehead, poor gentleman,--and that makes us cautious--very cautious, +which I am sure there is no occasion to be towards you, as no one of +your appearance and manners would wish to trepan a gentleman under +misfortune.’ + +‘On the contrary, sir,’ said Fairford, ‘I wish to afford Mr. +Redgauntlet’s friends an opportunity to get him out of the scrape, by +procuring the instant liberation of my friend Darsie Latimer. I will +engage that if he has sustained no greater bodily harm than a short +confinement, the matter may be passed over quietly, without inquiry; but +to attain this end, so desirable for the man who has committed a great +and recent infraction of the laws, which he had before grievously +offended, very speedy reparation of the wrong must be rendered.’ + +Maxwell seemed lost in reflection, and exchanged a glance or two, not of +the most comfortable or congratulatory kind, with his host the provost. +Fairford rose and walked about the room, to allow them an opportunity +of conversing together; for he was in hopes that the impression he +had visibly made upon Summertrees was likely to ripen into something +favourable to his purpose. They took the opportunity, and engaged in +whispers to each other, eagerly and reproachfully on the part of the +laird, while the provost answered in an embarrassed and apologetical +tone. Some broken words of the conversation reached Fairford, whose +presence they seemed to forget, as he stood at the bottom of the room, +apparently intent upon examining the figures upon a fine Indian screen, +a present to the provost from his brother, captain of a vessel in the +Company’s service. What he overheard made it evident that his errand, +and the obstinacy with which he pursued it, occasioned altercation +between the whisperers. + +Maxwell at length let out the words, ‘A good fright; and so send him +home with his tail scalded, like a dog that has come a-privateering on +strange premises.’ + +The provost’s negative was strongly interposed--‘Not to be thought +of’--‘making bad worse’--‘my situation’--‘my utility’--‘you cannot +conceive how obstinate--just like his father’. + +They then whispered more closely, and at length the provost raised his +drooping crest, and spoke in a cheerful tone. ‘Come, sit down to your +glass, Mr. Fairford; we have laid our heads thegither, and you shall see +it will not be our fault if you are not quite pleased, and Mr. +Darsie Latimer let loose to take his fiddle under his neck again. But +Summertrees thinks it will require you to put yourself into some bodily +risk, which maybe you may not be so keen of.’ + +‘Gentlemen,’ said Fairford, ‘I will not certainly shun any risk by which +my object may be accomplished; but I bind it on your consciences--on +yours, Mr. Maxwell, as a man of honour and a gentleman; and on yours, +provost, as a magistrate and a loyal subject, that you do not mislead me +in this matter.’ + +‘Nay, as for me,’ said Summertrees, ‘I will tell you the truth at +once, and fairly own that I can certainly find you the means of seeing +Redgauntlet, poor man; and that I will do, if you require it, and +conjure him also to treat you as your errand requires; but poor +Redgauntlet is much changed--indeed, to say truth, his temper never was +the best in the world; however, I will warrant you from any very great +danger.’ + +‘I will warrant myself from such,’ said Fairford, ‘by carrying a proper +force with me.’ + +‘Indeed,’ said Summertrees, ‘you will, do no such thing; for, in the +first place, do you think that we will deliver up the poor fellow into +the hands of the Philistines, when, on the contrary, my only reason for +furnishing you with the clue I am to put into your hands, is to settle +the matter amicably on all sides? And secondly, his intelligence is so +good, that were you coming near him with soldiers, or constables, or the +like, I shall answer for it, you will never lay salt on his tail.’ + +Fairford mused for a moment. He considered that to gain sight of this +man, and knowledge of his friend’s condition, were advantages to be +purchased at every personal risk; and he saw plainly, that were he to +take the course most safe for himself, and call in the assistance of +the law, it was clear he would either be deprived of the intelligence +necessary to guide him, or that Redgauntlet would be apprised of his +danger, and might probably leave the country, carrying his captive +along with him. He therefore repeated, ‘I put myself on your honour, Mr. +Maxwell; and I will go alone to visit your friend. I have little; doubt +I shall find him amenable to reason; and that I shall receive from him a +satisfactory account of Mr. Latimer.’ + +‘I have little doubt that you will,’ said Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees; +‘but still I think it will be only in the long run, and after having +sustained some delay and inconvenience. My warrandice goes no further.’ + +‘I will take it as it is given,’ said Alan Fairford. ‘But let me ask, +would it not be better, since you value your friend’s safety so highly +and surely would not willingly compromise mine, that the provost or you +should go with me to this man, if he is within any reasonable distance, +and try to make him hear reason?’ + +‘Me!--I will not go my foot’s length,’ said the provost; and that, Mr. +Alan, you may be well assured of. Mr. Redgauntlet is my wife’s fourth +cousin, that is undeniable; but were he the last of her kin and mine +both, it would ill befit my office to be communing with rebels.’ + +‘Aye, or drinking with nonjurors,’ said Maxwell, filling his glass. ‘I +would as soon expect; to have met Claverhouse at a field-preaching. And +as for myself, Mr. Fairford, I cannot go, for just the opposite reason. +It would be INFRA DIG. in the provost of this most flourishing and loyal +town to associate with Redgauntlet; and for me it would be NOSCITUR A +SOCIO. There would be post to London, with the tidings that two such +Jacobites as Redgauntlet and I had met on a braeside--the Habeas Corpus +would be suspended--Fame would sound a charge from Carlisle to the +Land’s End--and who knows but the very wind of the rumour might blow my +estate from between my fingers, and my body over Errickstane-brae again? +No, no; bide a gliff--I will go into the provost’s closet, and write a +letter to Redgauntlet, and direct you how to deliver it.’ + +‘There is pen and ink in the office,’ said the provost, pointing to the +door of an inner apartment, in which he had his walnut-tree desk and +east-country cabinet. + +‘A pen that can write, I hope?’ said the old laird. + +‘It can write and spell baith in right hands,’ answered the provost, as +the laird retired and shut the door behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD, CONTINUED + +The room was no sooner deprived of Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees’s +presence, than the provost looked very warily above, beneath, and around +the apartment, hitched his chair towards that of his remaining guest, +and began to speak In a whisper which could not have startled ‘the +smallest mouse that creeps on floor.’ + +‘Mr. Fairford,’ said he, ‘you are a good lad; and, what is more, you are +my auld friend your father’s son. Your father has been agent for this +burgh for years, and has a good deal to say with the council; so there +have been a sort of obligations between him and me; it may have been now +on this side and now on that; but obligations there have been. I am but +a plain man, Mr. Fairford; but I hope you understand me?’ + +‘I believe you mean me well, provost; and I am sure,’ replied Fairford, +‘you can never better show your kindness than on this occasion.’ + +‘That’s it--that’s the very point I would be at, Mr. Alan,’ replied the +provost; ‘besides, I am, as becomes well my situation, a stanch friend +to kirk and king, meaning this present establishment in church and +state; and so, as I was saying, you may command my best--advice.’ + +‘I hope for your assistance and co-operation also,’ said the youth. + +‘Certainly, certainly,’ said the wary magistrate. ‘Well, now, you see +one may love the kirk, and yet not ride on the rigging of it; and one +may love the king, and yet not be cramming him eternally down the throat +of the unhappy folk that may chance to like another king better. I have +friends and connexions among them, Mr. Fairford, as your father may have +clients--they are flesh and blood like ourselves, these poor Jacobite +bodies--sons of Adam and Eve, after all; and therefore--I hope you +understand me?--I am a plain-spoken man.’ + +‘I am afraid I do not quite understand you,’ said Fairford; ‘and if you +have anything to say to me in private, my dear provost, you had better +come quickly out with it, for the Laird of Summertrees must finish his +letter in a minute or two.’ + +‘Not a bit, man--Pate is a lang-headed fellow, but his pen does not +clear the paper as his greyhound does the Tinwald-furs. I gave him +a wipe about that, if you noticed; I can say anything to +Pate-in-Peril--Indeed, he is my wife’s near kinsman.’ + +‘But your advice, provost,’ said Alan, who perceived that, like a shy +horse, the worthy magistrate always started off from his own purpose +just when he seemed approaching to it. + +‘Weel, you shall have it in plain terms, for I am a plain man. Ye see, +we will suppose that any friend like yourself were in the deepest hole +of the Nith, sand making a sprattle for your life. Now, you see, such +being the case, I have little chance of helping you, being a fat, +short-armed man, and no swimmer, and what would be the use of my jumping +in after you?’ + +‘I understand you, I think,’ said Alan Fairford. ‘You think that Darsie +Latimer is in danger of his life?’ + +‘Me!--I think nothing about it, Mr. Alan; but if he were, as I trust he +is not, he is nae drap’s blood akin to you, Mr. Alan.’ + +‘But here your friend, Summertrees,’ said the young lawyer, ‘offers me a +letter to this Redgauntlet of yours--What say you to that?’ + +‘Me!’ ejaculated the provost, ‘me, Mr. Alan? I say neither buff nor +stye to it--But ye dinna ken what it is to look a Redgauntlet in the +face;--better try my wife, who is but a fourth cousin, before ye venture +on the laird himself--just say something about the Revolution, and see +what a look she can gie you.’ + +I shall leave you to stand all the shots from that battery, provost.’ +replied Fairford. ‘But speak out like a man--Do you think Summertrees +means fairly by me?’ + +‘Fairly--he is just coming--fairly? I am a plain man, Mr. Fairford--but +ye said FAIRLY?’ + +‘I do so,’ replied Alan, ‘and it is of importance to me to know, and +to you to tell me if such is the case; for if you do not, you may be an +accomplice to murder before the fact, and that under circumstances which +may bring it near to murder under trust.’ + +‘Murder!--who spoke of murder?’ said the provost; no danger of that, Mr. +Alan--only, if I were you--to speak my plain mind’--Here he approached +his mouth to the ear of the young lawyer, and, after another acute pang +of travail, was safely delivered of his advice in the following abrupt +words:--‘Take a keek into Pate’s letter before ye deliver it.’ + +Fairford started, looked the provost hard in the face, and was silent; +while Mr. Crosbie, with the self-approbation of one who has at length +brought himself to the discharge of a great duty, at the expense of a +considerable sacrifice, nodded and winked to Alan, as if enforcing his +advice; and then swallowing a large glass of punch, concluded, with +the sigh of a man released from a heavy burden, ‘I am a plain man, Mr. +Fairford.’ + +‘A plain man?’ said Maxwell, who entered the room at that moment, with +the letter in his hand,--‘Provost, I never heard you make use of the +word but when you had some sly turn of your own to work out.’ + +The provost looked silly enough, and the Laird of Summertrees directed +a keen and suspicious glance upon Alan Fairford, who sustained it with +professional intrepidity.--There was a moment’s pause. + +‘I was trying,’ said the provost, ‘to dissuade our young friend from his +wildgoose expedition.’ + +‘And I,’ said Fairford, ‘am determined to go through with it. Trusting +myself to you, Mr. Maxwell, I conceive that I rely, as I before said, on +the word of a gentleman.’ + +‘I will warrant you,’ said Maxwell, ‘from all serious consequences--some +inconveniences you must look to suffer.’ + +‘To these I shall be resigned,’ said Fairford, ‘and stand prepared to +run my risk.’ + +‘Well then,’ said Summertrees, ‘you must go’-- + +‘I will leave you to yourselves, gentlemen,’ said the provost, rising; +‘when you have done with your crack, you will find me at my wife’s +tea-table.’ + +‘And a more accomplished old woman never drank catlap,’ said Maxwell, +as he shut the door; ‘the last word has him, speak it who will--and yet +because he is a whillywhaw body, and has a plausible tongue of his own, +and is well enough connected, and especially because nobody could ever +find out whether he is Whig or Tory, this is the third time they +have made him provost!--But to the matter in hand. This letter, Mr. +Fairford,’ putting a sealed one into his hand, ‘is addressed, you +observe, to Mr. H--of B--, and contains your credentials for that +gentlemen, who is also known by his family name of Redgauntlet, but +less frequently addressed by it, because it is mentioned something +invidiously in a certain Act of Parliament. I have little doubt he will +assure you of your friend’s safety, and in a short time place him at +freedom--that is, supposing him under present restraint. But the point +is, to discover where he is--and, before you are made acquainted with +this necessary part of the business, you must give me your assurance of +honour that you will acquaint no one, either by word or letter, with the +expedition which you now propose to yourself.’ + +‘How, sir?’ answered Alan; ‘can you expect that I will not take the +precaution of informing some person of the route I am about to take, +that in case of accident it may be known where I am, and with what +purpose I have gone thither?’ + +‘And can you expect,’ answered Maxwell, in the same tone, ‘that I am to +place my friend’s safety, not merely in your hands, but in those of any +person you may choose to confide in, and who may use the knowledge to +his destruction? Na--na--I have pledged my word for your safety, and you +must give me yours to be private in the matter--giff-gaff, you know.’ + +Alan Fairford could not help thinking that this obligation to secrecy +gave a new and suspicious colouring to the whole transaction; but, +considering that his friend’s release might depend upon his accepting +the condition, he gave it in the terms proposed, and with the purpose of +abiding by it. + +‘And now, sir,’ he said, ‘whither am I to proceed with this letter? Is +Mr. Herries at Brokenburn?’ + +‘He is not; I do not think he will come thither again until the business +of the stake-nets be hushed up, nor would I advise him to do so--the +Quakers, with all their demureness, can bear malice as long as other +folk; and though I have not the prudence of Mr. Provost, who refuses to +ken where his friends are concealed during adversity, lest, perchance, +he should be asked to contribute to their relief, yet I do not think it +necessary or prudent to inquire into Redgauntlet’s wanderings, poor man, +but wish to remain at perfect freedom to answer, if asked at, that I +ken nothing of the matter. You must, then, go to old Tom Trumbull’s at +Annan,--Tam Turnpenny, as they call him,--and he is sure either to know +where Redgauntlet is himself, or to find some one who can give a shrewd +guess. But you must attend that old Turnpenny will answer no question on +such a subject without you give him the passport, which at present you +must do, by asking him the age of the moon; if he answers, “Not light +enough to land a cargo,” you are to answer, “Then plague on Aberdeen +Almanacks,” and upon that he will hold free intercourse with you. +And now, I would advise you to lose no time, for the parole is often +changed--and take care of yourself among these moonlight lads, for laws +and lawyers do not stand very high in their favour.’ + +‘I will set out this instant,’ said the young barrister; ‘I will but bid +the provost and Mrs. Crosbie farewell, and then get on horseback so soon +as the ostler of the George Inn can saddle him;--as for the smugglers, +I am neither gauger nor supervisor, and, like the man who met the devil, +if they have nothing to say to me, I have nothing to say to them.’ + +‘You are a mettled young man,’ said Summertrees, evidently with +increasing goodwill, on observing an alertness and contempt of +danger, which perhaps he did not expect from Alan’s appearance and +profession,--‘a very mettled young fellow indeed! and it is almost a +pity’--Here he stopped abort. + +‘What is a pity?’ said Fairford. + +‘It is almost a pity that I cannot go with you myself, or at least send +a trusty guide.’ + +They walked together to the bedchamber of Mrs. Crosbie, for it was in +that asylum that the ladies of the period dispensed their tea, when the +parlour was occupied by the punch-bowl. + +‘You have been good bairns to-night, gentlemen,’ said Mrs. Crosbie; ‘I +am afraid, Summertrees, that the provost has given you a bad browst; you +are not used to quit the lee-side of the punch-bowl in such a hurry. I +say nothing to you, Mr. Fairford, for you are too young a man yet for +stoup and bicker; but I hope you will not tell the Edinburgh fine folk +that the provost has scrimped you of your cogie, as the sang says?’ + +‘I am much obliged for the provost’s kindness, and yours, madam,’ +replied Alan; ‘but the truth is, I have still a long ride before me this +evening and the sooner I am on horse-back the better.’ + +‘This evening?’ said the provost, anxiously; ‘had you not better take +daylight with you to-morrow morning?’ + +‘Mr. Fairford will ride as well in the cool of the evening,’ said +Summertrees, taking the word out of Alan’s mouth. + +The provost said no more, nor did his wife ask any questions, nor +testify any surprise at the suddenness of their guest’s departure. + +Having drunk tea, Alan Fairford took leave with the usual ceremony. +The Laird of Summertrees seemed studious to prevent any further +communication between him and the provost, and remained lounging on +the landing-place of the stair while they made their adieus--heard the +provost ask if Alan proposed a speedy return, and the latter reply that +his stay was uncertain, and witnessed the parting shake of the hand, +which, with a pressure more warm than usual, and a tremulous, ‘God bless +and prosper you!’ Mr. Crosbie bestowed on his young friend. Maxwell even +strolled with Fairford as far as the George, although resisting all +his attempts at further inquiry into the affairs of Redgauntlet, and +referring him to Tom Trumbull, alias Turnpenny, for the particulars +which he might find it necessary to inquire into. + +At length Alan’s hack was produced--an animal long in neck, and high +in bone, accoutred with a pair of saddle-bags containing the rider’s +travelling wardrobe. Proudly surmounting his small stock of necessaries, +and no way ashamed of a mode of travelling which a modern Mr. +Silvertongue would consider as the last of degradations, Alan Fairford +took leave of the old Jacobite, Pate-in-Peril, and set forward on the +road to the loyal burgh of Annan. His reflections during his ride were +none of the most pleasant. He could not disguise from himself that he +was venturing rather too rashly into the power of outlawed and desperate +persons; for with such only, a man in the situation of Redgauntlet could +be supposed to associate. There were other grounds for apprehension, +Several marks of intelligence betwixt Mrs. Crosbie and the Laird of +Summertrees had not escaped Alan’s acute observation; and it was plain +that the provost’s inclinations towards him, which he believed to be +sincere and good, were not firm enough to withstand the influence of +this league between his wife and friend. The provost’s adieus, like +Macbeth’s amen, had stuck in his throat, and seemed to intimate that he +apprehended more than he dared give utterance to. + +Laying all these matters together, Alan thought, with no little anxiety +on the celebrated lines of Shakespeare, + + -- A drop, + That in the ocean seeks another drop, &c. + +But pertinacity was a strong feature in the young lawyer’s character. +He was, and always had been, totally unlike the ‘horse hot at hand,’ who +tires before noon through his own over eager exertions in the beginning +of the day. On the contrary, his first efforts seemed frequently +inadequate to accomplishing his purpose, whatever that for the time +might be; and it was only as the difficulties of the task increased, +that his mind seemed to acquire the energy necessary to combat and +subdue them. If, therefore, he went anxiously forward upon his uncertain +and perilous expedition, the reader must acquit him of all idea, even +in a passing thought, of the possibility of abandoning his search, and +resigning Darsie Latimer to his destiny. + +A couple of hours’ riding brought him to the little town of Annan, +situated on the shores of the Solway, between eight and nine o’clock. +The sun had set, but the day was not yet ended; and when he had alighted +and seen his horse properly cared for at the principal inn of the place, +he was readily directed to Mr. Maxwell’s friend, old Tom Trumbull, with +whom everybody seemed well acquainted. He endeavoured to fish out from +the lad that acted as a guide, something of this man’s situation and +profession; but the general expressions of ‘a very decent man’--‘a very +honest body’--‘weel to pass in the world,’ and such like, were all that +could be extracted from him; and while Fairford was following up the +investigation with closer interrogatories, the lad put an end to them by +knocking at the door of Mr. Trumbull, whose decent dwelling was a little +distance from the town, and considerably nearer to the sea. It was one +of a little row of houses running down to the waterside, and having +gardens and other accommodations behind. There was heard within +the uplifting of a Scottish psalm; and the boy saying, ‘They are at +exercise, sir,’ gave intimation they might not be admitted till prayers +were over. + +When, however, Fairford repeated the summons with the end of his whip, +the singing ceased, and Mr. Trumbull himself, with his psalm-book in his +hand, kept open by the insertion of his forefinger between the leaves, +came to demand the meaning of this unseasonable interruption. + +Nothing could be more different than his whole appearance seemed to be +from the confidant of a desperate man, and the associate of outlaws in +their unlawful enterprises. He was a tall, thin, bony figure, with white +hair combed straight down on each side of his face, and an iron-grey hue +of complexion; where the lines, or rather, as Quin said of Macklin, the +cordage, of his countenance were so sternly adapted to a devotional and +even ascetic expression, that they left no room for any indication of +reckless daring or sly dissimulation. In short, Trumbull appeared a +perfect specimen of the rigid old Covenanter, who said only what he +thought right, acted on no other principle but that of duty, and, if he +committed errors, did so under the full impression that he was serving +God rather than man. + +‘Do you want me, sir?’ he said to Fairford, whose guide had slunk to +the rear, as if to escape the rebuke of the severe old man,--‘We were +engaged, and it is the Saturday night.’ + +Alan Fairford’s preconceptions were so much deranged by this man’s +appearance and manner, that he stood for a moment bewildered, and would +as soon have thought of giving a cant password to a clergyman descending +from the pulpit, as to the respectable father of a family just +interrupted in his prayers for and with the objects of his care. Hastily +concluding Mr. Maxwell had passed some idle jest on him, or rather that +he had mistaken the person to whom he was directed, he asked if he spoke +to Mr. Trumbull. + +‘To Thomas Trumbull,’ answered the old man--‘What may be your business, +sir?’ And he glanced his eye to the book he held in his hand, with a +sigh like that of a saint desirous of dissolution. + +‘Do you know Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees?’ said Fairford. + +‘I have heard of such a gentleman in the country-side, but have no +acquaintance with him,’ answered Mr. Trumbull; ‘he is, as I have heard, +a Papist; for the whore that sitteth on the seven hills ceaseth not yet +to pour forth the cup of her abomination on these parts.’ + +‘Yet he directed me hither, my good friend,’ said Alan. ‘Is there +another of your name in this town of Annan?’ + +‘None,’ replied Mr. Trumbull, ‘since my worthy father was removed; he +was indeed a shining light.--I wish you good even, sir.’ + +‘Stay one single instant,’ said Fairford; ‘this is a matter of life and +death.’ + +‘Not more than the casting the burden of our sins where they should be +laid,’ said Thomas Trumbull, about to shut the door in the inquirer’s +face. + +‘Do you know,’ said Alan Fairford, ‘the Laird of Redgauntlet?’ + +‘Now Heaven defend me from treason and rebellion!’ exclaimed Trumbull. +‘Young gentleman, you are importunate. I live here among my own people, +and do not consort with Jacobites and mass-mongers.’ + +He seemed about to shut the door, but did NOT shut it, a circumstance +which did not escape Alan’s notice. + +‘Mr. Redgauntlet is sometimes,’ he said, ‘called Herries of Birrenswork; +perhaps you may know him under that name.’ + +‘Friend, you are uncivil,’ answered Mr. Trumbull; ‘honest men have +enough to do to keep one name undefiled. I ken nothing about those who +have two. Good even to you, friend.’ + +He was now about to slam the door in his visitor’s face without +further ceremony, when Alan, who had observed symptoms that the name +of Redgauntlet did not seem altogether so indifferent to him as he +pretended, arrested his purpose by saying, in a low voice, ‘At least you +can tell me what age the moon is?’ + +The old man started, as if from a trance, and before answering, surveyed +the querist with a keen penetrating glance, which seemed to say, ‘Are +you really in possession of this key to my confidence, or do you speak +from mere accident?’ + +To this keen look of scrutiny, Fairford replied by a smile of +intelligence. + +The iron muscles of the old man’s face did not, however, relax, as he +dropped, in a careless manner, the countersign, ‘Not light enough to +land a cargo.’ + +‘Then plague of all Aberdeen Almanacks!’ + +‘And plague of all fools that waste time,’ said Thomas Trumbull, ‘Could +you not have said as much at first? And standing wasting time, and +encouraging; lookers-on, in the open street too? Come in by--in by.’ + +He drew his visitor into the dark entrance of the house, and shut +the door carefully; then putting his head into an apartment which the +murmurs within announced to be filled with the family, he said aloud, ‘A +work of necessity and mercy--Malachi, take the book--You will sing six +double verses of the hundred and nineteen-and you may lecture out of the +Lamentations. And, Malachi,’--this he said in an undertone,--‘see you +give them a a creed of doctrine that will last them till I come back; or +else these inconsiderate lads will be out of the house, and away to the +publics, wasting their precious time, and, it may be, putting themselves +in the way of missing the morning tide.’ + +An inarticulate answer from within intimated Malachi’s acquiescence in +the commands imposed; and, Mr. Trumbull, shutting the door, muttered +something about fast bind, fast find, turned the key, and put it into +his pocket; and then bidding his visitor have a care of his steps, and +make no noise, he led him through the house, and out at a back-door, +into a little garden. Here a plaited alley conducted them, without +the possibility of their being seen by any neighbour, to a door in the +garden-wall, which being opened, proved to be a private entrance into +a three-stalled stable; in one of which was a horse, that whinnied on +their entrance. ‘Hush, hush!’ cried the old man, and presently seconded +his exhortations to silence by throwing a handful of corn into the +manger, and the horse soon converted his acknowledgement of their +presence into the usual sound of munching and grinding his provender. + +As the light was now failing fast, the old man, with much more alertness +than might have been expected from the rigidity of his figure, closed +the window-shutters in an instant, produced phosphorus and matches, +and lighted a stable-lantern, which he placed on the corn-bin, and then +addressed Fairford. ‘We are private here, young man; and as some time +has been wasted already, you will be so kind as to tell me what is your +errand. Is it about the way of business, or the other job?’ + +‘My business with you, Mr. Trumbull, is to request you will find me the +means of delivering this letter, from Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees to the +Laird of Redgauntlet.’ + +‘Humph--fashious job! Pate Maxwell will still be the auld man--always +Pate-in-Peril--Craig-in-Peril, for what I know. Let me see the letter +from him.’ + +He examined it with much care, turning it up and down, and looking at +the seal very attentively. ‘All’s right, I see; it has the private mark +for haste and speed. I bless my Maker that I am no great man, or great +man’s fellow; and so I think no more of these passages than just to help +them forward in the way of business. You are an utter stranger in these +parts, I warrant?’ + +Fairford answered in the affirmative. + +‘Aye--I never saw them make a wiser choice--I must call some one to +direct you what to do--Stay, we must go to him, I believe. You are well +recommended to me, friend, and doubtless trusty; otherwise you may +see more than I would like to show, or am in the use of showing in the +common line of business.’ + +Saying this, he placed his lantern on the ground, beside the post of one +of the empty stalls, drew up a small spring bolt which secured it to +the floor, and then forcing the post to one side, discovered a small +trap-door. ‘Follow me,’ he said, and dived into the subterranean descent +to which this secret aperture gave access. + +Fairford plunged after him, not without apprehensions of more kinds than +one, but still resolved to prosecute the adventure. + +The descent, which was not above six feet, led to a very narrow passage, +which seemed to have been constructed for the precise purpose of +excluding every one who chanced to be an inch more in girth than was his +conductor. A small vaulted room, of about eight feet square, received +them at the end of this lane. Here Mr. Trumbull left Fairford alone, and +returned for an instant, as he said, to shut his concealed trap-door. + +Fairford liked not his departure, as it left him in utter darkness; +besides that his breathing was much affected by a strong and stifling +smell of spirits, and other articles of a savour more powerful than +agreeable to the lungs. He was very glad, therefore, when he heard the +returning steps of Mr. Trumbull, who, when once more by his side, opened +a strong though narrow door in the wall, and conveyed Fairford into +an immense magazine of spirit-casks, and other articles of contraband +trade. + +There was a small, light at the end of this range of well-stocked +subterranean vaults, which, upon a low whistle, began to flicker and +move towards them. An undefined figure, holding a dark lantern, with the +light averted, approached them, whom Mr. Trumbull thus addressed:--‘Why +were you not at worship, Job; and this Saturday at e’en?’ + +‘Swanston was loading the JENNY, sir; and I stayed to serve out the +article.’ + +‘True--a work of necessity, and in the way of business. Does the JUMPING +JENNY sail this tide?’ + +‘Aye, aye, sir; she sails for’-- + +‘I did not ask you WHERE she sailed for, Job,’ said the old gentleman, +interrupting him. ‘I thank my Maker, I know nothing of their incomings +or outgoings. I sell my article fairly and in the ordinary way of +business; and I wash my hands of everything else. But what I wished to +know is, whether the gentleman called the Laird of the Solway Lakes is +on the other side of the Border even now?’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ said Job, ‘the laird is something in my own line, you +know--a little contraband or so, There is a statute for him--But no +matter; he took the sands after the splore at the Quaker’s fish-traps +yonder; for he has a leal heart, the laird, and is always true to the +country-side. But avast--is all snug here?’ + +So saying, he suddenly turned on Alan Fairford the light side of the +lantern he carried, who, by the transient gleam which it threw in +passing on the man who bore it, saw a huge figure, upwards of six +feet high, with a rough hairy cap on his head, and a set of features +corresponding to his bulky frame. He thought also he observed pistols at +his belt. + +‘I will answer for this gentleman,’ said Mr. Trumbull; ‘he must be +brought to speech of the laird.’ + +‘That will be kittle steering,’ said the subordinate personage; ‘for I +understood that the laird and his folk were no sooner on the other +side than the land-sharks were on them, and some mounted lobsters from +Carlisle; and so they were obliged to split and squander. There are new +brooms out to sweep the country of them, they say; for the brush was a +hard one; and they say there was a lad drowned;--he was not one of the +laird’s gang, so there was the less matter.’ + +‘Peace! prithee, peace, Job Rutledge,’ said honest, pacific Mr. +Trumbull. ‘I wish thou couldst remember, man, that I desire to know +nothing of your roars and splores, your brooms and brushes. I dwell here +among my own people; and I sell my commodity to him who comes in the +way of business; and so wash my hands of all consequences, as becomes +a quiet subject and an honest man. I never take payment, save in ready +money.’ + +‘Aye, aye,’ muttered he with the lantern, ‘your worship, Mr. Trumbull, +understands that in the way of business.’ + +‘Well, I hope you will one day know, Job,’ answered Mr. Trumbull,--‘the +comfort of a conscience void of offence, and that fears neither gauger +nor collector, neither excise nor customs. The business is to pass this +gentleman to Cumberland upon earnest business, and to procure him speech +with the Laird of the Solway Lakes--I suppose that can be done? Now I +think Nanty Ewart, if he sails with the brig this morning tide, is the +man to set him forward.’ + +‘Aye, aye, truly is he,’ said Job; ‘never man knew the Border, dale and +fell, pasture and ploughland, better than Nanty; and he can always bring +him to the laird, too, if you are sure the gentleman’s right. But indeed +that’s his own look-out; for were he the best man in Scotland, and the +chairman of the d--d Board to boot, and had fifty men at his back, he +were as well not visit the laird for anything but good. As for Nanty, he +is word and blow, a d--d deal fiercer than Cristie Nixon that they keep +such a din about. I have seen them both tried, by’-- + +Fairford now found himself called upon to say something; yet his +feelings, upon finding himself thus completely in the power of a canting +hypocrite, and of his retainer, who had so much the air of a determined +ruffian, joined to the strong and abominable fume which they snuffed up +with indifference, while it almost deprived him of respiration, combined +to render utterance difficult. He stated, however, that he had no evil +intentions towards the laird, as they called him, but was only the +bearer of a letter to him on particular business, from Mr. Maxwell of +Summertrees. + +‘Aye, aye,’ said Job, ‘that may be well enough; and if Mr. Trumbull is +satisfied that the service is right, why, we will give you a cast in +the JUMPING JENNY this tide, and Nanty Ewart will put you on a way of +finding the laird, I warrant you.’ + +‘I may for the present return, I presume, to the inn where I left my +horse?’ said Fairford. + +‘With pardon,’ replied Mr. Trumbull, ‘you have been ower far ben with +us for that; but Job will take you to a place where you may sleep +rough till he calls you. I will bring you what little baggage you can +need--for those who go on such errands must not be dainty. I will myself +see after your horse, for a merciful man is merciful to his beast--a +matter too often forgotten in our way of business.’ + +‘Why, Master Trumbull,’ replied Job, ‘you know that when we are chased, +it’s no time to shorten sail, and so the boys do ride whip and spur.’ +He stopped in his speech, observing the old man had vanished through +the door by which he had entered--‘That’s always the way with old +Turnpenny,’ he said to Fairford; ‘he cares for nothing of the trade but +the profit--now, d--me, if I don’t think the fun of it is better worth +while. But come along, my fine chap; I must stow you away in safety +until it is time to go aboard.’ + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD, CONTINUED + +Fairford followed his gruff guide among a labyrinth of barrels and +puncheons, on which he had more than once like to have broken his nose, +and from thence into what, by the glimpse of the passing lantern upon a +desk and writing materials, seemed to be a small office for the +dispatch of business. Here there appeared no exit; but the smuggler, or +smuggler’s ally, availing himself of a ladder, removed an old picture, +which showed a door about seven feet from the ground, and Fairford, +still following Job, was involved in another tortuous and dark passage, +which involuntarily reminded him of Peter Peebles’s lawsuit. At the end +of this labyrinth, when he had little guess where he had been conducted, +and was, according to the French phrase, totally DESORIENTE, Job +suddenly set down the lantern, and availing himself of the flame to +light two candles which stood on the table, asked if Alan would choose +anything to eat, recommending, at all events, a slug of brandy to +keep out the night air. Fairford declined both, but inquired after his +baggage. + +‘The old master will take care of that himself,’ said Job Rutledge; and +drawing back in the direction in which he had entered, he vanished from +the farther end of the apartment, by a mode which the candles, still +shedding an imperfect light, gave Alan no means of ascertaining. Thus +the adventurous young lawyer was left alone in the apartment to which he +had been conducted by so singular a passage. + +In this condition, it was Alan’s first employment to survey, with some +accuracy, the place where he was; and accordingly, having trimmed the +lights, he walked slowly round the apartment, examining its appearance +and dimensions. It seemed to be such a small dining-parlour as is +usually found in the house of the better class of artisans, shopkeepers, +and such persons, having a recess at the upper end, and the usual +furniture of an ordinary description. He found a door, which he +endeavoured to open, but it was locked on the outside. A corresponding +door on the same side of the apartment admitted him into a closet, upon +the front shelves of which were punch-bowls, glasses, tea-cups, and the +like, while on one side was hung a horseman’s greatcoat of the coarsest +materials, with two great horse-pistols peeping out of the pocket, +and on the floor stood a pair of well-spattered jack-boots, the usual +equipment of the time, at least for long journeys. + +Not greatly liking the contents of the closet, Alan Fairford shut the +door, and resumed his scrutiny round the walls of the apartment, in +order to discover the mode of Job Rutledge’s retreat. The secret passage +was, however, too artificially concealed, and the young lawyer had +nothing better to do than to meditate on the singularity of his present +situation. He had long known that the excise laws had occasioned an +active contraband trade betwixt Scotland and England, which then, as +now, existed, and will continue to exist until the utter abolition of +the wretched system which establishes an inequality of duties betwixt +the different parts of the same kingdom; a system, be it said in +passing, mightily resembling the conduct of a pugilist, who should tie +up one arm that he might fight the better with the other. But Fairford +was unprepared for the expensive and regular establishments by which the +illicit traffic was carried on, and could not have conceived that the +capital employed in it should have been adequate to the erection of +these extensive buildings, with all their contrivances for secrecy of +communication. He was musing on these circumstances, not without some +anxiety for the progress of his own journey, when suddenly, as he +lifted his eyes, he discovered old Mr. Trumbull at the upper end of the +apartment, bearing in one hand a small bundle, in the other his dark +lantern, the light of which, as he advanced, he directed full upon +Fairford’s countenance. + +Though such an apparition was exactly what he expected, yet he did +not see the grim, stern old man present himself thus suddenly without +emotion; especially when he recollected, what to a youth of his pious +education was peculiarly shocking, that the grizzled hypocrite was +probably that instant arisen from his knees to Heaven, for the purpose +of engaging in the mysterious transactions of a desperate and illegal +trade. + +The old man, accustomed to judge with ready sharpness of the physiognomy +of those with whom he had business, did not fail to remark something +like agitation in Fairford’s demeanour. ‘Have ye taken the rue?’ said +he. ‘Will ye take the sheaf from the mare, and give up the venture?’ + +‘Never!’ said Fairford, firmly, stimulated at once by his natural +spirit, and the recollection of his friend; ‘never, while I have life +and strength to follow it out!’ + +‘I have brought you,’ said Trumbull, ‘a clean shirt, and some stockings, +which is all the baggage you can conveniently carry, and I will cause +one of the lads lend you a horseman’s coat, for it is ill sailing or +riding without one; and, touching your valise, it will be as safe in +my poor house, were it full of the gold of Ophir, as if it were in the +depth of the mine.’ ‘I have no doubt of it,’ said Fairford. + +‘And now,’ said Trumbull, again, ‘I pray you to tell me by what name I +am to name you to Nanty (which is Antony) Ewart?’ + +‘By the name of Alan Fairford,’ answered the young lawyer. + +‘But that,’ said Mr. Trumbull, in reply, ‘is your own proper name and +surname.’ + +‘And what other should I give?’ said the young man; ‘do you think I +have any occasion for an alias? And, besides, Mr. Trumbull,’ added Alan, +thinking a little raillery might intimate confidence of spirit, ‘you +blessed yourself, but a little while since, that you had no acquaintance +with those who defiled their names so far as to be obliged to change +them.’ + +‘True, very true,’ said Mr. Trumbull; ‘nevertheless, young man, my grey +hairs stand unreproved in this matter; for, in my line of business, when +I sit under my vine and my fig-tree, exchanging the strong waters of the +north for the gold which is the price thereof, I have, I thank Heaven, +no disguises to keep with any man, and wear my own name of Thomas +Trumbull, without any chance that the same may be polluted. Whereas, +thou, who art to journey in miry ways, and amongst a strange people, +mayst do well to have two names, as thou hast two shirts, the one to +keep the other clean.’ + +Here he emitted a chuckling grunt, which lasted for two vibrations of +the pendulum exactly, and was the only approach towards laughter in +which old Turnpenny, as he was nicknamed, was ever known to indulge. + +‘You are witty, Mr. Trumbull,’ said Fairford; ‘but jests are no +arguments--I shall keep my own name.’ + +‘At your own pleasure,’ said the merchant; ‘there is but one name +which,’ &c. &c, &c. + +We will not follow the hypocrite through the impious cant which he +added, in order to close the subject. + +Alan followed him, in silent abhorrence, to the recess in which the +beaufet was placed, and which was so artificially made as to conceal +another of those traps with which the whole building abounded. This +concealment admitted them to the same winding passage by which the young +lawyer had been brought thither. The path which they now took amid +these mazes, differed from the direction in which he had been guided +by Rutledge. It led upwards, and terminated beneath a garret window. +Trumbull opened it, and with more agility than his age promised, +clambered out upon the leads. If Fairford’s journey had been hitherto in +a stifled and subterranean atmosphere, it was now open, lofty, and airy +enough; for he had to follow his guide over leads and slates, which +the old smuggler traversed with the dexterity of a cat. It is true, his +course was facilitated by knowing exactly where certain stepping-places +and holdfasts were placed, of which Fairford could not so readily avail +himself; but, after a difficult and somewhat perilous progress along +the roofs of two or three houses, they at length descended by a skylight +into a garret room, and from thence by the stairs into a public-house; +for such it appeared, by the ringing of bells, whistling for waiters and +attendance, bawling of ‘House, house, here!’ chorus of sea songs, and +the like noises. + +Having descended to the second story, and entered a room there in which +there was a light, old Mr. Trumbull rang the bell of the apartment +thrice, with an interval betwixt each, during which he told deliberately +the number twenty. Immediately after the third ringing the landlord +appeared, with stealthy step, and an appearance of mystery on his buxom +visage. He greeted Mr. Trumbull, who was his landlord as it proved, with +great respect, and expressed some surprise at seeing him so late, as he +termed it, ‘on Saturday e’en.’ + +‘And I, Robin Hastie,’ said the landlord to the tenant, am more +surprised than pleased, to hear sae muckle din in your house, Robie, so +near the honourable Sabbath; and I must mind you that it is contravening +the terms of your tack, whilk stipulates that you should shut your +public on Saturday at nine o’clock, at latest.’ + +‘Yes, sir,’ said Robin Hastie, no way alarmed at the gravity of the +rebuke, ‘but you must take tent that I have admitted naebody but you, +Mr. Trumbull (who by the way admitted yoursell), since nine o’clock for +the most of the folk have been here for several hours about the lading, +and so on, of the brig. It is not full tide yet, and I cannot put the +men out into the street. If I did, they would go to some other public, +and their souls would be nane the better, and my purse muckle the waur; +for how am I to pay the rent if I do not sell the liquor?’ + +‘Nay, then,’ said Thomas Trumbull, ‘if it is a work of necessity, and +in the honest independent way of business, no doubt there is balm in +Gilead. But prithee, Robin, wilt thou see if Nanty Ewart be, as is most +likely, amongst these unhappy topers; and if so, let him step this way +cannily, and speak to me and this young gentleman. And it’s dry talking, +Robin--you must minister to us a bowl of punch--ye ken my gage.’ + +‘From a mutchkin to a gallon, I ken your honour’s taste, Mr. Thomas +Trumbull,’ said mine host; ‘and ye shall hang me over the signpost if +there be a drap mair lemon or a curn less sugar than just suits you. +There are three of you--you will be for the auld Scots peremptory +pint-stoup for the success of the voyage?’ [The Scottish pint of liquid +measure comprehends four English measures of the same denomination. The +jest is well known of my poor countryman, who, driven to extremity by +the raillery of the Southern, on the small denomination of the Scottish +coin, at length answered, ‘Aye, aye! But the deil tak them that has the +LEAST PINT-STOUP.’] + +‘Better pray for it than drink for it, Robin,’ said Mr. Trumbull. ‘Yours +is a dangerous trade, Robin; it hurts mony a ane--baith host and guest. +But ye will get the blue bowl, Robin--the blue bowl--that will sloken +all their drouth, and prevent the sinful repetition of whipping for +an eke of a Saturday at e’en. Aye, Robin, it is a pity of Nanty +Ewart--Nanty likes the turning up of his little finger unco weel, and we +maunna stint him, Robin, so as we leave him sense to steer by.’ + +‘Nanty Ewart could steer through the Pentland Firth though he were as +drunk as the Baltic Ocean,’ said Robin Hastie; and instantly tripping +downstairs, he speedily returned with the materials for what he called +his BROWST, which consisted of two English quarts of spirits, in a huge +blue bowl, with all the ingredients for punch in the same formidable +proportion. At the same time he introduced Mr. Antony or Nanty Ewart, +whose person, although he was a good deal flustered with liquor, +was different from what Fairford expected. His dress was what is +emphatically termed the shabby genteel--a frock with tarnished lace--a +small cocked hat, ornamented in a similar way--a scarlet waistcoat, with +faded embroidery, breeches of the same, with silver knee-bands, and he +wore a smart hanger and a pair of pistols in a sullied swordbelt. + +‘Here I come, patron,’ he said, shaking hands with Mr. Trumbull. ‘Well, +I see you have got some grog aboard.’ + +‘It is not my custom, Mr. Ewart,’ said the old gentleman, ‘as you well +know, to become a chamberer or carouser thus late on Saturday at e’en; +but I wanted to recommend to your attention a young friend of ours, +that is going upon a something particular journey, with a letter to our +friend the Laird from Pate-in-Peril, as they call him.’ + +‘Aye--indeed?--he must be in high trust for so young a gentleman. I wish +you joy, sir,’ bowing to Fairford. ‘By’r lady, as Shakespeare says, you +are bringing up a neck for a fair end. Come, patron, we will drink to +Mr. What-shall-call-um. What is his name? Did you tell me? And have I +forgot it already.’ + +‘Mr. Alan Fairford,’ said Trumbull. + +‘Aye, Mr. Alan Fairford--a good name for a fair trader--Mr. Alan +Fairford; and may he be long withheld from the topmost round of +ambition, which I take to be the highest round of a certain ladder.’ + +While he spoke, he seized the punch-ladle, and began to fill the +glasses. But Mr. Trumbull arrested his hand, until he had, as he +expressed himself, sanctified the liquor by a long grace; during the +pronunciation of which he shut indeed his eyes, but his nostrils became +dilated, as if he were snuffing up the fragrant beverage with peculiar +complacency. + +When the grace was at length over, the three friends sat down to their +beverage, and invited Alan Fairford to partake. Anxious about his +situation, and disgusted as he was with his company, he craved, and with +difficulty obtained permission, under the allegation of being fatigued, +heated, and the like, to stretch himself on a couch which was in +the apartment, and attempted at least to procure some rest before +high-water, when the vessel was to sail. + +He was at length permitted to use his freedom, and stretched himself on +the couch, having his eyes for some time fixed on the jovial party he +had left, and straining his ears to catch if possible a little of their +conversation. This he soon found was to no purpose for what did actually +reach his ears was disguised so completely by the use of cant words and +the thieves-latin called slang, that even when he caught the words, he +found himself as far as ever from the sense of their conversation. At +length he fell asleep. + +It was after Alan had slumbered for three or four hours, that he was +wakened by voices bidding him rise up and prepare to be jogging. He +started up accordingly, and found himself in presence of the same party +of boon companions; who had just dispatched their huge bowl of punch. To +Alan’s surprise, the liquor had made but little innovation on the +brains of men who were accustomed to drink at all hours, and in the most +inordinate quantities. The landlord indeed spoke a little thick, and the +texts of Mr. Thomas Trumbull stumbled on his tongue; but Nanty was one +of those topers, who, becoming early what bon vivants term flustered, +remain whole nights and days at the same point of intoxication; and, +in fact, as they are seldom entirely sober, can be as rarely seen +absolutely drunk. Indeed, Fairford, had he not known how Ewart had been +engaged whilst he himself was asleep, would almost have sworn when he +awoke, that the man was more sober than when he first entered the room. + +He was confirmed in this opinion when they descended below, where two or +three sailors and ruffian-looking fellows awaited their commands. Ewart +took the whole direction upon himself, gave his orders with briefness +and precision, and looked to their being executed with the silence and +celerity which that peculiar crisis required. All were now dismissed +for the brig, which lay, as Fairford was given to understand, a little +farther down the river, which is navigable for vessels of light burden +till almost within a mile of the town. + +When they issued from the inn, the landlord bid them goodbye. Old +Trumbull walked a little way with them, but the air had probably +considerable effect on the state of his brain; for after reminding +Alan Fairford that the next day was the honourable Sabbath, he became +extremely excursive in an attempt to exhort him to keep it holy. At +length, being perhaps sensible that he was becoming unintelligible, he +thrust a volume into Fairford’s hand--hiccuping at the same time--‘Good +book--good book--fine hymn-book--fit for the honourable Sabbath, whilk +awaits us to-morrow morning.’ Here the iron tongue of time told +five from the town steeple of Annan, to the further confusion of Mr. +Trumbull’s already disordered ideas. ‘Aye? Is Sunday come and gone +already? Heaven be praised! Only it is a marvel the afternoon is sae +dark for the time of the year--Sabbath has slipped ower quietly, but we +have reason to bless oursells it has not been altogether misemployed. +I heard little of the preaching--a cauld moralist, I doubt, served that +out--but, eh--the prayer--I mind it as if I had said the words mysell.’ +Here he repeated one or two petitions, which were probably a part of his +family devotions, before he was summoned forth to what he called the +way of business. ‘I never remember a Sabbath pass so cannily off in my +life.’ Then he recollected himself a little, and said to Alan, ‘You +may read that book, Mr. Fairford, to-morrow, all the same, though it be +Monday; for, you see, it was Saturday when we were thegither, and now +it’s Sunday and it’s dark night--so the Sabbath has slipped clean away +through our fingers like water through a sieve, which abideth not; and +we have to begin again to-morrow morning, in the weariful, base, mean, +earthly employments, whilk are unworthy of an immortal spirit--always +excepting the way of business.’ + +Three of the fellows were now returning to the town, and, at Ewart’s +command, they cut short the patriarch’s exhortation, by leading him back +to his own residence. The rest of the party then proceeded to the brig, +which only waited their arrival to get under weigh and drop down the +river. Nanty Ewart betook himself to steering the brig, and the very +touch of the helm seemed to dispel the remaining influence of the liquor +which he had drunk, since, through a troublesome and intricate channel, +he was able to direct the course of his little vessel with the most +perfect accuracy and safety. + +Alan Fairford, for some time, availed himself of the clearness of the +summer morning to gaze on the dimly seen shores betwixt which they +glided, becoming less and less distinct as they receded from each other, +until at length, having adjusted his little bundle by way of pillow, and +wrapped around him the greatcoat with which old Trumbull had equipped +him, he stretched himself on the deck, to try to recover the slumber out +of which he had been awakened. Sleep had scarce begun to settle on +his eyes, ere he found something stirring about his person. With ready +presence of mind he recollected his situation, and resolved to show no +alarm until the purpose of this became obvious; but he was soon relieved +from his anxiety, by finding it was only the result of Nanty’s attention +to his comfort, who was wrapping around him, as softly as he could, a +great boatcloak, in order to defend him from the morning air. + +‘Thou art but a cockerel,’ he muttered, ‘but ‘twere pity thou wert +knocked off the perch before seeing a little more of the sweet and sour +of this world--though, faith, if thou hast the usual luck of it, the +best way were to leave thee to the chance of a seasoning fever.’ + +These words, and the awkward courtesy with which the skipper of the +little brig tucked the sea-coat round Fairford, gave him a confidence of +safety which he had not yet thoroughly possessed. He stretched himself +in more security on the hard planks, and was speedily asleep, though his +slumbers were feverish and unrefreshing. + +It has been elsewhere intimated that Alan Fairford inherited from his +mother a delicate constitution, with a tendency to consumption; and, +being an only child, with such a cause for apprehension, care, to the +verge of effeminacy, was taken to preserve him from damp beds, wet +feet, and those various emergencies to which the Caledonian boys of much +higher birth, but more active habits, are generally accustomed. In man, +the spirit sustains the constitutional weakness, as in the winged +tribes the feathers bear aloft the body. But there is a bound to these +supporting qualities; and as the pinions of the bird must at length grow +weary, so the VIS ANIMI of the human struggler becomes broken down by +continued fatigue. + +When the voyager was awakened by the light of the sun now riding high +in heaven, he found himself under the influence of an almost intolerable +headache, with heat, thirst, shooting across the back and loins, and +other symptoms intimating violent cold, accompanied with fever. The +manner in which he had passed the preceding day and night, though +perhaps it might have been of little consequence to most young men, was +to him, delicate in constitution and nurture, attended with bad and even +perilous consequences. He felt this was the case, yet would fain have +combated the symptoms of indisposition, which, indeed, he imputed +chiefly to sea-sickness. He sat up on deck, and looked on the scene +around, as the little vessel, having borne down the Solway Firth, was +beginning, with a favourable northerly breeze, to bear away to the +southward, crossing the entrance of the Wampool river, and preparing to +double the most northerly point of Cumberland. + +But Fairford felt annoyed with deadly sickness, as well as by pain of +a distressing and oppressive character; and neither Criffel, rising in +majesty on the one hand, nor the distant yet more picturesque outline of +Skiddaw and Glaramara upon the other, could attract his attention in +the manner in which it was usually fixed by beautiful scenery, and +especially that which had in it something new as well as striking. Yet +it was not in Alan Fairford’s nature to give way to despondence, even +when seconded by pain. He had recourse, in the first place, to his +pocket; but instead of the little Sallust he had brought with him, that +the perusal of a classical author might help to pass away a heavy hour, +he pulled out the supposed hymn-book with which he had been presented +a few hours before, by that temperate and scrupulous person, Mr. Thomas +Trumbull, ALIAS Turnpenny. The volume was bound in sable, and its +exterior might have become a psalter. But what was Alan’s astonishment +to read on the title page the following words:--‘Merry Thoughts for +Merry Men; or Mother Midnight’s Miscellany for the Small Hours;’ and +turning over the leaves, he was disgusted with profligate tales, and +more profligate songs, ornamented with figures corresponding in infamy +with the letterpress. + +‘Good God!’ he thought, ‘and did this hoary reprobate summon his family +together, and, with such a disgraceful pledge of infamy in his bosom, +venture to approach the throne of his Creator? It must be so; the book +is bound after the manner of those dedicated to devotional subjects, +and doubtless the wretch, in his intoxication, confounded the books +he carried with him, as he did the days of the week.’ Seized with the +disgust with which the young and generous usually regard the vices of +advanced life, Alan, having turned the leaves of the book over in hasty +disdain, flung it from him, as far as he could, into the sea. He then +had recourse to the Sallust, which he had at first sought for in vain. +As he opened the book, Nanty Ewart, who had been looking over his +shoulder, made his own opinion heard. + +‘I think now, brother, if you are so much scandalized at a little piece +of sculduddery, which, after all, does nobody any harm, you had better +have given it to me than have flung it into the Solway.’ + +‘I hope, sir,’ answered Fairford, civilly, ‘you are in the habit of +reading better books.’ + +‘Faith,’ answered Nanty, ‘with help of a little Geneva text, I could +read my Sallust as well as you can;’ and snatching the book from Alan’s +hand, he began to read, in the Scottish accent:--“‘IGITUR EX DIVITIIS +JUVENTUTEM LUXURIA ATQUE AVARITIA CUM SUPERBILI INVASERE: RAPERE, +CONSUMERE; SUA PARVI PENDERE, ALIENA CUPERE; PUDOREM, AMICITIAM, +PUDICITIAM, DIVINA ATQUE HUMANA PROMISCUA, NIHIL PENSI NEQUE MODERATI +HABERE.” [The translation of the passage is thus given by Sir Henry +Steuart of Allanton:--‘The youth, taught to look up to riches as the +sovereign good, became apt pupils in the school of Luxury. Rapacity and +profusion went hand in hand. Careless of their own fortunes, and eager +to possess those of others, shame and remorse, modesty and moderation, +every principle gave way.’--WORKS OF SALLUST, WITH ORIGINAL ESSAYS, vol. +ii. p.17.]--There is a slap in the face now, for an honest fellow that +has been buccaneering! Never could keep a groat of what he got, or hold +his fingers from what belonged to another, said you? Fie, fie, friend +Crispus, thy morals are as crabbed and austere as thy style--the one has +as little mercy as the other has grace. By my soul, it is unhandsome +to make personal reflections on an old acquaintance, who seeks a little +civil intercourse with you after nigh twenty years’ separation. On my +soul, Master Sallust deserves to float on the Solway better than Mother +Midnight herself.’ + +‘Perhaps, in some respects, he may merit better usage at our hands,’ +said Alan; ‘for if he has described vice plainly, it seems to have been +for the purpose of rendering it generally abhorred.’ + +‘Well,’ said the seaman, ‘I have heard of the Sortes Virgilianae, and +I dare say the Sortes Sallustianae are as true every tittle. I have +consulted honest Crispus on my own account, and have had a cuff for +my pains. But now see, I open the book on your behalf, and behold +what occurs first to my eye!--Lo you there--“CATILINA ... OMNIUM +FLAGITIOSORUM ATQUE FACINOROSORUM CIRCUM SE HABEBAT.” And then +again--“ETIAM SI QUIS A CULPA VACUUS IN AMICITIAM EJUS INCIDIDERAT +QUOTIDIANO USU PAR SIMILISQUE CAETERIS EFFICIEBATUR.” [After enumerating +the evil qualities of Catiline’s associates, the author adds, ‘If it +happened that any as yet uncontaminated by vice were fatally drawn into +his friendship, the effects of intercourse and snares artfully +spread, subdued every scruple, and early assimilated them to their +conductors.’--Ibidem, p. 19.] That is what I call plain speaking on the +part of the old Roman, Mr. Fairford. By the way, that is a capital name +for a lawyer. + +‘Lawyer as I am,’ said Fairford, ‘I do not understand your innuendo.’ + +‘Nay, then,’ said Ewart, ‘I can try it another way, as well as the +hypocritical old rascal Turnpenny himself could do. I would have you to +know that I am well acquainted with my Bible-book, as well as with my +friend Sallust.’ He then, in a snuffling and canting tone, began to +repeat the Scriptural text--‘“DAVID THEREFORE DEPARTED THENCE, AND WENT +TO THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. AND EVERY ONE THAT WAS IN DISTRESS, AND EVERY +ONE THAT WAS IN DEBT, AND EVERY ONE THAT WAS DISCONTENTED, GATHERED +THEMSELVES TOGETHER UNTO HIM, AND HE BECAME A CAPTAIN OVER THEM.” What +think you of that?’ he said, suddenly changing his manner. ‘Have I +touched you now, sir?’ + +‘You are as far off as ever,’ replied Fairford. + +‘What the devil! and you a repeating frigate between Summertrees and the +laird! Tell that to the marines--the sailors won’t believe it. But you +are right to be cautious, since you can’t say who are right, who not. +But you look ill; it’s but the cold morning air. Will you have a can +of flip, or a jorum of hot rumbo? or will you splice the mainbrace’ +(showing a spirit-flask). ‘Will you have a quid--or a pipe--or a +cigar?--a pinch of snuff, at least, to clear your brains and sharpen +your apprehension?’ + +Fairford rejected all these friendly propositions. + +‘Why, then,’ continued Ewart, ‘if you will do nothing for the free +trade, I must patronize it myself.’ + +So saying, he took a large glass of brandy. + +‘A hair of the dog that bit me,’ he continued,--‘of the dog that will +worry me one day soon; and yet, and be d--d to me for an idiot, I must +always have hint at my throat. But, says the old catch’--Here he sang, +and sang well-- + + ‘Let’s drink--let’s drink--while life we have; + We’ll find but cold drinking, cold drinking in the grave. + +All this,’ he continued, ‘is no charm against the headache. I wish I +had anything that could do you good. Faith, and we have tea and coffee +aboard! I’ll open a chest or a bag, and let you have some in an instant. +You are at the age to like such catlap better than better stuff.’ + +Fairford thanked him, and accepted his offer of tea. + +Nanty Ewart was soon heard calling about, ‘Break open yon chest--take +out your capful, you bastard of a powder-monkey; we may want it again. +No sugar? all used up for grog, say you? knock another loaf to pieces, +can’t ye? and get the kettle boiling, ye hell’s baby, in no time at +all!’ + +By dint of these energetic proceedings he was in a short time able to +return to the place where his passenger lay sick and exhausted, with a +cup, or rather a canful, of tea; for everything was on a large scale +on board of the JUMPING JENNY. Alan drank it eagerly, and with so much +appearance of being refreshed that Nanty Ewart swore he would have +some too, and only laced it, as his phrase went, with a single glass of +brandy. [See Note 8.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD, CONTINUED + +We left Alan Fairford on the deck of the little smuggling brig, in that +disconsolate situation, when sickness and nausea, attack a heated and +fevered frame, and an anxious mind. His share of sea-sickness, however, +was not so great as to engross his sensations entirely, or altogether +to divert his attention from what was passing around. If he could not +delight in the swiftness and agility with which the ‘little frigate’ +walked the waves, or amuse himself by noticing the beauty of the +sea-views around him, where the distant Skiddaw raised his brow, as if +in defiance of the clouded eminence of Criffel, which lorded it over the +Scottish side of the estuary, he had spirits and composure enough to pay +particular attention to the master of the vessel, on whose character his +own safety in all probability was dependent. + +Nanty Ewart had now given the helm to one of his people, a bald-pated, +grizzled old fellow, whose whole life had been spent in evading +the revenue laws, with now and then the relaxation of a few months’ +imprisonment, for deforcing officers, resisting seizures, and the like +offences. + +Nanty himself sat down by Fairford, helped him to his tea, with such +other refreshments as he could think of, and seemed in his way sincerely +desirous to make his situation as comfortable as things admitted. +Fairford had thus an opportunity to study his countenance and manners +more closely. + +It was plain, Ewart, though a good seaman, had not been bred upon that +element. He was a reasonably good scholar, and seemed fond of showing it +by recurring to the subject of Sallust and Juvenal; while, on the other +hand, sea-phrases seldom chequered his conversation. He had been in +person what is called a smart little man; but the tropical sun had burnt +his originally fair complexion to a dusty red; and the bile which was +diffused through his system, had stained it with a yellowish black--what +ought to have been the white part of his eyes, in particular, had a hue +as deep as the topaz. He was very thin, or rather emaciated, and his +countenance, though still indicating alertness and activity, showed a +constitution exhausted with excessive use of his favourite stimulus. + +‘I see you look at me hard,’ said he to Fairford. ‘Had you been an +officer of the d--d customs, my terriers’ backs would have been up. He +opened his breast, and showed Alan a pair of pistols disposed between +his waistcoat and jacket, placing his finger at the same time upon the +cock of one of them. ‘But come, you are an honest fellow, though you’re +a close one. I dare say you think me a queer customer; but I can tell +you, they that see the ship leave harbour know little of the seas she +is to sail through. My father, honest old gentleman, never would have +thought to see me master of the JUMPING JENNY.’ + +Fairford said, it seemed very clear indeed that Mr. Ewart’s education +was far superior to the line he at present occupied. + +‘Oh, Criffel to Solway Moss!’ said the other. Why, man, I should have +been an expounder of the word, with a wig like a snow-wreath, and a +stipend like--like--like a hundred pounds a year, I suppose. I can spend +thrice as much as that, though, being such as I am. Here he sang a scrap +of an old Northumbrian ditty, mimicking the burr of the natives of that +county:-- + + ‘Willy Foster’s gone to sea, + Siller buckles at his knee, + He’ll come back and marry me-- + Canny Willy Foster.’ + +‘I have no doubt,’ said Fairford, ‘your present occupation is more +lucrative; ‘but I should have thought the Church might have been more’-- + +He stopped, recollecting that it was not his business to say anything +disagreeable. + +‘More respectable, you mean, I suppose?’ said Ewart, with a sneer, and +squirting the tobacco-juice through his front teeth; then was silent for +a moment, and proceeded in a tone of candour which some internal touch +of conscience dictated. ‘And so it would, Mr. Fairford--and happier, +too, by a thousand degrees--though I have had my pleasures too. But +there was my father (God bless the old man!) a true chip of the old +Presbyterian block, walked his parish like a captain on the quarterdeck, +and was always ready to do good to rich and poor--Off went the laird’s +hat to the minister, as fast as the poor man’s bonnet. When the eye saw +him--Pshaw! what have I to do with that now?--Yes, he was, as Virgil +hath it, “VIR SAPIENTIA ET PIETATE GRAVIS.” But he might have been the +wiser man, had he kept me at home, when he sent me at nineteen to study +Divinity at the head of the highest stair in the Covenant Close. It +was a cursed mistake in the old gentleman. What though Mrs. Cantrips of +Kittlebasket (for she wrote herself no less) was our cousin five +times removed, and took me on that account to board and lodging at six +shillings instead of seven shillings a week? it was a d--d bad saving, +as the case proved. Yet her very dignity might have kept me in order; +for she never read a chapter excepting out of a Cambridge Bible, printed +by Daniel, and bound in embroidered velvet. I think I see it at this +moment! And on Sundays, when we had a quart of twopenny ale, instead +of butter-milk, to our porridge, it was always served up in a silver +posset-dish. Also she used silver-mounted spectacles, whereas even my +father’s were cased in mere horn. These things had their impression at +first, but we get used to grandeur by degrees. Well, sir!--Gad, I can +scarce get on with my story--it sticks in my throat--must take a trifle +to wash it down. Well, this dame had a daughter--Jess Cantrips, a +black-eyed, bouncing wench--and, as the devil would have it, there was +the d--d five-story stair--her foot was never from it, whether I went +out or came home from the Divinity Hall. I would have eschewed her, +sir--I would, on my soul; for I was as innocent a lad as ever came from +Lammermuir; but there was no possibility of escape, retreat, or flight, +unless I could have got a pair of wings, or made use of a ladder seven +stories high, to scale the window of my attic. It signifies little +talking--you may suppose how all this was to end--I would have married +the girl, and taken my chance--I would, by Heaven! for she was a pretty +girl, and a good girl, till she and I met; but you know the old song, +“Kirk would not let us be.” A gentleman, in my case, would have settled +the matter with the kirk-treasurer for a small sum of money; but the +poor stibbler, the penniless dominie, having married his cousin of +Kittlebasket, must next have proclaimed her frailty to the whole parish, +by mounting the throne of Presbyterian penance, and proving, as Othello +says, “his love a whore,” in face of the whole congregation. + +‘In this extremity I dared not stay where I was, and so thought to go +home to my father. But first I got Jack Radaway, a lad from the same +parish, and who lived in the same infernal stair, to make some inquiries +how the old gentleman had taken the matter. I soon, by way of answer, +learned, to the great increase of my comfortable reflections, that the +good old man made as much clamour as if such a thing as a man’s eating +his wedding dinner without saying grace had never happened since Adam’s +time. He did nothing for six days but cry out, “Ichabod, Ichabod, the +glory is departed from my house!” and on the seventh he preached a +sermon, in which he enlarged on this incident as illustrative of one of +the great occasions for humiliation, and causes of national defection. I +hope the course he took comforted himself--I am sure it made me ashamed +to show my nose at home. So I went down to Leith, and, exchanging my +hoddin grey coat of my mother’s spinning for such a jacket as this, I +entered my name at the rendezvous as an able-bodied landsman, and +sailed with the tender round to Plymouth, where they were fitting out +a squadron for the West Indies. There I was put aboard the FEARNOUGHT, +Captain Daredevil--among whose crew I soon learned to fear Satan (the +terror of my early youth) as little as the toughest Jack on board. I had +some qualms at first, but I took the remedy’ (tapping the case-bottle) +‘which I recommend to you, being as good for sickness of the soul as for +sickness of the stomach--What, you won’t?--very well, I must, then--here +is to ye.’ + +‘You would, I am afraid, find your education of little use in your new +condition?’ said Fairford. + +‘Pardon me, sir,’ resumed the captain of the JUMPING JENNY; ‘my handful +of Latin, and small pinch of Greek, were as useless as old junk, to be +sure; but my reading, writing and accompting, stood me in good stead, +and brought me forward; I might have been schoolmaster--aye, and master, +in time; but that valiant liquor, rum, made a conquest of me rather too +often, and so, make what sail I could, I always went to leeward. We were +four years broiling in that blasted climate, and I came back at last +with a little prize-money. I always had thoughts of putting things to +rights in the Covenant Close, and reconciling myself to my father. I +found out Jack Hadaway, who was TUPTOWING away with a dozen of wretched +boys, and a fine string of stories he had ready to regale my ears +withal. My father had lectured on what he called “my falling away,” for +seven Sabbaths, when, just as his parishioners began to hope that the +course was at an end, he was found dead in his bed on the eighth Sunday +morning. Jack Hadaway assured me, that if I wished to atone for my +errors, by undergoing the fate of the first martyr, I had only to go +to my native village, where the very stones of the street would rise +up against me as my father’s murderer. Here was a pretty item--well, my +tongue clove to my mouth for an hour, and was only able at last to +utter the name of Mrs. Cantrips. Oh, this was a new theme for my Job’s +comforter. My sudden departure--my father’s no less sudden death--had +prevented the payment of the arrears of my board and lodging--the +landlord was a haberdasher, with a heart as rotten as the muslin +wares he dealt in. Without respect to her age or gentle kin, my Lady +Kittlebasket was ejected from her airy habitation--her porridge-pot, +silver posset-dish, silver-mounted spectacles, and Daniel’s Cambridge +Bible, sold, at the Cross of Edinburgh, to the caddie who would bid +highest for them, and she herself driven to the workhouse, where she got +in with difficulty, but was easily enough lifted out, at the end of the +month, as dead as her friends could desire. Merry tidings this to me, +who had been the d----d’ (he paused a moment) ‘ORIGO MALI--Gad, I think +my confession would sound better in Latin than in English! + +‘But the best jest was behind--I had just power to stammer out something +about Jess--by my faith he HAD an answer! I had taught Jess one trade, +and, like a prudent girl, she had found out another for herself; +unluckily, they were both contraband, and Jess Cantrips, daughter of the +Lady Kittlebasket, had the honour to be transported to the plantations, +for street-walking and pocket-picking, about six months before I touched +shore.’ + +He changed the bitter tone of affected pleasantry into an attempt to +laugh, then drew his swarthy hand across his swarthy eyes, and said in a +more natural accent, ‘Poor Jess!’ + +There was a pause--until Fairford, pitying the poor man’s state of mind, +and believing he saw something in him that, but for early error and +subsequent profligacy, might have been excellent and noble, helped on +the conversation by asking, in a tone of commiseration, how he had been +able to endure such a load of calamity. + +‘Why, very well,’ answered the seaman; ‘exceedingly well--like a tight +ship in a brisk gale. Let me recollect. I remember thanking Jack, very +composedly, for the interesting and agreeable communication; I then +pulled out my canvas pouch, with my hoard of moidores, and taking out +two pieces, I bid Jack keep the rest till I came back, as I was for a +cruise about Auld Reekie. The poor devil looked anxiously, but I shook +him by the hand, and ran downstairs, in such confusion of mind, that +notwithstanding what I had heard, I expected to meet Jess at every +turning. + +It was market-day, and the usual number of rogues and fools were +assembled at the Cross. I observed everybody looked strange on me, and I +thought some laughed. I fancy I had been making queer faces enough, and +perhaps talking to myself, When I saw myself used in this manner, I held +out my clenched fists straight before me, stooped my head, and, like a +ram when he makes his race, darted off right down the street, scattering +groups of weatherbeaten lairds and periwigged burgesses, and bearing +down all before me. I heard the cry of “Seize the madman!” echoed, in +Celtic sounds, from the City Guard, with “Ceaze ta matman!”--but pursuit +and opposition were in vain. I pursued my career; the smell of the sea, +I suppose, led me to Leith, where, soon after, I found myself walking +very quietly on the shore, admiring the tough round and sound cordage +of the vessels, and thinking how a loop, with a man at the end of one of +them, would look, by way of tassel. + +‘I was opposite to the rendezvous, formerly my place of refuge--in +I bolted--found one or two old acquaintances, made half a dozen +new ones--drank for two days--was put aboard the tender--off to +Portsmouth--then landed at the Haslar hospital in a fine hissing-hot +fever. Never mind--I got better--nothing can kill me--the West Indies +were my lot again, for since I did not go where I deserved in the +next world, I had something as like such quarters as can be had in +this--black devils for inhabitants--flames and earthquakes, and so +forth, for your element. Well, brother, something or other I did or +said--I can’t tell what--How the devil should I, when I was as drunk +as David’s sow, you know? But I was punished, my lad--made to kiss the +wench that never speaks but when she scolds, and that’s the gunner’s +daughter, comrade. Yes, the minister’s son of no matter where--has the +cat’s scratch on his back! This roused me, and when we were ashore with +the boat, I gave three inches of the dirk, after a stout tussle, to the +fellow I blamed most, and took the bush for it. There were plenty of +wild lads then along shore--and, I don’t care who knows--I went on the +account, look you--sailed under the black flag and marrow-bones--was a +good friend to the sea, and an enemy to all that sailed on it.’ + +Fairford, though uneasy in his mind at finding himself, a lawyer, so +close to a character so lawless, thought it best, nevertheless, to put a +good face on the matter, and asked Mr. Ewart, with as much unconcern as +he could assume, ‘whether he was fortunate as a rover?’ + +‘No, no--d--n it, no,’ replied Nanty; ‘the devil a crumb of butter was +ever churned that would stick upon my bread. There was no order among +us--he that was captain to-day, was swabber to-morrow; and as for +plunder--they say old Avery, and one or two close hunks, made money; but +in my time, all went as it came; and reason good, for if a fellow had +saved five dollars, his throat would have been cut in his hammock. And +then it was a cruel, bloody work.--Pah,--we’ll say no more about it. +I broke with them at last, for what they did on board of a bit of a +snow--no matter what it was bad enough, since it frightened me--I took +French leave, and came in upon the proclamation, so I am free of all +that business. And here I sit, the skipper of the JUMPING JENNY--a +nutshell of a thing, but goes through the water like a dolphin. If it +were not for yon hypocritical scoundrel at Annan, who has the best end +of the profit, and takes none of the risk, I should be well enough--as +well as I want to be. Here is no lack of my best friend,’--touching his +case-bottle;--‘but, to tell you a secret, he and I have got so used to +each other, I begin to think he is like a professed joker, that makes +your sides sore with laughing if you see him but now and then; but if +you take up house with him, he can only make your head stupid. But I +warrant the old fellow is doing the best he can for me, after all.’ + +‘And what may that be?’ said Fairford. + +‘He is KILLING me,’ replied Nanty Ewart; ‘and I am only sorry he is so +long about it.’ + +So saying he jumped on his feet, and, tripping up and down the deck, +gave his orders with his usual clearness and decision, notwithstanding +the considerable quantity of spirits which he had contrived to swallow +while recounting his history. + +Although far from feeling well, Fairford endeavoured to rouse himself +and walk to the head of the brig, to enjoy the beautiful prospect, as +well as to take some note of the course which the vessel held. To his +great surprise, instead of standing across to the opposite shore +from which she had departed, the brig was going down the Firth, and +apparently steering into the Irish Sea. He called to Nanty Ewart, and +expressed his surprise at the course they were pursuing, and asked +why they did not stand straight across the Firth for some port in +Cumberland. + +‘Why, this is what I call a reasonable question, now,’ answered Nanty; +‘as if a ship could go as straight to its port as a horse to the stable, +or a free-trader could sail the Solway as securely as a King’s cutter! +Why, I’ll tell ye, brother--if I do not see a smoke on Bowness, that +is the village upon the headland yonder, I must stand out to sea for +twenty-four hours at least, for we must keep the weather-gage if there +are hawks abroad.’ + +‘And if you do see the signal of safety, Master Ewart, what is to be +done then?’ + +‘Why then, and in that case, I must keep off till night, and then run +you, with the kegs and the rest of the lumber, ashore at Skinburness,’ + +‘And then I am to meet with this same laird whom I have the letter for?’ +continued Fairford. + +‘That,’ said Ewart, ‘is thereafter as it may be; the ship has its +course--the fair trader has his port--but it is not easy to say where +the laird may be found. But he will be within twenty miles of us, off or +on--and it will be my business to guide you to him.’ + +Fairford could not withstand the passing impulse of terror which crossed +him, when thus reminded that he was so absolutely in the power of a man, +who, by his own account, had been a pirate, and who was at present, in +all probability, an outlaw as well as a contraband trader. Nanty Ewart +guessed the cause of his involuntary shuddering. + +‘What the devil should I gain,’ he said, ‘by passing so poor a card as +you are? Have I not had ace of trumps in my hand, and did I not play it +fairly? Aye, I say the JUMPING JENNY can run in other ware as well as +kegs. Put SIGMA and TAU to Ewart, and see how that will spell--D’ye take +me now?’ + +‘No indeed,’ said Fairford; ‘I am utterly ignorant of what you allude +to.’ + +‘Now, by Jove!’ said Nanty Ewart, ‘thou art either the deepest or the +shallowest fellow I ever met with--or you are not right after all. I +wonder where Summertrees could pick up such a tender along-shore. Will +you let me see his letter?’ + +Fairford did not hesitate to gratify his wish, which, he was aware, he +could not easily resist. The master of the JUMPING JENNY looked at +the direction very attentively, then turned the letter to and fro, and +examined each flourish of the pen, as if he were judging of a piece +of ornamented manuscript; then handled it back to Fairford, without a +single word of remark. + +‘Am I right now?’ said the young lawyer. + +‘Why, for that matter,’ answered Nanty, ‘the letter is right, sure +enough; but whether you are right or not, is your own business rather +than mine.’ And, striking upon a flint with the back of a knife, he +kindled a cigar as thick as his finger, and began to smoke away with +great perseverance. + +Alan Fairford continued to regard him with a melancholy feeling, divided +betwixt the interest he took in the unhappy man, and a not unnatural +apprehension for the issue of his own adventure. + +Ewart, notwithstanding the stupefying nature of his pastime, seemed +to guess what was working in his passenger’s mind; for, after they had +remained some time engaged in silently observing each other, he suddenly +dashed his cigar on the deck, and said to him, ‘Well then, if you are +sorry for me, I am sorry for you. D--n me, if I have cared a button for +man or mother’s son, since two years since when I had another peep of +Jack Hadaway. ‘The fellow was got as fat as a Norway whale--married to a +great Dutch-built quean that had brought him six children. I believe +he did not know me, and thought I was come to rob his house; however, I +made up a poor face, and told him who I was. Poor Jack would have given +me shelter and clothes, and began to tell me of the moidores that were +in bank, when I wanted them. Egad, he changed his note when I told him +what my life had been, and only wanted to pay me my cash and get rid +of me. I never saw so terrified a visage. I burst out a-laughing in his +face, told him it was all a humbug, and that the moidores were all his +own, henceforth and for ever, and so ran off. I caused one of our people +send him a bag of tea and a keg of brandy, before I left--poor Jack! +I think you are the second person these ten years, that has cared a +tobacco-stopper for Nanty Ewart.’ + +‘Perhaps, Mr. Ewart,’ said Fairford, ‘you live chiefly with men too +deeply interested for their own immediate safety, to think much upon the +distress of others?’ + +‘And with whom do you yourself consort, I pray?’ replied Nanty, smartly. +‘Why, with plotters, that can make no plot to better purpose than their +own hanging; and incendiaries, that are snapping the flint upon wet +tinder. You’ll as soon raise the dead as raise the Highlands--you’ll as +soon get a grunt from a dead sow as any comfort from Wales or Cheshire. +You think because the pot is boiling, that no scum but yours can come +uppermost--I know better, by--. All these rackets and riots that you +think are trending your way have no relation at all to your interest; +and the best way to make the whole kingdom friends again at once, would +be the alarm of such an undertaking as these mad old fellows are trying +to launch into. + +‘I really am not in such secrets as you seem to allude to,’ said +Fairford; and, determined at the same time to avail himself as far as +possible of Nanty’s communicative disposition, he added, with a smile,’ +And if I were, I should not hold it prudent to make them much the +subject of conversation. But I am sure, so sensible a man as Summertrees +and the laird may correspond together without offence to the state.’ + +‘I take you, friend--I take you,’ said Nanty Ewart, upon whom, at +length, the liquor and tobacco-smoke began to make considerable +innovation. ‘As to what gentlemen may or may not correspond about, why +we may pretermit the question, as the old professor used to say at the +Hall; and as to Summertrees, I will say nothing, knowing him to be an +old fox. But I say that this fellow the laird is a firebrand in the +country; that he is stirring up all the honest fellows who should be +drinking their brandy quietly, by telling them stories about their +ancestors and the Forty-five; and that he is trying to turn all waters +into his own mill-dam, and to set his sails to all winds. And because +the London people are roaring about for some pinches of their own, +he thinks to win them to his turn with a wet finger. And he gets +encouragement from some, because they want a spell of money from him; +and from others, because they fought for the cause once and are ashamed +to go back; and others, because they have nothing to lose; and others, +because they are discontented fools. But if he has brought you, or any +one, I say not whom, into this scrape, with the hope of doing any good, +he’s a d--d decoy-duck, and that’s all I can say for him; and you are +geese, which is worse than being decoy-ducks, or lame-ducks either. +And so here is to the prosperity of King George the Third, and the true +Presbyterian religion, and confusion to the Pope, the Devil, and the +Pretender! I’ll tell you what, Mr. Fairbairn, I am but tenth owner of +this bit of a craft, the JUMPING JENNY--but tenth owner and must sail +her by my owners’ directions. But if I were whole owner, I would not +have the brig be made a ferry-boat for your Jacobitical, old-fashioned +Popish riff-raff, Mr. Fairport--I would not, by my soul; they should +walk the plank, by the gods, as I have seen better men do when I sailed +under the What-d’ye-callum colours. But being contraband goods, and on +board my vessel, and I with my sailing orders in my hand, why, I am to +forward them as directed--I say, John Roberts, keep her up a bit with +the helm.--and so, Mr. Fairweather, what I do is--as the d--d villain +Turnpenny says--all in the way of business.’ + +He had been speaking with difficulty for the last five minutes, and +now at length dropped on the deck, fairly silenced by the quantity of +spirits which he had swallowed, but without having showed any glimpse of +the gaiety, or even of the extravagance, of intoxication. + +The old sailor stepped forward and flung a sea-cloak over the +slumberer’s shoulders, and added, looking at Fairford, ‘Pity of him he +should have this fault; for without it, he would have been as clever a +fellow as ever trod a plank with ox leather.’ + +‘And what are we to do now?’ said Fairford. + +‘Stand off and on, to be sure, till we see the signal, and then obey +orders.’ + +So saying, the old man turned to his duty, and left the passenger to +amuse himself with his own meditations. Presently afterward a light +column of smoke was seen rising from the little headland. + +‘I can tell you what we are to do now, master,’ said the sailor. ‘We’ll +stand out to sea, and then run in again with the evening tide, and +make Skinburness; or, if there’s not light, we can run into the +Wampool river, and put you ashore about Kirkbride or Leaths, with the +long-boat.’ + +Fairford, unwell before, felt this destination condemned him to an agony +of many hours, which his disordered stomach and aching head were ill +able to endure. There was no remedy, however, but patience, and the +recollection that he was suffering in the cause of friendship. As the +sun rose high, he became worse; his sense of smell appeared to acquire +a morbid degree of acuteness, for the mere purpose of inhaling and +distinguishing all the various odours with which he was surrounded, from +that of pitch to all the complicated smells of the hold. His heart, too, +throbbed under the heat, and he felt as if in full progress towards a +high fever. + +The seamen, who were civil and attentive considering their calling, +observed his distress, and one contrived to make an awning out of an +old sail, while another compounded some lemonade, the only liquor which +their passenger could be prevailed upon to touch. After drinking it off, +he obtained, but could not be said to enjoy, a few hours of troubled +slumber. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD, CONTINUED + +Alan Fairford’s spirit was more ready to encounter labour than his frame +was adequate to support it. In spite of his exertions, when he awoke, +after five or six hours’ slumber, he found that he was so much disabled +by dizziness in his head and pains in his limbs, that he could not raise +himself without assistance. He heard with some pleasure that they were +now running right for the Wampool river, and that he would be put on +shore in a very short time. The vessel accordingly lay to, and presently +showed a weft in her ensign, which was hastily answered by signals from +on shore. Men and horses were seen to come down the broken path which +leads to the shore; the latter all properly tackled for carrying their +loading. Twenty fishing barks were pushed afloat at once, and crowded +round the brig with much clamour, laughter, cursing, and jesting. Amidst +all this apparent confusion there was the essential regularity. Nanty +Ewart again walked his quarter-deck as if he had never tasted spirits +in his life, issued the necessary orders with precision, and saw them +executed with punctuality. In half an hour the loading of the brig was +in a great measure disposed in the boats; in a quarter of an hour more, +it was landed on the beach, and another interval of about the same +duration was sufficient to distribute it on the various strings of +packhorses which waited for that purpose, and which instantly dispersed, +each on its own proper adventure. More mystery was observed in loading +the ship’s boat with a quantity of small barrels, which seemed to +contain ammunition. This was not done until the commercial customers +had been dismissed; and it was not until this was performed that Ewart +proposed to Alan, as he lay stunned with pain and noise, to accompany +him ashore. + +It was with difficulty that Fairford could get over the side of the +vessel, and he could not seat himself on the stern of the boat without +assistance from the captain and his people. Nanty Ewart, who saw nothing +in this worse than an ordinary fit of sea-sickness, applied the usual +topics of consolation. He assured his passenger that he would be quite +well by and by, when he had been half an hour on terra firma, and +that he hoped to drink a can and smoke a pipe with him at Father +Crackenthorp’s, for all that he felt a little out of the way for riding +the wooden horse. + +‘Who is Father Crackenthorp?’ said Fairford, though scarcely able to +articulate the question. + +‘As honest a fellow as is of a thousand,’ answered Nanty. + +‘Ah, how much good brandy he and I have made little of in our day! By my +soul, Mr. Fairbird, he is the prince of skinkers, and the father of +the free trade--not a stingy hypocritical devil like old Turnpenny +Skinflint, that drinks drunk on other folk’s cost, and thinks it sin +when he has to pay for it--but a real hearty old cock;--the sharks have +been at and about him this many a day, but Father Crackenthorp knows how +to trim his sails--never a warrant but he hears of it before the ink’s +dry. He is BONUS SOCIUS with headborough and constable. The king’s +exchequer could not bribe a man to inform against him. If any such +rascal were to cast up, why, he would miss his ears next morning, or +be sent to seek them in the Solway. He is a statesman, [A small landed +proprietor.] though he keeps a public; but, indeed, that is only for +convenience and to excuse his having cellarage and folk about him; his +wife’s a canny woman--and his daughter Doll too. Gad, you’ll be in port +there till you get round again; and I’ll keep my word with you, and +bring you to speech of the laird. + +Gad, the only trouble I shall have is to get you out of the house; +for Doll is a rare wench, and my dame a funny old one, and Father +Crackenthorp the rarest companion! He’ll drink you a bottle of rum or +brandy without starting, but never wet his lips with the nasty Scottish +stuff that the canting old scoundrel Turnpenny has brought into fashion. +He is a gentleman, every inch of him, old Crackenthorp; in his own way, +that is; and besides, he has a share in the JUMPING JENNY, and many a +moonlight outfit besides. He can give Doll a pretty penny, if he likes +the tight fellow that would turn in with her for life.’ + +In the midst of this prolonged panegyric on Father Crackenthorp, the +boat touched the beach, the rowers backed their oars to keep her afloat, +whilst the other fellows lumped into the surf, and, with the most rapid +dexterity, began to hand the barrels ashore. + +‘Up with them higher on the beach, my hearties,’ exclaimed Nanty +Ewart--‘High and dry--high and dry--this gear will not stand wetting. +Now, out with our spare hand here--high and dry with him too. +What’s that?--the galloping of horse! Oh, I hear the jingle of the +packsaddles--they are our own folk.’ + +By this time all the boat’s load was ashore, consisting of the little +barrels; and the boat’s crew, standing to their arms, ranged themselves +in front, waiting the advance of the horses which came clattering along +the beach. A man, overgrown with corpulence, who might be distinguished +in the moonlight panting with his own exertions, appeared at the head +of the cavalcade, which consisted of horses linked together, and +accommodated with packsaddles, and chains for securing the kegs which +made a dreadful clattering. + +‘How now, Father Crackenthorp?’ said Ewart--‘Why this hurry with your +horses? We mean to stay a night with you, and taste your old brandy, and +my dame’s homebrewed. The signal is up, man, and all is right.’ + +‘All is wrong, Captain Nanty,’ cried the man to whom he spoke; ‘and you +are the lad that is like to find it so, unless you bundle off--there are +new brooms bought at Carlisle yesterday to sweep the country of you and +the like of you--so you were better be jogging inland. + +‘How many rogues are the officers? If not more than ten, I will make +fight.’ + +‘The devil you will!’ answered Crackenthorp. ‘You were better not, for +they have the bloody-backed dragoons from Carlisle with them.’ + +‘Nay, then,’ said Nanty, ‘we must make sail. Come, Master Fairlord, +you must mount and ride. He does not hear me--he has fainted, I +believe--What the devil shall I do? Father Crackenthorp, I must leave +this young fellow with you till the gale blows out--hark ye--goes +between the laird and the t’other old one; he can neither ride nor +walk--I must send him up to you.’ + +‘Send him up to the gallows!’ said Crackenthorp; ‘there is Quartermaster +Thwacker, with twenty men, up yonder; an he had not some kindness for +Doll, I had never got hither for a start--but you must get off, or they +will be here to seek us, for his orders are woundy particular; and these +kegs contain worse than whisky--a hanging matter, I take it.’ + +‘I wish they were at the bottom of Wampool river, with them they belong +to,’ said Nanty Ewart. ‘But they are part of cargo; and what to do with +the poor young fellow--’ + +‘Why, many a better fellow has roughed it on the grass with a cloak o’er +him,’ said Crackenthorp. ‘If he hath a fever, nothing is so cooling as +the night air.’ + +‘Yes, he would be cold enough in the morning, no doubt; but it’s a kind +heart and shall not cool so soon if I can help it,’ answered the captain +of the JUMPING JENNY. + +‘Well, captain, an ye will risk your own neck for another man’s, why not +take him to the old girls at Fairladies?’ + +‘What, the Miss Arthurets! The Papist jades! But never mind; it will +do--I have known them take in a whole sloop’s crew that were stranded on +the sands.’ + +‘You may run some risk, though, by turning up to Fairladies; for I tell +you they are all up through the country.’ + +‘Never mind--I may chance to put some of them down again,’ said Nanty, +cheerfully. ‘Come, lads, bustle to your tackle. Are you all loaded?’ + +‘Aye, aye, captain; we will be ready in a jiffy,’ answered the gang. + +‘D--n your captains! Have you a mind to have me hanged if I am taken? +All’s hail-fellow, here.’ + +‘A sup at parting,’ said Father Crackenthorp, extending a flask to Nanty +Ewart. + +‘Not the twentieth part of a drop,’ said Nanty. ‘No Dutch courage for +me--my heart is always high enough when there’s a chance of fighting; +besides, if I live drunk, I should like to die sober. Here, old +Jephson--you are the best-natured brute amongst them--get the lad +between us on a quiet horse, and we will keep him upright, I warrant.’ + +As they raised Fairford from the ground, he groaned heavily, and asked +faintly where they were taking him to. + +‘To a place where you will be as snug and quiet as a mouse in his hole,’ +said Nanty, ‘if so be that we can get you there safely. Good-bye, Father +Crackenthorp--poison the quartermaster, if you can.’ + +The loaded horses then sprang forward at a hard trot, following each +other in a line, and every second horse being mounted by a stout fellow +in a smock frock, which served to conceal the arms with which most of +these desperate men were provided. Ewart followed in the rear of the +line, and, with the occasional assistance of old Jephson, kept his young +charge erect in the saddle. He groaned heavily from time to time; and +Ewart, more moved with compassion for his situation than might have been +expected from his own habits, endeavoured to amuse him and comfort him, +by some account of the place to which they were conveying him--his words +of consolation being, however, frequently interrupted by the necessity +of calling to his people, and many of them being lost amongst the +rattling of the barrels, and clinking of the tackle and small chains by +which they are secured on such occasions. + +‘And you see, brother, you will be in safe quarters at Fairladies--good +old scrambling house--good old maids enough, if they were not +Papists,--Hollo, you Jack Lowther; keep the line, can’t ye, and shut +your rattle-trap, you broth of a--? And so, being of a good family, and +having enough, the old lasses have turned a kind of saints, and nuns, +and so forth. The place they live in was some sort of nun-shop long ago, +as they have them still in Flanders; so folk call them the Vestals of +Fairladies--that may be, or may not be; and I care not whether it be or +no.--Blinkinsop, hold your tongue, and be d--d!--And so, betwixt great +alms and good dinners, they are well thought of by rich and poor, and +their trucking with Papists is looked over. There are plenty of priests, +and stout young scholars, and such-like, about the house it’s a hive of +them. More shame that government send dragoons out after-a few honest +fellows that bring the old women of England a drop of brandy, and let +these ragamuffins smuggle in as much papistry and--Hark!--was that +a whistle? No, it’s only a plover. You, Jem Collier, keep a look-out +ahead--we’ll meet them at the High Whins, or Brotthole bottom, or +nowhere. Go a furlong ahead, I say, and look sharp.--These Misses +Arthurets feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and such-like +acts--which my poor father used to say were filthy rags, but he dressed +himself out with as many of them as most folk.--D--n that stumbling +horse! Father Crackenthorp should be d--d himself for putting an honest +fellow’s neck in such jeopardy.’ + +Thus, and with much more to the same purpose, Nanty ran on, increasing, +by his well-intended annoyance, the agony of Alan Fairford, who, +tormented by a racking pain along the back and loins, which made the +rough trot of the horse torture to him, had his aching head still +further rended and split by the hoarse voice of the sailor, close to +his ear. Perfectly passive, however, he did not even essay to give +any answer; and indeed his own bodily distress was now so great and +engrossing, that to think of his situation was impossible, even if he +could have mended it by doing so. + +Their course was inland; but in what direction, Alan had no means of +ascertaining. They passed at first over heaths and sandy downs; they +crossed more than one brook, or beck, as they are called in that +country--some of them of considerable depth--and at length reached +a cultivated country, divided, according to the English fashion of +agriculture, into very small fields or closes, by high banks, overgrown +with underwood, and surmounted by hedge-row trees, amongst which winded +a number of impracticable and complicated lanes, where the boughs +projecting from the embankments on each side, intercepted the light of +the moon, and endangered the safety of the horsemen. But through this +labyrinth the experience of the guides conducted them without a blunder, +and without even the slackening of their pace. In many places, however, +it was impossible for three men to ride abreast; and therefore the +burden of supporting Alan Fairford fell alternately to old Jephson +and to Nanty; and it was with much difficulty that they could keep him +upright in his saddle. + +At length, when his powers of sufferance were quite worn out, and he was +about to implore them to leave him to his fate in the first cottage or +shed--or under a haystack or a hedge--or anywhere, so he was left at +ease, Collier, who rode ahead, passed back the word that they were at +the avenue to Fairladies--‘Was he to turn up?’ + +Committing the charge of Fairford to Jephson, Nanty dashed up to the +head of the troop, and gave his orders.--‘Who knows the house best?’ + +‘Sam Skelton’s a Catholic,’ said Lowther. + +‘A d--d bad religion,’ said Nanty, of whose Presbyterian education a +hatred of Popery seemed to be the only remnant. ‘But I am glad there is +one amongst us, anyhow. You, Sam, being a Papist, know Fairladies and +the old maidens I dare say; so do you fall out of the line, and wait +here with me; and do you, Collier, carry on to Walinford bottom, then +turn down the beck till you come to the old mill, and Goodman Grist the +Miller, or old Peel-the-Causeway, will tell you where to stow; but I +will be up with you before that.’ + +The string of loaded horses then struck forward at their former pace, +while Nanty, with Sam Skelton, waited by the roadside till the rear came +up, when Jephson and Fairford joined them, and, to the great relief +of the latter, they began to proceed at an easier pace than formerly, +suffering the gang to precede them, till the clatter and clang attending +their progress began to die away in the distance. They had not proceeded +a pistol-shot from the place where they parted, when a short turning +brought them in front of an old mouldering gateway, whose heavy +pinnacles were decorated in the style of the seventeenth century, with +clumsy architectural ornaments; several of which had fallen down from +decay, and lay scattered about, no further care having been taken than +just to remove them out of the direct approach to the avenue. The great +stone pillars, glimmering white in the moonlight, had some fanciful +resemblance to supernatural apparitions, and the air of neglect all +around, gave an uncomfortable idea of the habitation to those who passed +its avenue. + +‘There used to be no gate here,’ said Skelton, finding their way +unexpectedly stopped. + +‘But there is a gate now, and a porter too,’ said a rough voice from +within. ‘Who be you, and what do you want at this time of night?’ + +‘We want to come to speech of the ladies--of the Misses Arthuret,’ said +Nanty; ‘and to ask lodging for a sick man.’ + +‘There is no speech to be had of the Miss Arthurets at this time of +night, and you may carry your sick man to the doctor,’ answered the +fellow from within, gruffly; ‘for as sure as there is savour in salt, +and scent in rosemary, you will get no entrance--put your pipes up and +be jogging on.’ + +‘Why, Dick Gardener,’ said Skelton, ‘be thou then turned porter?’ + +‘What, do you know who I am?’ said the domestic sharply. + +‘I know you, by your by-word,’ answered the other; ‘What, have you +forgot little Sam Skelton, and the brock in the barrel?’ + +‘No, I have not forgotten you,’ answered the acquaintance of Sam +Skelton; ‘but my orders are peremptory to let no one up the avenue this +night, and therefore’-- + +‘But we are armed, and will not be kept back,’ said Nanty. ‘Hark ye, +fellow, were it not better for you to take a guinea and let us in, than +to have us break the door first, and thy pate afterwards? for I won’t +see my comrade die at your door be assured of that.’ + +‘Why, I dunna know,’ said the fellow; ‘but what cattle were those that +rode by in such hurry?’ + +‘Why, some of our folk from Bowness, Stoniecultrum, and thereby,’ +answered Skelton; ‘Jack Lowther, and old Jephson, and broad Will +Lamplugh, and such like.’ + +‘Well,’ said Dick Gardener, ‘as sure as there is savour in salt, and +scent in rosemary, I thought it had been the troopers from Carlisle and +Wigton, and the sound brought my heart to my mouth.’ + +‘Had thought thou wouldst have known the clatter of a cask from the +clash of a broadsword, as well as e’er a quaffer in Cumberland,’ said +Skelton. + +‘Come, brother, less of your jaw and more of your legs, if you please,’ +said Nanty; ‘every moment we stay is a moment lost. Go to the ladies, +and tell them that Nanty Ewart, of the JUMPING JENNY, has brought +a young gentleman, charged with letters from Scotland to a certain +gentleman of consequence in Cumberland--that the soldiers are out, and +the gentleman is very ill and if he is not received at Fairladies he +must be left either to die at the gate, or to be taken, with all his +papers about him, by the redcoats.’ + +Away ran Dick Gardener with this message; and, in a few minutes, lights +were seen to flit about, which convinced Fairford, who was now, in +consequence of the halt, a little restored to self-possession, that they +were traversing the front of a tolerably large mansion-house. + +‘What if thy friend, Dick Gardener, comes not back again?’ said Jephson +to Skelton. + +‘Why, then,’ said the person addressed, ‘I shall owe him just such a +licking as thou, old Jephson, had from Dan Cooke, and will pay as duly +and truly as he did.’ + +The old man was about to make an angry reply, when his doubts were +silenced by the return of Dick Gardener, who announced that Miss +Arthuret was coming herself as far as the gateway to speak with them. + +Nanty Ewart cursed in a low tone the suspicions of old maids and the +churlish scruples of Catholics, that made so many obstacles to helping +a fellow creature, and wished Miss Arthuret a hearty rheumatism or +toothache as the reward of her excursion; but the lady presently +appeared, to cut short further grumbling. She was attended by a +waiting-maid with a lantern, by means of which she examined the party +on the outside, as closely as the imperfect light, and the spars of the +newly-erected gate, would permit. + +‘I am sorry we have disturbed you so late, Madam Arthuret,’ said Nanty; +‘but the case is this’-- + +‘Holy Virgin,’ said she, ‘why do you speak so loud? Pray, are you not +the captain of the SAINTE GENEVIEVE?’ + +‘Why, aye, ma’am,’ answered Ewart, ‘they call the brig so at Dunkirk, +sure enough; but along shore here, they call her the JUMPING JENNY.’ + +‘You brought over the holy Father Buonaventure, did you not?’ + +‘Aye, aye, madam, I have brought over enough of them black cattle,’ +answered Nanty. ‘Fie! fie! friend,’ said Miss Arthuret; ‘it is a pity +that the saints should commit these good men to a heretic’s care.’ + +‘Why, no more they would, ma’am,’ answered Nanty, ‘could they find a +Papist lubber that knew the coast as I do; then I am trusty as steel +to owners, and always look after cargo--live lumber, or dead flesh, +or spirits, all is one to me; and your Catholics have such d--d large +hoods, with pardon, ma’am, that they can sometimes hide two faces under +them. But here is a gentleman dying, with letters about him from the +Laird of Summertrees to the Laird of the Lochs, as they call him, along +Solway, and every minute he lies here is a nail in his coffin.’ + +‘Saint Mary! what shall we do?’ said Miss Arthuret; ‘we must admit him, +I think, at all risks. You, Richard Gardener, help one of these men to +carry the gentleman up to the Place; and you, Selby, see him lodged at +the end of the long gallery. You are a heretic, captain, but I think you +are trusty, and I know you have been trusted--but if you are imposing on +me’-- + +‘Not I, madam--never attempt to impose on ladies of your experience--my +practice that way has been all among the young ones. Come, cheerly, Mr. +Fairford--you will be taken good care of--try to walk.’ + +Alan did so; and, refreshed by his halt, declared himself able to walk +to the house with the sole assistance of the gardener. + +‘Why, that’s hearty. Thank thee, Dick, for lending him thine arm’--and +Nanty slipped into his hand the guinea he had promised.--‘Farewell, +then, Mr. Fairford, and farewell, Madam Arthuret, for I have been too +long here.’ + +So saying, he and his two companions threw themselves on horseback, and +went off at a gallop. Yet, even above the clatter of their hoofs did the +incorrigible Nanty hollo out the old ballad-- + + A lovely lass to a friar came, + To confession a-morning early;-- + ‘In what, my dear, are you to blame? + Come tell me most sincerely?’ + ‘Alas! my fault I dare not name-- + But my lad he loved me dearly.’ + +‘Holy Virgin!’ exclaimed Miss Seraphina, as the unhallowed sounds +reached her ears; ‘what profane heathens be these men, and what frights +and pinches we be put to among them! The saints be good to us, what a +night has this been!--the like never seen at Fairladies. Help me to make +fast the gate, Richard, and thou shalt come down again to wait on it, +lest there come more unwelcome visitors--Not that you are unwelcome, +young gentleman, for it is sufficient that you need such assistance as +we can give you, to make you welcome to Fairladies--only, another time +would have done as well--but, hem! I dare say it is all for the best. +The avenue is none of the smoothest, sir, look to your feet. Richard +Gardener should have had it mown and levelled, but he was obliged to go +on a pilgrimage to Saint Winifred’s Well, in Wales.’ (Here Dick gave +a short dry cough, which, as if he had found it betrayed some internal +feeling a little at variance with what the lady said, he converted into +a muttered SANCTA WINIFREDA, ORA PRO NOBIS. Miss Arthuret, meantime, +proceeded) ‘We never interfere with our servants’ vows or penances, +Master Fairford--I know a very worthy father of your name, perhaps a +relation--I say, we never interfere with our servants vows. Our Lady +forbid they should not know some difference between our service and a +heretic’s.--Take care, sir, you will fall if you have not a care. Alas! +by night and day there are many stumbling-blocks in our paths!’ + +With more talk to the same purpose, all of which tended to show a +charitable and somewhat silly woman with a strong inclination to her +superstitious devotion, Miss Arthuret entertained her new guest, as, +stumbling at every obstacle which the devotion of his guide, Richard, +had left in the path, he at last, by ascending some stone steps +decorated on the side with griffins, or some such heraldic anomalies, +attained a terrace extending in front of the Place of Fairladies; an +old-fashioned gentleman’s house of some consequence, with its range of +notched gable-ends and narrow windows, relieved by here and there an old +turret about the size of a pepper-box. The door was locked during the +brief absence of the mistress; a dim light glimmered through the sashed +door of the hall, which opened beneath a huge stone porch, loaded with +jessamine and other creepers. All the windows were dark as pitch. + +Miss Arthuret tapped at the door. ‘Sister, sister Angelica.’ ‘Who is +there?’ was answered from within; ‘is it you, sister Seraphina?’ + +‘Yes, yes, undo the door; do you not know my voice?’ + +‘No doubt, sister,’ said Angelica, undoing bolt and bar; ‘but you know +our charge, and the enemy is watchful to surprise us--INCEDIT SICUT LEO +VORANS, saith the breviary. Whom have you brought here? Oh, sister, what +have you done?’ + +‘It is a young man,’ said Seraphina, hastening to interrupt her sister’s +remonstrance, ‘a relation, I believe, of our worthy Father Fairford; +left at the gate by the captain of that blessed vessel the SAINTE +GENEVIEVE--almost dead--and charged with dispatches to ‘-- + +She lowered her voice as she mumbled over the last words. + +‘Nay, then, there is no help,’ said Angelica; ‘but it is unlucky.’ + +During this dialogue between the vestals of Fairladies, Dick Gardener +deposited his burden in a chair, where the young lady, after a moment +of hesitation, expressing a becoming reluctance to touch the hand of a +stranger, put her finger and thumb upon Fairford’s wrist, and counted +his pulse. + +‘There is fever here, sister,’ she said; ‘Richard must call Ambrose, and +we must send some of the febrifuge.’ + +Ambrose arrived presently, a plausible and respectable-looking old +servant, bred in the family, and who had risen from rank to rank in +the Arthuret service till he was become half-physician, half-almoner, +half-butler, and entire governor; that is, when the Father Confessor, +who frequently eased him of the toils of government, chanced to be +abroad. Under the direction, and with the assistance of this venerable +personage, the unlucky Alan Fairford was conveyed to a decent apartment +at the end of a long gallery, and, to his inexpressible relief, +consigned to a comfortable bed. He did not attempt to resist the +prescription of Mr. Ambrose, who not only presented him with the +proposed draught, but proceeded so far as to take a considerable +quantity of blood from him, by which last operation he probably did his +patient much service. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD, CONTINUED + +On the next morning, when Fairford awoke, after no very refreshing +slumbers, in which were mingled many wild dreams of his father and of +Darsie Latimer,--of the damsel in the green mantle and the vestals of +Fairladies,--of drinking small beer with Nanty Ewart and being immersed +in the Solway with the JUMPING JENNY,--he found himself in no condition +to dispute the order of Mr. Ambrose, that he should keep his bed, from +which, indeed, he could not have raised himself without assistance. He +became sensible that his anxiety, and his constant efforts for some days +past, had been too much for his health, and that, whatever might be his +impatience, he could not proceed in his undertaking until his strength +was re-established. + +In the meanwhile, no better quarters could have been found for an +invalid. The attendants spoke under their breath, and moved only on +tiptoe--nothing was done unless PAR ORDONNANCE DU MEDECIN. Aesculapius +reigned paramount in the premises at Fairladies. Once a day, the ladies +came in great state to wait upon him and inquire after his health, and +it was then that; Alan’s natural civility, and the thankfulness which +he expressed for their timely and charitable assistance, raised him +considerably in their esteem. He was on the third day removed to a +better apartment than that in which he had been at first accommodated. +When he was permitted to drink a glass of wine, it was of the first +quality; one of those curious old-fashioned cobwebbed bottles being +produced on the occasion, which are only to be found in the crypts of +old country-seats, where they may have lurked undisturbed for more than +half a century. + +But however delightful a residence for an invalid, Fairladies, as +its present inmate became soon aware, was not so agreeable to a +convalescent. When he dragged himself to the window so soon as he could +crawl from bed, behold it was closely grated, and commanded no view +except of a little paved court. This was nothing remarkable, most +old Border houses having their windows so secured. But then Fairford +observed, that whosoever entered or left the room always locked the +door with great care and circumspection; and some proposals which he +made to take a walk in the gallery, or even in the garden, were so +coldly received, both by the ladies and their prime minister, Mr. +Ambrose, that he saw plainly such an extension of his privileges as a +guest would not be permitted. + +Anxious to ascertain whether this excessive hospitality would permit +him his proper privilege of free agency, he announced to this important +functionary, with grateful thanks for the care with which he had been +attended, his purpose to leave Fairladies next morning, requesting only, +as a continuance of the favours with which he had been loaded, the +loan of a horse to the next town; and, assuring Mr. Ambrose that his +gratitude would not be limited by such, a trifle, he slipped three +guineas into his hand, by way of seconding his proposal. The fingers of +that worthy domestic closed as naturally upon the honorarium, as if a +degree in the learned faculty had given him a right to clutch it; but +his answer concerning Alan’s proposed departure was at first evasive, +and when he was pushed, it amounted to a peremptory assurance that he +could not be permitted to depart to-morrow; it was as much as his life +was worth, and his ladies would not authorize it. + +‘I know best what my own life is worth,’ said Alan; ‘and I do not value +it in comparison to the business which requires my instant attention.’ + +Receiving still no satisfactory answer from Mr. Ambrose, Fairford +thought it best to state his resolution to the ladies themselves, in +the most measured, respectful, and grateful terms; but still such as +expressed a firm determination to depart on the morrow, or next day +at farthest. After some attempts to induce him to stay, on the alleged +score of health, which were so expressed that he was convinced they were +only used to delay his departure, Fairford plainly told them that he was +entrusted with dispatches of consequence to the gentleman known by the +name of Herries, Redgauntlet, and the Laird of the Lochs; and that it +was matter of life and death to deliver them early. + +‘I dare say, Sister Angelica,’ said the elder Miss Arthuret, that the +gentleman is honest; and if he is really a relation of Father Fairford, +we can run no risk.’ + +‘Jesu Maria!’ exclaimed the younger. ‘Oh, fie, Sister Seraphina! Fie, +fie!--‘VADE RETRO--get thee behind me!’ + +‘Well, well; but, sister--Sister Angelica--let me speak with you in the +gallery.’ + +So out the ladies rustled in their silks and tissues, and it was a good +half-hour ere they rustled in again, with importance and awe on their +countenances. + +‘To tell you the truth, Mr. Fairford, the cause of our desire to delay +you is--there is a religious gentleman in this house at present’-- + +‘A most excellent person indeed’--said the sister Angelica. + +‘An anointed of his Master!’ echoed Seraphina,--‘and we should be glad +that, for conscience’ sake, you would hold some discourse with him +before your departure.’ + +‘Oho!’ thought Fairford, ‘the murder is out--here is a design of +conversion! I must not affront the good ladies, but I shall soon send +off the priest, I think.’ He then answered aloud, ‘that he should be +happy to converse with any friend of theirs--that in religious matters +he had the greatest respect for every modification of Christianity, +though, he must say, his belief was made up to that in which he had +been educated; nevertheless, if his seeing the religious person they +recommended could in the least show his respect’-- + +‘It is not quite that,’ said Sister Seraphina, ‘although I am sure the +day is too short to hear him--Father Buonaventure, I mean--speak upon +the concerns of our souls; but’-- + +‘Come, come, Sister Seraphina,’ said the younger, ‘it is needless +to talk so much about it. His--his Eminence--I mean Father +Buonaventure--will himself explain what he wants this gentleman to +know.’ + +‘His Eminence!’ said Fairford, surprised--‘is this gentleman so high in +the Catholic Church? The title is given only to Cardinals, I think.’ + +‘He is not a Cardinal as yet,’ answered Seraphina; ‘but I assure you, +Mr. Fairford, he is as high in rank as he is eminently endowed with good +gifts, and’-- + +‘Come away,’ said Sister Angelica. ‘Holy Virgin, how you do talk! What +has Mr. Fairford to do with Father Buonaventure’s rank? Only, sir, you +will remember that the Father has been always accustomed to be treated +with the most profound deference; indeed’-- + +‘Come away, sister,’ said Sister Seraphina, in her turn; ‘who talks now, +I pray you? Mr. Fairford will know how to comport himself.’ + +‘And we had best both leave the room,’ said the younger lady, ‘for here +his Eminence comes.’ + +She lowered her voice to a whisper as she pronounced the last words; and +as Fairford was about to reply, by assuring her that any friend of hers +should be treated by him with all the ceremony he could expect, she +imposed silence on him, by holding up her finger. + +A solemn and stately step was now heard in the gallery; it might have +proclaimed the approach not merely of a bishop or cardinal, but of +the Sovereign Pontiff himself. Nor could the sound have been more +respectfully listened to by the two ladies, had it announced that the +Head of the Church was approaching in person. They drew themselves, +like sentinels on duty, one on each side of the door by which the +long gallery communicated with Fairford’s apartment, and stood there +immovable, and with countenances expressive of the deepest reverence. + +The approach of Father Buonaventure was so slow, that Fairford had time +to notice all this, and to marvel in his mind what wily and ambitious +priest could have contrived to subject his worthy but simple-minded +hostesses to such superstitious trammels. Father Buonaventure’s entrance +and appearance in some degree accounted for the whole. + +He was a man of middle life, about forty or upwards; but either care, or +fatigue, or indulgence, had brought on the appearance of premature +old age, and given to his fine features a cast of seriousness or even +sadness. A noble countenance, however, still remained; and though his +complexion was altered, and wrinkles stamped upon his brow in many a +melancholy fold, still the lofty forehead, the full and well-opened eye, +and the well-formed nose, showed how handsome in better days he +must have been. He was tall, but lost the advantage of his height +by stooping; and the cane which he wore always in his hand, and +occasionally used, as well as his slow though majestic gait, seemed to +intimate that his form and limbs felt already some touch of infirmity. +The colour of his hair could not be discovered, as, according to the +fashion, he wore a periwig. He was handsomely, though gravely dressed in +a secular habit, and had a cockade in his hat; circumstances which did +not surprise Fairford, who knew that a military disguise was very often +assumed by the seminary priests, whose visits to England, or residence +there, subjected them to legal penalties. + +As this stately person entered the apartment, the two ladies facing +inward, like soldiers on their post when about to salute a superior +officer, dropped on either hand of the father a curtsy so profound that +the hoop petticoats which performed the feat seemed to sink down to +the very floor, nay, through it, as if a trap-door had opened for the +descent of the dames who performed this act of reverence. + +The father seemed accustomed to such homage, profound as it was; he +turned his person a little way first towards one sister, and then +towards the other, while, with a gracious inclination of his person, +which certainly did not amount to a bow, he acknowledged their curtsy. +But he passed forward without addressing them, and seemed by doing so to +intimate that their presence in the apartment was unnecessary. + +They accordingly glided out of the room, retreating backwards, with +hands clasped and eyes cast upwards, as if imploring blessings on the +religious man whom they venerated so highly. The door of the apartment +was shut after them, but not before Fairford had perceived that there +were one or two men in the gallery, and that, contrary to what he had +before observed, the door, though shut, was not locked on the outside. + +‘Can the good souls apprehend danger from me to this god of their +idolatry?’ thought Fairford. But he had no time to make further +observations, for the stranger had already reached the middle of his +apartment. + +Fairford rose to receive him respectfully, but as he fixed his eyes on +the visitor, he thought that the father avoided his looks. His reasons +for remaining incognito were cogent enough to account for this, and +Fairford hastened to relieve him, by looking downwards in his turn; +but when again he raised his face, he found the broad light eye of the +stranger so fixed on him that he was almost put out of countenance by +the steadiness of his gaze. During this time they remained standing. + +‘Take your seat, sir,’ said the father; ‘you have been an invalid.’ + +He spoke with the tone of one who desires an inferior to be seated in +his presence, and his voice was full and melodious. + +Fairford, somewhat surprised to find himself overawed by the airs of +superiority, which could be only properly exercised towards one over +whom religion gave the speaker influence, sat down at his bidding, as +if moved by springs, and was at a loss how to assert the footing of +equality on which he felt that they ought to stand. The stranger kept +the advantage which he had obtained. + +‘Your name, sir, I am informed, is Fairford?’ said the father. + +Alan answered by a bow. + +‘Called to the Scottish bar,’ continued his visitor, ‘There is, I +believe, in the West, a family of birth and rank called Fairford of +Fairford.’ + +Alan thought this a strange observation from a foreign ecclesiastic, +as his name intimated Father Buonaventure to be; but only answered he +believed there was such, a family. + +‘Do you count kindred with them, Mr. Fairford?’ continued the inquirer. + +‘I have not the honour to lay such a claim,’ said Fairford. + +‘My father’s industry has raised his family from a low and obscure +situation--I have no hereditary claim to distinction of any kind. May I +ask the cause of these inquiries?’ + +‘You will learn it presently,’ said Father Buonaventure, who had given +a dry and dissatisfied HEM at the young man’s acknowledging a plebeian +descent. He then motioned to him to be silent, and proceeded with his +queries. + +‘Although not of condition, you are, doubtless, by sentiments and +education, a man of honour and a gentleman?’ + +‘I hope so, sir,’ said Alan, colouring with displeasure. ‘I have not +been accustomed to have it questioned.’ + +‘Patience, young man,’ said the unperturbed querist--‘we are on serious +business, and no idle etiquette must prevent its being discussed +seriously. You are probably aware that you speak to a person proscribed +by the severe and unjust laws of the present government?’ + +‘I am aware of the statute 1700, chapter 3,’ said Alan, ‘banishing from +the realm priests and trafficking Papists, and punishing by death, on +summary conviction, any such person who being so banished may return. +But I have no means of knowing you, sir, to be one of those persons; and +I think your prudence may recommend to you to keep your own counsel.’ + +‘It is sufficient, sir; and I have no apprehensions of disagreeable +consequences from your having seen me in this house,’ said the priest. + +‘Assuredly no,’ said Alan. ‘I consider myself as indebted for my life to +the mistresses of Fairladies; and it would be a vile requital on my +part to pry into or make known what I may have seen or heard under +this hospitable roof. If I were to meet the Pretender himself in such +a situation, he should, even at the risk of a little stretch to my +loyalty, be free from any danger from my indiscretion.’ + +‘The Pretender!’ said the priest, with some angry emphasis; but +immediately softened his tone and added, ‘No doubt, however, that +person is a pretender; and some people think his pretensions are not ill +founded. But, before running into politics, give me leave to say, that I +am surprised to find a gentleman of your opinions in habits of intimacy +with Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees and Mr. Redgauntlet, and the medium of +conducting the intercourse betwixt them.’ + +‘Pardon me, sir,’ replied Alan Fairford; ‘I do not aspire to the honour +of being reputed their confidant or go-between. My concern with those +gentlemen is limited to one matter of business, dearly interesting to +me, because it concerns the safety--perhaps the life--of my dearest +friend.’ + +‘Would you have any objection to entrust me with the cause of your +journey?’ said Father Buonaventure. ‘My advice may be of service to you, +and my influence with one or both these gentlemen is considerable.’ + +Fairford hesitated a moment, and, hastily revolving all circumstances, +concluded that he might perhaps receive some advantage from propitiating +this personage; while, on the other hand, he endangered nothing by +communicating to him the occasion of his journey. He, therefore, after +stating shortly that he hoped Mr. Buonaventure would render him the same +confidence which he required on his part, gave a short account of Darsie +Latimer--of the mystery which hung over his family--and of the disaster +which had befallen him. Finally, of his own resolution to seek for his +friend, and to deliver him, at the peril of his own life. + +The Catholic priest, whose manner it seemed to be to avoid all +conversation which did not arise from his own express motion, made +no remarks upon what he had heard, but only asked one or two abrupt +questions, where Alan’s narrative appeared less clear to him; then +rising from his seat, he took two turns through the apartment, muttering +between his teeth, with emphasis, the word ‘madman!’ But apparently he +was in the habit of keeping all violent emotions under restraint; for he +presently addressed Fairford with the most perfect indifference. + +‘If,’ said he, ‘you thought you could do so without breach of +confidence, I wish you would have the goodness to show me the letter +of Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees. I desire to look particularly at the +address.’ + +Seeing no cause to decline this extension of his confidence, Alan, +without hesitation, put the letter into his hand. Having turned it +round as old Trumbull and Nanty Ewart had formerly done, and, like them, +having examined the address with much minuteness, he asked whether he +had observed these words, pointing to a pencil-writing upon the under +side of the letter. Fairford answered in the negative, and, looking +at the letter, read with surprise, ‘CAVE NE LITERAS BELLEROPHONTIS +ADFERRES’; a caution which coincided so exactly with the provost’s +admonition, that he would do well to inspect the letter of which he was +bearer, that he was about to spring up and attempt an escape, he knew +not wherefore, or from whom. + +‘Sit still, young man,’ said the father, with the same tone of authority +which reigned in his whole manner, although mingled with stately +courtesy. ‘You are in no danger--my character shall be a pledge for your +safety. By whom do you suppose these words have been written?’ + +Fairford could have answered, ‘By Nanty Ewart,’ for he remembered seeing +that person scribble something with a pencil, although he was not well +enough to observe with accuracy where or upon what. But not knowing +what suspicions, or what worse consequences the seamen’s interest in his +affairs might draw upon him, he judged it best to answer that he knew +not the hand. + +Father Buonaventure was again silent for a moment or two, which he +employed in surveying the letter with the strictest attention; then +stepped to the window, as if to examine the address and writing of the +envelope with the assistance of a stronger light, and Alan Fairford +beheld him, with no less amazement than high displeasure, coolly and +deliberately break the seal, open the letter, and peruse the contents. + +‘Stop, sir, hold!’ he exclaimed, so soon as his astonishment permitted +him to express his resentment in words; ‘by what right do you dare’-- + +‘Peace, young gentleman,’ said the father, repelling him with a wave +of his hand; ‘be assured I do not act without warrant--nothing can pass +betwixt Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Redgauntlet that I am not fully entitled to +know.’ + +‘It may be so,’ said Alan, extremely angry; ‘but though you may be these +gentlemen’s father confessor, you are not mine; and in breaking the seal +of a letter entrusted to my care, you have done me’-- + +‘No injury, I assure you,’ answered the unperturbed priest; ‘on the +contrary, it may be a service.’ + +‘I desire no advantage at such a rate, or to be obtained in such a +manner,’ answered Fairford; ‘restore me the letter instantly, or’-- + +‘As you regard your own safety,’ said the priest, ‘forbear all injurious +expressions, and all menacing gestures. I am not one who can be +threatened or insulted with impunity; and there are enough within +hearing to chastise any injury or affront offered to me, in case I may +think it unbecoming to protect or avenge myself with my own hand.’ + +In saying this, the father assumed an air of such fearlessness and calm +authority, that the young lawyer, surprised and overawed, forbore, as he +had intended, to snatch the letter from his hand, and confined himself +to bitter complaints of the impropriety of his conduct, and of the light +in which he himself must be placed to Redgauntlet should he present him +a letter with a broken seal. + +‘That,’ said Father Buonaventure, ‘shall be fully cared for. I will +myself write to Redgauntlet, and enclose Maxwell’s letter, provided +always you continue to desire to deliver it, after perusing the +contents.’ + +He then restored the letter to Fairford, and, observing that he +hesitated to peruse it, said emphatically, ‘Read it, for it concerns +you.’ + +This recommendation, joined to what Provost Crosbie had formerly +recommended, and to the warning which he doubted not that Nanty intended +to convey by his classical allusion, decided Fairford’s resolution. ‘If +these correspondents,’ he thought, ‘are conspiring against my person, +I have a right to counterplot them; self-preservation, as well as my +friend’s safety, require that I should not be too scrupulous.’ + +So thinking, he read the letter, which was in the following words:-- + +‘DEAR RUGGED AND DANGEROUS, ‘Will you never cease meriting your old +nick-name? You have springed your dottrel, I find, and what is the +consequence?--why, that there will be hue and cry after you presently. +The bearer is a pert young lawyer, who has brought a formal complaint +against you, which, luckily, he has preferred in a friendly court. +Yet, favourable as the judge was disposed to be, it was with the utmost +difficulty that cousin Jenny and I could keep him to his tackle. He +begins to be timid, suspicious, and untractable, and I fear Jenny will +soon bend her brows on him in vain. I know not what to advise--the +lad who carries this is a good lad--active for his friend--and I have +pledged my honour he shall have no personal ill-usage. Pledged my +honour, remark these words, and remember I can be rugged and dangerous +as well, as my neighbours. But I have not ensured him against a short +captivity, and as he is a stirring active fellow, I see no remedy but +keeping him out of the way till this business of the good Father B---- +is safely blown over, which God send it were!--Always thine, even should +I be once more CRAIG-IN-PERIL.’ + +‘What think you, young man, of the danger you have been about to +encounter so willingly?’ + +‘As strangely,’ replied Alan Fairford, ‘as of the extraordinary means +which you have been at present pleased to use for the discovery of Mr. +Maxwell’s purpose. + +‘Trouble not yourself to account for my conduct,’ said the father; ‘I +have a warrant for what I do, and fear no responsibility. But tell me +what is your present purpose.’ + +‘I should not perhaps name it to you, whose own safety may be +implicated.’ + +‘I understand you,’ answered the father; ‘you would appeal to the +existing government? That can at no rate be permitted--we will rather +detain you at Fairladies by compulsion.’ + +‘You will probably,’ said Fairford, ‘first weigh the risk of such a +proceeding in a free country.’ + +‘I have incurred more formidable hazard,’ said the priest, smiling; ‘yet +I am willing to find a milder expedient. Come; let us bring the matter +to a compromise.’ And he assumed a conciliating graciousness of +manner, which struck Fairford as being rather too condescending for the +occasion; ‘I presume you will be satisfied to remain here in seclusion +for a day or two longer, provided I pass my solemn word to you that you +shall meet with the person whom you seek after--meet with him in perfect +safety, and, I trust, in good health, and be afterwards both at liberty +to return to Scotland, or dispose of yourselves as each of you may be +minded?’ + +‘I respect the VERBUM SACERDOTIS as much as can reasonably be expected +from a Protestant,’ answered Fairford; ‘but methinks, you can scarce +expect me to repose so much confidence in the word of an unknown person +as is implied in the guarantee which you offer me.’ + +‘I am not accustomed, sir,’ said the father, in a very haughty tone, ‘to +have my word disputed. But,’ he added, while the angry hue passed from +his cheek, after a moment’s reflection, ‘you know me not, and ought to +be excused. I will repose more confidence in your honour than you seem +willing to rest upon mine; and, since we are so situated that one must +rely upon the other’s faith, I will cause you to be set presently at +liberty, and furnished with the means of delivering your letter as +addressed, provided that now, knowing the contents, you think it safe +for yourself to execute the commission.’ + +Alan Fairford paused. ‘I cannot see,’ he at length replied, ‘how I can +proceed with respect to the accomplishment of my sole purpose, which is +the liberation of my friend, without appealing to the law and obtaining +the assistance of a magistrate. If I present this singular letter of +Mr. Maxwell, with the contents of which I have become so unexpectedly +acquainted, I shall only share his captivity.’ + +‘And if you apply to a magistrate, young man, you will bring ruin on +these hospitable ladies, to whom, in all human probability, you owe your +life. You cannot obtain a warrant for your purpose, without giving a +clear detail of all the late scenes through which you have passed. A +magistrate would oblige you to give a complete account of yourself, +before arming you with his authority against a third party; and in +giving such an account, the safety of these ladies will necessarily be +compromised. A hundred spies have had, and still have, their eyes +upon this mansion; but God will protect his own.’--He crossed himself +devoutly, and then proceeded,--‘You can take an hour to think of your +best plan, and I will pledge myself to forward it thus far, provided +it be not asking you to rely more on my word than your prudence can +warrant. You shall go to Redgauntlet,--I name him plainly, to show +my confidence in you,--and you shall deliver him this letter of Mr. +Maxwell’s, with one from me, in which I will enjoin him to set your +friend at liberty, or at least to make no attempts upon your own person, +either by detention or otherwise. If you can trust me thus far,’ he +said, with a proud emphasis on the words ‘I will on my side see you +depart from this place with the most perfect confidence that you will +not return armed with powers to drag its inmates to destruction. You +are young and inexperienced--bred to a profession also which sharpens +suspicion, and gives false views of human nature. I have seen much of +the world, and have known better than most men how far mutual confidence +is requisite in managing affairs of consequence.’ + +He spoke with an air of superiority, even of authority, by which +Fairford, notwithstanding his own internal struggles, was silenced and +overawed so much, that it was not till the father had turned to leave +the apartment that he found words to ask him what the consequences would +be, should he decline to depart on the terms proposed. + +‘You must then, for the safety of all parties, remain for some days +an inhabitant of Fairladies, where we have the means of detaining you, +which self-preservation will in that case compel us to make use of. Your +captivity will be short; for matters cannot long remain as they are. The +cloud must soon rise, or it must sink upon us for ever. BENEDICITE!’ + +With these words he left the apartment. + +Fairford, upon his departure, felt himself much at a loss what course to +pursue. His line of education, as well as his father’s tenets in matters +of church and state, had taught him a holy horror for Papists, and a +devout belief in whatever had been said of the Punic faith of Jesuits, +and of the expedients of mental reservation by which the Catholic +priests in general were supposed to evade keeping faith with heretics. +Yet there was something of majesty, depressed indeed and overclouded, +but still grand and imposing, in the manner and words of Father +Buonaventure, which it was difficult to reconcile with those +preconceived opinions which imputed subtlety and fraud to his sect and +order. Above all, Alan was aware that if he accepted not his freedom +upon the terms offered him, he was likely to be detained by force; so +that, in every point of view, he was a gainer by accepting them. + +A qualm, indeed, came across him, when he considered, as a lawyer, that +this father was probably, in the eye of law, a traitor; and that there +was an ugly crime on the Statute Book, called misprision of treason. On +the other hand, whatever he might think or suspect, he could not take +upon him to say that the man was a priest, whom he had never seen in the +dress of his order, or in the act of celebrating mass; so that he felt +himself at liberty to doubt of that respecting which he possessed no +legal proof. He therefore arrived at the conclusion, that he would +do well to accept his liberty, and proceed to Redgauntlet under the +guarantee of Father Buonaventure, which he scarce doubted would be +sufficient to save him from personal inconvenience. Should he once +obtain speech of that gentleman, he felt the same confidence as +formerly, that he might be able to convince him of the rashness of +his conduct, should he not consent to liberate Darsie Latimer. At all +events, he should learn where his friend was, and how circumstanced. + +Having thus made up his mind, Alan waited anxiously for the expiration +of the hour which had been allowed him for deliberation. He was not kept +on the tenter-hooks of impatience an instant longer than the appointed +moment arrived, for, even as the clock struck, Ambrose appeared at the +door of the gallery, and made a sign that Alan should follow him. He did +so, and after passing through some of the intricate avenues common in +old houses, was ushered into a small apartment, commodiously fitted +up, in which he found Father Buonaventure reclining on a couch, in the +attitude of a man exhausted by fatigue or indisposition. On a small +table beside him, a silver embossed salver sustained a Catholic book of +prayer, a small flask of medicine, a cordial, and a little tea-cup of +old china. Ambrose did not enter the room--he only bowed profoundly, and +closed the door with the least possible noise, so soon as Fairford had +entered. + +‘Sit down, young man,’ said the father, with the same air of +condescension which had before surprised, and rather offended +Fairford. ‘You have been ill, and I know too well by my own case that +indisposition requires indulgence. Have you,’ he continued, so soon as +he saw him seated, ‘resolved to remain, or to depart?’ + +‘To depart,’ said Alan, ‘under the agreement that you will guarantee my +safety with the extraordinary person who has conducted himself in such a +lawless manner toward my friend, Darsie Latimer.’ + +‘Do not judge hastily, young man,’ replied the father. ‘Redgauntlet +has the claims of a guardian over his ward, in respect to the young +gentleman, and a right to dictate his place of residence, although he +may have been injudicious in selecting the means by which he thinks to +enforce his authority.’ + +‘His situation as an attainted person abrogates such rights,’ said +Fairford, hastily. + +‘Surely,’ replied the priest, smiling at the young lawyer’s readiness; +‘in the eye of those who acknowledge the justice of the attainder--but +that do not I. However, sir, here is the guarantee--look at its +contents, and do not again carry the letters of Uriah.’ + +Fairford read these words:-- + +‘GOOD FRIEND, ‘We send you hither a young man desirous to know the +situation of your ward, since he came under your paternal authority, and +hopeful of dealing with you for having your relative put at large. This +we recommend to your prudence, highly disapproving, at the same time, of +any force or coercion when such can be avoided, and wishing, therefore, +that the bearer’s negotiation may be successful. At all rates, however, +the bearer hath our pledged word for his safety and freedom, which, +therefore, you are to see strictly observed, as you value our honour and +your own. We further wish to converse with you, with as small loss of +time as may be, having matters of the utmost confidence to impart. +For this purpose we desire you to repair hither with all haste, and +thereupon we bid you heartily farewell. P. B.’ + +‘You will understand, sir,’ said the father, when he saw that Alan had +perused his letter, ‘that, by accepting charge of this missive, you bind +yourself to try the effect of it before having recourse to any legal +means, as you term them, for your friend’s release.’ + +‘There are a few ciphers added to this letter,’ said Fairford, when he +had perused the paper attentively,--‘may I inquire what their import +is?’ + +‘They respect my own affairs,’ answered the father, briefly; ‘and have +no concern whatever with yours.’ + +‘It seems to me, however,’ replied Alan, ‘natural to suppose’-- + +‘Nothing must be supposed incompatible with my honour,’ replied the +priest, interrupting him; ‘when such as I am confer favours, we expect +that they shall be accepted with gratitude, or declined with thankful +respect--not questioned or discussed.’ + +‘I will accept your letter, then,’ said Fairford, after a minute’s +consideration, ‘and the thanks you expect shall be most liberally paid, +if the result answer what you teach me to expect.’ + +‘God only commands the issue,’ said Father Buonaventure. ‘Man uses +means. You understand that, by accepting this commission, you engage +yourself in honour to try the effect of my letter upon Mr. Redgauntlet, +before you have recourse to informations or legal warrants?’ + +‘I hold myself bound, as a man of good faith and honour, to do so,’ said +Fairford. + +‘Well, I trust you,’ said the father. ‘I will now tell you that an +express, dispatched by me last night, has, I hear, brought Redgauntlet +to a spot many miles nearer this place, where he will not find it safe +to attempt any violence on your friend, should he be rash enough to +follow the advice of Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees rather than my commands. +We now understand each other.’ + +He extended his hand towards Alan, who was about to pledge his faith in +the usual form by grasping it with his own, when the father drew +back hastily. Ere Alan had time to comment upon this repulse, a small +side-door, covered with tapestry, was opened; the hangings were +drawn aside, and a lady, as if by sudden apparition, glided into the +apartment. It was neither of the Misses Arthuret, but a woman in the +prime of life, and in the full-blown expansion of female beauty, tall, +fair, and commanding in her aspect. Her locks, of paly gold, were taught +to fall over a brow, which, with the stately glance of the large, open, +blue eyes, might have become Juno herself; her neck and bosom were +admirably formed, and of a dazzling whiteness. She was rather inclined +to EMBONPOINT, but not more than became her age, of apparently thirty +years. Her step was that of a queen, but it was of Queen Vashti, not +Queen Esther--the bold and commanding, not the retiring beauty. + +Father Buonaventure raised himself on the couch, angrily, as if +displeased by this intrusion. ‘How now, madam,’ he said, with some +sternness; ‘why have we the honour of your company?’ + +‘Because it is my pleasure,’ answered the lady, composedly. + +‘Your pleasure, madam!’ he repeated in the same angry tone. + +‘My pleasure, sir,’ she continued, ‘which always keeps exact pace with +my duty. I had heard you were unwell--let me hope it is only business +which produces this seclusion.’ + +‘I am well,’ he replied; ‘perfectly well, and I thank you for your +care--but we are not alone, and this young man’-- + +‘That young man?’ she said, bending her large and serious eye on +Alan Fairford, as if she had been for the first time aware of his +presence,--‘may I ask who he is?’ + +‘Another time, madam; you shall learn his history after he is gone. His +presence renders it impossible for me to explain further.’ + +‘After he is gone may be too late,’ said the lady; ‘and what is his +presence to me, when your safety is at stake? He is the heretic lawyer +whom those silly fools, the Arthurets, admitted into this house at a +time when they should have let their own father knock at the door in +vain, though the night had been a wild one. You will not surely dismiss +him?’ + +‘Your own impatience can alone make that step perilous,’ said the +father; ‘I have resolved to take it--do not let your indiscreet +zeal, however excellent its motive, add any unnecessary risk to the +transaction.’ + +‘Even so?’ said the lady, in a tone of reproach, yet mingled with +respect and apprehension. ‘And thus you will still go forward, like a +stag upon the hunter’s snares, with undoubting confidence, after all +that has happened?’ + +‘Peace, madam,’ said Father Buonaventure, rising up; ‘be silent, or quit +the apartment; my designs do not admit of female criticism.’ + +To this peremptory command the lady seemed about to make a sharp reply; +but she checked herself, and pressing her lips strongly together, as if +to secure the words from bursting from them which were already formed +upon her tongue, she made a deep reverence, partly as it seemed in +reproach, partly in respect, and left the room as suddenly as she had +entered it. + +The father looked disturbed at this incident, which he seemed sensible +could not but fill Fairford’s imagination with an additional throng of +bewildering suspicions; he bit his lip and muttered something to himself +as he walked through the apartment; then suddenly turned to his visitor +with a smile of much sweetness, and a countenance in which every rougher +expression was exchanged for those of courtesy and kindness. + +‘The visit we have been just honoured with, my young friend, has given +you,’ he said, ‘more secrets to keep than I would have wished +you burdened with. The lady is a person of condition--of rank and +fortune--but nevertheless is so circumstanced that the mere fact of her +being known to be in this country would occasion many evils. I should +wish you to observe secrecy on this subject, even to Redgauntlet or +Maxwell, however much I trust them in all that concerns my own affairs.’ + +‘I can have no occasion,’ replied Fairford, ‘for holding any discussion +with these gentlemen, or with any others, on the circumstance which +I have just witnessed--it could only have become the subject of my +conversation by mere accident, and I will now take care to avoid the +subject entirely.’ + +‘You will do well, sir, and I thank you,’ said the father, throwing much +dignity into the expression of obligation which he meant to convey. ‘The +time may perhaps come when you will learn what it is to have obliged one +of my condition. As to the lady, she has the highest merit, and nothing +can be said of her justly which would not redound to her praise. +Nevertheless--in short, sir, we wander at present as in a morning +mist--the sun will, I trust, soon rise and dispel it, when all that now +seems mysterious will be fully revealed--or it will sink into rain,’ +he added, in a solemn tone, ‘and then explanation will be of little +consequence.--Adieu, sir; I wish you well.’ + +He made a graceful obeisance, and vanished through the same side-door by +which the lady had entered; and Alan thought he heard their voices high +in dispute in the adjoining apartment. + +Presently afterwards, Ambrose entered, and told him that a horse and +guide waited him beneath the terrace. + +‘The good Father Buonaventure,’ added the butler, ‘has been graciously +pleased to consider your situation, and desired me to inquire whether +you have any occasion for a supply of money?’ + +‘Make my respects to his reverence,’ answered Fairford, ‘and assure +him I am provided in that particular. I beg you also to make my +acknowledgements to the Misses Arthuret, and assure them that their kind +hospitality, to which I probably owe my life, shall be remembered with +gratitude as long as that life lasts. You yourself, Mr. Ambrose, must +accept of my kindest thanks for your skill and attention.’ + +Mid these acknowledgements they left the house, descended the terrace, +and reached the spot where the gardener, Fairford’s old acquaintance, +waited for him, mounted upon one horse and leading another. + +Bidding adieu to Ambrose, our young lawyer mounted, and rode down the +avenue, often looking back to the melancholy and neglected dwelling +in which he had witnessed such strange scenes, and musing upon the +character of its mysterious inmates, especially the noble and almost +regal-seeming priest, and the beautiful but capricious dame, who, if +she was really Father Buonaventure’s penitent, seemed less docile to the +authority of the church than, as Alan conceived, the Catholic discipline +permitted. He could not indeed help being sensible that the whole +deportment of these persons differed much from his preconceived notions +of a priest and devotee. Father Buonaventure, in particular, had +more natural dignify and less art and affectation in his manner, than +accorded with the idea which Calvinists were taught to entertain of that +wily and formidable person, a Jesuitical missionary. + +While reflecting on these things, he looked back so frequently at the +house, that Dick Gardener, a forward, talkative fellow, who began +to tire of silence, at length said to him, ‘I think you will know +Fairladies when you see it again, sir?’ + +‘I dare say I shall, Richard,’ answered Fairford good-humouredly. +‘I wish I knew as well where I am to go next. But you can tell me, +perhaps?’ + +‘Your worship should know better than I,’ said Dick Gardener; +‘nevertheless, I have a notion you are going where all you Scotsmen +should be sent, whether you will or no.’ + +‘Not to the devil, I hope, good Dick?’ said Fairford. + +‘Why, no. That is a road which you may travel as heretics; but as +Scotsmen, I would only send you three-fourths of the way--and that is +back to Scotland again--always craving your honour’s pardon.’ + +‘Does our journey lie that way?’ said Fairford. + +‘As far as the waterside,’ said Richard. ‘I am to carry you to old +Father Crackenthorp’s, and then you are within a spit and a stride of +Scotland, as the saying is. But mayhap you may think twice of going +thither, for all that; for Old England is fat feeding-ground for +north-country cattle.