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diff --git a/old/redg10.txt b/old/redg10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..418a644 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/redg10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21389 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Redgauntlet by Sir Walter Scott +#11 in our series by Sir Walter Scott + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + +* + + +REDGAUNTLET by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + + +* + + +CONTENTS. + +Introduction +Text + Letters I - XIII + Chapters I - XXIII + Conclusion +Notes +Glossary + +* + +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 perticularly 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, be 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 be 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 be 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,' be 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 he 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 Etext Redgauntlet by Sir Walter Scott. + diff --git a/old/redg10.zip b/old/redg10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..26af20a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/redg10.zip |