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +NARRATIVE OF DARSIE LATIMER + +Our history must now, as the old romancers wont to say, ‘leave to +tell’ of the quest of Alan Fairford, and instruct our readers of the +adventures which befell Darsie Latimer, left as he was in the precarious +custody of his self-named tutor, the Laird of the Lochs of Solway, +to whose arbitrary pleasure he found it necessary for the present to +conform himself. + +In consequence of this prudent resolution, and although he did not +assume such a disguise without some sensations of shame and degradation, +Darsie permitted Cristal Nixon to place over his face, and secure by a +string, one of those silk masks which ladies frequently wore to preserve +their complexions, when exposed to the air during long journeys on +horseback. He remonstrated somewhat more vehemently against the long +riding-skirt, which converted his person from the waist into the female +guise, but was obliged to concede this point also. + +The metamorphosis was then complete; for the fair reader must be +informed, that in those rude times, the ladies, when they honoured the +masculine dress by assuming any part of it, wore just such hats, coats, +and waistcoats as the male animals themselves made use of, and had no +notion of the elegant compromise betwixt male and female attire, which +has now acquired, PAR EXCELLENCE, the name of a HABIT. Trolloping +things our mothers must have looked, with long square-cut coats, lacking +collars, and with waistcoats plentifully supplied with a length of +pocket, which hung far downwards from the middle. But then they had +some advantage from the splendid colours, lace, and gay embroidery +which masculine attire then exhibited; and, as happens in many similar +instances, the finery of the materials made amends for the want of +symmetry and grace of form in the garments themselves. But this is a +digression. + +In the court of the old mansion, half manor-place, half farm-house, or +rather a decayed manor-house, converted into an abode for a Cumberland +tenant, stood several saddled horses. Four or five of them were mounted +by servants or inferior retainers, all of whom were well armed with +sword, pistol, and carabine. But two had riding furniture for the use +of females--the one being accoutred with a side-saddle, the other with a +pillion attached to the saddle. + +Darsie’s heart beat quicker within him; he easily comprehended that one +of these was intended for his own use; and his hopes suggested that the +other was designed for that of the fair Green Mantle, whom, according +to his established practice, he had adopted for the queen of his +affections, although his opportunities of holding communication with her +had not exceeded the length of a silent supper on one occasion, and the +going down a country-dance on another. This, however, was no unwonted +mood of passion with Darsie Latimer, upon whom Cupid was used to triumph +only in the degree of a Mahratta conqueror, who overruns a province with +the rapidity of lightning, but finds it impossible to retain it beyond +a very brief space. Yet this new love was rather more serious than the +scarce skinned-up wounds which his friend Fairford used to ridicule. +The damsel had shown a sincere interest in his behalf; and the air of +mystery with which that interest was veiled, gave her, to his lively +imagination, the character of a benevolent and protecting spirit, as +much as that of a beautiful female. + +At former times, the romance attending his short-lived attachments +had been of his own creating, and had disappeared as soon as ever he +approached more closely to the object with which he had invested it. +On the present occasion, it really flowed from external circumstances, +which might have interested less susceptible feelings, and an +imagination less lively than that of Darsie Latimer, young, +inexperienced, and enthusiastic as he was. + +He watched, therefore, anxiously to whose service the palfrey bearing +the lady’s saddle was destined. But ere any female appeared to occupy +it, he was himself summoned to take his seat on the pillion behind +Cristal Nixon, amid the grins of his old acquaintance Jan who helped him +to horse, and the unrestrained laughter of Cicely, who displayed on the +occasion a case of teeth which might have rivalled ivory. + +Latimer was at an age when being an object of general ridicule even to +clowns and milkmaids was not a matter of indifference, and he longed +heartily to have laid his horse-whip across Jan’s shoulders. That, +however, was a solacement of his feelings which was not at the moment to +be thought of; and Cristal Nixon presently put an end to his unpleasant +situation, by ordering the riders to go on. He himself kept the centre +of the troop, two men riding before and two behind him, always, as it +seemed to Darsie, having their eye upon him, to prevent any attempt to +escape. He could see from time to time, when the straight line of the +road, or the advantage of an ascent permitted him, that another troop +of three or four riders followed them at about a quarter of a mile’s +distance, amongst whom he could discover the tall form of Redgauntlet, +and the powerful action of his gallant black horse. He had little +doubt that Green Mantle made one of the party, though he was unable to +distinguish her from the others. + +In this manner they travelled from six in the morning until nearly ten +of the clock, without Darsie exchanging a word with any one; for he +loathed the very idea of entering into conversation with Cristal Nixon, +against whom he seemed to feel an instinctive aversion; nor was that +domestic’s saturnine and sullen disposition such as to have encouraged +advances, had he thought of making them. + +At length the party halted for the purpose of refreshment; but as they +had hitherto avoided all villages and inhabited places upon their route, +so they now stopped at one of those large ruinous Dutch barns, which +are sometimes found in the fields, at a distance from the farm-houses to +which they belong. Yet in this desolate place some preparations had been +made for their reception. There were in the end of the barn racks filled +with provender for the horses, and plenty of provisions for the party +were drawn from the trusses of straw, under which the baskets that +contained them had been deposited. The choicest of these were selected +and arranged apart by Cristal Nixon, while the men of the party threw +themselves upon the rest, which he abandoned to their discretion. In a +few minutes afterwards the rearward party arrived and dismounted, and +Redgauntlet himself entered the barn with the green-mantled maiden by +his side. He presented her to Darsie with these words:-- + +‘It is time you two should know each other better. I promised you my +confidence, Darsie, and the time is come for reposing it. But first we +will have our breakfast; and then, when once more in the saddle, I will +tell you that which it is necessary that you should know. Salute Lilias, +Darsie.’ + +The command was sudden, and surprised Latimer, whose confusion was +increased by the perfect ease and frankness with which Lilias offered at +once her cheek and her hand, and pressing his as she rather took it than +gave her own, said very frankly, ‘Dearest Darsie, how rejoiced I am that +our uncle has at last permitted us to become acquainted!’ + +Darsie’s head turned round; and it was perhaps well that Redgauntlet +called on him to sit down, as even that movement served to hide his +confusion. There is an old song which says-- + + --when ladies are willing, + A man can but look like a fool; + +And on the same principle Darsie Latimer’s looks at this unexpected +frankness of reception, would have formed an admirable vignette for +illustrating the passage. ‘Dearest Darsie,’ and such a ready, nay, eager +salute of lip and hand! It was all very gracious, no doubt--and ought to +have been received with much gratitude; but, constituted as our friend’s +temper was, nothing could be more inconsistent with his tone of feeling. +If a hermit had proposed to him to club for a pot of beer, the illusion +of his reverend sanctity could not have been dispelled more effectually +than the divine qualities of Green Mantle faded upon the ill-imagined +frank-heartedness of poor Lilias. Vexed with her forwardness, and +affronted at having once more cheated himself, Darsie could hardly help +muttering two lines of the song we have already quoted: + + The fruit that must fall without shaking + Is rather too mellow for me. + +And yet it was pity for her too--she was a very pretty young woman--his +fancy had scarcely overrated her in that respect--and the slight +derangement of the beautiful brown locks which escaped in natural +ringlets from under her riding-hat, with the bloom which exercise had +brought into her cheek, made her even more than usually fascinating. +Redgauntlet modified the sternness of his look when it was turned +towards her, and in addressing her, used a softer tone than his usual +deep bass. Even the grim features of Cristal Nixon relaxed when he +attended on her, and it was then, if ever, that his misanthropical +visage expressed some sympathy with the rest of humanity. + +‘How can she,’ thought Latimer, ‘look so like an angel, yet be so mere +a mortal after all? How could so much seeming modesty have so much +forwardness of manner, when she ought to have been most reserved? How +can her conduct be reconciled to the grace and ease of her general +deportment?’ + +The confusion of thoughts which occupied Darsie’s imagination, gave to +his looks a disordered appearance, and his inattention to the food which +was placed before him, together with his silence and absence of mind, +induced Lilias solicitously to inquire, whether he did not feel some +return of the disorder under which he had suffered so lately. This led +Mr. Redgauntlet, who seemed also lost in his own contemplations, to +raise his eyes, and join in the same inquiry with some appearance of +interest. Latimer explained to both that he was perfectly well. + +‘It is well it is so,’ answered Redgauntlet; ‘for we have that before +us which will brook no delay from indisposition--we have not, as Hotspur +says, leisure to be sick.’ + +Lilias, on her part, endeavoured to prevail upon Darsie to partake of +the food which she offered him, with a kindly and affectionate courtesy +corresponding to the warmth of the interest she had displayed at their +meeting; but so very natural, innocent, and pure in its character, that +it would have been impossible for the vainest coxcomb to have mistaken +it for coquetry, or a desire of captivating a prize so valuable as +his affection. Darsie, with no more than the reasonable share of +self-opinion common to most youths when they approach twenty-one, knew +not how to explain her conduct. + +Sometimes he was tempted to think that his own merits had, even during +the short intervals when they had seen each other, secured such a hold +of the affections of a young person who had probably been bred up in +ignorance of the world and its forms that she was unable to conceal +her partiality. Sometimes he suspected that she acted by her guardian’s +order, who, aware that he, Darsie, was entitled to a considerable +fortune, might have taken this bold stroke to bring about a marriage +betwixt him and so near a relative. + +But neither of these suppositions was applicable to the character of the +parties. Miss Lilias’s manners, however soft and natural, displayed in +their ease and versatility considerable acquaintance with the habits +of the world, and in the few words she said during the morning repast, +there were mingled a shrewdness and good sense, which could scarce +belong to a miss capable of playing the silly part of a love-smitten +maiden so broadly. As for Redgauntlet, with his stately bearing, his +fatal frown, his eye of threat and of command, it was impossible, Darsie +thought, to suspect him of a scheme having private advantage for its +object; he could as soon have imagined Cassius picking Caesar’s pocket, +instead of drawing his poniard on the dictator. + +While he thus mused, unable either to eat, drink, or answer to the +courtesy of Lilias, she soon ceased to speak to him, and sat silent as +himself. + +They had remained nearly an hour in their halting-place, when +Redgauntlet said aloud, ‘Look out, Cristal Nixon. If we hear nothing +from Fairladies, we must continue our journey.’ + +Cristal went to the door, and presently returned and said to his master, +in a voice as harsh as his features, ‘Gilbert Gregson is coming, his +horse as white with foam as if a fiend had ridden him.’ + +Redgauntlet threw from him the plate on which he had been eating, and +hastened towards the door of the barn, which the courier at that moment +entered; a smart jockey with a black velvet hunting-cap, and a broad +belt drawn tight round his waist, to which was secured his express-bag. +The variety of mud with which he was splashed from cap to spur showed +he had had a rough and rapid ride. He delivered a letter to Mr. +Redgauntlet, with an obeisance, and then retired to the end of the barn, +where the other attendants were sitting or lying upon the straw, in +order to get some refreshment. + +Redgauntlet broke the letter open with haste, and read it with anxious +and discomposed looks. On a second perusal, his displeasure seemed to +increase, his brow darkened, and was distinctly marked with the fatal +sign peculiar to his family and house. Darsie had never before observed +his frown bear such a close resemblance to the shape which tradition +assigned it. + +Redgauntlet held out the open letter with one hand, and struck it with +the forefinger of the other, as, in a suppressed and displeased tone, +he said to Cristal Nixon, ‘Countermanded--ordered northward once +more! ‘Northward, when all our hopes lie to the south--a second Derby +direction, when we turned our back on glory, and marched in quest of +ruin!’ + +Cristal Nixon took the letter and ran it over, then returned it to his +master with the cold observation, ‘A female influence predominates.’ + +‘But it shall predominate no longer,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘it shall wane +as ours rises in the horizon. Meanwhile, I will on before--and you, +Cristal, will bring the party to the place assigned in the letter. +You may now permit the young persons to have unreserved communication +together; only mark that you watch the young man closely enough to +prevent his escape, if he should be idiot enough to attempt it, but not +approaching so close as to watch their free conversation.’ + +‘I care naught about their conversation,’ said Nixon, surlily. + +‘You hear my commands, Lilias,’ said the laird, turning to the young +lady. ‘You may use my permission and authority to explain so much of our +family matters as you yourself know. At our next meeting I will complete +the task of disclosure, and I trust I shall restore one Redgauntlet more +to the bosom of our ancient family. Let Latimer, as he calls himself, +have a horse to himself; he must for some time retain his disguise.--My +horse--my horse!’ + +In two minutes they heard him ride off from the door of the barn, +followed at speed by two of the armed men of his party. + +The commands of Cristal Nixon, in the meanwhile, put all the remainder +of the party in motion, but the laird himself was long out of sight ere +they were in readiness to resume their journey. When at length they set +out, Darsie was accommodated with a horse and side-saddle, instead of +being obliged to resume his place on the pillion behind the detestable +Nixon. He was obliged, however, to retain his riding-skirt, and to +reassume his mask. Yet, notwithstanding this disagreeable circumstance, +and although he observed that they gave him the heaviest and slowest +horse of the party, and that, as a further precaution against escape, he +was closely watched on every side, yet riding in company with the pretty +Lilias was an advantage which overbalanced these inconveniences. + +It is true that this society, to which that very morning he would +have looked forward as a glimpse of heaven, had, now that it was +thus unexpectedly indulged, something much less rapturous than he had +expected. + +It was in vain that, in order to avail himself of a situation so +favourable for indulging his romantic disposition, he endeavoured to +coax back, if I may so express myself, that delightful dream of ardent +and tender passion; he felt only such a confusion of ideas at the +difference between the being whom he had imagined, and her with whom he +was now in contact, that it seemed to him like the effect of witchcraft. +What most surprised him was, that this sudden flame should have died +away so rapidly, notwithstanding that the maiden’s personal beauty was +even greater than he had expected--her demeanour, unless it should be +deemed over kind towards himself, as graceful and becoming as he could +have fancied if, even in his gayest dreams. It were judging hardly +of him to suppose that the mere belief of his having attracted +her affections more easily than he expected was the cause of his +ungratefully undervaluing a prize too lightly won, or that his transient +passion played around his heart with the hitting radiance of a wintry +sunbeam flashing against an icicle, which may brighten it for a moment, +but cannot melt it. Neither of these was precisely the ease, though such +fickleness of disposition might also have some influence in the change. + +The truth is, perhaps, the lover’s pleasure, like that of the hunter, is +in the chase; and that the brightest beauty loses half its merit, as +the fairest flower its perfume, when the willing hand can reach it +too easily. There must be doubt--there must be danger--there must be +difficulty; and if, as the poet says, the course of ardent affection +never does run smooth, it is perhaps because, without some intervening +obstacle, that which is called the romantic passion of love, in its high +poetical character and colouring can hardly have an existence--any more +than there can be a current in a river without the stream being narrowed +by steep banks, or checked by opposing rocks. + +Let not those, however, who enter into a union for life without those +embarrassments which delight a Darsie Latimer, or a Lydia Languish, and +which are perhaps necessary to excite an enthusiastic passion in breasts +more firm than theirs, augur worse of their future happiness because +their own alliance is formed under calmer auspices. Mutual esteem, an +intimate knowledge of each other’s character, seen, as in their case, +undisguised by the mists of too partial passion--a suitable proportion +of parties in rank and fortune, in taste and pursuits--are more +frequently found in a marriage of reason, than in a union of romantic +attachment; where the imagination, which probably created the virtues +and accomplishments with which it invested the beloved object, is +frequently afterwards employed in magnifying the mortifying consequences +of its own delusion, and exasperating all the stings of disappointment. +Those who follow the banners of Reason are like the well-disciplined +battalion, which, wearing a more sober uniform and making a less +dazzling show than the light troops commanded by imagination, enjoy more +safety, and even more honour, in the conflicts of human life. All this, +however, is foreign to our present purpose. + +Uncertain in what manner to address her whom he had been lately so +anxious to meet with, and embarrassed by a TETE-A-TETE to which his own +timid inexperience, gave some awkwardness, the party had proceeded more +than a hundred yards before Darsie assumed courage to accost, or even +to look at, his companion. Sensible, however, of the impropriety of his +silence, he turned to speak to her; and observing that, although she +wore her mask, there was something like disappointment and dejection +in her manner, he was moved by self-reproach for his own coldness, and +hastened to address her in the kindest tone he could assume. + +‘You must think me cruelly deficient in gratitude, Miss Lilias, that +I have been thus long in your company, without thanking you for the +interest which you have deigned to take in my unfortunate affairs?’ + +‘I am glad you have at length spoken,’ she said, ‘though I owe it is +more coldly than I expected. MISS Lilias! DEIGN to take interest! In +whom, dear Darsie, CAN I take interest but in you; and why do you put +this barrier of ceremony betwixt us, whom adverse circumstances have +already separated for such a length of time?’ + +Darsie was again confounded at the extra candour, if we may use the +term, of this frank avowal. ‘One must love partridge very well,’ thought +he, ‘to accept it when thrown in one’s face--if this is not plain +speaking, there is no such place as downright Dunstable in being!’ + +Embarrassed with these reflections, and himself of a nature fancifully, +almost fastidiously, delicate, he could only in reply stammer forth an +acknowledgement of his companion’s goodness, and his own gratitude. She +answered in a tone partly sorrowful and partly impatient, repeating, +with displeased emphasis, the only distinct words he had been able +to bring forth--‘Goodness--gratitude!--O Darsie! should these be the +phrases between you and me? Alas! I am too sure you are displeased with +me, though I cannot even guess on what account. Perhaps you think I +have been too free in venturing upon my visit to your friend. But then +remember, it was in your behalf, and that I knew no better way to put +you on your guard against the misfortunes and restraint which you have +been subjected to, and are still enduring.’ + +‘Dear Lady’--said Darsie, rallying his recollection, and suspicious +of some error in apprehension,--a suspicion which his mode of address +seemed at once to communicate to Lilias, for she interrupted him,-- + +‘LADY! dear LADY! For whom, or for what, in Heaven’s name, do you take +me, that you address me so formally?’ + +Had the question been asked in that enchanted hall in fairyland, where +all interrogations must be answered with absolute sincerity, Darsie +had certainly replied, that he took her for the most frank-hearted and +ultra-liberal lass that had ever lived since Mother Eve eat the pippin +without paring. But as he was still on middle-earth, and free to avail +himself of a little polite deceit, he barely answered that he believed +he had the honour of speaking to the niece of Mr. Redgauntlet. + +‘Surely,’ she replied; ‘but were it not as easy for you to have said, to +your own only sister?’ + +Darsie started in his saddle, as if he had received a pistol-shot. + +‘My sister!’ he exclaimed. + +‘And you did NOT know it, then?’ said she. ‘I thought your reception of +me was cold and indifferent!’ + +A kind and cordial embrace took place betwixt the relatives; and so +light was Darsie’s spirit, that he really felt himself more relieved, by +getting quit of the embarrassments of the last half-hour, during which +he conceived himself in danger of being persecuted by the attachment of +a forward girl, than disappointed by the vanishing of so many day-dreams +as he had been in the habit of encouraging during the time when the +green-mantled maiden was goddess of his idolatry. He had been already +flung from his romantic Pegasus, and was too happy at length to find +himself with bones unbroken, though with his back on the ground. He was, +besides, with all his whims and follies, a generous, kind-hearted youth, +and was delighted to acknowledge so beautiful and amiable a relative, +and to assure her in the warmest terms of his immediate affection and +future protection, so soon as they should be extricated from their +present situation. Smiles and tears mingled on Lilias’s cheeks, like +showers and sunshine in April weather. + +‘Out on me,’ she said, ‘that I should be so childish as to cry at what +makes me so sincerely happy! since, God knows, family-love is what my +heart has most longed after, and to which it has been most a stranger. +My uncle says that you and I, Darsie, are but half Redgauntlets, and +that the metal of which our father’s family was made, has been softened +to effeminacy in our mother’s offspring.’ + +‘Alas!’ said Darsie, ‘I know so little of our family story, that I +almost doubted that I belonged to the House of Redgauntlet, although the +chief of the family himself intimated so much to me.’ + +‘The chief of the family!’ said Lilias. ‘You must know little of +your own descent indeed, if you mean my uncle by that expression. You +yourself, my dear Darsie, are the heir and representative of our ancient +House, for our father was the elder brother--that brave and unhappy Sir +Henry Darsie Redgauntlet, who suffered at Carlisle in the year 1746. He +took the name of Darsie, in conjunction with his own, from our mother, +heiress to a Cumberland family of great wealth and antiquity, of whose +large estates you are the undeniable heir, although those of your father +have been involved in the general doom of forfeiture. But all this must +be necessarily unknown to you.’ + +‘Indeed I hear it for the first time in my life,’ answered Darsie. + +‘And you knew not that I was your sister?’ said Lilias. ‘No wonder you +received me so coldly. What a strange, wild, forward young person you +must have thought me--mixing myself in the fortunes of a stranger whom +I had only once spoken to--corresponding with him by signs--Good Heaven! +what can you have supposed me?’ + +‘And how should I have come to the knowledge of our connexion?’ said +Darsie. ‘You are aware I was not acquainted with it when we danced +together at Brokenburn.’ + +‘I saw that with concern, and fain I would have warned you,’ answered +Lilias; ‘but I was closely watched, and before I could find or make an +opportunity of coming to a full explanation with you on a subject so +agitating, I was forced to leave the room. What I did say was, you may +remember, a caution to leave the southern border, for I foresaw what +has since happened. But since my uncle has had you in his power, I never +doubted he had communicated to you our whole family history.’ + +‘He has left me to learn it from you, Lilias; and assure yourself that I +will hear it with more pleasure from your lips than from his. I have no +reason to be pleased with his conduct towards me.’ + +‘Of that,’ said Lilias, ‘you will judge better when you have heard what +I have to tell you;’ and she began her communication in the following +manner. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +NARRATIVE OF DARSIE LATIMER, CONTINUED + +‘The House of Redgauntlet,’ said the young lady, ‘has for centuries been +supposed to lie under a doom, which has rendered vain their courage, +their talents, their ambition, and their wisdom. Often making a figure +in history, they have been ever in the situation of men striving against +both wind and tide, who distinguish themselves by their desperate +exertions of strength, and their persevering endurance of toil, but +without being able to advance themselves upon their course by either +vigour or resolution. They pretend to trace this fatality to a legendary +history, which I may tell you at a less busy moment.’ + +Darsie intimated that he had already heard the tragic story of Sir +Alberick Redgauntlet. + +‘I need only say, then,’ proceeded Lilias, ‘that our father and uncle +felt the family doom in its full extent. They were both possessed of +considerable property, which was largely increased by our father’s +marriage, and were both devoted to the service of the unhappy House +of Stuart; but (as our mother at least supposed) family considerations +might have withheld her husband from joining openly in the affair of +1745, had not the high influence which the younger brother possessed +over the elder, from his more decided energy of character, hurried him +along with himself into that undertaking. + +‘When, therefore, the enterprise came to the fatal conclusion which +bereaved our father of his life and consigned his brother to exile, Lady +Redgauntlet fled from the north of England, determined to break off all +communication with her late husband’s family, particularly his brother, +whom she regarded as having, by their insane political enthusiasm, been +the means of his untimely death; and determined that you, my brother, an +infant, and that I, to whom she had just given birth, should be brought +up as adherents of the present dynasty. Perhaps she was too hasty in +this determination--too timidly anxious to exclude, if possible, from +the knowledge of the very spot where we existed, a relation so nearly +connected with us as our father’s only brother. But you must make +allowance for what she had suffered. See, brother,’ she said, pulling +her glove off, ‘these five blood-specks on my arm are a mark by which +mysterious Nature has impressed, on an unborn infant, a record of its +father’s violent death and its mother’s miseries.’ [Several persons +have brought down to these days the impressions which Nature had thus +recorded, when they were yet babes unborn. One lady of quality, whose +father was long under sentence of death previous to the Rebellion, was +marked on the back of the neck by the sign of a broad axe. Another whose +kinsmen had been slain in battle and died on the scaffold to the number +of seven, bore a child spattered on the right shoulder and down the +arm with scarlet drops, as if of blood. Many other instances might be +quoted.] + +‘You were not, then, born when my father suffered?’ said Darsie. + +‘Alas, no!’ she replied; ‘nor were you a twelvemonth old. It was no +wonder that my mother, after going through such scenes of agony, +became irresistibly anxious for the sake of her children--of her son in +particular; the more especially as the late Sir Henry, her husband, had, +by a settlement of his affairs, confided the custody of the persons +of her children, as well as the estates which descended to them, +independently of those which fell under his forfeiture, to his brother +Hugh, in whom he placed unlimited confidence.’ + +‘But my mother had no reason to fear the operation of such a deed, +conceived in favour of an attainted man,’ said Darsie. + +‘True,’ replied Lilias; ‘but our uncle’s attainder might have been +reversed, like that of so many other persons, and our mother, who both +feared and hated him, lived in continual terror that this would be the +case, and that she should see the author, as she thought him, of her +husband’s death come armed with legal powers, and in a capacity to +use them for the purpose of tearing her children from her protection. +Besides, she feared, even in his incapacitated condition, the +adventurous and pertinacious spirit of her brother-in-law, Hugh +Redgauntlet, and felt assured that he would make some attempt to possess +himself of the persons of the children. On the other hand, our uncle, +whose proud disposition might, perhaps, have been soothed by the offer +of her confidence, revolted against the distrustful and suspicious +manner in which Lady Darsie Redgauntlet acted towards him. She basely +abused, he said, the unhappy circumstances in which he was placed, +in order to deprive him of his natural privilege of protecting and +educating the infants, whom nature and law, and the will of their +father, had committed to his charge, and he swore solemnly he would +not submit to such an injury. Report of his threats was made to Lady +Redgauntlet, and tended to increase those fears which proved but too +well founded. While you and I, children at that time of two or three +years old, were playing together in a walled orchard, adjacent to our +mother’s residence which she had fixed somewhere in Devonshire, my uncle +suddenly scaled the wall with several men, and I was snatched up; and +carried off to a boat which waited for them. My mother, however, flew to +your rescue, and as she seized on and held you fast, my uncle could not, +as he has since told me, possess himself of your person, without using +unmanly violence to his brother’s widow. Of this he was incapable; and, +as people began to assemble upon my mother’s screaming, he withdrew, +after darting upon you and her one of those fearful looks, which, it is +said, remain with our family, as a fatal bequest of Sir Alberick, our +ancestor.’ + +‘I have some recollection of the scuffle which you mention,’ said +Darsie; ‘and I think it was my uncle himself (since my uncle he is) +who recalled the circumstance to my mind on a late occasion. I can now +account for the guarded seclusion under which my poor mother lived--for +her frequent tears, her starts of hysterical alarm, and her constant and +deep melancholy. Poor lady! what a lot was hers, and what must have been +her feelings when it approached to a close!’ + +‘It was then that she adopted,’ said Lilias, ‘every precaution her +ingenuity could suggest, to keep your very existence concealed from the +person whom she feared--nay, from yourself; for she dreaded, as she +is said often to have expressed herself, that the wildfire blood of +Redgauntlet would urge you to unite your fortunes to those of your +uncle, who was well known still to carry on political intrigues, which +most other persons had considered as desperate. It was also possible +that he, as well as others, might get his pardon, as government showed +every year more lenity towards the remnant of the Jacobites, and then he +might claim the custody of your person, as your legal guardian. Either +of these events she considered as the direct road to your destruction.’ + +‘I wonder she had not claimed the protection of Chancery for me,’ said +Darsie; ‘or confided me to the care of some powerful friend.’ + +‘She was on indifferent terms with her relations, on account of her +marriage with our father,’ said Lilias, ‘and trusted more to secreting +you from your uncle’s attempts, than to any protection which law +might afford against them. Perhaps she judged unwisely, but surely not +unnaturally, for one rendered irritable by so many misfortunes and so +many alarms. Samuel Griffiths, an eminent banker, and a worthy clergyman +now dead were, I believe, the only persons whom she intrusted with the +execution of her last will; and my uncle believes that she made them +both swear to observe profound secrecy concerning your birth and +pretensions, until you should come to the age of majority, and, in the +meantime, to breed you up in the most private way possible, and that +which was most likely to withdraw you from my uncle’s observation.’ + +‘And I have no doubt,’ said Darsie, ‘that betwixt change of name +and habitation, they might have succeeded perfectly, but for the +accident--lucky or unlucky, I know not which to term it--which brought +me to Brokenburn, and into contact with Mr. Redgauntlet. I see also why +I was warned against England, for in England’-- + +‘In England alone, if I understand rightly,’ said Miss Redgauntlet, +‘the claims of your uncle to the custody of your person could have +been enforced, in case of his being replaced in the ordinary rights of +citizenship, either by the lenity of the government or by some change +in it. In Scotland, where you possess no property, I understand his +authority might; have been resisted, and measures taken to put you under +the protection of the law. But, pray, think it not unlucky that you +have taken the step of visiting Brokenburn--I feel confident that the +consequences must be ultimately fortunate, for have they not already +brought us into contact with each other?’ + +So saying, she held out her hand to her brother, who grasped it with a +fondness of pressure very different from the manner in which they first +clasped hands that morning. There was a moment’s pause, while the hearts +of both were overflowing with a feeling of natural affection, to which +circumstances had hitherto rendered them strangers. + +At length Darsie broke silence; ‘I am ashamed,’ he said, ‘my dearest +Lilias, that I have suffered you to talk so long about matters +concerning myself only, while I remain ignorant of your story, and your +present situation.’ + +‘The former is none of the most interesting, nor the latter the most +safe or agreeable,’ answered Lilias; ‘but now, my dearest brother, I +shall have the inestimable support of your countenance and affection; +and were I but sure that we could weather the formidable crisis which +I find so close at hand, I should have little apprehensions for the +future.’ + +‘Let me know,’ said Darsie, ‘what our present situation is; and rely +upon my utmost exertions both in your defence and my own. For what +reason can my uncle desire to detain me a prisoner? If in mere +opposition to the will of my mother, she has long been no more; and I +see not why he should wish, at so much trouble and risk, to interfere +with the free will of one, to whom a few months will give a privilege +of acting for himself, with which he will have no longer any pretence to +interfere.’ + +‘My dearest Arthur,’ answered Lilias--‘for that name, as well as +Darsie, properly belongs to you--it is the leading feature in my uncle’s +character, that he has applied every energy of his powerful mind to the +service of the exiled family of Stuart. The death of his brother, the +dilapidation of his own fortunes, have only added to his hereditary zeal +for the House of Stuart a deep and almost personal hatred against the +present reigning family. He is, in short, a political enthusiast of +the most dangerous character, and proceeds in his agency with as much +confidence, as if he felt himself the very Atlas who is alone capable of +supporting a sinking cause.’ + +‘And where or how did you, my Lilias, educated, doubtless, under his +auspices, learn to have a different view of such subjects?’ + +‘By a singular chance,’ replied Lilias, ‘in the nunnery where my uncle +placed me. Although the abbess was a person exactly after his own heart, +my education as a pensioner devolved much on an excellent old mother who +had adopted the tenets of the Jansenists, with perhaps a still further +tendency towards the reformed doctrines, than those of Port Royal. The +mysterious secrecy with which she inculcated these tenets, gave them +charms to my young mind, and I embraced them the rather that they were +in direct opposition to the doctrines of the abbess, whom I hated so +much for her severity, that I felt a childish delight in setting her +control at defiance, and contradicting in my secret soul all that I was +openly obliged to listen to with reverence. Freedom of religious opinion +brings on, I suppose, freedom of political creed; for I had no sooner +renounced the Pope’s infallibility, than I began to question the +doctrine of hereditary and indefeasible right. In short, strange as it +may seem, I came out of a Parisian convent, not indeed an instructed +Whig and Protestant, but with as much inclination to be so as if I had +been bred up, like you, within the Presbyterian sound of Saint Giles’s +chimes.’ + +‘More so, perhaps,’ replied Darsie; ‘for the nearer the church--the +proverb is somewhat musty. But how did these liberal opinions of yours +agree with the very opposite prejudices of my uncle?’ + +‘They would have agreed like fire and water,’ answered Lilias, ‘had I +suffered mine to become visible; but as that would have subjected me to +constant reproach and upbraiding, or worse, I took great care to keep my +own secret; so that occasional censures for coldness, and lack of zeal +for the good cause, were the worst I had to undergo; and these were bad +enough.’ + +‘I applaud your caution,’ said Darsie. + +‘You have reason,’ replied his sister; ‘but I got so terrible a specimen +of my uncle’s determination of character, before I had been acquainted +with him for much more than a week, that it taught me at what risk I +should contradict his humour. I will tell you the circumstances; for it +will better teach you to appreciate the romantic and resolved nature +of his character, than anything which I could state of his rashness and +enthusiasm. + +‘After I had been many a long year at the convent, I was removed from +thence, and placed with a meagre old Scottish lady of high rank, the +daughter of an unfortunate person whose head had in the year 1715 been +placed on Temple Bar. She subsisted on a small pension from the French +Court, aided by an occasional gratuity from the Stuarts; to which the +annuity paid for my board formed a desirable addition. She was not +ill-tempered, nor very covetous--neither beat me nor starved me--but she +was so completely trammelled by rank and prejudices, so awfully profound +in genealogy, and so bitterly keen, poor lady, in British, politics, +that I sometimes thought it pity that the Hanoverians, who murdered, as +she used to tell me, her poor dear father, had left his dear daughter in +the land of the living. Delighted, therefore, was I, when my uncle made +his appearance, and abruptly announced his purpose of conveying me +to England. My extravagant joy at the idea of leaving Lady Rachel +Rougedragon was somewhat qualified by observing the melancholy look, +lofty demeanour, and commanding tone of my near relative. He held more +communication with me on the journey, however, than consisted with his +taciturn demeanour in general, and seemed anxious to ascertain my tone +of character, and particularly in point of courage. Now, though I am +a tamed Redgauntlet, yet I have still so much of our family spirit as +enables me to be as composed in danger as most of my sex; and upon two +occasions in the course of our journey--a threatened attack by banditti, +and the overturn of our carriage--I had the fortune so to conduct +myself, as to convey to my uncle a very favourable idea of my +intrepidity. Probably this encouraged him to put in execution the +singular scheme which he had in agitation. + +‘Ere we reached London we changed our means of conveyance, and altered +the route by which we approached the city, more than once; then, like a +hare which doubles repeatedly at some distance from the seat she means +to occupy, and at last leaps into her form from a distance so great as +she can clear by a spring, we made a forced march, and landed in private +and obscure lodgings in a little old street in Westminster, not far from +the Cloisters. + +‘On the morning of the day on which we arrived my uncle went abroad, and +did not return for some hours. Meantime I had no other amusement than to +listen to the tumult of noises which succeeded each other, or reigned +in confusion together during the whole morning. Paris I had thought +the most noisy capital in the world, but Paris seemed midnight silence +compared to London. Cannon thundered near and at a distance--drums, +trumpets, and military music of every kind, rolled, flourished, and +pierced the clouds, almost without intermission. To fill up the concert, +bells pealed incessantly from a hundred steeples. The acclamations of +an immense multitude were heard from time to time, like the roaring of a +mighty ocean, and all this without my being able to glean the least idea +of what was going on, for the windows of our apartment looked upon +a waste backyard, which seemed totally deserted. My curiosity became +extreme, for I was satisfied, at length, that it must be some festival +of the highest order which called forth these incessant sounds. + +‘My uncle at length returned, and with him a man of an exterior +singularly unprepossessing. I need not describe him to you, for--do not +look round--he rides behind us at this moment.’ + +‘That respectable person, Mr. Cristal Nixon, I suppose?’ said Darsie. + +‘The same,’ answered Lilias; ‘make no gesture, that may intimate we are +speaking of him.’ + +Darsie signified that he understood her, and she pursued her relation. + +‘They were both in full dress, and my uncle, taking a bundle from Nixon, +said to me, “Lilias, I am come to carry you to see a grand ceremony--put +on as hastily as you can the dress you will find in that parcel, and +prepare to attend me.” I found a female dress, splendid and elegant, +but somewhat bordering upon the antique fashion. It might be that of +England, I thought, and I went to my apartment full of curiosity, and +dressed myself with all speed. + +‘My uncle surveyed me with attention--“She may pass for one of the +flower-girls,” he said to Nixon, who only answered with a nod. + +‘We left the house together, and such was their knowledge of the lanes, +courts, and bypaths, that though there was the roar of a multitude in +the broad streets, those which we traversed were silent and deserted; +and the strollers whom we met, tired of gazing upon gayer figures, +scarcely honoured us with a passing look, although, at any other time, +we should, among these vulgar suburbs, have attracted a troublesome +share of observation. We crossed at length a broad street, where many +soldiers were on guard, while others, exhausted with previous duty, were +eating, drinking, smoking, and sleeping beside their piled arms. + +‘“One day, Nixon,” whispered my uncle, “we will make these redcoated +gentry stand to their muskets more watchfully.” + +‘“Or it will be the worse for them,” answered his attendant, in a voice +as unpleasant as his physiognomy. + +‘Unquestioned and unchallenged by any one, we crossed among the guards; +and Nixon tapped thrice at a small postern door in a huge ancient +building, which was straight before us. It opened, and we entered +without my perceiving by whom we were admitted. A few dark and narrow +passages at length conveyed us into an immense Gothic hall, the +magnificence of which baffles my powers of description. + +‘It was illuminated by ten thousand wax lights, whose splendour at first +dazzled my eyes, coming as we did from these dark and secret avenues. +But when my sight began to become steady, how shall I describe what +I beheld? Beneath were huge ranges of tables, occupied by princes and +nobles in their robes of state--high officers of the crown, wearing +their dresses and badges of authority--reverend prelates and judges, the +sages of the church and law, in their more sombre, yet not less awful +robes--with others whose antique and striking costume announced their +importance, though I could not even guess who they might be. But at +length the truth burst on me at once--it was, and the murmurs around +confirmed it, the Coronation Feast. At a table above the rest, and +extending across the upper end of the hall, sat enthroned the youthful +sovereign himself, surrounded by the princes of the blood, and other +dignitaries, and receiving the suit and homage of his subjects. Heralds +and pursuivants, blazing in their fantastic yet splendid armorial +habits, and pages of honour, gorgeously arrayed in the garb of other +days, waited upon the princely banqueters. In the galleries with which +this spacious hall was surrounded, shone all, and more than all, that +my poor imagination could conceive, of what was brilliant in riches, or +captivating in beauty. Countless rows of ladies, whose diamonds, jewels, +and splendid attire were their least powerful charms, looked down from +their lofty seats on the rich scene beneath, themselves forming a show +as dazzling and as beautiful as that of which they were spectators. +Under these galleries, and behind the banqueting tables, were a +multitude of gentlemen, dressed as if to attend a court, but whose garb, +although rich enough to have adorned a royal drawing room, could not +distinguish them in such a high scene as this. Amongst these we wandered +for a few minutes, undistinguished and unregarded. I saw several +young persons dressed as I was, so was under no embarrassment from the +singularity of my habit, and only rejoiced, as I hung on my uncle’s +arm, at the magical splendour of such a scene, and at his goodness for +procuring me the pleasure of beholding it. + +‘By and by, I perceived that my uncle had acquaintances among those +who were under the galleries, and seemed, like ourselves, to be mere +spectators of the solemnity. They recognized each other with a single +word, sometimes only with a grip of the hand-exchanged some private +signs, doubtless--and gradually formed a little group, in the centre of +which we were placed. + +‘“Is it not a grand sight, Lilias?” said my uncle. “All the noble, and +all the wise, and all the wealthy of Britain, are there assembled.” + +‘“It is indeed,” said I, “all that my mind could have fancied of regal +power and splendour.” + +‘“Girl,” he whispered,--and my uncle can make his whispers as terribly +emphatic as his thundering voice or his blighting look--“all that is +noble and worthy in this fair land are there assembled--but it is to +bend like slaves and sycophants before the throne of a new usurper.” + +‘I looked at him, and the dark hereditary frown of our unhappy ancestor +was black upon his brow. + +‘“For God’s sake,” I whispered, “consider where we are.” + +‘“Fear nothing,” he said; “we are surrounded by friends.” As he +proceeded, his strong and muscular frame shook with suppressed +agitation. “See,” he said, “yonder bends Norfolk, renegade to his +Catholic.faith; there stoops the Bishop of ----, traitor to the Church +of England; and,--shame of shames! yonder the gigantic form of Errol +bows his head before the grandson of his father’s murderer! But a sign +shall be seen this night amongst them--MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN, +shall be read on these walls, as distinctly as the spectral handwriting +made them visible on those of Belshazzar!” + +‘“For God’s sake,” said I, dreadfully alarmed, “it is impossible you can +meditate violence in such a presence!” + +‘“None is intended, fool,” he answered, “nor can the slightest mischance +happen, provided you will rally your boasted courage, and obey my +directions. But do it coolly and quickly, for there are a hundred lives +at stake.” + +‘“Alas! what--can I do?” I asked in the utmost terror. + +‘“Only be prompt to execute my bidding,” said he; “it is but to lift a +glove--Here, hold this in your hand--throw the train of your dress over +it, be firm, composed, and ready--or, at all events, I step forward +myself.” + +‘“If there is no violence designed,” I said, taking, mechanically, the +iron glove he put into my hand. + +‘“I could not conceive his meaning; but, in the excited state of mind in +which I beheld him, I was convinced that disobedience on my part would +lead to some wild explosion. I felt, from the emergency of the occasion, +a sudden presence of mind, and resolved to do anything that might avert +violence and bloodshed. I was not long held in suspense. A loud flourish +of trumpets and the voice of heralds were mixed with the clatter of +horses’ hoofs, while a champion, armed at all points like those I had +read of in romances, attended by squires, pages, and the whole +retinue of chivalry, pranced forward, mounted upon a barbed steed. His +challenge, in defiance of all who dared impeach the title of the new +sovereign, was recited aloud--once, and again.” + +‘“Rush in at the third sounding,” said my uncle to me; “bring me the +parader’s gage, and leave mine in lieu of it.” + +‘I could not see how this was to be done, as we were surrounded by +people on all sides. But, at the third sounding of the trumpets, a lane +opened as if by word of command, betwixt me and the champion, and my +uncle’s voice said, “Now, Lilias, NOW!” + +‘With a swift and yet steady step, and with a presence of mind for +which I have never since been able to account, I discharged the perilous +commission. I was hardly seen, I believe, as I exchanged the pledges of +battle, and in an instant retired. “Nobly done, my girl!” said my +uncle, at whose side I found myself, shrouded as I was before, by the +interposition of the bystanders. “Cover our retreat, gentlemen,” he +whispered to those around him. + +‘Room was made for us to approach the wall, which seemed to open, and we +were again involved in the dark passages through which we had formerly +passed. In a small anteroom, my uncle stopped, and hastily muffling me +in a mantle which was lying there, we passed the guards--threaded the +labyrinth of empty streets and courts, and reached our retired lodgings +without attracting the least attention.’ + +‘I have often heard,’ said Darsie, ‘that a female, supposed to be a +man in disguise,--and yet, Lilias, you do not look very masculine,--had +taken up the champion’s gauntlet at the present king’s coronation, and +left in its place a gage of battle, with a paper, offering to accept the +combat, provided a fair field should be allowed for it. I have hitherto +considered it as an idle tale. I little thought how nearly I was +interested in the actors of a scene so daring. How could you have +courage to go through with it?’ [See Note 9.] + +‘Had I had leisure for reflection,’ answered his sister, ‘I should have +refused, from a mixture of principle and of fear. But, like many people +who do daring actions, I went on because I had not time to think of +retreating. The matter was little known, and it is said the king had +commanded that it should not be further inquired into;--from prudence, +as I suppose, and lenity, though my uncle chooses to ascribe the +forbearance of the Elector of Hanover, as he calls him, sometimes to +pusillanimity, and sometimes to a presumptuous scorn of the faction who +opposes his title.’ + +‘And have your subsequent agencies under this frantic enthusiast,’ said +Darsie, ‘equalled this in danger?’ + +‘No--nor in importance,’ replied Lilias; ‘though I have witnessed much +of the strange and desperate machinations, by which, in spite of every +obstacle, and in contempt of every danger, he endeavours to awaken the +courage of a broken party. I have traversed, in his company, all England +and Scotland, and have visited the most extraordinary and contrasted +scenes; now lodging at the castles of the proud gentry of Cheshire and +Wales, where the retired aristocrats, with opinions as antiquated as +their dwellings and their manners, still continue to nourish Jacobitical +principles; and the next week, perhaps, spent among outlawed smugglers, +or Highland banditti. I have known my uncle often act the part of a +hero, and sometimes that of a mere vulgar conspirator, and turn himself, +with the most surprising flexibility, into all sorts of shapes to +attract proselytes to his cause.’ + +‘Which, in the present day,’ said Darsie, ‘he finds, I presume, no easy +task.’ + +‘So difficult,’ said Lilias, ‘that, I believe, he has, at different +times, disgusted with the total falling away of some friends, and +the coldness of others, been almost on the point of resigning his +undertaking. How often I have I known him affect an open brow and a +jovial manner, joining in the games of the gentry, and even in the +sports of the common people, in order to invest himself with a temporary +degree of popularity; while, in fact, his heart was bursting to witness +what he called the degeneracy of the times, the decay of activity among +the aged, and the want of zeal in the rising generation. After the day +has been spent in the hardest exercise, he has spent the night in pacing +his solitary chamber, bewailing the downfall of the cause, and wishing +for the bullet of Dundee or the axe of Balmerino.’ + +‘A strange delusion,’ said Darsie; ‘and it is wonderful that it does not +yield to the force of reality.’ + +‘Ah, but,’ replied Lilias, ‘realities of late have seemed to flatter his +hopes. The general dissatisfaction with the peace--the unpopularity +of the minister, which has extended itself even to the person of his +master--the various uproars which have disturbed the peace of the +metropolis, and a general state of disgust and disaffection, which seems +to affect the body of the nation, have given unwonted encouragement to +the expiring hopes of the Jacobites, and induced many, both at the Court +of Rome, and, if it can be called so, of the Pretender, to lend a more +favourable ear than they had hitherto done to the insinuations of those +who, like my uncle, hope, when hope is lost to all but themselves. +Nay, I really believe that at this moment they meditate some desperate +effort. My uncle has been doing all in his power, of late, to conciliate +the affections of those wild communities that dwell on the Solway, over +whom our family possessed a seignorial interest before the forfeiture, +and amongst whom, on the occasion of 1745, our unhappy father’s +interest, with his own, raised a considerable body of men. But they are +no longer willing to obey his summons; and, as one apology among others, +they allege your absence as their natural head and leader. This has +increased his desire to obtain possession of your person, and, if he +possibly can, to influence your mind, so as to obtain your authority to +his proceedings.’ + +‘That he shall never obtain,’ answered Darsie; ‘my principles and +my prudence alike forbid such a step. Besides, it would be totally +unavailing to his purpose. Whatever these people may pretend, to evade +your uncle’s importunities, they cannot, at this time of day, think of +subjecting their necks again to the feudal yoke, which was effectually +broken by the act of 1748, abolishing vassalage and hereditary +jurisdictions.’ + +‘Aye, but that my uncle considers as the act of a usurping government,’ +said Lilias. + +‘Like enough he may think so,’ answered her brother, ‘for he is a +superior, and loses his authority by, the enactment. But the question +is, what the vassals will think of it who have gained their freedom +from feudal slavery, and have now enjoyed that freedom for many years? +However, to cut the matter short, if five hundred men would rise at the +wagging of my finger, that finger shall not be raised in a cause which I +disapprove of, and upon that my uncle may reckon.’ + +‘But you may temporize,’ said Lilias, upon whom the idea of her uncle’s +displeasure made evidently a strong impression,--‘you may temporize, +as most of the gentry in this country do, and let the bubble burst of +itself; for it is singular how few of them venture to oppose my uncle +directly. I entreat you to avoid direct collision with him. To hear +you, the head of the House of Redgauntlet, declare against the family +of Stuart, would either break his heart, or drive him to some act of +desperation.’ + +‘Yes, but, Lilias, you forget that the consequences of such an act of +complaisance might be, that the House of Redgauntlet and I might lose +both our heads at one blow.’ + +‘Alas!’ said she, ‘I had forgotten that danger. I have grown familiar +with perilous intrigues, as the nurses in a pest-house are said to +become accustomed to the air around them, till they forget even that it +is noisome.’ + +‘And yet,’ said Darsie, ‘if I could free myself from him without coming +to an open rupture. Tell me, Lilias, do you think it possible that he +can have any immediate attempt in view?’ + +‘To confess the truth,’ answered Lilias, ‘I cannot doubt that he has. +There has been an unusual bustle among the Jacobites of late. They have +hopes, as I told you, from circumstances unconnected with their own +strength. Just before you came to the country, my uncle’s desire to find +you out became, if possible, more eager than ever--he talked of men +to be presently brought together, and of your name and influence for +raising them. At this very time your first visit to Brokenburn took +place. A suspicion arose in my uncle’s mind, that you might be the +youth he sought, and it was strengthened by papers and letters which the +rascal Nixon did not hesitate to take from your pocket. Yet a mistake +might have occasioned a fatal explosion; and my uncle therefore posted +to Edinburgh to follow out the clue he had obtained, and fished enough +of information from old Mr. Fairford to make him certain that you were +the person he sought. Meanwhile, and at the expense of some personal +and perhaps too bold exertion, I endeavoured, through your friend young +Fairford, to put you on your guard.’ + +‘Without success,’ said Darsie, blushing under his mask when he +recollected how he had mistaken his sister’s meaning. + +‘I do not wonder that my warning was fruitless,’ said she; ‘the thing +was doomed to be. Besides, your escape would have been difficult. You +were dogged the whole time you were at the Shepherd’s Bush and at Mount +Sharon, by a spy who scarcely ever left you.’ + +‘The wretch, little Benjie!’ exclaimed Darsie. ‘I will wring the +monkey’s neck round, the first time we meet.’ + +‘It was he indeed who gave constant information of your motions to +Cristal Nixon,’ said Lilias. + +‘And Cristal Nixon--I owe him, too, a day’s work in harvest,’ said +Darsie; ‘for I am mistaken if he was not the person that struck me down +when I was made prisoner among the rioters.’ + +‘Like enough; for he has a head and hand for any villany. My uncle was +very angry about it; for though the riot was made to have an opportunity +of carrying you off in the confusion, as well as to put the fishermen +at variance with the public law, it would have been his last thought to +have injured a hair of your head. But Nixon has insinuated himself into +all my uncle’s secrets, and some of these are so dark and dangerous, +that though there are few things he would not dare, I doubt if he dare +quarrel with him. And yet I know that of Cristal would move my uncle to +pass his sword through his body.’ + +‘What is it, for Heaven’s sake?’, said Darsie. ‘I have a particular +desire for wishing to know.’ + +‘The old, brutal desperado, whose face and mind are a libel upon human +nature, has had the insolence to speak to his master’s niece as one whom +he was at liberty to admire; and when I turned on him with the anger and +contempt he merited, the wretch grumbled out something, as if he held +the destiny of our family in his hand.’ + +‘I thank you, Lilias,’ said Darsie, eagerly,--‘I thank you with all my +heart for this communication. I have blamed myself as a Christian man +for the indescribable longing I felt from the first moment I saw that +rascal, to send a bullet through his head; and now you have perfectly +accounted for and justified this very laudable wish. I wonder my uncle, +with the powerful sense you describe him to be possessed of, does not +see through such a villain.’ + +‘I believe he knows him to be capable of much evil,’ answered +Lilias--‘selfish, obdurate, brutal, and a man-hater. But then +he conceives him to possess the qualities most requisite for a +conspirator--undaunted courage, imperturbable coolness and address, and +inviolable fidelity. In the last particular he may be mistaken. I have +heard Nixon blamed for the manner in which our poor father was taken +after Culloden.’ + +‘Another reason for my innate aversion,’ said Darsie, but I will be on +my guard with him.’ + +‘See, he observes us closely,’ said Lilias. ‘What a thing is conscience! +He knows we are now speaking of him, though he cannot have heard a word +that we have said.’ + +It seemed as if she had guessed truly; for Cristal Nixon at that moment +rode up to them, and said, with an affectation of jocularity, which sat +very ill on his sullen features, ‘Come, young ladies, you have had time +enough for your chat this morning, and your tongues, I think, must +be tired. We are going to pass a village, and I must beg you to +separate--you, Miss Lilias, to ride a little behind--and you, Mrs., +or Miss, or Master, whichever you choose to be called, to be jogging a +little before.’ + +Lilias checked her horse without speaking, but not until she had given +her brother an expressive look, recommending caution; to which he +replied by a signal indicating that he understood and would comply with +her request. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +NARRATTVE OF DARSIE LATIMER, CONTINUED + +Left to his solitary meditations, Darsie (for we will still term Sir +Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet of that Ilk by the name to which the reader +is habituated) was surprised not only at the alteration of his own state +and condition, but at the equanimity with which he felt himself disposed +to view all these vicissitudes. + +His fever--fit of love had departed like a morning’s dream, and left +nothing behind but a painful sense of shame, and a resolution to be more +cautious ere he again indulged in such romantic visions. His station +in society was changed from that of a wandering, unowned youth, in whom +none appeared to take an interest excepting the strangers by whom he had +been educated, to the heir of a noble house, possessed of such influence +and such property, that it seemed as if the progress or arrest of +important political events were likely to depend upon his resolution. +Even this sudden elevation, the more than fulfilment of those wishes +which had haunted him ever since he was able to form a wish on the +subject, was contemplated by Darsie, volatile as his disposition was, +without more than a few thrills of gratified vanity. + +It is true, there were circumstances in his present situation to +counterbalance such high advantages. To be a prisoner in the hands of a +man so determined as his uncle, was no agreeable consideration, when +he was calculating how he might best dispute his pleasure and refuse +to join him in the perilous enterprise which he seemed to meditate. +Outlawed and desperate himself, Darsie could not doubt that his uncle +was surrounded by men capable of anything--that he was restrained by +no personal considerations--and therefore what degree of compulsion he +might apply to his brother’s son, or in what manner he might feel at +liberty to punish his contumacy, should he disavow the Jacobite cause, +must depend entirely upon the limits of his own conscience; and who +was to answer for the conscience of a heated enthusiast who considers +opposition to the party he has espoused, as treason to the welfare of +his country? After a short interval, Cristal Nixon was pleased to throw +some light upon the subject which agitated him. + +When that grim satellite rode up without ceremony close to Darsie’s +side, the latter felt his very flesh creep with abhorrence, so little +was he able to endure his presence, since the story of Lilias had added +to his instinctive hatred of the man. + +His voice, too, sounded like that of a screech-owl, as he said, ‘So, my +young cock of the north, you now know it all, and no doubt are blessing +your uncle for stirring you up to such an honourable action.’ + +‘I will acquaint my uncle with my sentiments on the subject, before I +make them known to any one else,’ said Darsie, scarcely prevailing on +his tongue to utter even these few words in a civil manner. + +‘Umph,’ murmured Cristal betwixt his teeth. ‘Close as wax, I see; and +perhaps not quite so pliable. But take care, my pretty youth,’ he added, +scornfully; ‘Hugh Redgauntlet will prove a rough colt-breaker--he will +neither spare whipcord nor spur-rowel, I promise you.’ + +‘I have already said, Mr. Nixon, answered Darsie, ‘that I will canvass +those matters of which my sister has informed me, with my uncle himself, +and with no other person.’ + +‘Nay, but a word of friendly advice would do you no harm, young master,’ +replied Nixon. ‘Old Redgauntlet is apter at a blow than a word--likely +to bite before he barks--the true man for giving Scarborough warning, +first knock you down, then bid you stand. So, methinks, a little kind +warning as to consequences were not amiss, lest they come upon you +unawares.’ + +‘If the warning is really kind, Mr. Nixon,’ said the young man, ‘I +will hear it thankfully; and indeed, if otherwise, I must listen to it +whether I will or no, since I have at present no choice of company or of +conversation.’ + +‘Nay, I have but little to say,’ said Nixon, affecting to give to his +sullen and dogged manner the appearance of an honest bluntness; ‘I am +as little apt to throw away words as any one. But here is the +question--Will you join heart and hand with your uncle, or no?’ + +‘What if I should say Aye?’ said Darsie, determined, if possible, to +conceal his resolution from this man. + +‘Why, then,’ said Nixon, somewhat surprised at the readiness of his +answer, ‘all will go smooth, of course--you will take share in this +noble undertaking, and, when it succeeds, you will exchange your open +helmet for an earl’s coronet perhaps.’ + +‘And how if it fails?’ said Darsie. + +‘Thereafter as it may be,’ said Nixon; ‘they who play at bowls must meet +with rubbers.’ + +‘Well, but suppose, then, I have some foolish tenderness for my +windpipe, and that when my uncle proposes the adventure to me I should +say No--how then, Mr. Nixon?’ + +‘Why, then, I would have you look to yourself, young master. There are +sharp laws in France against refractory pupils--LETTRES DE CACHET +are easily come by when such men as we are concerned with interest +themselves in the matter.’ + +‘But we are not in France,’ said poor Darsie, through whose blood ran a +cold shivering at the idea of a French prison. + +‘A fast-sailing lugger will soon bring you there though, snug stowed +under hatches, like a cask of moonlight.’ + +‘But the French are at peace with us,’ said Darsie, ‘and would not +dare’-- + +‘Why, who would ever hear of you?’ interrupted Nixon; ‘do you imagine +that a foreign court would call you up for judgement, and put the +sentence of imprisonment in the COURRIER DE L’EUROPE, as they do at the +Old Bailey? No, no, young gentleman--the gates of the Bastille, and of +Mont Saint Michel, and the Castle of Vincennes, move on d--d easy hinges +when they let folk in--not the least jar is heard. There are cool cells +there for hot heads--as calm, and quiet, and dark, as you could wish in +Bedlam--and the dismissal comes when the carpenter brings the prisoner’s +coffin, and not sooner.’ + +‘Well, Mr. Nixon,’ said Darsie, affecting a cheerfulness which he was +far from feeling, ‘mine is a hard case--a sort of hanging choice, you +will allow--since I must either offend our own government here and +run the risk of my life for doing so, or be doomed to the dungeons of +another country, whose laws I have never offended since I have never +trod its soil--Tell me what you would do if you were in my place. + +‘I’ll tell you that when I am there,’ said Nixon, and, checking his +horse, fell back to the rear of the little party. + +‘It is evident,’ thought the young man, ‘that the villain believes me +completely noosed, and perhaps has the ineffable impudence to suppose +that my sister must eventually succeed to the possessions which have +occasioned my loss of freedom, and that his own influence over the +destinies of our unhappy family may secure him possession of the +heiress; but he shall perish by my hand first!--I must now be on the +alert to make my escape, if possible, before I am forced on shipboard. +Blind Willie will not, I think, desert me without an effort on my +behalf, especially if he has learned that I am the son of his late +unhappy patron. What a change is mine! Whilst I possessed neither rank +nor fortune, I lived safely and unknown, under the protection of the +kind and respectable friends whose hearts Heaven had moved towards me. +Now that I am the head of an honourable house, and that enterprises of +the most daring character await my decision, and retainers and vassals +seem ready to rise at my beck, my safety consists chiefly in the +attachment of a blind stroller!’ + +While he was revolving these things in his mind, and preparing himself +for the interview with his uncle which could not but be a stormy one, +he saw Hugh Redgauntlet come riding slowly back to meet them without any +attendants. Cristal Nixon rode up as he approached, and, as they met, +fixed on him a look of inquiry. + +‘The fool, Crackenthorp,’ said Redgauntlet, has let strangers into his +house. Some of his smuggling comrades, I believe; we must ride slowly to +give him time to send them packing.’ + +‘Did you see any of your friends?’ said Cristal. + +‘Three, and have letters from many more. They are unanimous on the +subject you wot of--and the point must be conceded to them, or, far as +the matter has gone, it will go no further.’ + +‘You will hardly bring the father to stoop to his flock,’ said Cristal, +with a sneer. + +‘He must and shall!’ answered Redgauntlet, briefly. ‘Go to the front, +Cristal--I would speak with my nephew. I trust, Sir Arthur Redgauntlet, +you are satisfied with the manner in which I have discharged my duty to +your sister?’ + +‘There can be no fault found to her manners or sentiments,’ answered +Darsie; ‘I am happy in knowing a relative so amiable.’ + +‘I am glad of it,’ answered Mr. Redgauntlet. ‘I am no nice judge of +women’s qualifications, and my life has been dedicated to one great +object; so that since she left France she has had but little opportunity +of improvement. I have subjected her, however, as little as possible to +the inconveniences and privations of my wandering and dangerous life. +From time to time she has resided for weeks and months with families of +honour and respectability, and I am glad that she has, in, your opinion, +the manners and behaviour which become her birth.’ + +Darsie expressed himself perfectly satisfied, and there was a little +pause, which Redgauntlet broke by solemnly addressing his nephew. + +‘For you, my nephew, I also hoped to have done much. The weakness and +timidity of your mother sequestered you from my care, or it would have +been my pride and happiness to have trained up the son of my unhappy +brother in those paths of honour in which our ancestors have always +trod.’ + +‘Now comes the storm,’ thought Darsie to himself, and began to collect +his thoughts, as the cautious master of a vessel furls his sails and +makes his ship snug when he discerns the approaching squall. + +‘My mother’s conduct in respect to me might be misjudged,’ he said, ‘but +it was founded on the most anxious affection.’ + +‘Assuredly,’ said his uncle, ‘and I have no wish to reflect on her +memory, though her mistrust has done so much injury, I will not say to +me, but to the cause of my unhappy country. Her scheme was, I think, +to have made you that wretched pettifogging being, which they still +continue to call in derision by the once respectable name of a Scottish +Advocate; one of those mongrel things that must creep to learn the +ultimate decision of his causes to the bar of a foreign court, instead +of pleading before the independent and august Parliament of his own +native kingdom.’ + +‘I did prosecute the study of law for a year or two, said Darsie, ‘but I +found I had neither taste nor talents for the science.’ + +‘And left it with scorn, doubtless,’ said Mr. Redgauntlet. ‘Well, I now +hold up to you, my dearest nephew, a more worthy object of ambition. +Look eastward--do you see a monument standing on yonder plain, near a +hamlet?’ + +Darsie replied that he did, + +‘The hamlet is called Burgh-upon-Sands, and yonder monument is erected +to the memory of the tyrant Edward I. The just hand of Providence +overtook him on that spot, as he was leading his bands to complete the +subjugation of Scotland whose civil dissensions began under his accursed +policy. The glorious career of Bruce might have been stopped in its +outset; the field of Bannockburn might have remained a bloodless turf, +if God had not removed, in the very crisis, the crafty and bold tyrant +who had so long been Scotland’s scourge. Edward’s grave is the cradle of +our national freedom. It is within sight of that great landmark of our +liberty that I have to propose to you an undertaking, second in honour +and importance to none since the immortal Bruce stabbed the Red Comyn, +and grasped with his yet bloody hand the independent crown of Scotland.’ + +He paused for an answer; but Darsie, overawed by the energy of his +manner, and unwilling to commit himself by a hasty explanation, remained +silent. + +‘I will not suppose,’ said Hugh Redgauntlet, after a pause, that you +are either so dull as not to comprehend the import of my words--or so +dastardly as to be dismayed by my proposal--or so utterly degenerate +from the blood and sentiments of your ancestors, as not to feel my +summons as the horse hears the war-trumpet.’ + +‘I will not pretend to misunderstand you, sir,’ said Darsie; ‘but an +enterprise directed against a dynasty now established for three reigns +requires strong arguments, both in point of justice and of expediency, +to recommend it to men of conscience and prudence.’ + +‘I will not,’ said Redgauntlet, while his eyes sparkled with anger,--‘I +will not hear you speak a word against the justice of that enterprise, +for which your oppressed country calls with the voice of a parent, +entreating her children for aid--or against that noble revenge which +your father’s blood demands from his dishonoured grave. His skull is +yet standing over the Rikargate, [The northern gate of Carlisle was long +garnished with the heads of the Scottish rebels executed in 1746.] and +even its bleak and mouldered jaws command you to be a man. I ask you, +in the name of God and of your country, will you draw your sword and +go with me to Carlisle, were it but to lay your father’s head, now the +perch of the obscene owl and carrion crow and the scoff of every ribald +clown, in consecrated earth as befits his long ancestry?’ + +Darsie, unprepared to answer an appeal urged with so much passion, and +not doubting a direct refusal would cost him his liberty or life, was +again silent. + +‘I see,’ said his uncle, in a more composed tone, ‘that it is not +deficiency of spirit, but the grovelling habits of a confined education, +among the poor-spirited class you were condemned to herd with, that +keeps you silent. You scarce yet believe yourself a Redgauntlet; your +pulse has not yet learned the genuine throb that answers to the summons +of honour and of patriotism.’ + +‘I trust,’ replied Darsie, at last, ‘that I shall never be found +indifferent to the call of either; but to answer them with effect--even +were I convinced that they now sounded in my ear--I must see some +reasonable hope of success in the desperate enterprise in which you +would involve me. I look around me, and I see a settled government--an +established authority--a born Briton on the throne--the very Highland +mountaineers, upon whom alone the trust of the exiled family reposed, +assembled into regiments which act under the orders of the existing +dynasty. [The Highland regiments were first employed by the celebrated +Earl of Chatham, who assumed to himself no small degree of praise for +having called forth to the support of the country and the government, +the valour which had been too often directed against both.] France has +been utterly dismayed by the tremendous lessons of the last war, and +will hardly provoke another. All without and within the kingdom is +adverse to encountering a hopeless struggle, and you alone, sir, seem +willing to undertake a desperate enterprise.’ + +‘And would undertake it were it ten times more desperate; and have +agitated it when ten times the obstacles were interposed. Have I forgot +my brother’s blood? Can I--dare I even now repeat the Pater Noster, +since my enemies and the murderers remain unforgiven? Is there an art I +have not practised--a privation to which I have not submitted, to bring +on the crisis, which I now behold arrived? Have I not been a vowed and a +devoted man, forgoing every comfort of social life, renouncing even the +exercise of devotion unless when I might name in prayer my prince and +country, submitting to everything to make converts to this noble cause? +Have I done all this, and shall I now stop short?’ Darsie was about to +interrupt him, but he pressed his hand affectionately upon his shoulder, +and enjoining, or rather imploring, silence, ‘Peace,’ he said, ‘heir of +my ancestors’ fame--heir of all my hopes and wishes. Peace, son of my +slaughtered brother! I have sought for thee, and mourned for thee, as +a mother for an only child. Do not let me again lose you in the moment +when you are restored to my hopes. Believe me, I distrust so much my own +impatient temper, that I entreat you, as the dearest boon, do naught to +awaken it at this crisis.’ + +Darsie was not sorry to reply that his respect for the person of his +relation would induce him to listen to all which he had to apprise him +of, before he formed any definite resolution upon the weighty subjects +of deliberation which he proposed to him. + +‘Deliberation!’ repeated Redgauntlet, impatiently; ‘and yet it is not +ill said. I wish there had been more warmth in thy reply, Arthur; but I +must recollect, were an eagle bred in a falcon’s mew and hooded like a +reclaimed hawk, he could not at first gaze steadily on the sun. Listen +to me, my dearest Arthur. The state of this nation no more implies +prosperity, than the florid colour of a feverish patient is a symptom +of health. All is false and hollow. The apparent success of Chatham’s +administration has plunged the country deeper in debt than all the +barren acres of Canada are worth, were they as fertile as Yorkshire--the +dazzling lustre of the victories of Minden and Quebec have been dimmed +by the disgrace of the hasty peace--by the war, England, at immense +expense, gained nothing but honour, and that she has gratuitously +resigned. Many eyes, formerly cold and indifferent, are now looking +towards the line of our ancient and rightful monarchs, as the only +refuge in the approaching storm--the rich are alarmed--the nobles are +disgusted--the populace are inflamed--and a band of patriots, whose +measures are more safe than their numbers are few, have resolved to set +up King Charles’s standard.’ + +‘But the military,’ said Darsie--‘how can you, with a body of unarmed +and disorderly insurgents, propose to encounter a regular army. The +Highlanders are now totally disarmed.’ + +‘In a great measure, perhaps,’ answered Redgauntlet; ‘but the policy +which raised the Highland regiments has provided for that. We have +already friends in these corps; nor can we doubt for a moment what their +conduct will be when the white cockade is once more mounted. The rest +of the standing army has been greatly reduced since the peace; and we +reckon confidently on our standard being joined by thousands of the +disbanded troops.’ + +‘Alas!’ said Darsie, ‘and is it upon such vague hopes as these, the +inconstant humour of a crowd or of a disbanded soldiery, that men of +honour are invited to risk their families, their property, their life?’ + +‘Men of honour, boy,’ said Redgauntlet, his eyes glancing with +impatience, ‘set life, property, family, and all at stake, when that +honour commands it! We are not now weaker than when seven men, landing +in the wilds of Moidart, shook the throne of the usurper till it +tottered--won two pitched fields, besides overrunning one kingdom and +the half of another, and, but for treachery, would have achieved what +their venturous successors are now to attempt in their turn.’ + +‘And will such an attempt be made in serious earnest?’ said Darsie. +‘Excuse me, my uncle, if I can scarce believe a fact so extraordinary. +Will there really be found men of rank and consequence sufficient to +renew the adventure of 1745?’ + +‘I will not give you my confidence by halves, Sir Arthur,’ replied his +uncle--‘Look at that scroll--what say you to these names?--Are they not +the flower of the western shires--of Wales of Scotland?’ + +‘The paper contains indeed the names of many that are great and noble,’ +replied Darsie, after perusing it; ‘but’-- + +‘But what?’ asked his uncle, impatiently; ‘do you doubt the ability of +those nobles and gentlemen to furnish the aid in men and money at which +they are rated?’ + +‘Not their ability certainly,’ said Darsie, ‘for of that I am no +competent judge; but I see in this scroll the name of Sir Arthur Darsie +Redgauntlet of that Ilk, rated at a hundred men and upwards--I certainly +am ignorant how he is to redeem that pledge.’ + +‘I will be responsible for the men,’ replied Hugh Redgauntlet. + +‘But, my dear uncle,’ added Darsie, ‘I hope for your sake that the other +individuals whose names are here written, have had more acquaintance +with your plan than I have been indulged with.’ + +‘For thee and thine I can be myself responsible,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘for +if thou hast not the courage to head the force of thy house, the leading +shall pass to other hands, and thy inheritance shall depart from thee +like vigour and verdure from a rotten branch. For these honourable +persons, a slight condition there is which they annex to their +friendship--something so trifling that it is scarce worthy of mention. +This boon granted to them by him who is most interested, there is no +question they will take the field in the manner there stated.’ + +Again Darsie perused the paper, and felt himself still less inclined to +believe that so many men of family and fortune were likely to embark in +an enterprise so fatal. It seemed as if some rash plotter had put +down at a venture the names of all whom common report tainted with +Jacobitism; or if it was really the act of the individuals named, he +suspected that they must be aware of some mode of excusing themselves +from compliance with its purport. It was impossible, he thought, that +Englishmen, of large fortune, who had failed to join Charles when he +broke into England at the head of a victorious army, should have the +least thoughts of encouraging a descent when circumstances were so much +less propitious. He therefore concluded the enterprise would fall to +pieces of itself, and that his best way was, in the meantime, to remain +silent, unless the actual approach of a crisis (which might, however, +never arrive) should compel him to give a downright refusal to his +uncle’s proposition; and if, in the interim, some door for escape should +be opened, he resolved within himself not to omit availing himself of +it. + +Hugh Redgauntlet watched his nephew’s looks for some time, and then, as +if arriving from some other process of reasoning at the same conclusion, +he said, ‘I have told you, Sir Arthur, that I do not urge your immediate +accession to my proposal; indeed the consequences of a refusal would be +so dreadful to yourself, so destructive to all the hopes which I have +nursed, that I would not risk, by a moment’s impatience, the object of +my whole life. Yes, Arthur, I have been a self-denying hermit at one +time--at another, the apparent associate of outlaws and desperadoes--at +another, the subordinate agent of men whom I felt in every way my +inferiors--not for any selfish purpose of my own, no, not even to win +for myself the renown of being the principal instrument in restoring +my king and freeing my country. My first wish on earth is for +that restoration and that freedom--my next, that my nephew, the +representative of my house and of the brother of my love, may have the +advantage and the credit of all my efforts in the good cause. But,’ he +added, darting on Darsie one of his withering frowns, ‘if Scotland and +my father’s house cannot stand and flourish together, then perish the +very name of Redgauntlet! perish the son of my brother, with every +recollection of the glories of my family, of the affections of my youth, +rather than my country’s cause should be injured in the tithing of +a barley-corn! The spirit of Sir Alberick is alive within me at this +moment,’ he continued, drawing up his stately form and sitting erect in +his saddle, while he pressed his finger against his forehead; ‘and if +you yourself crossed my path in opposition, I swear, by the mark that +darkens my brow, that a new deed should be done--a new doom should be +deserved!’ + +He was silent, and his threats were uttered in a tone of voice so deeply +resolute, that Darsie’s heart sank within him, when he reflected on the +storm of passion which he must encounter, if he declined to join his +uncle in a project to which prudence and principle made him equally +adverse. He had scarce any hope left but in temporizing until he could +make his escape, and resolved to avail himself for that purpose of the +delay which his uncle seemed not unwilling to grant. The stern, +gloomy look of his companion became relaxed by degrees, and presently +afterwards he made a sign to Miss Redgauntlet to join the party, and +began a forced conversation on ordinary topics; in the course of which +Darsie observed that his sister seemed to speak under the most cautious +restraint, weighing every word before she uttered it, and always +permitting her uncle to give the tone to the conversation, though of the +most trifling kind. This seemed to him (such an opinion had he already +entertained of his sister’s good sense and firmness) the strongest proof +he had yet received of his uncle’s peremptory character, since he saw it +observed with so much deference by a young person whose sex might have +given her privileges, and who seemed by no means deficient either in +spirit or firmness. + +The little cavalcade was now approaching the house of Father +Crackenthorp, situated, as the reader knows, by the side of the +Solway, and not far distant front a rude pier, near which lay several +fishing-boats, which frequently acted in a different capacity. The house +of the worthy publican was also adapted to the various occupations which +he carried on, being a large scrambling assemblage of cottages attached +to a house of two stories, roofed with flags of sandstone--the original +mansion, to which the extensions of Mr. Crackenthorp’s trade had +occasioned his making many additions. Instead of the single long +watering-trough which usually distinguishes the front of the English +public-house of the second class, there were three conveniences of that +kind, for the use, as the landlord used to say, of the troop-horses when +the soldiers came to search his house; while a knowing leer and a nod +let you understand what species of troops he was thinking of. A huge +ash-tree before the door, which had reared itself to a great size +and height, in spite of the blasts from the neighbouring Solway, +overshadowed, as usual, the ale-bench, as our ancestors called it, +where, though it was still early in the day, several fellows, who seemed +to be gentlemen’s servants, were drinking beer and smoking. One or two +of them wore liveries which seemed known to Mr. Redgauntlet, for he +muttered between his teeth, ‘Fools, fools! were they on a march to hell, +they must have their rascals in livery with them, that the whole world +might know who were going to be damned.’ + +As he thus muttered, he drew bridle before the door of the place, +from which several other lounging guests began to issue, to look with +indolent curiosity as usual, upon an ARRIVAL. + +Redgauntlet sprang from his horse, and assisted his niece to dismount; +but, forgetting, perhaps, his nephew’s disguise, he did not pay him the +attention which his female dress demanded. + +The situation of Darsie was indeed something awkward; for Cristal Nixon, +out of caution perhaps to prevent escape, had muffled the extreme folds +of the riding-skirt with which he was accoutred, around his ankles and +under his feet, and there secured it with large corking-pins. We presume +that gentlemen-cavaliers may sometimes cast their eyes to that part +of the person of the fair equestrians whom they chance occasionally to +escort; and if they will conceive their own feet, like Darsie’s, muffled +in such a labyrinth of folds and amplitude of robe, as modesty doubtless +induces the fair creatures to assume upon such occasions, they will +allow that, on a first attempt, they might find some awkwardness in +dismounting. Darsie, at least, was in such a predicament, for, not +receiving adroit assistance from the attendant of Mr. Redgauntlet, he +stumbled as he dismounted from the horse, and might have had a bad fall, +had it not been broken by the gallant interposition of a gentleman, who +probably was, on his part, a little surprised at the solid weight of the +distressed fair one whom he had the honour to receive in his embrace. +But what was his surprise to that of Darsie, when the hurry of the +moment and of the accident, permitted him to see that it was his friend +Alan Fairford in whose arms he found himself! A thousand apprehensions +rushed on him, mingled with the full career of hope and joy, inspired by +the unexpected appearance of his beloved friend at the very crisis, it +seemed, of his fate. + +He was about to whisper in his ear, cautioning him at the same time to +be silent; yet he hesitated for a second or two to effect his purpose, +since, should Redgauntlet take the alarm from any sudden exclamation on +the part of Alan, there was no saying what consequences might ensue. + +Ere he could decide what was to be done, Redgauntlet, who had entered +the house, returned hastily, followed by Cristal Nixon. ‘I’ll release +you of the charge of this young lady, sir;’ he said, haughtily, to Alan +Fairford, whom he probably did not recognize. + +‘I had no desire to intrude, sir,’ replied Alan; ‘the lady’s situation +seemed to require assistance--and--but have I not the honour to speak to +Mr. Herries of Birrenswork?’ + +‘You are mistaken, sir,’ said Redgauntlet, turning short off, and +making a sign with his hand to Cristal, who hurried Darsie, however +unwillingly, into the house, whispering in his ear, ‘Come, miss, let us +have no making of acquaintance from the windows. Ladies of fashion must +be private. Show us a room, Father Crackenthorp.’ + +So saying, he conducted Darsie into the house, interposing at the same +time his person betwixt the supposed young lady and the stranger of whom +he was suspicious, so as to make communication by signs impossible. As +they entered, they heard the sound of a fiddle in the stone-floored +and well-sanded kitchen, through which they were about to follow their +corpulent host, and where several people seemed engaged in dancing to +its strains. + +‘D--n thee,’ said Nixon to Crackenthorp, ‘would you have the lady go +through all the mob of the parish? Hast thou no more private way to our +sitting-room?’ + +‘None that is fit for my travelling,’ answered the landlord, laying his +hand on his portly stomach. ‘I am not Tom Turnpenny, to creep like a +lizard through keyholes.’ + +So saying, he kept moving on through the revellers in the kitchen; and +Nixon, holding Darsie by his arm, as if to offer the lady support but +in all probability to frustrate any effort at escape, moved through the +crowd, which presented a very motley appearance, consisting of domestic +servants, country fellows, seamen, and other idlers, whom Wandering +Willie was regaling with his music. + +To pass another friend without intimation of his presence would have +been actual pusillanimity; and just when they were passing the blind +man’s elevated seat, Darsie asked him with some emphasis, whether he +could not play a Scottish air? The man’s face had been the instant +before devoid of all sort of expression, going through his performance +like a clown through a beautiful country, too much accustomed to +consider it as a task, to take any interest in the performance, and, in +fact, scarce seeming to hear the noise that he was creating. In a +word, he might at the time have made a companion to my friend Wilkie’s +inimitable blind crowder. But with Wandering Willie this was only an +occasional and a rare fit of dullness, such as will at times creep over +all the professors of the fine arts, arising either from fatigue, or +contempt of the present audience, or that caprice which so often tempts +painters and musicians and great actors, in the phrase of the latter, to +walk through their part, instead of exerting themselves with the energy +which acquired their fame. But when the performer heard the voice of +Darsie, his countenance became at once illuminated, and showed the +complete mistake of those who suppose that the principal point of +expression depends upon the eyes. With his face turned to the point from +which the sound came, his upper lip a little curved, and quivering with +agitation, and with a colour which surprise and pleasure had brought at +once into his faded cheek, he exchanged the humdrum hornpipe which he +had been sawing out with reluctant and lazy bow, for the fine Scottish +air, + + You’re welcome, Charlie Stuart, + +which flew from his strings as if by inspiration and after a breathless +pause of admiration among the audience, was received with a clamour of +applause, which seemed to show that the name and tendency, as well as +the execution of the tune, was in the highest degree acceptable to all +the party assembled. + +In the meantime, Cristal Nixon, still keeping hold of Darsie, and +following the landlord, forced his way with some difficulty through the +crowded kitchen, and entered a small apartment on the other side of it, +where they found Lilias Redgauntlet already seated. Here Nixon gave +way to his suppressed resentment, and turning sternly on Crackenthorp, +threatened him with his master’s severest displeasure, because things +were in such bad order to receive his family, when he had given such +special advice that he desired to be private. But Father Crackenthorp +was not a man to be brow-beaten. + +‘Why, brother Nixon, thou art angry this morning,’ he replied; ‘hast +risen from thy wrong side, I think. You know, as well as I, that most of +this mob is of the squire’s own making--gentlemen that come with their +servants, and so forth, to meet him in the way of business, as old Tom +Turnpenny says--the very last that came was sent down with Dick Gardener +from Fairladies.’ + +‘But the blind scraping scoundrel yonder,’ said Nixon, ‘how dared you +take such a rascal as that across your threshold at such a time as this? +If the squire should dream you have a thought of peaching--I am only +speaking for your good, Father Crackenthorp.’ + +‘Why, look ye, brother Nixon,’ said Crackenthorp, turning his quid with +great composure, ‘the squire is a very worthy gentleman, and I’ll never +deny it; but I am neither his servant nor his tenant, and so he need +send me none of his orders till he hears I have put on his livery. As +for turning away folk from my door, I might as well plug up the ale-tap, +and pull down the sign--and as for peaching, and such like, the squire +will find the folk here are as honest to the full as those he brings +with him.’ + +‘How, you impudent lump of tallow,’ said Nixon, ‘what do you mean by +that?’ + +‘Nothing,’ said Crackenthorp, ‘but that I can tour out as well as +another--you understand me--keep good lights in my upper story--know a +thing or two more than most folk in this country. If folk will come to +my house on dangerous errands, egad they shall not find Joe Crackenthorp +a cat’s-paw. I’ll keep myself clear, you may depend on it, and let every +man answer for his own actions--that’s my way. Anything wanted, Master +Nixon?’ + +‘No--yes--begone!’ said Nixon, who seemed embarrassed with the +landlord’s contumacy, yet desirous to conceal the effect it produced on +him. + +The door was no sooner closed on Crackenthorp, than Miss Redgauntlet, +addressing Nixon, commanded him to leave the room and go to his proper +place. + +‘How, madam?’ said the fellow sullenly, yet with an air of respect, +‘Would you have your uncle pistol me for disobeying his orders?’ + +‘He may perhaps pistol you for some other reason, if you do not obey +mine,’ said Lilias, composedly. + +‘You abuse your advantage over me, madam--I really dare not go--I am on +guard over this other miss here; and if I should desert my post, my life +were not worth five minutes’ purchase.’ + +‘Then know your post, sir,’ said Lilias, ‘and watch on the outside of +the door. You have no commission to listen to our private conversation, +I suppose? Begone, sir, without further speech or remonstrance, or I +will tell my uncle that which you would have reason to repent be should +know.’ + +The fellow looked at her with a singular expression of spite, mixed +with deference. ‘You abuse your advantages, madam,’ he said, ‘and act as +foolishly in doing so as I did in affording you such a hank over me. But +you are a tyrant; and tyrants have commonly short reigns.’ + +So saying, he left the apartment. + +‘The wretch’s unparalleled insolence,’ said Lilias to her brother, ‘has +given me one great advantage over him. For knowing that my uncle would +shoot him with as little remorse as a woodcock, if he but guessed at his +brazen-faced assurance towards me, he dares not since that time assume, +so far as I am concerned, the air of insolent domination which the +possession of my uncle’s secrets, and the knowledge of his most secret +plans, have led him to exert over others of his family.’ + +‘In the meantime,’ said Darsie, ‘I am happy to see that the landlord +of the house does not seem so devoted to him as I apprehended; and this +aids the hope of escape which I am nourishing for you and for myself. O +Lilias! the truest of friends, Alan Fairford, is in pursuit of me, and +is here at this moment. Another humble, but, I think, faithful friend, +is also within these dangerous walls.’ + +Lilias laid her finger on her lips, and pointed to the door. Darsie took +the hint, lowered his voice, and informed her in whispers of the arrival +of Fairford, and that he believed he had opened a communication with +Wandering Willie. She listened with the utmost interest, and had just +begun to reply, when a loud noise was heard in the kitchen, caused +by several contending voices, amongst which Darsie thought he could +distinguish that of Alan Fairford. + +Forgetting how little his own condition permitted him to become the +assistant of another, Darsie flew to the door of the room, and finding +it locked and bolted on the outside, rushed against it with all +his force, and made the most desperate efforts to burst it open, +notwithstanding the entreaties of his sister that he would compose +himself and recollect the condition in which he was placed. But the +door, framed to withstand attacks from excisemen, constables, and other +personages, considered as worthy to use what are called the king’s keys, +[In common parlance, a crowbar and hatchet.] ‘and therewith to make +lockfast places open and patent,’ set his efforts at defiance. Meantime +the noise continued without, and we are to give an account of its origin +in our next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +NARRATIVE OF DARSIE LATIMER, CONTINUED + +Joe Crackenthorp’s public-house had never, since it first reared +its chimneys on the banks of the Solway, been frequented by such a +miscellaneous group of visitors as had that morning become its guests. +Several of them were persons whose quality seemed much superior to +their dresses and modes of travelling. The servants who attended them +contradicted the inferences to be drawn from the garb of their masters, +and, according to the custom of the knights of the rainbow, gave many +hints that they were not people to serve any but men of first-rate +consequence. These gentlemen, who had come thither chiefly for the +purpose of meeting with Mr. Redgauntlet, seemed moody and anxious, +conversed and walked together apparently in deep conversation, and +avoided any communication with the chance travellers whom accident +brought that morning to the same place of resort. + +As if Fate had set herself to confound the plans of the Jacobite +conspirators, the number of travellers was unusually great, their +appearance respectable, and they filled the public tap-room of the inn, +where the political guests had already occupied most of the private +apartments. + +Amongst others, honest Joshua Geddes had arrived, travelling, as he +said, in the sorrow of the soul, and mourning for the fate of Darsie +Latimer as he would for his first-born child. He had skirted the whole +coast of the Solway, besides making various trips into the interior, +not shunning, on such occasions, to expose himself to the laugh of the +scorner, nay, even to serious personal risk, by frequenting the haunts +of smugglers, horse-jockeys, and other irregular persons, who looked +on his intrusion with jealous eyes, and were apt to consider him as +an exciseman in the disguise of a Quaker. All this labour and peril, +however, had been undergone in vain. No search he could make obtained +the least intelligence of Latimer, so that he began to fear the poor lad +had been spirited abroad--for the practice of kidnapping was then not +infrequent, especially on the western coasts of Britain--if indeed he +had escaped a briefer and more bloody fate. + +With a heavy heart, he delivered his horse, even Solomon, into the hands +of the ostler, and walking into the inn, demanded from the landlord +breakfast and a private room. Quakers, and such hosts as old Father +Crackenthorp, are no congenial spirits; the latter looked askew over his +shoulder, and replied, ‘If you would have breakfast here, friend, you +are like to eat it where other folk eat theirs.’ + +‘And wherefore can I not,’ said the Quaker, ‘have an apartment to +myself, for my money?’ + +‘Because, Master Jonathan, you must wait till your betters be served, or +else eat with your equals.’ + +Joshua Geddes argued the point no further, but sitting quietly down on +the seat which Crackenthorp indicated to him, and calling for a pint +of ale, with some bread, butter, and Dutch cheese, began to satisfy the +appetite which the morning air had rendered unusually alert. + +While the honest Quaker was thus employed, another stranger entered the +apartment, and sat down near to the table on which his victuals were +placed. He looked repeatedly at Joshua, licked his parched and chopped +lips as he saw the good Quaker masticate his bread and cheese, and +sucked up his thin chops when Mr. Geddes applied the tankard to his +mouth, as if the discharge of these bodily functions by another had +awakened his sympathies in an uncontrollable degree. At last, being +apparently unable to withstand his longings, he asked, in a faltering +tone, the huge landlord, who was tramping through the room in all +corpulent impatience, whether he could have a plack-pie?’ + +‘Never heard of such a thing, master,’ said the landlord, and was about +to trudge onward; when the guest, detaining him, said, in a strong +Scottish tone, ‘Ya will maybe have nae whey then, nor buttermilk, nor ye +couldna exhibit a souter’s clod?’ + +‘Can’t tell what ye are talking about, master,’ said Crackenthorp. + +‘Then ye will have nae breakfast that will come within ‘the compass of a +shilling Scots?’ + +‘Which is a penny sterling,’ answered Crackenthorp, with a sneer. ‘Why, +no, Sawney, I can’t say as we have--we can’t afford it; But you shall +have a bellyful for love, as we say in the bull-ring.’ + +‘I shall never refuse a fair offer,’ said the poverty-stricken guest; +‘and I will say that for the English, if they were deils, that they are +a ceeveleesed people to gentlemen that are under a cloud.’ + +‘Gentlemen!--humph!’ said Crackenthorp--‘not a blue-cap among them but +halts upon that foot.’ Then seizing on a dish which still contained a +huge cantle of what had been once a princely mutton pasty, he placed +it on the table before the stranger, saying, ‘There, master gentleman; +there is what is worth all the black pies, as you call them, that were +ever made of sheep’s head.’ + +‘Sheep’s head is a gude thing, for a’ that,’ replied the guest; but +not being spoken so loud as to offend his hospitable entertainer, the +interjection might pass for a private protest against the scandal thrown +out against the standing dish of Caledonia. + +This premised, he immediately began to transfer the mutton and +pie-crust from his plate to his lips, in such huge gobbets, as if he was +refreshing after a three days’ fast, and laying in provisions against a +whole Lent to come. + +Joshua Geddes in his turn gazed on him with surprise, having never, he +thought, beheld such a gaunt expression of hunger in the act of eating. +‘Friend,’ he said, after watching him for some minutes, ‘if thou gorgest +thyself in this fashion, thou wilt assuredly choke. Wilt thou not take a +draught out of my cup to help down all that dry meat?’ + +‘Troth,’ said the stranger, stopping and looking at the friendly +propounder, ‘that’s nae bad overture, as they say in the General +Assembly. I have heard waur motions than that frae wiser counsel.’ + +Mr. Geddes ordered a quart of home-brewed to be placed before our friend +Peter Peebles; for the reader must have already conceived that this +unfortunate litigant was the wanderer in question. + +The victim of Themis had no sooner seen the flagon, than he seized +it with the same energy which he had displayed in operating upon the +pie--puffed off the froth with such emphasis, that some of it lighted on +Mr. Geddes’s head--and then said, as if with it sudden recollection of +what was due to civility, ‘Here’s to ye, friend. What! are ye ower grand +to give me an answer, or are ye dull o’ hearing?’ + +‘I prithee drink thy liquor, friend,’ said the good Quaker; ‘thou +meanest it in civility, but we care not for these idle fashions.’ + +‘What! ye are a Quaker, are ye?’ said Peter; and without further +ceremony reared the flagon to his head, from which he withdrew it not +while a single drop of ‘barley-broo’ remained. ‘That’s done you and +me muckle gude,’ he said, sighing as he set down his pot; ‘but twa +mutchkins o’ yill between twa folk is a drappie ower little measure. +What say ye to anither pot? or shall we cry in a blithe Scots pint at +ance? The yill is no amiss.’ + +‘Thou mayst call for what thou wilt on thine own charges, friend,’ said +Geddes; ‘for myself, I willingly contribute to the quenching of thy +natural thirst; but I fear it were no such easy matter to relieve thy +acquired and artificial drought.’ + +‘That is to say, in plain terms, ye are for withdrawing your caution +with the folk of the house? You Quaker folk are but fause comforters; +but since ye have garred me drink sae muckle cauld yill--me that am no +used to the like of it in the forenoon--I think ye might as weel have +offered me a glass of brandy or usquabae--I’m nae nice body--I can drink +onything that’s wet and toothsome.’ + +‘Not a drop at my cost, friend,’ quoth Geddes. ‘Thou art an old man, and +hast perchance a heavy and long journey before thee. Thou art, moreover, +my countryman, as I judge from thy tongue; and I will not give thee the +means of dishonouring thy grey hairs in a strange land.’ + +‘Grey hairs, neighbour!’ said Peter, with a wink to the bystanders, whom +this dialogue began to interest, and who were in hopes of seeing the +Quaker played off by the crazed beggar, for such Peter Peebles appeared +to be. ‘Grey hairs! The Lord mend your eyesight, neighbour, that disna +ken grey hairs frae a tow wig!’ + +This jest procured a shout of laughter, and, what was still more +acceptable than dry applause, a man who stood beside called out, ‘Father +Crackenthorp, bring a nipperkin of brandy. I’ll bestow a dram on this +fellow, were it but for that very word.’ + +The brandy was immediately brought by a wench who acted as barmaid; and +Peter, with a grin of delight, filled a glass, quaffed it off, and then +saying, ‘God bless me! I was so unmannerly as not to drink to ye--I +think the Quaker has smitten me wi’ his ill-bred havings,’--he was about +to fill another, when his hand was arrested by his new friend; who said +at the same time, ‘No, no, friend--fair play’s a jewel--time about, if +you please.’ And filling a glass for himself, emptied it as gallantly +as Peter could have done. ‘What say you to that, friend?’ he continued, +addressing the Quaker. + +‘Nay, friend,’ answered Joshua, ‘it went down thy throat, not mine; and +I have nothing to say about what concerns me not; but if thou art a +man of humanity, thou wilt not give this poor creature the means of +debauchery. Bethink thee that they will spurn him from the door, as +they would do a houseless and masterless dog, and that he may die on the +sands or on the common. And if he has through thy means been rendered +incapable of helping himself, thou shalt not be innocent of his blood.’ + +‘Faith, Broadbrim, I believe thou art right, and the old gentleman in +the flaxen jazy shall have no more of the comforter. Besides, we have +business in hand to-day, and this fellow, for as mad as he looks, may +have a nose on his face after all. Hark ye, father,--what is your name, +and what brings you into such an out-of-the-way corner?’ + +‘I am not just free to condescend on my name,’ said Peter; ‘and as for +my business--there is a wee dribble of brandy in the stoup--it would be +wrang to leave it to the lass--it is learning her bad usages.’ + +‘Well, thou shalt have the brandy, and be d--d to thee, if thou wilt +tell me what you are making here.’ + +‘Seeking a young advocate chap that they ca’ Alan Fairford, that has +played me a slippery trick, and ye maun ken a’ about the cause,’ said +Peter. + +‘An advocate, man!’ answered the captain of the JUMPING JENNY--for it +was he, and no other, who had taken compassion on Peter’s drought; +‘why, Lord help thee, thou art on the wrong side of the Firth to seek +advocates, whom I take to be Scottish lawyers, not English.’ + +‘English lawyers, man!’ exclaimed Peter, ‘the deil a lawyer’s in a’ +England.’ + +‘I wish from my soul it were true,’ said Ewart; ‘but what the devil put +that in your head?’ + +‘Lord, man, I got a grip of ane of their attorneys in Carlisle, and he +tauld me that there wasna a lawyer in England ony mair than himsell that +kend the nature of a multiple-poinding! And when I told him how this +loopy lad, Alan Fairford, had served me, he said I might bring an action +on the case--just as if the case hadna as mony actions already as one +case can weel carry. By my word, it is a gude case, and muckle has it +borne, in its day, of various procedure--but it’s the barley-pickle +breaks the naig’s back, and wi’ my consent it shall not hae ony mair +burden laid upon it.’ + +‘But this Alan Fairford?’ said Nanty--‘come--sip up the drop of brandy, +man, and tell me some more about him, and whether you are seeking him +for good or for harm.’ + +‘For my ain gude, and for his harm, to be sure,’ said Peter. ‘Think of +his having left my cause in the dead-thraw between the tyneing and +the winning, and capering off into Cumberland here, after a wild +loup-the-tether lad they ca’ Darsie Latimer.’ + +‘Darsie Latimer!’ said Mr. Geddes, hastily; ‘do you know anything of +Darsie Latimer?’ + +‘Maybe I do, and maybe I do not,’ answered Peter; ‘I am no free to +answer every body’s interrogatory, unless it is put judicially, and by +form of law--specially where folk think so much of a caup of sour yill, +or a thimblefu’ of brandy. But as for this gentleman, that has shown +himself a gentleman at breakfast, and will show himself a gentleman at +the meridian, I am free to condescend upon any points in the cause that +may appear to bear upon the question at issue.’ + +‘Why, all I want to know from you, my friend, is, whether you are +seeking to do this Mr. Alan Fairford good or harm; because if you come +to do him good, I think you could maybe get speech of him--and if to do +him harm, I will take the liberty to give you a cast across the Firth, +with fair warning not to come back on such an errand, lest worse come of +it.’ + +The manner and language of Ewart were such that Joshua Geddes resolved +to keep cautious silence, till he could more plainly discover whether he +was likely to aid or impede him in his researches after Darsie Latimer. +He therefore determined to listen attentively to what should pass +between Peter and the seaman, and to watch for an opportunity of +questioning the former, so soon as he should be separated from his new +acquaintance. + +‘I wad by no means,’ said Peter Peebles, ‘do any substantial harm to the +poor lad Fairford, who has had mony a gowd guinea of mine, as weel as +his father before him; but I wad hae him brought back to the minding of +my business and his ain; and maybe I wadna insist further in my action +of damages against him, than for refunding the fees, and for some annual +rent on the principal sum due frae the day on which he should have +recovered it for me, plack and bawbee, at the great advising; for ye +are aware, that is the least that I can ask NOMINE DAMNI; and I have nae +thought to break down the lad bodily a’thegither--we maun live and let +live--forgie and forget.’ + +‘The deuce take me, friend Broadbrim,’ said Nanty Ewart, looking to the +Quaker, ‘if I can make out what this old scarecrow means. If I thought +it was fitting that Master Fairford should see him, why perhaps it is +a matter that could be managed. Do you know anything about the old +fellow?--you seemed to take some charge of him just now.’ + +‘No more than I should have done by any one in distress,’ said Geddes, +not sorry to be appealed to; ‘but I will try what I can do to find out +who he is, and what he is about in this country. But are we not a little +too public in this open room?’ + +‘It’s well thought of,’ said Nanty; and at his command the barmaid +ushered the party into a side-booth, Peter attending them in the +instinctive hope that there would be more liquor drunk among them before +parting. They had scarce sat down in their new apartment, when the sound +of a violin was heard in the room which they had just left. + +‘I’ll awa back yonder,’ said Peter, rising up again; ‘yon’s the sound of +a fiddle, and when there is music, there’s ay something ganging to eat +or drink.’ + +‘I am just going to order something here,’ said the Quaker; ‘but in the +meantime, have you any objection, my good friend, to tell us your name?’ + +‘None in the world, if you are wanting to drink to me by name and +surname,’ answered Peebles; ‘but, otherwise, I would rather evite your +interrogatories.’ + +‘Friend,’ said the Quaker, ‘it is not for thine own health, seeing thou +hast drunk enough already--however--here, handmaiden--bring me a gill of +sherry.’ + +‘Sherry’s but shilpit drink, and a gill’s a sma’ measure for twa +gentlemen to crack ower at their first acquaintance. But let us see your +sneaking gill of sherry,’ said Poor Peter, thrusting forth his huge +hand to seize on the diminutive pewter measure, which, according to the +fashion of the time, contained the generous liquor freshly drawn from +the butt. + +‘Nay, hold, friend,’ said Joshua, ‘thou hast not yet told me what name +and surname I am to call thee by.’ + +‘D--d sly in the Quaker,’ said Nanty, apart, ‘to make him pay for his +liquor before he gives it him. Now, I am such a fool, that I should have +let him get too drunk to open his mouth, before I thought of asking him +a question.’ + +‘My name is Peter Peebles, then,’ said the litigant, rather sulkily, +as one who thought his liquor too sparingly meted out to him; ‘and what +have you to say to that?’ + +‘Peter Peebles?’ repeated Nanty Ewart and seemed to muse upon something +which the words brought to his remembrance, while the Quaker pursued his +examination. + +‘But I prithee, Peter Peebles, what is thy further designation? Thou +knowest, in our country, that some men are distinguished by their craft +and calling, as cordwainers, fishers, weavers, or the like, and some by +their titles as proprietors of land (which savours of vanity)--now, how +may you be distinguished from others of the same name?’ + +‘As Peter Peebles of the great plea of Poor Peter Peebles against +Plainstanes, ET PER CONTRA--if I am laird of naething else, I am ay a +DOMINUS LITIS.’ + +‘It’s but a poor lairdship, I doubt,’ said Joshua. + +‘Pray, Mr. Peebles,’ said Nanty, interrupting the conversation abruptly, +‘were not you once a burgess of Edinburgh?’ + +‘WAS I a burgess!’ said Peter indignantly, ‘and AM I not a burgess even +now? I have done nothing to forfeit my right, I trow--once provost and +ay my lord.’ + +‘Well, Mr. Burgess, tell me further, have you not some property in the +Gude Town?’ continued Ewart. + +‘Troth have I--that is, before my misfortunes, I had twa or three bonny +bits of mailings amang the closes and wynds, forby the shop and the +story abune it. But Plainstanes has put me to the causeway now. Never +mind though, I will be upsides with him yet.’ + +‘Had not you once a tenement in the Covenant Close?’ again demanded +Nanty. + +‘You have hit it, lad, though ye look not like a Covenanter,’ said +Peter; ‘we’ll drink to its memory--(Hout! the heart’s at the mouth o’ +that ill-faur’d bit stoup already!)--it brought a rent, reckoning from +the crawstep to the groundsill, that ye might ca’ fourteen punds a year, +forby the laigh cellar that was let to Lucky Littleworth.’ + +‘And do you not remember that you had a poor old lady for your tenant, +Mrs. Cantrips of Kittlebasket?’ said Nanty, suppressing his emotion with +difficulty. + +‘Remember! G--d, I have gude cause to remember her,’ said Peter, ‘for +she turned a dyvour on my hands, the auld besom! and after a’ that the +law could do to make me satisfied and paid, in the way of poinding and +distrenzieing and sae forth, as the law will, she ran awa to the charity +workhouse, a matter of twenty punds Scots in my debt--it’s a great shame +and oppression that charity workhouse, taking in bankrupt dyvours that +canna, pay their honest creditors.’ + +‘Methinks, friend,’ said the Quaker, ‘thine own rags might teach thee +compassion for other people’s nakedness.’ + +‘Rags!’ said Peter, taking Joshua’s words literally; ‘does ony wise body +put on their best coat when they are travelling, and keeping company +with Quakers, and such other cattle as the road affords?’ + +‘The old lady DIED, I have heard,’ said Nanty, affecting a moderation +which was belied by accents that faltered with passion. + +‘She might live or die, for what I care,’ answered Peter the Cruel; +‘what business have folk to do to live that canna live as law will, and +satisfy their just and lawful creditors?’ + +‘And you--you that are now yourself trodden down in the very kennel, +are you not sorry for what you have done? Do you not repent having +occasioned the poor widow woman’s death?’ + +‘What for should I repent?’ said Peter; ‘the law was on my side--a +decreet of the bailies, followed by poinding, and an act of warding--a +suspension intented, and the letters found orderly proceeded. I followed +the auld rudas through twa courts--she cost me mair money than her lugs +were worth.’ + +‘Now, by Heaven!’ said Nanty, ‘I would give a thousand guineas, if I had +them, to have you worth my beating! Had you said you repented, it had +been between God and your conscience; but to hear you boast of your +villany--Do you think it little to have reduced the aged to famine, and +the young to infamy--to have caused the death of one woman, the ruin of +another, and to have driven a man to exile and despair? By Him that made +me, I can scarce keep hands off you! + +‘Off me? I defy ye!’ said Peter. ‘I take this honest man to witness that +if ye stir the neck of my collar, I will have my action for stouthreif, +spulzie, oppression, assault and battery. Here’s a bra’ din, indeed, +about an auld wife gaun to the grave, a young limmer to the close-heads +and causeway, and a sticket stibbler [A student of divinity who has not +been able to complete his studies on theology.] to the sea instead of +the gallows!’ + +‘Now, by my soul,’ said Nanty, ‘this is too much! and since you can feel +no otherwise, I will try if I cannot beat some humanity into your head +and shoulders.’ + +He drew his hanger as he spoke, and although Joshua, who had in vain +endeavoured to interrupt the dialogue to which he foresaw a violent +termination, now threw himself between Nanty and the old litigant, he +could not prevent the latter from receiving two or three sound slaps +over the shoulder with the flat side of the weapon. + +Poor Peter Peebles, as inglorious in his extremity as he had been +presumptuous in bringing it on, now ran and roared, and bolted out of +the apartment and house itself, pursued by Nanty, whose passion became +high in proportion to his giving way to its dictates, and by Joshua, who +still interfered at every risk, calling upon Nanty to reflect on the +age and miserable circumstances of the offender, and upon Poor Peter +to stand and place himself under his protection. In front of the house, +however, Peter Peebles found a more efficient protector than the worthy +Quaker. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NARRATIVE OF ALAN FAIRFORD + +Our readers may recollect that Fairford had been conducted by Dick +Gardener from the house of Fairladies to the inn of old Father +Crackenthorp, in order, as he had been informed by the mysterious Father +Buonaventure, that he might have the meeting which he desired with Mr. +Redgauntlet, to treat with him for the liberty of his friend Darsie. His +guide, by the special direction of Mr. Ambrose, had introduced him into +the public-house by a back-door, and recommended to the landlord to +accommodate him with a private apartment, and to treat him with all +civility; but in other respects to keep his eye on him, and even to +secure his person, if he saw any reason to suspect him to be a spy. He +was not, however, subjected to any direct restraint, but was ushered +into an apartment where he was requested to await the arrival of +the gentleman with whom he wished to have an interview, and who, as +Crackenthorp assured, him with a significant nod, would be certainly +there in the course of an hour. In the meanwhile, he recommended to him, +with another significant sign, to keep his apartment, ‘as there were +people in the house who were apt to busy themselves about other folk’s +matters.’ + +Alan Fairford complied with the recommendation, so long as he thought +it reasonable; but when, among a large party riding up to the house, he +discerned Redgauntlet, whom he had seen under the name of Mr. Herries +of Birrenswork, and whom, by his height and strength, he easily +distinguished from the rest, he thought it proper to go down to the +front of the house, in hopes that, by more closely reconnoitring the +party, he might discover if his friend Darsie was among them. + +The reader is aware that, by doing so, he had an opportunity of breaking +Darsie’s fall from his side-saddle, although his disguise and mask +prevented his recognizing his friend. It may be also recollected that +while Nixon hurried Miss Redgauntlet and her brother into the house, +their uncle, somewhat chafed at an unexpected and inconvenient +interruption, remained himself in parley with Fairford, who had already +successively addressed him by the names of Herries and Redgauntlet; +neither of which, any more than the acquaintance of the young lawyer, +he seemed at the moment willing to acknowledge, though an air of haughty +indifference, which he assumed, could not conceal his vexation and +embarrassment. + +‘If we must needs be acquainted, sir,’ he said at last--‘for which I +am unable to see any necessity, especially as I am now particularly +disposed to be private--I must entreat you will tell me at once what you +have to say, and permit me to attend to matters of more importance.’ + +‘My introduction,’ said Fairford, ‘is contained in this +letter.--(Delivering that of Maxwell.)--I am convinced that, under +whatever name it may be your pleasure for the present to be known, it is +into your hands, and yours only, that it should be delivered.’ + +Redgauntlet turned the letter in his hand--then read the contents then +again looked upon the letter, and sternly observed, ‘The seal of the +letter has been broken. Was this the case, sir, when it was delivered +into your hand?’ + +Fairford despised a falsehood as much as any man,--unless, perhaps, as +Tom Turnpenny might have said, ‘in the way of business.’ He answered +readily and firmly, ‘The seal was whole when the letter was delivered to +me by Mr. Maxwell of Summertrees.’ + +‘And did you dare, sir, to break the seal of a letter addressed to me?’ +said Redgauntlet, not sorry, perhaps, to pick a quarrel upon a point +foreign to the tenor of the epistle. + +‘I have never broken the seal of any letter committed to my charge,’ +said Alan; ‘not from fear of those to whom such letter might be +addressed, but from respect to myself.’ + +‘That is well worded,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘and yet, young Mr. Counsellor, +I doubt whether your delicacy prevented your reading my letter, or +listening to the contents as read by some other person after it was +opened.’ + +‘I certainly did hear the contents read over,’ said Fairford; ‘and they +were such as to surprise me a good deal.’ + +‘Now that,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘I hold to be pretty much the same, IN +FORO CONSCIENTIAE, as if you had broken the seal yourself. I shall hold +myself excused from entering upon further discourse with a messenger +so faithless; and you may thank yourself if your journey has been +fruitless.’ + +‘Stay, sir,’ said Fairford; ‘and know that I became acquainted with the +contents of the paper without my consent--I may even say, against my +will; for Mr. Buonaventure’-- + +‘Who?’ demanded Redgauntlet, in a wild and alarmed manner--‘WHOM was it +you named?’ + +‘Father Buonaventure,’ said Alan,--‘a Catholic priest, as I apprehend, +whom I saw at the Misses Arthuret’s house, called Fairladies.’ + +‘Misses Arthuret!--Fairladies!--A Catholic priest!--Father +Buonaventure!’ said Redgauntlet, repeating the words of Alan with +astonishment.--‘Is it possible that human rashness can reach such a +point of infatuation? Tell me the truth, I conjure you, sir. I have +the deepest interest to know whether this is more than an idle legend, +picked up from hearsay about the country. You are a lawyer, and know the +risk incurred by the Catholic clergy, whom the discharge of their duty +sends to these bloody shores.’ + +‘I am a lawyer, certainly,’ said Fairford; ‘but my holding such a +respectable condition in life warrants that I am neither an informer +nor a spy. Here is sufficient evidence that I have seen Father +Buonaventure.’ + +He put Buonaventure’s letter into Redgauntlet’s hand, and watched his +looks closely while he read it. ‘Double-dyed infatuation!’ he muttered, +with looks in which sorrow, displeasure, and anxiety were mingled. +‘“Save me from the indiscretion of my friends,” says the Spaniard; “I +can save myself from the hostility of my enemies.”’ + +He then read the letter attentively, and for two or three minutes +was lost in thought, while some purpose of importance seemed to have +gathered and sit brooding upon his countenance. He held up his finger +towards his satellite, Cristal Nixon, who replied to his signal with a +prompt nod; and with one or two of the attendants approached Fairford in +such a manner as to make him apprehensive they were about to lay hold of +him. + +At this moment a noise was heard from withinside of the house, and +presently rushed forth Peter Peebles, pursued by Nanty Ewart with his +drawn hanger, and the worthy Quaker, who was endeavouring to prevent +mischief to others, at some risk of bringing it on himself. + +A wilder and yet a more absurd figure can hardly be imagined, than that +of Poor Peter clattering along as fast as his huge boots would permit +him, and resembling nothing so much as a flying scarecrow; while the +thin emaciated form of Nanty Ewart, with the hue of death on his cheek, +and the fire of vengeance glancing from his eye, formed a ghastly +contrast with the ridiculous object of his pursuit. + +Redgauntlet threw himself between them. ‘What extravagant folly is +this?’ he said. ‘Put up your weapon, captain. Is this a time to indulge +in drunken brawls, or is such a miserable object as that a fitting +antagonist for a man of courage?’ + +‘I beg pardon,’ said the captain, sheathing his weapon--‘I was a little +bit out of the way, to be sure; but to know the provocation, a man must +read my heart, and that I hardly dare to do myself. But the wretch is +safe from me. Heaven has done its own vengeance on us both.’ + +While he spoke in this manner, Peter Peebles, who had at first crept +behind Redgauntlet in bodily fear, began now to reassume his spirits. +Pulling his protector by the sleeve, ‘Mr. Herries--Mr. Herries,’ he +whispered, eagerly, ‘ye have done me mair than ae gude turn, and if ye +will but do me anither at this dead pinch, I’ll forgie the girded keg of +brandy that you and Captain Sir Harry Redgimlet drank out yon time. Ye +sall hae an ample discharge and renunciation, and, though I should see +you walking at the Cross of Edinburgh, or standing at the bar of the +Court of Justiciary, no the very thumbikins themselves should bring to +my memory that ever I saw you in arms yon day.’ + +He accompanied this promise by pulling so hard at Redgauntlet’s cloak, +that he at last turned round. ‘Idiot! speak in a word what you want.’ + +‘Aweel, aweel. In a word, then,’ said Peter Peebles, ‘I have a warrant +on me to apprehend that man that stands there, Alan Fairford by name, +and advocate by calling. I bought it from Maister Justice Foxley’s +clerk, Maister Nicholas Faggot, wi’ the guinea that you gied me. + +‘Ha!’ said Redgauntlet, ‘hast thou really such a warrant? let me see it. +Look sharp that no one escape, Cristal Nixon.’ + +Peter produced a huge, greasy, leathern pocketbook, too dirty to +permit its original colour to be visible, filled with scrolls of notes, +memorials to counsel, and Heaven knows what besides. From amongst this +precious mass he culled forth a paper, and placed it in the hands of +Redgauntlet, or Herries, as he continued to call him, saying, at the +same time, ‘It’s a formal and binding warrant, proceeding on my affidavy +made, that the said Alan Fairford, being lawfully engaged in my service, +had slipped the tether and fled over the Border, and was now lurking +there and thereabouts, to elude and evite the discharge of his bounden +duty to me; and therefore granting warrant to constables and others, +to seek for, take, and apprehend him, that he may be brought before +the Honourable Justice Foxley for examination, and, if necessary, for +commitment. Now, though a’ this be fairly set down, as I tell ye, yet +where am I to get an officer to execute this warrant in sic a country as +this, where swords and pistols flee out at a word’s speaking, and folk +care as little for the peace of King George as the peace of Auld King +Coul? There’s that drunken skipper, and that wet Quaker, enticed me into +the public this morning, and because I wadna gie them’ as much brandy as +wad have made them blind-drunk, they baith fell on me, and were in the +way of guiding me very ill.’ + +While Peter went on in this manner, Redgauntlet glanced his eye over the +warrant, and immediately saw that it must be a trick passed by Nicholas +Faggot, to cheat the poor insane wretch out of his solitary guinea. But +the Justice had actually subscribed it, as he did whatever his clerk +presented to him, and Redgauntlet resolved to use it for his own +purposes. + +Without making any direct answer, therefore, to Peter Peebles, he walked +up gravely to Fairford, who had waited quietly for the termination of +a scene in which he was not a little surprised to find his client, Mr. +Peebles, a conspicuous actor. + +‘Mr. Fairford,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘there are many reasons which might +induce me to comply with the request, or rather the injunctions, of the +excellent Father Buonaventure, that I should communicate with you upon +the present condition of my ward, whom you know under the name of +Darsie Latimer; but no man is better aware than you that the law must be +obeyed, even in contradiction to our own feelings; now this poor man +has obtained a warrant for carrying you before a magistrate, and, I am +afraid, there is a necessity of your yielding to it, although to the +postponement of the business which you may have with me.’ + +‘A warrant against me!’ said Alan, indignantly; ‘and at that poor +miserable wretch’s instance?--why, this is a trick, a mere and most +palpable trick.’ + +‘It may be so,’ replied Redgauntlet, with great equanimity; ‘doubtless +you know best; only the writ appears regular, and with that respect +for the law which has been,’ he said, with hypocritical formality, ‘a +leading feature of my character through life, I cannot dispense with +giving my poor aid to the support of a legal warrant. Look at it +yourself, and be satisfied it is no trick of mine.’ + +Fairford ran over the affidavit and the warrant, and then exclaimed once +more, that it was an impudent imposition, and that he would hold those +who acted upon such a warrant liable in the highest damages. ‘I guess +at your motive, Mr. Redgauntlet,’ he said, ‘for acquiescing in so +ridiculous a proceeding. But be assured you will find that, in this +country, one act of illegal violence will not be covered or atoned for +by practising another. You cannot, as a man of sense and honour, pretend +to say you regard this as a legal warrant.’ + +‘I am no lawyer, sir,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘and pretend not to know what +is or is not law--the warrant is quite formal, and that is enough for +me.’ + +‘Did ever any one hear,’ said Fairford, ‘of an advocate being compelled +to return to his task, like a collier or a salter [See Note 10.] who has +deserted his master?’ + +‘I see no reason why he should not,’ said Redgauntlet, dryly, ‘unless +on the ground that the services of the lawyer are the most expensive and +least useful of the two.’ + +‘You cannot mean this in earnest,’ said Fairford; ‘you cannot really +mean to avail yourself of so poor a contrivance, to evade the word +pledged by your friend, your ghostly father, in my behalf. I may have +been a fool for trusting it too easily, but think what you must be if +you can abuse my confidence in this manner. I entreat you to reflect +that this usage releases me from all promises of secrecy or connivance +at what I am apt to think are very dangerous practices, and that’-- + +‘Hark ye, Mr. Fairford,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘I must here interrupt you +for your own sake. One word of betraying what you may have seen, or what +you may have suspected, and your seclusion is like to have either a very +distant or a very brief termination; in either case a most undesirable +one. At present, you are sure of being at liberty in a very few +days--perhaps much sooner.’ + +‘And my friend,’ said Alan Fairford, ‘for whose sake I have run myself +into this danger, what is to become of him? Dark and dangerous man!’ he +exclaimed, raising his voice, I will not be again cajoled by deceitful +promises’-- + +‘I give you my honour that your friend is well,’ interrupted +Redgauntlet; ‘perhaps I may permit you to see him, if you will but +submit with patience to a fate which is inevitable.’ + +But Alan Fairford, considering his confidence as having been abused, +first by Maxwell, and next by the priest, raised his voice, and appealed +to all the king’s lieges within hearing, against the violence with +which he was threatened. He was instantly seized on by Nixon and two +assistants, who, holding down his arms, and endeavouring to stop his +mouth, were about to hurry him away. + +The honest Quaker, who had kept out of Redgauntlet’s presence, now came +boldly forward. + +‘Friend,’ said he, ‘thou dost more than thou canst answer. Thou knowest +me well, and thou art aware that in me thou hast a deeply injured +neighbour, who was dwelling beside thee in the honesty and simplicity of +his heart.’ + +‘Tush, Jonathan,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘talk not to me, man; it is neither +the craft of a young lawyer, nor the SIMPLICITY of an old hypocrite, can +drive me from my purpose. + +‘By my faith,’ said the captain, coming forward in his turn, ‘this is +hardly fair, general; and I doubt,’ he added, ‘whether the will of my +owners can make me a party to such proceedings. Nay, never fumble with +your sword-hilt, but out with it like a man, if you are for a tilting.’ +He unsheathed his hanger, and continued--‘I will neither see my comrade +Fairford, nor the old Quaker, abused. D----n all warrants, false or +true--curse the justice--confound the constable!--and here stands little +Nanty Ewart to make good what he says against gentle and simple, in +spite of horse-shoe or horse-radish either.’ + +The cry of ‘Down with all warrants!’ was popular in the ears of the +militia of the inn, and Nanty Ewart was no less so. Fishers, ostlers, +seamen, smugglers, began to crowd to the spot. Crackenthorp endeavoured +in vain to mediate. The attendants of Redgauntlet began to handle their +firearms; but their master shouted to them to forbear, and, unsheathing +his sword as quick as lightning, he rushed on Ewart in the midst of +his bravado, and struck his weapon from his hand with such address and +force, that it flew three yards from him. Closing with him at the same +moment, he gave him a severe fall, and waved his sword over his head, to +show he was absolutely at his mercy. + +‘There, you drunken vagabond,’ he said, ‘I give you your life--you are +no bad fellow if you could keep from brawling among your friends. But +we all know Nanty Ewart,’ he said to the crowd around, with a forgiving +laugh, which, joined to the awe his prowess had inspired, entirely +confirmed their wavering allegiance. + +They shouted, ‘The laird for ever!’ while poor Nanty, rising from the +earth, on whose lap he had been stretched so rudely, went in quest of +his hanger, lifted it, wiped it, and, as he returned the weapon to the +scabbard, muttered between his teeth, ‘It is true they say of him, and +the devil will stand his friend till his hour come; I will cross him no +more.’ + +So saying, he slunk from the crowd, cowed and disheartened by his +defeat. + +‘For you, Joshua Geddes,’ said Redgauntlet, approaching the Quaker, who, +with lifted hands and eyes, had beheld the scene of violence, ‘l shall +take the liberty to arrest thee for a breach of the peace, altogether +unbecoming thy pretended principles; and I believe it will go hard with +thee both in a court of justice and among thine own Society of Friends, +as they call themselves, who will be but indifferently pleased to +see the quiet tenor of their hypocrisy insulted by such violent +proceedings.’ + +‘I violent!’ said Joshua; ‘I do aught unbecoming the principles of the +Friends! I defy thee, man, and I charge thee, as a Christian, to forbear +vexing my soul with such charges: it is grievous enough to me to have +seen violences which I was unable to prevent.’ + +‘O Joshua, Joshua!’ said Redgauntlet, with a sardonic smile; ‘thou light +of the faithful in the town of Dumfries and the places adjacent, wilt +thou thus fall away from the truth? Hast thou not, before us all, +attempted to rescue a man from the warrant of law? Didst thou not +encourage that drunken fellow to draw his weapon--and didst thou not +thyself flourish thy cudgel in the cause? Think’st thou that the oaths +of the injured Peter Peebles, and the conscientious Cristal Nixon, +besides those of such gentlemen as look on this strange scene, who not +only put on swearing as a garment, but to whom, in Custom House matters, +oaths are literally meat and drink,--dost thou not think, I say, that +these men’s oaths will go further than thy Yea and Nay in this matter?’ + +‘I will swear to anything,’ said Peter. ‘All is fair when it comes to an +oath AD LITEM.’ + +‘You do me foul wrong,’ said the Quaker, undismayed by the general +laugh. ‘I encouraged no drawing of weapons, though I attempted to move +an unjust man by some use of argument--I brandished no cudgel, although +it may be that the ancient Adam struggled within me, and caused my hand +to grasp mine oaken staff firmer than usual, when I saw innocence borne +down with violence. But why talk I what is true and just to thee, who +hast been a man of violence from thy youth upwards? Let me rather speak +to thee such language as thou canst comprehend. Deliver these young men +up to me,’ he said, when he had led Redgauntlet a little apart from the +crowd, ‘and I will not only free thee from the heavy charge of damages +which thou hast incurred by thine outrage upon my property, but I will +add ransom for them and for myself. What would it profit thee to do the +youths wrong, by detaining them in captivity?’ + +‘Mr. Geddes,’ said Redgauntlet, in a tone more respectful than he had +hitherto used to the Quaker, ‘your language is disinterested, and I +respect the fidelity of your friendship. Perhaps we have mistaken each +other’s principles and motives; but if so, we have not at present time +for explanation. Make yourself easy. I hope to raise your friend +Darsie Latimer to a pitch of eminence which you will witness with +pleasure;--nay, do not attempt to answer me. The other young man shall +suffer restraint a few days, probably only a few hours,--it is not more +than due for his pragmatical interference in what concerned him not. +Do you, Mr. Geddes, be so prudent as to take your horse and leave this +place, which is growing every moment more unfit for the abode of a man +of peace. You may wait the event in safety at Mount Sharon.’ + +‘Friend,’ replied Joshua, ‘I cannot comply with thy advice; I will +remain here, even as thy prisoner, as thou didst but now threaten, +rather than leave the youth who hath suffered by and through me and my +misfortunes, in his present state of doubtful safety. Wherefore I will +not mount my steed Solomon; neither will I turn his head towards Mount +Sharon, until I see an end of this matter.’ + +‘A prisoner, then, you must be,’ said Redgauntlet. ‘I have no time to +dispute the matter further with you. But tell me for what you fix your +eyes so attentively on yonder people of mine.’ + +‘To speak the truth,’ said the Quaker, ‘I admire to behold among them +a little wretch of a boy called Benjie, to whom I think Satan has given +the power of transporting himself wheresoever mischief is going forward; +so that it may be truly said, there is no evil in this land wherein he +hath not a finger, if not a whole hand.’ + +The boy, who saw their eyes fixed on him as they spoke, seemed +embarrassed, slid rather desirous of making his escape; but at a signal +from Redgauntlet he advanced, assuming the sheepish look and rustic +manner with which the jackanapes covered much acuteness and roguery. + +‘How long have you been with the party, sirrah?’ said Redgauntlet. + +‘Since the raid on the stake-nets,’ said Benjie, with his finger in his +mouth. + +‘And what made you follow us?’ + +‘I dauredna stay at hame for the constables,’ replied the boy. + +‘And what have you been doing all this time?’ + +‘Doing, sir? I dinna ken what ye ca’ doing--I have been doing naething,’ +said Benjie; then seeing something in Redgauntlet’s eye which was not +to be trifled with, he added, ‘Naething but waiting on Maister Cristal +Nixon.’ + +‘Hum!--aye--indeed?’ muttered Redgauntlet. ‘Must Master Nixon bring his +own retinue into the field? This must be seen to.’ + +He was about to pursue his inquiry, when Nixon himself came to him with +looks of anxious haste, ‘The Father is come,’ he whispered, ‘and the +gentlemen are getting together in the largest room of the house, and +they desire to see you. Yonder is your nephew, too, making a noise like +a man in Bedlam.’ + +‘I will look to it all instantly,’ said Redgauntlet. ‘Is the Father +lodged as I directed?’ + +Cristal nodded. + +‘Now, then, for the final trial,’ said Redgauntlet. He folded his +hands--looked upwards--crossed himself--and after this act of devotion +(almost the first which any one had observed him make use of) he +commanded Nixon to keep good watch--have his horses and men ready for +every emergence--look after the safe custody of the prisoners--but treat +them at the same time well and civilly. And, these orders given, he +darted hastily into the house. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +NARRATIVE CONTINUED + +Redgauntlet’s first course was to the chamber of his nephew. He unlocked +the door, entered the apartment, and asked what he wanted, that he made +so much noise. + +‘I want my liberty,’ said Darsie, who had wrought himself up to a pitch +of passion in which his uncle’s wrath had lost its terrors. ‘I desire +my liberty, and to be assured of the safety of my beloved friend, Alan +Fairford, whose voice I heard but now.’ + +‘Your liberty shall be your own within half an hour from this +period--your friend shall be also set at freedom in due time--and you +yourself be permitted to have access to his place of confinement.’ + +‘This does not satisfy me,’ said Darsie; ‘I must see my friend +instantly; he is here, and he is here endangered on my account only--I +have heard violent exclamations--the clash of swords. You will gain no +point with me unless I have ocular demonstration of his safety.’ + +‘Arthur--dearest nephew,’ answered Redgauntlet, ‘drive me not mad! Thine +own fate--that of thy house--that of thousands--that of Britain herself, +are at this moment in the scales; and you are only occupied about the +safety of a poor insignificant pettifogger!’ + +‘He has sustained injury at your hands, then?’ said Darsie, fiercely. ‘I +know he has; but if so, not even our relationship shall protect you.’ + +‘Peace, ungrateful and obstinate fool!’ said Redgauntlet. Yet +stay--will you be satisfied if you see this Alan Fairford, the bundle +of bombazine--this precious friend of yours--well and sound? Will you, +I say, be satisfied with seeing him in perfect safety without attempting +to speak to or converse with him?’ Darsie signified his assent. ‘Take +hold of my arm, then,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘and do you, niece Lilias, take +the other; and beware; Sir Arthur, how you bear yourself.’ + +Darsie was compelled to acquiesce, sufficiently aware that his uncle +would permit him no interview with a friend whose influence would +certainly be used against his present earnest wishes, and in some +measure contented with the assurance of Fairford’s personal safety. + +Redgauntlet led them through one or two passages (for the house, as +we have before said, was very irregular, and built at different times) +until they entered an apartment, where a man with shouldered carabine +kept watch at the door, but readily turned the key for their reception. +In this room they found Alan Fairford and the Quaker, apparently in +deep conversation with each other. They looked up as Redgauntlet and +his party entered; and Alan pulled off his hat and made a profound +reverence, which the young lady, who recognized him,--though, masked +as she was, he could not know her,--returned with some embarrassment, +arising probably from the recollection of the bold step she had taken in +visiting him. + +Darsie longed to speak, but dared not. His uncle only said, ‘Gentlemen, +I know you are as anxious on Mr. Darsie Latimer’s account as he is upon +yours. I am commissioned by him to inform you, that he is as well as you +are--I trust you will all meet soon. Meantime, although I cannot suffer +you to be at large, you shall be as well treated as is possible under +your temporary confinement.’ + +He passed on, without pausing to hear the answers which the lawyer and +the Quaker were hastening to prefer; and only waving his hand by way +of adieu, made his exit, with the real and the seeming lady whom he +had under his charge, through a door at the upper end of the apartment, +which was fastened and guarded like that by which they entered. + +Redgauntlet next led the way into a very small room; adjoining which, +but divided by a partition, was one of apparently larger dimensions; for +they heard the trampling of the heavy boots of the period, as if several +persons were walking to and fro and conversing in low and anxious +whispers. + +‘Here,’ said Redgauntlet to his nephew, as he disencumbered him from +the riding-skirt and the mask, ‘I restore you to yourself, and trust you +will lay aside all effeminate thoughts with this feminine dress. Do +not blush at having worn a disguise to which kings and heroes have been +reduced. It is when female craft or female cowardice find their way +into a manly bosom, that he who entertains these sentiments should take +eternal shame to himself for thus having resembled womankind. Follow me, +while Lilias remains here. I will introduce you to those whom I hope to +see associated with you in the most glorious cause that hand ever drew +sword in.’ + +Darsie paused. ‘Uncle,’ he said, ‘my person is in your hands; but +remember, my will is my own. I will not be hurried into any resolution +of importance. Remember what I have already said--what I now +repeat--that I will take no step of importance but upon conviction.’ + +‘But canst thou be convinced, thou foolish boy, without hearing and +understanding the grounds on which we act?’ + +So saying he took Darsie by the arm, and walked with him to the next +room--a large apartment, partly filled with miscellaneous articles of +commerce, chiefly connected with contraband trade; where, among bales +and barrels, sat, or walked to and fro, several gentlemen, whose manners +and looks seemed superior to the plain riding dresses which they wore. + +There was a grave and stern anxiety upon their countenances, when, on +Redgauntlet’s entrance, they drew from their separate coteries into one +group around him, and saluted him with a formality which had something +in it of ominous melancholy. As Darsie looked around the circle, he +thought he could discern in it few traces of that adventurous hope which +urges men upon desperate enterprises; and began to believe that the +conspiracy would dissolve of itself, without the necessity of his +placing himself in direct opposition to so violent a character as his +uncle, and incurring the hazard with which such opposition must be +attended. + +Mr. Redgauntlet, however, did not, or would not, see any such marks of +depression of spirit amongst his coadjutors, but met them with cheerful +countenance, and a warm greeting of welcome. ‘Happy to meet you here, +my lord,’ he said, bowing low to a slender young man. ‘I trust you +come with the pledges of your noble father, of B--, and all that loyal +house.--Sir Richard, what news in the west? I am told you had two +hundred men on foot to have joined when the fatal retreat from Derby was +commenced. When the White Standard is again displayed, it shall not +be turned back so easily, either by the force of its enemies, or the +falsehood of its friends.--Doctor Grumball, I bow to the representative +of Oxford, the mother of learning and loyalty.--Pengwinion, you +Cornish chough, has this good wind blown you north?--Ah, my brave +Cambro-Britons, when was Wales last in the race of honour?’ + +Such and such-like compliments he dealt around, which were in general +answered by silent bows; but when he saluted one of his own countrymen +by the name of MacKellar, and greeted Maxwell of Summertrees by that +of Pate-in-Peril, the latter replied, ‘that if Pate were not a fool, +he would be Pate-in-Safety;’ and the former, a thin old gentle-man, in +tarnished embroidery, said bluntly, ‘Aye, troth, Redgauntlet, I am here +just like yourself; I have little to lose--they that took my land the +last time, may take my life this; and that is all I care about it.’ + +The English gentlemen, who were still in possession of their paternal +estates, looked doubtfully on each other, and there was something +whispered among them of the fox which had lost his tail. + +Redgauntlet hastened to address them. ‘I think, my lords and gentlemen,’ +he said, ‘that I can account for something like sadness which has crept +upon an assembly gathered together for so noble a purpose. Our numbers +seem, when thus assembled, too small and inconsiderable to shake the +firm-seated usurpation of a half-century. But do not count us by what +we are in thew and muscle, but by what our summons can do among our +countrymen. In this small party are those who have power to raise +battalions, and those who have wealth to pay them. And do not believe +our friends who are absent are cold or indifferent to the cause. Let us +once light the signal, and it will be hailed by all who retain love for +the Stuart, and by all--a more numerous body--who hate the Elector. Here +I have letters from’-- + +Sir Richard Glendale interrupted the speaker. ‘We all confide, +Redgauntlet, in your valour and skill--we admire your perseverance; and +probably nothing short of your strenuous exertions, and the emulation +awakened by your noble and disinterested conduct, could have brought +so many of us, the scattered remnant of a disheartened party, to meet +together once again in solemn consultation; for I take it, gentlemen,’ +he said, looking round, ‘this is only a consultation.’ + +‘Nothing more,’ said the young lord. + +‘Nothing more,’ said Doctor Grumball, shaking his large academical +peruke. + +And, ‘Only a consultation,’ was echoed by the others. + +Redgauntlet bit his lip. ‘I had hopes,’ he said, ‘that the discourses +I have held with most of you, from time to time, had ripened into more +maturity than your words imply, and that we were here to execute as +well as to deliberate; and for this we stand prepared. I can raise five +hundred men with my whistle.’ + +‘Five hundred men!’ said one of the Welsh squires; ‘Cot bless us! and +pray you, what cood could five hundred men do?’ + +‘All that the priming does for the cannon, Mr. Meredith,’ answered +Redgauntlet; ‘it will enable us to seize Carlisle, and you know what our +friends have engaged for in that case.’ + +‘Yes--but,’ said the young nobleman, ‘you must not hurry us on too fast, +Mr. Redgauntlet; we are all, I believe, as sincere and truehearted in +this business as you are, but we will not be driven forward blindfold. +We owe caution to ourselves and our families, as well as to those whom +we are empowered to represent on this occasion.’ + +‘Who hurries you, my lord? Who is it that would drive this meeting +forward blindfold? I do not understand your lordship,’ said Redgauntlet. + +‘Nay,’ said Sir Richard Glendale, ‘at least do not let us fall under +our old reproach of disagreeing among ourselves. What my lord means, +Redgauntlet, is, that we have this morning heard it is uncertain +whether you could even bring that body of men whom you count upon; your +countryman, Mr. MacKellar, seemed, just before you came in, to doubt +whether your people would rise in any force, unless you could produce +the authority of your nephew.’ + +‘I might ask,’ said Redgauntlet,’ what right MacKellar, or any one, has +to doubt my being able to accomplish what I stand pledged for? But our +hopes consist in our unity. Here stands my nephew. Gentlemen, I present +to you my kinsman, Sir Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet of that Ilk.’ + +‘Gentlemen,’ said Darsie, with a throbbing bosom, for he felt the crisis +a very painful one, ‘Allow me to say, that I suspend expressing my +sentiments on the important subject under discussion until I have heard +those of the present meeting.’ + +‘Proceed in your deliberations, gentlemen,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘I will +show my nephew such reasons for acquiescing in the result, as will +entirely remove any scruples which may hang around his mind.’ + +Dr. Grumball now coughed, ‘shook his ambrosial curls,’ and addressed the +assembly. + +‘The principles of Oxford,’ he said,’ are well understood, since she +was the last to resign herself to the Arch-Usurper,--since she has +condemned, by her sovereign authority, the blasphemous, atheistical, +and anarchical tenets of Locke, and other deluders of the public +mind. Oxford will give men, money and countenance, to the cause of the +rightful monarch. But we have, been often deluded by foreign powers, +who have availed themselves of our zeal to stir up civil dissensions, in +Britain, not for the advantage of our blessed though banished monarch, +but to stir up disturbances by which they might profit, while we, their +tools, are sure to be ruined. Oxford, therefore, will not rise, unless +our sovereign comes in person to claim our allegiance, in which case, +God forbid we should refuse him our best obedience.’ + +‘It is a very cood advice,’ said Mr. Meredith. + +‘In troth,’ said Sir Richard Glendale, ‘it is the very keystone of our +enterprise, and the only condition upon which I myself and others +could ever have dreamt of taking up arms. No insurrection which has not +Charles Edward himself at its head, will, ever last longer than till a +single foot company of redcoats march to disperse it.’ + +‘This is my own opinion, and that of all my family,’ said the young +nobleman already mentioned; ‘and I own I am somewhat surprised at being +summoned to attend a dangerous rendezvous such as this, before something +certain could have been stated to us on this most important preliminary +point.’ + +‘Pardon me, my lord,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘I have not been so unjust +either to myself or my friends--I had no means of communicating to our +distant confederates (without the greatest risk of discovery) what is +known to some of my honourable friends. As courageous, and as resolved, +as when, twenty years since, he threw himself into the wilds of Moidart, +Charles Edward has instantly complied with the wishes of his faithful +subjects. Charles Edward is in this country--Charles Edward is in this +house!--Charles Edward waits but your present decision, to receive the +homage of those who have ever called themselves his loyal liegemen. He +that would now turn his coat, and change his note, must do so under the +eye of his sovereign.’ + +There was a deep pause. Those among the conspirators whom mere habit, or +a desire of preserving consistency, had engaged in the affair, now saw +with terror their retreat cut off; and others, who at a distance had +regarded the proposed enterprise as hopeful, trembled when the moment +of actually embarking in it was thus unexpectedly and almost inevitably +precipitated. + +‘How now, my lords and gentlemen!’ said Redgauntlet; is it delight and +rapture that keep you thus silent? where are the eager welcomes that +should be paid to your rightful king, who a second time confides his +person to the care of his subjects, undeterred by the hairbreadth +escapes and severe privations of his former expedition? I hope there is +no gentleman here that is not ready to redeem, in his prince’s presence, +the pledge of fidelity which he offered in his absence.’ + +‘I, at least,’ said the young nobleman resolutely, and laying his hand +on his sword, ‘will not be that coward. If Charles is come to these +shores, I will be the first to give him welcome, and to devote my life +and fortune to his service.’ + +‘Before Cot,’ said Mr. Meredith, ‘I do not see that Mr. Redgauntlet has +left us anything else to do.’ + +‘Stay,’ said Summertrees, ‘there is yet one other question. Has he +brought any of those Irish rapparees with him, who broke the neck of our +last glorious affair?’ + +‘Not a man of them,’ said Redgauntlet. + +‘I trust,’ said Dr. Grumball, ‘that there are no Catholic priests in his +company. I would not intrude on the private conscience of my sovereign, +but, as an unworthy son of the Church of England, it is my duty to +consider her security.’ + +‘Not a Popish dog or cat is there, to bark or mew about his Majesty,’ +said Redgauntlet. ‘Old Shaftesbury himself could not wish a prince’s +person more secure from Popery--which may not be the worst religion +in the world, notwithstanding. Any more doubts, gentlemen? can no more +plausible reasons be discovered for postponing the payment of our duty, +and discharge of our oaths and engagements? Meantime your king waits +your declaration--by my faith he hath but a frozen reception!’ + +‘Redgauntlet,’ said Sir Richard Glendale, calmly, ‘your reproaches shall +not goad me into anything of which my reason disapproves. That I respect +my engagement as much as you do, is evident, since I am here, ready to +support it with the best blood in my veins. But has the king really come +hither entirely unattended?’ + +‘He has no man with him but young ------, as aide de camp, and a single +valet de chambre.’ + +‘No MAN--but, Redgauntlet, as you are a gentleman, has he no woman with +him?’ + +Redgauntlet cast his eyes on the ground and replied, ‘I am sorry to +say--he has.’ + +The company looked at each other, and remained silent for a moment. +At length Sir Richard proceeded. ‘I need not repeat to you, Mr. +Redgauntlet, what is the well-grounded opinion of his Majesty’s friends +concerning that most unhappy connexion there is but one sense and +feeling amongst us upon the subject. I must conclude that our humble +remonstrances were communicated by you, sir, to the king?’ + +‘In the same strong terms in which they were couched,’ replied +Redgauntlet. ‘I love his Majesty’s cause more than I fear his +displeasure.’ + +‘But, apparently, our humble expostulation has produced no effect. +This lady, who has crept into his bosom, has a sister in the Elector +of Hanover’s court, and yet we are well assured that our most private +communication is placed in her keeping.’ + +‘VARIUM ET MUTABILE SEMPER FEMINA,’ said Dr. Grumball. + +‘She puts his secrets into her work-bag,’ said Maxwell; ‘and out they +fly whenever she opens it. If I must hang, I would wish it to be in +somewhat a better rope than the string of a lady’s hussey.’ + +‘Are you, too, turning dastard, Maxwell?’ said Redgauntlet, in a +whisper. + +‘Not I,’ said Maxwell; ‘let us fight for it, and let them win and wear +us; but to be betrayed by a brimstone like that’-- + +‘Be temperate, gentlemen,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘the foible of which you +complain so heavily has always been that of kings and heroes; which I +feel strongly confident the king will surmount, upon the humble entreaty +of his best servants, and when he sees them ready to peril their all in +his cause, upon the slight condition of his resigning the society of +a female favourite, of whom I have seen reason to think he hath been +himself for some time wearied. But let us not press upon him rashly +with our well-meant zeal. He has a princely will as becomes his princely +birth, and we, gentlemen, who are royalists, should be the last to take +advantage of circumstances to limit its exercise. I am as much surprised +and hurt as you can be, to find that he has made her the companion of +this journey, increasing every chance of treachery and detection. But do +not let us insist upon a sacrifice so humiliating, while he has scarce +placed a foot upon the beach of his kingdom. Let us act generously by +our sovereign; and when we have shown what we will do for him, we +shall be able, with better face, to state what it is we expect him to +concede.’ + +‘Indeed, I think it is but a pity,’ said MacKellar, ‘when so many pretty +gentlemen are got together, that they should part without the flash of a +sword among them.’ + +‘I should be of that gentleman’s opinion,’ said Lord ------, ‘had I +nothing to lose but my life; but I frankly own, that the conditions +on which our family agreed to join having been, in this instance, left +unfulfilled, I will not peril the whole fortunes of our house on the +doubtful fidelity of an artful woman.’ + +‘I am sorry to see your lordship,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘take a course +which is more likely to secure your house’s wealth than to augment its +honours.’ + +‘How am I to understand your language, sir?’ said the young nobleman, +haughtily. + +‘Nay, gentlemen,’ said Dr Grumball, interposing, ‘do not let friends +quarrel; we are all zealous for the cause--but truly, although I know +the license claimed by the great in such matters, and can, I hope, make +due allowance, there is, I may say, an indecorum in a prince who comes +to claim the allegiance of the Church of England, arriving on such an +errand with such a companion--SI NON CASTE, CAUTE TAMEN.’ + +‘I wonder how the Church of England came to be so heartily attached to +his merry old namesake,’ said Redgauntlet. + +Sir Richard Glendale then took up the question, as one whose authority +and experience gave him right to speak with much weight. + +‘We have no leisure for hesitation,’ he said; ‘it is full time that +we decide what course we are to hold. I feel as much as you, Mr. +Redgauntlet, the delicacy of capitulating with our sovereign in his +present condition. But I must also think of the total ruin of the +cause, the confiscation and bloodshed which will take place among his +adherents, and all through the infatuation with which he adheres to +a woman who is the pensionary of the present minister, as she was +for years Sir Robert Walpole’s. Let his Majesty send her back to the +continent, and the sword on which I now lay my hand shall instantly be +unsheathed, and, I trust, many hundred others at the same moment.’ + +The other persons present testified their unanimous acquiescence in what +Sir Richard Glendale had said. + +‘I see you have taken your resolutions, gentlemen,’ said Redgauntlet; +‘unwisely I think, because I believe that, by softer and more generous +proceedings, you would have been more likely to carry a point which I +think as desirable as you do. But what is to be done if Charles should +refuse, with the inflexibility of his grandfather, to comply with this +request of yours? Do you mean to abandon him to his fate?’ + +‘God forbid!’ said Sir Richard, hastily; ‘and God forgive you, Mr. +Redgauntlet, for breathing such a thought. No! I for one will, with all +duty and humility, see him safe back to his vessel, and defend him with +my life against whosoever shall assail him. But when I have seen his +sails spread, my next act will be to secure, if I can, my own safety, by +retiring to my house; or, if I find our engagement, as is too probable, +has taken wind, by surrendering myself to the next Justice of Peace, +and giving security that hereafter I shall live quiet, and submit to the +ruling powers.’ + +Again the rest of the persons present intimated their agreement in +opinion with the speaker. + +‘Well, gentlemen,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘it is not for me to oppose the +opinion of every one; and I must do you the justice to say, that +the king has, in the present instance, neglected a condition of your +agreement which was laid before him in very distinct terms. The question +now is, who is to acquaint him with the result of this conference; for I +presume you would not wait on him in a body to make the proposal that +he should dismiss a person from his family as the price of your +allegiance.’ + +‘I think Mr. Redgauntlet should make the explanation, said Lord--. ‘As +he has, doubtless, done justice to our remonstrances by communicating +them to the king, no one can, with such propriety and force, state the +natural and inevitable consequence of their being neglected.’ + +‘Now, I think,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘that those who make the objection +should state it, for I am confident the king will hardly believe, on +less authority than that of the heir of the loyal House of B--, that he +is the first to seek an evasion of his pledge to join him.’ + +‘An evasion, sir!’ repeated Lord ------, fiercely, ‘I have borne too +much from you already, and this I will not endure. Favour me with your +company to the downs.’ + +Redgauntlet laughed scornfully, and was about to follow the fiery young +man, when Sir Richard again interposed. ‘Are we to exhibit,’ he said, +‘the last symptoms of the dissolution of our party, by turning our +swords against each other? Be patient, Lord ------; in such conferences +as this, much must pass unquestioned which might brook challenge +elsewhere. There is a privilege of party as of parliament--men cannot, +in emergency, stand upon picking phrases. Gentlemen, if you will extend +your confidence in me so far, I will wait upon his Majesty, and I +hope my Lord ------ and Mr. Redgauntlet will accompany me. I trust the +explanation of this unpleasant matter will prove entirely satisfactory, +and that we shall find ourselves at liberty to render our homage to our +sovereign without reserve, when I for one will be the first to peril all +in his just quarrel.’ + +Redgauntlet at once stepped forward. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘if my zeal +made me say anything in the slightest degree offensive, I wish it +unsaid, and ask your pardon. A gentleman can do no more.’ + +‘I could not have asked Mr. Redgauntlet to do so much,’ said the young +nobleman, willingly accepting the hand which Redgauntlet offered. ‘I +know no man living from whom I could take so much reproof without a +sense of degradation as from himself.’ + +‘Let me then hope, my lord, that you will go with Sir Richard and me to +the presence. Your warm blood will heat our zeal--our colder resolves +will temper yours. + +The young lord smiled, and shook his head. ‘Alas! Mr. Redgauntlet,’ he +said, ‘I am ashamed to say, that in zeal you surpass us all. But I +will not refuse this mission, provided you will permit Sir Arthur, your +nephew, also to accompany us.’ + +‘My nephew?’ said Redgauntlet, and seemed to hesitate, then added, ‘Most +certainly. I trust,’ he said, looking at Darsie, ‘he will bring to his +prince’s presence such sentiments as fit the occasion.’ + +It seemed however to Darsie, that his uncle would rather have left +him behind, had he not feared that he might in that case have been +influenced by, or might perhaps himself influence, the unresolved +confederates with whom he must have associated during his absence. + +‘I will go,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘and request admission.’ + +In a moment after he returned, and without speaking, motioned for the +young nobleman to advance. He did so, followed by Sir Richard Glendale +and Darsie, Redgauntlet himself bringing up the rear. A short +passage, and a few steps, brought them to the door of the temporary +presence-chamber, in which the Royal Wanderer was to receive their +homage. It was the upper loft of one of those cottages which made +additions to the old inn, poorly furnished, dusty, and in disorder; for, +rash as the enterprise might be considered, they had been still careful +not to draw the attention of strangers by any particular attentions +to the personal accommodation of the prince. He was seated, when the +deputies, as they might be termed, of his remaining adherents entered; +and as he rose, and came forward and bowed, in acceptance of their +salutation, it was with a dignified courtesy which at once supplied +whatever was deficient in external pomp, and converted the wretched +garret into a saloon worthy of the occasion. + +It is needless to add that he was the same personage already introduced +in the character of Father Buonaventure, by which name he was +distinguished at Fairladies. His dress was not different from what he +then wore, excepting that he had a loose riding-coat of camlet, under +which he carried an efficient cut-and-thrust sword, instead of his +walking rapier, and also a pair of pistols. + +Redgauntlet presented to him successively the young Lord ------, and +his kinsman, Sir Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet, who trembled as, bowing +and kissing his hand, he found himself surprised into what might be +construed an act of high treason, which yet he saw no safe means to +avoid. + +Sir Richard Glendale seemed personally known to Charles Edward, who +received him with a mixture of dignity and affection, and seemed to +sympathize with the tears which rushed into that gentleman’s eyes as he +bade his Majesty welcome to his native kingdom. + +‘Yes, my good Sir Richard,’ said the unfortunate prince in a tone +melancholy, yet resolved, ‘Charles Edward is with his faithful friends +once more--not, perhaps, with his former gay hopes which undervalued +danger, but with the same determined contempt of the worst which can +befall him, in claiming his own rights and those of his country.’ + +‘I rejoice, sire--and yet, alas! I must also grieve, to see you once +more on the British shores,’ said Sir Richard Glendale, and stopped +short--a tumult of contradictory feelings preventing his further +utterance. + +‘It is the call of my faithful and suffering people which alone could +have induced me to take once more the sword in my hand. For my own part, +Sir Richard, when I have reflected how many of my loyal and devoted +friends perished by the sword and by proscription, or died indigent +and neglected in a foreign land, I have often, sworn that no view to my +personal aggrandizement should again induce me to agitate a title which +has cost my followers so dear. But since so many men of worth and honour +conceive the cause of England and Scotland to be linked with that of +Charles Stuart, I must follow their brave example, and, laying aside all +other considerations, once more stand forward as their deliverer. I am, +however, come hither upon your invitation; and as you are so completely +acquainted with circumstances to which my absence must necessarily +have rendered me a stranger, I must be a mere tool in the hands of my +friends. I know well I never can refer myself implicitly to more +loyal hearts or wiser heads, than Herries Redgauntlet, and Sir Richard +Glendale. Give me your advice, then, how we are to proceed, and decide +upon the fate of Charles Edward.’ + +Redgauntlet looked at Sir Richard, as if to say, ‘Can you press any +additional or unpleasant condition at a moment like this?’ And the other +shook his head and looked down, as if his resolution was unaltered, and +yet as feeling all the delicacy of the situation. + +There was a silence, which was broken by the unfortunate representative +of an unhappy dynasty, with some appearance of irritation. ‘This is +strange, gentlemen,’ he said; ‘you have sent for me from the bosom of my +family, to head an adventure of doubt and danger; and when I come, your +own minds seem to be still irresolute. I had not expected this on the +part of two such men.’ + +‘For me, sire,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘the steel of my sword is not truer +than the temper of my mind.’ + +‘My Lord ------‘s and mine are equally so,’ said Sir Richard; ‘but you +had in charge, Mr. Redgauntlet, to convey our request to his Majesty, +coupled with certain conditions.’ + +‘And I discharged my duty to his Majesty and to you,’ said Redgauntlet. + +‘I looked at no condition, gentlemen,’ said their king, with dignity,’ +save that which called me here to assert my rights in person. That I +have fulfilled at no common risk. Here I stand to keep my word, and I +expect of you to be true to yours.’ + +‘There was, or should have been, something more than that in our +proposal, please your Majesty,’ said Sir Richard. ‘There was a condition +annexed to it.’ + +‘I saw it not,’ said Charles, interrupting him. ‘Out of tenderness +towards the noble hearts of whom I think so highly, I would neither +see nor read anything which could lessen them in my love and my esteem. +Conditions can have no part betwixt prince and subject.’ + +‘Sire,’ said Redgauntlet, kneeling on one knee, ‘I see from Sir +Richard’s countenance he deems it my fault that your Majesty seems +ignorant of what your subjects desired that I should communicate to your +Majesty. For Heaven’s sake! for the sake of all my past services and +sufferings, leave not such a stain upon my honour! The note, Number D, +of which this is a copy, referred to the painful subject to which Sir +Richard again directs your attention.’ + +‘You press upon me, gentlemen,’ said the prince, colouring highly,’ +recollections, which, as I hold them most alien to your character, I +would willingly have banished from my memory. I did not suppose that +my loyal subjects would think so poorly of me, as to use my depressed +circumstances as a reason for forcing themselves into my domestic +privacies, and stipulating arrangements with their king regarding +matters in which the meanest minds claim the privilege of thinking for +themselves. In affairs of state and public policy, I will ever be guided +as becomes a prince, by the advice of my wisest counsellors; in those +which regard my private affections and my domestic arrangements, I claim +the same freedom of will which I allow to all my subjects, and without +which a crown were less worth wearing than a beggar’s bonnet.’ + +‘May it please your Majesty,’ said Sir Richard Glendale, ‘I see it must +be my lot to speak unwilling truths; but believe me, I do so with as +much profound respect as deep regret. It is true, we have called you to +head a mighty undertaking, and that your Majesty, preferring honour to +safety, and the love of your country to your own ease, has condescended +to become our leader. But we also pointed out as a necessary and +indispensable preparatory step to the achievement of our purpose--and, +I must say, as a positive condition of our engaging in it--that an +individual, supposed,--I presume not to guess how truly,--to have your +Majesty’s more intimate confidence, and believed, I will not say on +absolute proof but upon the most pregnant suspicion, to be capable of +betraying that confidence to the Elector of Hanover, should be removed +from your royal household and society.’ + +‘This is too insolent, Sir Richard!’ said Charles Edward. ‘Have you +inveigled me into your power to bait me in this unseemly manner? And +you, Redgauntlet, why did you suffer matters to come to such a point as +this, without making me more distinctly aware what insults were to be +practised on me?’ + +‘My gracious prince,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘I am so far to blame in this, +that I did not think so slight an impediment as that of a woman’s +society could have really interrupted an undertaking of this magnitude. +I am a plain man, sire, and speak but bluntly; I could not have dreamt +but what, within the first five minutes of this interview, either Sir +Richard and his friends would have ceased to insist upon a condition so +ungrateful to your Majesty, or that your Majesty would have sacrificed +this unhappy attachment to the sound advice, or even to the over-anxious +suspicions, of so many faithful subjects. I saw no entanglement in such +a difficulty which on either side might not have been broken through +like a cobweb.’ + +‘You were mistaken, sir,’ said Charles Edward, ‘entirely mistaken--as +much so as you are at this moment, when you think in your heart my +refusal to comply with this insolent proposition is dictated by a +childish and romantic passion for an individual, I tell you, sir, I +could part with that person to-morrow, without an instant’s regret--that +I have had thoughts of dismissing her from my court, for reasons known +to myself; but that I will never betray my rights as a sovereign and a +man, by taking this step to secure the favour of any one, or to purchase +that allegiance which, if you owe it to me at all, is due to me as my +birthright.’ + +‘I am sorry for this,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘I hope both your Majesty +and Sir Richard will reconsider your resolutions, or forbear this +discussion, in a conjuncture so pressing. I trust your Majesty will +recollect that you are on hostile ground; that our preparations cannot +have so far escaped notice as to permit us now with safety to retreat +from our purpose; insomuch, that it is with the deepest anxiety of +heart I foresee even danger to your own royal person, unless you can +generously give your subjects the satisfaction, which Sir Richard seems +to think they are obstinate in demanding.’ + +‘And deep indeed your anxiety ought to be,’ said the prince. ‘Is it in +these circumstances of personal danger in which you expect to overcome a +resolution, which is founded on a sense of what is due to me as a man +or a prince? If the axe and scaffold were ready before the windows of +Whitehall, I would rather tread the same path with my great-grandfather, +than concede the slightest point in which my honour is concerned.’ + +He spoke these words with a determined accent, and looked around him on +the company, all of whom (excepting Darsie, who saw, he thought, a +fair period to a most perilous enterprise) seemed in deep anxiety and +confusion. At length, Sir Richard spoke in a solemn and melancholy tone. +‘If the safety,’ he said, ‘of poor Richard Glendale were alone concerned +in this matter, I have never valued my life enough to weigh it +against the slightest point of your Majesty’s service. But I am only a +messenger--a commissioner, who must execute my trust, and upon whom a +thousand voices will cry, Curse and woe, if I do it not with fidelity. +All of your adherents, even Redgauntlet himself, see certain ruin to +this enterprise--the greatest danger to your Majesty’s person--the utter +destruction of all your party and friends, if they insist not on the +point, which, unfortunately, your Majesty is so unwilling to concede. I +speak it with a heart full of anguish--with a tongue unable to utter +my emotions--but it must be spoken--the fatal truth--that if your +royal goodness cannot yield to us a boon which we hold necessary to our +security and your own, your Majesty with one word disarms ten thousand +men, ready to draw their swords in your behalf; or, to speak yet more +plainly, you annihilate even the semblance of a royal party in Great +Britain.’ + +‘And why do you not add,’ said the prince, scornfully, ‘that the men +who have been ready to assume arms in my behalf, will atone for their +treason to the Elector, by delivering me up to the fate for which so +many proclamations have destined me? Carry my head to St. James’s, +gentlemen; you will do a more acceptable and a more honourable action, +than, having inveigled me into a situation which places me so completely +in your power, to dishonour yourselves by propositions which dishonour +me. + +‘My God, sire!’ exclaimed Sir Richard, clasping his hands together, +in impatience, ‘of what great and inexpiable crime can your Majesty’s +ancestors have ‘been guilty, that they have been punished by the +infliction of judicial blindness on their whole generation!--Come, my +Lord ------, we must to our friends.’ + +‘By your leave, Sir Richard,’ said the young nobleman, ‘not till we, +have learned what measures can be taken for his Majesty’s personal +safety.’ + +‘Care not for me, young man,’ said Charles Edward; ‘when I was in the +society of Highland robbers and cattle-drovers, I was safer than I now +hold myself among the representatives of the best blood in England. +Farewell, gentlemen--I will shift for myself.’ + +‘This must never be,’ said Redgauntlet. ‘Let me that brought you to the +point of danger, at least provide for your safe retreat.’ + +So saying, he hastily left the apartment, followed by his nephew. The +Wanderer, averting his eyes from Lord ------ and Sir Richard Glendale, +threw himself into a seat at the upper end of the apartment, while they, +in much anxiety, stood together, at a distance from him, and conversed +in whispers. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +NARRATIVE CONTINUED + +When Redgauntlet left the room, in haste and discomposure, the first +person he met on the stair, and indeed so close by the door of the +apartment that Darsie thought he must have been listening there, was his +attendant Nixon. + +‘What the devil do you here?’ he said, abruptly and sternly. + +‘I wait your orders,’ said Nixon. ‘I hope all’s right!--excuse my zeal.’ + +‘All is wrong, sir. Where is the seafaring fellow--Ewart--what do you +call him?’ + +‘Nanty Ewart, sir. I will carry your commands,’ said Nixon. + +‘I will deliver them myself to him,’ said Redgauntlet; call him hither.’ + +‘But should your honour leave the presence?’ said Nixon, still +lingering. + +‘‘Sdeath, sir, do you prate to me?’ said Redgauntlet, bending his brows. +‘I, sir, transact my own business; you, I am told, act by a ragged +deputy.’ + +Without further answer, Nixon departed, rather disconcerted, as it +seemed to Darsie. + +‘That dog turns insolent and lazy,’ said Redgauntlet; but I must bear +with him for a while.’ + +A moment after, Nixon returned with Ewart. + +‘Is this the smuggling fellow?’ demanded Redgauntlet. Nixon nodded. + +‘Is he sober now? he was brawling anon.’ + +‘Sober enough for business,’ said Nixon. + +‘Well then, hark ye, Ewart;--man your boat with your best hands, and +have her by the pier--get your other fellows on board the brig--if you +have any cargo left, throw it overboard; it shall be all paid, five +times over--and be ready for a start to Wales or the Hebrides, or +perhaps for Sweden or Norway.’ + +Ewart answered sullenly enough, ‘Aye, aye, sir.’ + +‘Go with him, Nixon,’ said Redgauntlet, forcing himself to speak with +some appearance of cordiality to the servant with whom he was offended; +‘see he does his duty.’ + +Ewart left the house sullenly, followed by Nixon. The sailor was just in +that species of drunken humour which made him jealous, passionate, +and troublesome, without showing any other disorder than that of +irritability. As he walked towards the beach he kept muttering to +himself, but in such a tone that his companion lost not a word, +‘Smuggling fellow--Aye, smuggler--and, start your cargo into the +sea--and be ready to start for the Hebrides, or Sweden--or the devil, +I suppose. Well, and what if I said in answer--Rebel, Jacobite--traitor; +I’ll make you and your d----d confederates walk the plank--I have seen +better men do it--half a score of a morning--when I was across the +Line.’ + +‘D--d unhandsome terms those Redgauntlet used to you, brother.’ said +Nixon. + +‘Which do you mean?’ said Ewart, starting, and recollecting himself. ‘I +have been at my old trade of thinking aloud, have I?’ + +‘No matter,’ answered Nixon, ‘none but a friend heard you. You cannot +have forgotten how Redgauntlet disarmed you this morning.’ + +‘Why, I would bear no malice about that--only he is so cursedly high and +saucy,’ said Ewart. + +‘And then,’ said Nixon, ‘I know you for a true-hearted Protestant.’ + +‘That I am, by G--,’ said Ewart. ‘No, the Spaniards could never get my +religion from me.’ + +‘And a friend to King George, and the Hanover line of succession,’ said +Nixon, still walking and speaking very slow. + +‘You may swear I am, excepting in the way of business, as Turnpenny +says. I like King George, but I can’t afford to pay duties.’ + +‘You are outlawed, I believe,’ said Nixon. + +‘Am I?--faith, I believe I am,’ said Ewart. ‘I wish I were INLAWED +again with all my heart. But come along, we must get all ready for our +peremptory gentleman, I suppose.’ + +‘I will teach you a better trick,’ said Nixon. ‘There is a bloody pack +of rebels yonder.’ + +‘Aye, we all know that,’ said the smuggler; ‘but the snowball’s melting, +I think.’ + +‘There is some one yonder, whose head is worth--thirty +thousand--pounds--of sterling money,’ said Nixon, pausing between each +word, as if to enforce the magnificence of the sum. + +‘And what of that?’ said Ewart, quickly. + +‘Only that, instead of lying by the pier with your men on their oars, if +you will just carry your boat on board just now, and take no notice of +any signal from the shore, by G--d, Nanty Ewart. I will make a man of +you for life!’ + +‘Oh ho! then the Jacobite gentry are not so safe as they think +themselves?’ said Nanty. + +‘In an hour or two,’ replied Nixon, ‘they will be made safer in Carlisle +Castle.’ + +‘The devil they will!’ said Ewart; ‘and you have been the informer, I +suppose?’ + +‘Yes; I have been ill paid for my service among the Redgauntlets--have +scarce got dog’s wages--and been treated worse than ever dog was used. I +have the old fox and his cubs in the same trap now, Nanty; and we’ll see +how a certain young lady will look then. You see I am frank with you, +Nanty.’ + +‘And I will be as frank with you,’ said the smuggler. ‘You are a d--d +old scoundrel--traitor to the man whose bread you eat! Me help to betray +poor devils, that have been so often betrayed myself! Not if they were +a hundred Popes, Devils, and Pretenders. I will back and tell them their +danger--they are part of cargo--regularly invoiced--put under my charge +by the owners--I’ll back’-- + +‘You are not stark mad?’ said Nixon, who now saw he had miscalculated in +supposing Nanty’s wild ideas of honour and fidelity could be shaken +even by resentment, or by his Protestant partialities. ‘You shall not go +back--it is all a joke.’ + +‘I’ll back to Redgauntlet, and see whether it is a joke he will laugh +at.’ + +‘My life is lost if you do,’ said Nixon--‘hear reason.’ + +They were in a clump or cluster of tall furze at the moment they were +speaking, about half-way between the pier and the house, but not in a +direct line, from which Nixon, whose object it was to gain time, had +induced Ewart to diverge insensibly. + +He now saw the necessity of taking a desperate resolution. ‘Hear +reason,’ he said; and added, as Nanty still endeavoured to pass him, ‘Or +else hear this!’ discharging a pocket-pistol into the unfortunate man’s +body. + +Nanty staggered, but kept his feet. ‘It has cut my back-bone asunder,’ +he said; ‘you have done me the last good office, and I will not die +ungrateful.’ + +As he uttered the last words, he collected his remaining strength, stood +firm for an instant, drew his hanger, and, fetching a stroke with both +hands, cut Cristal Nixon down. The blow, struck with all the energy of +a desperate and dying man, exhibited a force to which Ewart’s exhausted +frame might have seemed inadequate;--it cleft the hat which the wretch +wore, though secured by a plate of iron within the lining, bit deep into +his skull, and there left a fragment of the weapon, which was broke by +the fury of the blow. + +One of the seamen of the lugger, who strolled up attracted by the firing +of the pistol, though being a small one the report was very trifling, +found both the unfortunate men stark dead. Alarmed at what he saw, +which he conceived to have been the consequence of some unsuccessful +engagement betwixt his late commander and a revenue officer (for Nixon +chanced not to be personally known to him) the sailor hastened back +to the boat, in order to apprise his comrades of Nanty’s fate, and to +advise them to take off themselves and the vessel. + +Meantime Redgauntlet, having, as we have seen, dispatched Nixon for the +purpose of securing a retreat for the unfortunate Charles, in case of +extremity, returned to the apartment where he had left the Wanderer. He +now found him alone. + +‘Sir Richard Glendale,’ said the unfortunate prince, ‘with his +young friend, has gone to consult their adherents now in the house. +Redgauntlet, my friend, I will not blame you for the circumstances in +which I find myself, though I am at once placed in danger, and rendered +contemptible. But you ought to have stated to me more strongly the +weight which these gentlemen attached to their insolent proposition. You +should have told me that no compromise would have any effect--that they +desire not a prince to govern them, but one, on the contrary, over +whom they were to exercise restraint on all occasions, from the highest +affairs of the state, down to the most intimate and private concerns of +his own privacy, which the most ordinary men desire to keep secret and +sacred from interference.’ + +‘God knows,’ said Redgauntlet, in much agitation, ‘I acted for the best +when I pressed your Majesty to come hither--I never thought that your +Majesty, at such a crisis, would have scrupled, when a kingdom was in +view, to sacrifice an attachment, which’-- + +‘Peace, sir!’ said Charles; ‘it is not for you to estimate my feelings +upon such a subject.’ + +Redgauntlet coloured high, and bowed profoundly. ‘At least,’ he +resumed, ‘I hoped that some middle way might be found, and it shall--and +must.--Come with me, nephew. We will to these gentlemen, and I am +confident I will bring back heart-stirring tidings.’ + +‘I will do much to comply with them, Redgauntlet. I am loath, having +again set my foot on British land, to quit it without a blow for my +right. But this which they demand of me is a degradation, and compliance +is impossible.’ + +Redgauntlet, followed by his nephew, the unwilling spectator of this +extraordinary scene, left once more the apartment of the adventurous +Wanderer, and was met on the top of the stairs by Joe Crackenthorp. +‘Where are the other gentlemen?’ he said. + +‘Yonder, in the west barrack,’ answered Joe; ‘but Master +Ingoldsby,’--that was the name by which Redgauntlet was most generally +known in Cumberland,--‘I wish to say to you that I must put yonder folk +together in one room.’ + +‘What folk?’ said Redgauntlet, impatiently. + +‘Why, them prisoner stranger folk, as you bid Cristal Nixon look after. +Lord love you! this is a large house enow, but we cannot have separate +lock-ups for folk, as they have in Newgate or in Bedlam. Yonder’s a +mad beggar, that is to be a great man when he wins a lawsuit, Lord help +him!--Yonder’s a Quaker and a lawyer charged with a riot; and, ecod, I +must make one key and one lock keep them, for we are chokeful, and you +have sent off old Nixon that could have given one some help in this +confusion. Besides, they take up every one a room, and call for naughts +on earth,--excepting the old man, who calls lustily enough,--but he has +not a penny to pay shot.’ + +‘Do as thou wilt with them,’ said Redgauntlet, who had listened +impatiently to his statement; ‘so thou dost but keep them from getting +out and making some alarm in the country, I care not.’ + +‘A Quaker and a lawyer!’ said Darsie. ‘This must be Fairford and +Geddes.--Uncle, I must request of you’-- + +‘Nay, nephew,’ interrupted Redgauntlet, ‘this is no time for asking +questions. You shall yourself decide upon their fate in the course of an +hour--no harm whatever is designed them.’ + +So saying, he hurried towards the place where the Jacobite gentlemen +were holding their council, and Darsie followed him, in the hope that +the obstacle which had arisen to the prosecution of their desperate +adventure would prove insurmountable and spare him the necessity of a +dangerous and violent rupture with his uncle. The discussions among +them were very eager; the more daring part of the conspirators, who had +little but life to lose, being desirous to proceed at all hazards; +while the others, whom a sense of honour and a hesitation to disavow +long-cherished principles had brought forward, were perhaps not ill +satisfied to have a fair apology for declining an adventure, into which +they had entered with more of reluctance than zeal. + +Meanwhile Joe Crackenthorp, availing himself of the hasty permission +attained from Redgauntlet, proceeded to assemble in one apartment +those whose safe custody had been thought necessary; and, without much +considering the propriety of the matter, he selected for the common +place of confinement, the room which Lilias had, since her brother’s +departure, occupied alone. It had a strong lock, and was double-hinged, +which probably led to the preference assigned to it, as a place of +security. + +Into this, Joe, with little ceremony, and a good deal of noise, +introduced the Quaker and Fairford; the first descanting on the +immorality, the other on the illegality, of his proceedings; and he +turned a deaf ear both to the one and the other. Next he pushed in, +almost in headlong fashion, the unfortunate litigant, who, having made +some resistance at the threshold, had received a violent thrust +in consequence, and came rushing forward, like a ram in the act of +charging, with such impetus as must have carried him to the top of the +room, and struck the cocked hat which sat perched on the top of his +tow wig against Miss Redgauntlet’s person, had not the honest Quaker +interrupted his career by seizing him by the collar, and bringing him to +a stand. ‘Friend,’ said he, with the real good-breeding which so often +subsists independently of ceremony, ‘thou art no company for that young +person; she is, thou seest, frightened at our being so suddenly thrust +in hither; and although that be no fault of ours, yet it will become +us to behave civilly towards her. Wherefore come thou with me to this +window, and I will tell thee what it concerns thee to know.’ + +‘And what for should I no speak to the Leddy, friend?’ said Peter, who +was now about half seas over. ‘I have spoke to leddies before now, man. +What for should she be frightened at me? I am nae bogle, I ween. What +are ye pooin’ me that gate for? Ye will rive my coat, and I will have +a good action for having myself made SARTUM ATQUE TECTUM at your +expenses.’ + +Notwithstanding this threat, Mr. Geddes, whose muscles were as strong as +his judgement was sound and his temper sedate, led Poor Peter under the +sense of a control against which he could not struggle, to the farther +corner of the apartment, where, placing him, whether he would or no, in +a chair, he sat down beside him, and effectually prevented his annoying +the young lady, upon whom he had seemed bent upon conferring the +delights of his society. + +If Peter had immediately recognized his counsel learned in the law, it +is probable that not even the benevolent efforts of the Quaker could +have kept him in a state of restraint; but Fairford’s back was turned +towards his client, whose optics, besides being somewhat dazzled with +ale and brandy, were speedily engaged in contemplating a half-crown +which Joshua held between his finger and his thumb, saying, at the +same time, ‘Friend, thou art indigent and improvident. This will, well +employed, procure thee sustentation of nature for more than a single +day; and I will bestow it on thee if thou wilt sit here and keep me +company; for neither thou nor I, friend, are fit company for ladies.’ + +‘Speak for yourself, friend,’ said Peter, scornfully; ‘I was ay kend to +be agreeable to the fair sex; and when I was in business I served the +ladies wi’ anither sort of decorum than Plainstanes, the d--d awkward +scoundrel! It was one of the articles of dittay between us.’ + +‘Well, but, friend,’ said the Quaker, who observed that the young lady +still seemed to fear Peter’s intrusion, ‘I wish to hear thee speak about +this great lawsuit of thine, which has been matter of such celebrity.’ + +‘Celebrity! Ye may swear that,’ said Peter, for the string was touched +to which his crazy imagination always vibrated. ‘And I dinna wonder +that folk that judge things by their outward grandeur, should think me +something worth their envying. It’s very true that it is grandeur upon +earth to hear ane’s name thunnered out along the long-arched roof of the +Outer House,--“Poor Peter Peebles against Plainstanes ET PER CONTRA;” + a’ the best lawyers in the house fleeing like eagles to the prey; some +because they are in the cause, and some because they want to be thought +engaged (for there are tricks in other trades by selling muslins)--to +see the reporters mending their pens to take down the debate--the Lords +themselves pooin’ in their chairs, like folk sitting down to a gude +dinner, and crying on the clerks for parts and pendicles of the process, +who, puir bodies, can do little mair than cry on their closet-keepers +to help them. To see a’ this,’ continued Peter, in a tone of sustained +rapture, ‘and to ken that naething will be said or dune amang a’ thae +grand folk, for maybe the feck of three hours, saving what concerns you +and your business--Oh, man, nae wonder that ye judge this to be earthly +glory! And yet, neighbour, as I was saying, there be unco drawbacks--I +whiles think of my bit house, where dinner, and supper, and breakfast, +used to come without the crying for, just as if fairies had brought +it--and the gude bed at e’en--and the needfu’ penny in the pouch. And +then to see a’ ane’s warldly substance capering in the air in a pair of +weighbauks, now up, now down, as the breath of judge or counsel inclines +it for pursuer or defender,--troth, man, there are times I rue having +ever begun the plea wark, though, maybe, when ye consider the renown and +credit I have by it, ye will hardly believe what I am saying.’ + +‘Indeed, friend,’ said Joshua, with a sigh, ‘I am glad thou hast found +anything in the legal contention which compensates thee for poverty and +hunger; but I believe, were other human objects of ambition looked +upon as closely, their advantages would be found as chimerical as those +attending thy protracted litigation.’ + +‘But never mind, friend,’ said Peter, ‘I’ll tell you the exact state of +the conjunct processes, and make you sensible that I can bring mysell +round with a wet finger, now I have my finger and my thumb on this +loup-the-dike loon, the lad Fairford.’ + +Alan Fairford was in the act of speaking to the masked lady (for Miss +Redgauntlet had retained her riding vizard) endeavouring to assure her, +as he perceived her anxiety, of such protection as he could afford, when +his own name, pronounced in a loud tone, attracted his attention. He +looked round, and seeing Peter Peebles, as hastily turned to avoid his +notice, in which he succeeded, so earnest was Peter upon his colloquy +with one of the most respectable auditors whose attention he had ever +been able to engage. And by this little motion, momentary as it was, +Alan gained an unexpected advantage; for while he looked round, Miss +Lilias, I could never ascertain why, took the moment to adjust her mask, +and did it so awkwardly, that when her companion again turned his head, +he recognized as much of her features as authorized him to address her +as his fair client, and to press his offers of protection and assistance +with the boldness of a former acquaintance. + +Lilias Redgauntlet withdrew the mask from her crimsoned cheek. ‘Mr. +Fairford,’ she said, in a voice almost inaudible, ‘you have the +character of a young gentleman of sense and generosity; but we have +already met in one situation which you must think singular; and I must +be exposed to misconstruction, at least, for my forwardness, were it not +in a cause in which my dearest affections were concerned.’ + +‘Any interest in my beloved friend Darsie Latimer,’ said Fairford, +stepping a little back, and putting a marked restraint upon his former +advances, ‘gives me a double right to be useful to’--He stopped short. + +‘To his sister, your goodness would say,’ answered Lilias. + +‘His sister, madam!’ replied Alan, in the extremity of +astonishment--‘Sister, I presume, in affection only?’ + +‘No, sir; my dear brother Darsie and I are connected by the bonds of +actual relationship; and I am not sorry to be the first to tell this to +the friend he most values.’ + +Fairford’s first thought was on the violent passion which Darsie had +expressed towards the fair unknown. ‘Good God!’ he exclaimed, ‘how did +he bear the discovery?’ + +‘With resignation, I hope,’ said Lilias, smiling. ‘A more accomplished +sister he might easily have come by, but scarcely could have found one +who could love him more than I do.’ + +‘I meant--I only meant to say,’ said the young counsellor, his presence +of mind failing him for an instant--‘that is, I meant to ask where +Darsie Latimer is at this moment.’ + +‘In this very house, and under the guardianship of his uncle, whom I +believe you knew as a visitor of your father, under the name of Mr. +Herries of Birrenswork.’ + +‘Let me hasten to him,’ said Fairford; ‘I have sought him through +difficulties and dangers--I must see him instantly.’ + +‘You forget you are a prisoner,’ said the young lady. + +‘True--true; but I cannot be long detained--the cause alleged is too +ridiculous.’ + +‘Alas!’ said Lilias, ‘our fate--my brother’s and mine, at least--must +turn on the deliberations perhaps of less than an hour. For you, sir, I +believe and apprehend nothing; but some restraint; my uncle is neither +cruel nor unjust, though few will go further in the cause which he has +adopted.’ + +‘Which is that of the Pretend’-- + +‘For God’s sake speak lower!’ said Lilias, approaching her hand, as if +to stop him. ‘The word may cost you your life. You do not know--indeed +you do not--the terrors of the situation in which we at present stand, +and in which I fear you also are involved by your friendship for my +brother.’ + +‘I do not indeed know the particulars of our situation,’ said Fairford; +‘but, be the danger what it may, I shall not grudge my share of it +for the sake of my friend; or,’ he added, with more timidity, ‘of my +friend’s sister. Let me hope,’ he said, ‘my dear Miss Latimer, that +my presence may be of some use to you; and that it may be so, let +me entreat a share of your confidence, which I am conscious I have +otherwise no right to ask.’ + +He led her, as he spoke, towards the recess of the farther window of the +room, and observing to her that, unhappily, he was particularly exposed +to interruption from the mad old man whose entrance had alarmed her, he +disposed of Darsie Latimer’s riding-skirt, which had been left in the +apartment, over the back of two chairs, forming thus a sort of screen, +behind which he ensconced himself with the maiden of the green mantle; +feeling at the moment, that the danger in which he was placed was almost +compensated by the intelligence which permitted those feelings towards +her to revive, which justice to his friend had induced him to stifle in +the birth. + +The relative situation of adviser and advised, of protector and +protected, is so peculiarly suited to the respective condition of man +and woman, that great progress towards intimacy is often made in very +short space; for the circumstances call for confidence on the part of +the gentleman, and forbid coyness on that of the lady, so that the usual +barriers against easy intercourse are at once thrown down. + +Under these circumstances, securing themselves as far as possible from +observation, conversing in whispers, and seated in a corner, where they +were brought into so close contact that their faces nearly touched each +other, Fairford heard from Lilias Redgauntlet the history of her family, +particularly of her uncle; his views upon her brother, and the agony +which she felt, lest at that very moment he might succeed in engaging +Darsie in some desperate scheme, fatal to his fortune and perhaps to his +life. + +Alan Fairford’s acute understanding instantly connected what he had +heard with the circumstances he had witnessed at Fairladies. His first +thought was, to attempt, at all risks, his instant escape, and procure +assistance powerful enough to crush, in the very cradle, a conspiracy of +such a determined character. This he did not consider as difficult; for, +though the door was guarded on the outside, the window, which was not +above ten feet from the ground, was open for escape, the common on which +it looked was unenclosed, and profusely covered with furze. There +would, he thought, be little difficulty in effecting his liberty, and in +concealing his course after he had gained it. + +But Lilias exclaimed against this scheme. Her uncle, she said, was a man +who, in his moments of enthusiasm, knew neither remorse nor fear. He +was capable of visiting upon Darsie any injury which he might conceive +Fairford had rendered him--he was her near kinsman also, and not an +unkind one, and she deprecated any effort, even in her brother’s favour, +by which his life must be exposed to danger. Fairford himself remembered +Father Buonaventure, and made little question but that he was one of +the sons of the old Chevalier de Saint George; and with feelings which, +although contradictory of his public duty, can hardly be much censured, +his heart recoiled from being the agent by whom the last scion of such +a long line of Scottish princes should be rooted up. He then thought +of obtaining an audience, if possible, of this devoted person, and +explaining to him the utter hopelessness of his undertaking, which he +judged it likely that the ardour of his partisans might have concealed +from him. But he relinquished this design as soon as formed. He had no +doubt, that any light which he could throw on the state of the country, +would come too late to be serviceable to one who was always reported to +have his own full share of the hereditary obstinacy which had cost his +ancestors so dear, and who, in drawing the sword, must have thrown from +him the scabbard. + +Lilias suggested the advice which, of all others, seemed most suited +to the occasion, that, yielding, namely, to the circumstances of their +situation, they should watch carefully when Darsie should obtain any +degree of freedom, and endeavour to open a communication with him, in +which case their joint flight might be effected, and without endangering +the safety of any one. + +Their youthful deliberation had nearly fixed in this point, when +Fairford, who was listening to the low sweet whispering tones of Lilias +Redgauntlet, rendered yet more interesting by some slight touch of +foreign accent, was startled by a heavy hand which descended with full +weight on his shoulder, while the discordant voice of Peter Peebles, who +had at length broke loose from the well-meaning Quaker, exclaimed in the +ear of his truant counsel--‘Aha, lad! I think ye are catched--An’ so ye +are turned chamber-counsel, are ye? And ye have drawn up wi’ clients +in scarfs and hoods? But bide a wee, billie, and see if I dinna sort ye +when my petition and complaint comes to be discussed, with or without +answers, under certification.’ + +Alan Fairford had never more difficulty in his life to subdue a first +emotion, than he had to refrain from knocking down the crazy blockhead +who had broken in upon him at such a moment. But the length of Peter’s +address gave him time, fortunately perhaps for both parties, to reflect +on the extreme irregularity of such a proceeding. He stood silent, +however, with vexation, while Peter went on. + +‘Weel, my bonnie man, I see ye are thinking shame o’ yoursell, and nae +great wonder. Ye maun leave this quean--the like of her is ower light +company for you. I have heard honest Mr. Pest say, that the gown grees +ill wi’ the petticoat. But come awa hame to your puir father, and I’ll +take care of you the haill gate, and keep you company, and deil a word +we will speak about, but just the state of the conjoined processes of +the great cause of Poor Peter Peebles against Plainstanes.’ + +‘If thou canst; endure to hear as much of that suit, friend,’ said +the Quaker, ‘as I have heard out of mere compassion for thee, I think +verily thou wilt soon be at the bottom of the matter, unless it be +altogether bottomless.’ + +Fairford shook off, rather indignantly, the large bony hand which Peter +had imposed upon his shoulder, and was about to say something peevish, +upon so unpleasant and insolent a mode of interruption, when the door +opened, a treble voice saying to the sentinel, ‘I tell you I maun be in, +to see if Mr. Nixon’s here;’ and little Benjie thrust in his mop-head +and keen black eyes. Ere he could withdraw it, Peter Peebles sprang to +the door, seized on the boy by the collar, and dragged him forward into +the room. + +‘Let me see it,’ he said, ‘ye ne’er-do-weel limb of Satan--I’ll gar +you satisfy the production, I trow--I’ll hae first and second diligence +against you, ye deevil’s buckie!’ + +‘What dost thou want?’ said the Quaker, interfering; ‘why dost thou +frighten the boy, friend Peebles?’ + +‘I gave the bastard a penny to buy me snuff,’ said the pauper, ‘and he +has rendered no account of his intromissions; but I’ll gar him as gude.’ + +So saying, he proceeded forcibly to rifle the pockets of Benjie’s ragged +jacket of one or two snares for game, marbles, a half-bitten apple, two +stolen eggs (one of which Peter broke in the eagerness of his research), +and various other unconsidered trifles, which had not the air of being +very honestly come by. The little rascal, under this discipline, bit and +struggled like a fox-cub, but, like that vermin, uttered neither cry nor +complaint, till a note, which Peter tore from his bosom, flew as far as +Lilias Redgauntlet, and fell at her feet. It was addressed to C. N. + +‘It is for the villain Nixon.’ she said to Alan Fairford; ‘open it +without scruple; that boy is his emissary; we shall now see what the +miscreant is driving at.’ + +Little Benjie now gave up all further struggle, and suffered Peebles +to take from him, without resistance, a shilling, out of which Peter +declared he would pay himself principal and interest, and account for +the balance. The boy, whose attention seemed fixed on something very +different, only said, ‘Maister Nixon will murder me!’ + +Alan Fairford did not hesitate to read the little scrap of paper, on +which was written, ‘All is prepared--keep them in play until I come up. +You may depend on your reward.--C. C.’ + +‘Alas, my uncle--my poor uncle!’ said Lilias; ‘this is the result of +his confidence. Methinks, to give him instant notice of his confidant’s +treachery, is now the best service we can render all concerned--if +they break up their undertaking, as they must now do, Darsie will be at +liberty.’ + +In the same breath, they were both at the half-opened door of the room, +Fairford entreating to speak with the Father Buonaventure, and Lilias, +equally vehemently, requesting a moment’s interview with her uncle. +While the sentinel hesitated what to do, his attention was called to a +loud noise at the door, where a crowd had been assembled in consequence +of the appalling cry, that the enemy were upon them, occasioned, as it +afterwards proved, by some stragglers having at length discovered the +dead bodies of Nanty Ewart and of Nixon. + +Amid the confusion occasioned by this alarming incident, the sentinel +ceased to attend, to his duty; and accepting Alan Fairford’s arm, Lilias +found no opposition in penetrating even to the inner apartment, where +the principal persons in the enterprise, whose conclave had been +disturbed by this alarming incident, were now assembled in great +confusion, and had been joined by the Chevalier himself. + +‘Only a mutiny among these smuggling scoundrels,’ said Redgauntlet. + +ONLY a mutiny, do you say?’ said Sir Richard Glendale; ‘and the lugger, +the last hope of escape for,’--he looked towards Charles,--‘stands out +to sea under a press of sail!’ + +‘Do not concern yourself about me,’ said the unfortunate prince; ‘this +is not the worst emergency in which it has been my lot to stand; and if +it were, I fear it not. Shift for yourselves, my lords and gentlemen.’ + +‘No, never!’ said the young Lord ------. ‘Our only hope now is in an +honourable resistance.’ + +‘Most true,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘let despair renew the union amongst +us which accident disturbed. I give my voice for displaying the royal +banner instantly, and--How now!’ he concluded, sternly, as Lilias, first +soliciting his attention by pulling his cloak, put into his hand the +scroll, and added, it was designed for that of Nixon. + +Redgauntlet read--and, dropping it on the ground, continued to stare +upon the spot where it fell, with raised hands and fixed eyes. Sir +Richard Glendale lifted the fatal paper, read it, and saying, ‘Now all +is indeed over,’ handed it to Maxwell, who said aloud, ‘Black Colin +Campbell, by G--d! I heard he had come post from London last night.’ + +As if in echo to his thoughts, the violin of the blind man was heard, +playing with spirit, The Campbells are coming,’ a celebrated clan-march. + +‘The Campbells are coming in earnest,’ said MacKellar; they are upon us +with the whole battalion from Carlisle.’ + +There was a silence of dismay, and two or three of the company began to +drop out of the room. + +Lord ------ spoke with the generous spirit of a young English nobleman. +‘If we have been fools, do not let us be cowards. We have one here more +precious than us all, and come hither on our warranty--let us save him +at least.’ + +‘True, most true,’ answered Sir Richard Glendale. ‘Let the king be first +cared for.’ + +‘That shall be my business,’ said Redgauntlet ‘if we have but time to +bring back the brig, all will be well--I will instantly dispatch a party +in a fishing skiff to bring her to.’ He gave his commands to two or +three of the most active among his followers. ‘Let him be once on +board,’ he said, ‘and there are enough of us to stand to arms and cover +his retreat.’ + +‘Right, right,’ said Sir Richard, ‘and I will look to points which can +be made defensible; and the old powder-plot boys could not have made a +more desperate resistance than we shall. Redgauntlet,’ continued he, ‘I +see some of our friends are looking pale; but methinks your nephew has +more mettle in his eye now than when we were in cold deliberation, with +danger at a distance.’ + +‘It is the way of our house,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘our courage ever +kindles highest on the losing side. I, too, feel that the catastrophe +I have brought on must not be survived by its author. Let me first,’ +he said, addressing Charles, ‘see your Majesty’s sacred person in such +safety as can now be provided for it, and then’-- + +‘You may spare all considerations concerning me, gentlemen,’ again +repeated Charles; ‘yon mountain of Criffel shall fly as soon as I will.’ + +Most threw themselves at his feet with weeping and entreaty; some one +or two slunk in confusion from the apartment, and were heard riding +off. Unnoticed in such a scene, Darsie, his sister, and Fairford, drew +together, and held each other by the hands, as those who, when a vessel +is about to founder in the storm, determine to take their chance of life +and death together. + +Amid this scene of confusion, a gentleman, plainly dressed in a +riding-habit, with a black cockade in his hat, but without any arms +except a COUTEAU-DE-CHASSE, walked into the apartment without ceremony. +He was a tall, thin, gentlemanly man, with a look and bearing decidedly +military. He had passed through their guards, if in the confusion they +now maintained any, without stop or question, and now stood, almost +unarmed, among armed men, who nevertheless, gazed on him as on the angel +of destruction. + +‘You look coldly on me, gentlemen,’ he said. ‘Sir Richard Glendale--my +Lord ------, we were not always such strangers. Ha, Pate-in-Peril, how +is it with you? and you, too, Ingoldsby--I must not call you by any +other name--why do you receive an old friend so coldly? But you guess my +errand.’ + +‘And are prepared for it, general,’ said Redgauntlet; ‘we are not men to +be penned up like sheep for the slaughter.’ + +‘Pshaw! you take it too seriously--let me speak but one word with you.’ + +‘No words can shake our purpose,’ said Redgauntlet, were your whole +command, as I suppose is the case, drawn round the house.’ + +‘I am certainly not unsupported,’ said the general; ‘but if you would +hear me’-- + +‘Hear ME, sir,’ said the Wanderer, stepping forward; ‘I suppose I am the +mark you aim at--I surrender myself willingly, to save these gentlemen’s +danger--let this at least avail in their favour.’ + +An exclamation of ‘Never, never!’ broke from the little body of +partisans, who threw themselves round the unfortunate prince, and would +have seized or struck down Campbell, had it not been that he remained +with his arms folded, and a look, rather indicating impatience because +they would not hear him, than the least apprehension of violence at +their hand. + +At length he obtained a moment’s silence. ‘I do not,’ he said, ‘know +this gentleman’--(making a profound bow to the unfortunate prince)--‘I +do not wish to know him; it is a knowledge which would suit neither of +us.’ + +‘Our ancestors, nevertheless, have been well acquainted,’ said Charles, +unable to suppress, even at that hour of dread and danger, the painful +recollections of fallen royalty. + +‘In one word, General Campbell,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘is it to be peace or +war? You are a man of honour, and we can trust you.’ + +‘I thank you, sir,’ said the general; ‘and I reply, that the answer to +your question rests with yourself. Come, do not be fools, gentlemen; +there was perhaps no great harm meant or intended by your gathering +together in this obscure corner, for a bear-bait or a cock-fight, or +whatever other amusement you may have intended, but it was a little +imprudent, considering how you stand with government, and it has +occasioned some anxiety. Exaggerated accounts of your purpose have +been laid before government by the information of a traitor in your own +counsels; and I was sent down post to take the command of a sufficient +number of troops, in case these calumnies should be found to have any +real foundation. I have come here, of course, sufficiently supported +both with cavalry and infantry, to do whatever might be necessary; but +my commands are--and I am sure they agree with my inclination--to make +no arrests, nay, to make no further inquiries of any kind, if this good +assembly will consider their own interest so far as to give up their +immediate purpose, and return quietly home to their own houses.’ + +‘What!--all?’ exclaimed Sir Richard Glendale--‘all, without exception?’ + +‘ALL, without one single exception’ said the general; ‘such are my +orders. If you accept my terms, say so, and make haste; for things may +happen to interfere with his Majesty’s kind purposes towards you all.’ + +‘Majesty’s kind purposes!’ said the Wanderer. ‘Do I hear you aright, +sir?’ + +‘I speak the king’s very words, from his very lips,’ replied the +general. ‘“I will,” said his Majesty, “deserve the confidence of my +subjects by reposing my security in the fidelity of the millions who +acknowledge my title--in the good sense and prudence of the few who +continue, from the errors of education, to disown it.” His Majesty will +not even believe that the most zealous Jacobites who yet remain can +nourish a thought of exciting a civil war, which must be fatal to their +families and themselves, besides spreading bloodshed and ruin through +a peaceful land. He cannot even believe of his kinsman, that he would +engage brave and generous though mistaken men, in an attempt which must +ruin all who have escaped former calamities; and he is convinced, +that, did curiosity or any other motive lead that person to visit this +country, he would soon see it was his wisest course to return to the +continent; and his Majesty compassionates his situation too much to +offer any obstacle to his doing so.’ + +‘Is this real?’ said Redgauntlet. ‘Can you mean this? Am I--are all, are +any of these gentlemen at liberty, without interruption, to embark in +yonder brig, which, I see, is now again approaching the shore?’ + +‘You, sir--all--any of the gentlemen present,’ said the general,--‘all +whom the vessel can contain, are at liberty to embark uninterrupted +by me; but I advise none to go off who have not powerful reasons +unconnected with the present meeting, for this will be remembered +against no one.’ + +‘Then, gentlemen,’ said Redgauntlet, clasping his hands together as the +words burst from him, ‘the cause is lost for ever!’ + +General Campbell turned away to the window, as if to avoid hearing what +they said. Their consultation was but momentary; for the door of escape +which thus opened was as unexpected as the exigence was threatening. + +‘We have your word of honour for our protection,’ said Sir Richard +Glendale, ‘if we dissolve our meeting in obedience to your summons?’ + +‘You have, Sir Richard,’ answered the general. + +‘And I also have your promise,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘that I may go on +board yonder vessel, with any friend whom I may choose to accompany me?’ + +Not only that, Mr. Ingoldsby--or I WILL call you Mr. Redgauntlet once +more--you may stay in the offing for a tide, until you are joined by any +person who may remain at Fairladies. After that, there will be a sloop +of war on the station, and I need not say your condition will then +become perilous.’ + +‘Perilous it should not be, General Campbell,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘or +more perilous to others than to us, if others thought as I do even in +this extremity.’ + +‘You forget yourself, my friend,’ said the unhappy Adventurer; you +forget that the arrival of this gentleman only puts the cope-stone on +our already adopted resolution to abandon our bull-fight or by whatever +other wild name this headlong enterprise may be termed. I bid you +farewell, unfriendly friends--I bid you farewell,’ (bowing to the +general) ‘my friendly foe--I leave this strand as I landed upon it, +alone and to return no more!’ + +‘Not alone,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘while there is blood in the veins of my +father’s son.’ + +‘Not alone,’ said the other gentlemen present, stung with feelings which +almost overpowered the better reasons under which they had acted. ‘We +will not disown our principles, or see your person endangered.’ + +‘If it be only your purpose to see the gentleman to the beach,’ said +General Campbell, ‘I will myself go with you. My presence among you, +unarmed, and in your power, will be a pledge of my friendly intentions, +and will overawe, should such be offered, any interruption on the part +of officious persons.’ + +‘Be it so,’ said the Adventurer, with the air of a prince to a subject, +not of one who complied with the request of an enemy too powerful to be +resisted. + +They left the apartment--they left the house--an unauthenticated and +dubious, but appalling, sensation of terror had already spread itself +among the inferior retainers, who had so short time before strutted, and +bustled, and thronged the doorway and the passages. A report had arisen, +of which the origin could not be traced, of troops advancing towards the +spot in considerable numbers; and men who, for one reason or other, +were most of them amenable to the arm of power, had either shrunk into +stables or corners, or fled the place entirely. There was solitude on +the landscape excepting the small party which now moved towards the +rude pier, where a boat lay manned, agreeably to Redgauntlet’s orders +previously given. + +The last heir of the Stuarts leant on Redgauntlet’s arm as they walked +towards the beach; for the ground was rough, and he no longer possessed +the elasticity of limb and of spirit which had, twenty years before, +carried him over many a Highland hill as light as one of their native +deer. His adherents followed, looking on the ground, their feelings +struggling against the dictates of their reason. + +General Campbell accompanied them with an air of apparent ease and +indifference, but watching, at the same time, and no doubt with some +anxiety, the changing features of those who acted in this extraordinary +scene. + +Darsie and his sister naturally followed their uncle, whose violence +they no longer feared, while his character attracted their respect, and +Alan Fairford attended them from interest in their fate, unnoticed in +a party where all were too much occupied with their own thoughts +and feelings, as well as with the impending crisis, to attend to his +presence. + +Half-way betwixt the house and the beach, they saw the bodies of Nanty +Ewart and Cristal Nixon blackening in the sun. + +‘That was your informer?’ said Redgauntlet, looking back to General +Campbell, who only nodded his assent. + +‘Caitiff wretch!’ exclaimed Redgauntlet;--‘and yet the name were better +bestowed on the fool who could be misled by thee.’ + +‘That sound broadsword cut,’ said the general, ‘has saved us the shame +of rewarding a traitor.’ + +They arrived at the place of embarkation. The prince stood a moment with +folded arms, and looked around him in deep silence. A paper was then +slipped into his hands--he looked at it, and said, ‘I find the two +friends I have left at Fairladies are apprised of my destination, +and propose to embark from Bowness. I presume this will not be an +infringement of the conditions under which you have acted?’ + +‘Certainly not,’ answered General Campbell; ‘they shall have all +facility to join you.’ + +‘I wish, then,’ said Charles, ‘only another companion. Redgauntlet, the +air of this country is as hostile to you as it is to me. These gentlemen +have made their peace, or rather they have done nothing to break it. +But you--come you and share my home where chance shall cast it. We +shall never see these shores again; but we will talk of them, and of our +disconcerted bull-fight.’ + +‘I follow you, sire, through life,’ said Redgauntlet, ‘as I would have +followed you to death. Permit me one moment.’ + +The prince then looked round, and seeing the abashed countenances of his +other adherents bent upon the ground, he hastened to say, ‘Do not think +that you, gentlemen, have obliged me less because your zeal was mingled +with prudence, entertained, I am sure, more on my own account and on +that of your country, than from selfish apprehensions.’ + +He stepped from one to another, and, amid sobs and bursting tears, +received the adieus of the last remnant which had hitherto supported +his lofty pretensions, and addressed them individually with accents of +tenderness and affection. + +The general drew a little aloof, and signed to Redgauntlet to speak +with him while this scene proceeded. ‘It is now all over,’ he said, ‘and +Jacobite will be henceforward no longer a party name. When you tire of +foreign parts, and wish to make your peace, let me know. Your restless +zeal alone has impeded your pardon hitherto.’ + +‘And now I shall not need it,’ said Redgauntlet. ‘I leave England +for ever; but I am not displeased that you should hear my family +adieus.--Nephew, come hither. In presence of General Campbell, I tell +you, that though to breed you up in my own political opinions has been +for many years my anxious wish, I am now glad that it could not be +accomplished. You pass under the service of the reigning monarch without +the necessity of changing your allegiance--a change, however,’ he added, +looking around him, which sits more easy on honourable men than I could +have anticipated; but some wear the badge of their loyalty on their +sleeve, and others in the heart. You will, from henceforth, be +uncontrolled master of all the property of which forfeiture could not +deprive your father--of all that belonged to him--excepting this, his +good sword’ (laying his hand on the weapon he wore), ‘which shall never +fight for the House of Hanover; and as my hand will never draw weapon +more, I shall sink it forty fathoms deep in the wide ocean. Bless you, +young man! If I have dealt harshly with you, forgive me. I had set my +whole desires on one point,--God knows, with no selfish purpose; and +I am justly punished by this final termination of my views, for having +been too little scrupulous in the means by which I pursued them.--Niece, +farewell, and may God bless you also!’ + +‘No, sir,’ said Lilias, seizing his hand eagerly. ‘You have been +hitherto my protector,--you are now in sorrow, let me be your attendant +and your comforter in exile.’ + +‘I thank you, my girl, for your unmerited affection; but it cannot and +must not be. The curtain here falls between us. I go to the house of +another. If I leave it before I quit the earth, it shall be only for the +House of God. Once more, farewell both! The fatal doom,’ he said, with +a melancholy smile, ‘will, I trust, now depart from the House of +Redgauntlet, since its present representative has adhered to the winning +side. I am convinced he will not change it, should it in turn become the +losing one.’ + +The unfortunate Charles Edward had now given his last adieus to his +downcast adherents. He made a sign with his hand to Redgauntlet, who +came to assist him into the skiff. General Campbell also offered his +assistance, the rest appearing too much affected by the scene which had +taken place to prevent him. + +‘You are not sorry, general, to do me this last act of courtesy,’ said +the Chevalier; ‘and, on my part, I thank you for it. You have taught me +the principle on which men on the scaffold feel forgiveness and kindness +even for their executioner. Farewell!’ + +They were seated in the boat, which presently pulled off from the land. +The Oxford divine broke out into a loud benediction, in terms which +General Campbell was too generous to criticize at the time, or to +remember afterwards;--nay, it is said, that, Whig and Campbell as he +was, he could not help joining in the universal Amen! which resounded +from the shore. + + + + +CONCLUSION, BY DR. DRYASDUST + +IN A LETTER TO THE AUTHOR OF WAVERLEY + +I am truly sorry, my worthy and much-respected sir, that my anxious +researches have neither, in the form of letters, nor of diaries or other +memoranda, been able to discover more than I have hitherto transmitted, +of the history of the Redgauntlet family. But I observe in an old +newspaper called the WHITEHALL GAZETTE, of which I fortunately possess a +file for several years, that Sir Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet was +presented to his late Majesty at the drawing-room, by Lieut.-General +Campbell--upon which the editor observes, in the way of comment, that +we were going, REMIS ATQUE VELIS, into the interests of the Pretender, +since a Scot had presented a Jacobite at Court. I am sorry I have not +room (the frank being only uncial) for his further observations, tending +to show the apprehensions entertained by many well-instructed persons of +the period, that the young king might himself be induced to become one +of the Stuarts’ faction,--a catastrophe from which it has pleased Heaven +to preserve these kingdoms. + +I perceive also, by a marriage-contract in the family repositories, that +Miss Lilias Redgauntlet of Redgauntlet, about eighteen months after the +transactions you have commemorated, intermarried with Alan Fairford, +Esq., Advocate, of Clinkdollar, who, I think, we may not unreasonably +conclude to be the same person whose name occurs so frequently in +the pages of your narration. In my last excursion to Edinburgh, I was +fortunate enough to discover an old caddie, from whom, at the expense +of a bottle of whisky and half a pound of tobacco, I extracted the +important information, that he knew Peter Peebles very well, and had +drunk many a mutchkin with him in Caddie Fraser’s time. He said ‘that +he lived ten years after King George’s accession, in the momentary +expectation of winning his cause every day in the session time, and +every hour in the day, and at last fell down dead, in what my informer +called a ‘perplexity fit,’ upon a proposal for a composition being made +to him in the Outer House. I have chosen to retain my informer’s phrase, +not being able justly to determine whether it is a corruption of the +word apoplexy, as my friend Mr. Oldbuck supposes, or the name of some +peculiar disorder incidental to those who have concern in the courts of +law, as many callings and conditions of men have diseases appropriate to +themselves. The same caddie also remembered Blind Willie Stevenson, who +was called Wandering Willie, and who ended his days ‘unco beinly, in Sir +Arthur Redgauntlet’s ha’ neuk.’ ‘He had done the family some good turn,’ +he said, ‘specially when ane of the Argyle gentlemen was coming down on +a wheen of them that had the “auld leaven” about them, and wad hae taen +every man of them, and nae less nor headed and hanged them. But Willie, +and a friend they had, called Robin the Rambler, gae them warning, by +playing tunes such as “The Campbells are coming” and the like, whereby +they got timeous warning to take the wing.’ I need not point out to your +acuteness, my worthy sir, that this seems to refer to some inaccurate +account of the transactions in which you seem so much interested. + +Respecting Redgauntlet, about whose subsequent history you are more +particularly inquisitive, I have learned from an excellent person +who was a priest in the Scottish Monastery of Ratisbon, before its +suppression, that he remained for two or three years in the family of +the Chevalier, and only left it at last in consequence of some discords +in that melancholy household. As he had hinted to General Campbell, he +exchanged his residence for the cloister, and displayed in the latter +part of his life, a strong sense of the duties of religion, which in +his earlier days he had too much neglected, being altogether engaged in +political speculations and intrigues. He rose to the situation of prior, +in the house which he belonged to, and which was of a very strict order +of religion. He sometimes received his countrymen, whom accident brought +to Ratisbon, and curiosity induced to visit the Monastery of ------. But +it was remarked, that though he listened with interest and attention, +when Britain, or particularly Scotland, became the subject of +conversation, yet he never either introduced or prolonged the subject, +never used the English language, never inquired about English affairs, +and, above all, never mentioned his own family. His strict observation +of the rules of his order gave him, at the time of his death, some +pretensions to be chosen a saint, and the brethren of the Monastery +of ------ made great efforts for that effect, and brought forward some +plausible proofs of miracles. But there was a circumstance which threw +a doubt over the subject, and prevented the consistory from acceding +to the wishes of the worthy brethren. Under his habit, and secured in +a small silver box, he had worn perpetually around his neck a lock +of-hair, which the fathers avouched to be a relic. But the Avvocato del +Diabolo, in combating (as was his official duty) the pretensions of +the candidate for sanctity, made it at least equally probable that the +supposed relic was taken from the head of a brother of the deceased +prior, who had been executed for adherence to the Stuart family in +1745-6; and the motto, HAUD OBLIVISCENDUM, seemed to intimate a tone +of mundane feeling and recollection of injuries, which made it at least +doubtful whether, even in the quiet and gloom of the cloister, +Father Hugo had forgotten the sufferings and injuries of the House of +Redgauntlet. + +June 10, 1824, + + + + +NOTES + +NOTE 1.--THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS + +In explanation of this circumstance, I cannot help adding a note not +very necessary for the reader, which yet I record with pleasure, from +recollection of the kindness which it evinces. In early youth I resided +for a considerable time in the vicinity of the beautiful village +of Kelso, where my life passed in a very solitary manner. I had few +acquaintances, scarce any companions, and books, which were at the time +almost essential to my happiness, were difficult to come by. It was then +that I was particularly indebted to the liberality and friendship of +an old lady of the Society of Friends, eminent for her benevolence and +charity. Her deceased husband had been a medical man of eminence, +and left her, with other valuable property, a small and well-selected +library. This the kind old lady permitted me to rummage at pleasure, and +carry home what volumes I chose, on condition that I should take, at the +same time, some of the tracts printed for encouraging and extending the +doctrines of her own sect. She did not even exact any promise that I +would read these performances, being too justly afraid of involving me +in a breach of promise, but was merely desirous that I should have +the chance of instruction within my reach, in case whim, curiosity, or +accident, might induce me to have recourse to it. + + +NOTE 2.--THE PERSECUTORS + +The personages here mentioned are most of them characters of historical +fame; but those less known and remembered may be found in the tract +entitled, ‘The Judgment and Justice of God Exemplified, or, a Brief +Historical Account of some of the Wicked Lives and Miserable Deaths of +some of the most remarkable Apostates and Bloody Persecutors, from +the Reformation till after the Revolution.’ This constitutes a sort of +postscript or appendix to John Howie of Lochgoin’s ‘Account of the Lives +of the most eminent Scots Worthies.’ The author has, with considerable +ingenuity, reversed his reasoning upon the inference to be drawn from +the prosperity or misfortunes which befall individuals in this world, +either in the course of their lives or in the hour of death. In the +account of the martyrs’ sufferings, such inflictions are mentioned only +as trials permitted by providence, for the better and brighter display +of their faith, and constancy of principle. But when similar afflictions +befell the opposite party, they are imputed to the direct vengeance of +Heaven upon their impiety. If, indeed, the life of any person obnoxious +to the historian’s censures happened to have passed in unusual +prosperity, the mere fact of its being finally concluded by death, +is assumed as an undeniable token of the judgement of Heaven, and, to +render the conclusion inevitable, his last scene is generally garnished +with some singular circumstances. Thus the Duke of Lauderdale is said, +through old age but immense corpulence, to have become so sunk in +spirits, ‘that his heart was not the bigness of a walnut.’ + + +NOTE 3.--LAMENTATION FOR THE DEAD + +I have heard in my youth some such wild tale as that placed in the +mouth of the blind fiddler, of which, I think, the hero was Sir Robert +Grierson of Lagg, the famous persecutor. But the belief was general +throughout Scotland that the excessive lamentation over the loss of +friends disturbed the repose of the dead, and broke even the rest of the +grave. There are several instances of this in tradition, but one struck +me particularly, as I heard it from the lips of one who professed +receiving it from those of a ghost-seer. This was a Highland lady, named +Mrs. C---- of B------, who probably believed firmly in the truth of an +apparition which seems to have originated in the weakness of her nerves +and strength of her imagination. She had been lately left a widow by her +husband, with the office of guardian to their only child. The young man +added to the difficulties of his charge by an extreme propensity for a +military life, which his mother was unwilling to give way to, while +she found it impossible to repress it. About this time the Independent +Companies, formed for the preservation of the peace of the Highlands, +were in the course of being levied; and as a gentleman named Cameron, +nearly connected with Mrs. C--, commanded one of those companies, +she was at length persuaded to compromise the matter with her son, by +permitting him to enter this company in the capacity of a cadet, thus +gratifying his love of a military life without the dangers of foreign +service, to which no one then thought these troops were at all liable to +be exposed, while even their active service at home was not likely to +be attended with much danger. She readily obtained a promise from her +relative that he would be particular in his attention to her son and +therefore concluded she had accommodated matters between her son’s +wishes and his safety in a way sufficiently attentive to both. She set +off to Edinburgh to get what was awanting for his outfit, and shortly +afterwards received melancholy news from the Highlands. The Independent +Company into which her son was to enter had a skirmish with a party of +caterans engaged in some act of spoil, and her friend the captain +being wounded, and out of the reach of medical assistance, died in +consequence. This news was a thunderbolt to the poor mother, who was at +once deprived of her kinsman’s advice and assistance, and instructed by +his fate of the unexpected danger to which her son’s new calling exposed +him. She remained also in great sorrow for her relative, whom she loved +with sisterly affection. These conflicting causes of anxiety, +together with her uncertainty, whether to continue or change her son’s +destination, were terminated in the following manner:-- + +The house in which Mrs. C---- resided in the old town of Edinburgh, was +a flat or story of a land accessible, as was then universal, by a common +stair. The family who occupied the story beneath were her acquaintances, +and she was in the habit of drinking tea with them every evening. It was +accordingly about six o’clock, when, recovering herself from a deep fit +of anxious reflection, she was about to leave the parlour in which she +sat in order to attend this engagement. The door through which she was +to pass opened, as was very common in Edinburgh, into a dark passage. In +this passage, and within a yard of her when she opened the door, +stood the apparition of her kinsman, the deceased officer, in his full +tartans, and wearing his bonnet. Terrified at what she saw, or thought +she saw, she closed the door hastily, and, sinking on her knees by +a chair, prayed to be delivered from the horrors of the vision. She +remained in that posture till her friends below tapped on the door, +to intimate that tea was ready. Recalled to herself by the signal, she +arose, and, on opening the apartment door, again was confronted by +the visionary Highlander, whose bloody brow bore token, on this second +appearance, to the death he had died. Unable to endure this repetition +of her terrors, Mrs. C---- sank on the door in a swoon. Her friends +below, startled with the noise, came upstairs, and, alarmed at the +situation in which they found her, insisted on her going to bed and +taking some medicine, in order to compose what they took for a nervous +attack. They had no sooner left her in quiet, than the apparition of +the soldier was once more visible in the apartment. This time she took +courage and said, ‘In the name of God, Donald, why do you haunt one who +respected and loved you when living?’ To which he answered readily, in +Gaelic, ‘Cousin, why did you not speak sooner? My rest is disturbed by +your unnecessary lamentation--your tears scald me in my shroud. I come +to tell you that my untimely death ought to make no difference in your +views for your son; God will raise patrons to supply my place and he +will live to the fullness of years, and die honoured and at peace.’ The +lady of course followed her kinsman’s advice and as she was accounted +a person of strict veracity, we may conclude the first apparition an +illusion of the fancy, the final one a lively dream suggested by the +other two. + + +NOTE 4.--PETER PEEBLES + +This unfortunate litigant (for a person named Peter Peebles actually +flourished) frequented the courts of justice in Scotland about the year +1792, and the sketch of his appearance is given from recollection. The +author is of opinion that he himself had at one time the honour to be +counsel for Peter Peebles, whose voluminous course of litigation served +as a sort of assay-pieces to most young men who were called to the bar. +The scene of the consultation is entirely imaginary. + + +NOTE 5.--JOHN’S COFFEE-HOUSE + +This small dark coffee-house, now burnt down, was the resort of such +writers and clerks belonging to the Parliament House above thirty years +ago as retained the ancient Scottish custom of a meridian, as it was +called, or noontide dram of spirits. If their proceedings were watched, +they might be seen to turn fidgety about the hour of noon, and exchange +looks with each other from their separate desks, till at length some one +of formal and dignified presence assumed the honour of leading the band, +when away they went, threading the crowd like a string of wild +fowl, crossed the square or close, and following each other into +the coffee-house, received in turn from the hand of the waiter, the +meridian, which was placed ready at the bar. This they did, day by day: +and though they did not speak to each other, they seemed to attach a +certain degree of sociability to performing the ceremony in company. + + +NOTE 6.--FISHING RIGHTS + +It may be here mentioned, that a violent and popular attack upon what +the country people of this district considered as an invasion of their +fishing right is by no means an improbable fiction. Shortly after the +close of the American war, Sir James Graham of Netherby constructed a +dam-dyke, or cauld, across the Esk, at a place where it flowed through +his estate, though it has its origin, and the principal part of its +course, in Scotland. The new barrier at Netherby was considered as +an encroachment calculated to prevent the salmon from ascending into +Scotland, and the right of erecting it being an international question +of law betwixt the sister kingdoms, there was no court in either +competent to its decision. In this dilemma, the Scots people assembled +in numbers by signal of rocket lights, and, rudely armed with +fowling-pieces, fish-spears, and such rustic weapons, marched to the +banks of the river for the purpose of pulling down the dam-dyke objected +to. Sir James Graham armed many of his own people to protect his +property, and had some military from Carlisle for the same purpose. +A renewal of the Border wars had nearly taken place in the eighteenth +century, when prudence and moderation on both sides saved much tumult, +and perhaps some bloodshed. The English proprietor consented that a +breach should be made in his dam-dyke sufficient for the passage of the +fish, and thus removed the Scottish grievance. I believe the river has +since that time taken the matter into its own disposal, and entirely +swept away the dam-dyke in question. + + +NOTE 7.--STATE OF SCOTLAND + +Scotland, in its half-civilized state, exhibited too many examples +of the exertion of arbitrary force and violence, rendered easy by the +dominion which lairds exerted over their tenants and chiefs over their +clans. The captivity of Lady Grange, in the desolate cliffs of Saint +Kilda, is in the recollection of every one. At the supposed date of the +novel also a man of the name of Merrilees, a tanner in Leith, absconded +from his country to escape his creditors; and after having slain his own +mastiff dog, and put a bit of red cloth in its mouth, as if it had died +in a contest with soldiers, and involved his own existence in as +much mystery as possible, made his escape into Yorkshire. Here he was +detected by persons sent in search of him, to whom he gave a portentous +account of his having been carried off and concealed in various places. +Mr. Merrilees was, in short, a kind of male Elizabeth Canning, but did +not trespass on the public credulity quite so long. + + +NOTE 8.--CONCEALMENTS FOR THEFT AND SMUGGLING + +I am sorry to say that the modes of concealment described in the +imaginary premises of Mr. Trumbull, are of a kind which have been common +on the frontiers of late years. The neighbourhood of two nations having +different laws, though united in government, still leads to a multitude +of transgressions on the Border, and extreme difficulty in apprehending +delinquents. About twenty years since, as far as my recollection serves, +there was along the frontier an organized gang of coiners, forgers, +smugglers, and other malefactors, whose operations were conducted on a +scale not inferior to what is here described. The chief of the party was +one Richard Mendham a carpenter, who rose to opulence, although ignorant +even of the arts of reading and writing. But he had found a short +road to wealth, and had taken singular measures for conducting his +operations. Amongst these, he found means to build, in a suburb +of Berwick called Spittal, a street of small houses, as if for the +investment of property. He himself inhabited one of these; another, a +species of public-house, was open to his confederates, who held secret +and unsuspected communication with him by crossing the roofs of the +intervening houses, and descending by a trap-stair, which admitted them +into the alcove of the dining-room of Dick Mendham’s private mansion. +A vault, too, beneath Mendham’s stable, was accessible in the manner +mentioned in the novel. The post of one of the stalls turned round on +a bolt being withdrawn, and gave admittance to a subterranean place of +concealment for contraband and stolen goods, to a great extent. Richard +Mendham, the head of this very formidable conspiracy, which involved +malefactors of every kind, was tried and executed at Jedburgh, where the +author was present as Sheriff of Selkirkshire. Mendham had previously +been tried, but escaped by want of proof and the ingenuity of his +counsel. + + +NOTE 9--CORONATION OF GEORGE III + +In excuse of what may be considered as a violent infraction of +probability in this chapter, the author is under the necessity of +quoting a tradition which many persons may recollect having heard. It +was always said, though with very little appearance of truth, that upon +the Coronation of the late George III, when the champion of England, +Dymock, or his representative, appeared in Westminster Hall, and in +the language of chivalry solemnly wagered his body to defend in single +combat the right of the young King to the crown of these realms, at the +moment when he flung down his gauntlet as the gage of battle, an unknown +female stepped from the crowd and lifted the pledge, leaving another +gage in room of it, with a paper expressing, that if a fair field of +combat should be allowed, a champion of rank and birth would appear with +equal arms to dispute the claim of King George to the British kingdoms. +The story is probably one of the numerous fictions which were circulated +to keep up the spirits of a sinking faction, The incident was, however, +possible, if it could be supposed to be attended by any motive adequate +to the risk, and might be imagined to occur to a person of Redgauntlet’s +enthusiastic character. George III, it is said, had a police of his own, +whose agency was so efficient, that the sovereign was able to tell +his prime minister upon one occasion, to his great surprise, that the +Pretender was in London. The prime minister began immediately to talk of +measures to be taken, warrants to be procured, messengers and guards +to be got in readiness. ‘Pooh, pooh,’ said the good-natured sovereign, +since I have found him out, leave me alone to deal with him.’--‘And +what,’ said the minister, ‘is your Majesty’s purpose, in so important a +case?’--‘To leave the young man to himself,’ said George III; ‘and when +he tires he will go back again.’ The truth of this story does not depend +on that of the lifting of the gauntlet; and while the latter could be +but an idle bravado, the former expresses George Ill’s goodness of heart +and soundness of policy. + + +NOTE 10.--COLLIER AND SALTER + +The persons engaged in these occupations were at this time bondsmen; and +in case they left the ground of the farm to which they belonged, and as +pertaining to which their services were bought or sold, they were liable +to be brought back by a summary process. The existence of this species +of slavery being thought irreconcilable with the spirit of liberty, +colliers and salters were declared free, and put upon the same footing +with other servants, by the Act 15 Geo. III chapter 28th. They were so +far from desiring or prizing the blessing conferred on them, that they +esteemed the interest taken in their freedom to be a mere decree on the +part of the proprietors to get rid of what they called head and harigald +money, payable to them when a female of their number, by bearing a +child, made an addition to the live stock of their master’s property. + + + + +GLOSSARY + + ABOON, above. + AD LITEM, in law. + AD VINDICTAM PUBLICAM, for the public defence. + ADUST, looking as if burned or scorched. + AE, one. + AFFLATUS, breath, inspiration. + AIRT, direct. + ALCANDER, a Greek soothsayer. + ALDEBORONTIPHOSCOPHORNIO, a courtier in H. Carey’s burlesque, + CHRONONHOTONTHOLOGOS. + ALIMENTARY, nourishing. + ALQUIFE, an enchanter in the mediaeval romances of knight-errantry. + AMADIS, a hero of the romances, especially in Amadis of Gaul. + ANENT, about. + ANES, once. + ANNO DOMINI, in the year of the Lord. + ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINEM, AD FEMINAM, lit. ‘the argument to a man, + to a woman,’ refutation of a man’s argument by an example + drawn from his own conduct. + ARIES, earnest-money, a gift. + ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS, art is long, life short. + ARS MEDENDI, art of medicine. + APPROBATE, approve. + ATLANTES, a character in ORLANDO FURIOSO. + AULD REEKIE, Edinburgh. + ADVOCATO DEL DIABOLO, lit. ‘the devil’s advocate’, one whose duty + it is to oppose the canonization of a person on whose behalf + claims to sanctity are made. + AWSOME, awful, fearful. + + BACK-GANGING, behind hand in paying. + BACKSPAUL, the back of the shoulder. + BALLANT, a ballad, a fable. + BANNOCK, a flat, round cake. + BARLEY-BROO, barley-broth. + BARON-OFFICER, the magistrate’s officer in a burgh of barony. + BARTIZAN, a small overhanging turret, the battlements. + BEAUFET, cupboard. + BEAVER, the lower part of the helmet. + BEIN, comfortable. + BELISARIUS, a general of the Eastern Empire ungratefully treated + by the Emperor Justinian. + BENEDICTE, bless you. + BETIMES THE MORN, early in the morning. + BICKER, a wooden vessel for holding drink; a quarrel. + BILLIE, a term of familiarity, comrade. + BIRKIE, a smart fellow. + BIRLING, merry-making. + BIT, small. + BLATE, shy, bashful. + BLAWING, flattering. + BLEEZING, bragging. + BLUE-CAP, a Scotsman. + BOGLE, a ghost, a scarecrow. + BON VIVANTS, lovers of good living. + BONA ROBA, a showy wanton. + BONUS SOCIUS, good comrade. + BORREL, common, rude. + BRAID, broad. + BRASH, a sudden storm, an attack. + BRATTLE, a clattering noise, as of a horse going at full speed. + BRAW, brave, fine. + BRENT BROO, high brow. + BROCARD, maxim. + BROSE, oatmeal which has had boiling water poured upon it. + BROWN, a famous landscape gardener. + BROWST, a brewing. + BUCEPHALUS, the favourite horse of Alexander the Great. + BUCKIE, an imp, a fellow with an evil twist in his character. + BUFF NOR STYE, neither one thing nor another. + BUFFERS, pistols. + BUSK, deck up. + BY ORDINAR, extraordinary, uncommon. + BYE AND ATTOUR, over and above. + + CADGER, a travelling dealer. + CADDIE, a porter, an errand-boy. + CAETERA PRORSUS IGNORO, in short, I know nothing of the rest. + CALLANT, a young lad. + CALLER, cool, fresh. + CANNY, shrewd, prudent, quiet. + CANTLE, fragment. + CAPERNOITED, crabbed, foolish. + CAPRICCIOS, a fanciful composition. + CAPRIOLE, a leap made by a horse without advancing. + CARDINAL, a woman’s cloak. + CARLINES, old women. + CATILINA OMNIUM, ETC. Catilina had surrounded himself with the + most vile and criminal company. + CAUSEWAY, path, roadway. + CAVALIERE SERVENTE, gentleman in attendance. + CAVE NE LITERAS, ETC. take care that you are not carrying + Bellerophon’s letters (letters unfavourable to the bearer). + CHACK, a slight repast. + CHANCY, safe, auspicious. + CHANGE-HOUSE, a small inn or ale-house. + CHANTER, the tenor or treble pipe in a bag-pipe. + CHAPE, a thin metal blade at the end of a scabbard. + CHAPEAU BRAS, a low, three-cornered hat. + CHOUGH, a bird of the crow family. + CHUCKY, fowl. + CHUCKY-STONES, small stones, a child’s game. + CLAP AND HOPPER, signs of the mill. + CLAVERS, gossip, idle talk. + CLEEK, lay hold on. + CLEIK IN, to join company. + CLOSE, an alley, a narrow way. + CLOSE-HEADS, the entry to an alley, a meeting-place for gossips. + CLOUR, to strike, to bump. + COBLE, a little boat. + COCKERNONY, top-knot. + COGIE, small wooden bowl. + COMMUNE FORUM, ETC. the common court is the common dwelling-place. + CORDWAIN, Spanish leather. + CORIOLANUS, a Roman patrician, who, being driven from the city, + took refuge with Aufidius, the leader of the Volsci. + COUP, fall, upset. + COURIER DE L’EUROPE, a newspaper. + COVYNE, artifice. + CRACK, gossip. + CRAIG, throat, neck. + CRAWSTEP, the steplike edges of a gable seen in some old houses. + CREEL, basket carried on the back. + CREMONY, Cremona [where the best fiddles were made]. + CROWDER, fiddler. + CUR ME EXAMINAS QUERELIS TUIS?, why do you wear me out with your + complaints. + CURN, a very little. + + DAFT, crazy. + DAIS, a canopy, a table placed above the others, a room of state. + DARGLE, dell. + DAURG, day’s work. + DE APICIBUS JURIS, from the high places of the law. + DE PERICULO ET COMMODO REI VENDITAE, concerning the risk and + profit of sales. + DEAD-THRAW, death-thraw. + DEBOSHED, debauched. + DEFORCEMENT--SPULZIE--SOUTHRIEF, legal terms for resisting an + officer of law. + DEIL, devil. + DELATE, accuse. + DELICT, misdemeanour, QUASI DELICT, apparent offence. + DEPONE, to testify. + DERNIER RESORT, last resort. + DIABLERIE, sorcery, witchcraft. + DILIGENCE, writ of execution, coach. + DING, to knock, beat down. + DIRDUM, uproar, disturbance. + DITTAY, an indictment. + DIVOT, thin turf used for thatching cottages. + DOCH AN DORROCH, the stirrup cup. + DOMINUS LITIS, one of the principals in a law suit. + DOOL, sorrow, sad consequences. + DOOR-CHEEK, door-post. + DOUCE, respectable. + DRAMATIS PERSONAE, persons of the drama. + DRAPPIT, fried. + DRIBBLE, a drop. + DRIFT, drift-snow. + DULCINEA, Don Quixote’s imaginary mistress. + DUNSTABLE, something simple and matter-of-fact. + DYVOUR, bankrupt. + + EKE, addition. + EMBONPOINT, plumpness. + EN CROUPE, riding behind one another. + ET PER CONTRA, and on the other side. + EVITE, avoid. + EX COMITATE, out of courtesy. + EX MISERICORDIA, out of pity. + EXCEPTIO FIRMAT REGULAM, the exception proves the rule. + EXOTIC, of foreign origin. + + FACTOR LOCO TUTORIS, an agent acting in place of a guardian. + FARDEL, burden. + FASH, FASHERIE, trouble. + FECK, space. + FEMME DE CHAMBRE, chamber-maid. + FIERI, to be made. + FLACON, a smelling bottle. + FLAP, gust. + FLIP, a drink consisting of beer and spirit sweetened. + FLORY, frothy. + FORBY, besides. + FORENSIC, legal. + FORFOUGHEN, out of breath, distressed. + FORPIT, fourth part of a peck. + FORTALICE, a small outwork. + FRIST, to postpone, give credit, + FUGIE, fugitive. + FUNCTUS OFFICIO, having finished my duties, ‘out of office’. + + GABERLUNZIE, a beggar. + GAEN, gone. + GALLOWAY, a strong Scotch cob. + GANGREL, wandering, a vagrant. + GAR, to force, make. + GATE, way, road. + GAUGER, an exciseman. + GENTRICE, gentle blood. + GIFF-GAFF, give and take. + GIRDED, hooped like a barrel. + GIRN, to grin, cry. + GLAIKET, giddy, rash. + GLIFF, glimpse, moment, + GOWFF BA’, golf ball. + GRAINED, groaned. + GRANA INVECTA ET ILLATA, grain brought and imported. + GRAT, wept. + GRILLADE, a broiled dish. + GRIT, great. + GROSSART, gooseberry. + GRUE, to creep, shiver, + GUDESIRE, grandfather. + GUIDE, to deal with, to employ. + GUMPLE-FOISTED, sulky, sullen. + GWAY, very. + GYTES, contemptuous name for a young child, a brat. + + HAFFLINS, half-grown. + HAILL, all, the whole. + HAIRST, harvest. + HAMESUCKEN, assaulting a person in his own house. + HAMSHACKLE, to fasten. + HANK, a hold. + HAP, to hop, turn from. + HARPOCRATES, an Egyptian god, supposed by the Greeks to be the + god of silence. + HAUGH, holm, low-lying flat ground. + HAULD, place of abode. + HAVINGS, behaviour. + HEFTED, closed, as a knife in its haft. + HELLICAT, extravagant, light-headed. + HEMPEY, rogue. + HET, hot. + HEUCK, sickle. + HINC ILLAE LACRYMAE, hence these tears. + HINNY, honey, a term of endearment. + HIPPOGRIFF, a fabulous winged animal, half horse and half griffin. + HODDIN-GREY, cloth manufactured from undyed wool. + HOMOLOGATING, ratifying, approving. + HOOKS, OFF THE, light-headed. + HOSE-NET, a small net used for rivulet fishing. + HOW-COME-SO, light-headed. + HUMOURSOME, subject to moods. + HUSSEY, lady’s needle-case. + HYSON, green tea from China. + + IGNIS FATUUS, will o’ the wisp. + ILK, each; of the same name, as Redgauntlet of that Ilk + =Redgauntlet of Redgauntlet. + ILL-DEEDIE, mischievous. + ILL-FAUR’D, ugly, ill-favoured. + IN CIVILIBUS or CRIMINALIBUS, in civil or criminal causes. + IN FORO CONSCIENTIAE, in the assize of conscience. + IN MEDITATIONE FUGAE, meditating flight. + IN PRESENTIA DOMINORUM, before the Lords. + INCEDIT SICUT LEO VORANS, goeth about like a roaring lion. + INCOGNITA, unknown. + INFRA DIG, beneath one’s dignity. + INSTANTER, at once. + INTROMIT, to medldle with. + INVITA MINERVA, against my bent. + + JACK, a metal pitcher. + JAZY, wig. + JET D’EAU, jet of water. + JORUM, a drinking-vessel, or the liquor in it. + JOW, to toll. + JURIDICAL, pertaining to a judge or to the courts. + + KATTERFELTO, a famous quack. + KEEK, to look. + KEFFEL, a bad horse. + + LAIGH, low. + LAND-LOUPER, runagate, vagabond. + LARES, household gods, the special divinities of a family. + LAP, leaped; fold. + LAVE, rest, remainder. + LAWING, inn reckoning. + LEAL, loyal, true. + LEASING-MAKING, lies, slander, seditious words. + LEASOWES, the estate of the poet Shenstone. + LEE-SIDE, the side of a vessel farthest from the point where the + wind blows. + LEESOME LANE, his dear self alone. + LEEVIN, living. + LEE WAY, arrears of work. + LEG, TO MAKE A, to bow. + LETTRES DE CACHET, sealed letters issued by the King of France, + conferring power over the liberty of others. + LEX AQUARUM, the law of the waters. + LIMMER, a loose woman, a jade. + LING, thin long grass, heather. + LOANING, a meadow, pasture where the cows were milked, + LOE, love. + LOON, fellow, rogue. + LOOPY, crafty. + LOUIS-D’OR, a French gold coin worth from 16s, 6d. to 18s. 9d. + LOUP, leap. + LOUP-THE-DYKE, giddy, runaway. + LOUP THE TETHER, breaking loose from restraint. + LOVELACE AND BELFORD, characters in CLARISSA HARLOWE. + LUCKY, a name given to an elderly dame. + LUG, the ear. + LUM, chimney. + + MACER, a court official. + MAILING, a small farm or rented property. + MAILS, rents. + MALVERSATION, fraudulent tricks. + MANUMISSION, liberty. + MARCH, border. + MARE MAGNUM, the great sea. + MARIUS, a Roman general, leader in the civil war against Sulla. + MEAR, mare. + MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN, the writing seen by Belshazzar + (Daniel V. 25). + MENYIE, retinue. + MERIDIAN, noon; a mid-day drink. + MERK, an old Scottish coin=1s. 1 1/2d. in English money. + MESSAN, a lap-dog, a little dog. + MICKLE, much. + MIFFED, piqued. + MILLAR, Philip Millar, author of several works on gardening. + MINOS, a law-giver of Crete, afterwards set as a judge in Hades. + MISHANTER, mischief. + MISPRISION OF TREASON, concealment of treason. + MOIDART, a loch in Inverness, where Prince Charles Stuart landed, + 1745. + MOIDORE, a gold coin of Portugal worth about L1 7s. 0d. + MORE SOLITO, in the accustomed manner. + MORE TUO, in your own way. + MUILS, slippers. + MUISTED, scented. + MUTCHKIN, English pint. + + NE QUID NIMIS, do nothing in excess. + NEGATUR, lit. ‘it is denied,’ I deny it. + NEGOTIORUM GESTOR, manager of affairs. + NEREID, a sea-nymph. + NIGRI SUNT HYACINTHI, irises are dark flowers. + NIHIL NOVIT IN CAUSA, nothing is known of the case. + NIPPERKIN, a small cup, a liquid measure. + NOM DE GUERRE, professional name. + NOMINE DAMNI, in the name of damages. + NONJURING, not swearing allegiance to the government, loyal to the + Stuarts. + NOSCITUR A SOCIO, he is known by his friend. + NOVITER REPERTUM, newly discovered. + + OHE, JAM SATIS, oh, enough. + OMNE IGNOTUM PRO TERRIBILI, the unknown is always held in terror. + OMNI SUSPICIONE MAJOR, above all suspicion. + ORESTES AND PYLADES, DAMON AND PYTHIAS, classical examples of + friendship. + ORIGO MALI, cause of the evil. + ORNATURE, adornment, decoration. + ORRA, odd. + OVERTURE, opening. + OWERLAY, cravat. + OYE, a grandson. + + PACK OR PEEL, to traffic. + PANDE MANUM, hold out your hand. + PANDECTS, a digest of Roman law. + PAR EXCELLENCE, above all, specially. + PAR ORDONNANCE DU MEDECIN, by the doctor’s orders. + PARMA NON BENE SELECTA, a shield, or defence, not well chosen. + PAROCHINE, parish. + PATER NOSTER, Our Father, the Lord’s Prayer. + PATRIA POTESTAS, paternal authority. + PAWMIE, a stroke on the palm of the hand. + PEACH, betray, speak out. + PEEL-HOUSE, a small fortified house, or tower. + PEGASUS, the winged horse of the Muses. + PENDENTE LITE, whilst the case is proceeding. + PENDICLES, articles, small parts. + PER AMBAGES, by circumlocution, in a roundabout way. + PER CONTRA, on the other side. + PERDU, concealed, lost. + PERIPATETIC, walking, wandering. + PESSIMI EXEMPLI, the worst possible example. + PETTLE, a plough-staff. + PHALARIS’S BULL, a furnace shaped like a bull into which the + tyrant Phalaris used to cast his victims. + PISCATOR, fisherman. + PISTOLE, a gold coin worth about 16s. + PLACK, a small copper coin, equal to one-third of an English penny. + PLEACH, interweave. + PLICATIONS, folds, wrinkles. + PLOY, a frolic. + POCK-PUDDING, a contemptuous term applied to Englishmen + POINT D’ESPAGNE, Spanish lace. + POKE, pocket. + PORT ROYAL, a monastery near Paris which became the headquarters + of the Jansenists, the opponents of the Jesuits. + POSSE COMITATUS, the civil force of a county. + POUND SCOTS, worth about 1s. 8d. English money. + PRACTIQUES, practices of the profession. + PRECOGNITION, examination prior to prosecution. + PRECOGNOSCED, to take precognition of. + PRETERMIT, omit, pass by. + PURSUIVANTS, an officer-at-arms, in rank below a herald. + + QUAERE, query, a question. + QUEAN, a young woman, a wench. + QUI VIVE, alert, cautious. + QUID, piece of tobacco to chew. + QUID TIBI CUM LYRA, what hast thou to do with the lyre? + QUORUM, the body of justices, so called from a word used in the + commission appointing them. + + RANT, a noisy dance-tune. + RAPPAREE, an Irish plunderer; a worthless fellow, + RATIONE OFFICII, by virtue of his position. + RATTLING, lively, brisk. + RAX, stretch. + REAMING, frothing, foaming. + REDD, clear up, tidy. + REGIAM MAJESTATEM, a collection of Scotch laws. + REIVER, robber. + REMEDIUM JURIS, legal remedy. + RIGDUM-FUNNIDOS, a courtier in H. Carey’s burlesque, + CHRONONHOTONTHOLOGOS. + RIPE, search. + RUDAS, a scold, a virago. + RUG, a share, a good mouthful. + + SANCTA WINIFREDA, ORA PRO NOBIS, Saint Winifred, pray for us. + SARTUM ATQUE TECTUM, repaired and covered. + SAT EST, it is enough. + SAWNEY, a nickname for a Scotchman. + SCARBOROUGH WARNING, the blow before the threat. + SCOWP, quaff. + SCRUB, the name of a footman in the BEAUX’ STRATAGEM (Geo. + Farquhar, 1704). + SCULDUDDERY, loose, immoral. + SEALGH, seal, + SEA-MAWS, sea-mews. + SECUNDUM ARTEM, according to the rules of his art. + SEDERUNT, a sitting of the courts. + SEMPLE, simple, not of gentle birth, + SHILPIT, weak; poor, shabby. + SHINGLES, thin boards used for roofs. + SI NON CASTE, CAUTE TAMEN, if not for virtue’s sake, yet for + caution. + SIB, kin. + SIGMA, the Greek S. + SINE DIE, without a date, indefinitely. + SIS MEMOR MEI, be mindful of me. + SKELLOCH, screech. + SKINKER, a server of liquor. + SKIRL, to scream. + SKIVIE, harebrained. + SLEEKIT, smooth. + SLOKEN, quench. + SNEESHING, snuff. + SNELL, sharp, terrible. + SNICKERS, sniggers. + SOCIETAS EST MATER DISCORDIARUM, partnership is the mother of + quarrels. + SOLITAIRE, an ornament for the neck. + SOLON, the law-giver of Athens. + SONSY, good-humoured, sensible. + SORT, to chastise; to manage. + SORTES VIRGILIANAE, Virgilian lots; opening the works of Virgil at + random and taking the first passage read for counsel. + SOUGH, a breath, a chant. + SOUPLE, active; supple in mind or body. + SOUTER’S CLOD, a kind of coarse black bread. + SPATTERDASHES, coverings for the legs to protect them from mud. + SPEER, ask. + SPLICE THE MAIN BRACE, have an extra allowance of spirits. + SPLORE, a frolic, quarrel. + SPRATTLE, struggle, scramble. + SPRING, a merry tune. + SPRUSH, spruce. + SPULE-BLADE, shoulder blade, + SPUNK, courage, fire: SPUNKS, matches. + STEND, take long steps. + STEWARTRY, territory in Scotland administered by a steward. + STIBBLER, a divinity student, a probationer. + STILTS, plough-handles. + STUNKARD, sullen, obstinate. + SUA QUEMQUE TRAHIT VOLUPTAS, his own peculiar pleasure allures + each. + SURTOUT, a tight-fitting, broad-skirted outer coat. + SWIPES, small beer. + + TAES, toes. + TALIS QUALIS, of some kind. + TAM MARTE QUAM MERCURIO, as much devoted to Mars as to Mercury (as + much a soldier as a pleader). + TASS, a glass. + TAU, the Greek: T. + TERRA FIRMA, firm earth. + TESTE ME PER TOTUM NOCTEM VIGILANTE, I am witness as I was awake + all night. + TETE-A-TETE, a private conversation. + THAIRM, catgut. + THEMIS, the goddess of law and justice. + THIRLAGE, mortgaging of property. + THREAP, aver. + THUMBIKINS, thumbscrews, instruments of torture. + TIMOTHEUS, a famous musician. + TIPPENY, twopenny ale, + TIRTEAFUERA, a character in DON QUIXOTE, the doctor in Sancho + Panza’s island government. + TITHER, the other. + TOD, a bush, a fox. + TOOM, empty. + TOUR OUT, to look about. + TOY, a linen cap; a head-dress hanging down over the shoulders. + TRANCES, passages. + TUPTOWING, beating, from the Greek verb ‘tupto’, to strike. + TWALPENNY, one penny sterling. + TWASOME, a pair or couple. + TYNE, loss or forfeit. + TYRO, TYRONES, beginner, beginners; novice. + + UNCO, very, uncommon, strange. + URGANDA, an enchantress in the romance of AMADIS OF GAUL. + USQUEBAUGH, whisky. + + VADE RETRO, get thee behind me. + VALE, SIS MEMOR MEI, farewell, be mindful of me. + VARIUM ET MUTABILE SEMPER FEMINA, woman is always variable and + changeful. + VERBUM SACERDOTIS, the word of a priest. + VIA FACTI, by personal force. + VINCERE VINCENTEM, to conquer the conquering. + VINCO VINCENTEM, ERGO VINCO TE, I conquer the conquering, + therefore I conquer you. + VIOLER, a player on a viol. + VIR SAPIENTIA ET PIETATE GRAVIS, a man of much wisdom and piety. + VIS ANIMI, strength of soul. + VITIOUS, vicious, unruly. + VOET, Jan Voet, author of a book on the PANDECTS. + + W.S., writer to the signet, a lawyer. + WALING, choosing. + WAME, stomach. + WANCHANCY, unlucky, dangerous. + WARE, spend. + WARK, work, trouble. + WAUR, worse. + WEARS, weirs, dams. + WEIGH-BANKS, scales. + WHIN, gorse. + WHITTLE, a small clasp-knife. + WITHERSHINS, backwards in their courses, in the contrary way. + WUD, mad. + WYND, yard, alley. + + YAULD, active. + YELLOCH, yell. + YETTS, gates. + YILL, ale. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Redgauntlet, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REDGAUNTLET *** + +***** This file should be named 2516-0.txt or 2516-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/1/2516/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” + or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +“Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation’s web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |