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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31761-8.txt b/31761-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..21e5e92 --- /dev/null +++ b/31761-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9914 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland, by John Mackay Wilson and Thomas Gillespie and Alexander Campbell and Alexander Bethune and Oliver Richardson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland + Volume 11 + +Author: John Mackay Wilson + Thomas Gillespie + Alexander Campbell + Alexander Bethune + Oliver Richardson + +Editor: Alexander Leighton + +Release Date: March 24, 2010 [EBook #31761] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF BORDERS, VOL 11 *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + Wilson's + + Tales of the Borders + + AND OF SCOTLAND. + + + HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE. + + WITH A GLOSSARY. + + REVISED BY + ALEXANDER LEIGHTON, + ONE OF THE ORIGINAL EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS. + + + VOL. XI. + + + LONDON: + WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, + AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. + 1884. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Page + + THE DOMINIE'S CLASS (_John Mackay Wilson_) 1 + + THE CONTRAST OF WIVES (_Alexander Leighton_) 33 + + THE PROFESSOR'S TALES (_Professor Thomas Gillespie_) + THE SOCIAL MAN 65 + + THE TWO COMRADES (_Alexander Campbell_) 90 + + THE SURTOUT (_Alexander Campbell_) 106 + + THE SURGEON'S TALES + THE SUICIDE (_Alexander Leighton_) 121 + + THE GHOST OF HOWDYCRAIGS (_Alexander Bethune_) 153 + + THE GHOST OF GAIRYBURN (_Alexander Bethune_) 185 + + THE SMUGGLER (_John Mackay Wilson_) 217 + + THE SCHOOLFELLOWS (_Oliver Richardson_) 250 + + THE RED HALL; OR, + BERWICK IN 1296 (_John Mackay Wilson_) 281 + + + + +WILSON'S + +TALES OF THE BORDERS, + +AND OF SCOTLAND. + +THE DOMINIE'S CLASS.[A] + + "Their ends as various as the roads they take + In journeying through life." + + +There is no class of men to whom the memory turns with more +complacency, or more frequently, than to those who "taught the young +idea how to shoot." There may be a few tyrants of the birch, who never +inspired a feeling save fear or hatred; yet their number is but few, +and I would say that the schoolmaster _is abroad_ in more senses than +that in which it is popularly applied. He is abroad in the memory and +in the affections of his pupils; and his remembrance is cherished +wheresoever they may be. For my own part, I never met with a teacher +whom I did not love when a boy, and reverence when a man; from him +before whom I used to stand and endeavour to read my task in his eyes, +as he held the book before his face, and the page was reflected in his +spectacles--and from his spectacles I spelled my _qu_--to him who, as +an elder friend, bestowed on me my last lesson. When a man has been +absent from the place of his nativity for years, and when he returns +and grasps the hands of his surviving kindred, one of his first +questions to them (after family questions are settled) is--"Is Mr ----, +my old schoolmaster, yet alive?" And if the answer be in the +affirmative, one of the first on whom he calls is the dominie of his +boyhood; and he enters the well-remembered school--and his first +glance is to the seat he last occupied--as an urchin opens the door +and admits him, as he gently taps at it, and cries to the master (who +is engaged with a class), when the stranger enters-- + +"Sir, here's one wants you." + +Then steps forward the man of letters, looking anxiously--gazing as +though he had a right to gaze in the stranger's face; and, throwing +out his head, and particularly his chin, while he utters the +hesitating interrogative--"Sir?" And the stranger replies--"You don't +know me, I suppose? I am such-an-one, who was at your school at such a +time." The instiller of knowledge starts-- + +"What!" cries he, shifting his spectacles, "you Johnnie (Thomas, or +Peter, as the case may be) So-and-so?--it's not possible! O man, I'm +glad to see ye! Ye'll mak me an auld man, whether I will or no. And +how hae ye been, and where hae ye been?"--And, as he speaks, he flings +his tawse over to the corner where his desk stands. The young stranger +still cordially shakes his hand, a few kindly words pass between them, +and the teacher, turning to his scholars, says--"You may put by your +books and slates, and go for the day;" when an instantaneous movement +takes place through the school; there is a closing of books, a +clanking of slates, a pocketing of pencils, a clutching for hats, +caps, and bonnets, a springing over seats, and a falling off seats, a +rushing to the door, and a shouting when at the door a "_hurra for +play!_"--and the stranger seems to have made a hundred happy, while +the teacher and he retire, to + + "Drink a cup o' kindness, + For auld langsyne." + +But to proceed with our story of stories. There was a Dr Montgomery, a +native of Annan, who, after he had been for more than twenty years a +physician in India, where he had become rich, visited his early home, +which was also the grave of his fathers. There were but few of his +relatives in life when he returned (for death makes sad havoc in +families in twenty years); but, after he had seen them, he inquired if +his old teacher, Mr Grierson, yet lived; and being answered in the +affirmative, the doctor proceeded to the residence of his first +instructor. He found him occupying the same apartments in which he +resided thirty years before, and which were situated on the south side +of the main street, near the bridge. + +When the first congratulations--the shaking of hands and the +expressions of surprise--had been got over, the doctor invited the +dominie to dinner; and, after the cloth was withdrawn, and the better +part of a bottle of port had vanished between them, the man of +medicine thus addressed his ancient preceptor:-- + +"Can you inform me, sir, what has become of my old class-fellows?--who +of them are yet in the land of the living?--who have caught the face +of fortune as she smiled, or been rendered the 'sport o' her slippery +ba'?' Of the fate of one of them I know something, and to me their +history would be more interesting than a romance." + +"Do ye remember the names that ye used to gie ane anither?" inquired +the man of letters, with a look of importance, which showed that the +history of the whole class was forthcoming. + +"I remember them well," replied the doctor; "there were seven of us: +Solitary Sandy--Glaikit Willie--Venturesome Jamie--Cautious +Watty--Leein' Peter--Jock the dunce--and myself." + +"And hae ye forgot the lounderings that I used to gie ye, for ca'in +ane anither such names?" inquired Mr Grierson, with a smile. + +"I remember you were displeased at it," replied the other. + +"Weel, doctor," continued the teacher, "I believe I can gratify your +curiosity, and I am not sure but you'll find that the history of your +class-fellows is not without interest. The career of some of them has +been to me as a recompense for a' the pains I bestowed on them, and +that o' others has been a source o' grief. Wi' some I hae been +disappointed, wi' ithers, surprised; but you'll allow that I did my +utmost to fleech and to thrash your besetting sins out o' ye a'. I +will first inform ye what I know respecting the history of Alexander +Rutherford, whom all o' ye used to ca' Solitary Sandy, because he +wasna a hempy like yoursels. Now, sir, harken to the history of + + +SOLITARY SANDY. + +I remarked that Sandy was an extraordinary callant, and that he would +turn out a character that would be heard tell o' in the world; though +that he would ever rise in it, as some term it, or become rich in it I +did not believe. I dinna think that e'er I had to raise the tawse to +Sandy in my life. He had always his task as ready by heart as he could +count his fingers. Ye ne'er saw Sandy looking over his book, or +nodding wi' it before his face. He and his lessons were like twa +acquaintances--fond o' each other's company. I hae observed fra the +window, when the rest o' ye would hae been driving at the hand-ba', +cleeshin your peerie-taps, or endangerin' your legs wi' the +duck-stane, Sandy wad been sitting on his hunkers in the garden, +looking as earnestly on a daisy or ony bit flower, as if the twa +creatures could hae held a crack wi' ane anither, and the bonny leaves +o' the wee silent things whispered to Sandy how they got their +colours, how they peeped forth to meet the kiss o' spring, and how the +same power that created the lowly daisy called man into existence, and +fashioned the bright sun and the glorious firmament. He was ance dux +and aye dux. From the first moment he got to the head o' the class, +there he remained as immoveable as a mountain. There was nae trapping +him; for his memory was like clockwark. I canna say that he had a +great turn for mathematics; but ye will remember, as weel as me, that +he was a great Grecian; and he had screeds o' Virgil as ready aff by +heart as the twenty-third psalm. Mony a time hae I said concerning +him, in the words o' Butler-- + + "Latin to him's no more difficil, + Than for a blackbird 'tis to whistle." + +The classics, indeed, were his particular hobby; and, though I was +proud o' Sandy, I often wished that I could direct his bent to studies +o' greater practical utility. His exercises showed that he had an +evident genius for poetry, and that o' a very high order; but his +parents were poor, and I didna see what poetry was to put in his +pocket. I therefore by no means encouraged him to follow out what I +conceived to be a profitless, though a pleasing, propensity; but, on +the contrary, when I had an opportunity o' speakin' to him by himsel, +I used to say to him-- + +"Alexander, ye have a happy turn for versification, and there is both +boldness and originality about your ideas--though no doubt they would +require a great deal of pruning before they could appear in a +respectable shape before the world. But you must not indulge in +verse-writing. When you do it, let it only be for an exercise, or for +amusement, when you have nothing better to do. It may make rhyme +jingle in your ears, but it will never make sterling coin jink in your +pockets. Even the immortal Homer had to sing his own verses about the +streets; and ye have heard the epigram-- + + 'Seven cities now contend for _Homer dead_, + Through which the _living Homer_ begg'd his bread.' + +Boethius, like Savage in our own days, died in a prison; Terence was a +slave, and Plautus did the work of a horse. Cervantes perished for +lack of food, on the same day that our great Shakspere died; but +Shakspere had worldly wisdom as well as heavenly genius. Camoens died +in an almshouse. The magical Spenser was a supplicant at court for +years, for a paltry pension, till hope deferred made his heart sick, +and he vented his disappointment in these words-- + + 'I was promised, on a time, + To have reason for my rhyme: + From that time unto this season, + I received not rhyme nor reason.' + +Butler asked for bread, and they gave him a stone. Dryden lived +between the hand and the mouth. Poor Otway perished through penury; +and Chatterton, the inspired boy, terminated his wretchedness with a +pennyworth of poison. But there is a more striking example than these, +Sandy. It was but the other day that our immortal countryman, Robbie +Burns--the glory o' our age--sank, at our very door, neglected and in +poverty, wi' a broken heart, into the grave. Sandy,' added I, 'never +think o' being a poet. If ye attempt it, ye will embark upon an ocean +where, for every one that reaches their desired haven, ninety-and-nine +become a wreck.' + +On such occasions, Sandy used to listen most attentively, and crack to +me very auld-farrantly. Well, sir, it was just after ye went to learn +to be a doctor, that I resolved to try and do something to push him +forward mysel, as his parents were not in ability; and I had made +application to a gentleman on his behalf, to use his influence to +procure him a bursary in ane o' the universities, when Sandy's faither +died, and, puir man, left hardly as muckle behind him as would pay the +expenses o' the funeral. This was a death-blow to Sandy's prospects +and my hopes. He wasna seventeen at the time, and his widowed mother +had five bairns younger. He was the only ane in the family that she +could look up to as a bread-winner. It was about harvest; and, when +the shearing commenced, he went out wi' ithers and took his place on +the rig. As it was his first year, and he was but a learner, his wages +were but sma'; but, sma' as they were, at the end o' the season he +brought them hame, and my puir blighted scholar laddie thought himsel +a man, when he placed his earnings, to a farthing, in his mother's +hand. + +I was sorry for Sandy. It pained me to see one by whom I had had so +much credit, and who, I was conscious, would make ane o' the brightest +ornaments o' the pu'pit that ever entered it, throwing his learning +and his talents awa', and doomed to be a labouring man. I lost mony a +night's sleep on his account; but I was determined to serve him if I +could, and I at last succeeded in getting him appointed tutor in a +gentleman's family o' the name o' Crompton, owre in Cumberland. He was +to teach twa bits o' laddies English and arithmetic, Latin and Greek. +He wasna out eighteen when he entered upon the duties o' his office; +and great cause had I to be proud o' my scholar, and satisfied wi' my +recommendation; for, before he had been six months in his situation, I +received a letter from the gentleman himsel, intimating his esteem for +Sandy, the great progress his sons had made under his tuition, and +expressing his gratitude to me for recommending such a tutor. He was, +in consequence, kind and generous to my auld scholar, and he doubled +his wages, and made him presents beside; so that Sandy was enabled to +assist his mother and his brethren. + +But we ne'er hae a sunny day, though it be the langest day in summer, +but sooner or later, a rainy ane follows it. Now, Mr Crompton had a +daughter about a year younger than Sandy. She wasna what people would +ca' a pretty girl, for I hae seen her; but she had a sonsy face and +intelligent een. She also, forsooth, wrote sonnets to the moon, and +hymns to the rising sun. She, of a' women, was the maist likely to +bewitch puir Sandy; and she did bewitch him. A strong liking sprang up +between them. They couldna conceal their partiality for ane anither. +He was everything that was perfect in her een, and she was an angel in +his. Her name was Ann; and he had celebrated it in every measure, from +the hop-and-step line of four syllables to that o' fourteen, which +rolleth like the echoing o' the trumpet. + +Now her faither, though a ceevil and a kind man, was also a shrewd, +sharp-sighted, and determined man; and he saw the flutter that had +risen up in the breasts o' his daughter and the young tutor. So he +sent for Sandy, and without seeming to be angry wi' him, or even +hinting at the cause-- + +"Mr Rutherford," said he, "you are aware that I am highly gratified +with the manner in which you have discharged the duties of tutor to my +boys; but I have been thinking that it will be more to their advantage +that their education, for the future, be a public one, and to-morrow I +intend sending them to a boarding-school in Yorkshire." + +"To-morrow!" said Sandy, mechanically, scarce knowing what he said, or +where he stood. + +"To-morrow," added Mr. Crompton; "and I have sent for you, sir, in +order to settle with you respecting your salary." + +This was bringing the matter home to the business and the bosom o' the +scholar somewhat suddenly. Little as he was versed in the ways o' the +world, something like the real cause for the hasty removal o' his +pupils to Yorkshire began to dawn upon his mind. He was stricken with +dismay and with great agony, and he longed to pour out his soul upon +the gentle bosom o' Ann. But she had gone on a visit with her mother +to a friend in a different part of the country, and Mr Crompton was to +set out with his sons for Yorkshire on the following day. Then, also, +would Sandy have to return to the humble roof o' his mother. When he +retired to pack up his books and his few things, he wrung his +hands--yea, there were tears upon his cheeks--and, in the bitterness +of the spirit, he said-- + +"My own sweet Ann! and shall I never see thee again--never hear +thee--never hope!" And he laid his hand upon his forehead, and pressed +it there, repeating as he did so--"never! oh, never!" + +I was surprised beyond measure when Sandy came back to Annan, and, wi' +a wobegone countenance, called upon me. I thought that Mr. Crompton +was not a man of the discernment and sagacity that I had given him +credit to be, and I desired Sandy not to lay it so sair to heart, for +that something else would cast up. But, in a day or two, I received a +letter from the gentleman himsel, showing me how matters stood, and +giving me to understand the _why_ and the _wherefore_. + +"O the gowk!" said I, "what business had he to fa' in love, when he +had the bairns and his books to mind?" + +So I determined to rally him a wee thought on the subject, in order to +bring him back to his senses; for, when a haflins laddie is labouring +under the first dizziness o' a bonnie lassie's influence, I dinna +consider that he is capable o' either seeing, feeling, hearing, or +acting wi' the common-sense discretion o' a reasonable being. It is a +pleasant heating and wandering o' the brain. Therefore, the next time +I saw him-- + +"Sandy," says I, "wha was't laid Troy in ashes?" + +He at first started and stared at me, rather vexed like, but at last +he answered, wi' a sort o' forced laugh, "A woman." + +"A woman, was it?" says I; "and wha was the cause o' Sandy Rutherford +losing his situation as tutor, and being sent back to Annan?" + +"Sir!" said he, and he scowled down his eyebrows, and gied a look at +me that wad hae spained a ewe's lamb. I saw that he was too far gone, +and that his mind was in a state that it would not be safe to trifle +wi'; so I tried him no more upon the subject. + +Weel, as his mother, puir woman, had enough to do, and couldna keep +him in idleness, and as there was naething for him in Annan, he went +to Edinburgh to see what would cast up, and what his talents and +education would do for him there. He had recommendations from several +gentlemen, and also from myself. But month after month passed on, and +he was like to hear of nothing. His mother was becoming extremely +unhappy on his account, and the more so because he had given up +writing, which astonished me a great deal, for I could not divine the +cause of such conduct as not to write to his own mother, to say that +he was well or what he was doing; and I was the more surprised at it, +because of the excellent opinion I had entertained of his character +and disposition. However, I think it would be about six months after +he had left, I received a letter from him; and, as that letter is of +importance in giving you an account of his history, I shall just step +along to the school for it, where I have it carefully placed in my +desk, and shall bring it and any other papers that I think may be +necessary in giving you an account of your other schoolfellows. + +Thus saying, Dominie Grierson, taking up his three-cornered hat and +silver-mounted walking-stick, stalked out of the room. And, as people +generally like to have some idea of the sort of person who is telling +them a story, I shall here describe to them the appearance of Mr +Grierson. He was a fine-looking old man, about five feet nine inches +high; his age might be about threescore and fifteen, and he was a +bachelor. His hair was as white as the driven snow, yet as fresh and +as thick as though he had been but thirty. His face was pale. He could +not properly be called corpulent, but his person had an inclination +that way. His shoes were fastened with large silver buckles; he wore a +pair of the finest black lamb's-wool stockings; breeches of the same +colour, fastened at the knees by buckles similar to those in his +shoes. His coat and waistcoat were also black, and both were +exceedingly capacious; for the former, with its broad skirts, which +descended almost to his heels, would have made a greatcoat now-a-days; +and in the kingly flaps of the latter, which defended his loins, was +cloth enough and to spare to have made a modern vest. This, with the +broad-brimmed, round-crowned, three-cornered hat, already referred to, +a pair of spectacles, and the silver-mounted cane, completed the +outward appearance of Dominie Grierson, with the exception of his +cambric handkerchief, which was whiter than his own locks, and did +credit to the cleanliness of his housekeeper, and her skill as a +laundress. + +In a few moments he returned, with Sandy's letter and other papers in +his hand, and, helping himself to another glass of wine, he rubbed the +glass of his spectacles with his handkerchief, and said-- + +"Now, doctor, here is poor Sandy's letter; listen, and ye shall hear +it."-- + + "_Edinburgh, June 10, 17--_ + + "HONOURED SIR,--I fear that, on account of my not having written to + you, you will ere now have accused me of ingratitude; and when I + tell you that, until the other day, I have not for months even + written to my mother, you may think me undutiful, as well as + ungrateful. But my own breast holds me guiltless of both. When I + arrived here, I met with nothing but disappointments, and those I + found at every hand. For many weeks I walked the streets of this + city in despair, hopeless as a fallen angel. I was hungry, and no + one gave me to eat; but they knew not that I was in want. Keen + misery held me in its grasp--ruin caressed me, and laughed at its + plaything. I will not pain you by detailing a catalogue of the + privations I endured, and which none but those who have felt and + fathomed the depths of misery can imagine. Through your letter of + recommendation, I was engaged to give private lessons to two + pupils; but the salary was small, and that was only to be paid + quarterly. While I was teaching them, I was starving, living on a + penny a day. But this was not all. I was frequently without a + lodging; and, being expelled from one for lack of the means of + paying for it, it was many days before I could venture to inquire + for another. My lodging was on a common-stair, or on the bare + sides of the Calton; and my clothes, from exposure to the weather, + became unsightly. They were no longer fitting garments for one who + gave lessons in a fashionable family. For several days I observed + the eyes of the lady of the house where I taught fixed with a most + supercilious and scrutinising expression upon my shabby and + unfortunate coat. I saw and felt that she was weighing the + shabbiness of my garments against my qualifications, and I trembled + for the consequence. In a short time my worst fears were realised; + for, one day, calling as usual, instead of being shown into a small + parlour, where I gave my lessons, the man-servant, who opened the + door, permitted me to stand in the lobby, and in two minutes + returned with two guineas upon a small silver plate, intimating, as + he held them before me, that 'the services of Mr Rutherford were no + longer required.' The sight of the two guineas took away the + bitterness and mortification of the abrupt dismissal. I pocketed + them, and engaged a lodging; and never, until that night, did I + know or feel the exquisite luxury of a deep, dreamless sleep. It + was bathing in Lethe, and rising refreshed, having no + consciousness, save the grateful feeling of the cooling waters of + forgetfulness around me. Having some weeks ago translated an old + deed, which was written in Latin, for a gentleman who is what is + called an in-door advocate, and who has an extensive practice, he + has been pleased to take me into his office, and has fixed on me a + liberal salary. He advises me to push my way to the bar, and kindly + promises his assistance. I shall follow his advice, and I despair + not but I may one day solicit the hand of the only woman I ever + have loved, or can love, from her father, as his equal. I am, sir, + yours, indebtedly, + + "ALEX. RUTHERFORD." + +Now, sir (continued the dominie), about three years after I had +received this letter, my old scholar was called to the bar, and a +brilliant first appearance he made. Bench, bar, and jury were lost in +wonder at the power o' his eloquence. A Demosthenes had risen up +amongst them. The half o' Edinburgh spoke o' naething but the young +advocate. But it was on the very day that he made his first appearance +as a pleader, that I received a letter from Mr. Crompton, begging to +know if I could gie him ony information respecting the old tutor o' +his family, and stating, in the language o' a broken-hearted man, that +his only daughter was then upon her death-bed, and that, before she +died, she begged she might be permitted to see and to speak with +Alexander Rutherford. I enclosed the letter, and sent it off to the +young advocate. He was sitting at a dinner-party, receiving the homage +of beauty and the congratulations of learned men, when the fatal +letter was put into his hands. He broke the seal--his hand shook as he +read--his cheeks grew pale--and large drops of sweat burst upon his +brow. He rose from the table. He scarce knew what he did. But within +half-an-hour he was posting on his way to Cumberland. He reached the +house, her parents received him with tears, and he was conducted into +the room where the dying maiden lay. She knew his voice, as he +approached. + +"He is come!--he is come! He loves me still!" cried the poor thing, +endeavouring to raise herself upon her elbow. + +Sandy approached the bedside--he burst into tears--he bent down, and +kissed her pale and wasted cheeks, over which death seemed already to +have cast its shadow. + +"Ann! my beloved Ann!" said he; and he took her hand in his, and +pressed it to his lips; "do not leave me--we shall yet be happy!" + +Her eyes brightened for a moment--in them joy struggled with death, +and the contest was unequal. From the day that he had been sent from +her father's house, she had withered away, as a tender flower that is +transplanted to an unkindly soil. She desired that they would lift her +up, and she placed her hand upon his shoulder, and, gazing anxiously +in his face, said-- + +"And Alexander still loves me--even in death!" + +"Yes, dearest--yes!" he replied. But she had scarce heard his answer, +and returned it with a smile of happiness, when her head sank upon +his bosom, and a deep sigh escaped from hers. It was her last. Her +soul seemed only to have lingered till her eyes might look on him. She +was removed a corpse from his breast; but on that breast the weight of +death was still left. He became melancholy--his ambition died--she +seemed to have been the only object that stimulated him to pursue fame +and to seek for fortune. In intense study he sought to forget his +grief--or rather he made them companions--till his health broke under +them; and in the thirtieth year of his age died one who possessed +talents and learning that would have adorned his country, and rendered +his name immortal. Such, sir, is the brief history o' yer auld +class-fellow, Solitary Sandy. + +In the history o' + + +GLAIKIT WILLIE + +(continued Mr Grierson), the only thing remarkable is, that he has +been as fortunate a man as he was a thochtless laddie. After leaving +the school, he flung his Greek and Latin aside, and that was easily +done, for it was but little that he ever learned, and less that he +remembered, for he paid so little attention to onything he did, that +what he got by heart one day, he forgot the next. In spite o' the +remonstrances o' his friends, naething would haud Willie but he would +be a sailor. Weel, he was put on board o' an American trader, and for +several years there was naething heard o' concerning him, but +accidents that had happened him, and all through his glaikitness. +Sometimes he was fa'ing owre a boat, and was mostly drowned; and at +ither times, we heard o' him fa'ing headlong into the ship's hold; +ance o' his tumbling overboard in the middle o' the great Atlantic; +and at last, o' his fa'ing from the mast upon the deck, and having his +legs broken. It was the luckiest thing that ever happened him. It +brought him to think, and gied him leisure to do it; he was laid up +for twelve weeks, and, during part o' the time, he applied himself to +navigation, in the elements o' which science I had instructed him. +Soon after his recovery, he got the command o' a vessel, and was very +fortunate, and, for several years, he has been sole owner of a number +of vessels, and is reputed to be very rich. He also married weel, as +the phrase runs, for the woman had a vast o' money, only she was--a +mulatto. That, sir, is a' I ken concerning William Armstrong, or, as +ye ca'ed him, Glaikit Willie; for he was a callant that was so +thochtless when under my care, that he never interested me a great +deal. And noo, sir, I shall gie ye a' the particulars I know +concerning the fate o' + + +VENTURESOME JAMIE. + +Ye will remember him best o' ony o' them, I reckon; for even when ye +were baith bits o' callants, there was a sort o' rivalship between ye +for the affections o' bonny Katie Alison, the loveliest lassie that +ever I had at my school. I hae frequently observed the looks o' +jealousy that used to pass between ye when she seemed to show mair +kindness to ane than anither; and, when ye little thocht I saw ye, I +hae noticed ane o' ye pushing oranges into her hand, and anither +sweeties. When she got a bit comb, too, to fasten up her gowden hair, +I weel divined whose pennies had purchased it--for they were yours, +doctor. I remember, also, hoo ye was aye a greater favourite wi' her +than Jamie, and hoo he challenged ye to fecht him for her affections, +and o'ercam' ye in the battle, and sent ye to the school next day wi' +yer face a' disfigured--and I, as in duty bound, gied each o' ye a +heartier thrashin than ye had gien ane anither. Katie hung her head a' +the time, and when she looked up, a tear was rowin in her bonny blue +een. But ye left the school and the country-side when ye was little +mair than seventeen; and the next thing that we heard o' ye was that +ye had gane oot to India about three years afterwards. Yer departure +evidently removed a load from Jamie's breast. He followed Katie like +her shadow, though with but little success, as far as I could +perceive, and as it was generally given out. + +But, ye must remember, in his case the name o' Venturesome Jamie was +well applied. Never in my born days did I know such a callant. He +would have climbed the highest trees as though he had been speeling +owre a common yett, and swung himsel by the heels frae their topmost +branches. Oh, he was a terrible laddie! When I hae seen ye a' bathing +in the river, sometimes I used to tremble for him. He was a perfect +amphibious animal. I have seen him dive from a height of twenty or +thirty feet, and remain under the water till I almost lost my breath +wi' anxiety for his uprising; and then he would have risen at as many +yards distant from the place where he had dived. I recollect o' +hearing o' his permitting himsel to be suspended owre a precipice +aboon a hundred feet high, wi' a rope fastened round his oxters, and +three laddies like himsel hauding on by the ither end o't--and this +was dune merely to harry the nest o' a waterwagtail. Had the screams +o' the callants, who found him owre heavy for them, and that they were +unable to draw him up again, not brought some ploughmen to their +assistance, he must have been precipitated into eternity. However, as +I intended to say, it was shortly after the news arrived o' your +having sailed for India, that a fire broke out in the dead o' nicht in +a house occupied by Katie Alison's father. Never shall I forget the +uproar and consternation o' that terrible nicht. There was not a +countenance in the town but was pale wi' terror. The flames roared and +raged from every window, and were visible through some parts in the +roof. The great black clouds o' smoke seemed rushing from the crater +of a volcano. The floors o' the second storey were falling, and +crashing, and crackling, and great burning sparks, some o' them as big +as a man's hand, were rising in thousands and tens o' thousands from +the flaming ruins, and were driven by the wind, like a shower o' fire, +across the heavens. It was the most fearsome sight I had ever beheld. +But this was not the worst o't; for, at a window in the third storey, +which was the only one in the house from which the flames were not +bursting, stood bonny Katie Alison, wringing her hands and screaming +for assistance, while her gowden hair fell upon her shouthers, and her +cries were heard aboon the raging o' the conflagration. I heard her +cry distinctly, "My father!--my father!--will nobody save my father?" +for he lay ill of a fever in the room where she was, and was +unconscious of his situation. But there was none to render them +assistance. At times, the flames and the smoke, issuing from the +windows below, concealed her from the eyes of the multitude. Several +had attempted her rescue, but all of them had been forced to retreat, +and some of them scorched fearfully; for in many places the stairs had +given way, and the flames were bursting on every side. They were +attempting to throw up a rope to her assistance--for the flames issued +so fiercely from the lower window, that, though a ladder had been +raised, no man could have ascended it--when at that moment, my old +scholar, James Johnstone (Venturesome Jamie, indeed!), arrived. He +heard the cries o' Katie--he beheld her hands outstretched for +help--"Let me past!--let me past!--ye cowards! ye cowards!" cried he, +as he eagerly forced his way through the crowd. He rushed into the +door, from which the dense smoke and the sparks were issuing as from a +great furnace. There was a thrill o' horror through the crowd, for +they kenned his character, and they kenned also his fondness for +Katie--and no one expected to see him in life again. But, in less than +ten seconds from his rushing in at the door, he was seen to spring +forward to the window where Katie stood--he flung his arm round her +waist, and, in an instant, both disappeared--but, within a quarter of +a minute, he rushed out at the street-door, through the black smoke +and the thick sparks, wi' the bonny creature that he adored in his +arms. O doctor, had ye heard the shout that burst frae the +multitude!--there was not one amongst them at that moment that couldna +have hugged Jamie to his heart. His hands were sore burned, and on +several places his clothes were on fire. Katie was but little hurt; +but, on finding herself on the street, she cast an anxious and +despairing look towards the window from which she had been snatched, +and again wringing her hands, exclaimed, in accents of bitterness that +go through my heart to this day-- + +"My father! oh, my father! Is there no help for him?--shall my father +perish?" + +"The rope!--gie me the rope!" cried Jamie. + +He snatched it from the hand of a bystander, and again rushed into the +smoking ruins. The consternation of the crowd became greater, and +their anxiety more intense than before. Full three minutes passed, and +nothing was seen of him. The crowded street became as silent as death; +even those who were running backward and forward, carrying water, for +a time stood still. The suspense was agonising. At length he appeared +at the window, with the sick man wrapped up in the bedclothes, and +holding him to his side with his right arm around him. The hope and +fear of the people became indescribable. Never did I witness such a +scene--never may I witness such again! Having fastened one end of the +rope to the bed, he flung the other from the window to the street; +and, grasping it with his left hand, he drew himself out of the +window, with Katie's father in his arm, and, crossing his feet around +the rope, he slid down to the street, bearing his burden with him! +Then, sir, the congratulations o' the multitude were unbounded. Every +one was anxious to shake him by the hand; but what with the burning +his right hand had sustained, and the worse than burning his left had +suffered wi' the sliding down a rope frae a third storey, wi' a man +under his arm, I may say that my venturesome and gallant auld scholar +hadna a hand to shake. + +Ye canna be surprised to hear--and, at the time o' life ye've arrived +at, ye'll be no longer jealous; besides, during dinner, I think ye +spoke o' having a wife and family--I say, therefore, doctor, that +ye'll neither be jealous nor surprised to hear, that from that day +Katie's dryness to Jamie melted down. Moreover, as ye had gane out to +India, where ye would be mair likely to look after siller than think +o' a wife, and as I understand ye had dropped correspondence for some +length o' time, ye couldna think yoursel in ony way slighted. Now, +folk say that "nineteen _nay-says_ are half a _yes_." For my part (and +my age is approaching the heels o' the patriarchs), I never put it in +the power o' woman born to say _No_ to me. But, as I have heard and +believe, Katie had said _No_ to Jamie before the fire, not only +nineteen times, but thirty-eight times twice told, and he found +seventy-six (which is about my age) nae nearer a _yea_ than the first +_nay_. And folk said it was a' on account o' a foolish passion for the +doctor laddie that had gane abroad. But Katie was a kind, gratefu +lassie. She couldna look wi' cauldness upon the man that had not only +saved her life, but her father's also; and I ought to have informed +you that, within two minutes from the time of her father's being +snatched from the room where he lay, the floor fell in, and the flames +burst from the window where Katie had been standing a few minutes +before. + +Her father recovered from the fever, but he died within six months +after the fire, and left her a portionless orphan, or what was next +door to it. Jamie urged her to make him happy, and at last she +consented, and they were married. But ye remember that his parents +were in affluent circumstances; they thought he had demeaned himself +by his marriage, and they shut their door upon him, and disowned him +athegither. As he was his father's heir, he was brought up to no +calling or business whatsoever; and, when the auld man not only vowed +to cut him off wi' a shilling, on account of his marriage, but +absolutely got his will altered accordingly, what did the silly lad +do, but, in desperation, list into a regiment that was gaun abroad. +"The laddie has done it in a fit o' passion," said I, "and what will +become o' poor Katie?" Weel, although it was said that the lassie +never had ony particular affection for him, but just married him out +o' gratitude, and although several genteel families in the +neighbourhood offered her respectable and comfortable situations (for +she was universally liked), yet the strange creature preferred to +follow the hard fortunes o' Jamie, who had been disowned on her +account, and she implored the officers of the regiment to be allowed +to accompany him. It is possible that they were interested with her +appearance, and what they had heard of his connection, and the manner +in which he had been treated, for they granted her request; and about +a month after he enlisted, the regiment marched from Carlisle, and +Katie accompanied her husband. They went abroad somewhere--to the East +or West Indies, I believe; but from that day to this I have never +heard a word concerning either the one or the other, or whether they +be living or not. All I know is, that the auld man died within two +years after his son had become a soldier, and, keeping his resentment +to his last breath, actually left his property to a brother's son. And +that, sir, is all that I know of Venturesome Jamie and your old +sweetheart, Katie. + +The doctor looked thoughtful, exceedingly thoughtful; and the old +dominie, acquiring additional loquacity as he went on, poured out +another glass, and added-- + +"But come, doctor, we will drink a bumper, 'for auld langsyne,' to the +lassie wi' the gowden locks, be she dead or living." + +"With my whole heart and soul," replied the doctor, impassionedly; +and, pouring out a glass, he drained it to the dregs. + +"The auld feeling is not quenched yet, doctor," said the venerable +teacher, "and I am sorry for it; for, had I known, I would have spoken +more guardedly. But I will proceed to gie ye an account o' the rest o' +your class-fellows, and I will do it briefly. There was Walter +Fairbairn, who went amongst ye by the name o' + + +CAUTIOUS WATTY. + +He was the queerest laddie that ever I had at my school. He had +neither talent nor cleverness; but he made up for both, and, I may +say, more than made up for both, by method and application. Ye would +have said that nature had been in a miserly humour when it made his +brains; but, if it had been niggardly in the quantity, it certainly +had spared no pains in placing them properly. He was the very reverse +o' Solitary Sandy. I never could get Watty to scan a line or construe +a sentence richt in my days. He did not seem to understand the nature +o' words, or, at least, in so far as applied to sentiment, idea, or +fine writing. Figures were Watty's alphabet; and, from his earliest +years, pounds, shillings, and pence were the syllables by which he +joined them together. The abstruser points of mathematics were beyond +his intellect; but he seemed to have a liking for the _certainty_ of +the science, and he manifested a wish to master it. My housekeeper +that then was has informed me that, when a' the rest o' ye wad hae +been selling your copies as waste-paper, for _taffy_, or what some ca' +_treacle-candy_, Watty would only part wi' his to the paper purchaser +for money down; and when ony o' ye took a greenin for the sweet things +o' the shopkeeper, without a halfpenny to purchase one, Watty would +volunteer to lend ye the money until a certain day, upon condition +that ye would then pay him a penny for the loan o' his halfpenny. But +he exhibited a grand trait o' this disposition when he cam to learn +the rule o' _Compound Interest_. Indeed, I need not say he _learned_, +it, for he literally _devoured_ it. He wrought every question in +Dilworth's Rule within two days; and, when he had finished it (for he +seldom had his slate away from my face, and I was half tired wi' +saying to him, "That will do, sir"), he came up to my desk, and, says +he, wi' a face as earnest as a judge-- + +"May I go through this rule again, sir?" + +"I think ye understand it, Watty," said I, rather significantly. + +"But I would like to be perfect in it, sir," answered he. + +"Then go through it again, Watty," said I, "and I have nae doubt but +ye will be _perfect_ in it very quickly." + +I said this wi' a degree o' irony which I was not then, and which I am +not now, in the habit of exhibiting before my scholars; but, from what +I had observed and heard o' him, it betrayed to me a trait in human +nature that literally disgusted me. But I have no pleasure in dwelling +upon his history. Shortly after leaving the school, he was sent up to +London to an uncle; and, as his parents had the means o' setting him +up in the world, he was there to make choice o' a profession. After +looking about the great city for a time, it was the choice and +pleasure o' Cautious Watty to be bound as an apprentice to a +pawnbroker. He afterwards commenced business for himself, and every +day in his life indulging in his favourite study, compound interest, +and, as far as he durst, putting it in practice, he in a short time +became rich. But, as his substance increased, he did not confine +himself to portable articles, or such things as are usually taken in +pledge by the members of his profession; but he took estates in +pledge, receiving the title-deeds as his security; and in such cases +he did exact his compound interest to the last farthing to which he +could stretch it. He neither knew the meaning of generosity nor mercy. +Shakspere's beautiful apostrophe to the latter god-like attribute in +the "Merchant of Venice," would have been flat nonsense in the +estimation of Watty. He had but one answer to every argument and to +every case, and which he laid to his conscience in all his +transactions (if he had a conscience), and that was--"A bargain's a +bargain!" This was his ten times repeated phrase every day. It was the +doctrine by which he swore; and Shylock would have died wi' envy to +have seen Watty exacting his "_pound o' flesh_." I have only to tell +ye that he has been twice married. The first time was to a widow four +years older than his mother, wi' whom he got ten thousand. The second +time was to a maiden lady, who had been a coquette and a flirt in her +day, but who, when the deep crow-feet upon her brow began to reflect +sermons from her looking-glass, became a patroniser of piety and +religious institutions. Watty heard o' her fortune, and o' her +disposition and habits. He turned an Episcopalian, because she was +one. He became a sitter and a regular attender in the same pew in the +church. He began his courtship by opening the pew-door to her when he +saw her coming, before the sexton reached it. He next sought her out +the services for the day in the prayer-book--he had it always open, +and ready to put in her hand. He dusted the cushion on which she was +to sit with his handkerchief, as she entered the pew. He, in short, +showed her a hundred little pious attentions. The sensibility of the +converted flirt was affected by them. At length he offered her his arm +from the pew to the hackney-coach or sedan-chair which waited for her +at the church-door; and, eventually, he led her to the altar in the +seventy-third year of her age; when, to use his own words, he married +her thirty thousand pounds, and took the old woman before the minister +as a witness. Such, sir, is all I know concerning Cautious Watty. + +The next o' your auld class-mates that I have to notice (continued Mr. +Grierson) is + + +LEEIN PETER. + +Peter Murray was the cause o' mair grief to me than ony scholar that +ever was at my school. He could not tell a story the same way in which +he heard it, or give you a direct answer to a positive question, had +it been to save his life. I sometimes was at a loss whether to +attribute his grievous propensity to a defect o' memory, a +preponderance o' imagination over baith memory and judgment, or to the +natural depravity o' his heart, and the force o' abominable habits +early acquired. Certain it is, that, all the thrashing that I could +thrash, I couldna get the laddie to speak the truth. His parents were +perpetually coming to me to lick him soundly for this lie and the +other lie; and I did lick him, until I saw that bodily punishment was +of no effect. Moral means were to be tried, and I did try them. I +tried to shame him out o't. I reasoned wi' him. I showed him the folly +and the enormity o' his offence, and also pointed out its +consequences--but I might as weel hae spoken to the stane in the wa'. +He was Leein Peter still. After he left me, he was a while wi' a +grocer, and a while wi' a haberdasher, and then he went to a painter, +and after that he was admitted into a writer's office; but one after +another, they had to turn him away, and a' on account o' his +unconquerable habit o' uttering falsehoods. His character became so +well known, that nobody about the place would take him to be anything. +He was a sad heartbreak to his parents, and they were as decent people +as ye could meet wi'. But, as they had respectable connections, they +got him into some situation about Edinburgh, where his character and +his failings were unknown. But it was altogether useless. He was +turned out of one situation after another, and a' on account o' his +incurable and dangerous habit, until his friends could do no more for +him. Noo, doctor, I daresay ye may have observed, that a confirmed +drunkard, rather than want drink, will steal to procure it--and, as +sure as that is the case, tak my word for it, that, in nine cases out +o' ten, he who begins by being a habitual liar, will end in being a +thief. Such was the case wi' Leein Peter. After being disgraced and +turned from one situation after anither, he at last was caught in the +act of purloining his master's property, and cast into prison. He +broke his mother's heart, and covered his father's grey hairs wi' +shame; and he sank from one state o' degradation to another, till now, +I believe, he is ane o' those prowlers and pests o' society who are to +be found in every large town, and who live naebody can tell how, but +every one can tell that it cannot be honestly. Such, sir, has been the +fate o' Leein Peter. + +There is only another o' your book-mates that I have to make mention +o', and that is John Mathewson or + + +JOCK THE DUNCE. + +Many a score o' times hae I said that Jock's head was as impervious to +learning as a nether-millstane. It would hae been as easy to hae +driven mensuration into the head o' an ox, as instruction into the +brain o' Jock Mathewson. He was born a dunce. I fleeched him, and I +coaxed him, and I endeavoured to divert him, to get him to learn, and +I kicked him, and I cuffed him; but I might as weel hae kicked my heel +upon the floor, or fleeched the fireplace. Jock was knowledge-proof. +All my efforts were o' no avail. I could get him to learn nothing, and +to comprehend nothing. Often I had half made up my mind to turn him +awa from the school, for I saw that I never would have any credit by +the blockhead. But what was most annoying was, that here was his +mother at me, every hand-awhile, saying-- + +"Mr Grierson, I'm really surprised at ye. My son John is not coming on +ava. I really wush ye wad tak mair pains wi' him. It is an unco thing +to be paying you guid money, and the laddie to be getting nae guid for +it. I wad hae ye to understand that his faither doesna make his money +sae easily--no by sitting on a seat, or walking up and down a room--as +ye do. There's such-a-ane's son awa into the Latin, nae less, I +understand, and my John no out o' the Testament. But, depend upon it, +Mr Grierson, if ye dinna try to do something wi' him, I maun tak him +awa frae your school, and that is the short and the lang o't." + +"Do sae, ma'am," said I, "and I'll thank ye. Mercy me! it's a bonny +thing, indeed--do ye suppose that I had the makin o' your son? If +Nature has formed his head out o' a whinstane, can I transform it into +marble? Your son would try the patience o' Job--his head is thicker +than a door-post. I can mak naething o' him. I would sooner teach a +hundred than be troubled wi' him." + +"Hundred here, hundred there!" said she, in a tift; "but it's a hard +matter, Mr Grierson, for his faither and me to be payin ye money for +naething; and if ye dinna try to mak something o' him, I'll tak him +frae your school, and that will be baith seen and heard tell o'!" + +So saying, away she would drive, tossing her head wi' the airs o' my +lady. Ye canna conceive, sir, what a teacher has to put up wi'. +Thomson says-- + + "Delightful task, + To teach the young idea how to shoot!" + +I wish to goodness he had tried it, and a month's specimen o' its +_delights_ would have surfeited him, and instead o' what he has +written, he would have said-- + + "Degrading thought, + To be each snivelling blockhead's parent's slave!" + +Now, ye'll remember that Jock was perpetually sniftering and gaping +wi' his mouth, or even sucking his thumb like an idiot. There was nae +keeping the animal cleanly, much less instructing him; and then, if he +had the book in his hand, there he sat staring owre it, wi' a look as +vacant and stupid as a tortoise. Or, if he had the slate before him, +there was he drawing scores on't, or amusing himsel wi' twirling and +twisting the pencil in the string through the frame. Never had I such +a lump o' stupidity within the walls o' my school. + +After his leaving me, he was put as an apprentice to a bookseller. I +thought, of all the callings under the sun, that which had been chosen +for him was the least suited to a person o' his capacity. But--would +ye believe it, sir?--Jock surprised us a'. He fairly turned the corner +on a' my calculations. When he began to look after the lassies, he +also began to "smart up." He came to my night-school when he would be +about eighteen, and I was perfectly astonished at the change that had +taken place, even in the appearance o' the callant. His very nose, +which had always been so stuffed and thick like, was now an ornament +to his face. He had become altogether a lively, fine-looking lad; and, +more marvellous still, his whole heart's desire seemed to be to learn; +and he did learn with a rapidity that both astonished and delighted +me. I actually thought the instructions which I had endeavoured to +instil into him for years, and apparently without effect, had been +lying dormant, as it were, in the chambers o' his brain, like a cuckoo +in winter--that they had been sealed up as fast as I imparted them, by +some cause that I did not comprehend, and that now they had got vent, +and were issuing out in rapid and vigorous strength, like a person +refreshed after a sleep. + +After he had been two years at the night-school, so far from +considering him a dunce, I regarded him as an amazingly clever lad. +From the instance I had had in him, I began to perceive that precocity +o' intellect was nae proof o' its power. Well, shortly after the time +I am speaking o', he left Annan for Glasgow, and after being a year or +twa there, he commenced business upon his own account. I may safely +say, that never man was more fortunate. But, as his means increased, +he did not confine himself to the business in which he had been +brought up, but he became an extensive shipowner; he also became a +partner in a cotton-mill concern. He was elected a member of the town +council, and was distinguished as a leading member and orator of the +guild. Eventually, he rose to be one of the city magistrates. He is +now also an extensive landed proprietor; and I even hear it affirmed, +that it is in contemplation to put him in nomination for some place or +other at the next election. Such things happen, doctor--and wha would +hae thocht it o' Jack the dunse? + +Now, sir (added the dominie), so far as I have been able, I have given +you the history o' your schoolfellows. Concerning you, doctor, I have +known less and heard less than o' ony o' them. You being so far awa, +and so long awa, and your immediate relations about here being dead, +so that ye have dropped correspondence, I have heard nothing +concerning ye; and I have often been sorry on that account; for, +believe me, doctor (here the doctor pushed the bottle to him, and the +old man, helping himself to another glass, and drinking it, again +continued)--I say, believe me, doctor, that I never had twa scholars +under my care, o' whose talents I had greater opinion than o' Solitary +Sandy and yoursel; and it has often vexed me that I could hear +naething concerning ye, or whether ye were dead or living. Now, sir, +if ye'll favour me wi' an account o' your history, from the time o' +your going out to India, your auld dominie will be obliged to ye; for +I like to hear concerning ye a', as though ye had been my ain bairns. + +"There is little of interest in my history, sir," said the doctor; +"but, as far as there is any, your wish shall be gratified." And he +proceeded as is hereafter written. + + +THE DOCTOR'S STORY. + +"In your history, sir, of Venturesome Jamie, which you are unable to +finish, you mentioned the rivalry that existed between him and me, for +the affections o' bonny Katie Alison. James was a noble fellow. I am +not ashamed that I had such a rival. In our youth I esteemed him while +I hated him. But, sir, I do not remember the time when Katie Alison +was not as a dream in my heart--when I did not tremble at her touch. +Even when we pulled the gowans and cowslips together, though there had +been twenty present, it was for Katie that I pulled mine. When we +plaited the rushes, I did it for her. She preferred me to Jamie, and I +knew it. When I left your school, and when I proceeded to India, I did +not forget her. But, as you said, men go there to make money--so did +I. My friends laughed at my boyish fancy--they endeavoured to make me +ashamed of it. I became smitten with the eastern disease of +fortune-making, and, though I did not forget her, I neglected her. + +But, sir, to drop this: I was not twenty-one when I arrived in Bombay; +nor had I been long there till I was appointed physician to several +Parsee families of great wealth. With but little effort, fortune +opened before me. I performed a few surgical operations of +considerable difficulty, with success. In several desperate cases I +effected cures, and my name was spread not only through the city, but +throughout the island. The riches I went to seek I found. But even +then, sir, my heart would turn to your school, and to the happy hours +I had spent by the side of bonny Katie Alison. + +However, it would be of no interest to enter into the details of my +monotonous life. I shall dwell only upon one incident, which is, of +all others, the most remarkable that ever occurred to me, and which +took place about six years after my arrival in India. I was in my +carriage, and accompanying the remains of a patient to the burial +ground--for you know that doctors cannot cure, when death is +determined to have its way. The burial ground lies about three miles +from Bombay, across an extensive and beautiful plain, and the road to +it is by a sort of avenue, lined and shaded on each side by +cocoa-nut-trees, which spread their branches over the path, and distil +their cooling juice into the cups which the Hindoos have placed around +them to receive it. You can form but a faint conception of the clear +azure of an Indian sky, and never had I seen it more beautiful than on +the day to which I refer, though some of the weather-prophets about +Bombay were predicting a storm. + +We were about the middle of the avenue I have described, when we +overtook the funeral of an officer who had held a commission in a +corps of Sepoys. The coffin was carried upon the shoulders of four +soldiers; before it marched the Sepoys, and behind it, seated in a +palanquin, borne by four Hindoos, came the widow of the deceased. A +large black veil thrown over her head, almost enveloped her person. +Her head was bent upon her bosom, and she seemed to weep bitterly. We +followed behind them to the burial-place; but, before the service was +half concluded, the heavens overcast, and a storm, such as I had never +witnessed, burst over our heads, and hurled its fury upon the graves. +The rain poured down in a fierce and impetuous torrent--but you know +not, in this country, what a torrent of rain is. The thunder seemed +tearing heaven in twain. It rolled, reverbed, and pealed, and rattled +with its tremendous voice over the graves of the dead, as though it +were the outbursting of eternity--the first blast of the archangel's +trumpet announcing the coming judgment! The incessant lightnings +flashed through the air, like spirits winged with flame, and awakening +the dead. + +The Sepoys fled in terror, and hastened to the city, to escape the +terrible fury of the storm. Even those who had accompanied my friend's +body fled with them, before the earth was covered over the dead that +they had followed to the grave. But still, by the side of the +officer's grave, and unmindful of the storm, stood his poor widow. She +refused to leave the spot till the last sod was placed upon her +husband's bosom. My heart bled for her. Within three yards from her +stood a veteran English serjeant, who, with the Hindoos that bore her +palanquin, were all that remained in the burial-place. + +Common humanity prompted me to offer her a place in my carriage back +to the city. I inquired of the serjeant who the deceased was. He +informed me that he was a young Scotch officer--that his marriage had +offended his friends--that they had denounced him in consequence--that +he had enlisted--and that the officers of the regiment which he had +first joined, had procured him an ensigncy in a corps of Sepoys, but +that he had died, leaving the young widow who wept over his grave, a +stranger in a strange land. And, added the serjeant, "a braver fellow +never set foot upon the ground." + +When the last sod had been placed upon the grave, I approached the +young widow. I respectfully offered to convey her and the serjeant to +the city in my carriage, as the violence of the storm increased. + +At my voice she started--she uttered a suppressed scream--she raised +her head--she withdrew her handkerchief from her eyes!--I beheld her +features!--and, gracious Heaven!--whom, sir!--whom--whom did I see, +but my own Katie Alison! + +"Doctor!--doctor!" exclaimed the old dominie, starting from his seat, +"what do I hear?" + +"I cannot describe to you," continued the other, "the tumultuous joy, +combined with agony, the indescribable feelings of that moment. We +stood--we gasped--we gazed upon each other; neither of us spoke. I +took her hand--I led her to the carriage--I conveyed her to the +city." + +"And, oh doctor, what then?" inquired the dominie. + +"Why, sir," said the doctor, "many days passed--many words were +spoken--mutual tears were shed for Jamie Johnstone--and bonny Katie +Alison, the lassie of my first love, became my wife, and is the mother +of my children. She will be here in a few days, and will see her old +dominie." + + + + +THE CONTRAST OF WIVES.[B] + + +In the absence of that finely-adjusted balance of power which ought to +be found in the state of marriage, it becomes a nice question, whether +less evil results from an overstretched domination on the part of the +husband, or from his due submission or subjugation to an authority +exercised by her, and carried farther than is generally deemed +consistent with the delicacy of her sex, or the situation in which she +is placed. Connected with this question is that which comprises the +comparative evil arising from a superabundance or deficiency of the +intellectual powers of the wife. We are too well aware of the +uselessness, as well as the impracticability, of solving such +speculative questions, to say a single word on either side of the +vexed argument to which they have given rise; but we will be within +our province, and probably not beyond the wishes of our readers, if we +lay before them a _case of real life_, involving a solution of the +question in one exemplary instance, where the "grey mare" is not only +found to be the "better horse," but where, by her powers of judicious +leading, she saves not only herself but her partner from the dangers +of a rough road and a precipitous course. In those good days of old +Scotland, when the corporation hall formed the theatre wherein was +enacted the great play (comedy, if you please) of "Burgh Ambition," +the influence of petticoat power extended its secret workings behind +the green curtain, and often regulated all the actions of the +performers in a manner which was not only totally concealed from the +spectators, but even from the moving puppets themselves. In one +instance--that to which we have referred--this secret authority +transpired, and in a manner so ludicrous that it deserves to be +recorded. The incorporation of Dyers and Scourers of P---- (at the +time of which we speak a considerable fraternity) had a deacon and +boxmaster; the former named Murdoch Waldie, and the latter Andrew +Todd. Their names still figure in the old books of the corporation, if +these are not gone astray; and there is, or was, an entry in these +same books, connected with the reign of the two worthies, which, +illustrative and probative as it is of our story, we shall have +occasion to lay before our readers. Well, to proceed in historical +order, the worthy boxmaster had been married for a number of years. He +might be about fifty years of age, was of small stature, very bland +and affable in his manners, of an easy disposition, but, withal, as +ambitious of fame as any of the aspirants for office in his +corporation. Endowed by nature with very inadequate powers of +judgment, he experienced no want of the powers of speech, which was as +fluent as a shallow mind could make it; and he had, besides, a species +of humour about him, which owed its existence rather to the simplicity +and _bonhommie_ of his nature, than to the more ordinary source of a +perception of the ludicrous. As almost every want is remedied by some +equipollent surrogation which strangely often supplies its place, +Andrew Todd was _sensible_ of his want of mental powers; and thus he +exhibited that sense of a _want of sense_, which is often more +valuable than sense itself, in so far as the modesty with which it is +accompanied leads the individual to seek the assistance of good +advisers, by which he sometimes surpasses, in the race of life, +conceited wiseacres. We do not say that he married Mrs Jean Todd +merely because he saw she was endowed with greater powers than +himself; but it is certain that, after he came to appreciate the +extent of her understanding, he had the prudence to take every +advantage of her excellent sense and judgment, as well in the private +affairs of his business, as in the public concerns of the corporation +treasurership, with which he came, by her means, to be invested. This +was not only advantageous to his pecuniary interests, but congenial to +his feelings, as, getting quit, in this way, of the trouble of +thinking--a most laborious operation to him, and generally very ill +executed, if not altogether bungled--he was left at liberty to indulge +his speech and humour; two powers which had nothing more to do with +judgment or even common sense, than with the sublimated spirit of +genius itself. + +His wife, Mrs Jean, was, as partly hinted, the very opposite of her +husband. She was a large, stout, gaucy woman, at least twice as big as +her mate. She had been, early in life, considerably pitted with the +small-pox, enough of the traces of which were still left to give her +that sturdy, hardy aspect they generally impart; while a strong and +somewhat rough voice, agreeing well with her other attributes, gave +her ideas and sentiments an apparent breadth and weight, which, added +to their own sterling qualities, could not fail to produce a +considerable effect even on men of strong minds, and to give her a +decided advantage over her sex. Her original powers of mind were +strengthened by reading--an occupation in which, as it required +silence, her husband very seldom engaged; and, what few women are able +to accomplish, she never allowed this favourite habit to interfere +with the regulation of her domestic economy, or of the actions of her +husband. Bold and masculine, however, as she was, she was a +kind-hearted woman; and, having no family to her husband, she was a +warm friend, a ready adviser to all her female acquaintances, and a +charitable giver to those who, after a strict and very stern +investigation, she thought worthy of her assistance. + +The deacon of the incorporation again, Murdoch Waldie, was a man of a +very different cast from the boxmaster. He was a person of +considerable parts; but his conceit, which led him to conceive himself +cleverer than nature had made him, produced often all the consequences +which result from a deficiency of mental parts. Proud and domineering, +he loved to rule his corporation with dignity and authority; while his +love of official show and domestic parade rendered him extravagant, +and made him poor, notwithstanding of a good trade, which he carried +on with great success. In his choice of a wife, there might have been +perceived the tendency of his peculiar disposition; for he married a +beauty, who qualified his love of authority by an affected softness, +gentleness, and meekness, and his self-conceit, by showing herself +inferior to him in understanding, as indeed she was, though she +excelled him in another quality, which more than supplied its place. +What with his business, his deaconship, his chain, his gold-headed +cane, and his fair wife, dressed in the gaudy colours of his own +dyeing, Deacon Waldie was an important personage in those times, when +to be high in a corporation was to be in the enjoyment of the truest +elevation to which human nature, in this world, could aspire. + +Vain, showy, gaudy, and frivolous, Mrs Deacon Waldie held the same +position to Mrs Todd that the boxmaster did to her husband. She had no +sense or power to rule her lord, who, indeed, would not have submitted +to female authority; but she had what Mrs Todd wanted, and what served +her purpose equally well, and that was cunning--the signal quality of +small, weak minds, and the very curse of the whole race of man and +woman. This insidious power enabled her to detect her husband's +failings, as well as to profit by them--and hence her affectation of +total subjugation to his high will and authority, and her tame system +of according and assenting to everything he said or did, whether right +or wrong. But in all this her selfish cunning had a part; because, +while she pretended to love him, and dote on him and prize him beyond +all mortals, her adulation, her blandishments, and submission were +accompanied or followed always by _petitions_. She contrived to have +hardihood enough to make the most unreasonable requests, and to show +that she was too sensitive, too fragile, and too weak, to bear a +refusal. If her suit was rejected, she flung herself upon the haughty +deacon's bosom, and sobbed; and what deacon could withstand the appeal +of beauty in tears? The sight was the very personification of the +triumph of his pride and dignity. The chain of his official authority, +and the arms of a praying, supplicating, weeping wife, hanging at the +same time around his proud neck, were the very counterparts of each +other. His love of subjugation bent, as it often does, his own head; +and cunning enjoyed its greatest triumph in overcoming one, by turning +his own weapons against himself. + +The contrast which we have thus exhibited between these two couples, +is that of real everyday life. The characters of too many married +parties partake, more or less, of the qualities possessed by those we +have now mentioned; but how strangely do apparent contrasts often meet +in grotesque resemblances? Mrs Todd ruled her husband, and he knew it; +but Mrs Waldie ruled her husband, and he was ignorant of it: while the +one followed her occupation for her own and her husband's good, the +other was bent (unconsciously, it may be) on her own and her husband's +ruin. + +These two couples were on the most intimate terms--the circumstance of +the two husbands being office-bearers of the same corporation having +increased an intimacy which had been of considerable duration. But +there was little respect felt for her showy friends on the part of the +wife of the minor official, who probably saw that their extravagance +was fast driving them to ruin. This foresight was soon verified. The +demands of Mrs Deacon Waldie were not limited to her own wants and +wishes--they were extended to those of her friends. Her father, +trusting to the reputation of her husband's deaconship, had occasion +for his security to the extent of £200; and she was fixed upon as the +instrument to wring, by her usual artifice, out of her proud lord and +master, not only his own name to the bond, but also that of some of +his friends, to be procured through his means and intercession. She +had, for a considerable time, been occupied zealously in endeavouring +to accomplish her object--bringing into contrast her husband's proud +domination, and her innocent and interesting weakness and timidity, +and showing, as she hung round his neck, her helplessness and +insignificance, at the very moment when she was exercising more power +than ever was arrogated by the boxmaster's wife in all her female +tyranny. She succeeded in her scheme, and Waldie consented--but only +as a king grants the prayer of a petition--not only to give his own +name to the bill, but to endeavour to get that of Mr Andrew Todd. +Tears of thankfulness, and a full acknowledgment of his great power +over her, was the reward offered and granted for this great +condescension and unparalleled favour. But it was more easy for Mrs +Waldie to ask, and give thanks and tears, and for her husband to +vouchsafe his own name as cautioner, than for him to get out of the +clutches of Mrs Jean Todd the consent of her husband. The deacon knew +how his brother-official was ruled by his wife, and lustily despised +the white-livered caitiff for his pusillanimity. + +"I canna promise, Mrs Deacon Waldie," said he to his wife, according +to the fashion of address that suited his dignity--"I canna promise to +get the boxmaster to gie his name to yer faither's bond. He's sae +completely, puir cratur! under the power and direction o' a woman, +that he daurna tak sae muckle liberty wi' his ain. The woman brocht +him naething when he married her, but the iron rod o' authority by +which she rules him; and yet, strange to say, he seems to like her the +better for a' the stern dominion she exercises owre him." + +"That's a fault, I'm sure, ye canna charge me wi'," replied his wife. + +"No, Margaret," said the deacon; "you dare not presume to dictate to +me; and, to do you justice, you never attempted it; but I began ye +fair. I showed you at first the proper conduct o' a husband towards +his wife--firm but kind; and the duty o' a wife towards a +husband--obedient and loving; and it was weel that you had the sense +to understand me, and the good-nature to comply wi' my wishes; for, if +I had seen the least glimpse o' an inclination to rule me or force me +into yer measures, there wad sune hae been rebellion in the house o' +Deacon Waldie. The consequences o' a wife's domination are weel +exemplified in the case o' that contemptible man whase assistance we +now require. He daurna assist a freend. His wife is cash-keeper, +conscience-keeper, housekeeper, and, by and by, she may be box-keeper, +to the entire disgrace o' oor trade, wha, though they live by women +(for men never employ dyers), wouldna relish to acknowledge the +authority o' a female boxmaster. When a man resigns himsel to the +authority o' a wife, he is dune for a' guid to himsel as weel as his +neebors." + +"Ye canna, my dear Murdoch," said the soft wife, "look upon a tame +husband, wha submits to the rule o' a wife, wi' mair contemp and ill +favour than I do upon the virago wha presumes to reverse the order o' +nature, and wrest the authority frae the lord o' the creation." + +"You gie a fine turn to the sentiment, Margaret," replied the +gratified deacon. "I am anxious (but it is my ain free will) to do yer +faither this service; and I will try, for ance, if I canna fecht Mrs +Jean Todd wi' her ain weapons. The boxmaster's no dead to shame; and +surety, if there's ony power on earth whereby the blush can be brought +to the face o' man, it's the power o' being in a condition to tell +him to that very face he is _henpecked_. The very word has a spur and +a neb in't to rouse him to the vindication o' the rights o' man. I was +aye afraid o't; and, God be thanked! I hae escaped even the very +chance o' its application to me." + +"You forgot, my love, that you hae also _me_ to thank for that +happiness," said the wife. + +"No, it is mysel, it is mysel," cried the proud lord of his own +household. "It lies in my native sense o' the rights o' our superior +sex, and my firmness o' purpose in keepin the reins ticht upon ye. You +hae only the merit o' no rebellin; but even your rebellion I would hae +sune laid." + +"I fancy, then," said Mrs Waldie, gently, "it will be your intention +and pleasure to see the boxmaster immediately." + +"No, Mrs Waldie," replied the deacon, a little touched; "not +_immediately_, but by and by." + +The deacon, however, did almost immediately wait upon the boxmaster, +and got him to adjourn to a tavern in the Lawnmarket, at that time +much frequented by the members of the incorporation. They had scarcely +seated themselves when the superior official opened his subject. + +"I am a frank man, Mr Todd," began he, "and I winna hesitate to tell +ye at ance that I want a favour frae ye. Will ye join me in security +for my father-in-law to the extent o' twa hunder pounds?" + +The boxmaster paused, and thought of the stern chamberlain at home. He +was inclined to assist his deacon, who was a person of great +importance in his eyes, but he saw the danger which might result from +his going out of his province, and acting upon what he conceived to be +right. His pause was at once understood by the deacon, whose keenness +to make a dash at the supposed obstacle to his suit arose from his +contempt of his friend's pusillanimous conduct, and his desire to +attain the object of his request. + +"I can read your thoughts, Mr Todd," said he, as the boxmaster still +paused, and seemed irresolute and confused. "You _wish_ to serve, but +you daurna. Mrs Todd winna let ye follow the counsel o' yer ain heart. +This is a delicate subject; but I am your freend, and would wish to +redeem ye frae the slavery o' a woman's (and otherwise, I grant, a +guid and sensible woman's) domination in matters wherein she has nae +legitimate authority." + +He waited the effect of this speech, which was a kind of touchstone. + +"I see nae delicacy in a subject," replied the boxmaster, "whar +there's nae secresy. How does it come to be known that my wife is my +counsellor and adviser?--Because I mak nae secret o' what I hae nae +reason to be ashamed o'. I dinna ken how you feel, Mr Waldie, but I +think it's the pleasantest thing on earth to be, as it were, compelled +to alloo yersel to be taen care o', and defended, and nursed, and +petted, and ruled, by a guid wife. In my opinion, to be loved by a +wife is only the half o' oor right. Ony woman may love a man--it's a +woman's _trade_ to love; but when you see a dear cratur takin the +pains and trouble o' governin a' yer actions--ay, and as it were, even +yer very thoughts--lookin wi' a keen and carefu ee after yer maist +minute affairs, regulatin yer conduct, keepin yer siller, directin yer +financial, domestic, personal, private, and public operations; and, in +short, _thinkin_ for ye--how is it possible for a man to see sae +muckle care taen wi' him and his concerns, without bein filled wi' +gratitude and affection to her wha labours sae officiously for his +guid?" + +"Mr Andrew Todd," said the deacon, impatiently, "you are describin ane +o' the maist pitifu and contemptible spirits that ever warmed the +scaly body o' a reptile that has nae sting. What man wi' a spark o' +independence in his breast would think o' resignin his judgment into +the hands o' a woman? They are guid craturs in their ain place, and +baith interestin and usefu when they are occupied in conductin the +affairs o' their houses, obeyin the commands o' their husbands, and +ministerin to his slichtest wishes, as if every look were an act of +parliament; but, to stoop to mak a woman a counsellor, to gie her a +vote in the great council o' the noble thoughts o' man's divine mind! +Unheard o' humiliation! Why, man, a woman is only the twenty-fourth +part o' a man, seein we hae, as the doctors say, twenty-four ribs; and +we hae the authority o' Scripture for sayin that, at the very best, +she is only a help to man. She was, besides, the beginnin o' a' evil. +And yet this fractional thing, this help, this unlucky author o' the +waes o' mortals, ye dignify and raise up into the very place and power +o' yer inheritance frae Adam; reversin the order o' nature, degradin +our noble sex and makin laughinstocks o' a' married men." + +"I'm no sure if there's muckle practical truth in a' this, deacon," +said Andrew, smiling good-naturedly. "Suppose, for an instant, that, +besides the satisfaction and pleasure I derive frae nestlin safely in +the arms o' my wife's judgment, and courin aneath her protectin +wing--whilk gies me, sometimes, a flap I like as weel as her kindest +embrace--I hae discovered that her thoughts and reflections are a +thousand times better than the boxmaster's--what say ye to that, +deacon? I hae seen an oaken tree twenty-four times bigger than its +parent, and yet a' it ever had to thank the auld stock for was an +acorn. Sae, in place o' only bein a twenty-fourth part, as you say, o' +man, I am satisfied I hae scarcely a twenty-fourth part o' my wife's +mind; and will onybody tell me that a wise counsellor should be +rejected, because she happens to be dressed in petticoats?" + +"Yes, Mr Todd, I will tell you that," replied the deacon. "The private +sodger has dootless often a mind superior to the general's; but he +maun still keep the ranks. Mind is naething in this affair--station +is everything. Look at Mrs Margaret Waldie--a cleverer cratur doesna +exist--that is, in her ain way; but did she ever dare to counsel me? +Did she ever presume to sway or alter, in the slightest degree, the +decrees o' my judgment? Na; she has owre muckle respect for the status +and respectability o' her lord and maister. Rouse yersel, Andrew; tak +example by me, man; act as your kind heart prompts in this freendly +affair; and join me in the bond, whereby you'll incur nae danger." + +"I am anxious to oblige ye, deacon," said Andrew; "but I scarcely +think it wad be a gratefu part in me to repay a' Mrs Jean Todd's care +o' me for twenty years, by actin, in this affair, upon my ain +individual and responsible judgment. I micht anger her, and she micht +withdraw frae me her countenance and protection: I micht as weel lose +the licht o' the sun. Ye dinna understand me, deacon; ye are made to +command--I to obey. Pressure brings out the power o' the spring; and +a' my happiness in life is produced and brocht out by the weight o' +the judgment and authority o' Mrs Jean Todd. Her very mind seems to +hae passed into mine; and I feel, when I'm thinking her thoughts, a +satisfaction I never feel when my ain are passin, like unbidden +ghaists, through my mind. But surely I hae some excuse: is she no a +noble cratur? How she maks a body shake wi' the sound o' her voice, +and the solidity o' her thoughts! and how beautifully she softens doun +the impression o' her authority, by restorin, wi' a half-severe, +half-kind sort o' a smile, peculiar to hersel, the confidence she +frightened awa by the mere force o' her superior intellect!" + +"How beautifully, in short, Andrew," said the deacon, "are you +_henpecked_! That is the very soul and marrow o' a' ye hae uttered." + +"Ay; and I glory to be pecked by _such_ a hen!" cried Andrew, with +sparkling eyes, and a real and unsophisticated appearance of triumph. + +The deacon, notwithstanding of his anxiety to get the bond signed, +laughed outright at this tremendous sally of the boxmaster's +enthusiasm of servitude; but it was a laugh of derision, and he forgot +that he was himself daily losing more feathers, by a silent process of +peculation going on under his wing, than were taken from Andrew by the +conservative operation of his wife's billing and cooing. + +"Then I suppose you will not refuse my request?" said the deacon, +"seein you glory in the _henpeckin_ it may produce. Seriously, will ye +comply wi' my request?" + +"Seriously, deacon, I am inclined to oblige ye," replied Andrew, "if I +could get Mrs Jean to agree to it. I'll try her this very nicht. I can +say nae mair." + +The deacon could make no more of him. He went home, and reported the +result of the negotiation to his wife, who despaired of success, but +overpowered her husband with thanks for what he had done. She had a +secret wish that he should do more--viz., call upon Mrs Jean Todd +herself, and solicit her. The difficulty of accomplishing this was to +herself apparent; but she was determined to carry her point in some +way or another; so she straightway began to weep bitterly, crying that +her father would be ruined; but never hinting any remedy for her +distress. This paroxysm of affected grief produced its usual effect +upon the proud husband; who, hard as a rock when attempted to be +dictated to, was as weak as a child when attacked with tears, and an +apparent helpless subjugation to his high will. He took the weeping +wife in his arms, and asked her what more he could do to assist her +father in this emergency. + +"There's only ae way," said she, wiping her eyes; "there's just ae +remedy for our case." + +"What is it, my love?" said the deacon. + +"I canna mention't," said the cunning wife. "It's against a' the high +and proud feelins o' yer noble natur." + +"But we are sometimes obliged to sacrifice our feelins," said the +gratified deacon. "Speak, my dear Margaret; ye ken wha ye're speakin +to. What is your remedy?" + +"It's to ca' upon Mrs Jean Todd yersel," said she, holding away her +head, while another burst of tears overtook her voluntarily. + +The deacon started back in amazement. The request _was_ against all +the feelings of his nature. The proud stickler for marital rule was in +an extraordinary position: first, his wife was governing him at that +moment, unknown to himself; and, secondly, he was requested to sue, at +the feet of a woman, for liberty to her husband to act as he chose. + +"Margaret," said the deacon, "_you_, I am sure, dinna ask me to +overturn, at ae blow, a' the principles o' my life, conversation, and +conduct?" + +"Na, Murdoch," said she, throwing her arms round his neck, and weeping +again--"na, na; _I_ dinna _ask_ ye." + +"But ye maybe wish it, my dear Peggy," replied he, whimpering. +"Necessity is a great power: maybe ye feel _compelled_ to wish it." + +"Maybe I do," said the wife, with another burst. + +"Weel, Peggy, dry up yer tears, my love," said the conquered lord; +"I'll awa to Mrs Jean Todd." + +And he was as good as his word. Away he went, to recognise that +authority in a wife which he so heartily despised, and to which he was +himself, at the very moment, bowing his head. He took the bill with +him, with the view of taking advantage of a compliance upon the +instant, as he feared the effects of a night's reconsideration. He +found the couple in a curious position. They were sitting, one on each +side of the fire. Mrs Jean Todd had on her spectacles; but her book +was lying on the table. Mr Todd was apparently doing nothing; but he +was thinking more deeply, and with more difficulty, than was his +partner, who was occupied doubtless in digesting what she had been +reading. Mr Todd was, in truth, at that very moment in the very act of +endeavouring to call up courage to tell his wife the import of the +deacon's request, and to make some attempt at supporting his petition. +A few words had passed previous to the entry of the deacon. + +"I had a lang sederunt wi' our worthy deacon the day," said Andrew. +"He's no an ill body, the deacon. I canna forget the trouble he took +on my appointment to the honourable office o' boxmaster." + +"It was _I_ that made ye boxmaster, Andrew," said Mrs Jean Todd. "I +commanded the suffrages o' the hail corporation. Deacon Waldie couldna +hae opposed me. I was at the blind side o' the electors, through their +wives; and what man could hae dared to compete wi' the electors' +wives, when they were determined to vote for me? The deacon professes +to laugh at _our_ authority. Puir man! he forgets, or doesna see, that +there's no a man in the hail corporation wha is mair ruled, and mair +dangerously ruled, by his wife than he is! She'll ruin him; and that +ye'll sune see. Nae tradesman could stand her extravagance; and, I +understand, she cunningly contrives to get him to assist _her_ +friends, and to despise and disregard his ain. How different is my +conduct! Your friends, Andrew, I hae assisted; and the only thing I +ever left to your unassisted judgment was the benefiting o' mine." + +This sensible speech had, as the sun does the fire, extinguished +Andrew's mental cogitations, and put out his courage. A silence had +reigned for several minutes, when Mr Deacon Waldie entered. Drawing in +a chair, he commenced-- + +"The boxmaster would doubtless be tellin ye, madam," said he, "that I +wanted a sma' favour aff him. My wife's father requires a bill for +intromissions the noo to the extent o' twa hunder pounds, and the +employers insist upon twa securities. They micht hae been content wi' +mysel; but, seein they hae refused my single name, I hae asked Andrew +to gie his, as a mere matter o' form, alang wi' my ain. I dinna doot" +(looking into Mrs Jean Todd's face, and attempting to laugh) "that ye +may hae _some_ influence wi' the boxmaster. He's quite _against_ it" +(looking at Andrew, and winking--a device observed by the quick-eyed +dame), "though there's nae danger; and I hae, therefore, come at ance +to the fountain-head o' a' authority. Just say to the boxmaster that +he ought sae far to oblige a freend, and the bill, which I hae here in +my hand, will be signed in an instant." + +This speech was understood in a moment by Mrs Jean Todd. The manner +of her husband previous to the entry of the deacon--the deacon's +visit so soon after the meeting, his speech, his wink, and all +together--satisfied her that her husband was inclined to sign the +bill, and that they had laid their heads together to accomplish +their object by the manoeuvre to which they had thus resorted. Her +pride and honesty made her despise these underhand and crooked +schemes; but her prudence prevented her from showing either her +penetration or her feelings. There was one thing, however, which she +was determined not to countenance. She knew that Deacon Waldie +despised, and, indeed, openly, and at all times, and often in her +own presence, denounced the husband who allowed himself to be +dictated to by his wife; and now he was in the very act of proving +that her husband was worthy of that denouncement, and that she +herself was the individual who, by exercising authority over her +husband, had degraded him, and rendered him the subject of the +deacon's scorn. This hurt her beyond bearing; but she was determined +that she should not recognise this imputed authority. At the same +time, she could not allow her husband to be ruined; and the question +was, how she should act in these trying circumstances? Her quick +mind was soon at work. For some time she contrived to prevent an +awkward silence from sitting down upon them and producing +embarrassment; and this she accomplished by putting a few +insignificant questions to the deacon regarding his father-in-law, +while she was deliberating with herself what she was to do, and how +she was to escape from the dilemma in which she was situated. + +In the first place, she caught her husband's eye, through which the +charm of her authority could generally be very easily sent. She +endeavoured to retain his glance, and to show that she was decidedly +opposed to this scheme, and saw through all its bearings. Without +altogether losing this hold of Andrew, she directed a prudent and +cautious speech to the ears of the deacon. + +"I winna affect, Mr Deacon Waldie," said she, "notwithstanding I hae +often heard yer sentiments on the subject o' the authority o' wives--I +winna affect either to be ignorant o' my husband's affairs, or to be +careless o' what concerns baith him and me. I will say further, that I +dinna hesitate to gie him a guid advice when I think he requires it; +for out o' many counsellors comes wisdom; and, as Solomon says, 'every +purpose is established by counsel.' Though 'a good wife,' says the +same wise man, 'layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands holdeth +the distaff,' her business doesna finish there; for he adds, that 'the +heart o' her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have +no fear o' spoil.' But there's a limit to a wife's interference. You +say my husband has already declared his opinion" (looking at +Andrew)--"why then should I be asked to overturn the resolution o' his +ain mind and judgment? If my advice had been asked in time, it would +hae been given; but I canna think o' endeavourin to overrule my +master, when ance his mind is made up and his resolution fixed." + +She rose as she finished this judicious speech, and left the room, +kindly bidding the deacon good-night. Both the men were surprised. +The deacon was chagrined. The boxmaster was left in great doubt and +perplexity. Both had great cause; for the first was caught in his own +snare, and the latter had had thrown upon him a superabundance of +power and authority in forming his own judgments that he never got +awarded to him before. The deacon was determined not to lose his +ground. _The dame had left the matter in the hands of the boxmaster_. +That was a great point gained; and he set about to convince Andrew +that he was left at liberty to do as he chose. But the worthy +boxmaster had very great doubts and scruples upon the subject, and +wished to follow Mrs Jean, to consult her in private. To this again +the deacon could not give his consent; but continued to pour into the +ears of the irresolute boxmaster all the arguments he could muster, to +satisfy him that the construction he had put upon Mrs Jean Todd's +speech was favourable to the exercise of his liberty, at least in this +case. The position was scarcely denied by Andrew; but he could not get +out of his mind the expression of his wife's eye. He had read in it a +denial and a reproof. At the same time, he could not reconcile it with +her speech, which was entirely different from anything of the kind he +had ever witnessed. Her opinions were always ready and decided; and he +never saw her shrink from declaring a difference of sentiment, when +she entertained an opinion different from his. Why, then, did she in +this instance depart from her ordinary course? The question was +difficult to answer. It seemed that she _did actually_ in a manner +leave it to himself. The deacon seemed to be right in his +construction; and his arguments were almost unanswerable. + +"If," said he, "Mrs Jean Todd had been hostile to this measure, would +she not have declared it _manfully_, as is her uniform practice in +similar cases?" + +The boxmaster could not answer the question satisfactorily; and the +deacon, continuing his arguments, persuasions, promises, and +flatteries, at last got the victim to put his name to the bill. Upon +the instant the door opened, and Mrs Jean Todd appeared before them. +She went forward to the table, and laid her hand upon the document. + +"Is that your signature, sir?" said she, looking calmly at her +husband. + +"Ou ay--I believe, yes--I did put my name to that paper," replied +Andrew, in great agitation; "but I thocht ye left me to do as I chose +when ye gaed oot. If ye didna want me to sign it, ye shouldna hae left +the room." + +"A bill is no a bindin document," continued she, without seeming to +attend to what the boxmaster said, "until it be delivered. It's no +delivered sae lang as it is in my hands; and never will be delivered +by me sae lang as I recollect the words o' the wise man o' the east, +wha said--'If thou be surety for thy friend, thou art snared with the +words o' thy mouth.' Yet this paper is no my property. The stamp is +yours, though my husband's name is still his." Turning to the +boxmaster, who was shaking and retaining his breath with pure +fear--"Do you stand by this, sir," said she, in a commanding voice, +which increased his fear, "or do ye repent o't?" + +"I repent o't," replied Andrew, with dry lips, and a gurgling of the +throat, as if he had been on the eve of choking. + +"Then, I fancy," continued Mrs Jean Todd, "ye would like yer name back +again?" + +"Ou ay--surely," replied Andrew. + +"Well, then," said she, as she with the greatest coolness took up her +scissors that hung by her side, and with affected precision cut away +his name; "there it is"--handing it to him. And turning to the +deacon--"The rest is yours, sir--I hae nae richt to meddle wi' your +name--there's yer paper"--returning to him the mutilated bill. + +At this operation the deacon stared with a stupified look of wonder +and contempt. He had never before seen so cool an example of female +rule and marital weakness; and his pride, his selfishness, and his +spite were all roused and interested by the extraordinary sight. He +was too much affected for indulging in a vulgar expression of feelings +which could not adequately be expressed by mere language. Taking up +his hat, and casting upon the boxmaster a look of sovereign contempt, +and upon Mrs Jean Todd one of anger, he bowed as low as a deacon ought +to do, and left the room. The circumstance produced no very unpleasant +consequences to either the boxmaster or his wife. She, no doubt, +reproved him for his stupidity; but the point of her wrath was turned +away by the repentance and soft words of her husband, who promised +never to do the like again. He had, besides, some defence, arising out +of her dubious conduct, which, though quite easily understood, he +could not well comprehend. The naïvete of his statement, that "she +shouldna hae left him unprotected," was quite enough to have mollified +a much sterner woman than Mrs Jean Todd, and during that same night +they were a far happier couple than Deacon Waldie and his fair spouse. + +When the deacon went home, and reported the extraordinary proceeding +to his obedient wife, the grief it occasioned was in some degree +overcome, on the part of the husband, by the favourable contrast it +enabled him to form between the boxmaster and his wife, and him and +his obedient spouse. Mrs Waldie did all in her power to aid the +operation; but she did not forget the bill, which her father was +pressing hard to procure. + +"Surely every man's no under the rule o' his wife," said she, with the +view to leading to another cautioner. + +"No, God be thanked!" said the deacon, "there are some independent men +i' the world besides mysel. Every husband's no _henpecked_. Every man +that has a wife doesna 'glory' in being 'pecked by _such_ a hen.'" + +"There's William M'Gillavry," said the sly wife, in a soft and +unassuming tone; "_he_ is independent o' his wife." + +"Do ye mean, Peggy, that I should get him to sign the bill?" + +"Na," replied she, "I dinna say that; I merely meant that he was an +independent man like you, wha, if _ye asked_ him to do it, wouldna +refuse on such a ground as the want o' consent o' his wife. Oh, what +will my puir faither do? I canna live if he is in sorrow and +perplexity." (Weeping.) "I saw William M'Gillavry yesterday. He asked +kindly for ye. Ye haena visited him for a lang time. Twa husbands sae +like each other might meet oftener, and twa wives, wha agree in the ae +grand point o' submittin to the authority o' their lords and masters, +might, wi' advantage, be greater gossips than we hae been." + +"Might I try William, think ye, Margaret?" said he. + +"My puir advice canna be o' muckle avail to ye," said she; "ye ken +best yersel; but I think, _if_ he were asked, he wadna refuse the sma' +favour." + +"I see you wish me to try him, Peggy," said he; "and I _will_ try +him." + +Away hastened the deacon to William M'Gillavry. He found him at home; +and, as a deacon, was well received. Having opened the subject to him, +he found that M'Gillavry was not inclined to become cautioner, unless +he got put into his hands some security, that, in the event of his +being called upon to pay the money, he might, in the end, be safe. +This proposition was not expected by the deacon, who did not possess +any portable security that he could give. He endeavoured to get his +friend to be satisfied with his own obligation, to keep him scatheless +against all the effects of his obligation; but the other would not +agree to this, and, pretending to be called away by some one, left the +room for a little, promising to be back instantly. In the meantime, +the deacon heard a conflict of words in an adjoining apartment, in the +course of which several half-sentences met his ear. The wordy war was +between William M'Gillavry and his wife. Her notes were shrill and +high, and repeatedly she said--"Get my brither John's bill frae +him"--"that will do"--"he, puir fallow! canna pay't, at ony rate, and +I want to save him frae the hands o' the law." The deacon did not +understand this broken conversation; but he could easily perceive that +his friend was taking the advice of his wife. The words of old +Fleming's ballad of evil wives came into his mind:-- + + "An evil wyfe is the werst aught + That ony man can haif, + For he may never sit in saught + Onless he be her sklaif." + +As he muttered the last words, forgetful of his own case, his friend +entered. + +"My wife's brither," said he, "has a bill in your corporation's box +for £250. You can impledge that in my hands, and I'll sign yer +father-in-law's security." + +"The corporation's property's no mine," answered the deacon; "I hae, +besides, nae power owre't; the bill's i' the box, and Mr Andrew Todd +has the key." + +"I ken that," replied the other (who was a dishonest man), with a +knowing wink; "but ye can easily get haud o' the paper, and I'll gie +ye a back letter that I winna use't unless I'm obliged to pay yer +father-in-law's debt. Naebody will ever hear o't." + +The proposition did not altogether please the deacon, who, though very +far from being an upright man, did not care about his frailty being +known to another. He said he would think of what had passed between +them, and came away. His wife, when he came home, was waiting in the +greatest anxiety. Her father had called in the meantime, and told her, +that, if he did not get the bill immediately, with two good names upon +it, he would be put in jail. This alarmed his daughter, who, if she +could save her father, cared little for the ruin of her husband. She +heard with deep anguish the announcement of another disappointment. +Having been weeping before he came in, her eyes were red and swollen, +and the bad intelligence again struck the fountain of her tears, and +made her weep and moan bitterly. The deacon was moved at the picture +of distress. He had not told her William M'Gillavry's proposition, but +only simply that he had refused, unless adequate security were put +into his hands. His wife's grief wrung from him every satisfaction he +could bestow; for he could not stand and witness the sorrow of his +tender and obedient partner, while there remained any chance of +ameliorating her anguish. + +"There is ae way, Peggy, o' gettin this affair managed," said he, at +last. + +"What is that?" said she, looking up, and throwing back her curls, +which, amidst all her grief, were never forgot. + +"William M'Gillavry's wife's brother," said he, "is awin our +corporation £250; and his bill for that sum is in our corporation box. +He says he would sign the bill to your father, if I gave him his +brother-in-law's bill to hauld in security; but I'm no quite sure if +that wad be honest." + +"Thae things lie far out o' a weak woman's way," said she. "We haena +the power o' mind possessed by you men; but, if I were entitled to +speak a word on the subject, I would say there was nae dishonesty whar +there was nae wrang. Ye ken the signin o' my faither's bill's a mere +form; and, if William M'Gillavry's brither-in-law's bill were taen out +the box, it would just be put back again. Correct me, my dear Murdoch, +if ye think me wrang." + +"I dinna think ye're far wrang, Peggy," said the deacon; "but how is +William M'Gillavry's brither-in-law's bill to be got out o' our +corporation box? There's the difficulty--and I needna ask a woman how +that's to be got owre." + +"Na, Murdoch--ye needna ask me that question," replied the wife. "It's +far beyond the reach o' my puir brain; but, if it's in the power o' +ony mortal man to say how a difficulty o' that kind's to be mastered, +it is in that o' Murdoch Waldie. Maybe ye may gie't a cast through yer +powerfu mind. Oh! if ye saw my distractit faither! He left me just as +you cam in, wi' the tears o' sorrow rinnin doun his auld cheeks. Will +ye think o't, my dear Murdoch?" (embracing him) "What's weel intended +canna be wrang; and what's planned by a mind like yours canna fail." + +"I couldna get the key frae Andrew Todd," said the gratified deacon, +"unless I told him an untruth." + +"A lee for guid has been justified," said the wife. "Rahab was +approved for hiding the spies, and denyin their presence; but I +couldna ask ye to imitate Rahab. I hae nae richt to dictate to my +husband." + +"But wouldna ye _wish_ me, my dear Peggy, to stretch a point to get +yer faither's tears dried up, and yer ain stopped? Dinna hesitate, +Peggy--speak yer mind bauldly--I'll forgie ye." + +"Ou ay," whimpered the gentle dame. "If Rahab was justified, sae will +Murdoch Waldie be forgiven." + +"Weel--I'll try the boxmaster again," said the deacon. + +Next day, accordingly, he threw himself in the way of Mr Andrew Todd. +The boxmaster had been in the corporation hall, and was returning home +to deposit the key of the box in the place where he kept it. The +deacon got him inveigled into a public-house, where, when they had +seated themselves, he saw that Mr Todd was blushing scarlet, doubtless +at the recollection of the scene that had taken place the day before. + +"Ye needna be ashamed, Andrew," said the deacon, "at the conduct of +Mrs Jean Todd. _Ye_ werena to blame--I assoilzie ye. Think nae mair +o't. You can just sign a fresh bill. I'll buy the stamp round the +corner at Dickson's, and we can draw it out here." + +"I beg yer pardon," replied Andrew; "I maunna get into that scrape +again. I'll never resist the authority o' Mrs Jean Todd mair on +earth. To her I owe my boxmastership--my trade--my status--my +health--my happiness--and a' that's worth livin for in this evil +warld; and she will never hae it to say again, that I'm no gratefu for +the care she taks o' me, and the love she bears to me. Let the warld +say, if they like, that I am henpecked--I dinna care." + +"Weel, weel," replied the deacon; "we were speakin o' bills. Are ye +quite sure that ye haena allowed the days o' grace in Templeton's bill +to expire? There's indorsers there; and if it is as I suspect, ye've +lost recourse, and may be liable for the debt." + +"Mercy on us!" cried the terrified Andrew. "It's impossible. Dinna +say't. Let me count." (Using his fingers). "Count, deacon--count, +man." + +"I think we had better see the bill itsel," cried the deacon. "Where's +the key?" + +"Here it is," replied the simple boxmaster, taking it out. + +"Give it to me," said the deacon, taking it out of Andrew's hand; +"we'll sune see if the bill's past due." + +Waldie hurried out of the room, telling Andrew, as he went out, that +he would come back, and inform him how the fact stood. The mind of the +boxmaster was now too much occupied about the danger of having allowed +the days of grace to pass without intimation to the indorsers on the +bill, to have any space left for doubting the honesty of the deacon. +The suspicion of having been cajoled never approached him; he sat and +sipped the liquor that lay before him, occupied all the time in a +brown study, with the thought continually rising--"What will Mrs Jean +Todd say to my stupidity, in making myself responsible for the amount +of Templeton's bill? It will ruin me; and a' her care and prudence +will in an instant be scattered to the winds." He still sat, expecting +the deacon to return with the required information. Half-an-hour +passed, and no deacon came; but a messenger came with a note, stating +that all was quite safe, and that, as something had occurred to +prevent the writer from returning to the tavern, he had sent that +intelligence, to ease his mind, and that he would return the key in +the course of the day. Andrew's mind was relieved by this statement; +he paid the tavern-keeper for the liquor, and went away, to resume his +ordinary occupations. + +At dinner-time he went home; and, during the meal, he began talking +again about Deacon Waldie. + +"After a'," said he, "he is a guid cratur, the deacon. After the usage +he got here last nicht, wha could hae thocht he wad hae taen ony +interest in my affairs?" + +"Ye dinna require an assistant," replied Mrs Jean Todd, "sae lang as I +live." + +"That's true," replied Andrew; "but the deacon has dune for me what ye +couldna hae dune." + +"What is that?" inquired the wife. + +"He apprised me o' the danger I stood in," replied the boxmaster, +"anent Templeton's bill, that's in the corporation box. I had +forgotten the date o' its becomin due, and he brocht it to my mind. +A's safe yet." + +The very word "bill" made Mrs Todd prick up her ears. + +"I hae lang thocht," replied she, "that yer corporation papers, at +least yer bills, which require greater care than the rest, should be +placed here, under my protection. The circumstance that has occurred +this day proves that I am richt. Let us awa to the hall this instant, +and bring hame a' the papers that are valuable, and for which you may +be responsible. Is the key on the hook?" + +"No; but I'm on the hook," muttered Andrew to himself, as he began for +the first time to suspect he had been duped. "No," said he aloud. + +"Give it to me, then," said she. "It will be in yer pocket, dootless." + +Andrew began to exhibit symptoms of fear, which were in an instant +perceived and understood by the quick-eyed dame, who was accustomed to +_look_ for indications of that kind. She saw that something was wrong. +He remained silent, and his agitation increased as she fixed upon him +her piercing, relentless eye. + +"Give me the key, man," said she, in an angry tone. + +He still remained silent; his agitation increased, and he trembled in +every limb. + +"There's something wrang, Andrew," said she. "Tell me what it is. I'm +no angry. By tryin to conceal it, ye may ruin us baith; by tellin me, +we may hae a chance o' bein saved. Come, now, has Deacon Waldie the +key?" + +"Ay," said Andrew, in a low tone. "He asked me for't, to see if the +bill was past due, and said he would come back wi't; but he never made +his appearance." + +The good dame said not a word. She saw the necessity for promptitude, +and, running to her bedroom, hurriedly dressed herself. In a few +minutes she was on her way to the corporation hall. In a few minutes +more she arrived; and, having got admittance, placed herself in a +recess, where the incorporation box was deposited, and so disposed +herself as that she might see whether any person interfered with the +treasury. In a short time Deacon Waldie entered the hall, and, with +secret furtive steps, approached the box. He looked about him, but did +not perceive the dame, who, as she saw him approach, retired back +farther into the recess. He took out the key, and applied it to the +lock. It was now time for Mrs Todd to save her husband. Starting +quickly out of the recess, she walked solemnly and dignifiedly up to +the official, before whom she presented herself with a low curtsey. + +"How are you, Mr Deacon Waldie?" said she, repeating her curtsey, and +looking at him with an eye that pierced him to the heart. + +The deacon, who was a great stickler for etiquette, felt himself, as +he saw the dame curtseying before him, compelled to return the +compliment; but the consciousness of guilt, the cutting satire of the +dame's courteous demeanour, the surprise at seeing her there, and his +fear of being exposed, all operated so strongly, that his bow was +checked, and transformed into a low cringe, making him appear only +half his natural size; while the consciousness of rectitude, and the +superiority of virtue, swelled out the breast of his silent accuser, +and added apparently to her physical proportions. Recovering himself +in some degree-- + +"I was just about to examine our corporation papers," said he, +irresolutely. "I like to assist Mr Todd in his _official_ capacity, +while _you_ keep him right in his _private_ affairs." + +"Between the twa," replied the dame, without changing her countenance, +"he maun be weel taen care o'." + +As she said this, she quietly and deliberately took the key out of the +lock; and into a large red cloth pocket, which hung alongside of a +pair of scissors, with which the deacon was already well acquainted +(having tested their sharpness), she deposited the important +instrument. She then made another low curtsey. + +"Guid-day to ye, Mr Deacon Waldie!" she said, as she departed; "mak my +best respects to Mrs Deacon Waldie, and to her worthy father." + +The deacon stood stiff with amazement, looking after the erect, +dignified figure of Mrs Jean Todd, as she walked slowly along the hall +of the incorporation to the door. + +He skulked off in the best way he could; but she, with erect body and +noble carriage, directed her steps homeward, where she found her +husband in a state of intense fear and anxiety, both on account of the +danger he was exposed to, and of the meeting that was about to take +place with his wife. On the latter account, there might apparently +have been little reason for apprehension; for their meetings were very +unlike those mentioned in the old song-- + + "Then up scho gate ane mekle rung, + And the gudeman he made to the door; + Quoth he, 'Dame, I sall hald my tung, + For an we fecht, I'll get the woir.'" + +Her mode of conducting her rule was different _toto cælo_. She walked +into the house with the same erect carriage she usually exhibited, +especially when upon duty, and closing the door after her, without +using any such jealous precaution as turning the key in the lock--a +mode of enforcing the conjugal authority she despised--she went up to +the table where her husband sat, with his hand upon his brow. That +flag of distress she paid little attention to; for she had often +before seen Andrew endeavour to make her own pity plead the cause of +his imprudence. + +"Here is the key of the treasury-box, Mr Todd," said she. + +Andrew was greatly relieved; but wonder took the place of his fear, +for he could not conceive how his wife could so soon have got the key +out of the hands of the deacon--and yet for certain the key was before +his eyes. + +"See you that ring?" continued the dame, holding out a steel key-hoop, +on which were hung a score of keys, shining as bright as silver, from +the eternal motion to which they were exposed in the red pocket of +their mistress. + +"Ay, weel do I see it," replied Andrew, "and weel do I ken't. It is by +that magic ring that a' my guids and gear are girded and prevented +frae fa'in into the staves o' that bankruptcy and ruin I threatened +this day to bring upon them." + +The dame replied nothing to the remark of her husband, though she was +inwardly well pleased to see him penitent; but, opening the +spring-clasp, she deliberately placed the treasury-box key upon the +ring, along with the score of others that had hung there for a score +of years. She did not deign to accompany this act by a single word of +objurgation. Her faith rested altogether upon the ring, and to have +tried to add to the security it afforded her, by impressing her +husband with a deeper sense of his imprudence, appeared to her to be +sheer supererogation. Opening the entrance to her red "pouch," she +consigned, with a suitable admonitory jingle, the whole bunch to the +keeping of that huge conservatory of the virtues of "hussyskep." She +then resumed her ordinary duties, and Andrew was delighted to have +"got off," as he inwardly termed his relief, with so easily-borne a +reproof of his weakness and imprudence. + +The circumstances we have here narrated became, some time after, known +to the public, through what channel it would be difficult to say, +although it is not improbable that the boxmaster, vain of the +protecting care of his wife, had given some hint of it, which, having +been taken advantage of by Deacon Waldie's enemies, gave rise to +reports, and latterly to a true exposition of the whole affair. The +effect of such a transaction upon the credit of any man could not fail +to be ruinous. In a very short time Deacon Waldie became suspected and +shunned--no one would trust him, few would deal with him; and, before +the termination of the period of his deaconship, he failed--falling +thus a victim to that female domination he so much dreaded, and for +submitting to which he so much despised his friend the boxmaster. + +The fate of Mr Todd was signally different. At the end of the period +of his office, there was a special meeting called of the trade, for +the purpose of making a vote of thanks to their official, for saving +the incorporation-box from spoliation, and presenting him with a small +piece of plate, in commemoration of his services. This was a delicate +matter. The members knew well to whom they owed the obligation; but +they could not, in a public hall, declare that their boxmaster was +assisted in his official capacity by his wife, and, therefore, they +resolved upon taking no notice of the _real boxmaster_; who, however, +like all good wives, would be gratified by the notice that was taken +of her husband. The vote of thanks was accordingly moved by the +chairman, and supported by a very good speech. Mr Todd rose to +reply:-- + +"Gentlemen," he said, "ye maunna think that I am sae blind as no to +see what is yer true meanin, concealed though it be under this thick +veil o' courtesy and delicate regard to my feelins. Ye want to try to +conceal frae me that ye ken how muckle baith you and I are obliged to +a sensible and discreet woman; and ye hae twa reasons for this: +_first_, ye dinna like to acknowledge that ye are indebted to a woman +for savin frae the hands o' the spoiler the incorporation-box; and, +_secondly_, ye dinna like to say that yer boxmaster is under the +kindly care and protection o' his guidwife. Now, as to the first, I +leave it in yer ain hands; but as to the second, I will free ye frae +a' delicacy and difficulty, for I here acknowledge and declare, wi' +pride and pleasure, that Mrs Jean Todd is my counsellor and adviser in +a' my affairs, baith public and private; and mony a time she has kept +me frae that ruin whilk my ain wit and wisdom never could hae saved me +frae. I dinna need to say that it was that admirable woman wha saved +the incorporation-box: the thing is already owre the town, and +dootless kenned to ye a', and, I warrant ye, also to yer wives. Why, +then, should I accept o' honour I never wrocht for, and couldna hae +merited by a' the power and skill o' my puir abilities? 'The labourer +is worthy o' his hire.' 'Honour to him to whom honour is due.' I +therefore move that the thanks ye intended for me should be offered to +Mrs Jean Todd--to whom also, wi' your permission, I would suggest that +the piece o' silver-plate should be presented." + +This speech produced much laughter throughout the hall. Some humorous +member relished the idea, and, standing up, seconded the boxmaster's +motion. + +"A' our difficulty has vanished," he began; "and glad am I to see that +the honour we intended for the _real_ conservator o' our +corporation-box may be, through the noble spirit o' our _nominal_ +boxmaster, communicated without the intervention o' a deputy. I second +Mr Todd's motion, because I admire his spirit, and because I rejoice +in an opportunity of doing justice to thae great conservators o' our +sex--the strong-minded, gaucy, thrifty, and loving wives o' Scotland, +to whom our very nation (if it were kenned) awes the character it has +acquired owre the face o' the earth, for its prudence, its honesty, +and its trustworthiness. Weel do I ken that the dear craturs hae +suffered for their exertions in the cause o' our sex, and their +authority has been attempted to be put an end to by drunken caitiffs, +wha, wantin the nobility o' mind to admire and _serve_ wham they canna +equal, blaw up their pot-companions against petticoat authority, by +dubbin them _henpecked_, forgettin, the wretched craturs, that that +very hen supplies often the egg, at least clocks to preserve it for +future increase. The very men the dear craturs feed, and clothe, and +protect, and cherish, sing in the pot-houses that they want their +liberty-- + + 'Becaus their wifis hes maistery, + That they dar nawayis cheip; + Bot gif it be in privity, + Quhan thair wifis are in sleip.' + +And, while the sang is birrin through the fumes o' the ale, thae very +wives are busy toilin to hae the singers weel fed, cled, and cared +for, in a' their concerns. What a noble example, on the other side o' +the question, has Mr Todd this day exhibited! Wives are generally +honoured through their husbands. He shall be honoured through his +wife. What I hae said, I believe will meet wi' the approbation o' +this meetin; but I'm no sae sure o' the success o' what comes--because +I propose to tak a sma' liberty wi' the English language, and, by a +kind o' a trope or figure o' speech, to keep the name, while we boldly +change the thing. I'm weel aware that our minutes bear that _Mr_ Todd +is our boxmaster; but we ken better than that, and we, whase trade it +is to change colours, can hae nae difficulty in reconcilin the tints. +I therefore move, as an amendment, that the piece o' plate be +presented at once to Mrs Jean Todd, _our boxmaster_." + +The suggestion took; the humour was relished; the minutes were +altered; the name of Mrs Jean Todd was substituted for Mr Andrew Todd; +and the books of the incorporation bore, and bear to this day, that +the plate had been presented to Mrs Jean Todd, "_their boxmaster_," as +a memorial of the gratitude of the trade for her exertions in saving +the incorporation's treasury. + + + + +THE PROFESSOR'S TALES. + + +THE SOCIAL MAN. + +As we look upon the title of our tale, now that we have written it, we +cannot suppress a shudder of horror. Like the handwriting on the wall, +it seems typical of misery, revolution, and death. Revolution and +death, do we say? What revolution, in the common sense of the word--we +mean in a political one--was ever productive of such deplorable +effects, as that moral revolution to which the bottle bears the social +man?--what death, viewed merely as a physical evil, can be compared to +that moral and intellectual destruction to which the good fellow so +often subjects himself? It is no palliation of the evil to say that +the social man is led by the best qualities of his heart, by the +noblest faculties of his intellect, into the path which leads to utter +wretchedness--to remorse, disease, and premature death in this world; +and, if the combined testimony of reason and revelation be sufficient +to establish any fact--to punishment in the next. Our faculties are +good or bad only according as they are cultivated or controlled; and +we cannot see that the unregulated social feelings which lead a man to +plunge into dissipation, and to drag his friends along with him into +the gulf of vice, are a whit less dangerous or fearful than the +universally execrated disposition which impels him to plunge a dagger +into his own heart, or to bury it in the bosom of his fellow-creature. +On the contrary, they seem calculated to produce even greater +mischief, and, therefore, are more worthy of general deprecation, in +the same degree that a secret enemy is more deserving of universal +abhorrence than an avowed one: the one stands forth with an open +defiance, and a weapon drawn before the eyes of his victim, who may +save himself by flight or conflict--the other "smiles, and smiles, and +murders while he smiles." + +How many noble beings have we known, destroyed utterly by the +disposition to what is vulgarly called good-fellowship!--in how many +instances have we known splendid talents, high love of moral +rectitude, nay, even strong religious principles, strangled by the +social feelings! At first, doubtless, there was but a slight +dereliction of duty, mourned for sincerely, and punished by severe +remorse; but, gradually, and with insidious motion, the victim +revolved in a wider sphere, and more remote from the orbit of virtue, +until, at length, escaping entirely from the attraction which had held +him in the just path, he fell, with headlong and irresistible +velocity, into the shapeless void of vice--the dark chaos of crime. + +Our heart sickens as we pass in review before us the numbers of our +early friends who have run this terrific career, who now fill timeless +graves, or are yet in the land of existence, bearing about in their +bosoms a living hell--whose hearts are already sepulchres. And, but +that we thought the relation we are about to deliver may be of service +to some who, already standing on the brink, are not fully aware of +their danger--but that we conceived the tale of talent, generosity, +and worth, miserably destroyed by the unregulated social feelings, may +arrest some kindred spirit in its path to unanticipated misery--we +should yield to the impulse which urges us to fling down our pen, and +give ourselves up to sorrow for the departed. + +William Riddell was the only son of a shepherd, who dwelt upon the +moorlands that overhang one of the tributaries of the Tweed. The old +man was one of those characters which have been so often and so well +described--a stern, grave, intelligent, religious Scottish shepherd. +The broad Lowland bonnet did not cover a shrewder head than old David +Riddell's; nor did the hodden grey coat, throughout wide Scotland, +wrap a warmer or more honest heart. + +His honesty was manifest to all--the warmth of his feelings was +latent, and required to be struck by strong emotion, ere it was +developed externally. The solitary influences of nature, when +habitually contemplated in her more wild and solemn aspects, seem +calculated to mould minds of good natural capabilities, but which are +shut out from the social acquisition of knowledge, into forms like +that of David Riddell's. If they all, like the nature which has +breathed its spirit into them, seem somewhat rugged and stern, they +all, like her also, bear the sterling stamp of sincerity. The +elements, which "are not flatterers, but counsellors that feelingly +persuade him what he is," are his familiar companions--among the +remote valleys, and along the precipitous mountain-sides, and upon the +wide moorlands, their irresistible power leads him to look with awe up +to their Creator and Controller, and humility also is impressed upon +him; but with these a confident reliance on the mercy and benevolence +of the Being who regulates them is naturally produced: and thus it is, +that, with this awe and humility, a slavish fear is no portion of his +character; for he has been in the heart of a thousand mists, and has +yet returned safely to his cottage ingle--he has braved the storms of +many winters, and still looks, with a prophetic eye, upon the fresh +green of approaching springs, and the purple heath-blooms of coming +summers. In a mind thus constituted, duplicity can never dwell. There +are millions who, shut up in cities, and shrinking from the inclemency +of the seasons, look on the shepherd of the mountains as one worthy +only of commiseration--who paint him as a wretch whose soul is as +barren as his moorlands, and think of him as a slave, wandering, with +vacant mind and wearied frame, over gloomy solitudes, earning with +misery to-day the food which enables his body to bear the toil of +to-morrow. + +How wide is this of the truth!--The sweet and tranquil joys of home +are his, enhanced a thousand-fold by previous privation--the delights +of connubial and filial love are more keenly felt by him, in the +simplicity of nature, than by the luxurious citizen or the ermined +noble; and though he has never heard the chant of the cathedral choir, +or listened to the consecrated melody of an organ peal, the sublime +transports of religion have thrilled his bosom beneath the solitary +sky, amid the wild, or by the margin of the cataract that rolls its +unvisited torrent over nameless cliffs. It is a mistaken belief that +poverty and toil shut the shepherd's eyes from the loveliness of +nature--nor is it true, that, because he is rude in speech, and +possessed of little book-learning, he does not feel keenly, and +translate faithfully, the beautiful language which she utters to the +heart of man. Wordsworth has so exquisitely described what we are +wishing to express, that we shall, without apology for the length of +the quotation, repeat his words:-- + + "Grossly that man errs, who should suppose + That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks, + Are things indifferent to the shepherd's thoughts: + Fields, where with cheerful spirits he has breathed + The common air--the hills, which he so oft + Has climb'd with vigorous steps--which have impress'd + So many incidents upon his mind, + Of hardship, skill or courage, joy or fear, + Which, like a book, preserves the memory + Of the dumb animals whom he has saved, + Has fed or shelter'd; linking to such acts, + So grateful in themselves, the certainty + Of honourable gain;--these fields, these hills, + Which are his living being, even more + Than his own blood--what could they less?--have laid + Strong hold on his affections, are to him + A pleasurable feeling of blind love-- + The pleasure which there is in life itself." + +It was with this well-spring of quiet happiness in his breast, that +David Riddell had gone from day to day among his flock, and returned +to his cottage fireside. His wife Rachel was one of those women of +whom, notwithstanding the habitual discontent and sneers of men, there +are thousands in this world, in this kingdom--nay, among our own +Border hills--who, like the stars of heaven during the daylight, hold +on their course noiselessly and unseen, but are, nevertheless, shining +with a sweet and steady radiance, every one in its place, in the +firmament. Placid, pious, and cheerful, with a quiet but kind heart, +that ever and anon displayed its workings in the sweet light of her +eyes, or in the "heartsome" smile that arranged her still lovely +features into the symmetry of benevolence; in adversity--for she had +lost children, and had known sickness--in adversity, patient and +resigned; in prosperity--for their flocks had flourished, and many of +their harvests had been abundant--in prosperity, not too much elated, +but happy with a calm and grateful joy; finally, possessed of a gentle +and forbearing nature, which rendered innocuous the occasional +sternness or irritability of her husband, and turned insensibly aside +the shafts which might have otherwise struck deadly at their domestic +peace:--such was the partner of the joys and the sharer of the sorrows +of David Riddell for above a quarter-of-a-century. Thus situated, it +could not be but that he had been a happy man. For, though care and +trouble had not unfrequently entered his dwelling, they had never long +remained; nor do they ever continue to haunt a house in which +good-nature and true piety are inmates. Four sweet children had been +taken from them, each at an age which seemed more interesting than the +other, and sorrow had, for a time, darkened their dwelling; but the +tears of those griefs were now dried, and, save an occasional sigh +from the bereaved parents, as some casual circumstance recalled their +lost little ones to their recollections, the only traces of their +former afflictions were to be found in the prodigality of affection +which they lavished on their only remaining child. David Riddell was +verging towards threescore, when William, the subject of the following +narrative, was born. The old man's heart was entirely bound up in this +child of his age. Frequently, not from necessity, but impelled by +love, had he performed the ministrations of a mother to him; often, on +a sunny day, had he carried him, like a lamb, in the corner of his +plaid, up to the hills; and often, laying the unconscious infant on +the purple heath upon the mountain-side, had he knelt down before him, +beneath the solitary sky, and poured out his heart in gratitude to the +God who had bestowed on him this precious gift. When little William +was able to follow his father among the flocks, they became +inseparable; and it was beautiful to behold the old man laying aside +the gravity and sternness of his nature, and renewing, with his little +boy, the sports which the lapse of half-a-century had well-nigh swept +from his memory. They sought out together the nest of the lapwing and +the moorfowl; they chased the humble-bee over the heath in company; +or, loitering down the mountain streams, assisted each other in the +pursuit of the speckled trout. The old man taught his boy, amid the +secluded glens, or upon the naked hill-tops, to modulate his voice to +the hymns consecrated to religion throughout Scotland; the rich melody +of the "Old Hundred," or the "Martyrs," rose in concert from their +lips; or, perhaps the aged shepherd played on the simple Scottish +flageolet, on which he had been, in his youth, a skilful performer, +some of the touching airs of his mother-land, and then, placing the +pipe in William's hands, assisted him, by kind encouragement or +skilful rebuke, to follow out the beautiful strain. Thus they lived +together-- + + "A pair of friends, though one was young, + And Matthew seventy-two." + +Linked closer and closer together by these sweet natural ties, they +were happy, and their affection was the grateful theme of all the +inhabitants of the valley. + +A little incident which occurred in William's childhood had determined +his father to rear him for the ministry. While yet only five years of +age, he was found one day by his father, with an old family Bible upon +his knee, some of the leaves of which he had torn out, and was +arranging after a fashion of his own. On being asked by his father +what he was doing, he replied, "That he thought the evangelists +differed in some portions of their history, and that he was trying to +discover wherein the difference lay."[C] The old man retired with +streaming eyes; and from that moment William Riddell was, like Samuel +of old, vowed to the service of God. + +As he grew in years, he displayed proofs of talent which astonished +the shepherd, and filled old David's heart with exultation. Before he +was fifteen, there was not a stream nor a legend that belonged to his +native hills which he had not celebrated in song. His pen was always +ready to assist the shepherd lads in their rustic loves; and the +crabbed and grasping little tyrants of the valley had, more than once, +winced under his satire or his ridicule. The old man, as we have said, +rejoiced in the genius of his son, and had always, in his ample +pockets, good store of the young poet's productions, wherewith to +regale such of his companions as chose to listen. Rachel, however, +with a more prophetic eye, saw, in the vivacity of her boy's nature, +the germs of as much grief as joy to himself, and used commonly to +shake her head and sigh, while her husband and his friends were +convulsed with laughter at some of William's sallies. + +At length the period arrived when he was to be sent to college. + +I need not attempt to describe the feelings of the family when this +little revolution in their domestic life occurred; the quiet but deep +anxiety of Rachel--the restless and troubled looks and actions of the +old shepherd--and the exulting anticipation of the bright world into +which he was about to enter, which William displayed, tempered or +repressed, every now and then, by natural sorrow, at leaving the hills +and streams where his boyhood had been spent pleasantly, and the dear +parents to whom he owed so deep a debt of love. The last words of +David to his son, as he stood grasping his hand, at the foot of the +glen where the path turns off to the next market town--while big tears +stood heavily on his eyelashes, visitants unknown for twenty +years--were almost those of Michael to Luke, in Wordsworth's exquisite +poem-- + + "Amid all fear + And all temptation, Luke, I pray that thou + Mayest bear in mind the life thy fathers lived, + Who, being innocent, did for that cause + Bestir them in good deeds." + +The old shepherd and his son had never been separated for a single +night--now they parted knowing that many months must elapse before +they could behold one another again. It was a bitter moment, though +full of the germs of joyful anticipation. + +William had taken his farewell embrace, and, with convulsive sobs, had +walked hastily away to a little distance; he turned, and beheld his +aged father still standing on the spot, with clasped hands uplifted, +and eyes fixed intently on his own receding form. He was unable to +withstand the sight--he rushed back again, and threw himself, in an +agony of affection, upon the old man's neck, weeping--though a manlier +heart throbbed not--weeping like a child. But at length they parted; a +sadder heart never entered into the solitudes of nature than old David +Riddell bore into the mountains on that evening--a purer never left +the innocence of the country for the crowded city, than his son +carried with him to the metropolis of Scotland. + +For four years William attended college during the winter, and +remained with his father during the summer months. + +It was not that his labour was required by the old man: for he had now +amassed a sufficient sum, with his moderate habits, to make him +independent; but the sight of William was pleasant to the aged +shepherd, among the hills where they had played together, and which +were consecrated to their affections. The young student had +distinguished himself highly at college, and had gained the esteem, +both publicly and privately expressed, of many of his preceptors. His +heart was still uncontaminated, his morals pure, and his habits +simple, as when he was a boy. It was at this time that Rachel died. As +her life had been peaceful, and, upon the whole, happy, so her +death-bed was tranquil and resigned. She had rejoiced, with her +husband, in the promising career of their son, and, as her dim eyes +descried his manly form bent over her in an attitude of deepest grief, +she could scarcely but feel her natural sorrow at leaving him quenched +in the glad anticipations of his future prospects in life. Yet the +misery which his ardent and imaginative nature _might_ inflict upon +him was still not shut out from her mind, and almost her last words +were to warn him against indulging it too far. She died, and the old +shepherd and his son were left to attempt to comfort each other. +William was again about to depart to college, and he would fain have +had his father to give up his duties, and accompany him to Edinburgh. +He dwelt upon his increasing feebleness, his age, already beyond the +common lot of man, the solitude to which he would be left, the comfort +they would be to each other, if together. To all this the old man +replied-- + +"Comfort, my boy, there is none for me in this world, except in thee. +Gradually the circle of my love has been narrowed: first, my own +parents, then my children, last, my beloved Rachel, have been swept +away; and now thou only art left for my earthly affections to embrace. +Gladly for thy sake would I go to the city; but I think these hills +could not bear to look on another while I lived--this cottage to +shelter another shepherd while I am able to fling my plaid around me. +It is a foolish fancy for an old man to cherish, yet I cannot bid it +depart. Go, then, alone, my dearest lad, and leave me in these scenes, +which have become part of my being, to perform the duties in which my +life has been spent. And still remember, William, when temptations +assail thee, or bad men would lead thee by the cords of vanity or +friendship into vice, that there is a grey-haired man among these +hills, whom the tale would send in sorrow to the grave--a heart that +for twenty years has been fed by its love for thee, which would break +to know thou hadst become unworthy of that love. Farewell! and may +that good Being who has brought me in safety out of the heart of a +thousand storms preserve thee from the deadlier tempests of the world +of vice!" + +William returned to college, with a heart softened both by grief and +love. Strange, that out of this wholesome state of mind should have +sprung the elements of wretchedness and vice! Yet so it was. He had +written a poem on the subject of his late affliction, and had breathed +into it the very soul of sorrow. The wild and beautiful scenery amid +which he dwelt, and which he loved and knew so well, had also given +its hues to the language and the thoughts of his muse: his rich and +now cultivated taste imparted elegance and harmony to his numbers; the +poem was at once original, chaste, and imaginative; it gained him the +esteem of the highest literary circles in Edinburgh, and he became a +cherished guest in the houses of many distinguished men for whom he +had never hoped to indulge any feelings save those of distant and +respectful admiration. He emerged into a new world, too beautiful and +dazzling for him at first to see his way clearly through its mazes. +His undoubted genius commanded the respect of the men--his manly +feeling, and the ingenious eloquence of his address, presently made +him a distinguished favourite with the female portion of his +acquaintance. The tone of his thoughts and feelings underwent a +perfect revolution. Once introduced into the society of the polite and +the learned, the bashfulness and awkwardness of the shepherd-lad +seemed to fall off from him, without effort of his own, but naturally, +like the crustaceous envelope in the metamorphosis of insects. He felt +as if he were a denizen of the clime in which he now luxuriated, and +as if, till now, he had been living in a foreign land. He discovered, +to his amazement, that those great men, whose very names he had been +wont to utter with reverence, and before whose glance his eye had been +accustomed to fall abashed, were the most easy, familiar, and +communicative companions possible--that scarcely one of them was so +severe in their morality as his old father--that they listened to his +opinions with attention, and replied to them with respect. Then, +again, among the satellites of these literary luminaries--those whom, +till now, in the reflected light of their primaries, he had been wont +to behold with respect, and almost with envy--he presently perceived +weakness, dimness, and aberration; and he perceived, also, how capable +he was of outshining them all; or, to speak in less metaphorical +phrase, he found among the less distinguished literary persons who +haunted the tables of the great, a degree of ignorance on subjects of +general science, a slavishness of demeanour, and a petty jealousy, +which he could not but despise, and which it required very little +penetration to perceive that the great man despised also. He soon +acquired, therefore, a confidence in his own powers, and a conscious +respect for, I had almost said pride in, the rectitude of his +feelings, to which, till now, he had been an entire stranger. And if +such was his success with the men, his conquest over his own timidity, +in the presence of women, struck him with yet greater surprise. He who +had been accustomed to blush and look down before a peasant girl, +presently found himself able to gaze steadily into the eyes of a noble +matron or maiden, undazzled by the jewelled coronet upon her head, or +yet more brilliant charms in which nature and art had arrayed her +brow, and neck, and bosom. The witchery of woman in all her +loveliness, instead of, as he had often imagined, causing his heart to +sink, and his cheek to burn, and his tongue to be dumb in his mouth, +awoke the latent powers of his nature--it thrilled his heart with +exulting admiration, and filled his eyes with a bold, steady radiance, +and poured from his lips the eloquence which female loveliness can +alone call forth. His nature was changed--that is, the external +development of his nature, for his heart remained the same; and often, +amid crowded assemblies and rich peals of concerted music, it called +on his imagination to portray the old solitary shepherd, amid the +hills of his boyhood, or to recall the simple strains which his father +had taught him to play upon the rude Scottish pipe. + +At the period to which we refer, the literary society of Edinburgh was +by no means distinguished for its abstemiousness. A "good" fellow, and +a clever one, were almost synonymous terms. Sir Walter Scott, in his +novel of "Guy Mannering," has matchlessly described the convivial +habits of the Scottish advocates: the habits of the whole literary +society of Edinburgh were pretty similar. Why should I detail the +circumstances of William's seduction from sobriety? The example of +those whom he had been accustomed to admire, respect, and love; the +gay sallies of his younger associates; the witchery of the society of +genius; the flowing feeling which followed the circulation of the +bowl; the song, the speech, the story, the flash of wit, the jocose +roll of humour, and, above all, the forgiving approval (for how else +should we designate it?) of the ladies--all assailed him at once, and, +beneath their attacks, his reason and resolve, + + "That column of true majesty in man," + +fell. Age, wisdom, youth, wit, humour, friendship, love, and +beauty--what could a raw shepherd lad oppose to all these? "The +request of his aged father, the injunction of the moral law, the +direct command of God!" some stern, _perhaps_ good man may reply. +William tried to control his career by means of these; but the attacks +were unceasing, various, distracting--the defence was in the hands of +one, and he, alas! too often disposed to admit the enemy. We will pass +rapidly over this part of our departed friend's career. He mingled, at +first sparingly, at length more freely, in the convivial habits of his +new friends; he felt the thrill of friendship; he was keenly alive to +the social glow which the bowl awakens; his heart also was elated by +the love of men of genius, and his vanity gratified by their +loudly-expressed admiration. Unfortunately, he engaged to write for a +new periodical which some of his friends were then attempting to +establish. Amid the solitude of his native hills he had experienced +the grateful and rapid awakening of noble ideas; he was surprised to +find that, in the city, amid the distractions of ambition, music, +love, and wine, he could only now and then call up his natural powers +to his aid. He had pledged himself to support the new periodical to a +certain extent; and, in order to fulfil his promise, at the +instigation of an acquaintance, he stimulated himself to its +accomplishment by means of brandy. This was the first time he had ever +drank ardent spirits for the sake of the effects which they produce. +The paper which he had written was universally admired, the sale of +the periodical was very much increased by its influence, and he was +plied by the proprietors with new and lucrative engagements. + +On the very morning on which he had received these proposals, he also +received a letter from his aged father, informing him, that the +brother of the old man, who was engaged in commerce, and for whom he +had some time ago become surety, had failed, and that the whole of the +little earnings of his past life would be required to liquidate the +debt. + +William closed with the proposal of the proprietors of the magazine, +and wrote to the old man a letter, partly of condolence, but more of +triumph. He was almost glad that the resources of his father were +destroyed, now that he himself had the means of supporting him; and it +was with a joyous heart that he sat down to write his paper for the +new periodical. But alas! he felt what all who have so occupied +themselves have felt, how the mind becomes weak, and the fancy flags, +when compelled to action. He rushed into society, to escape from the +dreadful depression which follows high mental excitement; the warmth +of friendship with which he was met fell gratefully on his spirit; the +glee and glory of social intercourse first relieved his wearied +faculties, and then pleasantly excited them; the titillation of +gratified vanity, and the exercise of intellectual power, combined to +make the scene fascinating; he went more and more into society; it +became more and more necessary to him--he was a _social man_. His +father was a strange, I had almost said a stubborn man in some +respects, and he might in some measure be blamed for this gradual +sliding from sobriety of his son. To the affectionate letter of +William, which beseeched him, now that his little hoard had been +carried away, and now that his years were above fourscore, to come to +Edinburgh, and dwell with his son, the old man answered, that God had +yet left him vigour to mount the hills, and thread the valleys; and +that, so long as this was the case, he would consider it unjust to +become a burden to others. There was a stern independence and lofty +resolve in the determination of the aged shepherd which harmonised +well with his character; but it fell like lead upon the bright dreams +of William--it strangled many of his best resolutions of future virtue +and industry. He did not know that his father had already heard of his +relaxed habits, and had even had reported to him, in exaggerated +phrase, the detail of some of his midnight carousals. William went on, +gaining fame, but losing virtue. In the popular use of the word, it +was _impossible_ for him to resist the importunities of those who +pressed him to partake of their bottle or their bowl. They grasped his +hand cordially; they sang the songs which he loved, or perhaps had +written; they drank his health with cheers of enthusiasm. It was +_impossible_ for him to resist the entreaties of those persons--it was +_impossible_ for him not to believe them sincere. Nor were they +otherwise; but the value of the sincerity of the intemperate and the +immoral, what is it? + + "Ashes within beautiful fruit." + +William Riddell passed the whole of his examinations, and was, as the +students say, "ready for a church." Nor was he long in procuring one. +Among the friends to whom his genius and character had recommended him +was a nobleman, who had the gift of the very kirk to which William and +his father had been accustomed to resort. The incumbent died; the +nobleman presented the living to William. With the new duties which +now devolved upon him, came a crowd of new feelings and springs of +action. He gave up his engagement with the literary periodical, he +retired from his social companions, and he devoted himself to grave +and worthy study and contemplation. The struggle was severe; but he +bore up against it under the excitement of the new responsibility +which had fallen upon him. He went down to the country with some of +the most distinguished members of the Scottish Church, who officiated +at his ordination. A proud, a tumultuously happy day was it for old +David Riddell, who, with wonder and awe, felt his horny hand grasped +by the great men whose very names he had considered subservient to his +happiness of old time, and beheld his son, little William, the boy +whom he had taught the alphabet upon Scaurhope Hill, with the pebbles +that lie there--beheld him holding high discourse with these same +dignitaries, saw that his opinions were listened to with respect, and +that his thoughts, according as they were solemn or ludicrous, were +responded to by these great men with gravity or broad grins. A +delightful day was it to the old shepherd, as he beheld the first man +in the General Assembly--the greatest man in the Scottish Kirk--lay +his hand upon the youthful head of his beloved son, and consecrate him +to the care of the souls who dwelt in the very valley where he had +been born and reared, in which his genius was known, and his family, +though humble, respected. + +There was another, and an equally strong reason, for William's giving +up his convivial habits and boisterous companions. He was in love. + +It was at that least romantic of all places for a lover, a ball in +Edinburgh, that William Riddell, the new pastor of Mosskirk, had first +met Ellen Ogilvie, the daughter of the principal heritor of his +parish, the owner of the hills on which his father had watched the +sheep for above threescore years. Ellen had beheld him moving, a gay +and welcome visitant, in noble halls; her hand had met his in the +dance, in exchange with those of countesses and duchesses; she had +heard his praise echoed from house to house, and from mouth to mouth; +she was now alone in the country, with nothing but ignorant or coarse +men around her: let it not seem wonderful that she, though the only +daughter of a wealthy landholder, should bestow her love on the poor, +handsome, manly, eloquent pastor of Mosskirk. And if this does not +seem wonderful, it will surely not appear singular that the proud, +haughty, bigoted, and ignorant father of Ellen should forbid the +match, and should threaten with his vengeance the usurper of his +daughter's love. + +His vengeance! How weak a word to such a being as William! Not that he +would not have rejoiced, for Ellen's sake, and for the sake of +decorum, to have had the old gentleman's approval; not that he would +not have used every possible means, consistent with honour and the +dignity of his own character, to have gained the good opinion of the +father of his beloved; but the laird was a man of the world, of acres, +and of hundreds; his litany lay in pounds, shillings, and pence; his +affections were wrapped up in rents and lordships; and that a poor +parson, however God had chosen to ennoble him by genius and generous +sentiments--that a poor parson should have dared to look upon a child +of his with the eyes of affection, upon the child who was the natural +heir of all those riches which he had laboured for half-a-century to +amass, smote him as a personal insult, as an indignity which nothing +but blood could wipe out. The mother of Ellen had all along thought +differently; and from the first moment in which she had perceived the +affection that existed between them (and oh, how much quicker women +are than men in discovering these things!) she had encouraged their +intimacy. + +William Riddell, the minister of Mosskirk, was out of the canons of +the duello, and the laird, therefore, instead of calling him out, was +compelled to be satisfied with disinheriting Ellen, who, under +circumstances which fully exonerated her from her father's tyrannical +wishes, became William's wife. + +My friend William had always been one of those persons who abhorred +the usual terms on which wives are sought and husbands achieved. +"Keeping a wife," was a phrase of blasphemy to him, or at least it +seemed desecrating women to the level of a dog, a horse, or a +cow--the "keeping" of which appeared, according to their phraseology, +a matter of the same general import as the cherishing a beloved +partner of all in which the human heart takes an interest. Nor, +although he was a shepherd's son, could he perceive much inequality in +a minister who earned four hundred pounds a-year, by looking after the +spiritual interests of some hundreds of individuals, and who was to +become the confidant of their griefs, and the sharer of their joys, +their supporter in sickness, and their guide in the common path of +life--he could not perceive much presumption in such a man matching +himself with the daughter of an ignorant and coarse person, whose +worth lay only in his wealth, whose character was not esteemed by his +neighbours, and whose sympathy for suffering human nature only +developed itself now and then in his bestowal of a basin of hot soup +upon a starving beggar at Christmas. + +On the contrary, if William thought about the matter in this relation +at all, he considered, and justly, that he was rather conferring an +honour than receiving one from the father of Ellen. But the old +gentleman thought, as the world thinks, differently; and accordingly, +in his wrath, he disinherited her. + +It was unfortunate for the full gratification of his malice, that +William was impassible to this mode of punishment, and that he beheld +the whole of the old gentleman's possessions conveyed over to a +charitable institution, with as much pleasure as if he had signed them +away of his own accord. + +In the parish of Mosskirk, as in most of the country parishes in +Scotland, there were a number of intelligent men who associated +frequently together for the sake of cultivating scientific knowledge, +and conversing on various subjects of interest in literature and +philosophy. At the time when William was inducted into Mosskirk, all +the ministers of the neighbouring parishes were members of this +society, and it was generally held on a convivial footing. Some of the +members came from a distance, others were jolly fellows naturally; and +thus it happened that their discussions frequently dipped deep into +the night, and sometimes were not settled until cock-crow. + +Into this society William Riddell was welcomed with enthusiastic +honours, and was at once made perpetual president. His fame as a poet +had gone before him, and his genial warmth as a man followed up with +general applause the sensation which he had created. He had natural +powers capable of supporting him in the sphere to which his reputation +had raised him. He had wit, humour, pathos, and fluency; and, eager to +earn the opinion of his parishioners, he exerted himself to gain it, +and he succeeded. Throughout the whole of his parish, he was admired +as a man of genius and eloquence, he was respected as a man of +irreproachable moral worth, and beloved as a friend, who shared +sincerely in the gladness, and sympathised in the sorrows, of his +flock. Unfortunately, the habits of many of his parishioners, as well +as of those of the literary club to which I have alluded, were the +very reverse of temperate. For a time the attraction of his young +wife, and presently that of his infant son, kept him from indulging in +nocturnal potations. But afterwards these attractions lost their +force; the glory and the glee of the musical and literary conclave +overcame all his resolves; and, night after night, it happened that he +returned to his manse at unseasonable hours, and greeted his wife with +the leer of intoxication, instead of the steady glance of affection. +We should have said that, before this, old David Riddell, moved by his +son's entreaties, had given up his duties among the hills, and had +come to live with him at Mosskirk Manse. A weekly delight was it to +the old man to behold his son arrayed in his black gown, and with the +smooth white bands drooping decently upon his bosom, delivering from +the pulpit of his native parish the words of eternal truth; and +pleasant was it to the old shepherd ever and anon to recognise, in the +elegant but simple language of the pastor, some of those sentiments +which he himself had instilled into his mind, while he was yet a +shepherd lad upon the moorlands. + +But it could not long be concealed from him that William was irregular +in his habits. When the fact first struck him, he almost swooned away; +for the forebodings of Rachel rushed into his mind, and he saw, as it +seemed, for the first time, that his son's destruction was sealed. + +It was long, however, before he could bring himself to speak on the +subject to William; he felt the shame which his son appeared to have +abandoned; and his own temperate blood sent a blush into his withered +cheek at the idea of addressing the child of his heart, the minister +of God, on the subject of his intemperance. The miserable struggles of +the old man before he gave utterance to his sentiments to William, we +are utterly unable to describe--we leave them to our reader's +imagination. At length, however, on a morning after the minister of +Mosskirk had shamefully been supported home by two of his +parishioners, in a state of deplorable intoxication, the old shepherd +gathered up resolution to speak to his son. He did not denounce, +insult, or even upbraid him; but, with tears in his eyes, delicately +alluding to his misconduct, assured him that such another occurrence +would cause him to leave the manse for ever; for that, though he might +not be able to prevent, he was resolved never to sanction, the fearful +immorality which drunkenness carries in its train, more hideous still +when attached to a minister of the Gospel. + +William, already disgusted with himself, and humbled before his own +heart, was crushed to the earth by his old father's appeal. He threw +himself upon his aged parent's neck, and entreated his forgiveness. +"My forgiveness, my boy!" replied the shepherd; "you cannot offend +me, and therefore it is vain to ask for my forgiveness. My heart is so +utterly bound up in thee, that, though it may deplore, it cannot +denounce any conduct of thine. It is as it were but a servant of +thine, and in good or in evil report, will follow in its train. But, +if my sufferings, and the sneers of men, have no influence over thee, +think, oh, my dear boy! think on death, the judgment, eternity!" + +Will it be believed, that, after this appeal, the remorse which he +suffered, and the resolutions of reformation which he made, a single +week saw the minister of Mosskirk reel into his manse, assisted by the +pastor of the Methodist Chapel, at two o'clock in the morning? Such +was the distressing reality; and the next morning, without speaking to +his son, but giving, amid heart-broken sobs and sighs, his blessing to +his daughter-in-law and her children, old David Riddell removed from +his son's roof: nor could all his entreaties induce him to return. + +Let me hasten to conclude. The conduct of William became presently so +notoriously shameful, that it could no longer be overlooked by his +parishioners, and he was more than once called upon by some of them +with remonstrances, which increased gradually in severity. Still the +infatuated man proceeded, until at length his behaviour became a +public slander to his own parishioners and to the whole church. He was +yet, however, so much beloved for his generous warmth of heart, and +admired for his talents, that a last effort was made to prevent the +sentence of expulsion, which had been passed against him, from being +carried into effect; and his punishment was commuted, if so it could +be called, into making a public apology, from his own pulpit, to his +people, for his shameful irregularities. On the day of this +heartrending exhibition, not more than one-fourth of the congregation +were present; the remainder being absent that they might not behold +the spectacle of their pastor's humiliation. But old David Riddell +was there, supported, for the first, and alas! for the last time, into +church by a friend. Until now, the aged man had always walked +unsupported, and with a firm, nay, with something of an elastic step, +up to his pew; but during the past week, since he had heard the news +of his son's public disgrace, and the public penance which he was to +perform, his vital powers had sunk with fearful rapidity. To those +even who had seen him, on the preceding Sabbath, move decently into +his accustomed spot, and depositing the broad-brimmed hat, which, on +the Lord's-day, he exchanged for the broad Lowland bonnet, smooth +backwards his thin light-grey locks, he appeared scarcely like the +same man. His form was now bent nearly double; he shuffled his feet +painfully over the ground; his head shook from weakness, not from age; +his eyes were red and dim; he looked like a man who was only three or +four steps from the open grave. When, after the service was concluded, +William began to read the humiliating apology which he had written, +the aged shepherd crept painfully down upon his knees, and, burying +his face in his clasped hands, remained absorbed in prayer. The last +words had fallen from the minister's lips; there was a dead stillness +throughout the church, for all were penetrated with sorrow and shame +at their pastor's disgrace, when a deep groan broke from the old +shepherd, and startled the congregation from the silence in which they +were indulging. All eyes, and those of the minister among the rest, +were instantly directed towards the old man; his frame remained for a +moment in the attitude which we have described, and the next instant +it fell heavily upon the floor--a corpse! + +We shall not give pain to our readers, nor harrow up our own feelings, +by attempting to describe the misery which this event caused William +Riddell. It seemed to be one of those griefs which cannot, and ought +not to be outlived--a punishment greater than man is able to bear. So +thought William--if the flash of this conviction across the settled +gloom of his spirit could be called thought. Yet days, weeks, months, +passed away, and he lived on, nay, performed his duties; and, at +length, by the caresses of his wife and child, became even, as it +were, sullenly reconciled to life. He found, however, that it was +impossible for him ever to regain his former station in society. His +brother ministers avoided him; and one or two of them, more harsh or +orthodox than the rest, took occasion to allude to his misconduct in a +public manner. The most respectable portion of his parishioners +pitied, but, in general, kept aloof from him. Degraded and sunk as he +was, William had a nature formed to feel, in all their most exquisite +torture, these indignities and slights. The persons who came to +comfort and sympathise with him, were unhappily those whose sympathy +was more dangerous than their contempt. How shall we go on? William +again, after severe struggles, gave way to the entreaties of some of +those mistaken friends, and to the treacherous wishes of his own +heart. He became a confirmed drunkard! He seemed to have at length +cast behind him every thought of reverence for God and his holy +vocation--every particle of respect for himself or his fellow-men. He +had two or three attacks of brain fever, brought on by his excesses; +and he no sooner recovered from them than he went on as before. His +poor young wife exhausted every argument which reason could +afford--every blandishment with which affection and beauty could +supply her, to reclaim him, but in vain. He retained, or seemed to +retain, even, all the warmth of his first love for her; and, in his +hours of intoxication, he seemed most strongly to acknowledge her +worth and loveliness; but the necessity for the violent excitement of +ardent spirits had overcome all other considerations; she wept long +and bitterly: then, as despair began to close in upon her, she +(dreadful that we should have it to relate!) sought, in the example +of her husband to escape from her sorrow! Ellen Ogilvie, the young, +the graceful, the beautiful, the accomplished, the gentle, feminine +creature, whose very frame seemed to shrink from the slightest +coarseness in speech or action, became a drunkard! + +Many years had passed away between the time when the old shepherd had +perished in the church and the time to which we now refer, and William +had a family of two sons and three daughters. If Ellen's father was +unfavourable to her marriage at first, it will be easily imagined that +he never now acknowledged them. His young family, therefore, had +nothing to depend upon except their father's exertions, and they were +about to be closed for ever. + +The time arrived when it was impossible for William to be suffered any +longer to remain in his charge. He was thrust out of his church, and +expelled from the ministry. The messenger who delivered this message +to him, delivered it to one more dead than alive. His excesses had at +length brought on a fit of apoplexy; he was but partially recovered +from it, and could only, in a dim manner, comprehend the purport of +the message, when, with his wife and children, he was removed from the +manse. A friend sheltered him for a time--afterwards he was conveyed +over to Edinburgh. Within a twelvemonth he died, having been chained +down to bed by his disease, one-half of his frame being dead, with +mind enough to see poverty and inevitable misery ready to crush his +helpless family, but without the power to use the slightest exertion +in order to avert the impending calamity. It was in a garret in the +High Street, upon rotten straw, the spectacle of an emaciated and +shattered wife before his eyes, and the cries of his starving children +sounding in his ears, that William Riddell breathed his last! What +availed it then that he had been good and pure, full of generous +sentiments, endowed with a graceful person, a noble genius, and a +manly eloquence? These otherwise invaluable qualities had been all +sunk or scattered by the spendthrift extravagances of the Social Man. + +It is now about five years ago, since, as we were hurrying past +Cassels Place, at the foot of Leith Walk, we were attracted by a crowd +who had gathered round a poor intoxicated woman. She had fallen +beneath the wheel of a waggon, and both her legs were crushed in a +terrible manner. As two or three assistants carried her past a +gas-light towards the nearest house, we were struck by the +resemblance--hideous, indeed, and bloated--which her features wore to +some one whom we had known. We inquired her history, and, to our +horror, discovered that this was indeed Ellen Ogilvie--the widow of +our poor friend, William Riddell. It was useless attempting to save +her; her vital energies were sinking rapidly beneath the injuries +which she had received. She revived a little from the effect of some +wine which we gave her, and began incoherently to speak of her past +life. "You see me here, sir," said she, "a poor, wretched, degraded +creature:--I was not always thus. There was not a happier heart in +wide Scotland than mine was, ten years ago. But my husband, sir, was a +Social Man!" A convulsive sob checked her words--her head sank back on +the pillow--her lower jaw fell--the death-rattle sounded in her +throat--and in a few moments the unfortunate woman expired. + + + + +THE TWO COMRADES. + + +Still and calm lay the sleeping waters of Loch Ard, as they reposed in +their beauty on the morning of the 17th of August, 17--. The hour was +early, and the rays of the rising sun had not yet dispersed the thick +mists that hung on the bosoms of the surrounding hills. The scenery +around, although of the most romantic character, and composed of the +choicest materials for the picturesque, had an air of gloominess and +rawness about it, that did but little justice to the thousand beauties +which its simple elements of wood and water, rock and hill, were +capable, by their various combinations, of producing. That scene yet +wanted the life and soul, the cheering, spirit-stirring influence of +the blessed sunlight, to bring out its loveliness, and to exhibit its +details in all their fairy brightness. This want was not long of being +supplied. The sun rose in all his splendour; the mist rolled away from +the face of the hill; the calm, placid surface of the lake, like a +mighty mirror, embedded in its rude and gigantic, but gorgeous +framework of wooded mountains, shone with dazzling effulgence; and the +hills and forests displayed themselves in their robes of brightest +green. + +As every one who has visited these romantic regions knows, the road +that conducts to Aberfoyle from the west end of Loch Ard runs, for a +considerable space, close by the margin of the lake on its northern +side--and a most beautiful locality this is. The road is low and +level; on one hand is the bright, smooth, sandy shore of the loch, +with its clear, shallow water; and, on the other, steep mountains, +shaggy with primeval woods. We have directed the attention of the +reader to this particular point of the landscape, for the purpose of +saying, that, at the moment at which our story opens (namely, on the +morning of the 17th of August, 17--), two persons were seen, at the +early hour which our description would indicate, trudging silently +along by the margin of the lake. They were two young men, and +evidently prosecuting a journey of some length. Over the shoulder of +each projected a stout oak stick, on whose extremity a small bundle +was suspended; probably, small as they were, containing all the +earthly possessions of their bearers. Yet, however poor the lads might +be in world's wealth--for they were, as was sufficiently evident from +their dress, of the humblest class--they were rich in the gifts of +nature; for a couple of handsomer-looking young men than they were the +Highlands of Scotland could not have produced. Strongly built, and +exhibiting in their erect and springy gait the peculiar muscular +energy of their mountain education, they appeared men capable of any +fatigue, and, to judge by the air of calm determination and mild +resolution expressed in their bold and manly countenances, of any deed +of honourable daring. Such was the personal appearance--for, although +differing in individual features, they resembled each other in their +general characteristics--of James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod, which +were the names of the two young men whom we have just introduced to +the reader. The ages of the two seemed to be about equal--somewhere +about five or six-and-twenty; in stature they were also nearly the +same; but, if there was any difference between them in this +particular, it was in favour of M'Intyre, who stood nearly six feet in +height. M'Leod might be an inch shorter. They had been brought up +together from their infancy; had a thousand times together climbed the +heights of Cruagh Moran, and as often swam across the deep, dark +waters of Loch Uisk, which lay just before their doors. Their parents +were next door neighbours in the little village of Ardvortan, +situated in one of the most beautiful straths in the West of Scotland. +James and Roderick had not only been companions from their earliest +years, but earned their scanty subsistence; and they were now, +together, about to try their fortunes in a world to which they had +hitherto been strangers. Stories of the warlike renown of their +ancestors, with more recent tales of the achievements of their +countrymen who had enlisted in the 42nd and other Highland regiments, +had roused the martial spirit which they inherited from their fathers, +and determined them to leave their peaceful glen and native hills, to +seek, in "the ranks of death," for that which they had been taught to +believe was the proudest gift of fortune--a soldier's fame. + +It was a sad, and yet a proud day, for the mothers of the young men, +that on which they left their native village. Natural affection +deplored their departure, while maternal pride gloried in visions of +the honours that awaited them on the fields of war. The plumed bonnet, +the belted plaid, and all the other gallant array of the Highland +soldier, presented themselves to the fond mothers; and they thought, +as they gazed on the stately forms of their sons for the last time, +how well they would look in the martial garb which they were about to +assume. The young men, then, whom we have represented as wending their +way by the margin of Loch Ard, and prosecuting a southward journey, +were proceeding to Glasgow, one of the recruiting stations of the --th +Highland regiment, to enrol themselves in that gallant corps, which +was already filled with their friends and countrymen. + +On arriving at Glasgow, which, although a distance of nearly forty +miles from the spot where we first introduced them to the reader, they +made out with perfect ease on the evening of the same day on which +they left their native village, the young men repaired to a well-known +resort of the privates of Highland regiments which were from time to +time quartered in Glasgow. This was a low, dark public-house in the +High Street of that city, kept by a Serjeant M'Nab, an old veteran, +who had seen service in his day; and who, although he had now retired +into private life, continued to maintain all his military connections +with as much zeal as if he was still in the discharge of his military +duties; and, indeed, this he was to some extent, having still an +authority to enlist. The house of M'Nab was thus filled from morning +to night with soldiers of various grades of rank--serjeants, +corporals, and privates--and of various degrees of standing, from the +raw, newly-enrolled recruit, with his stiff black stock--the only +article of his military equipment with which he had been yet +provided--to the veteran serjeant, who had literally fought his way to +his present rank. In every corner of every room in this favourite +resort of the Celtic warriors, lay heaps of muskets resting against +the wall; and on every table lay piles of Highland bonnets--their +owners being engaged in discussing the contents of the oft-replenished +_half-mutchkin stoup_. Occasionally, too, the scream of a bagpipe +might be suddenly heard in some apartment, where the party by which it +was occupied had attained the point of musical excitement, while, over +all, except the sounds of the aforenamed instrument, prevailed the din +of noisy, but good-humoured colloquy, in sonorous Gaelic; for no other +language was ever heard in the warlike domicile of Serjeant M'Nab. + +Such, then, was the house--further distinguished, we forgot to say, by +the sign of the Ram's Head--to which James M'Intyre and Roderick +M'Leod now repaired. They were met at the door by M'Nab, then in the +act of bidding good-by to a batch of serjeants, who, adjusting their +bonnets as they stepped, one after the other, from beneath the low +doorway of the Ram's Head, were about to form a recruiting party to +beat up through the streets for young aspirants after military +glory--a single drummer and fifer being in attendance for this +purpose. + +"Ah, Shames! Ou Rory!" exclaimed M'Nab, taking each of the young men, +who were both well known to him (he being from the same part of the +country), by the hand; "what has brought you" (we translate, for this +was spoken in Gaelic) "to this quarter of the world?" + +The lads smiled, and said they would inform him of that presently. +Accustomed to such visits, for such a purpose as M'Intyre and M'Leod +now made, M'Nab at once guessed their object, and, without any further +remark, conducted them into his own private apartment, where, the tact +of the recruiting serjeant and the natural hospitality of the man +combining, he entertained them liberally with the best his house +afforded. During this refection, the young men made known the object +of their visit. The serjeant highly approved of their spirit, +descanted on the glories of a soldier's life, stirred up their +ambition of military fame by recounting various exploits performed by +relations and acquaintances of their own with whom he had served, and +concluded by tendering them the ominous shilling. It was accepted, and +James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod became soldiers in His Majesty's +--th regiment of foot. + +Desirous, however, as the young men were of enlisting, there was a +condition which they insisted on being conceded them, before they +finally committed themselves. This was, that they should continue +comrades after they became soldiers; that is, as is well known to +every one in the least conversant with these matters, that they should +occupy the same bed, and be placed in a position to render each other +the little services of domestic intercourse in quarters. + +M'Nab at once promised that their wishes in this respect should be +complied with; and the promise was faithfully kept. The two lads were +allowed to continue as comrades after they had joined the regiment; +and in this situation maintained that feeling of tender friendship for +each other, which had distinguished the previous part of their lives. + +Two handsomer or finer-looking soldiers than James M'Intyre and +Roderick M'Leod, after they had donned the full costume of the corps +to which they belonged, and had acquired the military air of their new +profession, could not have been found, not only in their own regiment, +but perhaps in the whole British army. Modest in their manners, quiet +and civil in their deportment, cleanly, sober and attentive to their +duties, they were beloved by their equals, and looked upon with +especial favour by their superiors; they were, in short, the pride and +boast of the regiment--no small honour in a corps where there was an +unusual proportion of stout and steady men. + +For some years, the military life of M'Intyre and M'Leod was unmarked +by any striking vicissitude. The usual movements of the corps from +place to place occurred; but hitherto they had not been called on to +take any share in active service. Their turn, however, was to +come--and it did come. They were ordered to America, shortly after the +commencement of the first war with that country and Great Britain. +Previous to their embarking for the seat of war, the two comrades +obtained three days' leave of absence--it was all that could be +allowed them--to visit their friends in the Highlands. The time was +short--too short for the distance they had to travel; but, as the +point of embarkation was Greenock, they thought they could make it +out; and, by travelling night and day, they did so. They presented +themselves in their native glen in the full costume of their corps, +and gratified their mothers' hearts by this display of their military +appointments. A few short hours of enjoyment succeeded; another bitter +parting followed; and the two comrades were again on their way to +rejoin their regiment. On the second day after, they were crossing +the ocean with their regiment, to the seat of war in the new world. + +In this new scene of experience, the two friends distinguished +themselves as much by their bravery as they had before by their +exemplary and soldierly conduct. In all the actions in which they were +engaged, they made themselves conspicuous by their gallantry, and by +several instances of individual heroism. But they rendered themselves +still more remarkable by the tenderness of their friendship, made +manifest in a thousand little acts of brotherly love. They stood +together foremost in the fight, and attended each other with +unremitting kindness and assiduity, when wounds and sickness had +alternately stretched them on the couch of suffering. Their affection +for each other soon became, in short, a subject of general remark, +exciting a singular degree of interest, from the romantic character +with which the bravery of the two friends had invested it. + +About this time--that is, about the middle of the war--the regiment to +which M'Intyre and M'Leod belonged had the misfortune to lose their +commanding officer, who was killed in action. To the regiment this was +a misfortune, and one of the most serious kind; for the gallant +soldier who had fallen was the friend as well as the commander of his +men. He studied and adapted himself to their peculiarities; knew and +appreciated their character; and was beloved by them in return, for +the kind consideration which he always evinced for their best +interests. He was, moreover, their countryman--a circumstance which +formed an additional tie between him and the brave men whom he +commanded. + +But the death of Colonel Campbell was a double mischance to the +regiment; inasmuch as to his loss was added the misfortune of his +place being supplied by a man of totally opposite character. His +successor, stern, and unforgiving, endeavoured to procure that +efficiency in his corps through fear, which his predecessor had +commanded through love. He was an Englishman; and was a perfect +stranger to the feelings and national peculiarities of the men over +whom he was thus so suddenly placed; neither was he at any pains to +acquire so necessary a piece of information, nor in any way to conform +his system of discipline to the peculiar spirit of the mountain band +which was now under his harsh and undiscriminating control. + +Unfortunate, however, as was the circumstance of this officer's being +put in command of the --th regiment to every soldier in that gallant +corps generally, there were two individuals to whom it was indeed a +misfortune of the most melancholy and deplorable kind, and these two +the most meritorious and deserving men in the regiment. Need we say +that these were James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod? But we must detail +the circumstances as they occurred. + +To do this, then, let us mention that, after a weary night-march of +many miles over a mountainous road covered with snow, the --th +regiment, with several others, found itself within cannon-shot of one +of the enemy's positions. The ground destined for the British troops +having been gained, the whole were ordered silently to bivouac, till +the morning light should enable them to advance to the attack, which +was the particular object of the movement. It was yet, however, some +hours till morning; and it was thus necessary, in case of sudden +surprisal, to establish a chain of outposts around the position +occupied by the troops. Amongst those selected for this duty was +Roderick M'Leod, who was placed alone in a solitary post at one of the +most remote points of the circle formed by the British sentinels. It +was a perilous and important position; and for these reasons was it +that M'Leod was chosen to occupy it--every reliance being placed on +his courage, vigilance, and well-known steadiness. + +Aware of the importance of his trust, Roderick, with his shouldered +firelock, commenced pacing smartly--for the night was intensely +cold--in the limits of his appointed place, and keeping a sharp +look-out in the direction of the enemy. This position he had occupied +about half-an-hour, when he thought he heard footsteps approaching. +Roderick brought down and cocked his piece, and stood ready to fire. +The sounds became more audible. He raised his musket to his shoulder, +and placed his finger on the trigger. He saw some persons approaching, +apparently with confident step. He challenged, and was answered. It +was a picket of his own regiment, commanded by a serjeant, a +particular acquaintance and friend, the son of one of his father's +neighbours. He was making a round of the outposts, to see that all +were on the alert, and to inquire if anything had been stirring. + +"All quiet, Roderick?" said Serjeant More M'Alister, on approaching +the former. + +"All quiet, serjeant," replied M'Leod. + +"Cold work this, Rory," rejoined the serjeant, at the same time +drawing a flask from his bosom, and handing it to the former; "here, +take a mouthful of that, to keep the frost out." + +M'Leod, perishing of cold, gratefully acknowledged the very timous +kindness, placed the flask to his mouth, and unguardedly took a hearty +pull of the brandy it contained. Shortly after, the visiting party +moved off on their rounds, and, for a little time subsequently, M'Leod +felt himself renovated by the spirits he had taken. The excitement, +however, was but temporary; reaction took place; a degree of lassitude +came over him, which, aided as it was by the fatigue of his previous +march and the severity of the cold, he found himself unable to shake +off. In this state of feeling, he leaned against a tree which stood +close by his post, and, ere he was aware, fell into a profound sleep. +At this unfortunate moment, his commanding officer, accompanied by a +small party, rode up to M'Leod. He was found asleep; and, still more +heinous offence, when awakened, he was found to be the worse of +drink--a momentary incoherence, and the smell of his breath, which +betrayed the presence of ardent spirits, being held as conclusive +proof by his superior that he was drunk. + +"I am not drunk, sir," replied M'Leod, calmly, on being harshly +charged with that offence by Colonel Maberly. + +"You _are_, sir," was the peremptory rejoinder. "Besides, you have +been asleep at your post. Men, disarm that fellow, and make him your +prisoner." + +The order was instantly obeyed. M'Leod's musket and bayonet were taken +from him; another man was placed on his post; and he was marched away, +to abide the consequence of his dereliction of military duty. As the +intended attack on the enemy took place on the following morning, no +proceedings were instituted in M'Leod's case for some days after; but +all dreaded the most fatal result from these, when they should occur, +from the ferocious and unforgiving nature of Colonel Maberly. + +We fear we would but weaken the effect of the reader's more impressive +conceptions, were we to attempt to describe the feelings of M'Intyre +during the days of agonising suspense between the period of his +comrade's arrestment and the judgment which followed. He refused all +sustenance; and, from being one of the most active and cheerful men in +the regiment, became careless in his duties and morose in his temper, +and seemed as if he courted, or would willingly have done something +calculated to expose him to the same fate which he had no doubt +awaited his unhappy comrade. The two unfortunate men--for the one was +scarcely less an object of compassion than the other--had frequent +interviews previous to M'Leod's receiving the sentence which was +thought due to his offence; and these were of the most heartrending +description. These men, of stout frame and lion heart, who side by +side had often marched unappalled up to the cannon's mouth, wept in +each other's arms like women. Words they had none, or they were but +few. + +At length the fatal judgment was passed. M'Leod was condemned to be +shot; and the sentence was ordered to be carried into execution on the +afternoon of the same day on which it was awarded. The unhappy victim +of military law shrunk not at the contemplation of the miserable fate +that awaited him. He heard it announced with unmoved countenance and +unshrinking nerve; his only remark, simply expressed in his native +language, being, "that, as to being shot, he minded it not; but he +could have wished that it had been on the field of battle." Although +prepared for the dreadful intelligence which was to inform him of the +doom of his comrade--for he had no doubt from the first that it would +be so--M'Intyre knew not yet the one-half of the misery that awaited +him in connection with the impending death of his friend. It was +possible to aggravate to him the horrors of that event tenfold, and to +increase inconceivably the torture of his already agonised mind--and +poor M'Intyre found it was so. + +We leave it to the reader to conceive what were his feelings, when he +was informed that he was to be one of the firing-party--one of his +comrade's executioners! This was a refinement in cruelty which had +been reserved for Colonel Maberly. It was unparalleled. But his order +had gone forth. He had willed it so, and it was known that he never +yielded a point on which he had once determined. It was believed also, +that his usual obstinacy and hard-heartedness would be increased in +this case, from an idea that he was adding to the terror of the +example, by the savage proceeding just alluded to. The idea, however, +of compelling one comrade to assist in putting another to death, was +so revolting to every feeling of humanity, so wantonly cruel, that the +men of the regiment determined on sending a deputation to the colonel, +to entreat of him to rescind his order, and to relieve M'Intyre of +the horrible duty to which he had appointed him. This deputation +accordingly waited on the commanding officer, and, in the most +respectful language, preferred their petition. They did not seek a +remission of the unfortunate man's sentence; for they felt and +acknowledged that, however stern and cruelly severe it was, it was yet +according to military law; but they implored that his comrade might +not be compelled to share in its execution. The petition was preferred +in vain. Colonel Maberly was inexorable. "He had given his orders," he +said, briefly and impatiently, "and they must be obeyed." + +Finding it in vain to urge their request farther, the deputation sadly +withdrew, to communicate to M'Intyre, who was awaiting their return in +a state of mind bordering on distraction, the result of their mission. +When it was told him, he said nothing, made no reply, but seemed lost +in thought for some moments. At length-- + +"I will go to the colonel myself," he said; "and, if there be any +portion of our common nature in him, he will not refuse to hear me. If +he does not----" + +Here he clenched his teeth fiercely together, but left the sentence +unfinished. Acting on the resolution which he had thus formed, +M'Intyre sought out Colonel Maberly. When he found him-- + +"Colonel," he said, touching his bonnet with a military salute, "you +have ordered me to be of the party who are to shoot"--here his voice +faltered, and it was some seconds before he could add--"my comrade, +M'Leod." + +"I have, sir--and what of that?" replied the colonel, fiercely; but he +quailed when he marked the deadly scowl that now gleamed in the eye of +M'Intyre. + +"It was cruel, sir," replied the latter, with a desperate calmness and +determination of manner; "and I implore you, as you hope for mercy +from the God that made you, to release me from this horrible duty." + +"Sir," exclaimed Colonel Maberly, furiously, "do you mean to +mutiny?--do you mean to disobey orders?" + +"No, sir, I do not. I merely ask you to relieve me from the dreadful +task of being my comrade's executioner." + +"Then I'll be d--d if I do!" said the military tyrant. + +"You had better, sir, _for your own sake_," replied M'Intyre. + +"What, sir! Do you threaten me?" exclaimed Colonel Maberly, in an +outrageous passion. + +"Oh no, sir," replied M'Intyre, with an air of affected respect; but +it was one in which some deep mysterious meaning might have been +discovered. "Will you absolve me from this duty?" + +"No, sir; I will not," replied Colonel Maberly, turning on his heel, +and cutting the conference short by walking away. + +"Your blood be upon your own head, you cruel, merciless man!" muttered +M'Intyre, as he looked after Colonel Maberly, himself continuing to +stand the while in the spot where the latter had left him. + +M'Intyre soon after returned to his quarters, and was seen calmly and +silently preparing his arms for the dreadful duty which they were +about to be called on to perform. In making these preparations, he was +observed to be particularly careful that everything should be in the +most serviceable condition. He fitted several flints to his piece, +snapping each repeatedly, before being satisfied with its efficiency, +and was even at the pains to dry and pulverise a small quantity of +powder for priming, to insure a more certain explosion than could be +counted on in its original state of grittiness. + +In the meantime, the hour of execution approached, and at length +arrived. The entire regiment was drawn out to witness the example +which was about to be made of the consequences that attended such +departures from duty as M'Leod's misconduct involved. Being formed in +military order, and the prisoner placed in a conspicuous yet secure +position, the whole were marched off, to the music of fife and muffled +drum, to a level piece of ground at the distance of about a quarter of +a mile from the quarters occupied by the regiment. M'Leod's conduct on +this trying occasion was in perfect keeping with his general +character. It was calm, firm, and manly. His step was steady and +dignified; and his whole bearing bespoke at once a resigned and +undaunted spirit. Yet it might not, nay, it certainly would not, have +been so, had he known that the comrade of his bosom was to be one of +his executioners. This, however, had been mercifully concealed from +him. It was all his fellow-soldiers could do for him; but, to a man, +had they all anxiously and carefully kept from him the appalling +secret; for they knew it would have unnerved him in the hour of +trial--in the hour of death. + +All unconscious, therefore, of the additional misery with which the +cruel order of his commanding officer was yet to visit him, M'Leod +marched undauntedly on to his doom. His mien was erect, his eye calm +and composed, and a slight paleness of countenance alone bore +testimony to his consciousness of the awful situation in which he was +placed. On reaching the locality intended for the scene of execution, +the corps was formed into three sides of a square. In the centre of +that which was vacant, the prisoner was placed; and, at the distance +of about twenty yards further in the square, stood the firing party. +On the left of these, and between them and the prisoner, stood Colonel +Maberly, who, in consequence of having seen some very marked symptoms +of disgust with his severity in the corps, had determined on presiding +at the execution in person. + +It was now, for the first time, that M'Leod became aware that his +comrade was to be of the number of his executioners. He saw him +amongst the firing-party. Unknowing the fact, and never dreaming of +the possibility of such an atrocity as that which M'Intyre's position +involved, M'Leod calmly asked a serjeant who stood near him--"What +does James do there?" The serjeant evaded a reply, or rather affected +not to hear him. At this moment the chaplain of the regiment came up +to the unfortunate man, to administer the comfort and consolation of +religious aid to the doomed soldier. But, ere he could enter on his +sacred duties, M'Leod, on whose mind some approximation to the horrid +truth as regarded the part assigned his comrade had now flashed, put +the same question to the chaplain as he had done to the serjeant. + +"Mr Fraser," he said, "I guess the truth; but I would fain be assured +of it. Why is my comrade, James M'Intyre, amongst the firing-party?" + +The chaplain, as the serjeant had done, endeavoured to evade a reply, +by directing the unhappy man to matters of spiritual concernment; but +he would not be evaded, and again repeated the question. Thus pressed, +the chaplain could no longer avoid the explanation he sought. He told +him M'Intyre was one of the firing-party by order of the commanding +officer. + +"I guessed as much," said M'Leod, calmly. "It is a piece of dreadful +cruelty; but may God forgive him, as I freely do!" + +He then, without making any further remark, entered solemnly and +composedly into the devotional exercises prescribed by his spiritual +comforter. These concluded, and everything being ready for the last +fatal act of the tragedy, the firing-party were ordered to advance +nearer, when M'Intyre, stepping out from his place amongst them, +advanced towards the colonel, and again implored him to release him +from the dreadful duty imposed on him. The colonel's reply was as +determined and peremptory as before. + +"Do your duty, sir!" he said, waving his hand impatiently as a signal +to M'Intyre to return to his place, and stepping a pace or two away +from him as he spoke. "Do your duty, sir, or I'll compel you; I'll +have you in the same situation with your friend." + +M'Intyre obeyed the ruthless order without saying another word. He +returned to his place. The prisoner's eyes were now bandaged. The +firing-party had levelled their muskets, and were waiting the fatal +sign. It was made. Colonel Maberly himself made it. The volley was +discharged, and M'Leod fell; but he fell not alone. In the same +instant, the commanding officer of the --th regiment was also +stretched lifeless on the plain. The well-aimed musket of M'Intyre had +sent its ball through the heart of the ruthless tyrant. On +perpetrating the deed, the former threw his piece on the ground, +exclaiming, "Roderick is avenged, and the mercy the tyrant showed to +others has been meted out to himself!" and offered himself up, an +unresisting prisoner, to whoever might choose to execute that duty. + +It was some minutes--so sudden and unexpected had been the +catastrophe--before any one made the slightest movement; all looking +on in silent and fixed amazement, but we cannot add with much regret; +till at length a serjeant stepped out of the ranks, and seized +M'Intyre by the breast. + +"Right, Serjeant Thompson, right," said the latter, calmly; "you are +doing your duty. I know what awaits me, and I am prepared for it. I +did not do what I have done without making up my mind to the +consequences." + +These were indeed inevitable. On the third day thereafter, the roll of +the muffled drum announced that M'Intyre's hour was come; and he fell, +but not unpitied, beneath the bullets of a party of his +fellow-soldiers, on the identical spot where, three days before, his +unfortunate comrade had met a similar doom. + + + + +THE SURTOUT. + + +"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins," +quoth an equivocal-looking gentleman, with a stick under his arm, a +marvellously shabby hat, a rusty black coat, waistcoat pinned up to +the throat, and followed out by a battered stock, glazed and greasy, +with its edges worn to the bone; and thus making an unseemly +exhibition of the internal composition of said article of wearing +apparel. No shirt, or at least none visible; countenance bearing +strong marks of dissipation; voice loud and ferocious; look equivocal. +Such was the personage who conveyed the information above recorded to +Mr Fairly; and, considering the very particular nature of that +information, together with certain other little circumstances +thereafter following, the reader will be at no great loss, we should +suppose, to guess both the nature of his profession and the purpose of +his call. In case, however, he should not, we beg to inform him that +the speaker was one of those meritorious enforcers of the law, called, +in Scotland, messengers--in England, bailiffs. + +Mr Fairly, again--the person spoken to--was a fashionable tailor in a +certain city not a hundred miles from Arthur's Seat. He was a little, +active man, sharp and keen as a razor; and altogether a +dangerous-looking customer to those who found it inconvenient to +settle his demands in due time; he was, in short, the dread and terror +of dilatory payers. In such cases, he hung out the black flag, and +gave no quarter. He was, in truth, just as merciless a tailor as ever +cut cloth, and well were his savage propensities known to, and much +were they respected by, a certain class of his customers--meaning +those who stuck too long on the left-hand side of his ledger--the +fatal ledger. Such, then, was our other interlocutor, Mr Fairly. We +have only to add, that the scene which we have opened was in a certain +parlour in that gentleman's house, and then to proceed with the +conference which this necessary digression has interrupted. + +"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins," +said his visiter, Mr John Howison; "what do ye mean to do? Are we to +incarcerate?" + +It was a needless question; for Fairly incarcerated everybody, right +and left, in such circumstances, sparing neither sex nor age. + +"Incarcerate!" he repeated, with a ferocious emphasis. "Surely, +surely. Nab the scoundrel. Don't give him a minute beyond his time. +Let me see what were the articles again." And he proceeded to turn +over the leaves of his ominous ledger. "Ay, a surtout, extra superfine +Saxony blue, richly braided, &c. &c., £4:15s., due 21st December, and +this is the 19th January. A month past date! Nab him, Howison. Nab the +villain, and we'll give him six months of the cage, at any rate, and +that'll be some satisfaction." + +Howison grinned a grin, partly of satisfaction at the prospect of a +job, and partly of approval of his employer's wit. "But I don't know +the chap exactly," said the former. "I only saw him once." + +"Oh, that's easily sorted," replied Fairly. "Although you don't know +him, you may know my surtout, which he constantly wears--having no +other coat, I verily believe, to his back. Here, see, here is the +neighbour of it." And he ran into a back apartment, whence he shortly +returned with a very flashy article of the description he referred to, +and, expanding it before Howison, bade him mark its peculiarities. +"Sir," he said, "it's one of a thousand. The only one of the same cut +and fashion in the whole city. _That_ I know. I would pick it out, +blind, from amongst a million." + +Howison having carefully scanned the garment, declared that he was +ready to take his chance of recognising his man--other circumstances +corroborating--by its particular cut and adornments; and, in truth, he +needed have little hesitation about the matter; for, indeed, the +surtout was, as Fairly had said, one of a thousand. It was altogether +a very marked sort of article, especially in the department of +braiding, that being singularly rich and voluminous; and if, as its +maker had also said, it had not its fellow in the town (barring, of +course, the duplicate which he was now exhibiting), there could be no +difficulty whatever in identifying the devoted debtor. + +Matters being thus arranged, the messenger, after having obtained +Simmins' address, took leave of his employer, with full authority to +visit the unhappy owner of the surtout with the utmost vengeance of +the law, and with a promise on his own part that he would duly inform +the latter of his subsequent proceedings in the case--meaning thereby, +that, so soon as the bird was caged, he would give due intimation +thereof. + +Leaving the process just detailed at the point to which we have +brought it, we beg to introduce the reader to another personage who +figures in our little drama: this is Mr Jacob Merrilees, a student of +medicine, a gentlemanly young man, of limited means, but fair +prospects, and, withal, talented and promising. He was at this moment +pursuing his studies at the college of ----, and was making a progress +in professional learning that augured well for his future success in +the world. But, with this part of his history we have little or +nothing to do--our interest in him being on a totally different +account. + +Talented, however, as our young friend was, he had, like other men, +his little weaknesses; one in particular--but it was a natural and a +harmless one--this was a rather excessive fastidiousness on the score +of dress. He loved, of all things, to be smartly attired; and was +thus, upon the whole, something of a dandy in his way. Unfortunately +for poor Jacob, however, this was a taste which he was not always able +to indulge in to the extent he could have wished. His circumstances, +or rather his father's penuriousness, prevented it; and the +consequence was, that he frequently found himself considerably below +his own standard of perfection in the article toggery. It is true, +that one less particular in this matter would hardly have agreed with +him; but such were his own feelings on the subject, and that was +enough. + +Having mentioned the little weakness above alluded to--if, indeed, it +can be called a weakness--it becomes our duty to show cause for having +called the reader's attention to it. This duty, then, we will +forthwith discharge; but we must be allowed to do so in our own way. +We have said that our friend Merrilees was making rapid progress in +his professional education; he was so, but he was advancing with no +less celerity in another and fully more congenial study--namely, the +study of love. What fair maiden, in the eyes of Jacob Merrilees, could +compete with Miss Julia Willoughby? None. She was peerless! She was +the fairest of the fair! Miss Julia Willoughby, then, was the chosen +of Jacob's heart; but he had yet no assurance that his tender feelings +towards her were reciprocated. Little else than the ordinary +courtesies of society had yet passed between them, although these were +certainly rapidly melting into more familiar intercourse. Still, as we +said before, Jacob could not positively fix on the precise position +which he held in the affections of Miss Julia Willoughby. He was still +in a state of uncertainty; for no particular mark of favour had yet +been bestowed upon him by the coy fair one. Judge, then, good reader, +of the joyous feelings of the enamoured Jacob Merrilees, when he +received the following note, written on glazed pink paper, sealed with +the impression of a heart pierced by an arrow--said heart being +supported by two pigeons--and folded into something of the fashion of +a love-knot. Judge, then, good reader, we say, of his feelings on +receiving this precious billet, the first palpable hint of his +acceptability with which he had ever been favoured by his fair +inamorato:-- + + "DEAR MR MERRILEES,--Would you make one of a party to visit the + wax-work to-morrow? I should be happy if you could. There will be + several young ladies of my acquaintance with us, and one or two + gentlemen. We propose meeting at our house. Hour, twelve of the + clock precisely. It _will particularly gratify me_, if you can make + it convenient to be one of the party," &c. &c. + +"JULIA WILLOUGHBY." + +"Dear, delightful creature!" exclaimed Jacob, in an ecstasy of +rapture, and kissing the delicious document with the fervour and +enthusiasm of a rapt and devoted love. "Make it convenient?" he +exclaimed, with expressive energy. "Ay, that I will, adored and +beloved Julia! although ten thousand difficulties were in my way. All +engagements, all considerations, all duties, light of my life, idol of +my adoration, must give way to thy slightest wish. It will +particularly gratify thee!" he exclaimed, with a laugh of wild +ecstasy. "Will it, will it?--oh! will it? Then am I a happy man +indeed!" and he began to pace the room with the light rapid step of +sudden and excessive joy. + +In this process Jacob had indulged for several minutes, without +adverting, as he usually did, in similar circumstances, to the +representation of his own handsome person in a large mirror, which +hung on one side of the apartment. As his fervour, however, began to +abate, he threw glances at the glass _en passant_, and, with every +turn, these glances became more earnest, and of longer duration, until +he at length fairly planted himself before the faithful reflector, in +order to submit his person to a thorough and deliberate inspection. +The survey was perfectly satisfactory to Jacob; and he was turning +away, highly gratified by its results, when his eye fell on the sleeve +of his coat. "Ha," said Jacob, "getting scuffy, by all that's +annoying. Had no idea. Won't do, won't do--that's clear. Can never go +through the streets with Julia and her fair bevy of acquaintances in +such a coat as this--never, never, never." + +And, in great perplexity at the discovery he had made, Jacob flung +himself down in a chair, and, with his hand placed on his forehead, +began to think profoundly on the means of remedying the evil of a +shabby coat. The time was too short to admit of his providing a new +one; and, indeed, although it had been longer, this was an experiment +on his tailor on which he could hardly have ventured, that gentleman +having lately shown symptoms of restiveness which were by no means +encouraging. What was to be done then? + +"I have it!" said Jacob, starting up: "I will borrow a coat for the +nonce from my friend, Bob Simmins. He will supply me with the +desiderated garment." + +No sooner conceived than executed. Down Jacob immediately sat, and +forthwith indited the following billet to his friend Bob:-- + + "DEAR BOB,--Being invited for to-morrow to a party, at which there + is to be a large infusion of the fair sex, and finding after a + careful inspection, that my coat is not in the most healthy + condition, might I request the favour of your lending me a + corresponding piece of toggery for the occasion, if you have such + an article to spare, and said article be of a kind creditable to + the wearer. + + "We are about a size, I think, and can therefore calculate on a + fit. Yours truly, JACOB MERRILEES." + +Having written this note, Jacob forthwith sealed it, and put it into +the hands of the maid-servant, with a request that she would see to +its immediate delivery. The request was complied with. In ten minutes +after, the girl was in the presence of the redoubted Bob Simmins; for +redoubted he was, Bob being one of the most dashing fellows of his +time, nevertheless of a rigid adherence to the praiseworthy rule of +never paying a copper to anybody for anything. + +Having opened his friend's note, and scanned it over-- + +"Ah yes, let me see"--and he stroked his chin, threw himself back in +the chair, gazed on the roof, and thought for a moment. At length--"My +compliments to Mr Merrilees," he said; "I will send him what he wants +to-morrow morning." + +In due course of time, to-morrow morning made its appearance, and with +it came to Jacob's lodgings the promised article of dress. A bundle +neatly put up, and whose outward covering was a yellow silk +handkerchief, was handed in to Mr Merrilees, as he sat at breakfast. +At once guessing at the contents of the package, Jacob started up, +undid the knots by which it was secured, with an eager and impatient +hand, took up the article it contained, shook out its folds, and gazed +with ecstasy on a splendid surtout. It was Simmins'. Jacob knew it +again. He had seen it a thousand times on his friend, and as often had +praised and admired it. The cut, the braiding, the elegant fur +neck--all had been marked, and cordially approved of. How good of +Simmins, poor fellow! to send him his best coat! It was an obligation +he would never forget. + +Having unfolded the surtout, Jacob's next proceeding was to try it on. +It was a beautiful fit. Not the hundredth part of an inch too short, +too long, or too wide. It was, in fact, just the thing. Couldn't have +been better, although it had been cut for him by Stultz's foreman. +Convinced of this pleasing truth, Jacob stood before the glass for +fully a quarter-of-an-hour, throwing himself into various attitudes, +in order to bring out all the beauties of the much-admired garment; +and every change of position increasing the favourable opinion which +he entertained of his own appearance. Satisfied with the contemplation +of himself in the mirror, Jacob now commenced a series of turns up and +down the apartment; sometimes throwing his arms akimbo, sometimes +folding them across his breast, and anon glancing down with a smile of +ineffable admiration on the flowing skirts of his surtout. This new +test of the merits of the borrowed garment having also been found +satisfactory, and every other ordeal to which it could be subjected +having also been had recourse to, and it having stood them all, Jacob +put the last finishing touch to his person, gave a last look at the +glass, and, with mincing step, went forth to conquer and to captivate. +And never did man or woman either take the field for such a purpose +with greater confidence in their own powers, or with greater certainty +of success. + +Before proceeding, however, to the place of meeting, Jacob bethought +him of making a run the length of his friend Bob's, just to thank him +for his kindness, and to show him how the surtout fitted. Obeying this +impulse, he was, in a few minutes after, in the presence of the +obliging Simmins. A lively chat ensued between the two friends, and +continued with unabated energy, until Jacob, suddenly pulling out his +watch, found that his appointed hour had passed. On making this +discovery, he started from his chair, seized his hat, rushed out of +the house, and, at the top of his speed, made for the residence of his +beloved Julia Willoughby. Notwithstanding his speed, however, he was a +little late. The party were already assembled. This was a trifle +awkward; but it had its advantages, as we shall presently show. The +approach to Miss Willoughby's residence was through a garden of +considerable length, and thus all visiters might be fully, fairly, and +minutely scanned as they advanced. Now, Jacob being a little late, as +we have already said, the party, particularly the ladies, in their +impatience for his arrival, had clustered around the windows, and were +anxiously looking for his advent; so that the moment he opened the +gate, both himself and his surtout were in full view of some +half-dozen or more admiring spinsters. It was a complete triumph to +Jacob, and he felt it to be so. He saw that all eyes were bent on him +as he approached the house; that his surtout had attracted particular +notice, and had become a subject of general remark and general +approbation. He felt, in short, conscious that he had excited a +sensation amongst the fair spectators of his approach. He saw the +flutter of agitation. He marked the blush, the averted eye. He was +delighted, elated. His surtout was triumphant. It had produced all the +effects, so far as others are concerned, for which a surtout can be +coveted. Conscious of the impression he had made, through the medium +of his surtout, Jacob's step became more buoyant, his head more erect, +and his whole mien more elevated and dignified. + +Thus he entered the parlour, where the waiting party were assembled; +and here, again, he had the satisfaction of finding his surtout an +object of general observation. But let us ask, while Jacob is thus +enjoying the favouring smiles of the fair, and thus revelling in his +own delightful feelings, who and what are they, these two fellows who +are skulking about Mr Willoughby's garden gate, as if waiting the +egress of some one? Why, it is Howison--no other; and another +professional gentleman, a concurrent. They are upon business. They +have got scent of prey, and are following it out, with noses as keen +and purpose as fell as those of a sleuth-hound. There can be no doubt +of it. Hear them; listen to the gentle small talk that is passing +between them. + +Howison loquitur, and wiping his perspiring forehead with his +handkerchief: "Feth, Davy, that was a rin; and no to mak him oot after +a'. But we'll nail him yet." + +Concurrent respondent: "But are ye sure it was him after a'?" + +"Oh, perfectly! I canna be mistaen. It's the surtout, beyond a' manner +o' doubt; and of course it's the man, too, seein he cam oot o' the +house we were directed to." + +The reasoning being quite satisfactory to the concurrent, he ventured +no further remark on the subject of identity; and we avail ourselves +of the temporary pause which now took place between the speakers, to +explain, that they had seen Jacob emerging from Simmins'. They were +just approaching at the moment; but the rapid rate at which the former +was going prevented the closer intimacy which they intended, and hence +the chase. + +"Will we pin him in this house, then?" inquired Davy, again resuming +the conversation. + +"No; they might deny him. We'll wait whar we are a bit, till he comes +oot. Dog him, if he taks the direction o' the jail, and nab him at a +convenient opportunity." + +"He may bilk us." + +"We'll tak care o' that. We'll gie him heels for't, Davy, if that's +his gemm." + +A pause in the conversation, which was not for some time interrupted, +here ensued. After a short while, however, it was again broken in +upon. + +"Whisht! whisht! Back, Davy, back!" (The two professional gentlemen +were ensconced in a close or entry directly opposite Mr Willoughby's +garden-gate.) "Back, Davy, back!" said Howison. "There's somebody +comin. I hear folk speakin and lauchin in the garden." + +Davy listened an instant, then acknowledged there were good grounds +for the assertion, and immediately drew himself farther into his +hiding-place, like an alarmed snail into its shell. + +Howison, as the principal, now placed himself in front of his +assistant, squeezed himself as close as he could to the wall, until he +stuck as close to, and as flat on it, as a bat. He then, by a +dexterous movement, thrust his head in a lateral direction, till his +nose just cleared the corner of the close, when, closing his left eye, +and concentrating his whole powers of vision in his right, he planted +the solitary optic with eager vigilance on the garden gate, to watch +the coming forth of those who were on its opposite side. For this he +had not long to wait. In a few moments the gate flew open, and out +sallied, with frequent bursts of merriment, one of the gayest and most +joyous parties that a bright summer day ever brought forth; and gayest +and most joyous of the whole was Jacob Merrilees. Of the whole squad +his laugh was the loudest, his motions the liveliest, his looks the +most cheerful. Jacob was in his element. He was in the midst of a bevy +of ladies. One hung on each arm; while others, to whom fortune had not +been so propitious in allowing them to get nearer his person, +contented themselves with taking the arms again of their more favoured +sisters--of those two enviable spinsters who had secured the posts of +honour, the immediate vicinity of the admired Jacob Merrilees. Jacob +was thus in the very centre of the gay band of fair spinsters; and a +proud man was he of his enviable position. He talked!--ye gods, how he +talked!--and chattered away in a manner most delightful to hear; at +least so it seemed, from the frequent bursts of laughter which he +elicited from his lively protegées. He smirked, and he smiled, and he +bowed, first to one side and then to another, after his most +captivating manner, and, in short, did all that a man who was pleased +with himself, and desired to please others, could possibly do to +maintain these agreeable feelings. He was the king of the roost--that +was evident; the very centre of attraction; the delight, the glory, +the leading star in the galaxy of beauty of which he formed a part. + +The party having cleared the gate, took the road with a circular sweep +round, and a burst of merriment that sufficiently betokened the +lightness of heart and of heel of those of whom it was composed. + +"Deek yon, Davy," exclaimed Howison, at this interesting moment, and +now addressing the worthy just named, who had by this time come up +alongside of him, and was also indulging himself in a bird's-eye view +of the party round the corner of the close. "Deek yon, Davy. He's aff +like a paitrik: but we'll bring him up wi' a short turn, I'm thinkin. +We'll pit a slug through his wing. Little does he ken wha's watchin +him." + +"Wull we gie chase?" said the concurrent, who stood at this instant +like a dog in the slip, with his neck on the stretch, and every nerve +braced for the run. + +"No, no; gie him the start a bit till he gathers confidence, and then +we'll pounce on him. Wary, Davy, wary! keep in a bit. Dinna shute oot +your head so far. If he gets a glisk o' ye, he'll tak to his trotters +in a minnit, and gie us an infernal rin for't. See what lang legs the +sinner has." + +"I think I could rin him ony day," replied Howison's concurrent, "and +gie him a start o' a hunner yards to the bargain." + +"I'm no sure o' that," rejoined Howison, shaking his head doubtingly; +"ye dinna ken hoo a man can rin wi' a caption at his heels. It maks +them go at a deevil o' a rate. I've seen great, fat, auld chaps, that +ye wadna hae thocht could rin a yard an't were to save their lives, +flee like the win before a 'Whereas.'" + +"Noo, noo, Davy," continued Howison, and now recalling his neighbour's +attention to business, "let us be joggin. He's takin the richt road, +so we'll just pin him at our leisure." + +Saying this, the pair started, and in a short time were hovering on +the skirts of the heedless party, and their heedless and unwary +leader, the devoted Jacob Merrilees. + +Wholly unconscious, as the reader will readily believe, of the plot +that was thickening over his head, or, rather, at his heels, Jacob was +continuing the career of banter, and lively small talk, and smart +repartee, which distinguished his first appearance at the garden gate, +when he suddenly felt himself gently touched from behind on the left +shoulder. He turned round, but without quitting the arms of the fair +ladies who hung upon him, and looked frowningly on Howison. + +"What do you mean, sir?" inquired Jacob, indignantly, and now glancing +also at Howison's companion, who stood close by, with his stick tucked +under his arm. + +To this query the only reply was a knowing wink, and a significant wag +of the forefinger, which, when translated, meant--"Come here, friend, +and I'll tell you." + +"Get along with you, sir!" said Jacob, contemptuously. + +"Thank you, but I won't," replied Howison, saucily. + +"No! Then what the devil do you want?" + +"You," said the former, emphatically. "But you had better conduct +yourself quietly, for your own sake." + +"Now, my good fellow," replied Jacob, in a satirically calm tone, +"_do_ tell me what you mean?" + +"Do ye ken such a man as Fairly the tailor?" inquired Howison, who +always affected a degree of playfulness in the execution of this +department of his duties. "Do ye ken Fairly the tailor?" he said, with +an intelligent smile. + +"I know no such man, sir; never heard his name before," replied Jacob, +angrily, and now urging his fair protegées onwards--the whole party +having been stopped by the incident just detailed. + +"Not so fast, friend," exclaimed Howison, making after his prey, and +again slapping him on the shoulder, but now less ceremoniously. "You +are my prisoner, and here's my authority," he added, pulling out a +crumpled piece of paper. It was the decreet against Simmins. "Although +_you_ don't know Fairly, _I_ happen to know Fairly's surtout. The +short and the long of the matter is, sir," continued Howison, "that I +arrest you at the instance of John Fairly, tailor and clothier, for a +debt of £4:15s., with interest and expenses, said debt being the price +of the identical surtout which you have just now on your back. So come +along quietly, or it may be worse for you." + +We do not suppose it is necessary that we should describe the +amazement of the unhappy wearer of the surtout in question, on so very +extraordinary and incomprehensible a statement being made to him, nor +that of his party, from the same cause. The reader will at once +conceive what it was, without any such proceeding on our part. + +Confounded, however, and amazed as he was, Jacob's presence of mind +instantly showed him that he was in a dilemma, a regular scrape. That +he must either acknowledge--and, in the presence of all his fair +friends, there was death in the idea--that the surtout he wore, and +which had procured for him so much admiration, was a borrowed one, or +quietly submit to be dragged to jail as the true debtor. Jacob further +saw exactly how the case stood. He saw that his friend Simmins had +never paid for the very flashy article in which he was now arrayed (a +discovery this, however, which did not in the least surprise him), and +that _he_ was the person for whom the honours of Howison were +intended. + +Having, however, no fancy for incarceration, Jacob finally determined +on avowing the distressing fact, that his surtout was a borrowed one, +and that, not being its true owner, he was, of course, free of the +attentions of Mr Howison. With a face, then, red as scarlet, and a +voice expressive of great tribulation, Jacob made a public +acknowledement of this humiliating truth, and was about to avail +himself of the advantage which he calculated on deriving from +it--namely, that of proceeding on his way--when, to his great horror +and further confusion, he found that Howison determined on still +sticking to him. In great agitation, Jacob again repeated that he was +not Simmins, and that he had merely borrowed the surtout from that +gentleman. To these earnest asseverations, Howison at first merely +replied by an incredulous smile, then added--"It may be sae, sir; but +that's a matter that maun be cleared up afterwards. In the meantime +ye'll go wi' me, if you please; and, if no o' your ain accord, as I +wad advise ye, by force, as I'll compel ye." Saying this, he plunged +his hand into one of his pockets, and produced a pair of handcuffs, +like a rat-trap. The exhibition of these ornaments, and the dread of +getting up a scene on the public street, at once decided the +unfortunate surtout-borrower to submit to his fate, and to walk +quietly off with his new friends, Mr Howison and concurrent. + +In ten minutes after, Jacob found himself snugly quartered in an airy +chamber, with grated windows, commanding a pleasant view of a +tread-mill in full operation; and here he remained, until the +following morning brought such evidence of his identity as procured +his liberation. On once more snuffing the fresh air, Jacob swore he +would take care again whose coat he borrowed, when he should have +occasion to ask such a favour from a friend; and we would advise the +reader to exercise the like caution, should he ever find himself in +similar circumstances. + + + + +THE SURGEON'S TALES. + +THE SUICIDE. + + +It is a vain question, that which has been often stirred among men of +our profession and metaphysicians, whether insanity--including under +that word all the modes of derangement of the mental powers--is +strictly a _disease_, the definition of which, according to the best +authorities, is "an alternation from a perfect state of bodily +health." Both parties may, to a certain extent, be right; for the one, +including chiefly the metaphysicians, can successfully exhibit a +gradation in the scale of derangement: beginning at the slightest +peculiarity; passing on to an eccentricity; from that to idiosyncrasy; +from that to a decay or an extraordinary increase of strength in a +particular faculty--say memory; from that to a decay or an increase in +the intensity of a feeling, an emotion, or a passion; from that to +false perception--such as monomania, progressing to derangement as to +one point or subject, often called madness, _quoad hoc_; and so on, +through many other changes, almost imperceptible in their differences, +to perfect madness--all without the slightest indication of a +pathological nature being to be discovered or detected by the finest +dissecting-knife. On the other hand, again, it is indisputable--for we +medical men have demonstrated the fact--that a certain _degree_ of +madness is almost always accompanied with derangement in the cerebral +organs--the most ordinary appearance being the existence of a fluid of +a certain kind in the chambers of the brain. + +The best and the cleverest of us must let these questions alone; for, +so long as we remain--and that may be, as it likely will be, for +ever--ignorant of the subtle principle of organic life--the nature of +the mysterious union of mind and matter--we will never be able to tell +(notwithstanding all our mental achievements) whether madness has its +primary beginning in the body or in the mind. We must remain contented +with a knowledge of exciting causes, and with that melancholy lore +which treasures up--alas! for how little good!--the dreadful symptoms +which distinguish this miserable state of proud man from all other +conditions of his earthly sorrow; exhibiting him conscious of being +still a human creature impressed with the image of God, yet incapable +of using the proudest gift of Heaven--his reason; susceptible of and +suffering the most excruciating of all pains--imaginary evils, +torments, agonies--yet placed beyond the pale of human sympathy; bent +upon--following with cunning and assiduity the cruellest modes of +self-immolation; and sometimes calmly _reasoning_ on the nature of the +mysterious power that impels to a horrible and revolting suicide. + +I have been led into this train of thought by the circumstances of the +case I am now about to relate. It is one of a calm, reasoning, +determined self-destroyer, in whom, with the single exception of +wishing to die by violent and bloody means, I could discover no mental +derangement. The case occurs every day; but there are circumstances in +this of a peculiar nature, which set it apart from others I have +witnessed, and seen described; and, as it bears the invaluable stamp +of truth, my description of it may be held to be a chapter, and a +melancholy one, in the wonderful history of human life, wherein, +perhaps, the succeeding capital division may consist of an account of +our own tragic fate, not less lamentable or less awful. Such creatures +are we lords of the creation!--so completely veiled are the destinies +of man! + +It was, I think, in the month of December in the winter of 18--, that +a man in the garb of a farmer called upon me, and requested me to +visit George B----, a person, he said, of his own craft, who held a +small sheep-farm back among the hills about three miles distant. I +asked the messenger if the man was in danger, and if he wished me to +proceed instantly to his residence, or if a call the first time that I +passed that way, which might be next day, would suffice. He replied +that his friend was not in immediate danger, and did not wish me to +travel three miles for the special purpose of seeing him, but would be +contented with, and grateful for, a visit from me on any early day +that suited my convenience. + +On the following day, I happened to be in that quarter of the country, +and called at the house to which I had been directed. The day was +cloudy, raw, and cold, and a stern north wind whistled among the +brackens of the hills. I was struck with the situation and appearance +of the house. It had formerly been a mansion-house, and was much +larger than the ordinary residences of small sheep-farmers among the +hills. The situation was peculiarly bleak, sequestered, and even +dismal: no trees could be discovered in any direction; there was no +outhouses attached to the dwelling; and no neighbouring residence was +to be seen. The house stood alone, big, gaunt, cold, and comfortless, +in the midst of bare hills, exposed to the bitter wind that careered +through the valleys and ravines. Nor, as I approached, did I discover +any signs of domestic stir or comfort. Several of the windows were +closed up--the under part of the house apparently being only inhabited +by the inmates, who showed no anxiety to ascertain by looking out who +it was that had accomplished the task of getting to this barren and +sequestered place. + +On knocking at the door, it was opened by a young woman about eighteen +years of age. She appeared to be delicate--being thin in her person, +pale in her complexion, and of an irritable temperament, for she +started when she saw me. An expression of melancholy pervaded +features not unhandsome, and attracted particularly my attention, by +almost instantly exciting my sympathy. I asked her if George B---- was +in the house. She answered that her father, for such he was, had just +gone to bed, having been for some time ailing. I told her that it was +upon that account I had come to see him. She seemed then to know who I +was, and thanked me for my attention. I stepped in; and, as I followed +the young woman through a long passage to the room occupied by her +father, she told me that her mother had died about a year before, and +that there was no other individual living in the house but her and her +remaining parent. A gloomy, unhappy pair! thought I, as I looked on +her sombre face, and heard the wind moaning through the big, open +house. + +On entering the room, which was cold and poorly furnished, I observed +George B---- sitting up in his bed reading a book, which I discovered +to be a large Bible. He had a napkin bound round his temples. His face +exhibited the true melancholic hue, being of a swarthy yellow; his +eyes wore the heaviness generally found in people of that temperament; +the muscles were firmly bound down by the rigid, severe, and +desponding expression of dejection, generally found associated with +these other characteristics; and throughout his face and manner there +was exhibited an indifference to surrounding objects, which was only +very partially relaxed by his recognition of me as I entered. There +was, however, nothing of the look of a diseased man about him; for his +face was full and fleshy, his nerves firm and well strung, his eye +steady and unclouded, and his voice, as he welcomed me in, strong, and +even rough and burly. His face resembled very much the _ideal_ of that +of the old Covenanters; and the large Bible he held in his hands aided +the conception, and increased the picturesque effect of the whole +aspect of the man. + +He knew, or took it for granted, that I was the surgeon he had sent +for, pointed to a chair, that I might sit down, and beckoned to his +daughter Margaret, as he called her, to leave the room. The young +woman retired slowly, and I observed, as she proceeded towards the +door, she threw back two or three nervous looks, which I thought +indicated a strong feeling of apprehension, mixed with her filial +sympathy. As the door shut, it sounded as if it had lost the catch; +the father caught the sound, appeared angry, and requested me to rise +and shut it effectually, and, as he added, carefully. I complied, and +he seemed to listen for some time, as if to try to ascertain whether +his daughter had proceeded along the passage to the kitchen. He was +uncertain, and listened again, but was still unresolved; at last, he +said he was sorry to give me so much trouble, but he felt he could not +enter upon the subject about which he wished to consult me until he +was satisfied, beyond the possibility of doubt, that Margaret was not +listening. I rose and went to the door. On opening it, I saw the young +woman standing behind it. On perceiving me, she retreated +precipitately and fearfully along the dark passage. I shut the door; +and, being unwilling, in my ignorance of the cause of all this +mysterious secrecy and suspicion, to betray the poor girl, who had +perhaps some good legitimate object in solicitude, I said simply that +there was now nobody there. He was satisfied; and I again sat down. + +I then asked him what was the particular complaint about which he +wished to consult me. + +"That is precisely what I wish to know," he replied. "I hae nae +complaint aboot _my body_, which, God be thanked! is just as strong as +it used to be. But there is a change in my mind, different frae the +healthy griefs, and sorrows, and pains o' mortals. My wife, the best +o' women, died a year ago. In a short time after, I lost the greater +number o' my sheep in a storm, which prevented me frae payin my +Candlemas rent. But mony a man loses his wife, and mony a shepherd his +sheep, without tellin a doctor o' their loss. I laid my account wi' +sufferin grief as heavy as mortal ever suffered; and in this house, in +this bed, on these hills, in the kirk, and at our cattle trysts, I hae +struggled wi' my sorrow. But, sir," leaning his head towards me, and +speaking low, "_it winna a' do_." + +He paused, and, as he fixed his eye upon me, drew a deep sigh, as if +he had already, as it were, broached a subject that was fearful to +himself. + +"What mean you?" said I. + +"I mean, that _I canna live_!" he replied, energetically, seizing the +Bible with a spasmodic grasp--closing it--throwing it to the back of +the bed--then falling in an instant into a state of real dejection, +with his arms folded over his breast, and his eyes cast down. + +"Grief often produces these gloomy thoughts," said I; "but they are +the mere fancies of a sick mind--generated in sorrow, and dying with +the time-subdued cause that produces them. There is not a bereaved +husband, wife, parent, or child in the land, that does not, in the +first struggle with a new grief, entertain and cherish, for passing +moments of agony, such sick fancies of rebelling nature. You have not +yet given time and your energies a fair trial. You must have +patience." + +"There is some consolation in that," he replied. "I am glad when I +think that the thought that haunts and alarms me is no sae dangerous +as it sometimes appears to me. This book (sweet comforter!) tells me +that Tobit prayed to be dissolved, and become earth, because o' his +sorrow. It tells me, also, that Job, in his agonies, cried, 'My soul +chooseth strangling and death rather than life.' My experience o' the +ills o' life (and a man o' sixty-five must have some portion o' that) +informs me o' the truth o' what you have told me, that an +extraordinary burden o' grief often wrings frae the sick soul a wish +to dee and be at rest. But oh! I fear my situation is different. I hae +_mair_ than a wish to be dissolved; for sure none o' my brethren in +sorrow"--here his voice fell almost to a whisper, and tears rolled +down his cheek--"ever lay wi' the like o' that"--holding up a +razor--"under his sick pillow." + +I was alarmed, being utterly unprepared for this exhibition. + +"You need be under nae alarm," he continued, wiping the tears from his +eyes. "My courage is not yet strong enough. God be praised for it! +Moments o' fearfu fortitude sometimes come owre me, and I have held +that instrument in my clenched hand--ay, within an inch o' my bared +throat; but the resolution passes as quickly as it comes, and terror, +cowardice, and a shiverin cauld--dreadfu to suffer--come in their +place. Lay it past, sir--lay it past." + +I obeyed; and, as I proceeded to place the instrument on the top of a +chest of drawers, I heard the noise of some one in the passage, with +suppressed ejaculations of--"O God! O God!" + +"I wadna hae shown you that," he continued, as I sat down, "but that +it is my wish to tell you the warst; for nae man can expect +assistance, if he is ashamed or afraid to show his necessities and his +danger. I didna send for you to cure my body, but to examine my mind, +and tell me if it is sound and healthy, or weak and diseased, and +therefore I will conceal naething frae ye that may show you its state +and condition." + +I was pleased to find I had so tractable a patient. I paused for a +moment, to consider in what way I should draw him out, and on what +side I should attack him--whether I should argue calmly with him, and +endeavour to stimulate his feelings of duty to his Maker, to himself +and his poor daughter; or shake him roughly as a vain and sinful +dreamer who had voluntarily swallowed a pernicious soporific, and try +to awaken him, and keep him awake, after the manner of our remedial +endeavours to save those who have attempted to poison themselves by +laudanum. I saw, in an instant, that he was by far too strong-minded a +man to be operated upon effectually by the mere charm of the imputed +reach and strength of our cabalistic lore--an agent, if well employed, +of great good in our profession--and too determined (for such +resolutions are always, in some degree, a false result of reasoning +powers) to be put from his purpose either by a firm pressure of +logical authority, or the subtle and more dangerous means of +good-humoured or severe satire. My course was clearly to endeavour to +affect the form of his own reasoning, and, if possible, to invest it +with a character which might be recognised as true by the peculiar, +and, no doubt, morbid perceptions he possessed of moral truth. I began +by securing his eye, which I saw was, at times, inclined to wander, or +take on that unmeaning, dull, glazed aspect which people in the act of +brooding over intense sorrows--as if the optic nerves were thereby +paralysed--so often exhibit. + +"What train of mind are you in generally," said I, "when the wish to +die, accompanied with the fortitude you have mentioned, comes upon you +in its strongest form?" + +"I first fall into a state of low spirits," said he, "and then nae +effort I can use will tak my mind aff my dead wife. I think for whole +hours--sometimes on the hills, sometimes in the house, and sometimes +in my bed--of our courtship, our marriage, our happy life, and her +miserable, painful, untimely death. This feeds my sorrow, which grows +stronger, and descends deeper and deeper, till it reaches my brain, +and I am sunk in the darkness o' despair. To escape frae thoughts o' +past sorrows that are owre strong to be borne, I try to look forward +to the future; but, alas! I see naething there but the pain o' livin +for a number o' comfortless years o' auld age, draggin after me, a +memory clogged wi' past ills, and naething afore me but a jail, and +want, and lingerin death." + +"These are false views of life," said I--"overstrained and morbid. I +must teach you to think better. You have a daughter who will comfort +you, and whom you are bound to support and protect." + +"True, true," he cried; "I hae a dochter, and a better never +sacrificed her ain thochts and feelins to the comforts o' a faither. +The idea o' leavin her, young, faitherless, poor, and full o' sorrow, +in the midst o' a bad world, has before this" (lowering his voice) +"brought down that rebellious hand from this throat. But, alas for the +inconsistency and mutability o' man's fancies!--dearly as I love that +creature, and she is now my only comfort, my very affection for her +sometimes sinks me deeper into that sorrow which produces the dreadfu +purpose o' takin awa my ain life; for I think--oh! how weak is man's +proud reason, when the heart is broken wi' grief!--that an auld parent +under the ban o' poverty is a burden to a child. His death (so in +these unhappy moments do I think) relieves the unhappy bairn o' twa +evils--that o' toilin maybe in vain to support him, and that o' +witnessin age, decrepitude, pain, misery, and want, wringin frae his +shrivelled and diseased body groans o' agony, strikin the heart o' his +child wi' mair pain than would be caused by the knell o' his death." + +He now sank his face in the bedclothes, which he grasped with a +spasmodic hand, and groaned so deep and loud that the sounds might +have reached the passage. I again heard a noise from that quarter, as +if of stifled sighs and hysterical sobs. I was placed between the +groans of a father bent against his own judgment on self-destruction, +and the terrors and griefs of a daughter listening to the horrible +recital of her parent's designs against his life. The loneliness of +the house, and the solitude of the unhappy pair--with no one to aid +the young woman, in the event of any appalling extremity to which the +unnatural purpose of her father might drive him--struck me forcibly. I +had no recollection of ever experiencing a scene of grief so peculiar, +with such fearful and uncertain issues, so irremediable and +heart-stirring. The groans of the one and the sobs of the other seemed +to vie with each other in the effect they produced upon me; but, great +as the pain of the father was, the sufferings of the daughter, perhaps +as peculiar and touching as any that could be conceived, engaged to +the greatest extent my sympathy. It was my duty and wish to try to +remove the fundamental cause of all this suffering; and I waited the +end of the paroxysm of the father's sorrow in order to resume the +conversation. + +"These views," said I, as he calmed, "which you take of life, and its +duties and affections, are all false and distorted. It is our duty to +try to regulate our thoughts as well as our actions by some steady +supporting principle, which mankind have agreed in considering as +true, whether it be derived from the direct Word of God or from the +written tablets of the heart. The taking away of our life--originally +given to us as a trust, or imposed on us by the Author of all good, +for certain ends and purposes which are veiled from our view--is +undoubtedly in many respects, as regards God himself, ourselves, our +children, and our neighbours, a great, flagrant, horrible crime. It is +against the law of God, the law of our country, the organic law of our +physical constitution, and the moral law of our minds. It is indeed +the only act that can be mentioned that is against _all_ these. It +does not require me to tell you that suicide, with other murders, was +denounced by God himself, speaking in words that all mankind have +heard, from the 'thick cloud' that hung over Mount Sinai. You are, I +presume, a Christian, and the Sacred Book containing that denunciation +lies at your side; and yet you have made the dreadful confession to +me, that you have dared to meditate on the breaking, the despising, +the contemning of the command of Him who by less than a command--ay, +than even a word, by the lifting up of his finger--may consign you to +an eternity of agony, in comparison of which all the sorrow you now +suffer is less than a grain of sand to the sandbanks of the sea." + +"It is true, it is true!" replied the unhappy man. "I know, I _feel_ +that every word you have uttered is true, maist true and undeniable as +are the sentiments o' this holy book," grasping again the Bible; "but +can ye--wha, by the command o' books and education, can dive farther +into the nature o' the mind than ane like me--explain this mystery, +that, when my soul is filled wi' the darkness o' sorrow, and my +rebellious purpose o' self-murder whispers in my mind treachery and +war against God, thae truths ye hae uttered, for they hae occurred to +me before, tak flight like guid angels, and leave me to warsle wi' a +power that subdues me? It is then that I am in danger, and the hand +that has held up to my throat that fatal instrument I had under my +pillow, has the moment before been lifted up vainly in prayer to God, +to throw owre my mind the light o' thae grand truths. What avails it, +then, that there are times when I love them, and am guided by them, +and thank Heaven for the precious gift o' knowin, feelin, and +appreciatin them, if there are other moments when they flee frae me, +and I am left powerless in the grasp o' my enemy?" Pausing, and +falling again into a fit of dejection. "I fear, I fear the best o' us +are only the slaves o' some mysterious power. But"--starting up, as if +recollecting himself--"I put a question to you--answer me in the name +o' Heaven; for if I gie mysel up to the belief o' an all-powerful +necessity, I am a lost man and a self-murderer." + +He was now clearly approaching a rock whereon many a gallant bark has +been shivered to atoms. Even healthy-minded men cannot look at the +question of the necessity of the will without staggering and reeling; +and hypochondriacs love to get drunk by inhaling the vapours of +mysticism that rise from it, destroying as they do all moral +responsibility, and concealing the vengeance of heaven and the terrors +of hell. It was necessary to lead him from this dangerous subject, +which it was clear he had been studying and dreaming about, with all +that love of subtlety and mysticism which melancholy generates. + +"No sensible man," said I, "believes in the absolute necessity of the +will. After the will is fixed, the liberty is already exercised, and +there is indeed _no will_ in the mind at all, until it takes the form +of an active, moving, propelling principle. But these are abstruse +fancies, which you must fly, if you wish to possess a healthy mind. +Sorrow, or any other feeling of pain, will extinguish while it lasts +the burning lights of principle or sentiment. The pain of the +amputation of a limb prevents, while it lasts, the natural working of +the mind; but _grief may be averted_, and the great healing secret of +that is, that the mind _must_ be occupied. Renounce all abstruse +thinking, all day-dreaming, all sorrowful remembering, all sentimental +musing--look upon application, exercise, work, as a duty and a +medicine, and I will answer for your expelling from your mind that +dreadful purpose that entails upon you misery, and disgraces the +nature of man." + +"Your advice is excellent," replied he, somewhat roused; "but, +unfortunately, I hae got the same frae my ain mind; and, what is mair, +I hae tried it--I hae tried it again and again;--the medicine is worth +nae mair to me than a bread pill. My efforts to exercise my mind, when +a fit o' sorrow presses upon it, only mak the sorrow the heavier, by +makin the mind less able to bear it. My soul is for ever bent on that +question o' the necessity o' the will which you despise and avoid. I +will, God is my witness, argue it with you, calmly and reasonably." + +"Unless you agree to renounce that question," said I, "I can do you no +good." + +"Then," replied he, with a groan, "I am left to Heaven and my +unavoidable fate. May God have mercy on my soul!" + +And he again relapsed into a fit of dejection, his head leaning on his +breast, and his eyes fixed on the bed. + +I could, I found, make no more of him that day, and my other +avocations required my departure. I told him I would call again, and +bring or send him some medicine. + +"It is an unnecessary waste o' your valuable time," he said, lifting +up his head, "to call again upon a wretch like me. I am much obliged +to you for advice; but the only medicine for me is--_death_." + +He pronounced the fearful word with an emphatic guttural tone, which +gave it a terrific effect. I opened the door to depart, and was +surprised to find that it would not go back sufficiently to allow me +to pass freely. The probable cause of the interruption flashed upon +my mind in an instant. Without speaking a word, I edged myself +through, and saw, lying at the back of the door, the body of the +unfortunate young woman, in a state of insensibility. I had presence +of mind enough not to carry her into the room where her father lay; +but, seeing the light of the kitchen at the further end of the long +gloomy passage, I snatched her up in my arms, and hastened with her +thither. Having laid her on a small truckle bed, whereon, I presume, +she usually slept, I found she was in a deep swoon; and, +notwithstanding that it was getting dark, and my time was expired, I +waited her recovery. As she lay before me, pale as a corpse, and as +I thought of the cause of her illness, and looked round in vain for +any one to give her assistance or consolation (the groans of her +father, which I indistinctly heard, being the only answer that would +have been given to a call for aid in a house more like a haunt for +ghosts and spectres than a residence for human beings), I felt the +impression of her peculiar misery pass over me, making me shudder as +if I had been seized with a fit of the ague. The frail, brittle +creature lying there, a victim of hysterics, fit only to be +cherished and guarded by a doting mother--placed in a large, empty, +gousty mansion--doomed to guard alone a suicide and a father, and, +perhaps, to wrestle with him through blood--her parent's blood!--for +the preservation of a remaining spark of a self-taken life! She at +length recovered, exhibiting the ordinary precursors of returning +consciousness--convulsive shiverings, rolling of the eyes, and +beating about with the hands. On perceiving me indistinctly, she +articulated-- + +"Death! death!--that was the word he spoke sae wildly.--Ah! I know it +now!--James H---- has lang tried to conceal it frae me; but I hae +discovered it at last. Can you save him, sir?--can you save the +faither o' her wha has scarcely anither freend on earth?" + +A flood of tears followed this ejaculation. She tore her hair like a +maniac. I tried everything in my power to pacify her; but terror had +completely mastered her weak nerves, and she shook as the successive +frightful images suggested by her situation passed through her excited +and still confused mind. + +"Is there no one in those parts," said I, "that can attend your +father, and assist you? Who is the James H---- you just now mentioned?" + +"He is my cousin," replied she. "He lived with us for some time; but +my father and he quarrelled about a _razor_, which he said James +wanted to steal from him. But I see it now. There was nae theft. +James, poor James, was innocent, and wanted to save him; but they +concealed it frae me, and my cousin was turned away." + +The mention of the word razor made me start. I had left the instrument +on the head of the drawers, and I had even now heard the wretched +man's groans. I hurried to the room, and entered softly. He was in a +fit of dejection, groaning, at intervals, deeply, like a man in bodily +pain. I took up the instrument without being noticed, and returned to +the kitchen. It was now almost dark. I had three miles to ride through +wild hill paths, and I heard some threatening indications of a +night-storm. The young woman was still lying on the couch, with her +terrors undiminished; but I could do nothing more for her, and to have +impressed her with the necessity of watching her parent would have +created additional alarm, without increasing her zeal in a cause that +concerned too nearly her own heart. I told her, therefore, that I +required to depart, and was in the act of leaving to go to the door, +when, in a paroxysm of terror, she started up, and seized me, +clutching me firmly, and crying loudly-- + +"Will you leave me alone wi' him in this house, and throughout the +dark night! He will do it when you are gone. Heaven preserve me frae +the sight o' a father's blood!" + +I tried to calm her, and to reason with her; but it was in vain. She +still clung to me; and I found myself necessitated either to use some +gentle force to detach myself from her grasp, or remain all night. I +adopted the former expedient, and rushing out, shut the door after me, +mounted my horse, and proceeded home. She had come out after me; for I +heard her cries for some time as I rode forward in the dark. + +Though soon out of sight of the house, I felt myself unconsciously +turning my head once or twice in the direction of the deserted +mansion. With all my efforts to think of some other subject--and my +own safety among these wild hills might have been sufficient to occupy +my attention--I could not, for some time, take my mind off the scene I +had witnessed, and the prospective misery that, in such different +forms, waited these two individuals. When I had gone about a mile and +a-half on my journey, I was accosted by a man, who asked me familiarly +how George B---- was. I recognised in him at once the individual who +had asked me to call for him. I told him that he was well enough in +his body, but had taken some wild and distorted views of life, which +might place him in danger of his own hands, while there was nobody in +the house to watch him but his daughter, who did not seem to me to be +well fitted for the task, seeing she was weakly, hysterical, and +timid. He told me he knew all I had stated; that his name was James +H----; that he was a cousin of the young woman's, George B---- having +been married on his mother's sister; that he had resided in the house, +and had discovered the tendency of his uncle's mind; and that, on one +occasion, he had snatched out of his hands a razor with which he +intended to destroy himself--an act for which he was expelled the +house, though he was the acknowledged suitor of the young woman, whom +he intended to wed. I told him he should marry her, protect her, and +save the father; but he replied that the old man would neither allow +him to live in the house, nor take his daughter from him; so that she +was compelled to remain in the dreadful condition in which I had found +her. I told him to call upon me next day, and proceeded homewards. + +Before James H---- called, which he did about two o'clock, I revolved +in my mind what should be done for the unfortunate man. I recollected +that, in a conversation I had with Dr D---- of Edinburgh, he told me +of a case of melancholy, and accompanying determination to commit +self-murder, which he had successfully treated by presenting to the +mind of the patient such horrific stories and narratives of men who +had taken their own lives, and suffered in their death inexpressible +agonies, and such shocking pictures of murders where the wretched +victims were brought back, by the hand of their offended Maker, from +the gates of death, with their consciences seared by the burning iron +of his vengeance, that the man got alarmed, was cured of his thirst +for his own blood, and never again spoke of self-destruction. I +resolved upon trying this expedient, and could not think of a better +book for my purpose than that extraordinary record of human vice and +suffering, the "Newgate Calendar." I fortunately possessed a copy, +with those fearfully graphic pictures, that suit so well, in their +coarse, half-caricatured, grotesque delineations, with the dreadful +narratives they are intended to illustrate. I picked out the most +fearful volume, that contained, at the same time, the greatest number +of attempted self-murders, where the victims were snatched from their +own chosen death, and, after their wounds were healed, devoted to that +pointed out by the law as due to their crimes. When James H---- called +in the afternoon, I gave him the volume, and requested him to hand it +to the patient's daughter, with directions to put it into the hands of +her father, as having been sent to him by me. He said he would take +the first opportunity of complying with my request. + +I had no visits to make that required my presence in that part of the +country for two or three days. On the second day after I had sent the +book, I had another call from James H----, who said that he had been +requested by the patient's daughter to return the volume, and to +request another one, which the patient desired, above all things, to +be sent to him that day. I accordingly sent him another volume, +although I did not know whether to augur well or ill from this +anxiety; but I was inclined to be of opinion that the symptom was an +auspicious one. Two days afterwards, the messenger called again, with +a repetition of his former request for another volume as soon as it +could be sent. I complied with it instantly; sending, however, on this +occasion, two--for I thought my medicine was operating beneficially, +and it was of that kind that could be of no use unless administered in +large doses, so, as it were, to surfeit and sicken the disease, and +force it, by paralysing its energies, to relinquish its grasp of the +patient's mind and body. + +Two days more having elapsed, I felt anxious to ascertain the effect +of my moral _emetocathartics_, and set out on the special errand of +visiting my patient. The house, as I approached, exhibited the same +still, dead-like aspect it possessed on my first visit. On knocking at +the door, it was opened timidly and slowly by the daughter, who +appeared to be paler, more sorrow-stricken, more weak and irritable, +than on the occasion of my former visit. Her eye exhibited that +terrorstruck look which nervous people, kept on the rack of a fearful +apprehension, so often exhibit. Her voice was low, monotonous, and +weak, as if she had been exhausted by mental anxiety, watching, and +care. There was still no one in the house but her and her father; the +same stillness reigned everywhere--the same air of dejection--the same +goustiness in the large empty dwelling. On asking her how her father +was, she replied, mournfully, that he had scarcely ever been out of +his bed since my last visit; that he lay, night and day, reading the +books I had sent him; that he had eaten very little meat, and had +fallen several times into dreadful fits of groaning, and talking to +himself. She added that he felt, at times, disinclined to see her; but +at others, his affection for her rose to such a height, that he flung +his arms about her neck, and wept like a child on her bosom. She had +proposed to him, she said, to bring some person into the house; but he +got into a violent rage when she mentioned it, and said he would expel +the first intruder, whether man or woman. She had therefore been +compelled to remain alone. She had lain at the back of his room-door +every night, watching his motions, whereby, in addition to her grief, +she had caught a violent rheumatism, which had stricken into her +bones. When, for a short time, she had gone to sleep, she was awakened +by terrific dreams and nightmares, which made her cry aloud for help, +and exposed the situation she had taken, for the purpose of watching +her parent, and defeating his purpose of self-murder. + +I proceeded to the patient's room. When I entered, which I did softly, +I found him lying in bed, with his head, as formerly, bound up in a +handkerchief; a volume of the "Newgate Calendar" lying on his breast. +So occupied was he with his enjoyment of this _morceau_ of horrors, +that he did not notice my entry or approach to his bedside. I stood +and gazed at him. He had finished the page that was open before +him--exhibiting John Torrance, the blacksmith of Hockley. His eye +rested at least five minutes on this horrific picture; and, as he +continued his rapt gaze, he drew deep sighs--his breast heaving with +great force, as if to throw off an unbearable load. He turned the +page, and noticed me. + +"You are very intent upon that book," said I. "I hope it _interests_ +you." + +"Yes," replied he. "My mind has been dead or entranced for a year. +This is the only thing in the world I have met wi' during my sorrow +capable o' putting life into my soul. It seems as if all the energies +that have been lying useless for that period had risen at the magic +power o' this wonderfu book, to pour their collected strength upon its +pages." + +"Then it has served its end," said I, doubting greatly the truth of my +own statement. "I sent it for the purpose of entertaining you--that +is--interesting you." + +"Entertaining me!" he ejaculated. "You mean, binding my soul wi' iron +bands: my heart now loves the misery it formerly loathed. But, sir, I +am not _fed_ with this food. I devour it wi' a false and ravenous +appetite; and were there a thousand volumes, I think I could read +them a' before I broke bread or closed an ee." + +He rolled out these words with a volubility and an enthusiasm that +surprised me. It was clear that I had poisoned the mind of this poor +man. I had stimulated and partly fed his appetite for horrors. +Familiarity with fearful objects kills the terror, and sometimes +raises in its place a morbid affection--a fact established in France +at the end of the last century by an empirical test of a horrific +character, but which no knowledge of man's mind could have dreamed of +_à priori_. Why had I forgotten this matter of history, and allowed +myself to be led astray by vain theories and partial experiments? What +was I now to do? The man's appetite for the bloody narratives was so +strong, that, even while I was thus cogitating, his greedy eye had +again sought the page. It was necessary that I should conceal from him +my apprehensions, and take up his words on a feigned construction. + +"This kind of reading," said I, "interests you, I presume, because it +fills your mind with a salutary disgust and terror--makes you loathe +the act of the suicide--and mans your soul against the hateful purpose +you entertained against your own life." + +He looked to the door, and beckoned to me to see if it was shut. I +went and satisfied him that it was, while I was myself assured that +she whom he was so anxious to deceive was again at her post behind it. + +"You ask me," he continued, "if this book has disgusted or terrified +me against my purpose o' deein. Are we disgusted and terrified at what +we love? I hae seen the day when thae stories had sma' attraction for +me. But, alas! alas! I am a changed--a fearfully changed man. My soul +now gloats owre tales o' crime and scenes o' blood. To me there is an +interest, an indescribable, mysterious interest in this book, beyond +the charm o' the miser's wealth, or the bridegroom's bride--ay, sir, +or what I ance thocht was in life to the deein sinner. It is a +medicine; but"--pausing, and eyeing me sorrowfully--"do you mean it to +_kill_ or _cure_?" + +"To save you from self-destruction," said I--"the most fearful and the +most cowardly of all the terminations of human life." + +"If you could keep me readin this _for ever_," he said, "yer object +would be served." + +"I can give you no more of it," said I, conscious that, by indulging +his morbid appetite for blood, I had been leading him to his ruin. + +"Then I must read thae volumes owre, and owre, and owre again," said +he; "and when I hae dune, I hae naething mair to interest me in this +dark, bleak warld." + +He fell now into one of his fits of dejection, assuming his accustomed +attitude of folding his hands over his breast, and fixing his eyes on +the bed, while deep sighs and groans were thrown from his heaving +breast. It was necessary, I now saw, to take from him the book which +had produced an effect the very opposite of what I had intended and +expected. I took it up and placed it beside the other volume that was +lying on a side-table, with a view to take them away with me--blaming +myself sorely and deservedly for the injury I had done by +experimenting so rashly on the life and eternal interests of a human +being. As I moved away the volume, he observed me, and followed it +wistfully and sorrowfully with his eye. + +"Ye hae dune weel," he said--"ye hae whetted my appetite for my ain +life; and it matters naething that the whetter and the whet-stane are +taen awa when they're nae mair needed!" + +I felt keenly the reproach, for it was just. I might have taken credit +for a good intention; but my sympathy for the wretched being +restrained any wish I had to defend myself I endeavoured to change +the subject of our conversation, and turn his mind to a subject which +I knew engaged his interests and feelings more than anything else on +earth. + +"Your daughter," said I, "is unwell. She seems to be miserable. I know +a change upon her both in mind and body, since I called here only a +few days ago. Her body is thin and emaciated, her cheek is blanched, +and her eye dimmed. These signs do not visit the young frame for +nothing. I fear she has heard of the deadly intention you still +persist in entertaining--to take away your own life. It is clear to me +that her sickly constitution cannot long stand against a terror and an +apprehension which even the aged and the strong cannot endure without +grievous injury to all the faculties of the body and mind. Sir, take +heed"--pausing and looking at him seriously and impressively--"you may +become _a daughter's murderer_ before your _cowardly_ courage enables +you to become _your own_!" + +"Hold, sir!--hold!" cried the roused man. "You now speak daggers to +me! I could hae borne this when you were here last; but ye hae +unmanned me--ye hae made me familiar wi' him, the king o' terrors, wha +waits for me. I know him in his worst shapes. He is nae langer hideous +to me; and, being his friend, I canna be my dochter's faither and +guardian! Why cam you here to revive a struggle that was past? My mind +was made up. Owre the pages o' that book, my resolution was fixed; now +you wad re-resolve me back to my doubt, my pain, my insufferable +agony, by bringin up into my mind the tender image o' a sufferin, +sorrowin, starvin dochter. My Margaret--my Margaret!--her mother's +image--the pledge o' a love dearer than life----" + +The door opened, and the young woman, who had been listening at the +back of it, rushed in and flung herself on the bosom of the agonised +man. + +"O father!" she cried, "I ken everything. Yer dreadfu purpose has been +revealed to me. Ye intend to tak awa yer ain life, which my mother, +yer beloved Agnes, on her death-bed, bade ye preserve for my sake. But +ye canna do that without takin also mine. Yer death will be my death. +I hae already seen yer bleedin body in my dreams--the image haunts me +like a spirit, and leaves me nae rest. The doctor says true--ye will +kill me before yer dreadfu purpose is fulfilled; but if, in God's +will, I should be left when ye are awa, wha is to guard me, wha is to +comfort me--without freends, without means, and without health?" + +The scene now presented to me transcended anything I had ever seen +during my long intercourse with suffering humanity. The excited girl +clung with a firm grasp to the neck of her parent, and sobbed +intensely; while he, struggling to be liberated, and holding away his +face to the back of the bed, groaned and appealed for relief in +broken, guttural, half-choked aspirations to Heaven. I saw his eyes +turned to the throne of mercy, and big tears rolled down his rugged +cheeks. In my anxiety to aid this struggle, and assist him to the +return to his natural love of life and duty to his God, I was afraid +to interfere with the sacred service of a bursting heart, turned in +its agony to the only source of consolation and healing virtue; while, +if I allowed this opportunity to escape, I might not have another for +adding a mortal's means and energies (sometimes God's instruments) to +the workings of nature, and the silent but powerful voice of religion +speaking from the innermost recesses of his moral constitution. + +"This is nature and truth," said I, after a pause--"powers a thousand +times stronger than the brain-sick fancies of a diseased mind. It is +the voice of God himself, sounding through the heart, and, like the +electric energy, heaving it with convulsive throes, as if to cast +forth from it the impious daring and unnatural purpose you have +cherished in it so long that no lesser power will expel it. I rejoice +in these throes; cherish them and aid them, for they are the +expulsers of poison that, having got into your blood, and reached the +heart, the seat of life, madly stimulates it to self-destruction. This +is the time--here is the vantage-ground of a return to all that is +right, true, and good, from cowardice, cruelty, irreligion, and even +rebellion against God!" + +"Listen to him--listen to him!" cried the young woman, still sobbing. +"Hear thae words o' truth, for they are sent from Heaven. Receive them +into your heart, and it will be changed, and I will live to see my +father enjoy life and be happy." + +"_When?_" groaned the miserable man, satirically, as if roused by the +sound of the distasteful word "happy." "When I am sittin at the window +o' a prison, thinkin o' my dead Agnes, and lookin at the red settin o' +my sixty-fifth sun?" + +These words showed that the struggle had been ineffectual. Released +from the grasp of his daughter, who sat at the side of the bed, he +doggedly and sternly folded his arms, and relapsed into a silent fit +of dejection. No effort would make him open his lips. There seemed to +be no principle of reaction in his moral economy; all was penetrated +by a fatal lethargy, which closed up every issue, broke every spring +of living thought, feeling, or motion. My professional knowledge was +entirely useless, my personal services unavailing. I called to him +loudly to answer me, and got no reply but deep groans. I even shook +him roughly, and tried to bend his head to his weeping daughter. My +efforts were quickened by a sense that bore in upon me with fearful +strength and importunity, that I had, by experimenting on his mind, +and filling it with images of horror, increased the disease I intended +to cure. Pained beyond measure, I was anxious to redeem my fault and +correct my error by getting him again engaged in conversation, whereby +I might have a last opportunity of drawing him into a train of thought +which might lead to a sense of his awful condition, and a prospect of +escaping from its present misery, and its horrible consequences. But +my medicine had operated too powerfully. There he sat, unmoved, +immoveable--a sad and melancholy victim of the worst species of +hypochondria--that which exhibits as one of its pathognomonic +symptoms, the desire, the determination, persevered in through all +difficulties, all oppositions, all wiles and schemes, to commit +self-murder. + +I waited for a considerable period, standing at the side of his bed, +to see if he would exhibit any signs of returning moral vitality: but +in vain. My other pressing avocations demanded imperiously my presence +in quarters where I could be of more service. The daughter was herself +buried in despondency, her face being hid in her hands, and broken +ejaculations escaping from her lips. I took up the book which had +produced so much harm, and whispered lowly in her ear, to request +James H---- to call for me next day. At the sound of this name she +started, and looked up wildly. I was afraid I might have to encounter +another scene like that I had witnessed on the occasion of my last +departure. I therefore hurried away, giving her no time to reply, +where conversation was apparently useless. My intention was to try and +devise some means of introducing a person into the house--though +against the determined will of the father--to guard him and assist the +daughter; but that could only be done through the medium of the +messenger who went between me and the young woman. + +When I had got some distance from the house, I could not resist the +feeling that on the occasion of my prior visit compelled me to look +back upon this miserable dwelling. I had seen diseases of all kinds +grinding the feelings of unhappy man; but in the worst of them there +is some principle, either of resistance or resignation, that comes to +the aid of the sufferer, and enables him to pass the ordeal, whether +for life or death. The duty he is called upon to perform is to +_bear_; for no man I ever yet saw on a sick-bed can get quit of the +thought--however much he may try to philosophise about physical +causes, or to conceal his sense of a divine influence--that he is +placed there by a superior Hand _for the very purpose of suffering_, +with a view to some end that is veiled from his eye. Every pang, +therefore, that is borne carries with it, or leaves after it, some +feeling of necessity to _bear_, and a satisfaction of having endured, +and to a certain extent obeyed, the behest of Him that sent it. In +many, this feeling is strong and decided, yielding comfort and +consolation when no other power could have any effect; and though in +others it may be less discernible--being often denied by the patients +themselves, and attempted to be laughed at and scorned--it is, I +assert, still there, silently working its progress in the heart, and +spreading its balm even against the sufferer's own rebellious will. +But the case of the suicide is left purposely by Him against whose law +and authority the unholy purpose is directed, in a solitary condition +of unmitigated horror; for the desire to get quit of pain--the +inheritance of mortals--is itself the very exclusion of that +resignation which is its legitimate antidote, while the devoted +victim, obeying a necessity that forces him to eschew a misery he is +not noble-minded enough to bear, not only has _no good_ in view, but +is conscious that he is flying _from_ evil, _through_ evil, _to_ evil; +so that from behind, around him, within him, before him--wherever he +casts his eye--there is nothing but darkness, pain, and utter +desolation. To complete the scene--there is, perhaps, no living +_natural_ evil more peculiar and acute, and less capable of generating +resistance or resignation, than the rack of apprehension and terror of +an only daughter watching, alone and unaided, the issues of a purpose +that is, in all likelihood, to force her through the energies of the +strongest instinct--filial affection--to stop, with her trembling +hands, the flow of a father's life-blood. Yet all this evil, this +misery, was to be found in that house, standing alone in the midst of +these bleak hills, like a temple dedicated to sorrow. + +Next day James H---- called upon me, having seen the young woman, +unknown to the father, on the previous night, and received from her +the instructions I left for him. He saw himself the necessity of +something being done towards the amelioration of the condition of the +two unhappy individuals; but he acknowledged the difficulty of +effecting it. He perceived (what was true) that, if any watch were set +over his uncle, it might only make certain that which at present was +doubtful; that the watchman could only proceed on the principle that +he was mad, and bind him, or confine him, or otherwise treat him as +insane; and that, besides, he knew no one who, without pay (and there +was no money), would undertake so unpleasant a duty, which might last +for weeks, or months, or even years. No concealed surveillance could +be kept over him; for he suspected in an instant the object of any one +visiting him, and had ordered one or two individuals, who had come +from a distance to call for him, out of the house, suspecting (such is +the way of all his unhappy tribe) that they came for the purpose of +observing his motions. The difficulty was greatly owing to the lonely +position of the house: the cloak of friendly intercourse might have +covered the frequent visits of near neighbours; but there were none +such--for the nearest house was two miles off; and as for relations, +they were in another part of the country, distant in locality as well +as blood. + +The case was hedged with difficulties. Violent diseases require strong +remedies. I recollected that James H---- said, on a former occasion, +that he was the suitor of the young woman, and wished to wed her. I +came to a resolution on the instant--firm, decided, and sound. I told +him that, if he wished to save the father and the daughter, he must +accelerate his intended marriage with the latter, even in the midst of +the unfortunate circumstances in which she was placed, and under the +unfavourable auspices of an event of joy being shadowed with a cloud +of sorrow. This would give him a claim on the daughter; and if the old +man would not permit his son-in-law to remain in the house, and assist +him as formerly with the labours of his land, he could threaten to +take her from him altogether--a threat that would not, in all +likelihood, fail to make him consent to his becoming an inmate in the +house. The young man was pleased with an advice that quadrated with +his wishes, and left me, to consult with some other friends on the +propriety of instantly following it. + +I heard the banns proclaimed next Sunday in the parish church, and was +somewhat surprised at the rapidity with which my advice had been +adopted, and the plan put into execution. The intelligence was +promptly communicated to me by the bridegroom himself, who informed me +also that the fact of the proclamation of the banns had been +communicated to his uncle, who had expressed himself strongly against +the match. He had, in fact, taken up a strong prejudice against his +nephew, in consequence of the latter's interference with his purpose +of self-immolation. He had never allowed the young man to come near +him since the day on which he had taken the razor out of his hands by +force; and the intelligence that he was to marry his daughter, and +deprive him of her society, roused him to fury. He denounced the +union, and said that it added another drop of bitterness to the cup of +his misery, which was already overflowing. I told the young man that +the anger into which his uncle had been thrown would, in all +likelihood, do him more good than harm: it might stimulate a mind, +dead or dormant, from the effects of brooding over imaginary evils, +which produced ten times more self-murders than the real misfortunes +of life. He told me the marriage would not, on account of his uncle's +anger, be put off; that it was fixed for the 15th of the month, and +would be celebrated in private. I informed him that I required to go +to a distant part of the country, and could not, for some time, see +his uncle, and that he must endeavour, by all means, to support and +comfort the unhappy bride in her watchful care over her unfortunate +father, who, according to his account, was still under the cloud from +which he threatened every instant to draw down the lightning that was +to strike him to death. + +When I returned from my journey, I called again upon the unfortunate +man, in the hope of finding some amelioration in his condition, as +well as that of his daughter. I found him still in bed, though he had +been up and out on several occasions since I visited him. I saw no +signs of improvement. I endeavoured to get him engaged in a +conversation about his own condition; but I saw that, in place of +being fond of dwelling on the state of his mind, talking of his +sorrows, and contemplating the purpose he entertained against his +existence, he showed an utter repugnance to the subject, having become +perfectly taciturn, sullen, and morose, giving me monosyllables for +answers, and sometimes not deigning even to show that he attended to +me, or understood me. The only thing that seemed to interest him was +his daughter's marriage--looking dark and gloomy when the subject was +broached, and muttering indistinct words of reproach and anger. The +condition of his daughter was changed; but it was only a new form of +anguish. Some days previous, she had observed him with another razor +in his hand; but he had secreted it somewhere, and all her efforts had +as yet been ineffectual to get it. Her watch had therefore been more +unremitting--her apprehensions were increased, while her strength was +greatly diminished. She was reduced to a shadow; the pale skin that +covered her face seemed to be in contact with the bones; while her +eyes burned with fever and excitement. Yet _her marriage_ was fixed to +take place two or three days after! She could not avoid it; she had +pledged her word, and her father's safety depended in a great degree +upon it. She could bear her condition no longer--all her powers of +suffering were worn out; and if her father would not permit her +husband to remain in the house, she would, she said, allow the latter +to exercise what authority he pleased, in endeavouring, by force, to +save his father-in-law and his wife from the ruin that seemed to await +them. The gloom that enveloped her mind was deepened by the contrast +of the light of a happiness she had long sighed for, now changed into +a refinement of peculiar pain. She shuddered when she thought of her +marriage with the man she loved, and feared that the power of Heaven +would fall on her, for presuming to bring joy into the chamber of +mourning, if not death. As she spoke, tears moistened her burning eye, +and ran down her thin, pallid cheeks. She wished the ceremony over, as +an evil to be endured, and then fate must take its course, though she +feared the termination would be miserable, as well for her father as +for her. His life was hanging by a thread; hers was worn out by +watching, fainting, and suffering, till it was on the very eve of +leaving the body, which was no longer able to support or contain it. +These were the misfortunes in the inside of the house; but there were +others without-doors. The landlord had sequestrated the stock +belonging to her father--a circumstance that had plunged him deeper in +his despondency and misery, and explained the very altered state in +which I had found him. The attorney, a hard man, _laughed_ at the +_device_ of threatened self-murder, resorted to for the purpose of +exciting his sympathy, and robbing his client's pocket. + +"Yes," she concluded, "he _laughed_"--and she repeated the word +"laughed" with a hysterical action of the throat, as if it choked her, +and next moment burst into tears. + +Two days afterwards, a man on horseback arrived at my door, and rapped +with great violence; his horse was heated, and foaming at the mouth, +as if it had been hard pressed, and he himself was flushed and +excited. He told me, in a hurried manner, that I was wanted instantly +at George B----'s; he had been sent to me by another man, and could +tell me nothing beyond the fact that something very alarming had taken +place, and that, if I did not hasten thither on the instant, and with +my very greatest speed, I could be of no use. I took with me what I +conceived might be wanted, for my suspicions were more communicative +than the messenger, and proceeded, with all the expedition in my +power, to the house where I had lately seen so much suffering. + +On my entering the house, a most extraordinary spectacle presented +itself. On the small truckle-bed that stood opposite the door in the +kitchen lay a female figure, dressed in white, with both her hands +wrapped up in cloth, from which issues of blood rolled on the bed; and +her face, not less pale than her dress, was spotted and besmeared with +the same element. It was Margaret B---- in her _marriage dress_. A +young woman, her bridesmaid, was beside her, looking in her face as if +to see whether life was still in her body. A young man, also dressed +as if for the marriage, hurried me to the apartment of George B----, +where a scene not less awful was presented to me. The unhappy man was +lying in the middle of the floor, on his back, with his throat cut, +and James H----, in his bridegroom clothes, was bending over him, with +his hands busily occupied in stanching a wound that would have let out +ten lives, if he had had as many to destroy; the floor was literally +swimming in blood, and on a chair in the corner of the room lay the +fatal instrument, still open. My services were useless: the man was +dead; his attendants were engaged in stopping blood already curdled +with death. I hurried to the patient that was still living. She had +lost almost the whole blood of her body, and it was difficult to +detect in her any symptoms of life. I unloosed the cloths from her +hands; they were cut in a fearful manner--the blade of the razor, +which she had, in her struggles with her parent, endeavoured to wrest +from him, having been _whisked_ through them when hard clenched. No +one had been in the house; her marriage-dress was still +incomplete--her bosom bare, and her head uncovered; a proof that she +had been called from the mirror wherein she saw a half-dressed bride, +to see a father kill himself by his own hand against her efforts to +save him. Her screams were heard by the bridesmaid and bridegroom, as +they approached the house; but, before they entered, the struggle was +nearly over; they found her bending over the body of her father, which +lay on the floor, grasping the open wound with her hands. So spoke the +attendants as I dressed the wounds. I took up several arteries; but +there was one in the left wrist which, for a long period, defied my +efforts, unassisted as I was with professional aid, to stem its +torrent. I succeeded at last--so, at least, I thought--in my +endeavours to stop all the issues. Vain thought! _Death_ had stopped +them! + +This was the first time I had seen a _dead bride_. + + + + +THE GHOST OF HOWDYCRAIGS. + + "_They_ gather round, and wonder at the tale + Of horrid apparition, tall and ghastly."--BLAIR. + + +After all that has been written, printed, and circulated, in the way +of "Statistical Accounts," "Topographical Descriptions," "Guides to +Picturesque Scenery," &c., there are still large tracts of country in +Scotland of which comparatively little is known. While certain +districts have risen, all at once, into notoriety, and occupied for a +time the efforts of the press and the attention of the public, there +are others, perhaps little inferior to them in point of scenery, +through which no traveller has passed, no writer drawn his pen, and +upon which no printer has inked his types. Among other neglected +regions, the Ochil Hills may be mentioned--at least the eastern part +of them. These, so far as we know, have not been fruitful of battles, +and consequently the historian has had nothing to say concerning them. +They are traversed by few roads; the few that do exist are nearly +impassable, except to pedestrians of a daring disposition; and the +novelist, never having seen them, has not thought of making them the +home of his imaginary heroes. They have given birth to no poet of +eminence--none such has condescended to celebrate them in his songs; +and, except to the few scattered inhabitants who nestle in their +hollows, they are nearly unknown. + +This, however, is not the fault of the hills themselves, but of the +circumstances just alluded to; for here heroes might have found a +field on which to spill whole seas of blood; novelists might have +found all the variation of hill, valley, rock, and stream, with which +they usually ornament their pages; and Ossian himself, had it been his +fortune to travel in the district, might have found "grey mist" and +"brown heath" to his heart's content, and, in the proper season, as +much snow as would have served to deck out at least half-a-dozen +"Morvens" in their winter coat. These hills, on the east and south, +rise from the adjoining country by a gradual slope, surmounted, in +some instances, by thriving plantations, while, in others, the plough +and harrow have reached what appears to be their summit. On the north, +they are terminated by a rocky front, which runs nearly parallel to +the river Tay, and afterwards to the Earn, thus forming the southern +boundary of Strathearn, which is perhaps one of the most fertile +districts in Scotland. The elevation on this side is partly composed +of the rocky front just mentioned; partly of a cultivated slope at its +base; and partly of a green acclivity above, which, when seen from the +plain below, seems to crown the whole, while it conceals from the eye +those barren altitudes and dreary regions which lie behind. But, after +having surmounted this barrier, the prospect which then opens may be +regarded as a miniature picture of those more lofty mountain-ranges +which are to be found in other parts of the island. Here the ground +again declines a little, forming a sort of shoulder upon the ascent, +as if the Great Architect of nature had intended thereby to secure the +foundation of the superstructure which he was about to rear above. It +then rises into frowning eminences, on which nothing seems to vegetate +except coarse heath, a few stunted whin-bushes, and, here and there, +an _astrogalus_, a _lotus carniculatus_; or a white _orchus_. Those, +however, with the exception of the first, are too scanty to produce +any effect upon the colouring of the landscape; and the whole looks +withered, brown, and, in some instances, even black, in the distance. +But, on passing these barren altitudes, or on penetrating one of the +gorges by which the central district communicates with the country +around, and of which there are several, the eye is saluted with +extensive tracts of plantation--some composed of the light-green +larch, others of the sombre-looking Scottish pine; and, where the soil +is more favourable to the growth of corn, portions of cultivated land, +interspersed with streams, giving a fresher green to their banks, +clumps of trees standing in sheltered positions, and the isolated +habitations of men. + +The last of these may be said to constitute a sort of _little world_, +enclosed by a mountain rampart of its own--holding little or no +communication with the great world without; and consequently escaping +all the contamination which such intercourse is supposed to imply. +But, if its inhabitants had escaped the contamination, it were +reasonable to infer that they had missed that stimulus which mind +derives from mind, when brought into close contact; and also many of +those improvements and more correct modes of thinking which almost +every passing year brings forth. In such a region, children must +travel far for education; and men, not unfrequently, live and die in +the prejudices in which they were nursed. To conclude this imperfect +sketch, it may be observed that the scenery of these hills is bleak, +rather than bold; barren, rather than wild; and though some parts of +them possess a sort of dreary interest, in general they can lay no +claim to that quality which has been denominated the _sublime_. + +The particular district of Fifeshire in which the following incidents +occurred lies between the villages of Strathmiglo and Auchtermuchty on +the south, and those of Newburgh and Abernethy on the north. From the +last of these places, which is still known as the metropolis of the +ancient Pictish empire, a deep and narrow gorge, called _Abernethy +Glen_, stretches southward amongst the Ochils for more than a mile. On +leaving the open fertile country below, and getting into this pass, +the contrast is striking. In some places the footpath winds along the +face of a bank so steep, that, but for the circumstance of its being +composed of earth, it might have almost been termed a precipice; and +here, if the passenger should miss his footing, it would be nearly +impossible for him to stop himself till he reached the bottom, in +which a turbulent stream brawls and foams over rocks and stones, +disturbing the silence and the solitude of the place with sounds which +have a tendency to inspire feelings of superstitious fears. The scene, +from its nature and situation, appears to be well suited for those +transactions which, according to popular brief, "surpass Nature's +law;" and it has been regarded as the favourite haunt of _witches_, +_fairies_, _ghosts_, and other mysterious beings, from time +immemorial. Numbers of the inhabitants of the village below had been +scared, in their nocturnal rambles, by the orgies of these uncouth +neighbours; many a belated traveller had seen strange sights, and +heard stranger sounds, in this haunted dell; many a luckless lad, in +journeying through it, to see the mistress of his heart, had met such +adventures as to drive love nearly out of his head for whole weeks to +come; and even maids, upon whom the sun went down in the dangerous +pass, had seen things at the mention of which they shook their heads, +and seemed unable to speak. Nor were there awanting instances of +individuals who, in returning at the "witching time of night" from a +delightful interview, in the course of which the marriage-day was +settled, had been so terrified that they forgot every word of what had +been said; and, when the minister and the marriage-guests arrived, +behold they were found in the barn or in the field, or, what was +worse, they had gone upon a journey, and were not to be found at all. +Those of the villagers who had not seen and heard of these unearthly +doings for themselves, had been told of them by their mothers and +grandmothers; and thus one generation after another went forth into +the world completely armed against sceptics and unbelievers of all +sorts. If any one ventured to doubt the veracity of these statements, +or to call in question the cogency of the arguments by which they +supported them, they had only to appeal to the testimony of their +fathers and grandfathers, their mothers and grandmothers, and the most +sceptical were convinced at once. No man durst venture to cast the +shadow of a doubt upon such incontrovertible evidence, because to have +done so would have been to implicate their relations in the charge of +speaking beside the truth, and these, they said, "were decent, +respectable folk, and never kenned for lee'rs in their lives." + +In this metropolis, and near the scene of these memorable events, +Nelly Kilgour was born--the exact date of her birth we do not pretend +to determine, though it must have been some time in the eighteenth +century--and had lived, running about, going to school, and serving +sundry of the lieges who were indwellers thereof, till she had arrived +at years of discretion--in other words, till she had seen +three-and-thirty "summers," as a poet would say, and nearly the same +number of winters, as our reader may guess. It has been said that +there are three distinct questions which a woman naturally puts to +herself at three different periods of her life. The first is--"Who +will I take?"--a most important question, no doubt; and we may +reasonably suppose that it occurs about the time when the attentions +of the other sex first awaken her to a sense of her own charms, and +she is thus ready to look upon every one who smiles on her as a lover, +and every young fellow who contemplates her face while talking to her +as anxious to become her husband. The second question, which is +scarcely less important, is--"Who will I get?" and this, we may again +suppose, begins to be repeated seriously, after she has seen the same +individual smile upon half-a-dozen damsels on the same day, and after +she has learned that it is possible for an unmarried man to +contemplate her own fair face with the deepest interest, and converse +with her on the most interesting subjects on Monday morning, and then +go and do the same to another on Tuesday evening. But the last, and +perhaps the most important, as it certainly is the most perplexing of +these questions, is--"_Will I get onybody ava?_" and this, there can +be little doubt, begins to force itself upon her attention, after the +smiles of her admirers have become so faint that they are no longer +able to climb over the nose; when, instead of talking of love, they +begin to yawn, and speak about the weather; in short, after she +becomes conscious that her charms are at a discount, and that those +who are coming up behind her are every day stealing away her +sweethearts. + +Through the whole of the previous stages Nelly Kilgour had passed; and +she had now arrived at this important question, which, as has been +just said, is the last a woman can put to herself. She had seen her +admirers, one after another, come and look in her face, and continue +their visits, their smiles, and their conversation for a season, and +then go away and leave her, as if they had got nothing else to do. She +had spent a considerable portion of her life, as has been already +observed, in serving the lieges in and about the place of her +nativity--to no purpose, as it appeared; at least, in so far as the +getting of the husband was concerned, nothing had been effected. The +proper season for securing this desideratum of the female world was +fast wearing away; something, she saw, must of necessity be done; and, +thinking that women, like some other commodities, might sell better at +a distance than at home, she engaged herself as a servant on the +little farm of _Howdycraigs_--a place situated among that portion of +the Ochils already noticed. + +When she entered upon this engagement, which was to last for a year, +she was spoken of as "a weel _reikit_ lass"--the meaning of which +phrase is, that she had already provided what was considered a +woman's part of the furnishing of a house; and some of the sober +matrons "wondered what had come owre a' the lads noo," and said, "they +were sure Nelly Kilgour wad mak a better wife than ony o' thae young +glaikit hizzies wha carried a' their reikin to the kirk on their back +ilka Sabbath." But, of Nelly's being made a wife, there was no +prospect; she was _three-and-thirty_; so far as was known, no lover +had ever ventured to throw himself upon his knees before her, begging +to be permitted to kiss her _foot_, and threatening, at the same time, +to _hang himself_, if she did not consent to be his better half; still +there was no appearance of any one doing so; and those who delighted +in tracing effects back to their proper causes, began to recollect +that her mother, "when she was a thoughtless lassie," had once given +some offence to one of the witches, who were accused of holding +nightly revels in the glen; and the witch, by way of retaliation, had +said, that "the bairn unborn would maybe hae cause to rue its mother's +impudence." Nelly had been born after this oracular saying was +uttered; and the aged dames who remembered it doubted not that this +was the true cause of her celibacy. And when they heard that she was +engaged to go to Howdycraigs at Martinmas, and that Jock Jervis was +engaged to go there also, they said that, "if it hadna been for the +witch's ill _wisses_, they were sure Nelly would mak baith a better +sweetheart and a better wife to Jock, than that licht-headed limmer, +Lizzy Gimmerton." + +From this the reader will perceive that Jock and Nelly were to be +fellow-servants; he was the only man, and she was the only woman--the +master and mistress excepted--about the place; and much of their time +was necessarily spent together. During the stormy days of winter, when +he was thrashing in the barn, she was employed in _shakin the strae_ +and _riddlin the corn_, which he had separated from the husks; and in +the long evenings, while she was washing the dishes, or engaged in +spinning, he sat by the fire telling stories about lads and lasses, +markets and tent-preachings, and sometimes he even sung a verse or two +of a song, to keep her from wearying. On these occasions, she would +tuck up the sleeves of her short-gown an inch or two beyond the +ordinary extent, or allow her neckerchief to sink a little lower than +usual, for the purpose, as is supposed, of showing him that she was +not destitute of charms, and that her arms and neck, where not exposed +to the weather, were as white as those of any lady in the land. In +such circumstances, Jock, who was really a lad of some spirit, could +not refrain from throwing his arms about her waist, and toozling her +for a kiss. This was, no doubt, the very reverse of what she had +anticipated; and to these unmannerly efforts on the part of the youth, +she never failed to offer a becoming resistance, by turning away her +head, to have the place threatened as far from the danger as +possible--raising her hand, and holding it between their faces, so as +to retard the progress of the enemy, at least for a time; and, lest +these defensive operations should be misunderstood, uttering some such +deprecatory sentence as the following:--"Hoot! haud awa, Jock! If ye +want a kiss, gang and kiss Lizzy Gimmerton, and let me mind my wark." +But it has been ascertained by the ablest engineers that the most +skilfully-constructed and most bravely-defended fortifications must +ultimately fall into the hands of a besieging army, if it be only +properly provided, and persevere in the attack. This theory is no +longer disputed, and the present case is one among a number of +instances in which its truth has been experimentally proved. Jock was +provided with a certain degree of strength, and a most laudable +portion of perseverance in these matters, and, in spite of all the +resistance which Nelly could offer, he was in general triumphant; +after which she could only sigh and look down, as she threatened him +with some terrible vengeance, such as--"makin his parritch without +saut," or "giving him sour milk to his sowans at supper-time," or +doing something else which would seriously annoy him. At these +threatenings the victor only laughed, and not unfrequently, too, he +renewed the battle and repeated the offence, by robbing her of another +kiss. To reclaim him from these wicked ways, she could only repeat her +former threatenings--adding, perhaps, to their number anything new +which happened to come into her head; but then, like those mothers who +think threatening is enough, and who, by sparing the rod, sometimes +spoil the child, she always forgot to inflict the punishment when the +opportunity for doing so occurred; and Jock, as a natural consequence +of this remissness on the part of the _executive_, became hardened in +his transgressions. + +But, when not engaged in these battles, Jock was rather kind to Nelly +than otherwise; sometimes he assisted her with such parts of her work +as a man could perform; and sometimes, too, when the evening was wet +or stormy, to save her from going out, he would take her pitchers of +his own accord, and "bring in a raik o' water." This kindness Nelly +was careful to repay by mending his coat, darning his stockings, and +performing various other little services for him. When the faculty of +observation has few objects upon which to exercise itself, little +things become interesting; this interchange of good offices was soon +noticed by the wise women of the neighbourhood, and, as they knew of +only one cause from which such things could proceed, to that cause +they attributed them, making certain in their own minds that the whole +secret would, some day or other, be brought before the parish by the +session-clerk. Such was the general belief; and whether it was "the +birds of the air," as Solomon saith, or whether it was the beggars and +_chapmen_, occasionally quartered at Howdycraigs, who "carried the +matter," is of little importance; but in time the whole of the facts, +with the inferences drawn therefrom, reached Nelly's former +acquaintances, and then, for some reason which has never been +satisfactorily explained, they saw occasion entirely to alter their +previous opinion. Instead of saying, as they had done before, that +"Nelly _wud_ mak a guid wife to Jock--'_at she wud_," they now said, +that "Jock, wha was scarcely outgane nineteen, was owre young ever to +think o' marryin an auld hizzie o' three-and-thirty like her;" that +"the carryin o' the water, and the darnin o' the stockins, _wud_ a' +end in naething;" that "Jock _wud_ be far better without her;" and +when they recollected the implied malediction of the witch, they +considered that it was as impossible for her to be his wife, as it is +for potatoes to grow above ground; and concluded the discussion with a +pious wish "that she micht aye be keepit in the richt road." + +In the course of the winter, Jock had been absent for several +nights, during which he was understood to have braved the terrors of +witch, ghost, and fairy, in going to see Lizzie Gimmerton; but Nelly +took no further notice of the circumstance than by asking "if he had +seen naething about the glen." On these occasions he promptly denied +having been "near the glen;" and Nelly, whether she believed him or +not, was obliged to be satisfied. But this gave her an opportunity, +of which she never failed to avail herself, to give him a friendly +caution to "tak care o' himsel when he gaed that airt after it was +dark;" nor did she forget to assign a proper reason for her care +over him, by reminding him of as many of the supernatural sights +which had been seen in this region as she could remember. These +hints were not without their effect; for, as the spring, which was +said to be a particularly dangerous season, advanced, Jock's +nocturnal wanderings were nearly discontinued. But Abernethy Market, +which, time out of mind, had been held between the 20th and the 30th +of May, was now approaching, and to this important period the +parties in question looked forward with very different feelings. +_Markets_ have frequently changed the destinies of lads and lasses +in the same manner as _revolutions_ have sometimes changed the +dynasties of kings--the latter always aiming at subverting an +established government; the former is often the means of +overthrowing an empire in the heart; and, for these reasons, both +should be avoided by all who would wish to live at peace. Jock +looked forward to the pleasure which he should have in spending a +whole day with the peerless Lizzie Gimmerton--stuffing her pockets +with _sweeties_ and gingerbread, and paying innumerable compliments +to her beauty the while; and poor Nelly apprehended nothing less +than the loss of every particle of that influence which she had some +reason for supposing she now possessed over him. In this dilemma, +she resolved to accompany him to the scene of action, and there to +watch the revolutions of the wheel of fortune, if peradventure +anything in her favour might turn up. + +"Jock," said she, on the evening previous to the important day, "I'm +gaun wi' ye to the market, and ye maun gie me my market-fare." + +At this announcement Jock scratched his head, looked demure for a +little, and appeared as though he would have preferred solitude to +society in the proposed expedition. But he could find no excuse for +declining the honour thus intended him. He recollected, moreover, +that, as he had been the better for Nelly's care in time past, so her +future favour was essential to his future comfort, and that it would +be prejudicial in the last degree to his interest to offend her. After +having thought of these things, in a time infinitely shorter than that +in which they can be spoken of, Jock sagely determined to yield to +"necessity," which, according to the common proverb, "has no law." He +also determined to watch the revolutions of the wheel of fortune, in +the hope that his own case might come uppermost. But, for the present +putting on as good a grace as he could, "Aweel, aweel, Nelly," said +he, "I'll be unco glad o' your company; for to say, the truth, I dinna +like very weel to gang through the glen my lane. If it hadna been for +you, the feint a _fit_ would have been at my stockings langsyne; and +as ye aye darned them, and mendit the knees o' my breeks, and the +elbows o' my coat forby, it would be ill o' my pairt no to gie you +your market-fare. Sae we can e'en gang thegither; and if we dinna lose +ither i' the thrang, I'll maybe get you to come owre the hill wi' at +nicht." + +"Mind noo ye've promised," said Nelly, highly pleased with the +reception her proposal had met;--"mind ye've promised to come hame wi' +me; and there's no ane in a' the warld I would like sae weel to come +hame wi' as our ain Jock." + +"I'll mind that," said Jock. But, notwithstanding what he said, he had +no intention of coming home with Nelly; his thoughts ran in another +direction; he had merely spoken of the thing because he fancied it +would _please_; the idea of her presence, as matters now stood, was +anything but agreeable to him; and he trusted to the chapter of +accidents for "losing her i' the thrang," as himself would have said, +and thus regaining his freedom. + +On the following day they journeyed together to the scene of popular +confusion--whiling away the time with such conversation as their +knowledge of courtships, marriages, births, baptisms, and burials, +could supply. Nelly frequently looked in Jock's face, to try if she +could read his thoughts; but somehow, in the present instance, his +eyes were either turned upon the ground, or seized with an unwonted +wandering. At one time he kept carefully examining the road, as though +he had lost a shilling; at another he surveyed the tops of the distant +hills with as much care as if he had been speculating upon their +heights and distances. And while these intelligencers were thus +employed, she could read but little; yet, nevertheless, his manner was +courteous; and in their conduct and conversation they exhibited a fine +specimen of that harmony which, in most instances, results from a wish +to please and to be pleased on the part of the female. + +On arriving at the market, Jock soon discovered the mistress of his +affections in the person of Lizzie Gimmerton. But, in the plenitude of +her power, and the extent of her dominion, she had become capricious, +as despotic sovereigns are very apt to do; and nettled, as it +appeared, at the long intervals which had lately occurred between the +times of his making obeisance at her throne, she had chosen another +sweetheart, whom she now dignified with the honour of leading her from +place to place, and showing her off to the admiring multitude. +Supported by this new minister, she seemed to pay no attention to the +smiles and sly winks with which Jock greeted her; but still he did not +despair of being the successful candidate, if he were only left at +liberty to offer the full amount of his devotion; and to this object +he now began to direct his thoughts. + +A certain chapman had displayed a number of necklaces, and other showy +trinkets of little value, upon his stand, which was thus the most +brilliantly-decorated of any in the market. This had drawn together a +crowd of purchasers, and other people, who were anxious to see the +sparkling wares. Men civilly pushed aside men, and maidens pushed +aside maidens, while each appeared eager to have a peep at some +particular article, or to learn the price thereof; and to this place +Jock drew Nelly, under pretence of giving her her market-fare from +among the gewgaws which it afforded. But, while she was looking about +for something which "she might wear for his sake," as she said, and +which, at the same time, would be an easy purchase, he contrived to +jostle rather rudely the people on both sides of him, making them +jostle those who stood next them, and those again perform the same +operation on others at a greater distance. This, as he had +anticipated, soon produced a universal hubbub; every one, to be +avenged for the insult or injury he had sustained, thrust his elbows +into the sides of such as he supposed were the aggressors. These were +not slow to retaliate. In a short time the innocent and the guilty +were involved in the same confusion; and, while the precious wares of +the packman, and the persons of his customers, were both in imminent +danger, Jock started off, leaving Nelly to make the best of her way +out of a bad bargain. He had now obtained his freedom; and in a +twinkling he was by the side of Lizzie Gimmerton, whom he found at +another stand, receiving the benediction of her new jo in the form of +a "pennyworth of _peppermint-drops_." + +"How are ye the day, Lizzie?" said he, in tones so tender, that he had +supposed they would melt any heart which was less hard than Clatchert +Craig. + +"No that ill, Jock," was the reply; "how are ye yersel? and how's +Nelly?" + +And therewith the damsel put her arm in that of her companion, whom +she now permitted, or rather urged, to lead her away; and, as he did +so, she turned on Jock a side-long look, accompanied by a sort of +smile, which told him, in terms not to be mistaken, that he was not +her only sweetheart, and that, at present, he was not likely to be a +successful one. + +If we could form such a thing as a proper conception of one who, in +attempting to ascend a throne, stumbled, fell below it, and, in +looking up from thence, saw another seated in his place, perhaps we +should have some idea of Jock's feelings on this occasion. Like a true +hero, he, no doubt, thought of thrashing his rival's skin for him; but +then this was by no means doing the whole of the work, for it was +Lizzie Gimmerton who had led away the man, and not the man who had +led away Lizzie Gimmerton; and, though the man were thrashed into +chaff, Lizzie Gimmerton might very probably find as many more as she +pleased, willing to be led away in the same manner, which, in the end, +might entail upon Jock the labour of thrashing half the people in the +market, not to mention the risk which he would run of being thrashed +himself. Finding that this plan would not do, it were difficult to say +if he did not entertain serious thoughts of making a pilgrimage to the +River Earn, for the purpose of drowning himself, or of taking signal +vengeance upon the hard-hearted maiden in some other way; but, as +farther speculations upon the subject, in the existing state of our +information, must be purely conjectural, it were absurd to follow +them. In the beginning of his despair, he looked down, as men very +naturally do; but, in the middle of it, he looked up, to see what was +to be done, and there he saw Nelly, who was not so easily "lost i' the +thrang" as he had imagined, standing close beside him, and regarding +him with a look of real compassion, which contrasted strongly with the +malicious smile of the other damsel. + +"Dinna vex yersel owre sair, Jock," said she, "though Lizzie's awa wi' +anither lad; when he leaves her, I'll warrant she'll be glad to see ye +again." + +"The deil confound her and her lads baith!" said Jock, his despair +beginning to pass off in a passion. "If ever I gae near her again, may +I fa' and brak my leg i' the first burn I cross! Ye're worth at least +five dozen o' her yersel, Nelly; and, if ye can let byganes be +byganes, and gang wi' me through the market, I'll let her see, afore +lang, that I can get anither sweetheart, though she should gang and +hang hersel!" + +This sudden change in Jock's sentiments must have been produced by +what is commonly called a _reaction_. But Nelly, who had no +inclination for being thus shown off, tried to persuade him to desist +from his present purpose. + +"Na, na, Jock," said she, "we'll no gang trailin through the market +like twa _pointers_ tethered thegither wi' a string, for fear the +youngest ane should rin aff. But, if ye like, Ise try to keep sicht o' +ye; and, if ye like too, we'll gang hame afore it's late, for it wad +vex me sair to see you spendin your siller _unwordily_, and still +sairer to hear tell o' ye gettin ony fricht about the glen. Sae, if ye +think me worth your while, we can gang hame thegither, and I'll tak +your arm after we're on the road. If a lad hae ony wark wi' a lass, or +a lass ony wark wi' a lad, it's no the best way to be lettin a' the +warld ken about it." + +With her care, and the wisdom of her counsel upon this occasion, Jock +felt sensibly touched. + +"Aweel, Nelly," said he, "I'll e'en tak your advice; ye never +counselled me to do a wrang thing in your life, and I'll gang hame wi' +ye ony time ye like. But come away," he continued, "and look out some +grand thing for your market-fare. I've ten shillings i' my pouch--no +ae bawbee o't spent yet; and, be what it like, if that'll buy't, yese +no want it." + +In compliance with his wishes, they began to look about for the +article in question; but Nelly, who had lived long enough to know the +value of money, would suffer him to purchase nothing of an expensive +nature; and, after some friendly expostulation, a pair of scissors was +agreed upon, for which he paid sixpence, and she put them in her +pocket, observing, at the same time, that "they would be o' mair use +to her than twenty ells o' riband, or a hale pouchfu o' _sweeties_." + +"I've often wondered," said she, "if a lass could hae ony _real_ likin +for a lad, when she was temptin him to fling awa his siller, buyin +whigmaleeries, to gar her look like an _antic_ amang ither folk, or +how she thought a lad wha would let his siller gang that gate, could +ever provide for the wants o' a house, if they should come to hae ane +o' their ain." + +Jock readily acknowledged the good sense of all this; he also +acknowledged to himself that young women with such sentiments were not +over and above being rife; and, though Nelly was not very young, he +thought her a more discerning lass than he had ever done before. They +therefore kept together during what remained of their stay; and, as +Jock's greatest fault was a propensity to spend his money on trifles, +Nelly easily persuaded him to accompany her home before the afternoon +was far advanced. + +They accordingly journeyed up the glen together; and, without +encountering either ghost, witch, or fairy, they had reached a part of +the road from which a house, a barn, and a byre, were to be seen. The +husband and wife were already home from the market, whither they had +gone to buy a cow, and standing at the end of the house with their +three children, the oldest of whom appeared to be a stout girl, beside +them. Such scenes seem to have a peculiar charm for women, and Nelly +was the first to notice it. + +"Look, Jock," said she, "yonder's Andrew Braikens and his wife hame +frae the market already. Dinna ye see them standing at the end o' +their house there, and their three bairns beside them, and baith +lookin as happy as the day's lang? Noo, Jock," she continued, looking +in his face as she spoke, "tak an example by them, and when ye get a +wife, if she's a guid ane, aye tak her advice afore ony ither body's, +and ye'll never hae cause to rue it. Afore Andrew was married, he ran +to a' the markets i' the round; he could never win hame that day he +gaed awa; his pouches were aye toom, and his duds were aften like to +bid him guid-day. Folk ca'd him a _weirdless cratur_ and a +_ne'er-do-weel_; and when he fell in wi' Tibby Crawford, some o' them +said, if they were her, they wouldna tak him, and ithers leugh at him +for drawin up wi' an auld hizzie like her; but Tibby took Andrew, and +Andrew took Tibby's advice; and noo they've a haudin o' their ain, wi' +plenty o' baith meat and claes, and three bonny bairns into the +bargain." + +Jock seemed to listen more attentively to this harangue than he had +ever done to a sermon in his life. During the latter part of it he +appeared thoughtful; and, when it was concluded--"I've been thinkin," +said he, "that, as Andrew and Tibby hae come sae weel on----" Here he +seemed to have forgotten what he was about to say, and was silent. + +"Weel, Jock," said the other, "as I was gaun to say, there's Betsy +Braikens, a stout lassie already; she's Sandy Crawford's cousin, as ye +ken brawly, and troth I wouldna wonder muckle at seein her----" + +"Ou ay, Nelly," interrupted Jock; "but, as I was gaun to tell ye, I've +been thinkin----" Here, however, he again halted, and seemed to have +nothing farther to say. + +"I dinna ken what ye've been thinkin," said Nelly, after a +considerable pause; "but I think they would need to hae a hantle +patience that listen to your thoughts, for ye're unco lang o' coming +out wi' them. But, whatever they are, ye needna hesitate sae muckle in +tellin them to me, for I never telled a tale o' yours owre again in my +life." + +"It's no for that either," said Jock, laughing; "but I just thought +shame to speak about it, and yet there's nae ill in't, after a'. I've +been thinkin, aye since ye wouldna let me gie half-a-crown for yon +_strowl_ o' lace i' the market, that you and me micht do waur than +make a bargain oorsels. I wad just need somebody like you to look +after me; and noo, Nelly, if you would promise to be my wife, I would +never seek anither." + +Nelly's countenance brightened up with a glow of satisfaction, such as +it had not exhibited for years, at hearing these words. But, striving +to suppress those unwonted feelings which were rising in her bosom, +and endeavouring to appear as unconcerned as before--"Hoot, Jock," was +her reply, "what need I promise?--though I were to mak twenty +promises, ye ken brawly that ye would just rin awa and leave me, to +follow the first bonny lass ye saw, at the next market or the next +tent-preachin; and then, _guid-day to ye, Nelly_." + +These words, though apparently intended to discourage Jock in his +suit, were spoken in such a manner as to produce a quite contrary +effect. We need not, however, repeat his vows and promises, and the +solemn oaths with which he confirmed them: they were such as have been +a thousand times made, and, sad to say, nearly as often broken, upon +similar occasions. But when they were concluded, though Nelly did not +speak, she _looked_ a promise which, to Jock, was satisfactory! She +also allowed him to have a kiss without the customary battle, or, at +least, without a battle of the customary length; and for what remained +of that and the two following days, though she was three-and-thirty, +she looked almost as young as if she had been only two-and-twenty. + +But "pleasures," which everybody now likens to "poppies spread," are, +in most instances, short-lived. On the third day from Abernethy +Market, Betsy Braikens, in returning from Auchtermuchty, whither she +had been on some errand, called at Howdycraigs, "to speer for her +cousin, Sandy Crawford, who was the herd laddie, and to tell Nelly +Kilgour, of whom she had also some acquaintance, that Grizzy Glaiket +had haen a bairn to Geordy Gowkshanks. No ane kenned a single thing +about it afore it cam hame," continued the girl; "and, as he has +naething to enable him to pay for it, and her father is determined no +to let him gang, the folk say that he'll just hae to marry her." + +Geordy Gowkshanks was no other than the beau who had been seen +gallanting Lizzie Gimmerton through the market; and Nelly felt a +strange misgiving when she heard his name mentioned in the present +affair, for she doubted not, when matters stood thus, that some +attempt would be forthwith made to recall Jock to his former +allegiance. Nor was she long left in suspense; for Jock himself soon +came in for his dinner, and the girl exclaimed--"Losh, Jock, I'm glad +I've seen ye, for, if ye hadna come in, I would forgotten to tell ye +that I saw Lizzie last nicht, and when I telled her that I was comin +owre here on the morn, and that I would maybe see you, she bade me be +sure to speer if ye had gotten ony fricht wi' the witches about the +glen, or if ye was feared for the _croupie craws_ fleein awa wi' ye +after it was dark, that ye never cam owre to see your auld +acquaintances about Abernethy noo!" + +These questions, and the new light which they threw upon an old +subject, made both Jock and Nelly look thoughtful, though it is +reasonable to suppose their thoughts ran in very different channels. +The effects of _reaction_ have been already noticed; but, after +_reaction_ has _acted_, there are such things as the _actions_ +themselves beginning to _react_. Jock was now under the influence of +the last-mentioned principle. Its exact operations need not be +particularised; but, from that hour, his kindness to Nelly began to +abate, and she began to feel less comfortable under the change than +might have been expected from a discreet damsel of her years. On the +following night she slept but little; and next morning she rose +earlier than was her usual, and was just beginning to kindle up the +fire, when she heard Jock engaged in a low but earnest conversation +with the _herd laddie_. She was separated from them only by a thin +partition, or _clay hallan_, as it was called in those days, so that +she could easily hear what was passing; and, reprehensible as her +conduct in this respect may seem, she could not refrain from +listening. + +"I need a new bannet," said Jock; "and I'm gaun owre to Abernethy for +ane the morn's nicht--but mind, Sandy, ye maunna tell Nell whar I am; +and, if she happens to speer, ye can just say that I'm awa down to +Auchtermuchty for a pickle snuff." + +"Aweel, aweel," said the other, "I can haud my tongue. But what need +can there be for makin lees aboot it? I'll warrant Nell winna care how +aften ye gang to Abernethy." + +"I hae nae time to tell ye aboot it enow," said Jock; "but I'll maybe +tell ye afterhend--and mind, as your name's Sandy Crawford, dinna ye +speak aboot it; and I'll gie ye as muckle market-fare as ye can +devour, _gin_ mid-simmer." + +As this conversation concluded, Nelly contrived to get into her bed +again without noise; and, covering herself up with the bedclothes, and +pretending to sleep, Jock passed through the kitchen without in the +least suspecting that she had become a party to his supposed secret. +From what she had heard, however, she saw plainly what was _brewing_, +and whither fate was tending. She saw that Lizzy Gimmerton's scheme +for once more attaching Jock to her interest had already succeeded; +and that, if he should "break both his leg and his neck in the first +burn he crossed," he had determined to go again and see her. But what +could she do to prevent things from taking their course? Like other +disconsolate maidens, she might lament in secret, and shed tears of +disappointment and sorrow without number--but this would by no means +mend the matter. Jock, she thought, would make a good husband, if he +had only a wife who knew how to manage him; but, unless something +extraordinary interposed, he was likely to get one who was a still +greater fool than himself; and, at this distance of time, it were +difficult to say how far _benevolence_, and a wish to prevent him from +making himself a mis-sworn man, might have a place in her +cogitations. She thought, also, that she would make a good wife, if it +were only her good fortune to get a husband; but, then, something or +other had always come to thwart her wishes in this respect; and even +now, when the prize seemed almost won, without a miracle, or +something, at least, out of the ordinary course of events, she stood a +fair chance for being again left in the lurch. She felt that it was a +sore matter to have hope from time to time deferred in this manner; +but what to do she could not exactly determine. She, however, +determined to leave nothing undone; and, after her, let none despair! + +Whether upon that morning the cows had given an extraordinary quantity +of milk, or whether Nelly had forgotten to empty the milking-pail of +water before she began to milk them, is not known; but, on coming in +from the byre, she could not, by any means, get the cogs to hold the +milk. Her mistress was called; and, after some consultation, Nelly +recollected that "Margaret Crawford"--who was the _herd laddie's_ +mother--"had plenty o' milk-dishes; and she would maybe lend them a +cog or twa." + +"The drap milk that the cogs winna haud may stand i' the water-pitcher +afore supper-time," she continued; "and Sandy may rin owre to +Gairyburn, after he comes in, and stay a' nicht wi' his mither, and +get the cog, and be back next morning in time to tak oot the kye." + +This plan seemed at least feasible; and the farther prosecution of it +was left to Nelly. + +"What's the matter wi' the milk the nicht?" inquired Sandy, as Nelly +was hastening him with his supper. + +"I ken o' naething that can be the matter," was her reply--"but what's +the matter wi't, say ye?" + +"I dinna ken either," said the boy; "but it's turned terrible +blue-like, isn't it? I can compare it to naething but the syndins o' +my mither's sye-dish." + +"Hoot! never mind the milk," rejoined Nelly; "but sup ye up yer supper +as fast as ye're able, and rin owre to yer mither, and tell her the +mistress sent ye to see if she could gie ye a len o' ane o' her +milk-cogs, for a fortnicht or sae, till the _first flush_ gang aff +Hawky. Ye can stay a' nicht at Gairyburn," she added; "and ye'll be +back in braw time next morning to gang _out_." + +The boy seemed glad of an opportunity to spend a night in his paternal +home. His supper was soon despatched, and away he went. + +The shortsightedness of mortals has been a theme for the moralists of +all ages to descant upon; and Nelly, had her history been sooner +known, might have afforded them as good a subject as any which they +have hitherto discussed. Attached as she evidently was to Jock, had +her foresight extended so far as to show her what was to follow, she +would certainly have strained every nerve to prevent him from being +left alone on that momentous night. Alone, however, he was left; +and--as he lay dreaming of Lizzy Gimmerton, and the happiness he +should experience from finding himself again reinstated in her +favour--exactly at the solitary hour of midnight a most terrible +apparition entered his apartment. How it entered was never known; for +the _outer_ door was securely locked; and the good people of the house +being, one and all, fast asleep, saw it not; but, as doors, windows, +walls, and roofs, afford no obstruction to an immaterial essence, its +entrance need not be matter of surprise. It was, in all respects save +one, a most legitimate ghost. A winding-sheet was wrapped round what +appeared to be its body; its head was tied up in a white handkerchief; +and its face and hands, where they were visible, were as white as the +drapery in which it was attired; but, then, in its right hand it +carried _a candle_--a thing which ghosts are not accustomed to do. +But, as there are exigencies among mortals which sometimes oblige +them to deviate from the common rules of conduct, the same things may, +perhaps, occur among ghosts. In the present instance, indeed, +something of the kind seemed to be indispensable; for, without such +aid, more than half its terrors would have been invisible. The candle, +moreover, was evidently the candle of a ghost; for it showed only a +small point of white flame in the middle, while around the edges it +burned as blue as _brimstone_ itself. In short, the light which it +gave must have been a thousand times more appalling than that of those +flames which Milton emphatically calls "darkness visible." + +Jock, however, still continued to sleep, till it uttered a hollow +groan, which awakened him; and then, rubbing his eyes, to make certain +that he was not still dreaming, he stared at it in inexpressible +terror. It returned his stare with a steady look of defiance and a +horrible grin, which seemed to make the blood curdle at the remotest +extremity of his body. It, however, appeared willing to abide by the +law of ghosts, and to wait in silence till it should be spoken to. But +Jock had already lost the power of speech. His erected hair had nearly +thrown off his nightcap; his tongue seemed to have fallen back into +his throat; not even a scream of terror could he utter, far less an +articulate sound; and it might have waited till morning, or till the +end of time, before an accent of his had set it at liberty to deliver +its message. But here it showed itself possessed of something like +"business habits," or at least of ten times more sense than the +majority of those ghosts who, "at the crowing of the cock," have been +obliged to run off without having effected anything except perhaps +frightening some rustic nearly out of his wits. When _it_ saw no +prospect of being spoken to, it spoke; and in this its example should +be imitated by all future ghosts. + +"Jock Jervis," it said, in tones so hollow and so sepulchral, that no +further doubts could be entertained of its authority--"Jock Jervis, +ye ken the promises and the solemn oaths ye've made already to Nelly +Kilgour; and if ye dinna fulfil thae promises, and mak her yer married +wife afore a fortnicht is at an end, ye maun gang to hell-fire, to be +burned for a mis-sworn loon. And mair than a' that, if ye prove +fause-hearted, I'll choke ye wi' this windin-sheet, and fling ye owre +my shouther, and carry ye to Arangask kirkyard, and gie ye to the +witches, to pick your banes ahint the aisle, afore ye get leave to +gang aff the earth." + +Having uttered this terrible malediction, it shook its winding-sheet, +and then waved the candle round its head. The _white_ part of the +flame immediately disappeared; the _blue_ parted into a thousand +fragments, and flew through the apartment in as many directions, like +infernal meteors. + +While these appalling phenomena were passing before the eyes of the +terrified spectator, the ghost had disappeared, he could scarcely tell +how, and in a moment more all was dark--awfully dark. But of those +terrific sparkles which the candle had emitted in going out, one had +fallen on Jock's hand, which happened to be lying out of the +bedclothes, and there it continued to sputter and to burn most +distressingly blue, till the pain, which, in this case, amounted to +torment, and the absence of the ghost, restored his speech; or, at +least, restored him the use of his tongue. He roared out most lustily +for comfort in his distress, and for assistance against his spiritual +enemies, in case they should reappear; and the noise which he thus +made soon alarmed Nelly, who, with her under-petticoat hastily thrown +on, and wanting the whole of her upper garments, came into the +apartment, holding a half-trimmed lamp in her hand, rubbing her eyes, +and alternately speaking to herself and him. + +"Sic a noise I never heard i' my life; and yet I dinna like to gae +near him afore I get my claes on; but that's awfu--Jock, man, what's +the matter wi' ye? Na, no ae word will he speak, but roar and cry as +if somebody were stickin him. Jock, man, it's me--it's your auld +acquaintance, Nelly, but tell me, Jock, hae ye gane clean out o' yer +judgment?" + +"O Nelly, Nelly!" said Jock, "is't you--is't you?--gie's a haud o' yer +hand, woman--oh, gie's a haud o' yer hand, for I canna speak." + +"Atweel no," said Nelly; "if ye had on yer claes, and were butt at the +kitchen fire, I micht maybe gie ye my hand, if it were to do ye guid; +but, as lang as ye lie there, and roar and squall that gate, ye needna +look for a hand o' mine." + +"Aweel, Nelly, I canna help it," said the other. "I'll never be at the +kitchen fire again, I fear; and if ye dinna gie me your hand, ye'll +maybe repent it when it's owre late; for I canna stand this lang, and +I'll no be lang to the fore. My hand's burnin as if it were in a +smiddy fire; but that's naething. Oh, if I could only touch somebody, +to let me ken it's flesh and blood that I'm speakin till." + +On hearing that he was really in pain, Nelly could no longer stand +back. "Dear me," said she, "what can be the matter wi' ye?" and, as +she spoke, she took his hand in hers to examine it with the lamp. +"It's burned, I declare!" she continued, in a tone of sympathy, which +appeared somewhat to comfort him; "how did that happen? But I maun rin +for some _sour 'ream_ to rub it wi'." + +"No, no, Nelly," said Jock, grasping her hand firmly in his, to detain +her, and now considerably relieved by the consciousness that he was in +the presence of one who had hands and arms, and a body of flesh and +blood like his own; "dinna leave me," he continued, "and I'll tell ye +a' about it. It's no five minutes yet since I saw a ghaist--oh dear, +oh dear! it gars my very blood rin cauld o' thinkin on't--and it said, +if I dinna marry you in less than a fortnicht, I maun gang to +hell-fire to be burned, for the promises I made i' the glen. O Nelly, +Nelly, tak pity on me, and let the marriage be on Monanday, or Tysday +at farrest." + +"You're surely wrang, Jock," was the reply; "if the ghaist kenned +onything ava, it would ken brawly that ye had nae wark wi' me. It had +been Lizzie Gimmerton it bade ye tak, and ye had just taen up the tale +wrang." + +"Na, na," rejoined the other; "it was you--it was Nelly Kilgour. Oh, +I'll never forget its words!--and if ye winna tak pity on me, what am +I to do?" + +"Ye needna speer what ye're to do at me," said Nelly; "but it seems +the ghaist and you maun think that ye can get me to _marry_ ony time +ye like, just as ye would get a pickle strae to gather up ahint your +horse on a mornin. But I daresay, after a', the ghaist would ken +brawly that it needna sent you to Lizzie upon sic an errand, for the +first lad that would gang awa wi' her, she would gang awa wi' him, and +leave you to whistle on your thumb or your forefinger, if it answered +you better; and yet ye micht gang owre _the morn's nicht_, and gie her +a trial." + +The awful words, "hell-fire," and "pick your banes at the back o' the +aisle," were still ringing in Jock's ears. Nelly's observation seemed +to preclude all hope of escape from the terrible doom which they +plainly denounced, and he groaned deeply, but did not speak: this was +what the other could not endure, and she now tried to comfort him in +the best manner she could. + +"I'm no sayin," she resumed, "but I would tak ye, rather than see ony +ill come owre ye, if ye would only promise to gie up your glaikit +gates, and to do your best to keep yoursel and me comfortable." Here +she was interrupted by the guidman, who, like herself, had been +awakened by the first alarm; but, in coming into the kitchen, and +hearing only Jock and her conversing together, he had thought it best +to dress himself before he entered upon an investigation of the +matter. He was now at the bedside, however, and anxious to learn what +had occasioned such an uproar. And Jock, who had been partly recovered +from his terror by Nelly's presence, and partly by her assurance that +she would become his wife rather than see him carried away by his +spiritual foe, began to give them a most sublime account of the ghost. + +"I canna tell ye hoo it cam in," said he, "for it was i' the middle o' +the floor afore I was waukin. But when I first opened my een, there it +stood wi' three or four windin-sheets about it, and its head rowed up +in a white clout, and its face and its hands a hantle whiter than +either the windin-sheet or the clout--only I thought I saw some earth +stickin on that side o' its nose that was farrest frae the licht. But +what was a thousand times waur than a' that, it had a cannel in its +hand that micht weel hae terrified a hale army o' sodgers; and I aye +think yet, it had been the deevil himsel, and nae ghaist, for the +cannel had just a wee _peek_ o' white low i' the middle, and a' round +the edges it burned as blue as a blawort, and bizzed and spitted, and +threw out sparks like blue starns. And after it had telled me what +I've telled you, it gae the cannel a wave round its head, and then the +hale hoose, wa's, roof, and riggin, gaed a' in a blue low; and I saw +the ghaist flee up through the couple bauks as clear as ever I saw the +owsen afore me when the sun was shinin! But I could stand nae mair, +for I steekit my een, and I'm sure I lay dead for near an hour. But +when I cam to life again, the hale house was filled wi' a smell o' +brimstane that would putten down a' the bees'-skeps i' the yard; and +my richt hand was burning just as if ye had dippit it in a tar-kettle, +and then set a lunt till't; but it was ten times waur than tar, for it +had the smell o' brimstane, and it would scarcely gang out. The pain +garred me roar as I never roared in a' my life afore; and I'm sure +I'll never forget the relief I felt when Nelly cam to see what had +happened." + +As an evidence of the truth of this account, Jock showed them his +hand, upon which a portion of the skin was really burned as black as a +cinder. The goodman and the goodwife, both of whom were now present, +stood astonished at this circumstance; but Nelly, who had evinced a +considerable degree of composure in this trying scene, now appeared +less dismayed. + +"Hoot, man!" said she, addressing Jock, "dinna gang out o' your wits +though ye've gotten a fear; mony a ane has seen a ghaist, and lived to +see their bairns' bairns after a'--sae may ye, if ye would only tak +heart again." + +"O Nelly, Nelly," said Jock, "I micht maybe tak heart, if ye would +only promise faithfully, afore witnesses, to let yoursel be married +next week." + +"What need I promise," rejoined Nelly, "when, for onything I ken, ye +may be gaun to see Lizzie Gimmerton _the morn's nicht_?" + +"Oh dear! oh dear!" ejaculated Jock. Again the terrible denunciation +of the ghost rang in his ears, and again he groaned in an agony of +despair. But here the master and mistress interposed in his behalf, +and, by their mediation, Nelly was at last brought to consent to that +important change in her condition which alone would save him from +perdition. She still insisted, however, on making conditions; and +these were, _first_, that he should not go to a market except when he +had some business to transact; _second_, that, upon these occasions, +he should always take her along with him, if she was willing to go; +_third_, that he should never enter upon any important concern without +first apprising her of it; and, _fourth_, that he should always come +home to his own fireside when his day's work was done. + +These conditions were readily subscribed by Jock, or, which is the +same thing, they were agreed to before witnesses, after which Nelly +frankly consented to be his wife. When this had been settled, she +would have made out another set of conditions, specifying what her own +conduct was to be, and what he might expect of her in certain +situations; but Jock had determined on making an unconditional +surrender of himself and his effects into her hands; and all she was +permitted to say was, that "she would do her best to mak a guid wife +to him." + +Matters were thus far satisfactorily adjusted; but still Jock could +not rest till his promised bride was _contracket_, as he phrased it; +and, to free his mind from those remains of terror under which he +still laboured, the master of the house went in quest of the dominie +as soon as daylight began to appear. Dominies are seldom slow in these +matters; a contract of marriage was forthwith drawn up in the usual +form; due proclamation of their intentions was made in the church next +Sabbath; and, as the case was an urgent one, they were cried out in +the same day. On Monday the marriage was solemnised in a becoming +manner; and, when the parties were put to bed, Jock, who had up to +that moment been rather feverish on the subject of the ghost, declared +that "he wasna feared noo." + +Had this marriage been brought about by ordinary means, it might have +staggered some of the lieges in their faith--at least it must have +taxed their ingenuity to reconcile the event, happening as it had +done, in the face of a plain prediction, with the unlimited power +which the witches certainly possessed; but, as it was, the matter +needed no comment. The decision of the witch had evidently been +reversed in the court of the ghosts, who, from being a superior order, +had power to do such things; and thus Nelly Kilgour had got a husband, +even after she had been predestined, by the former of these +authorities, to a life of single blessedness. + +Jock had also good reason to congratulate himself on the intervention +of his spiritual _friend_--the ghost being no longer regarded as an +enemy; for, in less than six months from the date of his marriage, +Lizzie Gimmerton was discovered to be in a condition which would have +been rather derogatory to his fame, had she been his yoke-fellow. It +was acknowledged upon all hands, however, that he had got a better +bargain. In a few weeks after the marriage, his appearance was so much +improved, that people, of their own accord, began to call him _John_; +and, in another month, his wife was the only individual who still +persisted in calling him _Jock_. But this, in her case, was, as it +appeared, "habit and repute," and could not be easily altered. Whoever +had an empty snuff-box, Jock's was always full; whoever might be seen +at church with coarse or ill-washed linen, Jock was not among the +number; whoever went to the public-house, or to the houses of their +neighbours, for amusement, Jock came always home "to his ain +fireside;" and, when others were heard to complain of the +thriftlessness of their wives, he only said that "he had aye been a +hantle better since he got Nelly than ever he was afore." + +In conclusion, it may be remarked, that, though Nelly was evidently +the _managing partner_, she gave herself no airs of superiority. She +seldom did anything without taking her husband's advice; but, while +she sought, she tried to direct his opinion into the proper channel, +by pointing out what was likely to be results of the affair, if it +were conducted in such a manner; and thus his advice was, in general, +only an echo of her own sentiments. If Jock, in the presence of +others, directed her to do anything, she, in general, did it, without +questioning its propriety; but, if she thought it was wrong, she +represented the case to him when they were by themselves--telling him, +at the same time, that "she just did it to please him, though she +thought it was wrang." Upon these occasions, his common reply was-- + +"Deed ay, Nelly, I daresay ye're richt. I dinna aye see sae far afore +me as ye do; but I'm sure, wi' a' my fauts, ye canna say but I like ye +as weel yet as ever I did." + +"Deed do ye," was frequently Nelly's rejoinder; "and proud am I to +think that my ain Jock aye likes his ain wife better than ither +folk." + +Within a year after their marriage, Nelly made her husband the father +of a female child, who was christened Jenny Jervis. In a few years, +their united industry enabled them to stock the little farm of +Rummledykes--of which they were so fortunate as to obtain a _tack_. +The place consisted, for the most part, of pasture ground; but Jock +laboured assiduously to improve and cultivate it. Nelly, by her +management of the dairy, contributed materially to increase their +possessions; and here we must leave them, contented and happy, for the +present--promising, however, to give the reader some glimpses of their +subsequent history--and perhaps some hints, too, which may enable him +to form his own conjectures as to those supernatural appearances which +brought about their union--in a future story. + + + + +THE GHOST OF GAIRYBURN. + + +In the fulfilment of our promise of "a future story," which we made at +the termination of "The Ghost of Howdycraigs," we may premise thus:-- + +It would be both trite and bombastic to say, as some orators have +done, that "time rolls on;" and yet it is wholly owing to their having +been so often repeated, that such sayings excite no interest, and the +subjects to which they refer pass unnoticed; for, however we may +forget the truth, or however the regular recurrence of evening and +morning, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, may make us callous +to the result which these revolutions are destined to produce, nothing +can be more certain than that Time never pauses in his career. His +progress may be observed, not only in those great events which give +birth to new eras in the history of the world--in the overthrow of +ancient empires, the extinction of ancient dynasties, and the +discovery of new countries: it may be traced in the occurrences of +every year, every month, and almost of every day. The connections of +families, the numbers of which they are composed, their relative +position in society, and their prospects in life, are undergoing +perpetual changes. Changeable as are the fortunes, so are the minds +and the emotions of men: one hour they laugh, another they weep; and, +perhaps, the very next hour they laugh again; while events the most +important and the most trifling, the most solemn and the most +ludicrous, mingle together, and follow each other by a law which fools +our powers of investigation, and baffles our understanding. + +Eighteen years had nearly elapsed since the period at which the +former part of this history concludes; and _the Ghost of Howdycraigs_ +was nearly forgotten. Betsy Braikens, who was then only a girl, was +now a full-grown woman, who, for the last eight or nine of the +above-mentioned years, would not have been irreconcilably offended +with a well-looking sweetheart for proposing to make her his wife. Her +brother James, who, in the same interval, had arrived at man's estate, +had been endeavouring, not very successfully, for some time past to +establish himself as a merchant in Perth; and his cousin, Sandy +Crawford, whom the reader will recollect as the herd laddie at +Howdycraigs, had, by the death of his father, been promoted to be +tacksman of Gairyburn; upon which place he resided with his mother. +Jenny Jervis, too, with whose birth the preceding story concludes, was +by this time a lass upon whom those who were neither too young nor too +old might have looked with as much interest at least as it is common +to bestow on a maiden in her eighteenth year. It is also probable that +she herself had begun to steal an occasional glance at the young men +of the district, as she saw them passing on the road, or assembled at +their rustic sports; and to recollect, when her mind was otherwise +unoccupied, that one was tall, that another had dark eyes, that a +third had a smiling countenance; and, perhaps, that a fourth united +all these charms in his proper person. + +It was the middle of winter, or what is commonly called "the daft +days," which has long been a season of festivity to the rich, and, in +so far as circumstances will permit, to the poor also. The cottagers +were invited to each other's houses, to spend an evening in +forgetfulness of care. Cakes, cheese, and ale, supplied them with a +cheap, and, at the same time, a cheery repast. The old people talked +of bygone times, and the feats of dexterity or strength which they had +performed in their youth, with all the enthusiasm of heroes when +"fighting their battles over again;" while the young ones looked in +each other's faces, and laughed heartily at little jests. +Unpremeditated compliments were paid in off-handed profusion; old and +incredible stories were revived; and, in the words of Goldsmith, "news +much older than their ale went round;" but, whatever might be their +age, at such seasons they were certain to produce as much merriment as +upon the occasion when they were first produced. To conclude the +picture-- + + "The nappy reek'd wi' mantling 'ream, + And shed a heart-inspiring stream; + And luntin pipe and sneeshin mill + Were handed round wi' richt guid-will." + +Sandy Crawford and his mother had been invited to "get their cakes," +and spend the evening with John Jervis and his wife. They came, +according to custom; and, after the cheese, the oaten bread, and the +ale had been sent round in the usual manner-- + +"Troth, Nelly," said Margaret Crawford, addressing her hostess, "your +Jenny's turned a perfect woman, I declare. Sic an odds there's on her +within the last twalmonth! Mony a time I look at her when she's gaun +past; and, to say the truth, ye may weel be proud o' yer dochter, for +I dinna see a bonnier lassie i' the hale country-side than she is." + +"Beauty is only skin-deep," said Nelly, with a smile of satisfaction, +which showed how highly she appreciated the quality in her daughter +which she pretended to undervalue. "But the lassie's weel aneugh, +though she were nae freend o' mine. And noo, Sandy," she continued, in +a jesting tone, and turning from the mother to the son as she spoke, +"what think ye o' her for a wife? Yer mither seems to be unco weel +pleased wi' her; I'm sure I would like weel to see ye gang thegither, +and I dinna think our Jock would say onything against sic a marriage." + +"Hoot, woman," interrupted her husband, "were I to haver like you, I +would say that, if I thought she would only turn out half as guid a +wife to him as you've dune to me, I would maist advise him to tak her; +but she's our ain bairn, and we should haud our tongues." + +"That's as true as ye hae said it," rejoined Nelly; "fathers and +mithers should say little on sic a subject; but as this is a nicht on +which a'body haver, ye maun just allow me to haver too: when folk only +haver for diversion, it can do little ill. And sae, as I was gaun to +say," she continued, again addressing Sandy, "yer mither seems to be +pleased; I'm weel pleased; Jock's no that sair set against the match, +and noo there's naebody's consent awantin but your ain." + +"Ay," said Sandy, "there's anither yet, though you've forgotten about +it; ye maun get her consent too afore it can be a bargain. Jenny has a +heart as weel as her neebors, I'll warrant her," he continued, +stealing a look at the object of whom he spoke, "and I'm maybe no +amang the folk she likes best." + +"Weel, Jenny, it's a' at your door noo, I declare," said her mother, +laughing outright. "What say ye to this affair?" + +"Oh, if ye would only haud your tongue!" said Jenny, blushing, and +still keeping her eyes fixed upon a rather profitless occupation in +which she had been engaged for some time past--namely, that of folding +and unfolding the corners of her apron with great assiduity; but the +rest of the company, if we except Sandy, perhaps, were so deeply +engaged in their own nonsensical conversation, that they took no +notice of this circumstance. + +"That's just the way wi' a' young folk," said Nelly, still laughing; +"the lad thinks the lass has some ither body that she likes better +than him, and the lass thinks the lad pays mair attention to anither +than he does to her; she daurna say a word unless she maybe tak the +dorts and misca him; he hesitates to speak for fear he should be +refused; and between them they aften contrive to torment ane anither +for years, when twa words micht settle the matter, and mak them baith +happy. But I'm sure, Margaret, if they would only leave the thing to +you and me, we could mak a bargain for them the nicht yet." + +"It's likely, at least, that we would mak a bargain sooner than they +would do," said the other. But the sigh with which she concluded +bespoke some emotion which accorded ill with the lightness of the +previous conversation. There was a something, too, in her manner, +which seemed to say that, while she was not averse to the proposed +match, she did not altogether relish the jest in which its immediate +consummation had been spoken of. + +Mothers have frequently thrown serious obstacles in the path of young +people when they supposed themselves travelling on the highway to +happiness; but sometimes, too, they seem inclined to give them an +opportunity of forming that liking for each other, without which, +according to the popular creed, no happiness can exist. Nelly now +proposed that, while the guidman was suppering the horse, Margaret +should go with her to the byre and see the cow, the yearling, and the +calf, which, she said, "were in wonderfu guid order, considerin how +little they had to gie them." Sandy and Jenny were thus left to +themselves; but upon this occasion they seemed to have the greatest +difficulty in keeping up a sort of intermitting conversation upon the +weather, the state of the roads, and some other subjects of the same +kind. Each wished to appear witty and amiable in the eyes of the +other; but somehow their wits seemed to have forsaken them, and they +appeared to be perfectly ignorant of the means by which their wishes +could be accomplished. Perhaps the former conversation had awakened, +or rather called into a state of activity, some feelings which they +knew not how to express; and it might be that, while these feelings +predominated, they could not think of anything else in such a manner +as to talk of it to the purpose; or perhaps it was only the mere +awkwardness of finding themselves, for the first time since they were +children, thus left to each other, which in a great measure locked up +their conversational powers. Be the matter as it may, with the "eldern +dames" it was otherwise. + +When they got to the byre, Margaret appeared more willing to resume +the former subject than to look at her neighbour's chattels. "Ye would +maybe think," said she, "that I didna seem sae frank as I micht hae +done when ye spoke about Jenny and Sandy; but, for a' that, I've aften +thought, if ever it were the laddie's luck to get a wife, Jenny would +mak a better ane than ony ither young woman I ken. But after him +that's now awa began to tak death till himsel," she continued, +lowering her voice to a confidential whisper, "when he made owre the +tack to Sandy, he left me as a burden upon Gairyburn. Noo, the place +is but sma, as ye ken, and there's but ae house on't, and, if he were +to marry, I dinna ken how a'thing would answer." + +"Hoot, woman," rejoined the other, "ye've a _butt and a ben_; the +house would haud ye a' brawly. And, though our lassie's owre young to +be a wife to onybody, and I was only passin a joke about her and +Sandy, if she were a year or twa aulder, and if a'thing were +agreeable, I canna say but I would like weel to see them gang +thegither. For it's just the gate o' a' mithers--they would aye like +to see their ain bairns gettin guid bargains. No that I would care a +snuff for the lassie gettin a man wi' a hantle riches; but I would +like to see her get ane that would ken how to guide her, and how to +guide the warld too. Noo, Sandy is baith a canny and a carefu chield; +and, if they dinna thrive, I'm sure it wouldna be his faut." + +"It's a' true ye say," responded Margaret; "and weel it pleases me to +hear your guid opinion o' my son. He has a wark wi' the lassie +already, if I'm no far deceived; for ony time when she comes owre to +our house, I've remarkit that he's aye kinder to her than to ony ither +body. But there's a proverb that says, 'young wives seldom like auld +guidmithers'--and that's what troubles me." + +"But that needna trouble ye owre muckle either," was the reply; +"for--what's this I was gaun to say, again?--ou ay--wi' respect to +Jenny, puir thing, if it were her guid fortune to draw his affection, +I'm sure she would strive, as far as lay in her power, to mak ye +comfortable." + +"I dinna doubt a single word o' what ye say," rejoined the other. +"Jenny is a dutiful and a kind-hearted lassie; I ken that weel. But, +as the auld sayin is, ilka body kens their ain sair best; and, though +it's nae doubt a weakness, I maun e'en tell ye a'. When I was +married--I mind as weel as yesterday--baith David and me thought we +could live happy wi' his mither; and we did live happy, for aught days +or sae; but, after that, I could do naethin to please her. If I tried +to 'earn the milk, it was either owre het or owre cauld when I put in +the 'earning; if I began to wash the dishes, she aye milkit the kye +first, and then she wondered how some folk had sae little sense. I +could neither mak the parritch, nor wash, nor spin, nor mak up a hasp +o' yarn--no, nor soop in the very house, to please her; and, though I +tried, as far as was in my power, to do a'thing her way, it gae me +mony a sleepless nicht, and cost him that's awa nae little vexation. +And weel do I mind mony a time I wondered what pleasure she could tak +in distressin me; but I think noo it was just a frailty o' our +nature--a something that auld folk canna help. And I think, too, I've +discovered the cause o' her grumlin since I began to see the prospect +o' Sandy takin a wife. Now, ye'll nae doubt think it strange," she +continued, in a hesitating tone--"ye'll nae doubt think it strange, +Nelly; but, dearly as I like my ain son--and weel as I would like to +see him happy wi' a woman wha loved him better than a' the warld +beside--still there's a something in the idea o' anither comin in to +be the mistress o' the hoose whaur I've had the management sae lang, +that aye distresses me when I think on't." + +"I dinna wonder ava at what ye say," responded Nelly. "If I were in +your place, a' that troubles you would trouble me. But there's naebody +without something to distress them; and we maun just look upon things +o' that kind as a _crook in our lot_, a something that maun be borne. +But, after a', woman, if the twa were to gang thegither, could ye no +come owre here? Ye have only him, and we have only her; the little +gear we hae maun a' gang to him at last; and, if the young folk could +live thegither in ane o' the places, the auld folk micht surely do the +same in the tither." + +"Thank ye, Nelly--thank ye!" said Margaret; "ye're aye the same +guid-hearted creature yet. But a body's ain hame's aye kindly. And +yet, if sic a thing were to happen, I would rather come here, than +gang to ony freend I hae." As she uttered these words, she made an +involuntary motion forward, and would have fallen, had she not +supported herself by the wall. + +"Dear me, Margaret, what's the matter wi' ye?" said Nelly, in a tone +of evident alarm. + +"It's a dizziness i' my head, woman," was the reply. "I've never been +mysel since that illness I had afore the term. Thae curious turns come +owre me aye, noo and then," she continued, her voice sinking and +saddening as she spoke; "and, for the last six weeks, it's been borne +in upon me, that I'm no to be lang to the fore. Now, if I was taen +awa, Sandy would be sair to mean wi' naebody about the house but a +servant; and that gars me sometimes think I would maist like to see +him married to some carefu lass like your Jenny afore my head be laid +down." + +"Wheesht, Margaret!" said the other; "never let thae thoughts come +owre ye, for there's an auld proverb that says, _thought can kill and +thought can cure_. And I doubt I've driven the joke owre far already. +But, though it's natural aneugh for young lasses to like to get +husbands, and natural aneugh, too, for their mithers to like to see +them weel married, I would ten times owre see our Jenny live and dee +without a man a'thegither, rather than see her married to the best man +on earth, if her marriage were to gie you real vexation, or be the +means o' shortenin your days." + +"It's no that," said Margaret, in the same low solemn tone in which +she had before spoken--"it's no onything ye have said that has hurt +me, for I've thought about a' thae things afore. When I had that ill +turn afore Martinmas, when folk thought I was deein, I began to +consider wha would be maist likely to keep a comfortable hame to my +ain bairn; and then, I confess, my thoughts turned upon your Jenny. +This made me look mair attentively at baith him and her than I had +ever done before; and twa or three times, when she cam owre to see how +I was, I thought I saw something like the first symptoms of affection +in his manner as weel as hers; and I felt glad at the sicht. But, as I +began to get a little better, and to be able to gang about again, the +things that had happened wi' my ain guidmither came fresh to my +memory, and I thought I would like to manage the house mysel, and do +for the best as lang as I was able. But I fear," she added, with a +deep sigh, "this complaint, whatever it is, will weather me afore it's +lang." + +"Na, Margaret; I hope better things," said the other; "and ye maun +strive to hope for better things too. Though ye mayna be sae stout +through the winter, when the warm weather comes in ye'll gather +strength again; and, if ance ye had yer fit on a May gowan, ye'll be +as hale and hearty as the best o' us." + +"It's lang to the month o' May," said Margaret, in a voice unwontedly +solemn; "and, afore that time come round, hundreds that are laughin +and makin muckle sport the nicht may be cauld in their graves. But +promise, if I'm taen awa, that ye'll do yer best to supply my place, +and to bring the twa thegither if ye can." + +Nelly was really distressed to think that this gloomy presentiment had +taken such firm hold of her neighbour's mind; but, fancying that it +had been in some measure suggested by their former conversation, and +hoping that it would soon pass off, she promised to comply with her +wishes, and then urged her to rejoin the company within. + +They accordingly went into the house, where they found the little +party--which, in their absence, consisted of only three--engaged in a +cheerful conversation. Freed at length from that embarrassment which +they had experienced while alone, the others soon recovered their +spirits and their freedom of speech. Margaret, however, could not so +easily recover her former cheerfulness. She strove, indeed, to appear +as merry as the rest; but her late indisposition, though only of a +momentary nature, seemed to have left an effect upon her spirits which +did not immediately pass away. There was also a something in the +fitfulness of her manner, and the expression of deep solemnity into +which her countenance frequently relapsed after a laugh, which told +too plainly that her merriment came not from the heart. These symptoms +were soon observed, and by degrees her sadness appeared to communicate +itself to the rest of the company. + +In this state of things, they seemed to feel as if an early separation +would have been a relief, and almost the only relief of which the case +would admit. When the propriety of a measure is felt by a whole +company, some one or other of their number in general stammers upon +the wishes of the rest; and here, shortly after the above-mentioned +feeling had begun to prevail, Margaret Crawford said that--"As the +nicht was dark and micht end in rain, she thought it would be best for +her and Sandy to gang hame afore it was late." To this proposal Nelly +and her husband made a friendly show of resistance such as is common +on these occasions, and urged, as reasons for delaying their guests, +that "it was not late yet," and that "they would be hame in braw time, +though they staid anither hour." But this resistance, though +reiterated, was so faint, that it was at once felt to be formal; and +Margaret, who had no very great temptation to do otherwise, seemed +inclined to adhere to her first intention. She therefore repeated her +reasons for going home; and, at the same time expressed a hope, "if +_naething extrordinar_ cam i' the way, that she would see John and +Nelly, and Jenny too, at Gairyburn, some nicht neist week, to spend +the e'enin wi' her"--after which, the little company broke up. + +The night was far advanced before Jenny could close her eyes; and when +at last she did sink into the arms of the "leaden god," it was only to +dream of having lost her way, along with Sandy Crawford, in some wide +and wildering desert which she had never seen before. At first the +scene seemed solitary, shaded with lofty yews, and tangled with +trailing shrubs; dark clouds spread a gloom over it; mists rested on +the top of every rock; and the night-dews hung heavily from every +branch and every blade of grass. Then the prospect appeared to +brighten: the landscape assumed a variety of charms; every hour +disclosed some new beauty, or opened up some glowing vista which she +had not before seen. The sun gradually dissipated the clouds which +hitherto had concealed him, and, bursting through, dried up the +superfluous moisture from the earth; the air became pure, and the day +delightfully warm; and, though as yet she had discovered no road by +which she could return, she did not feel greatly perplexed. But the +pleasing prospect was soon overcast: clouds appeared to gather round +them; anon she was separated from her companion by rocks and +unfathomable gulfs, the nature and extent of which she could not +distinctly see. At times she fancied he was lost, and felt inclined to +weep at the thought that she should never see him more; then she +obtained a glimpse of him, as if he still waited for her, and then her +heart panted to come up with him; then he disappeared, and she knew +not which way to turn. At last she thought Betsy Braikens came up to +her, and offered to conduct her to where he was; but at that moment +the sky grew dark, and the storm raged so terribly, that she could not +stir a step to follow her. It soon ceased, however; the day again +cleared; she seemed to see him advancing to meet her, with a smile of +welcome upon his countenance; and, just as he was about to throw his +arms around her waist, she started aside to avoid his embrace, struck +her arm upon the post of the bed, and the pain which the circumstance +occasioned, aided by an importunate knocking at the door, awakened +her. On being thus made aware that some one wanted admittance, she +started up, threw on a part of her clothes, snatched up the poker, +broke the _gathering-coal_, and stirred the fire, which instantly +burst forth in a blaze; and then she hastened to open the door. + +The present visiter was Sandy Crawford, in most respects the very same +as she had seen him in her dream; but the _smile_ with which that +illusion had presented her was wanting, and in its stead she thought +she could discover, by the light of the fire, marks of anxiety, +perturbation, and fear, upon his countenance. The contrast was so +striking, that she almost forgot one part of it was only a dream. At +the very first glance, she felt certain that something was wrong; and +she would have inquired what it was, but, before she could speak, he +told her, in terms which betrayed his own agitation, that his mother, +without having previously complained of being worse than her ordinary, +had been struck with what appeared to be _palsy_ in the course of the +night, that she was now wholly deprived of speech, and nearly +deprived of motion in one side, and that he had hastened thither as +soon as she could be left, to beg either her or her mother to come +over and watch her till he could procure further assistance. He would +have said something more--he would have hinted the probability of the +fatal termination of his mother's disease, and the further probability +that this termination might occur in a few hours, both of which were +painfully impressed upon his heart; but he shrank from the idea of +speaking on such a subject, as though he apprehended some mysterious +connection between his own words and the fate of his mother, and that +what he was about to say might hurry on the crisis which he wished to +avert. He was therefore silent; while Jenny, between the effects of +her dream, and the alarming intelligence which she had just heard, +knew not what to answer, or what she should do. In general, she +possessed activity, and all that was necessary to enable her to render +assistance in any case with which she was acquainted; but she was +susceptible of strong impressions--those who are so seldom act with +ease in an untried situation--and she was now placed in one which was +perfectly new to her. In her agitation, she would have stood where she +was, like a statue, or she would have accompanied him without taking +time to put on what remained of her clothes, had he repeated his +request; but her mother, who had been awakened by the opening of the +door, on overhearing the conversation which followed, had dressed +herself with characteristic despatch, now came to her daughter's +relief. + +"Dinna forget to milk the cow, lassie," said she, "nor to mak yer +father's parritch about eight o'clock, and I'll rin owre mysel, and +see what's the matter wi' puir Margaret Crawford. But, if I'm no back +afore dinner-time, mind ye to come and see how she is." With these +brief orders, Nelly wrapped herself up in her cloak, and hastened to +carry her services where they were most wanted. + +On reaching Gairyburn, they found Margaret, as she had been +represented, very ill. The shock, however, did not, as there was at +first some reason to fear, prove immediately mortal; and about noon, +when Jenny arrived, her mother proposed that she herself should go +home, leaving her in constant attendance, and promising, at the same +time, to return as often as possible, and give them all the assistance +in her power. This arrangement appeared satisfactory to all parties; +but, at the end of three weeks, a second shock brought rest to the +sufferer, and mourning to the house of Gairyburn. + +This mournful event, as is common in such cases, brought together the +whole of the friends and relations of the deceased; and among the rest +came Betsy Braikens and her brother. Betsy had been for some time past +residing with that brother in Perth; but, as soon as it was known that +she had arrived, those who pretended to take an interest in the +affairs of her cousin hastened to represent to her in the strongest +terms the necessity of her coming "to _keep his house_;" and, yielding +to their representations, she did offer her services. These were +declined, however, from the consideration that it would be +inconvenient for her brother to want her assistance. But, as soon as +it was understood that she had made such an offer, the very +individuals who had advised her to make it began to search for other +motives than their own advice, and they soon discovered what they +considered a sufficient reason for her doing so, in the embarrassed +circumstances of her brother. It was generally believed that his trade +had never been very flourishing, and some surmises had lately reached +them of the failure of a merchant in Glasgow, with whom he was +understood to be connected, which would involve him in very +considerable pecuniary difficulties. Putting these things together, +they deemed them a sufficient warrant for supposing that Betsy had her +cousin's _hand_ as well as his house in view, and that, if she did not +succeed in securing one of them at least, she might soon have no +house to keep. + +This supposition was not altogether without a foundation; for all his +endeavours had been so unsuccessful of late, that her brother had now +come to the determination of dropping business, as soon as he could +sell off his stock, and wind up his affairs; but, as it would be +several months before this could be done with any prospect of +advantage, he still continued to keep his intentions a perfect secret. +And this being the case, it was agreed on the evening of the funeral +that he and his sister should set off, early next morning, for Perth. + +The weather, however, did not appear to favour their intentions. For +the last eight days it had been fair, and uncommonly mild, with slight +frosts during the night, so that, in the estimation of the country +people, "the earth was prepared for a storm." But, on the day alluded +to, the atmosphere had become loaded with stagnant vapours; a +continuous mass of dark, leaden-coloured cloud, which seemed to rest +upon the nearest hills, arched the concave; not a single speck of blue +sky had been visible since morning; and in the evening, one of those +dense and wildering falls of snow, which have frequently misled the +traveller, came on. + +The night was one which, in most respects, seemed to accord with the +sorrowful feelings of the little party at Gairyburn. It was gloomy and +silent; while the snow continued to accumulate around the house, as if +to exclude everything which might have a tendency to disturb their +recollections of the solemn scene in which they had been so lately +engaged. At times, a sort of conversation, carried on in subdued +tones, prevailed for a season; and then it was followed by +considerable intervals of silence, broken only by an occasional sigh, +a casual observation on the stillness of the night, or an injunction +to stir the fire. Anon, the colloquial powers of the party seemed to +gather strength from the repose which they had been permitted to +enjoy; and the discourse was again renewed, to continue for a season, +and then to flag, as it had done before. In most respects, this +conversation bore a striking resemblance to the evening fire of the +poor widow, which is only kept alive by an occasional handful of +brushwood thrown upon the expiring embers; after which it emits a +flickering flame for a short while, and then gradually decays, till +the last spark is scarcely perceptible, and it is only prevented from +utter extinction by a repetition of the same process. + +In one of these intervals of silence, Betsy Braikens had gone to the +door--partly to pass the time which hung so heavily, and partly to see +if there was any prospect of being able to travel in the morning. +While thus reconnoitring, her attention was attracted by a whistle, +followed by a faint cry for assistance, which, though evidently at a +distance, was, owing to the stillness of the night, distinctly heard. +This made her listen more attentively. The whistle and the cry were +repeated, which satisfied her that they proceeded from some one in +distress; and she now thought it time to give notice of what she had +heard to those within. On hearing the circumstance, her brother and +cousin immediately set off in the direction which she had pointed out; +and in a short time they returned, bringing along with them a +stranger, who had lost his way when it grew dark; and, after having +wandered for several hours among the hills, without knowing where he +was going, had at last stumbled over a bank into a miry slough, where, +as he was unable to extricate himself from the mud, he would in all +probability have perished, but for the assistance which he had +received. + +The care of ministering to the new guest devolved principally upon +Betsy Braikens, who had been the first to give notice of his previous +distress; and for such an office she was better qualified than any +other female who, at the time, could have been found, within several +miles--both from that knowledge of the conventionalities of society +which she had acquired during her residence in Perth, and from a +disposition which was naturally kind. With that alacrity which is +common to her sex, she made the necessary preparations for enabling +him to shift such parts of his clothes as were wet. A repast +calculated to refresh him, after the fatigues of his journey, was next +provided; and, as there was no inn or other place of accommodation +within reach, and the night was one in which no stranger could find +his way, she represented the necessity of his remaining where he was +till morning; and then he might travel with her and her brother, if he +chanced to be journeying in that direction; and, if his road was +different, he would at least have the advantage of daylight to direct +his steps. + +To this proposal the stranger did not seem to be averse. In such +circumstances, men are often more grateful for a mere trifle than, in +others, they would be for the greatest favours. He seemed highly +sensible of the kindness with which he was treated, and soon began to +regard his entertainers with a feeling of respect. Upon further +conversation, it was discovered that his name was Robert Walker--that +he was the son of the Glasgow merchant whoso failure has been already +noticed as having been prejudicial to the interests of James Braikens; +and, on learning that he was in the society of one who had been in the +habit of dealing with his father, he proceeded to give them a brief +sketch of his story. + +After his prospects had been obscured by the bankruptcy of his father, +he had succeeded in procuring for himself a situation in Aberdeen; +and, as he was a good pedestrian--and had, moreover, a liking for +rural scenery, rural manners, and unfrequented roads--these +considerations, backed by motives of economy, had induced him to +undertake the journey on foot. He had accordingly proceeded by +Kinross, intending to make his line as straight as possible, without +paying much attention to the highways; and, on reaching the village of +Strathmiglo, he had been directed across a part of the Ochils as the +nearest road to Newburgh--at which part he intended to cross the Tay. +He had taken these directions, and pushed forward, in the expectation +that he would reach the last-mentioned place before it was late; but +the snow coming on, he soon lost all traces of the road, and, what was +worse, he soon after lost everything like an idea of what direction he +was travelling in. He had, however, no alternative but to proceed. +Exertion was indispensable to prevent his limbs from being benumbed +with cold; but the dense fall of snow prevented him from seeing any +distant object upon which he might direct his course, and thus arrive +at some place of shelter. In this state of uncertainty, he had +wandered he neither knew where nor how long, when--stumbling over the +bank, as already noticed, and being unable to extricate himself--he +was beginning to fear that he had reached the end of his journey +before his deliverers reached him. + +On the following morning, which was fair, though the clouds still +appeared to be far from having discharged the whole of their contents, +the stranger was easily induced to accompany Betsy Braikens and her +brother to Perth--alleging, as his reason for doing so, a wish to see +the town, and the possibility of his being there able to procure some +mode of conveying himself to Aberdeen less laborious than travelling +had now become. They accordingly set forward together; but before they +had reached the head of Abernethy Glen, the snow again began to fall, +accompanied by gusts of wind, which whirled whole wreaths into the air +at once, and drove the dazzling particles before them with such +violence, that suffocation seemed to be the inevitable consequence of +being long exposed to the fury of the storm. In a short time the snow +had accumulated to such a depth in the hollows as to render +travelling a most laborious operation; and it was with some difficulty +that the party reached the domicile of Andrew Braikens, where they +thought it best to take shelter for the present, and postpone their +further journey till the weather should be more favourable. The storm +continued for nearly forty-eight hours without intermission, so that, +dating from the time at which they set out, it was not till the +evening of the third day that they reached Perth. + +Whatever loss in the way of business this delay might have occasioned, +the merchant found, on his arrival, that it was only his absence which +had saved him from being declared bankrupt, and, in all probability, +imprisoned for debt at the same time. But, on the previous day, one of +his most clamorous creditors had been suddenly taken ill. A temporary +respite was thus obtained; and, with the assistance of Robert Walker, +who exerted all his oratorical powers in his behalf, matters were +again patched up, and he was allowed to go on with the concerns of his +shop as before. These things being settled, this new friend +strenuously advised him to retain his business if possible, assuring +him, at the same time, that there was nothing like perseverance, and +then went on his way, whither we follow him not. + +At Gairyburn things went on much in the same way as they had done +before, except that the management of the house was now committed to +the care of a servant-girl. But some circumstances soon transpired +which led the people around to suppose that the girl might, in due +time, be promoted to be mistress of what at present she only managed +for another. Sandy Crawford had bought rather a better suit of +mournings for Jenny Jervis than it was common to give to a servant; +and this, along with a number of other incidents and occurrences, too +minute to be enumerated here, but not so minute as to escape the +notice of a country population, was made the subject of discussion at +the firesides of the neighbouring cottages. But as neither men nor +women, since the world began, were ever known to agree about either +religion or politics, or any other important matter whatever, so here +there was a difference of opinion; and many were the conferences and +disputes which ensued. With one party, the buying of the gown, and the +other corroborating circumstances, were deemed incontestable evidence; +and they affirmed that Sandy and Jenny only waited till the proper +season for laying aside their mournings, to be married. In this +marriage they saw, or at least fancied they could see, such a number +of advantages as would render it most desirable. "Jenny," they said, +"was a thrifty lassie, and wad mak a guid wife. She kenned a' about +the management o' the kye, and she wad aye hae her mither at hand to +apply to in ony strait." Another party differed from them entirely, +both as to the conclusiveness of the evidence, and the advantages to +be derived from the marriage. "The buyin o' the gown," they +maintained, "was naething. Jenny Jervis was a young, thoughtless +lassie, wha wad be soon aneugh married four or five years hence; and +they were sure Sandy wad be far better wi' his cousin Betsy, wha was +baith a weel-faured and a weel-conditioned cummer, and had some +experience in the management o' a house." They said, further, that +"Betsy, they were sure, wad be the woman; for Sandy was a thoughtfu +callant; and though he might be led awa, for a time, wi' twa blue een, +a slender waist, and the red and white on a lassie's face, he wad soon +come to see that ither things were needfu to a man fechtin for his +bread, and strugglin for the rent o' a farm." A third party presumed +to differ from both of these in every particular save one. They +admitted, indeed, that Sandy "was a thoughtfu callant;" but from that +very admission they drew a quite contrary conclusion. "Baith Betsy and +Jenny," they averred, "might remain _single_ lang aneugh for him; and +if he ever took a wife ava, they were sure it wadna be in ony hurry." +They also pointed out several advantages which were likely to accrue +to him from adopting this theory, and several disadvantages which +would infallibly result from his adoption of any other. "The place," +they said, "was but sma', and the rent high; and as lang as he had +only a servant, he had naething but her bit year's wage to pay at the +term. But, were he to tak a wife, he wad hae to get new beds, and new +chairs, and a hantle whigmaleeries forby, that wad cost him nae little +siller; he wad hae to buy _fykes_ to her in ilka market, and in ilka +shop he cam past--not to mention bairns' meat and bairns' claes--mair +o' baith, maybe, than the place wad afford." Thus, as the great +political world is at present divided into Tories, Whigs, and +Radicals, this little sequestered district was divided into parties, +which, for the sake of distinction, we shall denominate _Jervisines_, +_Braikenites_, and _Malthusians_. + +Though Betsy Braikens had not been at Gairyburn for several years +before the death of her aunt, after that occurrence she continued to +pay occasional visits there; and it was observed, by those who knew +and could interpret the signs of the times, that her cousin always +looked more thoughtful for a day or two after she went away, than was +his usual. This seemed to favour the theory of the _Jervisines_, who +said that he was pestered with her visits, and did not know how to get +quit of her. The _Braikenites_, on the other hand, maintained, that, +if he did not give her some encouragement, she would not return so +often; and that his thoughtful looks were occasioned by regret at her +absence. + +Several months after the death of Margaret Crawford, and just as the +first party were beginning to be certain that their theory was the +correct one, and that they would, ere long, obtain a notable victory +over their opponents, both Betsy and her brother paid a visit to +Gairyburn. They stayed a night and a day with their cousin; and, after +they had taken their departure, it was observed that he looked more +thoughtful than he had done on any former occasion, with the +additional aggravation of his thoughtfulness not passing away in a day +or two, as it had done before. At the end of a fortnight, the +neighbours said to each other--"Preserve us a'! saw ye ever sic an +alteration as has come owre Sandy Crawford! He's surely seen something +that's no canny, and daurna speak aboot it." At the end of a month, +they might have made the same observation; but by that time they had +become accustomed to the change, and they only said--"Puir fellow! +he's as sair altered as though that cummer frae Perth had ta'en awa +his last penny." + +He was indeed changed, though not to the extent which they seemed to +suppose. He managed the whole of his concerns as he had done before; +in company or conversation there was little perceptible difference; +but, when silent or alone, there was frequently an expression of +resignation on his countenance, as if some misfortune were impending +which he could not avert, and which, if it should fall, he had +determined to endure with patience. Strict observations were now made +on his conduct towards Jenny; and here, too, an alteration was +discovered, though that alteration did not seem to admit of being +explicitly expressed in words. It was agreed, however, by the wise +women who had made the observations, that he appeared like one who had +determined never again to urge his suit, and that he had certainly +made up his mind to see her give her hand to another. This conclusion +was favourable to the Malthusians: they repeated their assertion, that +"he was a thoughtfu callant, and that he had determined not to marry +at all;" while the others, if they did not "hide their diminished +heads," were at least compelled to hold their peace. + +But of all who were puzzled by the mysterious change in the manners +of the should-be bridegroom, none were more so than poor Jenny +herself, who really loved him, and who had been led to suppose that he +loved her in return, though hitherto he had never directly declared +his intention of marrying her. Her mother was equally puzzled to +assign a satisfactory reason for the change; but she was not equally +affected by it. In her younger years, she had learned, from +experience, that there is nothing more mutable than the heart of a +lover; and she fancied, even in ordinary cases, that it was only by +practising a great deal of art and finesse that a husband could be +secured. This, in her estimation, being the case, she determined +that--if the experience which she had acquired in these matters could +be rendered available--her daughter should not remain so long +unmarried as she had done herself; and she immediately set her head to +work to contrive the means of bringing about a marriage as speedily as +possible. Nelly recollected some years ago having had a young _pig_, +which could not be prevailed upon to take its victuals. She had tried +to feed it, or, in other words, to thrust meat into its mouth, in the +hope that it would then swallow it; but this only served to make it +more obdurate in its resistance. It seemed determined to starve itself +to death, and she knew not what to make of it. Her husband, however, +bethought him of a scheme which proved successful: on the following +day, he brought home another, which was put in beside its refractory +kinsman, and afterwards, when she came with the victuals, they +immediately commenced fighting about their respective shares. It was +then _who should get most_; and each would have eaten up the whole, if +its skin would have contained as much. The bee is said to gather honey +from every flower; and there are some people who will learn something +from every incident. Nelly instantly discovered a strong analogy +between the case of the single _pig_ and its victuals, and the case of +a young woman with a single sweetheart; and, having discovered an +analogy in the cases, she felt certain that there must also be an +analogy in the cures. The present emergency seemed to be a most +favourable opportunity for trying the correctness of this theory by +that best of all possible tests--an experiment; and she forthwith +resolved, were the thing practicable, that Jenny should have a new +sweetheart, if peradventure his presence would produce a favourable +revolution in the sentiments of the old one. + +Measures were accordingly adopted, and the most feasible schemes were +laid--schemes which, with proper management, could hardly have failed +of success. Jenny also received such hints and instructions as were +deemed necessary to enable her to act her part. But Jenny was, as her +mother phrased it, "an even-forrit, silly, simple lassie;" and in her +hands nothing succeeded. It was with the utmost difficulty that she +could be brought to give the slightest encouragement to a new lover, +and if at any time she did muster sufficient resolution to smile upon +a rival in the presence of Sandy Crawford, her eye immediately turned +upon the latter, to see if he approved of what she had done; and when, +in his guarded look, she could read neither approbation nor +disapprobation, a deep sigh commonly revealed her apprehensions for +having done wrong. The preposterousness of such conduct needs no +remark; its evident tendency was, to keep him free from the slightest +suspicions of having a competitor for her hand, and the most distant +idea that he was in any danger of losing her--and all this in the +midst of schemes intended to produce a contrary effect! + +It is probable that other schemes might have been devised, or the same +ones might have been prosecuted to a still greater extent; but what +had been already done, aided by his own observation, had opened his +eyes to some things of which he was not before fully aware. Hitherto, +he seemed to have supposed that he was himself the only sufferer; but +he now discovered that there was another whom he was making unhappy, +and her unhappiness evidently pained him, adding, at the same time, to +his other causes of anxiety, whatever they were, and consequently to +the thoughtfulness of his looks. But still he seemed to fear coming to +an explanation, as much as if he had been certain that such a step +would destroy his last remains of hope. He could not, however, long +endure such an idea; and adopting what had become the least painful +alternative, he seemed to have made up his mind to the unfolding of +that secret which, hitherto, he had kept to himself. + +"Jenny," said he, one day, after a long and thoughtful silence, "for +some months I have scarcely known what it was to be happy for a single +hour; and, strange as ye may think it, _love_ has been one of the +principal causes of my misery. Had it not been for _that_, I could +have thought lightly of poverty and everything else. I have acted +foolishly, perhaps, and made myself altogether unworthy of the woman +whom I love; but, yet, I would fain hope that she will not despise me, +and I am now resolved----" + +At hearing these words, Jenny's heart had begun to palpitate +violently. But, just as he uttered the word "_resolved_," a rap was +heard at the door; and, on its being opened, Betsy Braikens came in, +and saluted her cousin with a profusion of smiles; while poor Jenny, +to conceal her own agitation, was glad to make an excuse for leaving +the house. + +As soon as Betsy's coming was known, people were on the alert. On +Sabbath she accompanied her cousin to the church, and, on the road +thither, it was observed that the thoughtful expression of his +countenance had passed away--that, after making the proper allowance +for the solemnity of the day, he was to all appearance as cheerful as +ever he had been in his life; and that he behaved to his relation +with the greatest kindness, accompanied by an easiness of manner for +which the wise women could only account by supposing that a still +nearer relationship was in contemplation, or, in other words, that the +marriage-day was already set. The star of the _Braikenites_ was now in +the ascendant; they began to feel certain that their opinions had all +along been correct; and they upbraided their opponents for their +slowness of belief, and their backwardness to place implicit +confidence in the understanding of those who were evidently wiser than +themselves. + +The Tuesday following was that on which _Auchtermuchty Market_ +occurred. Betsy remained until that important day; went to the market +with her cousin like a betrothed damsel; while Jenny, who had also +been invited to accompany him, preferred staying at home; and, to +place the matter beyond further dispute, he bought and presented the +former with a gown, so fine and so costly, that those who had seen it +declared "there wasna anither like it selled that day i' the town." No +man, it was affirmed, would thus throw away money in buying gowns, +unless he expected to be benefited by the wearer--and the triumph of +the Braikenites was now almost complete. + +While these important events were passing, it was not to be expected +that Jenny should remain an unconcerned spectator. She had been the +first to notice that remarkable change for the better which his +cousin's presence had produced in the looks and manners of Sandy +Crawford. She saw his cheerfulness restored--she saw his kindness to +Betsy; and, for the first time in her life, she believed that he +_really_ loved her. + +On the day after the market, Betsy Braikens was to go home, and her +cousin gallantly offered to accompany her as far as her father's. +Shortly after they were gone, Jenny hastened to tell her mother what +she had seen and heard. Nelly now considered that her own character +for prudence and management was at stake; and Jenny was prevailed upon +to adopt her views, and to promise to be directed by her advice. + +In the evening, when Sandy Crawford returned from escorting his +cousin, he was in high spirits; it was also evident that he had drunk +a _glass_ or two more than was his usual, though not so much as to +injure his understanding; and he now appeared most anxious to obtain a +private conference with Jenny. Between her and the _herd laddie_ a +sort of tacit understanding appeared now to exist, for he did not +leave the house to follow his pastime, as was his wont; and, when his +master bade him "gang and clean out his byre," the boy told him that +he had done so already. He next desired him to "bring some water from +the well for a drink, as he was thirsty." But Jenny, who answered for +him, said that, "as the cow had been _tigging_ in the afternoon, he +would be tired with chasing her;" and she took the pitcher and went to +obey the order herself. The individual who had given it followed her +out; but she was at the well, and had filled her pitcher, before he +could come near enough to speak. When he had almost come up with her, +he repeated her name, in that low, earnest tone, which people +sometimes use when they wish to draw the attention of a listener; but +she either did not hear, or did not _wish_ to hear him. He made +certain of meeting her, however, as she returned; but here also he was +deceived, for she went round by the other side of the _kailyard_, for +the purpose, as it appeared, of taking with her a handful of sticks, +with which to kindle up the fire next morning. On seeing this +manoeuvre, he jumped over the dike, repeating her name as he had +done before; but, on the present, as on the former occasion, she +either heard him not, or pretended not to hear him; and, by hastening +her pace, she had reached the house-door before he could intercept +her. As a _dernier_ resource, the last-mentioned personage was now +ordered to "gang and water the horse." And he rose to obey; but here +again Jenny seemed to sympathise with him in his labours. "As the cow +had _tiggit_ i' the afternoon," she said, "it was like aneugh the +horse micht rin awa i' the e'enin; and, as the laddie, puir thing, had +chased the cow till he was ready to fa' down, it couldna be expeckit +that he would be able to chase the horse, and sae she would gang and +help him." + +If ever Jenny Jervis had been puzzled to account for the conduct of +Sandy Crawford, he was now as much puzzled to account for the change +which had come over her. He thought of the subject without being able +to come to any conclusion, and then thought of it again to as little +purpose as he had done before, till at last, wearied out with vain +conjectures, he flung himself upon his bed in a state of mind not easy +to be described; and when Jenny, who was in no great haste to return, +came in, his heavy breathing told that he was already asleep. On +stealing a glance into the apartment where he was, she saw that he was +still lying with his clothes on, and that his sleep was of that +profound sort which commonly lasts for the night. + +Sandy Crawford had fallen asleep, little dreaming of either alarm or +danger; but, about midnight, he was disturbed by an indistinct and +inarticulate sound, which, though it conveyed no meaning to his ear, +was loud enough to awake him. Slowly and heavily he opened his eyes; +but it was not dark, as he expected it to be. On the contrary, a +strange light glimmered around him, and, on turning his head to see +whence it proceeded, he saw in the middle of the floor a spectre, +which might have well appalled the heart of a hero. The ghost of +Howdycraigs, to which his present visiter bore a striking resemblance, +rushed back upon his memory, and he would have trembled, but that he +did not recollect any bad consequences which followed that memorable +event. Thus, in time, even ghosts might fail to terrify, were they to +repeat their visits too often. In the present instance, it were +difficult to say if Sandy was not strengthened for the sight by some +faint hope that this might be a second marriage-making expedition of +the same benevolent spirit, and that it might eventually help him to a +_wife_, the getting of which thing he had begun to regard as no easy +matter. + +The ghost of Gairyburn, however, at first bade fair for being as +famous in its day and generation as the ghost of Howdycraigs had been; +and doubtless it had succeeded in a less hazardous enterprise. Like +the other, its head was tied up in a white handkerchief, its body was +carefully wrapped in the folds of an ample winding-sheet. On its feet +it wore white stockings, but no shoes--the absence of which exhibited +a finely-turned ankle to such advantage, that any male onlooker might +have been excused for wishing it a substantial woman. But then its +face and hands were as white as the finest flour or the whitest chalk +could have made them--thus setting every earthly feeling, except fear, +at defiance. In one hand it carried a candle, which burned as blue as +any spiritual light ever burned, while with the other it managed its +apparel, which was scrupulously clean--thus making it appear that it +had been washed since it left its subterranean abode, from which +circumstance it were reasonable to infer that it was either a female +ghost, or had got a wife to do these things for it. + +Though we have thus detained the reader, by describing it, _it_ +detained not its auditor; for, as soon as he appeared to be fully +awake--"Sandy Crawford," it said. But it was evidently an apprentice +in the task it had undertaken, and knew but little of the manner in +which a message should be delivered; for here its voice faltered, and +its hands trembled in a most curious manner--thus making it evident +that ghosts have feelings as well as mortals, and that they may +sometimes be sent upon errands they dislike. The shaking of its hands +caused the blue flame to fall from the candle, which immediately +burned out with a clear and natural light; while that which had fallen +hissed and sputtered on the floor. In attempting to remedy this +mistake, by restoring the blue flame to its proper place, it seemed to +burn its fingers--at least it drew back its hand with the appearance +of pain, drawing in its breath, and starting up rather hurriedly at +the same time. While performing the last mentioned of these +operations, it unfortunately struck its head against the back of a +chair, which chanced to be standing near, and ruffled its head-dress, +from under which a most enchanting ringlet of fair hair escaped, and +began to play about its white temples. One mistake followed another: +in attempting to replace the hair, it passed a portion of the +winding-sheet, in which it was muffled up, over its face; and when it +was removed, its lips were no longer pale, but provokingly red--one +cheek was of the same hue, and the deep blush of the other was now +beginning to shine through its treacherous covering. As a further +proof of its inexperience, it heaved a deep sigh, and was about to +retire in apparent confusion, when Sandy, who had overcome his fear so +far as to look at it steadily for the last minute or two, started up, +with a heroism which has seldom been equalled, and, endeavouring to +catch it in his arms, he exclaimed-- + +"Jenny, ye daft limmer, what set ye to playin thae mad pranks at this +time o' nicht?" + +In this emergency the ghost, confused as it was, contrived to make its +escape; but not before it had thrown the winding-sheet which it wore +around the very woman for whom he had mistaken it. By some "cantrip +slight," it had no doubt brought her there to be ready in case of +accidents, and it now left her to be caught in its stead. Jenny, not +being a ghost, could not escape so easily; and, though she struggled +a little when she found herself in the arms of a man, she did not +appear extremely anxious to get away, while Sandy was so much pleased +at having got her by herself at last, that he soon forgot the terrors +of the ghost. + +"Jenny," he continued, still mistaking her for his spiritual visiter, +"if I hadna _liket_ ye better than every ither living cratur, since ye +was a lassie, I declare I would never kenned ye dressed up as ye are +in a' that trumpery. But now that I've gotten ye, I maun keep ye, for +I've been wishing to tell ye something this lang time; but ye aye ran +frae me as if I had been a _ghost_, though ye see I've catched you +when ye was tryin to act ane." + +The candle which the ghost had left was now placed in a candlestick; +and as Jenny appeared perfectly willing to listen to whatever he might +have to say, he proceeded to give her such information as served in a +great measure to clear up the whole of the mystery. + +Though he had been long attached to her, and had felt a growing +inclination to call her his wife, his mother's death had prevented him +from speaking of the subject for a time. During this interval, Betsy +Braikens had come oftener than once, soliciting assistance for her +brother; upon these occasions, he had always given her what +ready-money he could command, and, at last, to save him from +bankruptcy, he had become security for a hundred pounds, which was +considerably more than his whole effects were worth. No sooner had he +done this than he began to doubt the possibility of his cousin ever +being able to redeem his debts; in which case his own prospects were +ruined. The idea that it would be criminal to involve an unsuspecting +female in misery and poverty made him resolve to say nothing of his +affections, till he should see what was to be the issue; and for a +time he had kept his resolution. But he had determined to make a +candid confession of his circumstances, and run any risk which she +might be willing to share, when he was interrupted by Betsy Braikens, +who had come expressly for the purpose of telling him that her brother +had redeemed the whole of his debts, and was now in prosperous +circumstances. In a few days thereafter Jenny went to reside with her +mother for a short time; and one evening, as Sandy bade her +good-night, he gave her a clap on the shoulder, and called her his +"spectre bride." On the following week they went to Perth; and Jenny +Jervis and Betsy Braikens were married on the same day--the former to +Sandy Crawford, and the latter to Robert Walker, who had kept up a +regular correspondence with her ever since the night on which he lost +his way among the snow. + + + + +THE SMUGGLER. + + +The golden days of the smuggler are gone by; his hiding-places are +empty; and, like Othello, he finds his "occupation gone." Our +neighbours on the other side of the herring-pond now bring us _dry +bones_, according to the law, instead of _spirits_, contrary to the +law. Cutters, preventive-boats, and border-rangers, have destroyed the +_trade_--it is becoming as a tale that was told. From Spittal to +Blyth--yea, from the Firth of Forth to the Tyne--brandy is no longer +to be purchased for a trifle; the kilderkin of Holland gin is no +longer placed at the door in the dead of night; nor is a yard of +tobacco to be purchased for a penny. The smuggler's phrase, that the +"_cow has calved_,"[D] is becoming obsolete. Now, smuggling is almost +confined to crossing "the river," here and there, the "ideal line by +fancy drawn;" to Scotland saying unto England, "Will you taste?" and +to England replying, "Cheerfully, sister." There was a time, however, +when the clincher-built lugger plied her trade as boldly, and almost +as regularly, as the regular coaster; and that period is within the +memory of those who are yet young. It was an evil and a dangerous +trade; and it gave a character to the villagers on the sea-coasts +which, even unto this day, is not wholly effaced. But in the character +of the smuggler there was much that was interesting--there were many +bold and redeeming points. I have known many; but I prefer, at +present, giving a few passages from the history of one who lived +before my time, and who was noted in his day as an extraordinary +character. + +Harry Teasdale was a native of Embleton, near Bamborough. He was the +sole owner of a herring-boat and a fishing-cobble; he was also the +proprietor of the house in which he lived, and was reputed to be worth +money--nor was it any secret that he had obtained his property by +other means than those of the haddock hand-line and the herring-net. +Harry, at the period we take up his history, was between forty and +fifty years of age. He was a tall thin man, with long sandy hair +falling over his shoulders, and the colour of his countenance was +nearly as rosy as the brandy in which he dealt. But, if there was the +secrecy of midnight in his calling, his heart and his hand were open +as mid-day. It is too true that money always begets the outward show +of respect for him who possesses it, though in conduct he may be a +tyrant, and in capacity a fool; but Harry Teasdale was respected, not +because he was reputed to be rich, but because of the boldness and +warmness of his heart, the readiness of his hand, and the clearness of +his head. He was the king of fishermen, and the prince of smugglers, +from Holy Island to Hartlepool. Nevertheless, there was nothing +unusual in his appearance. Harry looked like his occupation. His dress +(save where disguise was necessary) consisted in a rudely-glazed +sou'-wester, the flap of which came over his shoulders, half covering +his long sandy hair. Around him was a coarse and open _monkey_ or +_pea_-jacket, with a Guernsey frock beneath, and a sort of canvas kilt +descending below the knee; and his feet were cased in a pair of +sea-boots. When not dressing his hand-lines or sorting his nets, he +might generally be seen upon the beach, with a long telescope under +his arm. As Harry was possessed of more of this world's substance than +his brother fishermen, so also was there a character of greater +comfort and neatness about his house. It consisted of three rooms; but +it also bore the distinguishing marks of a smuggler's habitation. At +the door hung the hand-line, the hooks, and the creel; and in a +corner of Harry's sleeping-room a "_keg_" was occasionally visible; +while over the chimneypiece hung a cutlass and four horse-pistols; and +in a cupboard there were more packages of powder and pistol-bullets +than it became a man of peace to have in his possession. But the third +room, which he called his daughter's, contained emblems of peace and +happiness. Around the walls were specimens of curious needlework, the +basket of fruit and of flowers, and the landscape--the "_sampler_," +setting forth the genealogy of the family for three generations, and +the age of her whose fair hands wrought it. Around the window, also, +carefully trained, were varieties of the geranium, and the rose, the +bigonia, and cressula, the aloe, and the ice-plant, with others of +strange leaf and lovely covering. This Harry called his daughter's +room--and he was proud of her: she was his sole thought, his only +boast. His weatherbeaten countenance always glowed, and there was +something like a tear in his eyes, when he spoke of "my Fanny." She +had little in common with the daughter of a fisherman; for his +neighbours said that her mother had made her unfit for anything, and +that Harry was worse than her mother had been. But that mother was no +more, and she had left their only child to her widowed husband's care; +and, rough as he appeared, never was there a more tender or a more +anxious parent--never had there been a more affectionate husband. But +I may here briefly notice the wife of Harry Teasdale, and his first +acquaintance with her. + +When Harry was a youth of one-and-twenty, and as he and others of his +comrades were one day preparing their nets upon the sea-banks for the +north herring-fishing, a bitter hurricane came suddenly away, and they +observed that the mast of a Scotch smack, which was then near the +Ferne Isles, was carried overboard. The sea was breaking over her, and +the vessel was unmanageable; but the wind being from the north-east, +she was driving towards the shore. Harry and his friends ran to get +their boats in readiness, to render assistance if possible. The smack +struck the ground between Embleton and North Sunderland, and being +driven side-on by the force of the billows, which were dashing over +her, formed a sort of break-water, which rendered it less dangerous +for a boat to put off to the assistance of the passengers and crew, +who were seen clinging in despair to the flapping ropes and sides of +the vessel. Harry's cobble was launched along the beach to where the +vessel was stranded, and he and six others attempted to reach her. +After many ineffectual efforts, and much danger, they gained her side, +and a rope was thrown on board. Amongst the smack's passengers was a +Scottish gentleman, with his family, and their governess. She was a +beautiful creature, apparently not exceeding nineteen; and as she +stood upon the deck, with one hand clinging to a rope, and in the +other clasping a child to her side, her countenance alone, of all on +board, did not betoken terror. In the midst of the storm, and through +the raging of the sea, Harry was struck with her appearance. She was +one of the last to leave the vessel; and when she had handed the child +into the arms of a fisherman, and was herself in the act of stepping +into the boat, it lurched, the vessel rocked, a sea broke over it, she +missed her footing, and was carried away upon the wave. Assistance +appeared impossible. The spectators on the shore and the people in the +boat uttered a scream. Harry dropped the helm, he sprung from the +boat, he buffeted the boiling surge, and, after a hopeless struggle, +he clutched the hand of the sinking girl. He bore her to the boat; +they were lifted into it. + +"Keep the helm, Ned," said he, addressing one of his comrades who had +taken his place; "I must look after this poor girl--one of the seamen +will take your oar." And she lay insensible, with her head upon his +bosom, and his arm around her waist. + +Consciousness returned before they reached the shore, and Harry had +her conveyed to his mother's house. It is difficult for a sensitive +girl of nineteen to look with indifference upon a man who has saved +her life, and who risked his in doing so; and Eleanor Macdonald (for +such was the name of the young governess) did not look with +indifference upon Harry Teasdale. I might tell you how the shipwrecked +party remained for five days at Embleton, and how, during that period, +love rose in the heart of the young fisherman, and gratitude warmed +into affection in the breast of Eleanor--how he discovered that she +was an orphan, with no friend, save the education which her parents +had conferred on her, and how he loved her the more, when he heard +that she was friendless and alone in the world--how the tear was on +his hardy cheek when they parted--how more than once he went many +miles to visit her--and how Eleanor Macdonald, forsaking the +refinements of the society of which she was a dependant, became the +wife of the Northumbrian fisherman. But it is not of Harry's younger +days that I am now about to write. Throughout sixteen happy years they +lived together; and though, when the tempests blew and the storms +raged, while his skiff was on the waves, she often shed tears for his +sake, yet, though her education was superior to his, his conduct and +conversation never raised a blush to her cheeks. Harry was also proud +of his wife, and he showed his pride, by spending every moment he +could command at her side, by listening to her words, and gazing on +her face with delight. But she died, leaving him an only daughter as +the remembrancer of their loves; and to that daughter she had imparted +all that she herself knew. + +Besides his calling as a fisherman, and his adventures as a smuggler +on sea, Harry also made frequent inland excursions. These were +generally performed by night, across the wild muir, and by the most +unfrequented paths. A strong black horse, remarkable for its swiftness +of foot, was the constant companion of his midnight journeys. A +canvas bag, fastened at both ends, and resembling a wallet, was +invariably placed across the back of the animal, and at each end of +the bag was a keg of brandy or Hollands, while the rider sat over +these; and behind him was a large and rude portmanteau, containing +packages of tea and tobacco. In his hand he carried a strong +riding-whip, and in the breast-pocket of his greatcoat two +horse-pistols, always loaded and ready for extremities. These journeys +frequently required several days, or rather nights, for their +performance; for he carried his contraband goods to towns fifty miles +distant, and on both sides of the Border. The darker the night was, +and the more tempestuous, the more welcome it was to Harry. He saw +none of the beauties in the moon on which poets dwell with admiration. +Its light may have charms for the lover, but it has none for the +smuggler. For twenty years he had carried on this mode of traffic with +uninterrupted success. He had been frequently pursued; but his good +steed, aided by his knowledge of localities, had ever carried him +beyond the reach of danger; and his _stow-holes_ had been so secretly +and so cunningly designed, that no one but himself was able to +discover them, and informations against him always fell to the ground. + +Emboldened by long success, he had ceased to be a mere purchaser of +contraband goods upon the sea, and the story became current that he +had bought a share of a lugger, in conjunction with an Englishman then +resident at Cuxhaven. His brother-fishermen were not all men of +honour; for you will find black sheep in every society, and amongst +all ranks of life. Some of them had looked with an envious eye upon +Harry's run of good fortune, and they bore it with impatience; but +now, when he fairly, boldly, and proudly stepped out of their walk, +and seemed to rise head and shoulders above them, it was more than +they could stand. It was the lugger's first trip, and they, having +managed to obtain intelligence of the day on which she was to sail +with a rich cargo, gave information of the fact to the commander of a +revenue-cutter then cruising upon the coast. + +I have mentioned that Harry was in the habit of wandering along the +coast with a telescope under his arm. From the period of his wife's +death, he had not gone regularly to sea, but let others have a share +of his boats for a stipulated portion of the fish they caught. Now, it +was about daybreak, on a morning in the middle of September, that he +was on the beach as I have described him, and perceiving the figure of +the cutter on the water, he raised his glass to his eye, to examine it +more minutely. He expected the lugger on the following night, and the +cutter was an object of interest to Harry. As day began to brighten, +he knelt down behind a sand-bank, in order that he might take his +observations, without the chance of being discovered; and while he yet +knelt, he perceived a boat pulled from the side of the cutter towards +the shore. At the first glance, he descried it to be an Embleton +cobble, and before it proceeded far, he discovered to whom it +belonged. He knew that the owner was his enemy, though he had not the +courage openly to acknowledge it, and in a moment the nature of his +errand to the cutter flashed through Harry's brain. + +"I see it! I see it all!" said the smuggler, dashing the telescope +back into its case; "the low, the skulking coward, to go blab upon a +neighbour! But Ise have the weather-gauge o' both o' them, or my +name's not Harry Teasdale." + +So saying, he hastened home to his house--he examined his cutlass, his +pistols, the bullets, and the powder. "All's right," said the +smuggler, and he entered the room where his daughter slept. He laid +his rough hand gently upon hers. + +"Fanny, love," said he, "thou knowest that I expect the lugger +to-night, and I don't think I shall be at home, and I mayn't be all +to-morrow; but you won't fret, like a good girl, I know you won't. +Keep all right, love, till I be back; and say nothing." + +"Dear father," returned Fanny, who was now a lovely girl of eighteen, +"I tremble for this life which we lead--as my poor mother said, it +adds the punishment of the law to the dangers of the sea." + +"Oh, don't mention thy mother, dearest!" said the smuggler, "or thou +wilt make a child of thy father, when he should be thinking of other +things. Ah, Fanny! when I lost thy mother, I lost everything that gave +delight to my heart. Since then, the fairest fields are to me no +better than a bare muir, and I have only thee, my love--only my Fanny, +to comfort me. So, thou wilt not cry now--thou wilt not distress thy +father, wilt thou? No, no! I know thou wilt not. I shall be back to +thee to-morrow, love." + +More passed between the smuggler and his daughter--words of +remonstrance, of tenderness, and assurance; and when he had left her, +he again went to the beach, to where his boat had just landed from the +night's fishing. None of the other boats had yet arrived. As he +approached, the crew said they "saw by his face there was something +unpleasant in the wind," and others added-- + +"Something's vexed Skipper Harry this morning, and that's a shame, for +a better soul never lived." + +"Well, mates," said he, as he approached them, "have you seen a shark +cruising off the coast this morning?" + +"No," was the reply. + +"But I have," said Harry, "though she is making off to keep out of +sight now; and, more than that, I have seen a cut-throat lubber that I +would not set my foot upon--I mean the old Beelzebub imp, with the +white and yellow stripe on his yawl, pull from her side. And what was +he doing there? Was it not telling them to look out for the lugger?" + +Some of the boat's crew uttered sudden and bitter imprecations. + +"Let us go and sink the old rascal before he reach the shore," said +one. + +"With all my heart," cried another; for they were all interested in +the landing of the lugger, and in the excitement of the moment they +wist not what they said. + +"Softly, softly, my lads," returned Harry; "we must think now what we +can do for the cargo and ourselves, and not of him." + +"Right, master," replied another; "that is what I am thinking." + +"Now, look ye," continued Harry, "I believe we shall have a squall +before night, and a pretty sharp one, too; but we mustn't mind that +when our fortunes are at stake. Hang all black-hearted knaves that +would peach on a neighbour, say I; but it is done in our case, and we +must only do our best to make the rascal's story stick in his throat, +or be the same as if it had; and I think it may be done yet. I know, +but the peachers can't, that the lugger is to deliver a few score kegs +at Blyth before she run down here. We must off and meet her, and give +warning." + +"Ay, ay, Master Teasdale, thou'rt right; but, now that the thing has +got wind, the sharks will keep a hawk's eye on us, and how we are to +do it, I can't see." + +"Why, because thou'rt blind," said Harry. + +"No, hang it, and if I be, master," replied the other; "I can see as +far as most o' folks, as ye can testify; and I dow see plain enough, +that if we put to sea now, we shall hae the cutter after us; and that +would be what I call only leading the shark to where the salmon lay." + +"Man, I wonder to hear thee," said Harry; "folk wad say thou hadst nae +mair gumption than a born fool. Do ye think I wad be such an ass as +to send out spies in the face o' the enemy? Hae I had a run o' gud +luck for twenty years, and yet ye think me nae better general than +that comes to? I said, nae doubt, that we should gang to sea to meet +the lugger, though there will be a squall, and a heavy one, too, +before night, as sure as I'm telling ye; but I didna say that we +should dow sae under the bows o' the cutter, in our awn boat, or out +o' Embleton." + +"Right, right, master," said another, "no more you did. Ned isn't half +awake." + +The name of the fisherman alluded to was Ned Thomson. + +"Well, Ned, my lad," continued Harry, "I tell thee what must be done: +I shall go saddle my old nag, get thou a horse from thy wife's +father--he has two, and can spare one--and let us jog on as fast as we +can for Blyth; but we mustn't keep by the coast, lest the king's folk +get their eyes upon us. So away, get ready, lad, set out as quick as +thee can--few are astir yet. I won't wait on thee, and thou won't wait +on me; but whoever comes first to Felton Brig shall just place two +bits o' stones about the middle--on the parapet I think they ca' it; +but it is the dyke on each side o' the brig I mean, ye knaw. Put them +on the left-hand side in gaun alang, down the water; or if they're +there when ye come up, ye'll ken that I'm afore ye. So get ready, +lad--quick as ever ye can. Tell the awd man naething about what ye +want wi' the horse--the fewer that knaw onything about thir things the +better. And ye, lads, will be upon the look-out; and, if we can get +the lugger run in here, have a'thing in readiness." + +"No fear o' that, master," said they. + +"Well, sir," said Ned, "I'll be ready in a trap-stick, but I knaw the +awd chap will kick up a sang about lendin his horse." + +"Tell him I'll pay for it, if ye break its legs," said Harry. + +The crew of the boat laughed, and some of them said--"Nobody will +doubt that, master--you are able enough to do it." + +It must be observed that, since Harry had ceased to go regularly to +sea, and when he was really considered to be a rich man, the crew of +his boat began to call him _master_, notwithstanding his sou'-wester +and canvas kilt. And now that it was known to them, and currently +rumoured in Embleton, that he was part proprietor of a lugger, many of +the villagers began to call Fanny Miss Teasdale; and it must be said, +that in her dress and conversation she much nearer approximated to one +that might be styled _Miss_, than to a fisherman's daughter. But, when +the character and education of her mother are taken into account, this +will not be wondered at. + +It would be uninteresting to the reader to describe the journey of +Harry and Ned Thomson to Blyth; before they arrived at Felton, Harry +had overtaken Ned, and they rode on together. + +On arriving at Blyth, they stopped at the door of an individual who +was to receive forty kilderkins of Hollands from the lugger, and a +quantity of tobacco. It is well known to be the first duty of an +equestrian traveller to look after his horse, and to see that it is +fed; but, in this instance, Harry forgot the established rule--the +horses were given in charge of a girl to take them to a stable, to see +them fed, or otherwise, and Harry hastened into the house, and +breathlessly inquired of its owner--"I hope to heaven, sir, ye have +heard nothing of the Swallow?" + +[The lugger was called the "Swallow," from the carpenter in Cuxhaven, +who built her, having warranted that she "would _fly_ through the +water."] + +"Why, nothing," replied Harry's brother smuggler; "but we shall be on +the look-out for her to-night." + +"So far well," said Harry; "but I hope you have no fear of any king's +lobsters being upon the coast, or rats ashore?" + +"I don't think we have anything to fear from the cutters," said the +other; "but I won't answer for the spies on shore; there are folk wi' +us here, as weel as wi' ye, that canna see their neighbours thrive and +haud their tongue; and I think some o' them hae been gaun owre aften +about wi' the spy-glass this day or two." + +"Then," said Harry, "the lugger doesna break bulk here, nor at +Embleton outher--that's flat. Get ye a boat ready, neighbour, and we +maun off and meet her, or ye may drink sma' yill to your venture and +mine." + +"It is growing too stormy for a boat to venture out," answered the +other. + +"Smash, man!" rejoined Harry; "wad you sit here on your hunkers, while +your capital is in danger o' being robbed frae ye as simply as ye +would snuff out a candle, and a' to escape a night's doukin! Get up, +man--get a boat--we maun to sea--we maun meet the lugger, or you and I +are done men--clean ruined a'thegither. I hae risked the better part +o' my bit Fanny's fortune upon this venture, and, Heaven! I'll suffer +death ten thousand-fold afore I see her brought to poverty; sae get a +boat--get it--and if ye daurna gang out, and if nane o' your folk daur +gang, Ned and me will gang our tow sels." + +"Surely ye wad be mad, Harry, to attempt such a thing in an open boat +to-night," said the Blyth merchant. + +"Mad or no mad," answered Harry, "I hae said it, and I am determined. +There is nae danger yet wi' a man that knaws how to manage a boat. If +ye gang pullin through thick and thin, through main strength and for +bare life, as many of the folk upon our coast dee, then there is +danger--but there is nae use for the like o' that. It isna enough to +manage an oar; you must knaw how to humour the sea, and to manage a +wave. Dinna think I've been at sea mair than thirty years without +knawing something about the matter. But I tell you what it is, +friend--ye knaw what the Bible says--'The race is not to the swift, +nor the battle to the strong;' now, the way to face breakers, or a +storm at sea, is not to pull through desperation, as if your life +depended on the pulling; but when you see a wave coming, ye must +backwater and backwater, and not pull again until ye see an +opportunity of gauin forward. It is the trusting to mere pulling, sir, +that makes our life-boats useless. The rowers in a life-boat should +study the sea as well as their oars. They should consider that they +save life by watching the wave that breaks over the vessel, as well as +by straining every nerve to reach her. Now, this is a stormy night, +nae doubt, but we maun just consider ourselves gaun off to the lugger +in the situation o' folk gaun off in a life-boat. We maun work cannily +and warily, and I'll tak the management o' the boat mysel." + +"If ye dow that, master," said Ned Thomson, "then I gang wi' ye to a +dead certainty." + +"Well, Harry," replied the merchant, "if it maun be sae, it just maun +be sae; but I think it a rash and a dangerous undertaking. I wad +sooner risk a' that I have on board." + +"Why, man, I really wonder to hear ye," said Harry; "folk wad say that +ye had been swaddled in lambs' wool a' your life, and nursed on your +mother's knee. Get a boat, and let us off to the lugger, and nae mair +about it." + +His orders were obeyed; and, about an hour after sunset, himself, with +Ned Thomson, the merchant, and four others, put off to sea. They had +indeed embarked upon a perilous voyage--before they were a mile from +the shore, the wind blew a perfect hurricane, and the waves chased +each other in circles, like monsters at play. Still Harry guided the +boat with unerring skill. He ordered them to draw back from the +bursting wave--they rose over it--he rendered it subservient to his +purpose. Within two hours he descried the lights of the lugger. He +knew them, for he had given directions for their use, and similar +lights were hoisted from the cobble which he steered. + +"All's well!" said Harry, and in his momentary joy he forgot the +tempestuous sea in which they laboured. They reached the lugger--they +gained the deck. + +"Put back, friend--put back," was the first salutation of Harry to the +skipper; "the camp is blown, and there are sharks along shore." + +"The devil!" replied the captain, who was an Englishman; "and what +shall we do?" + +"Back, back," answered Harry; "that is all in the meantime." + +But the storm now raged with more fierceness--it was impossible for +the boat to return to the shore, and Harry and his comrades were +compelled to put to sea with the lugger. Even she became in danger, +and it required the exertions of all hands to manage her. + +The storm continued until near daybreak, and the vessel had plied many +miles from the shore; but as day began to dawn, and the storm abated, +an enemy that they feared more appeared within a quarter-of-a-mile +from them, in the shape of a cutter-brig. A gun was fired from the +latter, as a signal for the lugger to lie to. Consternation seized the +crew, and they hurried to and fro upon the deck in confusion. + +"Clear the decks!" cried the skipper; "they shan't get all without +paying for it. Look to the guns, my hearties." + +"Avast! Master Skipper," said Harry; "though my property be in danger, +I see no cause why I should put my neck in danger too. It will be time +enough to fight when we canna better dow; and if we can keep them in +play a' day there will be sma' danger in wur gi'en them the slip at +night." + +"As you like, Mr Teasdale," said the skipper; "all's one to me. Helm +about, my lad," added he, addressing the steersman, and away went the +lugger, as an arrow, scudding before the wind. + +The cutter made all sail, and gave chase, firing shot after shot. She +was considered one of the fastest vessels in the service; and though, +on the part of Harry and his friends, every nerve was strained, every +sail hoisted, and every manoeuvre used, they could not keep the +lugger out of harm's way. Every half-hour he looked at his watch, and +wished for night, and his friend, the skipper, followed his example. +There was a hot chase for several hours; and, though tubs of brandy +were thrown overboard by the dozen, still the whizzing bullets from +the cutter passed over the heads of the smugglers. It ought to be +mentioned, also, that the rigging of the lugger had early sustained +damage, and her speed was checked. About sunset a shot injured her +rudder, and she became for a time, as Harry described her, "as +helpless as a child." The cutter instantly bore down upon her. + +"Now for it, my lads!" cried the skipper; "there is nothing for it but +fighting now--I suppose that is what you mean, Master Teasdale?" + +Harry nodded his head, and quietly drew his pistols from the +breast-pocket of his greatcoat; and then added-- + +"Now, lads, this is a bad job, but we must try to make the best on't, +and, as we hae gone thus far" (and he discharged a pistol at the +cutter as he spoke), "ye knaw it is o' nae use to think o' +yielding--it is better to be shot than hanged." + +In a few minutes the firing of the cutter was returned by the lugger, +from two large guns and a number of small-arms. Harry, in the midst of +the smoke and flame of the action, and the havoc of the bullets, was +as cool and collected as if smoking his pipe upon the beach at +Embleton. + +"See to get the helm repaired, lad, as fast as ye can," said he to the +carpenter, while in the act of reloading his pistols. "Let us fight +away, but mind ye your awn wark." + +Harry's was the philosophy of courage, mingled with the calculations +of worldly wisdom. + +The firing had been kept up on both sides for the space of +half-an-hour, and the decks of both were stained with the blood of the +wounded, when a party from the brig, headed by her first mate, +succeeded in boarding the lugger. Harry seized a cutlass which lay +unsheathed by the side of the companion, and was the first who rushed +forward to repel them. + +"Out o' my ship, ye thieves!" cried he, while, with his long arm, he +brandished the deadly weapon, and for a moment forgot his habitual +discretion. + +Others of the crew instantly sprang to the assistance of Harry; and, +after a short but desperate encounter, the invaders were driven from +the deck, leaving their chief mate, insensible from wounds, behind +them. + +The rudder being repaired so as to render her manageable, the lugger +kept up a sort of retreating fight until night set in, when, as Harry +said, "she gave the cutter the slip like a knotless thread." + +But now a disagreeable question arose amongst them, and that was, what +they should do with the wounded officer, who had been left as a prize +in their hands--though a prize that they would much rather have been +without. Some wished that he might die of his wounds, and so they +would get rid of him; for they were puzzled how to dispose of him in +such a way as not to lead to their detection, and place their lives in +jeopardy. Harry was on his knees by the side of the officer, washing +his wounds with Riga balsam, of which they had a store on board, and +binding them up, when one desperate fellow cut short the perplexity +and discussion of the crew, by proposing to fling their _prize_ +overboard. + +On hearing the brutal proposal, Harry sprang to his feet, and hurling +out his long bony arm, he exclaimed, "Ye savage!" and, dashing his +fist in the face of the ruffian, felled him to the deck. + +The man (if we may call one who could entertain so inhuman an idea by +the name of man) rose, bleeding, growling, and muttering threats of +revenge. + +"Ye'll blab, will ye?" said Harry, eyeing him fiercely; "threaten to +dow it again, and there's the portion that's waiting for yur neck!" +and, as he spoke, he pointed with his finger to the cross-tree of +the lugger, and added, "and ye knaw that the same reward awaits ye +if ye set yur weel-faur'd face ashore! Out o' my sight, ye +'scape-the-gallows!" + +For three days and nights, after her encounter with the brig, the +lugger kept out to sea; and on the fourth night, which was thick, +dark, and starless, Harry resolved to risk all; and, desiring the +skipper to stand for the shore, all but run her aground on Embleton +beach. No light was hoisted, no signal given. Harry held up his +finger, and every soul in the lugger was mute as death. A boat was +lowered in silence, and four of the crew being placed under the +command of Ned Thomson, pulled ashore. The boat flew quickly, but the +oars seemed only to kiss the water, and no sound audible at the +distance of five yards proceeded from their stroke. + +"Now, pull back quietly, mates," said Ned, "and I'll be aboard wi' +some o' wur awn folks in a twinkling." + +It was between one and two in the morning, and there was no outward +sign amongst the fishermen of Embleton that they were on the alert for +the arrival of a smuggler. The party who gave information to the +cutter having missed Harry for a few days, justly imagined that he had +obtained notice of what they had done; and also believed that he had +ordered the cargo to be delivered on some other part of the coast, and +they therefore were off their guard. Ned, therefore, proceeded to the +village; and, at the houses of certain friends, merely gave three +distinct and peculiar taps with his fingers upon their shutterless +windows, from none of which, if I may use the expression, proceeded +even the _shadow_ of light; but no sooner was the last tap given upon +each, than it was responded to by a low cough from within. No words +passed; and at one window only was Ned detained for a space exceeding +ten seconds, and that was at the house of his master, Harry Teasdale. +Fanny had slept but little since her father left; when she sought rest +for an hour, it was during the day, and she now sat anxiously watching +every sound. On hearing the understood signal, she sprang to the door. +"Edward!" she whispered, eagerly, "is it you?--where is my +father?--what has detained him?" + +"Don't be asking questions now, Miss Fanny--sure it is very foolish," +replied Ned, in the same tone; "Master will be here by and by; but ye +knaw we have bonny wark to dow afore daylight yet. Gud-nicht, hinny." + +So saying, Ned stole softly along the village; and, within +half-an-hour, half-a-dozen boats were alongside the lugger; and, an +hour before daybreak, every tub and every bale on board was safely +landed and stowed away. + +Yet, after she was a clean ship, there was one awkward business that +still remained to be settled, and that was how they were to dispose of +the wounded officer of the cutter-brig. A consultation was held--many +opinions were given. + +"At ony rate we must act like Christians," said Harry. + +Some proposed that he should be taken over to Holland and landed +there; but this the skipper positively refused to do, swearing that +the sooner he could get rid of such a customer the better. + +"Why, I canna tell," said Ned Thomson; "but what dow ye say, if we +just take him ashore, and lay him at the door o' the awd rascal that +gied information on us?" + +"Capital!" cried two or three of the conclave; "that's just the +ticket, Ned!" + +"Nonsense!" interrupted Harry, "it's nae such thing. Man, Ned, I +wonder that sic a clever chap as ye aye talks like a fool. Why, ye +might as weel go and ask them to tak you and me off to Morpeth before +dinner-time, as to lay him at their door this morning." + +"Well, Master Teasdale," said the skipper, who was becoming impatient, +"what would you have us to do with him?" + +"Why, I see there's naething for it," answered Harry, "but I maun tak +the burden o' him upon my awn shouthers. Get the boat ready." So +saying, and while it was yet dark, he entered the cabin where the +wounded officer lay, but who was now conscious of his situation. + +"I say, my canny lad," said Harry, approaching his bedside, and +addressing him, "ye maun allow me to tie a bit handkerchur owre yur +een for a quarter-of-an-hour or sae.--Ye needna be feared, for there's +naething shall happen ye--but only, in looking after yur gud, I maunna +lose sight o' my awn. You shall be ta'en ashore as gently as we can." + +The wounded man was too feeble to offer any resistance, and Harry, +binding up his eyes, wrapped the clothes on the bed around him, and +carried him in his arms upon deck. In the same manner he placed him in +the boat, supporting him with his arm, and, on reaching the shore, he +bore him on his shoulders to his house. + +"Now, sir," said he, as he set him down from his shoulders on an +arm-chair, "ye needna be under the smallest apprehension, for every +attention shall be paid ye here; and, as soon as ye are better, ye +shall be at liberty to return, safe and sound, to your friends, your +ship, or wherever ye like." Harry then turned to his daughter, and +continued--"Now, my bird, come awa in by wi' me, and I will let ye +knaw what ye have to dow." + +Fanny wondered at the unusual burden which her father had brought +upon his shoulders into the house; and at his request she anxiously +accompanied him into her own apartment. When they had entered, and he +had shut the door behind them, he took her hand affectionately, and, +addressing her in a sort of whisper, said-- + +"Now, Fanny, love, ye maun be very cautious--as I knaw ye will be--and +mind what I am telling ye to dow." He then made her acquainted with +the rank of their inmate, and the manner in which he had fallen into +their hands, and added--"Now, darling, ye see we maun be very +circumspect, and keep his being here a secret frae everybody: he maun +remain ignorant o' his awn situation, nowther knawing where he is, nor +in whose hands he is; for if it were found out, it wad be as much as +your father's life is worth. Now he maun stop in this room, as it +looks into the garden, and he can see naething frae it, nor will +onybody be able to see him. Ye maun sleep wi' the lass in the kitchen, +and yur '_sampler_,' and every book, or onything that has a name on't, +maun be taken out o' the room. It winna dow for onybody but you and me +ever to see him, or to wait on him; and, when we dow, he maunna be +allowed to see either yur face or mine; but I will put my awd mask on, +that I used to wear at night sometimes when there was onything +particular to dow, and I thought there wad be danger in the way; and," +continued he, as the doating parent rose in his bosom, "it wadna be +_chancy_ for him to see my Fanny's face at ony rate; and when ye dow +see him, ye maun have your features so concealed, that, if he met you +again, he wadna knaw ye. Now, hinny, ye'll attend to a' that I've +said--for ye remember your father's life depends on it--and we maun be +as kind to the lad as we can, and try to bring him about as soon as +possible, to get clear on him." + +Fanny promised to obey her father's injunctions; but fears for his +safety, and the danger in which he was placed, banished every other +thought. The books, the "_sampler_," everything that could lead the +stranger to a knowledge of the name of his keepers, or of the place +where he was, was taken out of the room. + +Harry, muffling up his face, returned to the apartment where the +wounded man was, and, supporting him on his arm, he led him to that +which he was to occupy. He then took the bandage from his eyes, and, +placing him on the bed, again desired him to keep himself easy, and +wished him "good-morning," for day was now beginning to dawn. + +The name of our smuggler's wounded prisoner was Augustus Hartley. He +was about twenty-four years of age, and the son of a gentleman of +considerable property in Devonshire; and, at the period we speak of, +he was in expectation of being removed from his situation as second +officer of the brig, and promoted to the command of a revenue-cutter. +The wounds which he had received on the deck of the lugger were +severe, and had reduced him to a state of extreme feebleness; but they +were not dangerous. He knew not where he was, and he marvelled at the +treatment he experienced; for it was kind, yea, even roughly +courteous, and unlike what he might have expected from the hands of +such men as those into whose power he had fallen. Anxiety banished +sleep; and when the risen sun lighted up the chamber where he lay, he +stretched forth his hand and drew aside the curtains, to ascertain +whether the appearance of the apartment would in any way reveal the +mystery which surrounded his situation. But it rather increased it. In +the window were the flowers--around the walls the curious needlework; +the furniture was neatly arranged--there was an elegance over all; +and, to increase his wonder, in a corner by the window was a small +harp, and a few pages of music lay on a table near him. + +"Surely," thought Augustus, "this cannot be the habitation of a +half-uncivilised smuggler; and yet the man who brought me here seemed +such." + +He drew back his head upon his pillow, to seek the explanation in +conjectures which he could not otherwise obtain; and while he lay +conjuring up strange fancies, Harry, with the mask upon his face, his +hair tied up and concealed, and his body wrapped in a greatcoat, +entered the room. + +"Well, how art thou now, lad?" said the smuggler, approaching the bed; +"dost think ye could take breakfast yet?" + +Augustus thanked him; but the appearance of Harry in his strange +disguise increased his curiosity and anxiety. + +Harry withdrew, and again returned with the breakfast; and though an +awkward waiter, he was an attentive one. Few words passed between +them, for the questions which Augustus felt desirous to ask were +checked by the smuggler saying--"Now, my canny lad, while ye are here +I maun lay an embargo on your asking ony questions, either at me or +onybody else. Ye shall be taken gud care on--if ye want onything, just +tak that bit stick at your bedside, and gie a rap on the floor, and +I'll come to ye. Ye shall want for naething; and, as soon as ye are +better, ye shall be at liberty to gang where ye like. But I maun +caution ye again, that ye are to ask nae questions." + +Augustus again thanked him, and was silent. + +At the end of eight days, he was able to rise from his bed, and to sit +up for a few hours. Harry now said to him-- + +"As thou wilt be dull, belike thou wilt have nae objections to a +little music to cheer thee." + +Thus saying, he left the room, and, in a few minutes, returned with +Fanny. He was disguised as before, and her features were concealed by +several folds of black crape, which covered her head and face, after +the fashion of a nun. She curtsied with a modest grace to the +stranger as she entered. + +"That cannot be the daughter of a rude and ignorant smuggler," thought +Augustus; "and how should such a creature be connected with them?" He +noted the elegance of her form, and his imagination again began to +dream. The mystery of his situation deepened around him, and he gazed +anxiously on the thick and folded veil that concealed her features. + +"Wilt thou amuse the poor gentleman with a song, love," said Harry, +"for I fear he has but a dull time on't?" + +Fanny took the harp which stood in the corner--she touched the +trembling cords--she commenced a Scottish melody; and, as Augustus +listened to the music of her clear and silvery voice, blending with +the tones of the instrument, it + + "Came o'er the ear like the sweet south + Breathing upon a bank of violets, + Stealing and giving odour." + +It seemed the sweetest strain to which he had ever listened; and +romance and mystery lent it their magic. His eyes kindled at the +sounds; and when Harry saw the change that was produced on him, he was +well pleased to observe it, and he was proud also of his daughter's +performance, and in the simplicity and fulness of his heart he said-- + +"Thou mayest amuse the gentleman with thy music every day, child, or +thou mayest read to him, to mak him as comfortable as we can; only he +must ask thee no questions, and thou must answer him none. But I can +trust to thee." + +From that moment Augustus no longer wearied for the days of his +captivity to pass away; and he retired to rest, or rather to dream of +the veiled songstress, and to conjure up a thousand faces of youth and +beauty which might be like her face--for he doubted not but her +countenance was lovely as her form was handsome; and he pictured dark +eyes where the soul beamed, and the raven hair waved on the snowy +temples, with the soft blue eyes where affection smiled, and the +flaxen tresses were parted on the brow; but he knew not which might be +like hers on whom his imagination dwelt. + +Many days passed; and, during a part of each, Fanny sat beside him to +beguile his solitude. She read to him; they conversed together; and +the words which fell from her lips surprised and delighted him. She +also taught him the use of the harp, and he was enabled to play a few +tunes. He regarded her as a veiled angel, and his desire to look upon +her features each day became more difficult to control. He argued that +it was impossible to love one whose face he had never seen--yet, when +she was absent from his side, he was unhappy until her return; she had +become the one idea of his thoughts--the spirit of his fancies; he +watched her fair fingers as they glided on the harp--his hand shook +when he touched them, and more than once he half raised it to untie +the thick veil which hid her features from him. + +But, while such feelings passed through his mind, others of a kindred +character had crept into the bosom of Fanny, and she sighed when she +thought that, in a few weeks, she would see him no more, that even her +face he might not see, and that her name he must never know; and fears +for her father's safety mingled with the feelings which the stranger +had awakened in her bosom. She had beheld the anxiety that glowed in +his dark eyes--she had listened to his impassioned words--she felt +their influence: but duty forbade her to acknowledge that she felt it. + +Eight weeks had passed; the wounds of Augustus were nearly healed; his +health was restored, and his strength returned, and Harry said that in +another week he might depart; but the announcement gave no joy to him +to whom it was addressed. His confinement had been robbed of its +solitariness, it had become as a dream in which he delighted, and he +could have asked but permission to gaze upon the face of his +companion, to endure it for ever. About an hour after he received this +intelligence, Fanny entered the apartment. He rose to meet her--he +took her hand, and they sat down together. But her harp lay +untouched--she spoke little--he thought she sighed, and he, too, was +silent. + +"Lady," said he, anxiously, still holding her hand in his, "I know not +where I am, nor by whom I am surrounded--this only I know, that you, +with an angel's care, have watched over me, that you have restored me +to health, and rendered confinement more grateful than liberty; but, +in a few days, we must part--part, perhaps, for ever; then, before I +go, grant me but one request--let me look upon the face of her whose +remembrance will dwell in my heart as its dearest thought, while the +pulse of life throbs within it." + +"I must not, I dare not," said Fanny, and she paused and sighed; "'tis +not worth looking on," she added. + +"Nay, dearest," continued he, "deny me not--it is a small request. +Fear nothing--never shall danger fall upon any connected with you +through me. I will swear to you----" + +"Swear not!" interrupted Fanny--"I dare not!--no!--no!" and she again +sighed. + +He pressed her hand more closely within his. A breathless silence +followed, and a tear glistened in his eyes. Her bosom heaved--her +countenance bespoke the struggle that warred in her breast. + +"Do I look as one who would betray your friends--if they be your +friends?" said he, with emotion. + +"No," she faltered, and her head fell on her bosom. + +He placed his hand across her shoulders--it touched the riband by +which the deep folds of the veil were fastened over her head--it was +the impulse of a moment--he unloosed it, the veil fell upon the floor, +and the flaxen locks and the lovely features of Fanny Teasdale were +revealed. Augustus started in admiration; for weeks he had conjured up +phantoms of ideal beauty, but the fair face before him exceeded them +all. She blushed--her countenance bespoke anxiety rather than +anger--tears fell down her cheeks, and he kissed them away. He sat, +silently gazing on her features, drawing happiness from her eyes. + +Again ten days had passed, and, during each of them, Fanny, in the +absence of her father, sat unveiled by his side. Still he knew not her +name, and, when he entreated her to pronounce it, she wept, and +replied, "I dare not." + +He had told her his. "Call me _your_ Augustus," said he, "and tell me +by what name I shall call _you_, my own. Come, dearest, do you doubt +me still? Do you still think me capable of the part of an informer?" + +But she wept the more, for she knew that to tell her name was to make +known her father's also--to betray him, and to place his life in +jeopardy. He urged her yet more earnestly, and he had sunk upon his +knee, and was pressing her hand to his lips, when Harry, in the +disguise in which he had always seen him, entered the room. The +smuggler started back. + +"What!" cried he, sternly, "what hast thou done, girl?--shown thy face +and betrayed me?--and told thy name, and mine, too, I suppose?" + +"Oh no! no! dear father!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms around him; +"I have not--indeed I have not. Do not be angry with your Fanny." + +"Fanny!" hastily exclaimed Augustus--"Fanny! Bless thee for that +word!" + +"That thou mayest make it the clue to destroy her father!" returned +the smuggler. + +"No, sir," answered Augustus, proudly, "but that I may treasure it up +in my heart, as the name of one who is dearer to me than the life +which thou hast preserved." + +"Ay! ay!" replied Harry, "thou talkest like every hot-headed youth; +but it was an ungrateful return in thee, for preserving thy life, to +destroy my peace. Get thee ben to the other room, Fanny, for thou'st +been a silly girl." + +She rose weeping, and withdrew. + +"Now, sir," continued Harry, "thou must remain nae langer under this +roof. This very hour will I get a horse ready, and conduct thee to +where ye can go to your friends, or wherever ye like; and as ye were +brought blindfolded here, ye maun consent to be taken blindfolded +away." + +"Nay, trust to my honour, sir," said Augustus--"I am incapable of +betraying you." + +"I'm no sae sure about that," returned the smuggler, "and it's best to +be sure. I trusted to your honour that ye wad ask no questions while +here--and how have you kept your honour? Na, lad, na!--what ye dinna +see ye winna be able to swear to. So make ready." Thus saying, Harry +left the apartment, locking the door behind him. + +It was about an hour after nightfall, and within ten minutes the +smuggler again entered the room. He carried a pistol in one hand, and +a silk handkerchief in the other. He placed the pistol upon the table, +and said, "I have no time to argue--allow me to tie thy eyes up, lest +worse follow." + +Augustus requested that he might see Fanny but for a few minutes, and +he would comply without a murmur. + +"No," said Harry, sternly; "wouldst tamper with my child's heart, when +her trusting in thee would place my life in thy power? Say no more--I +won't hear thee," he continued, again raising the pistol in his hand. + +Augustus, finding expostulation vain, submitted to have his eyes bound +up; and as the smuggler was leading him from the house, the bitter +sobs of Fanny reached his ear: he was almost tempted to burst from the +grasp of his conductor, and rush towards her; but, endeavouring to +suppress the tumult of his feelings, he exclaimed aloud-- + +"Forget me not, dear Fanny!--we shall meet again." + +"Never!" whispered Harry in his ear. + +The smuggler's horse stood ready at the door. In a moment he sprang +upon the saddle (if saddle it could be called), and, taking Augustus +by the hand, placed him behind him; and at a word spoken the +well-trained animal started off, as though spurs had been dashed into +its sides. For several hours they galloped on, but in what direction +Augustus knew not, nor wist he from whence he had been brought. At +length the smuggler suddenly drew up his horse, and exclaimed, +"Dismount!" + +Augustus obeyed, but scarce had his feet touched the ground, when +Harry, crying "Farewell!" dashed away as an arrow shot from a bow; and +before the other could unfasten the handkerchief with which his eyes +were bound up, the horse and its rider were invisible. + +It was drawing towards grey dawn, and he knew neither where he was nor +in what direction to proceed. He remembered, also, that he was without +money; but there was something heavy tied in a corner of the +handkerchief, which he yet held in his hand. He examined it, and found +ten guineas, wrapped in a scrap of paper, on which some words seemed +to be written. He longed for day, that he might be enabled to read +them, and, as the light increased, he deciphered, written with a +trembling hand-- + +"You may need money.--Think sometimes of me!" + +"Heaven bless thee, my unknown Fanny!" cried he, "whoever thou art; +never will I think of any but thee." + +I need not tell about his discovering in what part of the country the +smuggler had left him; of his journey to his father's house in +Devonshire, or his relation of what had befallen him; nor how he dwelt +upon the remembrance of Fanny, and vainly endeavoured to trace where +her residence was, or to discover what was her name beyond Fanny. + +He was appointed to the command of a cutter, and four years passed +from the period of the scenes that had been described, when, following +in pursuit of a smuggling vessel, he again arrived upon the coast of +Northumberland. Some of his crew, who had been on shore, brought him +information that the vessel was delivering her cargo near Embleton; +and, ordering two boats to be manned, he instantly proceeded to the +land. They came upon the smuggler; a scuffle ensued, and one of +Captain Hartley's men was stabbed by his side with a clasp-knife, and +fell dead at his feet; and he wrenched the knife from the hand of the +murderer, who with his companions, effected his escape without being +discovered. + +But day had not yet broken when two constables knocked at the door of +Harry Teasdale, and demanded admission. The servant-girl opened the +door--they rushed into the house, and to the side of the bed where he +slept. They grasped him by the shoulder, and exclaimed-- + +"You are our prisoner." + +"Your prisoner!" replied Harry; "for what, neighbours?" + +"Weel dow ye knaw for what," was the answer. + +Harry sprang upon the floor, and, in the excitement of the moment, he +raised his hand to strike the officers of the law. + +"You are only making things worse," said one of them; and he submitted +to have handcuffs placed upon his wrists. + +Fanny sprang into the room, exclaiming-- + +"My father--my father!" and flinging her arms around his neck; "oh, +what is it?--what is it?" she continued, breathless, and her voice +choked with sobbing--"what do they say that you have done?" + +"Nothing, love--nothing," said he endeavouring to be calm; "it is some +mistake, but some one shall answer for it." + +His daughter's arms were forcibly torn from around his neck; and he +was taken before a neighbouring magistrate, by whom the deposition of +Captain Hartley had been received. Harry was that morning committed to +the county prison on a charge of murder. I shall neither attempt to +describe his feelings, nor will I dwell upon the agony which was worse +than death to his poor daughter. She knew her father innocent; but she +knew not his accusers, nor the nature of the evidence which they would +bring forward to prove him guilty of the crime which they imputed to +him. + +But the fearful day of trial came. Harry Teasdale was placed at the +bar. The principal witness against him was Captain Hartley. The colour +came and went upon the prisoner's cheeks, as his eye fell upon the +face of his accuser. He seemed struggling with sudden emotion; and +many who observed it took it as a testimony of guilt. In his evidence +Captain Hartley deposed, that he and a part of his crew came upon the +smugglers on the beach, while in the act of concealing their goods; +that he, and the seaman who was murdered by his side, having attacked +three of the smugglers, the tallest of the three, whom he believed to +be the prisoner, with a knife gave the mortal stab to the deceased; +that he raised the weapon also against him, and that he only escaped +the fate of his companion by striking down the arm of the smuggler, +and wrenching the knife from his hands, who then escaped. He also +stated that, on examining the knife, which was of great length, he +read the words, "HARRY TEASDALE," which were deeply burned into its +bone handle, and which led to the apprehension of the prisoner. The +knife was then produced in court, and a murmur of horror ran through +the multitude. + +Other witnesses were examined, who proved that, on the day of the +murder, they had seen the knife in the hands of the prisoner; and the +counsel for the prosecution, in remarking on the evidence, pronounced +it to be + + "Confirmation strong as holy writ." + +The judge inquired of the prisoner if he had anything to say, or aught +to bring forward in his defence. + +"I have only this to say, my lord," said Harry, firmly, "that I am as +innocent o' the crime laid to my charge as the child unborn. My poor +daughter and my servant can prove that, on the night when the deed was +committed, I never was across my own door. And," added he, firmly, and +in a louder tone, and pointing to Captain Hartley as he spoke, "I can +only say that he whose life I saved at the peril o' my own has, +through some mistake, endeavoured to take away mine; and his +conscience will carry its punishment when he discovers his error." + +Captain Hartley started to his feet, his cheeks became pale; he +inquired, in an eager tone, "Have you seen me before?" The prisoner +returned no answer; and at that moment the officer of the court called +the name of + +"_Fanny Teasdale!_" + +"Ha!" exclaimed the captain, convulsively, and suddenly striking his +hand upon his breast--"is it so?" + +The prisoner bowed his head and wept. The court were stricken with +astonishment. + +Fanny was led towards the witness-box; there was a buzz of admiration +and of pity as she passed along. Captain Hartley beheld her--he +clasped his hands together. "Gracious heavens! my own Fanny!" he +exclaimed aloud. + +He sprang forward--he stood by her side--her head fell on his bosom. +"My lord!--O my lord!" he cried, wildly, addressing the judge, "I +doubt--I disbelieve, my own evidence. There must be some mistake. I +cannot be the murderer of the man who saved me--of my Fanny's father!" + +The most anxious excitement prevailed through the court: every +individual was moved, and, on the bench, faces were turned aside to +conceal a tear. + +The judge endeavoured to restore order. + +The shock of meeting with Augustus, in such a place and in such an +hour, though she knew not that he was her father's accuser, added to +her agony, was too much for Fanny, and, in a state of insensibility, +she was carried out of the court. + +Harry's servant-girl was examined; and, although she swore that, on +the night on which the murder was committed, he had not been out of +his own house, yet, in her cross-examination, she admitted that he +frequently was out during the night without her knowledge, and that he +_might_ have been so on the night in question. Other witnesses were +called, who spoke to the excellent character of the prisoner, and to +his often-proved courage and humanity; but they could not prove that +he had not been engaged in the affray in which the murder had been +committed. + +Captain Hartley strove anxiously to undo the impression which his +evidence had already produced; but it was too late. + +The judge addressed the jury, and began to sum up the evidence. He +remarked upon the knife with which the deed was perpetrated, being +proved and acknowledged to be the property of the prisoner--of its +being seen in his hand on the same day, and of his admitting the +fact--on the resemblance of the figure to that of the individual who +was seen to strike the blow, and on his inability to prove that he was +not that individual. He was proceeding to notice the singular scene +that had occurred, with regard to the principal witness and the +prisoner, when a shout was heard from the court-door, and a gentleman, +dressed as a clergyman, pressed through the crowd, and reaching the +side of the prisoner, he exclaimed, "My lord, and gentlemen of the +jury, _the prisoner, Harry Teasdale, is innocent_!" + +"Thank Heaven!" exclaimed Captain Hartley. + +The spectators burst into a shout, which the judge instantly +suppressed, and desired the clergyman to be sworn, and to produce his +evidence. "We are here to give it," said two others, who had followed +behind them. + +The clergyman briefly stated that he had been sent for on the previous +evening to attend the death-bed of an individual whom he named, and +who had been wounded in the affray with Captain Hartley's crew, and +that, in his presence, and in the presence of the other witnesses who +then stood by his side, a deposition had been taken down from his lips +an hour before his death. The deposition, or confession, was handed +into court; and it set forth that his hand struck the fatal blow, and +with Harry Teasdale's knife, which he had found lying upon the stern +of his boat on the afternoon of the day on which the deed was +committed--and, farther, that Harry was not upon the beach that night. + +The jury looked for a moment at each other--they instantly rose, and +their foreman pronounced the prisoner "_Not Guilty!_" A loud and +spontaneous shout burst from the multitude. Captain Hartley sprang +forward--he grasped his hand. + +"I forgive thee, lad," said Harry. + +Hartley led him from the dock--he conducted him to Fanny, whom he had +taken to an adjoining inn. + +"Here is your father!--he is safe!--he is safe, my love!" cried +Augustus, as he entered the room where she was. + +Fanny wept on her father's bosom, and he kissed her brow, and said, +"Bless thee." + +"And canst thou bless me, too," said Augustus, "after all that I have +done?" + +"Well, well, I see how it is to be," said Harry; and he took their +hands and placed them in each other. I need only add, that Fanny +Teasdale became the happy wife of Augustus Hartley; and Harry, having +acquired a competency, gave up the trade of a smuggler. + + + + +THE SCHOOLFELLOWS. + + +A few years ago, I happened to pass through the main street of +Carlisle, just as the south mail had "pulled up" at the door of "The +Bush." The night was very cold; the horses were tossing their heads, +and pawing the ground, impatient to escape from the restraint of their +harness; and the steam, which rose in clouds from their bodies, gave +evidence that they had just "come off" a rapid and fatiguing stage. At +the coach-door stood a middle-aged, gentlemanly-looking man, whose +blue nose, muffled throat, and frozen body, pointed him out as one of +the new arrivals. As I loitered slowly past, the stranger, who had +just settled the claims of the guard, turned round, and observed me. +His keen eye rested for a moment on my features--he started, looked +again, and then said-- + +"No; I cannot be mistaken. I surely ought to know that face. Is not +your name Lorrimer?" + +"It is," replied I, surprised at being thus accosted by a perfect +stranger. "You seem to be better acquainted with my name, sir, than I +am with yours; for I am not conscious of ever having seen you before." + +"Look at me again, Frank; try if you cannot recollect me," said he, as +we entered the travellers' room, and the gas-light shone full on his +face. + +I looked; but in vain. + +"I am ashamed to say, I do not know who you can be, though I have a +kind of consciousness that your features are those of an old friend." + +"Do you remember Richard Musgrave?" + +"What! Dick Muzzy? To be sure I do--the kindest-hearted fellow that +ever dog's-eared a Latin grammar. What news of my old schoolmate?" + +"He is speaking to you now." + +"Is it possible? You Richard Musgrave? Why, Richard was younger, I +rather think, than myself; and you, begging your pardon, look almost +old enough to be my father." + +"So it is, notwithstanding. I am Richard Musgrave. Time and climate +must have altered me even more sadly than I conceived, since Frank +Lorrimer fails to recognise me." + +He was indeed changed. Some alteration might have been expected, for +several years had elapsed since we had met; but time alone could not +have thus metamorphosed him. We had been schoolfellows and intimate +friends; and, when he left home, ten years before, he was a handsome, +vigorous young fellow, with hair dark as a raven's wing, and a brow +clear as alabaster. Now, his hair was iron-grey, his features were +dark and sunburned, and the scar, of a sabre-wound apparently, +disfigured his forehead. Even with my knowledge of his identity, some +minutes elapsed ere I could persuade myself that the friend of my +early years stood before me; but my recollection slowly revived as I +gazed upon him, and I wondered at my own stupidity in not having +sooner recognised him. + +"Musgrave, my dear fellow," said I, shaking him cordially by the hand, +"I rejoice to see you. Time has altered us both outwardly; but, I +trust, it has left our hearts unchanged. The recollection of youthful +joys and sorrows is the last to leave us. Amid all the changes and +chances of life, our thoughts fondly dwell upon the days of our +innocent and happy childhood; and all the friendships we form in after +years can never efface the remembrance of those who were dear to us in +early youth. I have often thought of you, Musgrave, and often, though +in vain, I have made anxious inquiries after the fate of my old +friend and schoolfellow; and, now that you _have_ returned, I should +have passed you by as a common stranger, had your memory been as +treacherous as my own." + +"You forget, my dear fellow," replied he, "that _you_ are but little +changed; your florid cheek, and smooth, unwrinkled brow, prove that +time has been flowing on in a smooth, unruffled current with _you_; +that you have been leading a life of ease and comfort. But look at me; +on my sunburned features you may read a tale of hardship and exposure. +Look at my brow! these premature wrinkles are mementos of care and +anxiety. But, come, I have much to ask and to tell you; if you have +leisure, let us retire to a private room, and talk over the past. I +cannot, I find, proceed on my journey till the morning, and I could +not employ my time more agreeably than in conversation with an old +friend." + +I willingly complied with his request, and we were soon seated beside +a comfortable fire, with "all appliances and means to boot," for +making the evening pass with _spirit_. + +"Now, Frank," said Musgrave, "before we commence, set my mind at rest +about my family. Do you know anything of them?" + +"It is some time since I saw them; but I heard a few days ago that +they were all well." + +"Thank you, thank you, my dear fellow; you have removed a load of +anxiety from my mind. Fill your glass to 'auld langsyne,' and then we +will talk over old scenes and old friends." + +Long and confidential was our conversation, and varied were the +feelings which it excited. There can be few more interesting events in +a man's life than the unexpected meeting with a long-absent friend. +There is a mournful pleasure in recalling the past, in contrasting the +sad experience of maturer years with the sanguine and glowing +anticipations of our youth. For a few passing moments we forget the +march of time, we look back through the long vista of years, and once +more the warm, and joyous, and fresh feelings of youth seem to gush +forth, and to soften and revive our world-seared and hardened hearts. +So it was with _us_. + +The present was for awhile forgotten by us; we were living in the +past; and loud and joyful were our bursts of merriment when we talked +of old jokes and adventures; and then again the thought came over us, +like a chilling blight, suffusing our eyes with tears, that the +curtain of death had fallen over most of our young and cheerful +fellow-actors on the early stage of life. It was with saddened and +subdued hearts we dwelt upon the brief career of some of our early +companions; and we sat for some minutes in silence, musing upon the +vicissitudes of human life. At last, with a forced attempt at +merriment, Musgrave exclaimed, in the words of an old sea ditty-- + + "'Come, grieving's a folly; + So let us be jolly: + If we've troubles at sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore.'" + +"Replenish your tumbler, Frank," continued he; "we'll talk no more of +the past; that's gone beyond recall; but let us make the most of the +present. We have not many hours before us; and I have heard nothing of +your adventures since we parted, nor you of mine. Set a good example, +and begin." + +"My story is soon told," replied I; "for, as you remarked before, time +has been flowing on, for me, quiet and undisturbed. I have no +adventures to relate--no stirring accidents by field or flood; mine +has been a humdrum, peaceful life, unmarked by variety, except those +common ones which would be uninteresting to a man of travel and +adventure like yourself." + +"Nothing connected with my old friend can prove uninteresting," said +Musgrave; "so pray commence your tale." + +Thus urged, I began as follows:--I continued at school two years after +you so suddenly left it, and was then bound apprentice to a lawyer in +this town. I did not much like the profession which had been chosen +for me; but there was no help for it. I knew that my father had no +interest, and that I must trust entirely to my own exertions for a +provision for my future life. I therefore applied myself diligently to +my duties, and soon had the good fortune to gain the confidence of my +employer. I had been with him about three years, when he sent me to a +neighbouring village to wait upon a client of his. This gentleman was +a retired post-captain, a man who had seen much service, and had been +often and severely wounded. + +He was, as I had been before informed, as smart an officer as ever +trod a ship's deck; his whole heart was in his profession; and his +long residence on shore had not broken him of his habit of +interlarding his conversation with sea-phrases; and he delighted in +talking over the adventures of his past life to all who would listen +to him. Notwithstanding his little peculiarities, he was universally +loved and respected. He was a hospitable, kind-hearted man, and a +"gentleman of Nature's own making;" for, though he was a little +wanting in external polish, his actions proved him worthy of the +title. I had often heard of him before, but had never chanced to meet +him. I was much pleased with him at first sight: there was so much +warmth and frankness in his reception of me; and I felt at home with +him in a minute. He was a man of short stature, upright as a dart, +with iron-grey hair, and a keen, quick eye; and had on, when I met him +in the avenue to his house, an old rusty hat, pinched up in the rims, +and placed transversely on his head, so as to look like a "fore and +after," as he called it, or, as we would say, a cocked hat. + +"Oh," interrupted Musgrave, "you need not take the trouble of +explaining sea terms to _me_; they are as natural to me as my native +tongue almost." + +"I forgot," replied I, "that you are a chip of the same block; so I +will continue my _yarn_--you see I have picked up a little sea-lingo +too. After I had transacted my business with Captain Trimmer, he +pressed me to stay and partake of family fare." + +"We pipe to dinner at six-bells," said he; "three o'clock, I mean. You +will have plain fare and a sailor's welcome; which, you know, is a +warm one either to friend or foe." + +I accepted his frank invitation with pleasure; and, as it still wanted +an hour to dinner-time, he proposed that we should "take a cruise" +through the grounds till "the grub" was ready. During the walk, he +amused me greatly with his tales of the sea; but I was often obliged +to request him to interpret terms which were as unintelligible to me +as Hebrew or Sanscrit. He laughed heartily at my ignorance, but did +all in his power to enlighten me. + +"You have not had the benefit of a sea education, so what can we +expect from you? I'll tell you what, my young friend--I would as soon +come athwart the hawse of a shark as a lawyer (no offence to _you_), +but, somehow or other, I like the cut of your jib, and think we shall +be good friends nevertheless." + +"Oh," said I, laughing, alluding to my professional visit, "I am not +the lawyer, but the lawyer's _avant courier_--the pilot-fish, not the +shark." + +He laughed heartily, and kept bantering me on the sharking +propensities of my tribe in such an amusing manner that I could not +restrain my mirth. At last, the dinner-bell rang. + +"Ah! there's pipe to dinner at last! Come along, youngster; let's see +if you can take your grub as well as you can take a joke." + +We dined alone; for his only daughter, he told me, had gone to visit a +neighbour, and would not return till evening. The dinner was +substantial and good; the wines excellent; but, though the old +gentleman pressed me much to drink, he was very moderate himself. When +the cloth was removed, he said-- + +"Now I will pipe to grog; if you like to join my mess, do so, unless +you prefer your wine." + +"Why, if you have no objection," said I, "I will not desert this +capital claret; you may have all the grog to yourself." + +"Well, tastes differ; of course, as a landsman you prefer wine; but +you know the old song says-- + + 'A sailor's sheet-anchor is grog.'" + +He told me a number of his old adventures; and hours passed away like +minutes in listening to them; but I am free to admit that none of his +yarns were half so pleasant to me as some of the silken thread-ends he +let fall about his daughter Emmeline. There was something in the rough +manner in which he gave vent to the feelings of a father, that +possessed a tenderness which never could have been expressed by the +soft vocables of sentimentality. It is thus (excuse my poetry) that we +often admire the fragrance of a flower the more for the rough petals +from which it emanates. I was captivated, and twitched the old +gentleman on the string which yielded me the best music, till I +thought he suspected some love-larking in my sly attempts to get him +to praise the absent fair one. + +"Come, come," he said, "mind your grog; although _I_ say it, who +shouldn't say it, she's as pretty a little craft as ever sailed the +ocean of life; but we're not to take her in tow throughout all our +voyages--so we'll drop her." + +"Not till I drink to her, with your leave, sir," said I. + +"Oh, as to that, there's no harm," said he. "All I say is, it's a +pity you belong to the land sharks. If you'd been a seaman, I might +have fancied you for a son-in-law." + +The words startled me; and, if he had had the keen perception of a +refined man of the world, he might have augured something from the +sound of my voice, though my words belied my thoughts. + +"Well, here's to her!" said I; "and may her fortune yield her a better +cast up than a limb of the----" Law I would have said, but he roared +out devil, with a laugh, and I joined him. + +But, as I had a long walk before me, I was obliged to take my leave of +the old gentleman rather early in the night. His daughter had not yet +returned; but he was not uneasy on her account, as it was a fine +moonlight night, and she was well acquainted with the road. + +"Let me see you often, my young friend," said the captain; "I should +like to become better acquainted with you. We always pipe to breakfast +at nine o'clock, and to dinner at three. I hate your late shore hours. +Come whenever you are inclined to do so. I shall be happy to see you." + +We shook hands, and parted; and I was really quite sorry to leave my +new and agreeable friend. + +I was walking quietly along the road homewards; the moon was shining +brightly, and the shadow of the high hedge darkened half the road, +when I thought I heard the sound of suppressed voices some short +distance ahead of me. I stopped and listened, and, almost immediately +afterwards, I saw two men creep out from the light side of the road, +and, looking cautiously around, dart over into the shade. The stealthy +motions of the men, and their evident wish for concealment, impressed +me with a conviction that mischief of some kind was intended, and I +was determined to watch their movements. I got through the hedge, and +crept silently along the back of it, till I came to a kind of recess +for holding stones, where I paused and listened. I again heard the +murmur of voices near me, and, crawling quietly on, I came close +behind the speakers, so near to them that I could distinctly hear +every word they said, though I could not see them. + +"She'll be here soon, Jem," said one of them; "we couldn't have had a +better night for such a job." + +"Too much light, for my taste," replied the other; "however, we must +make the best on't. Our own mothers wouldn't know us in this disguise, +and, without it, she would be too frightened to take particular notice +of us. But are you sure she has the swag?" + +"Certain, Smooth-faced Jess told me that her mistress was going to +receive the rent for her father this evening." + +"Oh, that's all right; we'll save her the trouble of carrying it all +the way home. It will be rather awkward, though, if she has any one +with her." + +"No fear of that. I was in the shrubbery when she was leaving the +house; and I heard her refuse to have a servant with her. I took the +short cut across the fields to join you; and I'm surprised she has not +come up yet. She can't be long, however." + +This was a pleasant conversation for me to overhear; it was evident +that robbery, if not murder, was about to be perpetrated, and I was as +evidently destined to be a witness of the act. I might, to be sure, +have sneaked out of the scrape, as the men were quite unconscious of +my vicinity; but I could not bear the thought of deserting a +fellow-creature in the hour of danger, without some attempt for her +rescue--and yet what could I do? I was unarmed, except with a small +walking cane, which would be of little avail against two ruffians, who +were, of course, well provided with the means of offence. I was just +meditating to crawl onwards, and endeavour to warn the expected female +of her danger, when I was arrested by hearing one of the rascals +murmur--"Here she is at last, Jem." A light step was now heard; and, +peeping through a gap in the hedge close beside me, I saw a female +form fast approaching. The lady--for such she seemed by her dress--was +walking along the illuminated part of the road, apparently unconscious +of danger or fear; for she was humming a tune, and every now and then +glancing up at the moon. The critical moment had arrived. I could +almost _hear_ the throbbing of my heart, I felt such a feverish +impatience to put an end to my suspense; my nerves were strung to a +pitch of desperation. I felt as if the strength of a dozen men were in +my arm. I seized a large stone, and, crouching in the gap of the +hedge, I waited with breathless impatience for the expected attack. +The lady was nearly opposite me, when the ruffians rushed out upon +her. There was a faint scream, a momentary struggle, and she lay on +the ground at their feet. Their backs were turned towards me. During +the noise of the scuffle, my footsteps were unheard, and I was close +to them before they were aware. + +"Silence! or I'll settle you!" said one of the robbers to his almost +unconscious victim; whom, with all the coolness of fancied security, +he was beginning to plunder. I dashed the stone I held in my hand into +his face, and he fell senseless to the ground, with a heavy groan, +while I shouted at the same time, as if addressing some one behind me, +"Now, Harry, blow the other rascal's brains out." The other _rascal_, +however, did not wait to see the result. He was over the hedge in a +moment, and running for bare life. I pretended to follow him, shouting +aloud till he disappeared into the next enclosure. I then returned to +the road, where I found the man still lying senseless, though +breathing heavily. I took the handkerchief from his neck and bound his +hands together; and tearing the crape from his face, I took a long and +steady look at his features, that I might be able to swear to his +identity, if necessary. The lady, who was fortunately unhurt, and had +by this time recovered from her alarm, overwhelmed me with +acknowledgments, which I parried as well as I was able; and I +endeavoured to turn her thoughts into another channel, by requesting +her to look at the face of the senseless man. After a little +hesitation, she did so, and immediately recognised him as an old +servant of her father's--a worthless vagabond, who had been discharged +for theft, and had vowed revenge. Hitherto I had had little time to +take any particular notice of the appearance of the lady I had been so +fortunate as to rescue. I had merely remarked the grace of her form, +and the soft, sweet tone of her voice; but now that I had leisure to +look at her features, as the moonbeam rested brightly upon them, I was +struck with their beauty: I felt, as Byron has it, + + "My sinking heart confess + The might, the majesty of loveliness." + +I gladly offered to escort her to her home, which, she said, was only +about half-a-mile distant, and where we could procure assistance to +remove the still insensible footpad. Before we set off, however, I +took the liberty of securing his pistols, which could be of no service +to him in his present state, but might materially benefit us. After a +sharp walk of ten minutes, the lady stopped at a gate, which I +immediately knew to be the one I had so lately left. + +"Now, sir, I am at home. Allow me to welcome to it my brave deliverer, +and to introduce him to my father." + +"I require no introduction," replied I, "if you are, as I surmise, the +daughter of Captain Trimmer." + +"Do you know him?--he is my father." + +"I only left him about an hour ago; and fortunate it was that I did +not yield to his urgent wish for me to remain longer." + +Captain Trimmer listened in breathless anxiety as his daughter told +the tale of her danger and deliverance; and drawing a long breath when +it was ended, he muttered "Heaven be praised!" He then rang the bell +violently, and gave the servants orders, and directions where to find +the wounded footpad. + +"And now, my dear young friend," said he, "what can I say to _you_? I +can't say anything just now, my heart is too full! but there's my +hand, and you shall find me, as long as I live, a firm and warm +friend." + +I could only press _his_ affectionately in reply. He insisted upon my +remaining where I was for the night, and despatched a man on horseback +to explain to my friends the reason of my absence. From this time my +intercourse with the worthy captain became daily more intimate--almost +every spare hour of my time was devoted to his society. As his +character opened out upon me, I saw in his conduct so many proofs of +genuine goodness of heart and rectitude of principle, that I felt as +much affection and respect for him as for a dear and honoured parent. +His daughter Emmeline, too, was one of those gentle, retiring +characters, who may require to be known to be admired, and whose +virtues, like those of the sweet and modest violet, require to be +sought after to be properly appreciated. I was always fond of music. +We all know its influence over the feelings--its power to awaken the +hidden sympathies of the heart--to recall the joys and sorrows of the +past, and to stir up glowing anticipations and high resolves for the +future. Her voice was clear and sweet as a bird's; and when she +warbled over the melodies of her native land, I felt so much absorbed +in the beauty of the strain, as almost to forget the singer. You +smile, and anticipate the result. How could it be otherwise? How could +I live in close and constant communion with one so fascinating, and +escape the fascination? It is not amid the factitious glare and +excitement of society that such characters as hers can be appreciated: +there the tinsel too often glitters more brightly than the pure gold; +but in the calm and peaceful intercourse of domestic life, their pure +and gentle influence is felt and valued. I was becoming daily more and +more an admirer of the gentle Emmeline, when the sudden death of my +father awakened me from my dream of love, and startled me into serious +consideration. He died as he had lived--poor; for it was found, on +examining his affairs, that, though maintaining an appearance of +wealth and comfort, his life must have been a constant struggle with +difficulties; and there was barely sufficient left behind to satisfy +the claims of his creditors. Deeply as I was grieved by his loss, I +must say that feeling was not a little heightened by the +disappointment of finding myself unprovided for. I had always been led +to hope, that, though my father, from a wish to give me a spirit of +independence, had left me, during my early life, to the exertions of +my own energies for support, yet that at his death, he would leave me +a handsome competency. But this hope was now disappointed, and with it +vanished my bright dreams of Emmeline and happiness. I could not bear +the thoughts of exposing the woman of my heart to the risk of poverty +and privation. She knew not of my love, and now she must remain for +ever in ignorance of it; for what had I to offer her?--a heart, and +nothing more; and you know, Musgrave, that though _loving_ hearts are +very pretty things in _poetry_, _smoking_ ones would better furnish +forth a poor man's table. I gradually withdrew myself from the society +of my good old friend, though it cost me many a severe pang to do so; +and whenever I did meet him, I had always some faltering excuse to +make about press of business, ill health, or bad weather. I was +talking to him one day, when Emmeline, whom I had not seen for some +time, unexpectedly joined us. The conscious blood rushed to my face +immediately, and I stammered out some incoherent apology in reply to +her expression of surprise at my long absence. The old man noticed my +embarrassment, and became silent and thoughtful. At last, turning to +his daughter, he said, "Emmeline, my love, see what we are to have +for dinner; Mr. Lorimer will take family fare with us. Not a word, +youngster" (to me, as I was beginning to remonstrate), "I am +commanding officer here." We walked on together for some time in +silence; at last he stopped, and taking my hand, while he looked full +in my face he said--- + +"I am not so blind, Mr. Lorimer, but I can see which way the land +lies. I like to be fair and above-board with every one; and you are +not the man I shall break through the rule with. I like you, Frank +Lorimer; and I would do much to serve you. Emmeline--(ah, there go the +red colours again!)--you love her Frank!--win her and wear her if you +can; you have my free and full consent. I have heard of your father's +death, and its results; and I understand and honour the motives that +have induced you to absent yourself from us. I am not a rich man, but +I have enough to make two young people happy; and I know no one to +whom I would more joyfully confide my daughter's happiness than to +yourself." + +Kind, generous old man! I had not a word to say. I merely pressed his +hand in silence and tears. Yes, tears; for joy can weep as well as +grief. I was soon again a constant visiter at Oak Lodge; and in a few +months I had the happiness of calling Emmeline my own. I have been now +married three years, and have every day greater cause to bless the +happy chance which first led me to Oak Lodge. My excellent +father-in-law lives with us, and delights in spending his day in +nursing his little grandchildren. Long may he be spared to us! + +"What! married and a father! O Frank, what a fortunate fellow you have +been! Here have I been buffeting about the world for years, the +shuttlecock of fate, hunting fortune in every corner of the world, and +I return home, poor and penniless as the day I left it. I, whose early +dreams were all of the happiness of a married life, shall sink into +my grave a solitary bachelor, without one loved hand to tend my +pillow, and to smooth my passage to the tomb." + +"Oh, nonsense. Cheer up, Musgrave," said I; "I shall dance at your +wedding yet. But why need you care now about the scurvy tricks of +fortune abroad, since you have returned to enjoy her favours at home?" + +"Favours! What do you mean, Frank?" + +"Have you not heard of the death of your poor brother George, and that +the lawsuit in which your father was so long engaged has terminated +favourably for him. He is now in possession of a rental of three +thousand per annum, to which, of course, you will be heir?" + +"Heavens! you don't say so!" exclaimed Musgrave; "but I am sure you +would not deceive me. I have not heard from home for upwards of a +twelvemonth. Frank, you are a fine fellow; shake hands with me." + +"Ay, that I will," said I; "and I congratulate you with all my heart. +I am glad I have been the first to communicate such pleasing +intelligence; and now, the least you can do in return is to give me an +account of yourself since we parted." + +"Why, I'm not in the best mood in the world for storytelling," replied +Musgrave; "this unexpected good fortune has rather destroyed my +equilibrium; however, I will brush up my memory for your +gratification, though the retrospect will be anything but agreeable to +myself. You remember, I daresay, the day when I left school; on my +memory, at least, the recollection of it is as vivid as if it were +yesterday. When I drove away in my uncle's carriage, I thought I was +going home on a temporary visit, and little imagined I was never to +return. When I arrived at home, I found in the drawing-room with my +father a little, active, dark-looking man, with a stern, prompt +manner, who was introduced to me as Captain Fleetwood." + +"Richard, my boy," said my father, "you have often expressed a wish to +go to sea, and I have now an opportunity of gratifying you. My friend +Captain Fleetwood has volunteered to take you out with him as +midshipman; and, as I know I could not intrust you to better hands, I +am glad to avail myself of his offer. The warning is rather a short +one, as you must be on board your ship within a fortnight; you have no +time to lose; and I will accompany you to town to prepare your +equipment. We will leave this to-morrow morning at nine o'clock." + +I was rather staggered by this sudden announcement; for, though it had +always been the dearest wish of my heart to go to sea, yet there was +something so unexpected in the accomplishment of it, that I repented +of my choice. My heart sank at the thought of such a sudden parting +from home and all that was dear to me; besides, as I had just left +school, I would have preferred having a few days' holiday, and an +opportunity of strutting in my sailor's dress before the eyes of my +admiring schoolfellows. However, there was no help for it now--my lot +was cast for life; and, in a fortnight's time, I was fairly shipped on +board the Anne, a snug free-trader, bound to the East Indies. I pass +over the various details of my early career; you may find an accurate +description of my first feelings and impressions, and those of five +hundred others, on first joining a ship, in any circulating library in +the kingdom. I encountered the usual hardships, and was exposed to the +usual privations, incidental to the life of a sailor; but, as there +was nothing particularly worthy of notice in the first seven or eight +years of my sailor's life, I shall pass at once to the most +interesting event in a career of no trifling variety. It is now +upwards of two years since I went out chief mate of my old ship, under +the command of my first friend, Captain Fleetwood, who was a clever, +active seaman himself, and well qualified to make those under him the +same. We had a crew of twenty-five young and able fellows, with, as +usual, a sprinkling of black sheep among them. Our passengers were +four in number--a gentleman and his wife, and two young ladies, going +out to Bombay under their protection; all agreeable and well-informed +people, and the young ladies blessed with a tolerable share of beauty. +Time passed very pleasantly with us, for we were uncommonly favoured +in wind and weather; and our captain, who was as kind and benevolent +as a man, as he was strict and unflinching as an officer, delighted in +promoting to the utmost every plan for the comfort and amusement of +the crew. + +"Och, isn't he a broth of a boy, now, that captain of ours?" I heard +one of our men say to another, on one of the quiet tropical evenings, +when the crew were enjoying themselves in the "waist," and the captain +was whirling one of the ladies round in a waltz on the quarterdeck. +"He's as full of fun as a monkey." + +"Take care you don't shave the monkey too close, though, Mike, or +perhaps the _cat_ will shave _you_." + +"Is it the cat you mane?" replied Mike; "then, by the powers, it's +myself that's not afeered for the 'cat,' for she never wags her tail +here but when a man's either an ass or a skulk, and no man can say +black's the white of the eye of Mike Delaney. But I say, Tom, hasn't +this been an out-and-out passage? Why, we've never had nothing to do +but to spin yarns and knot them; we might have stowed away the +reef-points in the hold, we've never had no 'casion for them, and as +for salt water, we haven't had a breeze to wash our faces for us since +we left home. Blowed if we shan't get too fine for our work by and +by--reg'lar gentlemen afloat. I think I'll sport a pair of them +overalls that the long-shore beggars call gloves, to keep my flippers +white," said Mike--at the same time spreading out a pair as dirty as +the back of a chimney and as broad as the back of a skate. + +"Gloves and delicate flippers like that!" answered his companion; "no, +no, Mike--'twould be a sin and a shame to _hide_ it; that's a regular +dare-devil hand--it cares neither for soap nor water. But, Mike, the +voyage is not half over yet. We've had a fair weather passage so far; +but I'm always afeerd of those unkimmon fine beginnings; ev'rything +goes by contraries in this here world, and a good beginning often +brings in its wake a bad ending. It's not in the coorse of nature to +see such a long spell of fine weather; it's quite unnatural; it'll +break out, by and by, in a fresh place--see if it don't. That 'ere +butcher, the sea, lies there a-smiling at us as if we were so many +hinnocent lambs; but he'll maybe have his hand on our throats yet." + +"Well, Tom, it's never no use smelling mischief afore it comes; time +enough when it does show its ugly mug, to grin in its face. I'm not +the man to turn my back on it--nor you neither, for that matter, I'll +be bound." + +We had run nearly thirty-four degrees to the south of the equator, +when the weather became very variable, and the wind at last settled +into a strong breeze from the northward. One evening, we were spanking +along with the wind in that quarter, with a heavy confused sea, when a +thick gloom gradually overspread the sky, and the mercury, falling in +the barometer, gave warning of approaching bad weather. All our small +sails were taken in, and every necessary precaution adopted to prepare +for a change. Our topsails were reefed, and the mainsail was hauled up +and handled. About 6 P.M. Captain Fleetwood came on deck, and asked +what I thought of the weather. + +"Bad enough, sir; it does not seem to have made up its mind what to +do; however, we are tolerably well prepared for a change, whichever +way it may be." + +"You must keep a sharp look-out, Musgrave; if it should begin to rain, +depend upon it, the wind will chop suddenly round to southward. You +must not let it take you unawares." + +"I'll look for it in time, sir." + +He had scarcely left the deck, when a light, drizzling rain came on, a +partial lull succeeded, and the wind veered suddenly round to the +south-westward. We were prepared for it, however, and our yards were +soon trimmed to the wind; but our troubles were only beginning. The +breeze freshened up so rapidly, that we had barely time to take in +sail fast enough; no sooner was one reef in, than it became necessary +to take in another. The sea was running, as landsmen say, mountains +high; the winds howled through our rigging; and the giant albatrosses +hovered round us, seen indistinctly for a moment through the gloom, +and then soaring away on the gale, as if they were floating down a +stream--their enormous wings extended, but motionless. + +But men were aloft, close-reefing, and preparing to furl the +foretopsail, when a heavy sea struck the ship, and a sudden squall +laid her over on her beam-ends almost. The sudden jerk carried away +the topmast backstays. There was no rolling tackle on the topsailyard, +which jerked violently as the ship fell over, and the mast snapped +just above the parrell. Five of the poor fellows were thrown off the +topsailyard to leeward; we heard their cries dying away on the breeze; +we could not see them, the weather was so thick, and darkness was +coming on; and as for saving them, the attempt to do so would have +been madness, although several men sprung forward to volunteer. It was +with heavy hearts the men set to work to clear away the wreck; the +cries of their poor shipmates were still ringing in their ears, and an +hour or two elapsed before it was accomplished. All night long we were +hard at work, furling sails, and sending down yards and masts; and +when the morning appeared, the ship was hove to, with her head to the +south-eastward, under a storm staysail. The decks were lumbered with +wet sails, the main and mizen-topgallantmast and yards, and the +remnants of canvas and rigging saved from the wreck of the topmast. +We spliced the mainbrace, or, as you would say, served out drams; and +the helm being lashed a-lee, the ship's company were sent below, to +obtain the rest they stood so much in need of. Poor fellows! they were +not allowed to enjoy it long. + +"Where is the captain?" said the carpenter, rushing up the +quarter-hatch with a face like a ghost--"where is the captain?" + +"Well, Soundings," said Captain Fleetwood, "what do you want with me?" + +"It's just about the soundings, sir, I want to speak to you." Then, +drawing close to his side, he muttered, "There are four feet water in +the well, sir." + +The captain started, but recovered himself immediately. + +"Very well. Rig the pumps directly. Mr. Musgrave, call the hands out; +the ship has taken a little too much water in, over all. Heaven grant +it's nothing worse!" murmured he. + +The scene around us was now dreary and desolate in the extreme: the +sky was dark, gloomy, and threatening; light, angry-looking, +discoloured clouds flitted over it, like spirits disturbed, while +overhead the scud careered with lightning-like rapidity; the sea was +covered, as far as the eye could reach, with white foam, and the spray +was blown over the ship in a constant heavy shower; the little "Mother +Carey's chickens" were dipping their tiny wings in the waves under our +stern, and the stormy petrel and albatross swept in wide circles round +our storm-tossed vessel. The gale howled mournfully through our +rigging, and every now and then a giant sea dashed against our side, +and threw torrents of water over our decks. The hatches were battened +down fore and aft, and the monotonous clanking of the pumps was heard, +mingled with the loud cheers of the men, as they spirited each other +up to renewed exertions, and the loud "spell oh!" when the different +gangs relieved each other at the pump brakes. The whole of that day +was one of incessant labour; for, when, after some hours of hard work, +we had gained considerably upon the water, and relaxed a little from +our exertions, we found that renewed efforts were required to keep the +enemy at bay. Next morning the wind had greatly decreased, and was +gradually dying away; but a high sea was still running, and the ship +laboured tremendously. More sail was made to steady her; but, in spite +of all our efforts, the leak increased; and at last it became evident, +after everything had been done which seamanship could propose, or +perseverance carry into effect, that the ship was in a foundering +state. The captain, who had shewn himself active and energetic during +the excitement of the storm, now proved that he possessed that true +courage which can face unflinchingly the slow but sure approach of +danger and of death. Calm and collected, nay, even cheerful, at least +in appearance, his example encouraged and animated the crew, now +almost exhausted with their constant exertions. He ordered one watch +below to their hammocks, while the other was busied in fitting out the +boats, and preparing provisions to put into them, and in keeping the +pumps steadily but slowly at work. At last the hands were called +out--"Out boats!" and when they were all assembled, Captain Fleetwood +addressed them as follows:-- + +"My lads, the ship is sinking under us, and we must take to the boats. +You have been active, patient, and obedient hitherto--be so still, and +you may yet all be saved. Remember, that, as long as _one_ of your +officers is above the water with you, to that officer you owe +obedience. For my part, I am determined--and you know I am no +flincher--to maintain my authority with my life; but I hope you will +not put me to the proof. My intention is to steer for the Island of +Tristan d'Acunha, which, if Providence favours us, we may reach in a +week or ten days; but much depends upon your own exertions. Now, go +below, and take the last meal you will ever eat on board your old +ship. Heaven grant that we may all meet once more on shore!" + +The men listened in silence, and uncovered while he spoke; and when he +ended, they burst into a loud cheer, and one of them shouted out-- + +"We will stand by you to the last, sir!" + +"Ay, that we will," was responded by all. + +The captain took off his hat, and bowed, evidently much affected, and +dismissed them. + +In about twenty minutes they were again called up, and the boats were +hoisted out. We had two quarter-boats, a launch, and a jolly-boat, +which were amply sufficient to hold our whole number, reduced as it +was by the loss of the five poor fellows in the gale; one of the +quarter-boats, however, proved to be so leaky when lowered into the +water, that we were obliged to abandon her. The other boats were +furnished with masts, sails, a fortnight's short provision and water, +arms--everything, in fact, that could be thought of as likely to be +necessary. The captain took charge of the launch, and the second mate +and I cast lots for the cutter; the chance was against me, and I took +command of the jolly-boat. We were eight-and-twenty in number: twelve +men, the captain, and two of the passengers, in the launch; myself, +one of the ladies, and four men, in the jolly-boat; and the remainder +in the cutter. When we had shoved off from the ship, we lay on our +oars at some little distance, as if by mutual consent, to see the last +of her; but the captain shouted out-- + +"Come, my lads, we have no time to spare; give the old craft one +parting cheer, and let us make the best of our way." + +The men stood up, and, taking off their hats, gave three loud and +lengthened cheers. The deserted ship seemed as if she heard and wished +to acknowledge the compliment; her head turned gradually towards us; +she rose slowly and heavily before the swell, then dipped her bows +deep into the water, gave a heavy roll, and sank to rise no more. A +stifled groan broke from the men at this sad sight, which cast an +evident damp over their spirits. + +"Come, cheer up, my lads," said the captain; "we've seen the last of +as good a craft as ever floated; but it's of no use being downhearted. +Let us have a cheer for good success!" + +The men caught his tone immediately, and their spirits rose when they +saw how cheerfully he bore his loss. Tristan d'Acunha bore about S. +10° W., about 200 miles distant; and, as the wind had again drawn to +the northward, we had every prospect of reaching it in the course of +five or six days. For the first two days we went along merrily enough +with a fine steady breeze, and tolerably smooth water, but, on the +afternoon of the third, the sky again became overcast, and there was +every appearance of another "round turn" in the wind. As night closed +in around us, the captain hailed us from the launch, and desired us to +keep as near together as possible, for fear of separation. This order +was obeyed as long as we were able; but, in the darkness, we soon lost +sight of each other, and the sound of our voices was drowned in the +increasing noise of wind and sea. About ten o'clock, the wind suddenly +shifted in a sharp squall; the sail was taken aback, and the little +boat lay over for a moment as if never to rise again. Fortunately the +haulyards gave way, and the sail went overboard, or she must have been +capsized; as it was, she was nearly half-full of water. I immediately +jumped forward to drag the sail in again, when, to my horror, I heard +the sound of voices crying for help, to leeward: the sail had knocked +two of the men overboard, and it was their dying cry we heard. We +pulled round the boat, and shouted out to them; there was no +answer--they were gone; they must have been half-drowned before they +could get clear of the sail, which had fallen on the top of them. Our +grief for their loss was soon absorbed by our fears for our own +safety. There were now only three of us remaining--for the lady could +be of no assistance--in a small boat, half-full of water; the wind and +sea rising, darkness all around, and the nearest land upwards of one +hundred miles distant; our prospects were dismal indeed. Fortunately +for us, however, we had no time to brood over our misfortunes; the +necessity for active exertion drove all thoughts but those of present +danger from our minds. We baled the boat out as fast as possible, got +the broken mast in-board, and made all as snug as we could. The wind +had shifted, as I said before, to the southward, and came on to blow +fresh; and the sea was again rapidly rising. We had nothing for it but +to keep the boat right before the wind, although it carried us almost +in a contrary direction to the course we wished to steer. + +At daylight, we looked anxiously around for the other boats; but in +vain did we strain our eyes--nothing was visible. Sad were our +forebodings as to the fate of our shipmates, and gloomy our +anticipations of the future for ourselves. The wind had moderated +considerably, but we were still obliged to run before it; and it was +not till late in the afternoon that we considered it safe to turn the +boat's head again to the southward. By this time it was almost calm, +but our two oars could do little against the head sea; and after +tugging away at them for some time, we were obliged to lay them in +from sheer exhaustion, merely keeping the boat's head to the sea. A +light breeze springing up at last from the northward, we got the stump +of the mast up, and set the reefed sail upon it, and began slowly to +make headway in the wished-for direction. + +During the whole of our perilous voyage, the young lady, who had been +committed to my charge, behaved with the greatest courage and +resignation; not a complaint escaped her lips, though she was drenched +to the skin by the spray and rain; not a scream did she utter when the +dark sea rose under our stern, threatening to engulf our little bark. +We did all we could to make her as comfortable as circumstances would +allow; for rough indeed must be the nature that does not feel kindly +towards youth and beauty in distress. She received all our attentions +with such heartfelt expressions of gratitude, and bore her discomforts +with such cheerful resignation, that the men could not help audibly +expressing their admiration, and vowing to spend their life's-blood in +her service. + +The sun was again smiling over our heads, and the water rippled under +the bows of the boat, as she danced before the breeze; and our spirits +were revived by the change. On examining our stock of provisions, we +found that most of our biscuit was completely saturated with salt +water, and that, with the most sparing economy, we had barely +sufficient rum and meat left to last us for a week longer. We +immediately spread the wet bread on the boat's thwarts to dry, and cut +the meat into small equal portions. + +"Now, Miss Neville," said I, laughing--though, Heaven knows, there was +little joy in my heart--"I, as commander of this vessel, constitute +you acting-purser; you shall serve out our rations to us equally and +fairly, and, if any one of my ship's company shall dare to question +the justness of your division, or to attempt to help himself without +your permission, he shall feel the weight of my anger." + +There was _faint_ laugh at this _faint_ attempt at pleasantry on my +part; and Miss Neville replied-- + +"I think, _Captain_ Musgrave, you might have appointed a more +sufficient purser than myself; however, I will do my best to justify +your choice." + +Another day, and another, we kept crawling slowly on; there was little +or no wind, and our two oars made but little way. I said before that +the boat's crew was reduced to two men and myself. One of these men, a +Scotchman, named M'Farlane, had only lately recovered from a severe +attack of illness, before we left the ship. The fatigue incurred +during the gale, and the danger and excitement of our situation since, +had a fatal effect upon the poor fellow's already shattered +constitution; he suffered in silence, never uttering a word of +complaint; but it was evident to us all that he was sinking fast. On +this day he had been taking his turn at the oar, in spite of my +remonstrances. + +"You will kill yourself, M'Farlane," said I. "You are not strong +enough to pull; take the helm, and give Riley the oar again." + +"No, sir," replied he; "Riley has had his spell, and I will take mine, +though I die for it. I feel that I am going; but let me die in +harness. No man shall have it to say that Tom M'Farlane was not game +to the last." + +Miss Neville joined her entreaties to mine, that he would give over +rowing; but in vain. + +"Heaven bless you, ma'am," said he--"and it will bless you, and bring +you in safety out of your dangers. You are just beginning the voyage +of life--and a rough beginning it has been; but never fear. You'll +make a happy port at last. As for me, my voyage is just over. I have +had both rough and smooth in my time. I've had no cause to complain; +and I shall die happy, if I die doing my duty." + +The words were scarcely uttered, when he ceased rowing. I turned +round, and saw him, with his face deadly pale, bending over the oar, +which he was in vain endeavouring to dip in the water. He made two or +three convulsive movements, as if in the act of rowing, muttered +"Hurrah, my lads!" and, with a heavy groan, fell backward. Riley and I +raised him immediately, blood was gushing from his nose and mouth, +which we in vain attempted to staunch. He opened his eyes once, +shuddered, and expired. I will not attempt to describe the feelings +with which we gazed upon the body of our unfortunate shipmate, and +thought how soon a still more dreadful doom might be ours. Death, with +all its horrid accompaniments of starvation, drowning, &c., came +before us. All the horrible stories we had heard of deaths at sea, of +misery, hunger, and cannibalism, came crowding upon our memories. At +last the silence was broken by Riley, who growled out-- + +"Well, there's one more going to feed the fishes! It'll be our turn +soon. However, its some comfort he has left his share of the grub +behind: there'll be more for those who remain." + +I could hardly restrain my anger at this cold-blooded speech; but a +look from Emily Neville checked me. Riley, however, observed the +impression his words had made upon me, and, with a diabolical sneer, +said-- + +"You need not look so black about it. I don't care a button about your +looks or your anger either. One man's as good as another now, and I +won't obey you any longer." + +"Riley," said I, starting forward, and seizing him by the collar, +while my voice trembled with suppressed passion, "mark my words! As +long as one plank of this boat hangs to another, I am your officer; +and while I have life in my body, you _shall_ obey me." + +The scoundrel was staggered by my firmness, and sat gloomily down upon +the "thwart." Riley had been one of our _black sheep_ on board the +Anne. I never liked the fellow. He was always a skulking, +discontented, vagabond; ever foremost in mischief, and striving to +make his shipmates as mutinous as himself. I saw, by his louring +looks, and his sullen, dogged manner, that we must, before long, come +into collision again, and I determined to prepare for the worst. I +threw all the fire-arms overboard, except a single musket and a brace +of pistols, the latter of which I loaded deliberately before his +eyes. + +"Come," said I, "the sun is long past the meridian, we must pipe to +dinner. Miss Neville, serve out our allowance, if you please." + +While Riley received his modicum of spirits, he growled out, "Here's a +pretty allowance for a hard-working man. Not a stroke more will I put +till I get more rum." + +"Not a drop more shall you have till the regular time; you must be +contented with just enough to keep soul and body together, like your +neighbours; we must not all be sacrificed to gratify your greediness." + +"Better die at once," said he, "than starve by inches; a short life +and a merry one for me!--so hand out the stuff at once, for have it I +_will_." And he made a rush to snatch the spirits from Miss Neville. + +"Back, scoundrel!" said I, cocking one of my pistols, "or I'll blow +your brains out." + +The words were scarcely out of my mouth, when the rascal stooped, and +snatching up a cutlass which he had concealed in the bottom of the +boat, made a cut at me with it, which, but for the tough rim of my +leather hat, would have laid my skull open. As it was, I shall carry +the scar to my grave. One touch of my trigger, and Miss Neville and I +were left in the boat alone. The ball went through his head; he +staggered against the gunwale, toppled overboard, and sank at once, +tinging the water with his blood. Miss Neville was now obliged to act +as doctor as well as purser. She washed my wound, and bound it up as +well as she was able. We neither of us spoke; but fearful were the +thoughts that passed through my mind. The boat lay becalmed upon the +water; my strength, wounded as it was, could do little towards forcing +her onwards. Unless a breeze sprung up, we must lie in utter +helplessness, and die a lingering death by starvation! Miss Neville +read my thoughts, and, stifling her own fears, exerted herself to +inspire me with confidence. + +"Fear not, Mr. Musgrave," said she; "the merciful Providence which +has watched over us hitherto, will protect us till the end. Utterly +helpless and hopeless as our situation appears at present, He _can_ +save us, and He _will_." + +Her words inspired me with renewed energy; and, with a good deal of +difficulty, I stepped the mast, which we had unshipped for greater +convenience in rowing. Next day we made the land, and, before evening, +after a little danger in passing the surf, I landed my precious charge +in safety. + +But I must hurry to the conclusion of my tale, for I see Lorrimer, you +are beginning to yawn, and I am tired of it myself. + +My first care was to seek a snug shelter among the rocks where I +quickly lighted a fire, and shared with my fair fellow prisoner the +last remains of our slender sea stock. For the next day's subsistence +we were obliged to rely upon my skill as a fowler. I spread the +remainder of the powder to dry, and contrived to make up a rude bed +for Miss Neville, on which, worn out with fatigue and excitement, she +soon enjoyed that rest which she so much required. I retired to a +little distance to watch her slumbers; but very soon followed her +example. In the morning, invigorated and refreshed, I sallied out with +my gun, and soon succeeded in procuring some birds for our morning +meal; I then climbed the highest part of the island, and set up the +boat's mast with a handkerchief flying from it, in hopes of attracting +the attention of some passing South Sea whaler. Weeks passed in dreary +monotony; we wanted for none of the absolute necessaries of life; but +we were prisoners, and that consciousness alone was enough to make +_me_ discontented and restless. My fair companion bore all her +inconveniences unrepiningly, and did all in her power to soothe and +comfort me; her sweet disposition, and gentle, silent attentions, +insensibly withdrew my thoughts from the discomforts of the present, +and hope pictured a bright future of happiness with her whom fate had +thrown upon my protection. One morning at daybreak, I climbed as +usual to my signal-post, and there, about three miles to windward of +the island, a ship was standing under easy sail to the westward. The +ship was hove to, and a boat lowered. I rushed down to apprise Miss +Neville of the joyful event, and we both hurried to the beach, to +receive our welcome visiters. After considerable difficulty, on +account of the surf, they effected a landing, and were greeted by us +with the warmest gratitude. The vessel, we were told, was the Medusa, +South Seaman, and had been out from England nearly two years; they had +observed my flag some time before they hove to, and at first thought +it had been left there by some former ship, as there were no settlers +on the island at the time; but they fortunately saw me through their +glasses, and determined upon landing. + +The evening was closing in cloudy and threatening, the surf was +beginning to run high, and everything indicated bad weather. + +"Come, be quick!" said the captain of the Medusa, who was in the boat; +"jump in, we've no time to lose; there's a gale coming on, and I +wouldn't wait two minutes longer for the world." + +As we were struggling through the heavy surf, a sudden roll of the +boat threw me overboard, and in a moment I was swept some distance +towards the beach. I swam for the shore immediately, as I knew it was +in vain to attempt reaching the boat again, or to hope that they would +risk their own lives, or the safety of the ship, by longer delay. I +was an excellent swimmer, and reached shore in safety, where I had the +mortification of seeing the Medusa make sail, and haul off the land. I +comforted myself, however, with the reflection, that Emily Neville was +in safety, and that, if the captain of the Medusa was a _Christian_, +he would return to take me off the island. That night a heavy gale of +wind came on from the north-west and a constant succession of stormy +changes of wind and calm followed for some time. In about a month, a +sail hove in sight; it was the Medusa! Oh, how delighted I was, once +more to feel a solid plank under my foot! I felt myself at home once +more when I touched her deck, and asked for Emily Neville. She was +gone! The Medusa had fallen in with a Cape trader, and Miss Neville +had taken a passage on board of her to the Cape, from whence she meant +to proceed to England. Imagine my disappointment! For two months +longer we beat about in these latitudes in the Medusa, and then, our +cargo being completed, we shaped our course homewards. On my arrival +in England, I went to my old friend, Darcy, who provided me with the +needful, and I am now so far on my way home. You tell me I have gained +a fortune; but I have lost the only girl I ever loved, and without her +fortune is valueless. + +I did what I could to comfort Musgrave, but he would not be comforted. + +Next morning he proceeded on his journey. A short time afterwards, +there appeared in the papers the following announcement--"Arrival in +the river, the Proserpine, from the Cape. The vessel has on board one +of the survivors of the wreck of the ship Anne, which foundered at sea +some months since, the lady was saved in one of the ship's boat, and +taken off the island of Tristan d'Acunha by the Medusa whaler." + +I immediately wrote to Musgrave, congratulating him on this happy +event; and received an answer in the course of a few weeks, telling me +that he was now amply repaid for his past dangers and disappointment; +for Emily Neville had consented to become his wife, and to share with +him the bounties, as she had before partaken with him of the harsher +dispensations, of Providence. + + + + +THE RED HALL; OR, BERWICK IN 1296. + + +Somewhat more than five hundred years ago, and Berwick-upon-Tweed was +the most wealthy and flourishing city in Great Britain. Its commerce +was the most extensive, its merchants the most enterprising and +successful. London in some measure strove to be its rival, but it +possessed not a tenth of the natural advantages, and Berwick continued +to bear the palm alone--being styled the Alexandria of the nations, +the emporium of commerce, and one of the first commercial cities of +the world. This state of prosperity it owed almost solely to Alexander +III., who did more for Berwick than any sovereign that has since +claimed its allegiance. He brought over a colony of wealthy Flemings, +for whom he erected an immense building, called the Red Hall (situated +where the wool market now stands), and which at once served as +dwelling-houses, factories, and a fortress. The terms upon which he +granted a charter to this company of merchants were, that they should +defend, even unto death, their Red Hall against every attack of an +enemy, and of the English in particular. Wool was the staple commodity +of their commerce, but they also traded extensively in silks and in +foreign manufactures. The people of Berwick understood FREE TRADE in +those days. In this state of peace and enviable prosperity it +continued till the spring of 1296. The bold, the crafty, and +revengeful Edward I. meditated an invasion of Scotland; and Berwick, +from its wealth, situation, and importance, was naturally anticipated +to be the first object of his attack. To defeat this, Baliol--whom we +can sometimes almost admire, though generally we despise and pity +him--sent the chief men of Fife and their retainers to the assistance +of the town. Easter week arrived, but no tidings were heard of +Edward's movements, and business went on with its wonted bustle. +Amongst the merchants of the Red Hall was one known by the appellation +of William the Fleming, and he had a daughter, an heiress and an only +child, whose beauty was the theme of Berwick's minstrels, when rhyme +was beginning to begin. Many a knee was bent to the rich and beautiful +Isabella; but she preferred the humble and half-told passion of +Francis Scott, who was one of the clerks in the Red Hall, to all the +chivalrous declarations of prouder lovers. Francis possessed industry +and perseverance; and these, in the eyes of her father, were +qualifications precious as rubies. These, with love for his daughter, +overcome other mercenary objections, and the day for their marriage +had arrived. Francis and Isabella were kneeling before the altar, and +the priest was pronouncing the service, the merchant was gazing fondly +over his child, when a sudden and hurried peal from the Bell Tower +broke upon the ceremony, and cries of "The English! to arms!" were +heard from the street. The voice of the priest faltered--he stopped; +William the Fleming placed his hand upon his sword; the bridegroom +started to his feet, and the fair Isabella clung to his side. "Come, +children," said the merchant, "let us to the Hall--a happier hour may +bless your nuptials--this is no moment for bridal ceremony." And in +silence, each man grasping his sword, they departed from the chapel, +where the performance of the marriage rites was broken by the sounds +of invasion. The ramparts were crowded with armed citizens, and a +large English fleet was seen bearing round Lindisfarne. In a few hours +the hostile vessels entered the river, and commenced a furious attack +upon the town. Their assault was returned by the inhabitants as men +who were resolved to die for liberty. For hours the battle raged, and +the Tweed became as a sheet of blood. But while the conflict rose +fiercest, again the Bell Tower sent forth its sounds of death. Edward, +at the head of thirty-five thousand chosen troops, had crossed the +river at Coldstream, and was now seen encamping at the foot of Halidon +Hill. Part of his army immediately descended upon the town, to the +assistance of his fleet. They commenced a resolute attack from the +north, while the greater part of the garrison held bloody combat with +the ships in the river. Though thus attacked upon both sides, the +besieged fought with the courage of surrounded lions, and the proud +fleet was defeated and driven from the river. The attacks of the army +were desperate, but without success, for desperate were the men who +opposed them. Treachery, however, that to this day remains +undiscovered, existed in the town; and, at an hour when the garrison +thought not, the gates were deceitfully opened, and the English army +rushed like a torrent upon the streets. Wildly the work of slaughter +began. With the sword and with the knife, the inhabitants defended +every house, every foot of ground. Mild mothers and gentle maidens +fought for their thresholds with the fury of hungry wolves--and +delicate hands did deeds of carnage. The war of blood raged from +street to street, while the English army poured on like a ceaseless +stream. Shouts, groans, the clang of swords, and the shrieks of women +mingled together. Fiercer grew the close and the deadly warfare; but +the numbers of the besieged became few. Heaps of dead men lay at every +door, each with his sword glued to his hands by the blood of an enemy. +Of the warriors from Fife, every man perished; but their price was a +costly sacrifice of the boldest lives in England. The streets ran deep +with blood; and, independent of slaughtered enemies, the mangled and +lifeless bodies of seventeen thousand of the inhabitants paved the +streets. The war of death ceased only from lack of lives to prey upon. +With the exception of the Red Hall, the town was an awful and a +silent charnel-house. Within it were the thirty brave Flemings, +pouring their arrows upon the triumphant besiegers, and resolved to +defend it to death. Amongst them was the father of Isabella, and by +his side his intended son-in-law, his hands, which lately held a +bride's dripping with blood. The entire strength of the English army +pressed around the Hall; and fearful were the doings which the band of +devoted merchants, like death's own marksmen, made in the midst of +them. What the besiegers, however, failed to effect by force, they +effected by fire; and the Red Hall became enveloped in flames--its +wool, its silk, and rich merchandise blazing together, and causing the +fierce element to ascend like a pyramid. Still the brave men stood in +the midst of the conflagration, unquailed, hurling death upon their +enemies; and, as the fire raged from room to room, they rushed to the +roof of their hall, discharging their last arrow on their besiegers, +and waving their swords around their heads, with a shout of triumph. +There also stood the father, his daughter, and her lover, smiling and +embracing each other in death. Crash succeeded crash--the flames +ascended higher and higher--and the proud building was falling to +pieces. A louder crash followed, the fierce element surrounded the +brave victims--the gentle Isabella, leaning on her bridegroom, was +seen waving her slender hand in triumph round her head--the hardy band +waved their swords, and shouted, "_Liberty!_" and in one moment more +the building fell to the earth; and the heroes, the bridegroom, and +his bride, were buried in the ruins of their fortress and their +factory. + +Thus fell the Red Hall, and with it the commercial glory of Berwick. + + + END OF VOL. XI. + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] This tale was written by Mr Wilson from the circumstance of "The +Tales of the Borders" having been adopted as a lesson-book in several +schools--ED. + +[B] The contrast here shown may be extended by a reference to "The +Henpecked Man," and thus three specimens of the _uxori emancipatus_ +will be brought into comparison.--ED. + +[C] The same anecdote is related of Dr Thomas Brown, the philosopher. + +[D] A phrase signifying that a smuggling vessel had delivered her +cargo. + + + + Transcriber's note: + + Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. + + The following printers errors were addressed. + + Page 13 'new' to 'knew' + (He scarce knew what he did) + + Page 13 'is' to 'his' + (took her hand in his) + + Page 16 'fund' to 'found' + (who found him owre heavy for them) + + Page 20 'mannner' to 'manner' + (and the manner in which) + + Page 21 'certainly' to certainty' + (a liking for the certainty of the science) + + Page 21 ''ve' to 'ye' + (the rest of ye wad hae been selling) + + Page 24 'duplicate 'as' removed. + (people as ye could, meet) + + Page 38 'uparalleled' to 'unparalleled' + (condescension and unparalleled favour) + + Page 120 'indentity' to 'identity' + (evidence of his identity) + + Page 125 'secresy' to 'secrecy' + (this mysterious secrecy and suspicion) + + Page 129 'father' to 'faither' + (to the comforts o' a faither) + Changed to maintain consistency of dialect. + + Page 151 'bridemaid' to 'bridesmaid' + (her bridesmaid was beside her) + + Page 152 'succeded' to 'succeeded' + (I succeeded at last) + + Page 171 'she' to She' + (She also allowed him) + + Page 177 'pike' to 'pick' + (to pick your banes ahint) + + Page 210 'thse' to 'these' + (While these important events) + + Page 217 'Frith' to 'Firth' + (the Firth of Forth to the Tyne) + + Page 218 'secresy' to 'secrecy' + (there was the secrecy of midnight) + + Page 257 'though' to 'thought' + (when I thought I heard) + + Page 266 'uncomonly' to 'uncommonly' + (we were uncommonly favoured) + + Page 280 'of' to 'off' + (and taken off the island) + + Page 282 'buisness' to 'business' + (and business went on) + + Page 282 'Lindisferne' to 'Lindisfarne' + (was seen bearing round Lindisfarne) + + visiter/visiters + These words are spelt thus throughout the book with + the exception of two places which have been standardised with the + above. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland, by John Mackay Wilson and Thomas Gillespie and Alexander Campbell and Alexander Bethune and Oliver Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF BORDERS, VOL 11 *** + +***** This file should be named 31761-8.txt or 31761-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/7/6/31761/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland + Volume 11 + +Author: John Mackay Wilson + Thomas Gillespie + Alexander Campbell + Alexander Bethune + Oliver Richardson + +Editor: Alexander Leighton + +Release Date: March 24, 2010 [EBook #31761] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF BORDERS, VOL 11 *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<h1>Wilson's<br /> + +Tales of the Borders</h1> + +<h2>AND OF SCOTLAND.<br /><br /></h2> + + +<h3>HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE.<br /><br /></h3> + +<h4>WITH A GLOSSARY.</h4> + +<h5>REVISED BY<br /></h5> +<h3>ALEXANDER LEIGHTON,</h3> +<h5>ONE OF THE ORIGINAL EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS.<br /><br /></h5> + + +<h5>VOL. XI.<br /><br /></h5> + + +<h3>LONDON:</h3> +<h5>WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE,</h5> +<h5>AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.<br /> +1884. +</h5> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents"> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="right">Page</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Dominie's Class</span></td><td align="left">(<i>John Mackay Wilson</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Contrast of Wives</span></td><td align="left">(<i>Alexander Leighton</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Professor's Tales</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">The Social Man</span></span></td><td align="left">(<i>Professor Thomas Gillespie</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Two Comrades</span></td><td align="left">(<i>Alexander Campbell</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Surtout</span></td><td align="left">(<i>Alexander Campbell</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Surgeon's Tales</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">The Suicide</span></span></td><td align="left">(<i>Alexander Leighton</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ghost of Howdycraigs</span></td><td align="left">(<i>Alexander Bethune</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Ghost of Gairyburn</span></td><td align="left">(<i>Alexander Bethune</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Smuggler</span></td><td align="left">(<i>John Mackay Wilson</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Schoolfellows</span></td><td align="left">(<i>Oliver Richardson</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Red Hall; or, Berwick in 1296 </span></td><td align="left">(<i>John Mackay Wilson</i>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h3>WILSON'S</h3> + +<h2>TALES OF THE BORDERS,</h2> + +<h4>AND OF SCOTLAND.</h4> + +<h2>THE DOMINIE'S CLASS.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Their ends as various as the roads they take<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In journeying through life."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>There is no class of men to whom the memory turns with more +complacency, or more frequently, than to those who "taught the young +idea how to shoot." There may be a few tyrants of the birch, who never +inspired a feeling save fear or hatred; yet their number is but few, +and I would say that the schoolmaster <i>is abroad</i> in more senses than +that in which it is popularly applied. He is abroad in the memory and +in the affections of his pupils; and his remembrance is cherished +wheresoever they may be. For my own part, I never met with a teacher +whom I did not love when a boy, and reverence when a man; from him +before whom I used to stand and endeavour to read my task in his eyes, +as he held the book before his face, and the page was reflected in his +spectacles—and from his spectacles I spelled my <i>qu</i>—to him who, as +an elder friend, bestowed on me my last lesson. When a man has been +absent from the place of his nativity for years, and when he returns +and grasps the hands of his surviving kindred, one of his first +questions to them (after family questions are settled) is—"Is Mr ——, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>my old schoolmaster, yet alive?" And if the answer be in the +affirmative, one of the first on whom he calls is the dominie of his +boyhood; and he enters the well-remembered school—and his first +glance is to the seat he last occupied—as an urchin opens the door +and admits him, as he gently taps at it, and cries to the master (who +is engaged with a class), when the stranger enters—</p> + +<p>"Sir, here's one wants you."</p> + +<p>Then steps forward the man of letters, looking anxiously—gazing as +though he had a right to gaze in the stranger's face; and, throwing +out his head, and particularly his chin, while he utters the +hesitating interrogative—"Sir?" And the stranger replies—"You don't +know me, I suppose? I am such-an-one, who was at your school at such a +time." The instiller of knowledge starts—</p> + +<p>"What!" cries he, shifting his spectacles, "you Johnnie (Thomas, or +Peter, as the case may be) So-and-so?—it's not possible! O man, I'm +glad to see ye! Ye'll mak me an auld man, whether I will or no. And +how hae ye been, and where hae ye been?"—And, as he speaks, he flings +his tawse over to the corner where his desk stands. The young stranger +still cordially shakes his hand, a few kindly words pass between them, +and the teacher, turning to his scholars, says—"You may put by your +books and slates, and go for the day;" when an instantaneous movement +takes place through the school; there is a closing of books, a +clanking of slates, a pocketing of pencils, a clutching for hats, +caps, and bonnets, a springing over seats, and a falling off seats, a +rushing to the door, and a shouting when at the door a "<i>hurra for +play!</i>"—and the stranger seems to have made a hundred happy, while +the teacher and he retire, to</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Drink a cup o' kindness,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For auld langsyne."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But to proceed with our story of stories. There was a Dr Montgomery, a +native of Annan, who, after he had been for more than twenty years a +physician in India, where he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> had become rich, visited his early home, +which was also the grave of his fathers. There were but few of his +relatives in life when he returned (for death makes sad havoc in +families in twenty years); but, after he had seen them, he inquired if +his old teacher, Mr Grierson, yet lived; and being answered in the +affirmative, the doctor proceeded to the residence of his first +instructor. He found him occupying the same apartments in which he +resided thirty years before, and which were situated on the south side +of the main street, near the bridge.</p> + +<p>When the first congratulations—the shaking of hands and the +expressions of surprise—had been got over, the doctor invited the +dominie to dinner; and, after the cloth was withdrawn, and the better +part of a bottle of port had vanished between them, the man of +medicine thus addressed his ancient preceptor:—</p> + +<p>"Can you inform me, sir, what has become of my old class-fellows?—who +of them are yet in the land of the living?—who have caught the face +of fortune as she smiled, or been rendered the 'sport o' her slippery +ba'?' Of the fate of one of them I know something, and to me their +history would be more interesting than a romance."</p> + +<p>"Do ye remember the names that ye used to gie ane anither?" inquired +the man of letters, with a look of importance, which showed that the +history of the whole class was forthcoming.</p> + +<p>"I remember them well," replied the doctor; "there were seven of us: +Solitary Sandy—Glaikit Willie—Venturesome Jamie—Cautious +Watty—Leein' Peter—Jock the dunce—and myself."</p> + +<p>"And hae ye forgot the lounderings that I used to gie ye, for ca'in +ane anither such names?" inquired Mr Grierson, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"I remember you were displeased at it," replied the other.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Weel, doctor," continued the teacher, "I believe I can gratify your +curiosity, and I am not sure but you'll find that the history of your +class-fellows is not without interest. The career of some of them has +been to me as a recompense for a' the pains I bestowed on them, and +that o' others has been a source o' grief. Wi' some I hae been +disappointed, wi' ithers, surprised; but you'll allow that I did my +utmost to fleech and to thrash your besetting sins out o' ye a'. I +will first inform ye what I know respecting the history of Alexander +Rutherford, whom all o' ye used to ca' Solitary Sandy, because he +wasna a hempy like yoursels. Now, sir, harken to the history of<br /><br /></p> + + +<h4>SOLITARY SANDY.</h4> + +<p>I remarked that Sandy was an extraordinary callant, and that he would +turn out a character that would be heard tell o' in the world; though +that he would ever rise in it, as some term it, or become rich in it I +did not believe. I dinna think that e'er I had to raise the tawse to +Sandy in my life. He had always his task as ready by heart as he could +count his fingers. Ye ne'er saw Sandy looking over his book, or +nodding wi' it before his face. He and his lessons were like twa +acquaintances—fond o' each other's company. I hae observed fra the +window, when the rest o' ye would hae been driving at the hand-ba', +cleeshin your peerie-taps, or endangerin' your legs wi' the +duck-stane, Sandy wad been sitting on his hunkers in the garden, +looking as earnestly on a daisy or ony bit flower, as if the twa +creatures could hae held a crack wi' ane anither, and the bonny leaves +o' the wee silent things whispered to Sandy how they got their +colours, how they peeped forth to meet the kiss o' spring, and how the +same power that created the lowly daisy called man into existence, and +fashioned the bright sun and the glorious firmament. He was ance dux +and aye dux. From the first moment he got to the head o'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> the class, +there he remained as immoveable as a mountain. There was nae trapping +him; for his memory was like clockwark. I canna say that he had a +great turn for mathematics; but ye will remember, as weel as me, that +he was a great Grecian; and he had screeds o' Virgil as ready aff by +heart as the twenty-third psalm. Mony a time hae I said concerning +him, in the words o' Butler—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Latin to him's no more difficil,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Than for a blackbird 'tis to whistle."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The classics, indeed, were his particular hobby; and, though I was +proud o' Sandy, I often wished that I could direct his bent to studies +o' greater practical utility. His exercises showed that he had an +evident genius for poetry, and that o' a very high order; but his +parents were poor, and I didna see what poetry was to put in his +pocket. I therefore by no means encouraged him to follow out what I +conceived to be a profitless, though a pleasing, propensity; but, on +the contrary, when I had an opportunity o' speakin' to him by himsel, +I used to say to him—</p> + +<p>"Alexander, ye have a happy turn for versification, and there is both +boldness and originality about your ideas—though no doubt they would +require a great deal of pruning before they could appear in a +respectable shape before the world. But you must not indulge in +verse-writing. When you do it, let it only be for an exercise, or for +amusement, when you have nothing better to do. It may make rhyme +jingle in your ears, but it will never make sterling coin jink in your +pockets. Even the immortal Homer had to sing his own verses about the +streets; and ye have heard the epigram—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Seven cities now contend for <i>Homer dead</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through which the <i>living Homer</i> begg'd his bread.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Boethius, like Savage in our own days, died in a prison; Terence was a +slave, and Plautus did the work of a horse. Cervantes perished for +lack of food, on the same day that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> our great Shakspere died; but +Shakspere had worldly wisdom as well as heavenly genius. Camoens died +in an almshouse. The magical Spenser was a supplicant at court for +years, for a paltry pension, till hope deferred made his heart sick, +and he vented his disappointment in these words—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'I was promised, on a time,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To have reason for my rhyme:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From that time unto this season,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I received not rhyme nor reason.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Butler asked for bread, and they gave him a stone. Dryden lived +between the hand and the mouth. Poor Otway perished through penury; +and Chatterton, the inspired boy, terminated his wretchedness with a +pennyworth of poison. But there is a more striking example than these, +Sandy. It was but the other day that our immortal countryman, Robbie +Burns—the glory o' our age—sank, at our very door, neglected and in +poverty, wi' a broken heart, into the grave. Sandy,' added I, 'never +think o' being a poet. If ye attempt it, ye will embark upon an ocean +where, for every one that reaches their desired haven, ninety-and-nine +become a wreck.'</p> + +<p>On such occasions, Sandy used to listen most attentively, and crack to +me very auld-farrantly. Well, sir, it was just after ye went to learn +to be a doctor, that I resolved to try and do something to push him +forward mysel, as his parents were not in ability; and I had made +application to a gentleman on his behalf, to use his influence to +procure him a bursary in ane o' the universities, when Sandy's faither +died, and, puir man, left hardly as muckle behind him as would pay the +expenses o' the funeral. This was a death-blow to Sandy's prospects +and my hopes. He wasna seventeen at the time, and his widowed mother +had five bairns younger. He was the only ane in the family that she +could look up to as a bread-winner. It was about harvest; and, when +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> shearing commenced, he went out wi' ithers and took his place on +the rig. As it was his first year, and he was but a learner, his wages +were but sma'; but, sma' as they were, at the end o' the season he +brought them hame, and my puir blighted scholar laddie thought himsel +a man, when he placed his earnings, to a farthing, in his mother's +hand.</p> + +<p>I was sorry for Sandy. It pained me to see one by whom I had had so +much credit, and who, I was conscious, would make ane o' the brightest +ornaments o' the pu'pit that ever entered it, throwing his learning +and his talents awa', and doomed to be a labouring man. I lost mony a +night's sleep on his account; but I was determined to serve him if I +could, and I at last succeeded in getting him appointed tutor in a +gentleman's family o' the name o' Crompton, owre in Cumberland. He was +to teach twa bits o' laddies English and arithmetic, Latin and Greek. +He wasna out eighteen when he entered upon the duties o' his office; +and great cause had I to be proud o' my scholar, and satisfied wi' my +recommendation; for, before he had been six months in his situation, I +received a letter from the gentleman himsel, intimating his esteem for +Sandy, the great progress his sons had made under his tuition, and +expressing his gratitude to me for recommending such a tutor. He was, +in consequence, kind and generous to my auld scholar, and he doubled +his wages, and made him presents beside; so that Sandy was enabled to +assist his mother and his brethren.</p> + +<p>But we ne'er hae a sunny day, though it be the langest day in summer, +but sooner or later, a rainy ane follows it. Now, Mr Crompton had a +daughter about a year younger than Sandy. She wasna what people would +ca' a pretty girl, for I hae seen her; but she had a sonsy face and +intelligent een. She also, forsooth, wrote sonnets to the moon, and +hymns to the rising sun. She, of a' women, was the maist likely to +bewitch puir Sandy; and she did bewitch him. A strong liking sprang up +between them. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> couldna conceal their partiality for ane anither. +He was everything that was perfect in her een, and she was an angel in +his. Her name was Ann; and he had celebrated it in every measure, from +the hop-and-step line of four syllables to that o' fourteen, which +rolleth like the echoing o' the trumpet.</p> + +<p>Now her faither, though a ceevil and a kind man, was also a shrewd, +sharp-sighted, and determined man; and he saw the flutter that had +risen up in the breasts o' his daughter and the young tutor. So he +sent for Sandy, and without seeming to be angry wi' him, or even +hinting at the cause—</p> + +<p>"Mr Rutherford," said he, "you are aware that I am highly gratified +with the manner in which you have discharged the duties of tutor to my +boys; but I have been thinking that it will be more to their advantage +that their education, for the future, be a public one, and to-morrow I +intend sending them to a boarding-school in Yorkshire."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow!" said Sandy, mechanically, scarce knowing what he said, or +where he stood.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow," added Mr. Crompton; "and I have sent for you, sir, in +order to settle with you respecting your salary."</p> + +<p>This was bringing the matter home to the business and the bosom o' the +scholar somewhat suddenly. Little as he was versed in the ways o' the +world, something like the real cause for the hasty removal o' his +pupils to Yorkshire began to dawn upon his mind. He was stricken with +dismay and with great agony, and he longed to pour out his soul upon +the gentle bosom o' Ann. But she had gone on a visit with her mother +to a friend in a different part of the country, and Mr Crompton was to +set out with his sons for Yorkshire on the following day. Then, also, +would Sandy have to return to the humble roof o' his mother. When he +retired to pack up his books and his few things, he wrung his +hands—yea, there were tears upon his cheeks—and, in the bitterness +of the spirit, he said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"My own sweet Ann! and shall I never see thee again—never hear +thee—never hope!" And he laid his hand upon his forehead, and pressed +it there, repeating as he did so—"never! oh, never!"</p> + +<p>I was surprised beyond measure when Sandy came back to Annan, and, wi' +a wobegone countenance, called upon me. I thought that Mr. Crompton +was not a man of the discernment and sagacity that I had given him +credit to be, and I desired Sandy not to lay it so sair to heart, for +that something else would cast up. But, in a day or two, I received a +letter from the gentleman himsel, showing me how matters stood, and +giving me to understand the <i>why</i> and the <i>wherefore</i>.</p> + +<p>"O the gowk!" said I, "what business had he to fa' in love, when he +had the bairns and his books to mind?"</p> + +<p>So I determined to rally him a wee thought on the subject, in order to +bring him back to his senses; for, when a haflins laddie is labouring +under the first dizziness o' a bonnie lassie's influence, I dinna +consider that he is capable o' either seeing, feeling, hearing, or +acting wi' the common-sense discretion o' a reasonable being. It is a +pleasant heating and wandering o' the brain. Therefore, the next time +I saw him—</p> + +<p>"Sandy," says I, "wha was't laid Troy in ashes?"</p> + +<p>He at first started and stared at me, rather vexed like, but at last +he answered, wi' a sort o' forced laugh, "A woman."</p> + +<p>"A woman, was it?" says I; "and wha was the cause o' Sandy Rutherford +losing his situation as tutor, and being sent back to Annan?"</p> + +<p>"Sir!" said he, and he scowled down his eyebrows, and gied a look at +me that wad hae spained a ewe's lamb. I saw that he was too far gone, +and that his mind was in a state that it would not be safe to trifle +wi'; so I tried him no more upon the subject.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>Weel, as his mother, puir woman, had enough to do, and couldna keep +him in idleness, and as there was naething for him in Annan, he went +to Edinburgh to see what would cast up, and what his talents and +education would do for him there. He had recommendations from several +gentlemen, and also from myself. But month after month passed on, and +he was like to hear of nothing. His mother was becoming extremely +unhappy on his account, and the more so because he had given up +writing, which astonished me a great deal, for I could not divine the +cause of such conduct as not to write to his own mother, to say that +he was well or what he was doing; and I was the more surprised at it, +because of the excellent opinion I had entertained of his character +and disposition. However, I think it would be about six months after +he had left, I received a letter from him; and, as that letter is of +importance in giving you an account of his history, I shall just step +along to the school for it, where I have it carefully placed in my +desk, and shall bring it and any other papers that I think may be +necessary in giving you an account of your other schoolfellows.</p> + +<p>Thus saying, Dominie Grierson, taking up his three-cornered hat and +silver-mounted walking-stick, stalked out of the room. And, as people +generally like to have some idea of the sort of person who is telling +them a story, I shall here describe to them the appearance of Mr +Grierson. He was a fine-looking old man, about five feet nine inches +high; his age might be about threescore and fifteen, and he was a +bachelor. His hair was as white as the driven snow, yet as fresh and +as thick as though he had been but thirty. His face was pale. He could +not properly be called corpulent, but his person had an inclination +that way. His shoes were fastened with large silver buckles; he wore a +pair of the finest black lamb's-wool stockings; breeches of the same +colour, fastened at the knees by buckles similar to those in his +shoes. His coat and waistcoat were also black,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> and both were +exceedingly capacious; for the former, with its broad skirts, which +descended almost to his heels, would have made a greatcoat now-a-days; +and in the kingly flaps of the latter, which defended his loins, was +cloth enough and to spare to have made a modern vest. This, with the +broad-brimmed, round-crowned, three-cornered hat, already referred to, +a pair of spectacles, and the silver-mounted cane, completed the +outward appearance of Dominie Grierson, with the exception of his +cambric handkerchief, which was whiter than his own locks, and did +credit to the cleanliness of his housekeeper, and her skill as a +laundress.</p> + +<p>In a few moments he returned, with Sandy's letter and other papers in +his hand, and, helping himself to another glass of wine, he rubbed the +glass of his spectacles with his handkerchief, and said—</p> + +<p>"Now, doctor, here is poor Sandy's letter; listen, and ye shall hear +it."—</p> + +<blockquote><p class="citation">"<i>Edinburgh, June 10, 17—</i></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Honoured Sir</span>,—I fear that, on account of my not having written to +you, you will ere now have accused me of ingratitude; and when I +tell you that, until the other day, I have not for months even +written to my mother, you may think me undutiful, as well as +ungrateful. But my own breast holds me guiltless of both. When I +arrived here, I met with nothing but disappointments, and those I +found at every hand. For many weeks I walked the streets of this +city in despair, hopeless as a fallen angel. I was hungry, and no +one gave me to eat; but they knew not that I was in want. Keen +misery held me in its grasp—ruin caressed me, and laughed at its +plaything. I will not pain you by detailing a catalogue of the +privations I endured, and which none but those who have felt and +fathomed the depths of misery can imagine. Through your letter of +recommendation, I was engaged to give private lessons to two +pupils; but the salary was small, and that was only to be paid +quarterly. While I was teaching them, I was starving, living on a +penny a day. But this was not all. I was frequently without a +lodging; and, being expelled from one for lack of the means of +paying for it, it was many days before I could venture to inquire +for another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>. My lodging was on a common-stair, or on the bare +sides of the Calton; and my clothes, from exposure to the weather, +became unsightly. They were no longer fitting garments for one who +gave lessons in a fashionable family. For several days I observed +the eyes of the lady of the house where I taught fixed with a most +supercilious and scrutinising expression upon my shabby and +unfortunate coat. I saw and felt that she was weighing the +shabbiness of my garments against my qualifications, and I trembled +for the consequence. In a short time my worst fears were realised; +for, one day, calling as usual, instead of being shown into a small +parlour, where I gave my lessons, the man-servant, who opened the +door, permitted me to stand in the lobby, and in two minutes +returned with two guineas upon a small silver plate, intimating, as +he held them before me, that 'the services of Mr Rutherford were no +longer required.' The sight of the two guineas took away the +bitterness and mortification of the abrupt dismissal. I pocketed +them, and engaged a lodging; and never, until that night, did I +know or feel the exquisite luxury of a deep, dreamless sleep. It +was bathing in Lethe, and rising refreshed, having no +consciousness, save the grateful feeling of the cooling waters of +forgetfulness around me. Having some weeks ago translated an old +deed, which was written in Latin, for a gentleman who is what is +called an in-door advocate, and who has an extensive practice, he +has been pleased to take me into his office, and has fixed on me a +liberal salary. He advises me to push my way to the bar, and kindly +promises his assistance. I shall follow his advice, and I despair +not but I may one day solicit the hand of the only woman I ever +have loved, or can love, from her father, as his equal. I am, sir, +yours, indebtedly,</p> + +<p class="citation"> +"<span class="smcap">Alex. Rutherford.</span>"<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now, sir (continued the dominie), about three years after I had +received this letter, my old scholar was called to the bar, and a +brilliant first appearance he made. Bench, bar, and jury were lost in +wonder at the power o' his eloquence. A Demosthenes had risen up +amongst them. The half o' Edinburgh spoke o' naething but the young +advocate. But it was on the very day that he made his first appearance +as a pleader, that I received a letter from Mr. Crompton, begging to +know if I could gie him ony information respecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> the old tutor o' +his family, and stating, in the language o' a broken-hearted man, that +his only daughter was then upon her death-bed, and that, before she +died, she begged she might be permitted to see and to speak with +Alexander Rutherford. I enclosed the letter, and sent it off to the +young advocate. He was sitting at a dinner-party, receiving the homage +of beauty and the congratulations of learned men, when the fatal +letter was put into his hands. He broke the seal—his hand shook as he +read—his cheeks grew pale—and large drops of sweat burst upon his +brow. He rose from the table. He scarce knew what he did. But within +half-an-hour he was posting on his way to Cumberland. He reached the +house, her parents received him with tears, and he was conducted into +the room where the dying maiden lay. She knew his voice, as he +approached.</p> + +<p>"He is come!—he is come! He loves me still!" cried the poor thing, +endeavouring to raise herself upon her elbow.</p> + +<p>Sandy approached the bedside—he burst into tears—he bent down, and +kissed her pale and wasted cheeks, over which death seemed already to +have cast its shadow.</p> + +<p>"Ann! my beloved Ann!" said he; and he took her hand in his, and +pressed it to his lips; "do not leave me—we shall yet be happy!"</p> + +<p>Her eyes brightened for a moment—in them joy struggled with death, +and the contest was unequal. From the day that he had been sent from +her father's house, she had withered away, as a tender flower that is +transplanted to an unkindly soil. She desired that they would lift her +up, and she placed her hand upon his shoulder, and, gazing anxiously +in his face, said—</p> + +<p>"And Alexander still loves me—even in death!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dearest—yes!" he replied. But she had scarce heard his answer, +and returned it with a smile of happiness,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> when her head sank upon +his bosom, and a deep sigh escaped from hers. It was her last. Her +soul seemed only to have lingered till her eyes might look on him. She +was removed a corpse from his breast; but on that breast the weight of +death was still left. He became melancholy—his ambition died—she +seemed to have been the only object that stimulated him to pursue fame +and to seek for fortune. In intense study he sought to forget his +grief—or rather he made them companions—till his health broke under +them; and in the thirtieth year of his age died one who possessed +talents and learning that would have adorned his country, and rendered +his name immortal. Such, sir, is the brief history o' yer auld +class-fellow, Solitary Sandy.</p> + +<p>In the history o'<br /><br /></p> + + +<h4>GLAIKIT WILLIE</h4> + +<p>(continued Mr Grierson), the only thing remarkable is, that he has +been as fortunate a man as he was a thochtless laddie. After leaving +the school, he flung his Greek and Latin aside, and that was easily +done, for it was but little that he ever learned, and less that he +remembered, for he paid so little attention to onything he did, that +what he got by heart one day, he forgot the next. In spite o' the +remonstrances o' his friends, naething would haud Willie but he would +be a sailor. Weel, he was put on board o' an American trader, and for +several years there was naething heard o' concerning him, but +accidents that had happened him, and all through his glaikitness. +Sometimes he was fa'ing owre a boat, and was mostly drowned; and at +ither times, we heard o' him fa'ing headlong into the ship's hold; +ance o' his tumbling overboard in the middle o' the great Atlantic; +and at last, o' his fa'ing from the mast upon the deck, and having his +legs broken. It was the luckiest thing that ever happened him. It +brought him to think, and gied him leisure to do it; he was laid up +for twelve weeks, and, during part<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> o' the time, he applied himself to +navigation, in the elements o' which science I had instructed him. +Soon after his recovery, he got the command o' a vessel, and was very +fortunate, and, for several years, he has been sole owner of a number +of vessels, and is reputed to be very rich. He also married weel, as +the phrase runs, for the woman had a vast o' money, only she was—a +mulatto. That, sir, is a' I ken concerning William Armstrong, or, as +ye ca'ed him, Glaikit Willie; for he was a callant that was so +thochtless when under my care, that he never interested me a great +deal. And noo, sir, I shall gie ye a' the particulars I know +concerning the fate o'<br /><br /></p> + + +<h4>VENTURESOME JAMIE.</h4> + +<p>Ye will remember him best o' ony o' them, I reckon; for even when ye +were baith bits o' callants, there was a sort o' rivalship between ye +for the affections o' bonny Katie Alison, the loveliest lassie that +ever I had at my school. I hae frequently observed the looks o' +jealousy that used to pass between ye when she seemed to show mair +kindness to ane than anither; and, when ye little thocht I saw ye, I +hae noticed ane o' ye pushing oranges into her hand, and anither +sweeties. When she got a bit comb, too, to fasten up her gowden hair, +I weel divined whose pennies had purchased it—for they were yours, +doctor. I remember, also, hoo ye was aye a greater favourite wi' her +than Jamie, and hoo he challenged ye to fecht him for her affections, +and o'ercam' ye in the battle, and sent ye to the school next day wi' +yer face a' disfigured—and I, as in duty bound, gied each o' ye a +heartier thrashin than ye had gien ane anither. Katie hung her head a' +the time, and when she looked up, a tear was rowin in her bonny blue +een. But ye left the school and the country-side when ye was little +mair than seventeen; and the next thing that we heard o' ye was that +ye had gane oot to India about three years afterwards. Yer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> departure +evidently removed a load from Jamie's breast. He followed Katie like +her shadow, though with but little success, as far as I could +perceive, and as it was generally given out.</p> + +<p>But, ye must remember, in his case the name o' Venturesome Jamie was +well applied. Never in my born days did I know such a callant. He +would have climbed the highest trees as though he had been speeling +owre a common yett, and swung himsel by the heels frae their topmost +branches. Oh, he was a terrible laddie! When I hae seen ye a' bathing +in the river, sometimes I used to tremble for him. He was a perfect +amphibious animal. I have seen him dive from a height of twenty or +thirty feet, and remain under the water till I almost lost my breath +wi' anxiety for his uprising; and then he would have risen at as many +yards distant from the place where he had dived. I recollect o' +hearing o' his permitting himsel to be suspended owre a precipice +aboon a hundred feet high, wi' a rope fastened round his oxters, and +three laddies like himsel hauding on by the ither end o't—and this +was dune merely to harry the nest o' a waterwagtail. Had the screams +o' the callants, who found him owre heavy for them, and that they were +unable to draw him up again, not brought some ploughmen to their +assistance, he must have been precipitated into eternity. However, as +I intended to say, it was shortly after the news arrived o' your +having sailed for India, that a fire broke out in the dead o' nicht in +a house occupied by Katie Alison's father. Never shall I forget the +uproar and consternation o' that terrible nicht. There was not a +countenance in the town but was pale wi' terror. The flames roared and +raged from every window, and were visible through some parts in the +roof. The great black clouds o' smoke seemed rushing from the crater +of a volcano. The floors o' the second storey were falling, and +crashing, and crackling, and great burning sparks, some o' them as big +as a man's hand, were rising in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> thousands and tens o' thousands from +the flaming ruins, and were driven by the wind, like a shower o' fire, +across the heavens. It was the most fearsome sight I had ever beheld. +But this was not the worst o't; for, at a window in the third storey, +which was the only one in the house from which the flames were not +bursting, stood bonny Katie Alison, wringing her hands and screaming +for assistance, while her gowden hair fell upon her shouthers, and her +cries were heard aboon the raging o' the conflagration. I heard her +cry distinctly, "My father!—my father!—will nobody save my father?" +for he lay ill of a fever in the room where she was, and was +unconscious of his situation. But there was none to render them +assistance. At times, the flames and the smoke, issuing from the +windows below, concealed her from the eyes of the multitude. Several +had attempted her rescue, but all of them had been forced to retreat, +and some of them scorched fearfully; for in many places the stairs had +given way, and the flames were bursting on every side. They were +attempting to throw up a rope to her assistance—for the flames issued +so fiercely from the lower window, that, though a ladder had been +raised, no man could have ascended it—when at that moment, my old +scholar, James Johnstone (Venturesome Jamie, indeed!), arrived. He +heard the cries o' Katie—he beheld her hands outstretched for +help—"Let me past!—let me past!—ye cowards! ye cowards!" cried he, +as he eagerly forced his way through the crowd. He rushed into the +door, from which the dense smoke and the sparks were issuing as from a +great furnace. There was a thrill o' horror through the crowd, for +they kenned his character, and they kenned also his fondness for +Katie—and no one expected to see him in life again. But, in less than +ten seconds from his rushing in at the door, he was seen to spring +forward to the window where Katie stood—he flung his arm round her +waist, and, in an instant, both disappeared—but, within a quarter of +a minute, he rushed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> out at the street-door, through the black smoke +and the thick sparks, wi' the bonny creature that he adored in his +arms. O doctor, had ye heard the shout that burst frae the +multitude!—there was not one amongst them at that moment that couldna +have hugged Jamie to his heart. His hands were sore burned, and on +several places his clothes were on fire. Katie was but little hurt; +but, on finding herself on the street, she cast an anxious and +despairing look towards the window from which she had been snatched, +and again wringing her hands, exclaimed, in accents of bitterness that +go through my heart to this day—</p> + +<p>"My father! oh, my father! Is there no help for him?—shall my father +perish?"</p> + +<p>"The rope!—gie me the rope!" cried Jamie.</p> + +<p>He snatched it from the hand of a bystander, and again rushed into the +smoking ruins. The consternation of the crowd became greater, and +their anxiety more intense than before. Full three minutes passed, and +nothing was seen of him. The crowded street became as silent as death; +even those who were running backward and forward, carrying water, for +a time stood still. The suspense was agonising. At length he appeared +at the window, with the sick man wrapped up in the bedclothes, and +holding him to his side with his right arm around him. The hope and +fear of the people became indescribable. Never did I witness such a +scene—never may I witness such again! Having fastened one end of the +rope to the bed, he flung the other from the window to the street; +and, grasping it with his left hand, he drew himself out of the +window, with Katie's father in his arm, and, crossing his feet around +the rope, he slid down to the street, bearing his burden with him! +Then, sir, the congratulations o' the multitude were unbounded. Every +one was anxious to shake him by the hand; but what with the burning +his right hand had sustained, and the worse than burning his left had +suffered wi'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> the sliding down a rope frae a third storey, wi' a man +under his arm, I may say that my venturesome and gallant auld scholar +hadna a hand to shake.</p> + +<p>Ye canna be surprised to hear—and, at the time o' life ye've arrived +at, ye'll be no longer jealous; besides, during dinner, I think ye +spoke o' having a wife and family—I say, therefore, doctor, that +ye'll neither be jealous nor surprised to hear, that from that day +Katie's dryness to Jamie melted down. Moreover, as ye had gane out to +India, where ye would be mair likely to look after siller than think +o' a wife, and as I understand ye had dropped correspondence for some +length o' time, ye couldna think yoursel in ony way slighted. Now, +folk say that "nineteen <i>nay-says</i> are half a <i>yes</i>." For my part (and +my age is approaching the heels o' the patriarchs), I never put it in +the power o' woman born to say <i>No</i> to me. But, as I have heard and +believe, Katie had said <i>No</i> to Jamie before the fire, not only +nineteen times, but thirty-eight times twice told, and he found +seventy-six (which is about my age) nae nearer a <i>yea</i> than the first +<i>nay</i>. And folk said it was a' on account o' a foolish passion for the +doctor laddie that had gane abroad. But Katie was a kind, gratefu +lassie. She couldna look wi' cauldness upon the man that had not only +saved her life, but her father's also; and I ought to have informed +you that, within two minutes from the time of her father's being +snatched from the room where he lay, the floor fell in, and the flames +burst from the window where Katie had been standing a few minutes +before.</p> + +<p>Her father recovered from the fever, but he died within six months +after the fire, and left her a portionless orphan, or what was next +door to it. Jamie urged her to make him happy, and at last she +consented, and they were married. But ye remember that his parents +were in affluent circumstances; they thought he had demeaned himself +by his marriage, and they shut their door upon him, and disowned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> him +athegither. As he was his father's heir, he was brought up to no +calling or business whatsoever; and, when the auld man not only vowed +to cut him off wi' a shilling, on account of his marriage, but +absolutely got his will altered accordingly, what did the silly lad +do, but, in desperation, list into a regiment that was gaun abroad. +"The laddie has done it in a fit o' passion," said I, "and what will +become o' poor Katie?" Weel, although it was said that the lassie +never had ony particular affection for him, but just married him out +o' gratitude, and although several genteel families in the +neighbourhood offered her respectable and comfortable situations (for +she was universally liked), yet the strange creature preferred to +follow the hard fortunes o' Jamie, who had been disowned on her +account, and she implored the officers of the regiment to be allowed +to accompany him. It is possible that they were interested with her +appearance, and what they had heard of his connection, and the manner +in which he had been treated, for they granted her request; and about +a month after he enlisted, the regiment marched from Carlisle, and +Katie accompanied her husband. They went abroad somewhere—to the East +or West Indies, I believe; but from that day to this I have never +heard a word concerning either the one or the other, or whether they +be living or not. All I know is, that the auld man died within two +years after his son had become a soldier, and, keeping his resentment +to his last breath, actually left his property to a brother's son. And +that, sir, is all that I know of Venturesome Jamie and your old +sweetheart, Katie.</p> + +<p>The doctor looked thoughtful, exceedingly thoughtful; and the old +dominie, acquiring additional loquacity as he went on, poured out +another glass, and added—</p> + +<p>"But come, doctor, we will drink a bumper, 'for auld langsyne,' to the +lassie wi' the gowden locks, be she dead or living.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>"</p> + +<p>"With my whole heart and soul," replied the doctor, impassionedly; +and, pouring out a glass, he drained it to the dregs.</p> + +<p>"The auld feeling is not quenched yet, doctor," said the venerable +teacher, "and I am sorry for it; for, had I known, I would have spoken +more guardedly. But I will proceed to gie ye an account o' the rest o' +your class-fellows, and I will do it briefly. There was Walter +Fairbairn, who went amongst ye by the name o'<br /><br /></p> + + +<h4>CAUTIOUS WATTY.</h4> + +<p>He was the queerest laddie that ever I had at my school. He had +neither talent nor cleverness; but he made up for both, and, I may +say, more than made up for both, by method and application. Ye would +have said that nature had been in a miserly humour when it made his +brains; but, if it had been niggardly in the quantity, it certainly +had spared no pains in placing them properly. He was the very reverse +o' Solitary Sandy. I never could get Watty to scan a line or construe +a sentence richt in my days. He did not seem to understand the nature +o' words, or, at least, in so far as applied to sentiment, idea, or +fine writing. Figures were Watty's alphabet; and, from his earliest +years, pounds, shillings, and pence were the syllables by which he +joined them together. The abstruser points of mathematics were beyond +his intellect; but he seemed to have a liking for the <i>certainty</i> of +the science, and he manifested a wish to master it. My housekeeper +that then was has informed me that, when a' the rest o' ye wad hae +been selling your copies as waste-paper, for <i>taffy</i>, or what some ca' +<i>treacle-candy</i>, Watty would only part wi' his to the paper purchaser +for money down; and when ony o' ye took a greenin for the sweet things +o' the shopkeeper, without a halfpenny to purchase one, Watty would +volun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>teer to lend ye the money until a certain day, upon condition +that ye would then pay him a penny for the loan o' his halfpenny. But +he exhibited a grand trait o' this disposition when he cam to learn +the rule o' <i>Compound Interest</i>. Indeed, I need not say he <i>learned</i>, +it, for he literally <i>devoured</i> it. He wrought every question in +Dilworth's Rule within two days; and, when he had finished it (for he +seldom had his slate away from my face, and I was half tired wi' +saying to him, "That will do, sir"), he came up to my desk, and, says +he, wi' a face as earnest as a judge—</p> + +<p>"May I go through this rule again, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I think ye understand it, Watty," said I, rather significantly.</p> + +<p>"But I would like to be perfect in it, sir," answered he.</p> + +<p>"Then go through it again, Watty," said I, "and I have nae doubt but +ye will be <i>perfect</i> in it very quickly."</p> + +<p>I said this wi' a degree o' irony which I was not then, and which I am +not now, in the habit of exhibiting before my scholars; but, from what +I had observed and heard o' him, it betrayed to me a trait in human +nature that literally disgusted me. But I have no pleasure in dwelling +upon his history. Shortly after leaving the school, he was sent up to +London to an uncle; and, as his parents had the means o' setting him +up in the world, he was there to make choice o' a profession. After +looking about the great city for a time, it was the choice and +pleasure o' Cautious Watty to be bound as an apprentice to a +pawnbroker. He afterwards commenced business for himself, and every +day in his life indulging in his favourite study, compound interest, +and, as far as he durst, putting it in practice, he in a short time +became rich. But, as his substance increased, he did not confine +himself to portable articles, or such things as are usually taken in +pledge by the members of his profession; but he took estates in +pledge, receiving the title-deeds as his security; and in such cases +he did exact his compound interest to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> the last farthing to which he +could stretch it. He neither knew the meaning of generosity nor mercy. +Shakspere's beautiful apostrophe to the latter god-like attribute in +the "Merchant of Venice," would have been flat nonsense in the +estimation of Watty. He had but one answer to every argument and to +every case, and which he laid to his conscience in all his +transactions (if he had a conscience), and that was—"A bargain's a +bargain!" This was his ten times repeated phrase every day. It was the +doctrine by which he swore; and Shylock would have died wi' envy to +have seen Watty exacting his "<i>pound o' flesh</i>." I have only to tell +ye that he has been twice married. The first time was to a widow four +years older than his mother, wi' whom he got ten thousand. The second +time was to a maiden lady, who had been a coquette and a flirt in her +day, but who, when the deep crow-feet upon her brow began to reflect +sermons from her looking-glass, became a patroniser of piety and +religious institutions. Watty heard o' her fortune, and o' her +disposition and habits. He turned an Episcopalian, because she was +one. He became a sitter and a regular attender in the same pew in the +church. He began his courtship by opening the pew-door to her when he +saw her coming, before the sexton reached it. He next sought her out +the services for the day in the prayer-book—he had it always open, +and ready to put in her hand. He dusted the cushion on which she was +to sit with his handkerchief, as she entered the pew. He, in short, +showed her a hundred little pious attentions. The sensibility of the +converted flirt was affected by them. At length he offered her his arm +from the pew to the hackney-coach or sedan-chair which waited for her +at the church-door; and, eventually, he led her to the altar in the +seventy-third year of her age; when, to use his own words, he married +her thirty thousand pounds, and took the old woman before the minister +as a witness. Such, sir, is all I know concerning Cautious Watty.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next o' your auld class-mates that I have to notice (continued Mr. +Grierson) is<br /><br /></p> + + +<h4>LEEIN PETER.</h4> + +<p>Peter Murray was the cause o' mair grief to me than ony scholar that +ever was at my school. He could not tell a story the same way in which +he heard it, or give you a direct answer to a positive question, had +it been to save his life. I sometimes was at a loss whether to +attribute his grievous propensity to a defect o' memory, a +preponderance o' imagination over baith memory and judgment, or to the +natural depravity o' his heart, and the force o' abominable habits +early acquired. Certain it is, that, all the thrashing that I could +thrash, I couldna get the laddie to speak the truth. His parents were +perpetually coming to me to lick him soundly for this lie and the +other lie; and I did lick him, until I saw that bodily punishment was +of no effect. Moral means were to be tried, and I did try them. I +tried to shame him out o't. I reasoned wi' him. I showed him the folly +and the enormity o' his offence, and also pointed out its +consequences—but I might as weel hae spoken to the stane in the wa'. +He was Leein Peter still. After he left me, he was a while wi' a +grocer, and a while wi' a haberdasher, and then he went to a painter, +and after that he was admitted into a writer's office; but one after +another, they had to turn him away, and a' on account o' his +unconquerable habit o' uttering falsehoods. His character became so +well known, that nobody about the place would take him to be anything. +He was a sad heartbreak to his parents, and they were as decent people +as ye could meet wi'. But, as they had respectable connections, they +got him into some situation about Edinburgh, where his character and +his failings were unknown. But it was altogether useless. He was +turned out of one situation after another, and a' on account<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> o' his +incurable and dangerous habit, until his friends could do no more for +him. Noo, doctor, I daresay ye may have observed, that a confirmed +drunkard, rather than want drink, will steal to procure it—and, as +sure as that is the case, tak my word for it, that, in nine cases out +o' ten, he who begins by being a habitual liar, will end in being a +thief. Such was the case wi' Leein Peter. After being disgraced and +turned from one situation after anither, he at last was caught in the +act of purloining his master's property, and cast into prison. He +broke his mother's heart, and covered his father's grey hairs wi' +shame; and he sank from one state o' degradation to another, till now, +I believe, he is ane o' those prowlers and pests o' society who are to +be found in every large town, and who live naebody can tell how, but +every one can tell that it cannot be honestly. Such, sir, has been the +fate o' Leein Peter.</p> + +<p>There is only another o' your book-mates that I have to make mention +o', and that is John Mathewson or<br /><br /></p> + + +<h4>JOCK THE DUNCE.</h4> + +<p>Many a score o' times hae I said that Jock's head was as impervious to +learning as a nether-millstane. It would hae been as easy to hae +driven mensuration into the head o' an ox, as instruction into the +brain o' Jock Mathewson. He was born a dunce. I fleeched him, and I +coaxed him, and I endeavoured to divert him, to get him to learn, and +I kicked him, and I cuffed him; but I might as weel hae kicked my heel +upon the floor, or fleeched the fireplace. Jock was knowledge-proof. +All my efforts were o' no avail. I could get him to learn nothing, and +to comprehend nothing. Often I had half made up my mind to turn him +awa from the school, for I saw that I never would have any credit by +the blockhead. But what was most annoying was, that here was his +mother at me, every hand-awhile, saying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"Mr Grierson, I'm really surprised at ye. My son John is not coming on +ava. I really wush ye wad tak mair pains wi' him. It is an unco thing +to be paying you guid money, and the laddie to be getting nae guid for +it. I wad hae ye to understand that his faither doesna make his money +sae easily—no by sitting on a seat, or walking up and down a room—as +ye do. There's such-a-ane's son awa into the Latin, nae less, I +understand, and my John no out o' the Testament. But, depend upon it, +Mr Grierson, if ye dinna try to do something wi' him, I maun tak him +awa frae your school, and that is the short and the lang o't."</p> + +<p>"Do sae, ma'am," said I, "and I'll thank ye. Mercy me! it's a bonny +thing, indeed—do ye suppose that I had the makin o' your son? If +Nature has formed his head out o' a whinstane, can I transform it into +marble? Your son would try the patience o' Job—his head is thicker +than a door-post. I can mak naething o' him. I would sooner teach a +hundred than be troubled wi' him."</p> + +<p>"Hundred here, hundred there!" said she, in a tift; "but it's a hard +matter, Mr Grierson, for his faither and me to be payin ye money for +naething; and if ye dinna try to mak something o' him, I'll tak him +frae your school, and that will be baith seen and heard tell o'!"</p> + +<p>So saying, away she would drive, tossing her head wi' the airs o' my +lady. Ye canna conceive, sir, what a teacher has to put up wi'. +Thomson says—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i16">"Delightful task,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To teach the young idea how to shoot!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I wish to goodness he had tried it, and a month's specimen o' its +<i>delights</i> would have surfeited him, and instead o' what he has +written, he would have said—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i16">"Degrading thought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To be each snivelling blockhead's parent's slave!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Now, ye'll remember that Jock was perpetually sniftering and gaping +wi' his mouth, or even sucking his thumb like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> an idiot. There was nae +keeping the animal cleanly, much less instructing him; and then, if he +had the book in his hand, there he sat staring owre it, wi' a look as +vacant and stupid as a tortoise. Or, if he had the slate before him, +there was he drawing scores on't, or amusing himsel wi' twirling and +twisting the pencil in the string through the frame. Never had I such +a lump o' stupidity within the walls o' my school.</p> + +<p>After his leaving me, he was put as an apprentice to a bookseller. I +thought, of all the callings under the sun, that which had been chosen +for him was the least suited to a person o' his capacity. But—would +ye believe it, sir?—Jock surprised us a'. He fairly turned the corner +on a' my calculations. When he began to look after the lassies, he +also began to "smart up." He came to my night-school when he would be +about eighteen, and I was perfectly astonished at the change that had +taken place, even in the appearance o' the callant. His very nose, +which had always been so stuffed and thick like, was now an ornament +to his face. He had become altogether a lively, fine-looking lad; and, +more marvellous still, his whole heart's desire seemed to be to learn; +and he did learn with a rapidity that both astonished and delighted +me. I actually thought the instructions which I had endeavoured to +instil into him for years, and apparently without effect, had been +lying dormant, as it were, in the chambers o' his brain, like a cuckoo +in winter—that they had been sealed up as fast as I imparted them, by +some cause that I did not comprehend, and that now they had got vent, +and were issuing out in rapid and vigorous strength, like a person +refreshed after a sleep.</p> + +<p>After he had been two years at the night-school, so far from +considering him a dunce, I regarded him as an amazingly clever lad. +From the instance I had had in him, I began to perceive that precocity +o' intellect was nae proof o' its power. Well, shortly after the time +I am speaking o', he left Annan for Glasgow, and after being a year or +twa there,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> he commenced business upon his own account. I may safely +say, that never man was more fortunate. But, as his means increased, +he did not confine himself to the business in which he had been +brought up, but he became an extensive shipowner; he also became a +partner in a cotton-mill concern. He was elected a member of the town +council, and was distinguished as a leading member and orator of the +guild. Eventually, he rose to be one of the city magistrates. He is +now also an extensive landed proprietor; and I even hear it affirmed, +that it is in contemplation to put him in nomination for some place or +other at the next election. Such things happen, doctor—and wha would +hae thocht it o' Jack the dunse?</p> + +<p>Now, sir (added the dominie), so far as I have been able, I have given +you the history o' your schoolfellows. Concerning you, doctor, I have +known less and heard less than o' ony o' them. You being so far awa, +and so long awa, and your immediate relations about here being dead, +so that ye have dropped correspondence, I have heard nothing +concerning ye; and I have often been sorry on that account; for, +believe me, doctor (here the doctor pushed the bottle to him, and the +old man, helping himself to another glass, and drinking it, again +continued)—I say, believe me, doctor, that I never had twa scholars +under my care, o' whose talents I had greater opinion than o' Solitary +Sandy and yoursel; and it has often vexed me that I could hear +naething concerning ye, or whether ye were dead or living. Now, sir, +if ye'll favour me wi' an account o' your history, from the time o' +your going out to India, your auld dominie will be obliged to ye; for +I like to hear concerning ye a', as though ye had been my ain bairns.</p> + +<p>"There is little of interest in my history, sir," said the doctor; +"but, as far as there is any, your wish shall be gratified." And he +proceeded as is hereafter written.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span><br /><br /></p> + + +<h4>THE DOCTOR'S STORY.</h4> + +<p>"In your history, sir, of Venturesome Jamie, which you are unable to +finish, you mentioned the rivalry that existed between him and me, for +the affections o' bonny Katie Alison. James was a noble fellow. I am +not ashamed that I had such a rival. In our youth I esteemed him while +I hated him. But, sir, I do not remember the time when Katie Alison +was not as a dream in my heart—when I did not tremble at her touch. +Even when we pulled the gowans and cowslips together, though there had +been twenty present, it was for Katie that I pulled mine. When we +plaited the rushes, I did it for her. She preferred me to Jamie, and I +knew it. When I left your school, and when I proceeded to India, I did +not forget her. But, as you said, men go there to make money—so did +I. My friends laughed at my boyish fancy—they endeavoured to make me +ashamed of it. I became smitten with the eastern disease of +fortune-making, and, though I did not forget her, I neglected her.</p> + +<p>But, sir, to drop this: I was not twenty-one when I arrived in Bombay; +nor had I been long there till I was appointed physician to several +Parsee families of great wealth. With but little effort, fortune +opened before me. I performed a few surgical operations of +considerable difficulty, with success. In several desperate cases I +effected cures, and my name was spread not only through the city, but +throughout the island. The riches I went to seek I found. But even +then, sir, my heart would turn to your school, and to the happy hours +I had spent by the side of bonny Katie Alison.</p> + +<p>However, it would be of no interest to enter into the details of my +monotonous life. I shall dwell only upon one incident, which is, of +all others, the most remarkable that ever occurred to me, and which +took place about six years after my arrival in India. I was in my +carriage, and accompanying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> the remains of a patient to the burial +ground—for you know that doctors cannot cure, when death is +determined to have its way. The burial ground lies about three miles +from Bombay, across an extensive and beautiful plain, and the road to +it is by a sort of avenue, lined and shaded on each side by +cocoa-nut-trees, which spread their branches over the path, and distil +their cooling juice into the cups which the Hindoos have placed around +them to receive it. You can form but a faint conception of the clear +azure of an Indian sky, and never had I seen it more beautiful than on +the day to which I refer, though some of the weather-prophets about +Bombay were predicting a storm.</p> + +<p>We were about the middle of the avenue I have described, when we +overtook the funeral of an officer who had held a commission in a +corps of Sepoys. The coffin was carried upon the shoulders of four +soldiers; before it marched the Sepoys, and behind it, seated in a +palanquin, borne by four Hindoos, came the widow of the deceased. A +large black veil thrown over her head, almost enveloped her person. +Her head was bent upon her bosom, and she seemed to weep bitterly. We +followed behind them to the burial-place; but, before the service was +half concluded, the heavens overcast, and a storm, such as I had never +witnessed, burst over our heads, and hurled its fury upon the graves. +The rain poured down in a fierce and impetuous torrent—but you know +not, in this country, what a torrent of rain is. The thunder seemed +tearing heaven in twain. It rolled, reverbed, and pealed, and rattled +with its tremendous voice over the graves of the dead, as though it +were the outbursting of eternity—the first blast of the archangel's +trumpet announcing the coming judgment! The incessant lightnings +flashed through the air, like spirits winged with flame, and awakening +the dead.</p> + +<p>The Sepoys fled in terror, and hastened to the city, to escape the +terrible fury of the storm. Even those who had accompanied my friend's +body fled with them, before the earth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> was covered over the dead that +they had followed to the grave. But still, by the side of the +officer's grave, and unmindful of the storm, stood his poor widow. She +refused to leave the spot till the last sod was placed upon her +husband's bosom. My heart bled for her. Within three yards from her +stood a veteran English serjeant, who, with the Hindoos that bore her +palanquin, were all that remained in the burial-place.</p> + +<p>Common humanity prompted me to offer her a place in my carriage back +to the city. I inquired of the serjeant who the deceased was. He +informed me that he was a young Scotch officer—that his marriage had +offended his friends—that they had denounced him in consequence—that +he had enlisted—and that the officers of the regiment which he had +first joined, had procured him an ensigncy in a corps of Sepoys, but +that he had died, leaving the young widow who wept over his grave, a +stranger in a strange land. And, added the serjeant, "a braver fellow +never set foot upon the ground."</p> + +<p>When the last sod had been placed upon the grave, I approached the +young widow. I respectfully offered to convey her and the serjeant to +the city in my carriage, as the violence of the storm increased.</p> + +<p>At my voice she started—she uttered a suppressed scream—she raised +her head—she withdrew her handkerchief from her eyes!—I beheld her +features!—and, gracious Heaven!—whom, sir!—whom—whom did I see, +but my own Katie Alison!</p> + +<p>"Doctor!—doctor!" exclaimed the old dominie, starting from his seat, +"what do I hear?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot describe to you," continued the other, "the tumultuous joy, +combined with agony, the indescribable feelings of that moment. We +stood—we gasped—we gazed upon each other; neither of us spoke. I +took her hand—I led her to the carriage—I conveyed her to the +city."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And, oh doctor, what then?" inquired the dominie.</p> + +<p>"Why, sir," said the doctor, "many days passed—many words were +spoken—mutual tears were shed for Jamie Johnstone—and bonny Katie +Alison, the lassie of my first love, became my wife, and is the mother +of my children. She will be here in a few days, and will see her old +dominie."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE CONTRAST OF WIVES.<a name="FNanchor_B_1" id="FNanchor_B_1"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_B_1" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></h2> + + + +<p>In the absence of that finely-adjusted balance of power which ought to +be found in the state of marriage, it becomes a nice question, whether +less evil results from an overstretched domination on the part of the +husband, or from his due submission or subjugation to an authority +exercised by her, and carried farther than is generally deemed +consistent with the delicacy of her sex, or the situation in which she +is placed. Connected with this question is that which comprises the +comparative evil arising from a superabundance or deficiency of the +intellectual powers of the wife. We are too well aware of the +uselessness, as well as the impracticability, of solving such +speculative questions, to say a single word on either side of the +vexed argument to which they have given rise; but we will be within +our province, and probably not beyond the wishes of our readers, if we +lay before them a <i>case of real life</i>, involving a solution of the +question in one exemplary instance, where the "grey mare" is not only +found to be the "better horse," but where, by her powers of judicious +leading, she saves not only herself but her partner from the dangers +of a rough road and a precipitous course. In those good days of old +Scotland, when the corporation hall formed the theatre wherein was +enacted the great play (comedy, if you please) of "Burgh Ambition," +the influence of petticoat power extended its secret workings behind +the green curtain, and often regulated all the actions of the +performers in a manner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> which was not only totally concealed from the +spectators, but even from the moving puppets themselves. In one +instance—that to which we have referred—this secret authority +transpired, and in a manner so ludicrous that it deserves to be +recorded. The incorporation of Dyers and Scourers of P—— (at the +time of which we speak a considerable fraternity) had a deacon and +boxmaster; the former named Murdoch Waldie, and the latter Andrew +Todd. Their names still figure in the old books of the corporation, if +these are not gone astray; and there is, or was, an entry in these +same books, connected with the reign of the two worthies, which, +illustrative and probative as it is of our story, we shall have +occasion to lay before our readers. Well, to proceed in historical +order, the worthy boxmaster had been married for a number of years. He +might be about fifty years of age, was of small stature, very bland +and affable in his manners, of an easy disposition, but, withal, as +ambitious of fame as any of the aspirants for office in his +corporation. Endowed by nature with very inadequate powers of +judgment, he experienced no want of the powers of speech, which was as +fluent as a shallow mind could make it; and he had, besides, a species +of humour about him, which owed its existence rather to the simplicity +and <i>bonhommie</i> of his nature, than to the more ordinary source of a +perception of the ludicrous. As almost every want is remedied by some +equipollent surrogation which strangely often supplies its place, +Andrew Todd was <i>sensible</i> of his want of mental powers; and thus he +exhibited that sense of a <i>want of sense</i>, which is often more +valuable than sense itself, in so far as the modesty with which it is +accompanied leads the individual to seek the assistance of good +advisers, by which he sometimes surpasses, in the race of life, +conceited wiseacres. We do not say that he married Mrs Jean Todd +merely because he saw she was endowed with greater powers than +himself; but it is certain that,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> after he came to appreciate the +extent of her understanding, he had the prudence to take every +advantage of her excellent sense and judgment, as well in the private +affairs of his business, as in the public concerns of the corporation +treasurership, with which he came, by her means, to be invested. This +was not only advantageous to his pecuniary interests, but congenial to +his feelings, as, getting quit, in this way, of the trouble of +thinking—a most laborious operation to him, and generally very ill +executed, if not altogether bungled—he was left at liberty to indulge +his speech and humour; two powers which had nothing more to do with +judgment or even common sense, than with the sublimated spirit of +genius itself.</p> + +<p>His wife, Mrs Jean, was, as partly hinted, the very opposite of her +husband. She was a large, stout, gaucy woman, at least twice as big as +her mate. She had been, early in life, considerably pitted with the +small-pox, enough of the traces of which were still left to give her +that sturdy, hardy aspect they generally impart; while a strong and +somewhat rough voice, agreeing well with her other attributes, gave +her ideas and sentiments an apparent breadth and weight, which, added +to their own sterling qualities, could not fail to produce a +considerable effect even on men of strong minds, and to give her a +decided advantage over her sex. Her original powers of mind were +strengthened by reading—an occupation in which, as it required +silence, her husband very seldom engaged; and, what few women are able +to accomplish, she never allowed this favourite habit to interfere +with the regulation of her domestic economy, or of the actions of her +husband. Bold and masculine, however, as she was, she was a +kind-hearted woman; and, having no family to her husband, she was a +warm friend, a ready adviser to all her female acquaintances, and a +charitable giver to those who, after a strict and very stern +investigation, she thought worthy of her assistance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>The deacon of the incorporation again, Murdoch Waldie, was a man of a +very different cast from the boxmaster. He was a person of +considerable parts; but his conceit, which led him to conceive himself +cleverer than nature had made him, produced often all the consequences +which result from a deficiency of mental parts. Proud and domineering, +he loved to rule his corporation with dignity and authority; while his +love of official show and domestic parade rendered him extravagant, +and made him poor, notwithstanding of a good trade, which he carried +on with great success. In his choice of a wife, there might have been +perceived the tendency of his peculiar disposition; for he married a +beauty, who qualified his love of authority by an affected softness, +gentleness, and meekness, and his self-conceit, by showing herself +inferior to him in understanding, as indeed she was, though she +excelled him in another quality, which more than supplied its place. +What with his business, his deaconship, his chain, his gold-headed +cane, and his fair wife, dressed in the gaudy colours of his own +dyeing, Deacon Waldie was an important personage in those times, when +to be high in a corporation was to be in the enjoyment of the truest +elevation to which human nature, in this world, could aspire.</p> + +<p>Vain, showy, gaudy, and frivolous, Mrs Deacon Waldie held the same +position to Mrs Todd that the boxmaster did to her husband. She had no +sense or power to rule her lord, who, indeed, would not have submitted +to female authority; but she had what Mrs Todd wanted, and what served +her purpose equally well, and that was cunning—the signal quality of +small, weak minds, and the very curse of the whole race of man and +woman. This insidious power enabled her to detect her husband's +failings, as well as to profit by them—and hence her affectation of +total subjugation to his high will and authority, and her tame system +of according and assenting to everything he said or did, whether right +or wrong. But in all this her selfish cunning had a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> part; because, +while she pretended to love him, and dote on him and prize him beyond +all mortals, her adulation, her blandishments, and submission were +accompanied or followed always by <i>petitions</i>. She contrived to have +hardihood enough to make the most unreasonable requests, and to show +that she was too sensitive, too fragile, and too weak, to bear a +refusal. If her suit was rejected, she flung herself upon the haughty +deacon's bosom, and sobbed; and what deacon could withstand the appeal +of beauty in tears? The sight was the very personification of the +triumph of his pride and dignity. The chain of his official authority, +and the arms of a praying, supplicating, weeping wife, hanging at the +same time around his proud neck, were the very counterparts of each +other. His love of subjugation bent, as it often does, his own head; +and cunning enjoyed its greatest triumph in overcoming one, by turning +his own weapons against himself.</p> + +<p>The contrast which we have thus exhibited between these two couples, +is that of real everyday life. The characters of too many married +parties partake, more or less, of the qualities possessed by those we +have now mentioned; but how strangely do apparent contrasts often meet +in grotesque resemblances? Mrs Todd ruled her husband, and he knew it; +but Mrs Waldie ruled her husband, and he was ignorant of it: while the +one followed her occupation for her own and her husband's good, the +other was bent (unconsciously, it may be) on her own and her husband's +ruin.</p> + +<p>These two couples were on the most intimate terms—the circumstance of +the two husbands being office-bearers of the same corporation having +increased an intimacy which had been of considerable duration. But +there was little respect felt for her showy friends on the part of the +wife of the minor official, who probably saw that their extravagance +was fast driving them to ruin. This foresight was soon verified. The +demands of Mrs Deacon Waldie were not limited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> to her own wants and +wishes—they were extended to those of her friends. Her father, +trusting to the reputation of her husband's deaconship, had occasion +for his security to the extent of £200; and she was fixed upon as the +instrument to wring, by her usual artifice, out of her proud lord and +master, not only his own name to the bond, but also that of some of +his friends, to be procured through his means and intercession. She +had, for a considerable time, been occupied zealously in endeavouring +to accomplish her object—bringing into contrast her husband's proud +domination, and her innocent and interesting weakness and timidity, +and showing, as she hung round his neck, her helplessness and +insignificance, at the very moment when she was exercising more power +than ever was arrogated by the boxmaster's wife in all her female +tyranny. She succeeded in her scheme, and Waldie consented—but only +as a king grants the prayer of a petition—not only to give his own +name to the bill, but to endeavour to get that of Mr Andrew Todd. +Tears of thankfulness, and a full acknowledgment of his great power +over her, was the reward offered and granted for this great +condescension and unparalleled favour. But it was more easy for Mrs +Waldie to ask, and give thanks and tears, and for her husband to +vouchsafe his own name as cautioner, than for him to get out of the +clutches of Mrs Jean Todd the consent of her husband. The deacon knew +how his brother-official was ruled by his wife, and lustily despised +the white-livered caitiff for his pusillanimity.</p> + +<p>"I canna promise, Mrs Deacon Waldie," said he to his wife, according +to the fashion of address that suited his dignity—"I canna promise to +get the boxmaster to gie his name to yer faither's bond. He's sae +completely, puir cratur! under the power and direction o' a woman, +that he daurna tak sae muckle liberty wi' his ain. The woman brocht +him naething when he married her, but the iron rod<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> o' authority by +which she rules him; and yet, strange to say, he seems to like her the +better for a' the stern dominion she exercises owre him."</p> + +<p>"That's a fault, I'm sure, ye canna charge me wi'," replied his wife.</p> + +<p>"No, Margaret," said the deacon; "you dare not presume to dictate to +me; and, to do you justice, you never attempted it; but I began ye +fair. I showed you at first the proper conduct o' a husband towards +his wife—firm but kind; and the duty o' a wife towards a +husband—obedient and loving; and it was weel that you had the sense +to understand me, and the good-nature to comply wi' my wishes; for, if +I had seen the least glimpse o' an inclination to rule me or force me +into yer measures, there wad sune hae been rebellion in the house o' +Deacon Waldie. The consequences o' a wife's domination are weel +exemplified in the case o' that contemptible man whase assistance we +now require. He daurna assist a freend. His wife is cash-keeper, +conscience-keeper, housekeeper, and, by and by, she may be box-keeper, +to the entire disgrace o' oor trade, wha, though they live by women +(for men never employ dyers), wouldna relish to acknowledge the +authority o' a female boxmaster. When a man resigns himsel to the +authority o' a wife, he is dune for a' guid to himsel as weel as his +neebors."</p> + +<p>"Ye canna, my dear Murdoch," said the soft wife, "look upon a tame +husband, wha submits to the rule o' a wife, wi' mair contemp and ill +favour than I do upon the virago wha presumes to reverse the order o' +nature, and wrest the authority frae the lord o' the creation."</p> + +<p>"You gie a fine turn to the sentiment, Margaret," replied the +gratified deacon. "I am anxious (but it is my ain free will) to do yer +faither this service; and I will try, for ance, if I canna fecht Mrs +Jean Todd wi' her ain weapons. The boxmaster's no dead to shame; and +surety, if there's ony power on earth whereby the blush can be brought +to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> face o' man, it's the power o' being in a condition to tell +him to that very face he is <i>henpecked</i>. The very word has a spur and +a neb in't to rouse him to the vindication o' the rights o' man. I was +aye afraid o't; and, God be thanked! I hae escaped even the very +chance o' its application to me."</p> + +<p>"You forgot, my love, that you hae also <i>me</i> to thank for that +happiness," said the wife.</p> + +<p>"No, it is mysel, it is mysel," cried the proud lord of his own +household. "It lies in my native sense o' the rights o' our superior +sex, and my firmness o' purpose in keepin the reins ticht upon ye. You +hae only the merit o' no rebellin; but even your rebellion I would hae +sune laid."</p> + +<p>"I fancy, then," said Mrs Waldie, gently, "it will be your intention +and pleasure to see the boxmaster immediately."</p> + +<p>"No, Mrs Waldie," replied the deacon, a little touched; "not +<i>immediately</i>, but by and by."</p> + +<p>The deacon, however, did almost immediately wait upon the boxmaster, +and got him to adjourn to a tavern in the Lawnmarket, at that time +much frequented by the members of the incorporation. They had scarcely +seated themselves when the superior official opened his subject.</p> + +<p>"I am a frank man, Mr Todd," began he, "and I winna hesitate to tell +ye at ance that I want a favour frae ye. Will ye join me in security +for my father-in-law to the extent o' twa hunder pounds?"</p> + +<p>The boxmaster paused, and thought of the stern chamberlain at home. He +was inclined to assist his deacon, who was a person of great +importance in his eyes, but he saw the danger which might result from +his going out of his province, and acting upon what he conceived to be +right. His pause was at once understood by the deacon, whose keenness +to make a dash at the supposed obstacle to his suit arose from his +contempt of his friend's pusillani<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>mous conduct, and his desire to +attain the object of his request.</p> + +<p>"I can read your thoughts, Mr Todd," said he, as the boxmaster still +paused, and seemed irresolute and confused. "You <i>wish</i> to serve, but +you daurna. Mrs Todd winna let ye follow the counsel o' yer ain heart. +This is a delicate subject; but I am your freend, and would wish to +redeem ye frae the slavery o' a woman's (and otherwise, I grant, a +guid and sensible woman's) domination in matters wherein she has nae +legitimate authority."</p> + +<p>He waited the effect of this speech, which was a kind of touchstone.</p> + +<p>"I see nae delicacy in a subject," replied the boxmaster, "whar +there's nae secresy. How does it come to be known that my wife is my +counsellor and adviser?—Because I mak nae secret o' what I hae nae +reason to be ashamed o'. I dinna ken how you feel, Mr Waldie, but I +think it's the pleasantest thing on earth to be, as it were, compelled +to alloo yersel to be taen care o', and defended, and nursed, and +petted, and ruled, by a guid wife. In my opinion, to be loved by a +wife is only the half o' oor right. Ony woman may love a man—it's a +woman's <i>trade</i> to love; but when you see a dear cratur takin the +pains and trouble o' governin a' yer actions—ay, and as it were, even +yer very thoughts—lookin wi' a keen and carefu ee after yer maist +minute affairs, regulatin yer conduct, keepin yer siller, directin yer +financial, domestic, personal, private, and public operations; and, in +short, <i>thinkin</i> for ye—how is it possible for a man to see sae +muckle care taen wi' him and his concerns, without bein filled wi' +gratitude and affection to her wha labours sae officiously for his +guid?"</p> + +<p>"Mr Andrew Todd," said the deacon, impatiently, "you are describin ane +o' the maist pitifu and contemptible spirits that ever warmed the +scaly body o' a reptile that has nae sting. What man wi' a spark o' +independence in his breast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> would think o' resignin his judgment into +the hands o' a woman? They are guid craturs in their ain place, and +baith interestin and usefu when they are occupied in conductin the +affairs o' their houses, obeyin the commands o' their husbands, and +ministerin to his slichtest wishes, as if every look were an act of +parliament; but, to stoop to mak a woman a counsellor, to gie her a +vote in the great council o' the noble thoughts o' man's divine mind! +Unheard o' humiliation! Why, man, a woman is only the twenty-fourth +part o' a man, seein we hae, as the doctors say, twenty-four ribs; and +we hae the authority o' Scripture for sayin that, at the very best, +she is only a help to man. She was, besides, the beginnin o' a' evil. +And yet this fractional thing, this help, this unlucky author o' the +waes o' mortals, ye dignify and raise up into the very place and power +o' yer inheritance frae Adam; reversin the order o' nature, degradin +our noble sex and makin laughinstocks o' a' married men."</p> + +<p>"I'm no sure if there's muckle practical truth in a' this, deacon," +said Andrew, smiling good-naturedly. "Suppose, for an instant, that, +besides the satisfaction and pleasure I derive frae nestlin safely in +the arms o' my wife's judgment, and courin aneath her protectin +wing—whilk gies me, sometimes, a flap I like as weel as her kindest +embrace—I hae discovered that her thoughts and reflections are a +thousand times better than the boxmaster's—what say ye to that, +deacon? I hae seen an oaken tree twenty-four times bigger than its +parent, and yet a' it ever had to thank the auld stock for was an +acorn. Sae, in place o' only bein a twenty-fourth part, as you say, o' +man, I am satisfied I hae scarcely a twenty-fourth part o' my wife's +mind; and will onybody tell me that a wise counsellor should be +rejected, because she happens to be dressed in petticoats?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mr Todd, I will tell you that," replied the deacon. "The private +sodger has dootless often a mind superior to the general's; but he +maun still keep the ranks. Mind is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> naething in this affair—station +is everything. Look at Mrs Margaret Waldie—a cleverer cratur doesna +exist—that is, in her ain way; but did she ever dare to counsel me? +Did she ever presume to sway or alter, in the slightest degree, the +decrees o' my judgment? Na; she has owre muckle respect for the status +and respectability o' her lord and maister. Rouse yersel, Andrew; tak +example by me, man; act as your kind heart prompts in this freendly +affair; and join me in the bond, whereby you'll incur nae danger."</p> + +<p>"I am anxious to oblige ye, deacon," said Andrew; "but I scarcely +think it wad be a gratefu part in me to repay a' Mrs Jean Todd's care +o' me for twenty years, by actin, in this affair, upon my ain +individual and responsible judgment. I micht anger her, and she micht +withdraw frae me her countenance and protection: I micht as weel lose +the licht o' the sun. Ye dinna understand me, deacon; ye are made to +command—I to obey. Pressure brings out the power o' the spring; and +a' my happiness in life is produced and brocht out by the weight o' +the judgment and authority o' Mrs Jean Todd. Her very mind seems to +hae passed into mine; and I feel, when I'm thinking her thoughts, a +satisfaction I never feel when my ain are passin, like unbidden +ghaists, through my mind. But surely I hae some excuse: is she no a +noble cratur? How she maks a body shake wi' the sound o' her voice, +and the solidity o' her thoughts! and how beautifully she softens doun +the impression o' her authority, by restorin, wi' a half-severe, +half-kind sort o' a smile, peculiar to hersel, the confidence she +frightened awa by the mere force o' her superior intellect!"</p> + +<p>"How beautifully, in short, Andrew," said the deacon, "are you +<i>henpecked</i>! That is the very soul and marrow o' a' ye hae uttered."</p> + +<p>"Ay; and I glory to be pecked by <i>such</i> a hen!" cried Andrew, with +sparkling eyes, and a real and unsophisticated appearance of triumph.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<p>The deacon, notwithstanding of his anxiety to get the bond signed, +laughed outright at this tremendous sally of the boxmaster's +enthusiasm of servitude; but it was a laugh of derision, and he forgot +that he was himself daily losing more feathers, by a silent process of +peculation going on under his wing, than were taken from Andrew by the +conservative operation of his wife's billing and cooing.</p> + +<p>"Then I suppose you will not refuse my request?" said the deacon, +"seein you glory in the <i>henpeckin</i> it may produce. Seriously, will ye +comply wi' my request?"</p> + +<p>"Seriously, deacon, I am inclined to oblige ye," replied Andrew, "if I +could get Mrs Jean to agree to it. I'll try her this very nicht. I can +say nae mair."</p> + +<p>The deacon could make no more of him. He went home, and reported the +result of the negotiation to his wife, who despaired of success, but +overpowered her husband with thanks for what he had done. She had a +secret wish that he should do more—viz., call upon Mrs Jean Todd +herself, and solicit her. The difficulty of accomplishing this was to +herself apparent; but she was determined to carry her point in some +way or another; so she straightway began to weep bitterly, crying that +her father would be ruined; but never hinting any remedy for her +distress. This paroxysm of affected grief produced its usual effect +upon the proud husband; who, hard as a rock when attempted to be +dictated to, was as weak as a child when attacked with tears, and an +apparent helpless subjugation to his high will. He took the weeping +wife in his arms, and asked her what more he could do to assist her +father in this emergency.</p> + +<p>"There's only ae way," said she, wiping her eyes; "there's just ae +remedy for our case."</p> + +<p>"What is it, my love?" said the deacon.</p> + +<p>"I canna mention't," said the cunning wife. "It's against a' the high +and proud feelins o' yer noble natur."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But we are sometimes obliged to sacrifice our feelins," said the +gratified deacon. "Speak, my dear Margaret; ye ken wha ye're speakin +to. What is your remedy?"</p> + +<p>"It's to ca' upon Mrs Jean Todd yersel," said she, holding away her +head, while another burst of tears overtook her voluntarily.</p> + +<p>The deacon started back in amazement. The request <i>was</i> against all +the feelings of his nature. The proud stickler for marital rule was in +an extraordinary position: first, his wife was governing him at that +moment, unknown to himself; and, secondly, he was requested to sue, at +the feet of a woman, for liberty to her husband to act as he chose.</p> + +<p>"Margaret," said the deacon, "<i>you</i>, I am sure, dinna ask me to +overturn, at ae blow, a' the principles o' my life, conversation, and +conduct?"</p> + +<p>"Na, Murdoch," said she, throwing her arms round his neck, and weeping +again—"na, na; <i>I</i> dinna <i>ask</i> ye."</p> + +<p>"But ye maybe wish it, my dear Peggy," replied he, whimpering. +"Necessity is a great power: maybe ye feel <i>compelled</i> to wish it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe I do," said the wife, with another burst.</p> + +<p>"Weel, Peggy, dry up yer tears, my love," said the conquered lord; +"I'll awa to Mrs Jean Todd."</p> + +<p>And he was as good as his word. Away he went, to recognise that +authority in a wife which he so heartily despised, and to which he was +himself, at the very moment, bowing his head. He took the bill with +him, with the view of taking advantage of a compliance upon the +instant, as he feared the effects of a night's reconsideration. He +found the couple in a curious position. They were sitting, one on each +side of the fire. Mrs Jean Todd had on her spectacles; but her book +was lying on the table. Mr Todd was apparently doing nothing; but he +was thinking more deeply, and with more difficulty, than was his +partner, who was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> occupied doubtless in digesting what she had been +reading. Mr Todd was, in truth, at that very moment in the very act of +endeavouring to call up courage to tell his wife the import of the +deacon's request, and to make some attempt at supporting his petition. +A few words had passed previous to the entry of the deacon.</p> + +<p>"I had a lang sederunt wi' our worthy deacon the day," said Andrew. +"He's no an ill body, the deacon. I canna forget the trouble he took +on my appointment to the honourable office o' boxmaster."</p> + +<p>"It was <i>I</i> that made ye boxmaster, Andrew," said Mrs Jean Todd. "I +commanded the suffrages o' the hail corporation. Deacon Waldie couldna +hae opposed me. I was at the blind side o' the electors, through their +wives; and what man could hae dared to compete wi' the electors' +wives, when they were determined to vote for me? The deacon professes +to laugh at <i>our</i> authority. Puir man! he forgets, or doesna see, that +there's no a man in the hail corporation wha is mair ruled, and mair +dangerously ruled, by his wife than he is! She'll ruin him; and that +ye'll sune see. Nae tradesman could stand her extravagance; and, I +understand, she cunningly contrives to get him to assist <i>her</i> +friends, and to despise and disregard his ain. How different is my +conduct! Your friends, Andrew, I hae assisted; and the only thing I +ever left to your unassisted judgment was the benefiting o' mine."</p> + +<p>This sensible speech had, as the sun does the fire, extinguished +Andrew's mental cogitations, and put out his courage. A silence had +reigned for several minutes, when Mr Deacon Waldie entered. Drawing in +a chair, he commenced—</p> + +<p>"The boxmaster would doubtless be tellin ye, madam," said he, "that I +wanted a sma' favour aff him. My wife's father requires a bill for +intromissions the noo to the extent o' twa hunder pounds, and the +employers insist upon twa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> securities. They micht hae been content wi' +mysel; but, seein they hae refused my single name, I hae asked Andrew +to gie his, as a mere matter o' form, alang wi' my ain. I dinna doot" +(looking into Mrs Jean Todd's face, and attempting to laugh) "that ye +may hae <i>some</i> influence wi' the boxmaster. He's quite <i>against</i> it" +(looking at Andrew, and winking—a device observed by the quick-eyed +dame), "though there's nae danger; and I hae, therefore, come at ance +to the fountain-head o' a' authority. Just say to the boxmaster that +he ought sae far to oblige a freend, and the bill, which I hae here in +my hand, will be signed in an instant."</p> + +<p>This speech was understood in a moment by Mrs Jean Todd. The manner of +her husband previous to the entry of the deacon—the deacon's visit so +soon after the meeting, his speech, his wink, and all +together—satisfied her that her husband was inclined to sign the +bill, and that they had laid their heads together to accomplish their +object by the manœuvre to which they had thus resorted. Her pride +and honesty made her despise these underhand and crooked schemes; but +her prudence prevented her from showing either her penetration or her +feelings. There was one thing, however, which she was determined not +to countenance. She knew that Deacon Waldie despised, and, indeed, +openly, and at all times, and often in her own presence, denounced the +husband who allowed himself to be dictated to by his wife; and now he +was in the very act of proving that her husband was worthy of that +denouncement, and that she herself was the individual who, by +exercising authority over her husband, had degraded him, and rendered +him the subject of the deacon's scorn. This hurt her beyond bearing; +but she was determined that she should not recognise this imputed +authority. At the same time, she could not allow her husband to be +ruined; and the question was, how she should act in these trying +circumstances? Her quick mind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> was soon at work. For some time she +contrived to prevent an awkward silence from sitting down upon them +and producing embarrassment; and this she accomplished by putting a +few insignificant questions to the deacon regarding his father-in-law, +while she was deliberating with herself what she was to do, and how +she was to escape from the dilemma in which she was situated.</p> + +<p>In the first place, she caught her husband's eye, through which the +charm of her authority could generally be very easily sent. She +endeavoured to retain his glance, and to show that she was decidedly +opposed to this scheme, and saw through all its bearings. Without +altogether losing this hold of Andrew, she directed a prudent and +cautious speech to the ears of the deacon.</p> + +<p>"I winna affect, Mr Deacon Waldie," said she, "notwithstanding I hae +often heard yer sentiments on the subject o' the authority o' wives—I +winna affect either to be ignorant o' my husband's affairs, or to be +careless o' what concerns baith him and me. I will say further, that I +dinna hesitate to gie him a guid advice when I think he requires it; +for out o' many counsellors comes wisdom; and, as Solomon says, 'every +purpose is established by counsel.' Though 'a good wife,' says the +same wise man, 'layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands holdeth +the distaff,' her business doesna finish there; for he adds, that 'the +heart o' her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have +no fear o' spoil.' But there's a limit to a wife's interference. You +say my husband has already declared his opinion" (looking at +Andrew)—"why then should I be asked to overturn the resolution o' his +ain mind and judgment? If my advice had been asked in time, it would +hae been given; but I canna think o' endeavourin to overrule my +master, when ance his mind is made up and his resolution fixed."</p> + +<p>She rose as she finished this judicious speech, and left the room, +kindly bidding the deacon good-night. Both the men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> were surprised. +The deacon was chagrined. The boxmaster was left in great doubt and +perplexity. Both had great cause; for the first was caught in his own +snare, and the latter had had thrown upon him a superabundance of +power and authority in forming his own judgments that he never got +awarded to him before. The deacon was determined not to lose his +ground. <i>The dame had left the matter in the hands of the boxmaster</i>. +That was a great point gained; and he set about to convince Andrew +that he was left at liberty to do as he chose. But the worthy +boxmaster had very great doubts and scruples upon the subject, and +wished to follow Mrs Jean, to consult her in private. To this again +the deacon could not give his consent; but continued to pour into the +ears of the irresolute boxmaster all the arguments he could muster, to +satisfy him that the construction he had put upon Mrs Jean Todd's +speech was favourable to the exercise of his liberty, at least in this +case. The position was scarcely denied by Andrew; but he could not get +out of his mind the expression of his wife's eye. He had read in it a +denial and a reproof. At the same time, he could not reconcile it with +her speech, which was entirely different from anything of the kind he +had ever witnessed. Her opinions were always ready and decided; and he +never saw her shrink from declaring a difference of sentiment, when +she entertained an opinion different from his. Why, then, did she in +this instance depart from her ordinary course? The question was +difficult to answer. It seemed that she <i>did actually</i> in a manner +leave it to himself. The deacon seemed to be right in his +construction; and his arguments were almost unanswerable.</p> + +<p>"If," said he, "Mrs Jean Todd had been hostile to this measure, would +she not have declared it <i>manfully</i>, as is her uniform practice in +similar cases?"</p> + +<p>The boxmaster could not answer the question satisfactorily; and the +deacon, continuing his arguments, persuasions,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> promises, and +flatteries, at last got the victim to put his name to the bill. Upon +the instant the door opened, and Mrs Jean Todd appeared before them. +She went forward to the table, and laid her hand upon the document.</p> + +<p>"Is that your signature, sir?" said she, looking calmly at her +husband.</p> + +<p>"Ou ay—I believe, yes—I did put my name to that paper," replied +Andrew, in great agitation; "but I thocht ye left me to do as I chose +when ye gaed oot. If ye didna want me to sign it, ye shouldna hae left +the room."</p> + +<p>"A bill is no a bindin document," continued she, without seeming to +attend to what the boxmaster said, "until it be delivered. It's no +delivered sae lang as it is in my hands; and never will be delivered +by me sae lang as I recollect the words o' the wise man o' the east, +wha said—'If thou be surety for thy friend, thou art snared with the +words o' thy mouth.' Yet this paper is no my property. The stamp is +yours, though my husband's name is still his." Turning to the +boxmaster, who was shaking and retaining his breath with pure +fear—"Do you stand by this, sir," said she, in a commanding voice, +which increased his fear, "or do ye repent o't?"</p> + +<p>"I repent o't," replied Andrew, with dry lips, and a gurgling of the +throat, as if he had been on the eve of choking.</p> + +<p>"Then, I fancy," continued Mrs Jean Todd, "ye would like yer name back +again?"</p> + +<p>"Ou ay—surely," replied Andrew.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said she, as she with the greatest coolness took up her +scissors that hung by her side, and with affected precision cut away +his name; "there it is"—handing it to him. And turning to the +deacon—"The rest is yours, sir—I hae nae richt to meddle wi' your +name—there's yer paper"—returning to him the mutilated bill.</p> + +<p>At this operation the deacon stared with a stupified look of wonder +and contempt. He had never before seen so cool an example of female +rule and marital weakness; and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> pride, his selfishness, and his +spite were all roused and interested by the extraordinary sight. He +was too much affected for indulging in a vulgar expression of feelings +which could not adequately be expressed by mere language. Taking up +his hat, and casting upon the boxmaster a look of sovereign contempt, +and upon Mrs Jean Todd one of anger, he bowed as low as a deacon ought +to do, and left the room. The circumstance produced no very unpleasant +consequences to either the boxmaster or his wife. She, no doubt, +reproved him for his stupidity; but the point of her wrath was turned +away by the repentance and soft words of her husband, who promised +never to do the like again. He had, besides, some defence, arising out +of her dubious conduct, which, though quite easily understood, he +could not well comprehend. The naïvete of his statement, that "she +shouldna hae left him unprotected," was quite enough to have mollified +a much sterner woman than Mrs Jean Todd, and during that same night +they were a far happier couple than Deacon Waldie and his fair spouse.</p> + +<p>When the deacon went home, and reported the extraordinary proceeding +to his obedient wife, the grief it occasioned was in some degree +overcome, on the part of the husband, by the favourable contrast it +enabled him to form between the boxmaster and his wife, and him and +his obedient spouse. Mrs Waldie did all in her power to aid the +operation; but she did not forget the bill, which her father was +pressing hard to procure.</p> + +<p>"Surely every man's no under the rule o' his wife," said she, with the +view to leading to another cautioner.</p> + +<p>"No, God be thanked!" said the deacon, "there are some independent men +i' the world besides mysel. Every husband's no <i>henpecked</i>. Every man +that has a wife doesna 'glory' in being 'pecked by <i>such</i> a hen.'"</p> + +<p>"There's William M'Gillavry," said the sly wife, in a soft and +unassuming tone; "<i>he</i> is independent o' his wife."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do ye mean, Peggy, that I should get him to sign the bill?"</p> + +<p>"Na," replied she, "I dinna say that; I merely meant that he was an +independent man like you, wha, if <i>ye asked</i> him to do it, wouldna +refuse on such a ground as the want o' consent o' his wife. Oh, what +will my puir faither do? I canna live if he is in sorrow and +perplexity." (Weeping.) "I saw William M'Gillavry yesterday. He asked +kindly for ye. Ye haena visited him for a lang time. Twa husbands sae +like each other might meet oftener, and twa wives, wha agree in the ae +grand point o' submittin to the authority o' their lords and masters, +might, wi' advantage, be greater gossips than we hae been."</p> + +<p>"Might I try William, think ye, Margaret?" said he.</p> + +<p>"My puir advice canna be o' muckle avail to ye," said she; "ye ken +best yersel; but I think, <i>if</i> he were asked, he wadna refuse the sma' +favour."</p> + +<p>"I see you wish me to try him, Peggy," said he; "and I <i>will</i> try +him."</p> + +<p>Away hastened the deacon to William M'Gillavry. He found him at home; +and, as a deacon, was well received. Having opened the subject to him, +he found that M'Gillavry was not inclined to become cautioner, unless +he got put into his hands some security, that, in the event of his +being called upon to pay the money, he might, in the end, be safe. +This proposition was not expected by the deacon, who did not possess +any portable security that he could give. He endeavoured to get his +friend to be satisfied with his own obligation, to keep him scatheless +against all the effects of his obligation; but the other would not +agree to this, and, pretending to be called away by some one, left the +room for a little, promising to be back instantly. In the meantime, +the deacon heard a conflict of words in an adjoining apartment, in the +course of which several half-sentences met his ear. The wordy war was +between William<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> M'Gillavry and his wife. Her notes were shrill and +high, and repeatedly she said—"Get my brither John's bill frae +him"—"that will do"—"he, puir fallow! canna pay't, at ony rate, and +I want to save him frae the hands o' the law." The deacon did not +understand this broken conversation; but he could easily perceive that +his friend was taking the advice of his wife. The words of old +Fleming's ballad of evil wives came into his mind:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"An evil wyfe is the werst aught<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That ony man can haif,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For he may never sit in saught<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Onless he be her sklaif."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>As he muttered the last words, forgetful of his own case, his friend +entered.</p> + +<p>"My wife's brither," said he, "has a bill in your corporation's box +for £250. You can impledge that in my hands, and I'll sign yer +father-in-law's security."</p> + +<p>"The corporation's property's no mine," answered the deacon; "I hae, +besides, nae power owre't; the bill's i' the box, and Mr Andrew Todd +has the key."</p> + +<p>"I ken that," replied the other (who was a dishonest man), with a +knowing wink; "but ye can easily get haud o' the paper, and I'll gie +ye a back letter that I winna use't unless I'm obliged to pay yer +father-in-law's debt. Naebody will ever hear o't."</p> + +<p>The proposition did not altogether please the deacon, who, though very +far from being an upright man, did not care about his frailty being +known to another. He said he would think of what had passed between +them, and came away. His wife, when he came home, was waiting in the +greatest anxiety. Her father had called in the meantime, and told her, +that, if he did not get the bill immediately, with two good names upon +it, he would be put in jail. This alarmed his daughter, who, if she +could save her father, cared little for the ruin of her husband. She +heard with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> deep anguish the announcement of another disappointment. +Having been weeping before he came in, her eyes were red and swollen, +and the bad intelligence again struck the fountain of her tears, and +made her weep and moan bitterly. The deacon was moved at the picture +of distress. He had not told her William M'Gillavry's proposition, but +only simply that he had refused, unless adequate security were put +into his hands. His wife's grief wrung from him every satisfaction he +could bestow; for he could not stand and witness the sorrow of his +tender and obedient partner, while there remained any chance of +ameliorating her anguish.</p> + +<p>"There is ae way, Peggy, o' gettin this affair managed," said he, at +last.</p> + +<p>"What is that?" said she, looking up, and throwing back her curls, +which, amidst all her grief, were never forgot.</p> + +<p>"William M'Gillavry's wife's brother," said he, "is awin our +corporation £250; and his bill for that sum is in our corporation box. +He says he would sign the bill to your father, if I gave him his +brother-in-law's bill to hauld in security; but I'm no quite sure if +that wad be honest."</p> + +<p>"Thae things lie far out o' a weak woman's way," said she. "We haena +the power o' mind possessed by you men; but, if I were entitled to +speak a word on the subject, I would say there was nae dishonesty whar +there was nae wrang. Ye ken the signin o' my faither's bill's a mere +form; and, if William M'Gillavry's brither-in-law's bill were taen out +the box, it would just be put back again. Correct me, my dear Murdoch, +if ye think me wrang."</p> + +<p>"I dinna think ye're far wrang, Peggy," said the deacon; "but how is +William M'Gillavry's brither-in-law's bill to be got out o' our +corporation box? There's the difficulty—and I needna ask a woman how +that's to be got owre."</p> + +<p>"Na, Murdoch—ye needna ask me that question," replied the wife. "It's +far beyond the reach o' my puir brain; but, if it's in the power o' +ony mortal man to say how a difficulty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> o' that kind's to be mastered, +it is in that o' Murdoch Waldie. Maybe ye may gie't a cast through yer +powerfu mind. Oh! if ye saw my distractit faither! He left me just as +you cam in, wi' the tears o' sorrow rinnin doun his auld cheeks. Will +ye think o't, my dear Murdoch?" (embracing him) "What's weel intended +canna be wrang; and what's planned by a mind like yours canna fail."</p> + +<p>"I couldna get the key frae Andrew Todd," said the gratified deacon, +"unless I told him an untruth."</p> + +<p>"A lee for guid has been justified," said the wife. "Rahab was +approved for hiding the spies, and denyin their presence; but I +couldna ask ye to imitate Rahab. I hae nae richt to dictate to my +husband."</p> + +<p>"But wouldna ye <i>wish</i> me, my dear Peggy, to stretch a point to get +yer faither's tears dried up, and yer ain stopped? Dinna hesitate, +Peggy—speak yer mind bauldly—I'll forgie ye."</p> + +<p>"Ou ay," whimpered the gentle dame. "If Rahab was justified, sae will +Murdoch Waldie be forgiven."</p> + +<p>"Weel—I'll try the boxmaster again," said the deacon.</p> + +<p>Next day, accordingly, he threw himself in the way of Mr Andrew Todd. +The boxmaster had been in the corporation hall, and was returning home +to deposit the key of the box in the place where he kept it. The +deacon got him inveigled into a public-house, where, when they had +seated themselves, he saw that Mr Todd was blushing scarlet, doubtless +at the recollection of the scene that had taken place the day before.</p> + +<p>"Ye needna be ashamed, Andrew," said the deacon, "at the conduct of +Mrs Jean Todd. <i>Ye</i> werena to blame—I assoilzie ye. Think nae mair +o't. You can just sign a fresh bill. I'll buy the stamp round the +corner at Dickson's, and we can draw it out here."</p> + +<p>"I beg yer pardon," replied Andrew; "I maunna get into that scrape +again. I'll never resist the authority o' Mrs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> Jean Todd mair on +earth. To her I owe my boxmastership—my trade—my status—my +health—my happiness—and a' that's worth livin for in this evil +warld; and she will never hae it to say again, that I'm no gratefu for +the care she taks o' me, and the love she bears to me. Let the warld +say, if they like, that I am henpecked—I dinna care."</p> + +<p>"Weel, weel," replied the deacon; "we were speakin o' bills. Are ye +quite sure that ye haena allowed the days o' grace in Templeton's bill +to expire? There's indorsers there; and if it is as I suspect, ye've +lost recourse, and may be liable for the debt."</p> + +<p>"Mercy on us!" cried the terrified Andrew. "It's impossible. Dinna +say't. Let me count." (Using his fingers). "Count, deacon—count, +man."</p> + +<p>"I think we had better see the bill itsel," cried the deacon. "Where's +the key?"</p> + +<p>"Here it is," replied the simple boxmaster, taking it out.</p> + +<p>"Give it to me," said the deacon, taking it out of Andrew's hand; +"we'll sune see if the bill's past due."</p> + +<p>Waldie hurried out of the room, telling Andrew, as he went out, that +he would come back, and inform him how the fact stood. The mind of the +boxmaster was now too much occupied about the danger of having allowed +the days of grace to pass without intimation to the indorsers on the +bill, to have any space left for doubting the honesty of the deacon. +The suspicion of having been cajoled never approached him; he sat and +sipped the liquor that lay before him, occupied all the time in a +brown study, with the thought continually rising—"What will Mrs Jean +Todd say to my stupidity, in making myself responsible for the amount +of Templeton's bill? It will ruin me; and a' her care and prudence +will in an instant be scattered to the winds." He still sat, expecting +the deacon to return with the required information. Half-an-hour +passed, and no deacon came; but a messenger came with a note, stating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +that all was quite safe, and that, as something had occurred to +prevent the writer from returning to the tavern, he had sent that +intelligence, to ease his mind, and that he would return the key in +the course of the day. Andrew's mind was relieved by this statement; +he paid the tavern-keeper for the liquor, and went away, to resume his +ordinary occupations.</p> + +<p>At dinner-time he went home; and, during the meal, he began talking +again about Deacon Waldie.</p> + +<p>"After a'," said he, "he is a guid cratur, the deacon. After the usage +he got here last nicht, wha could hae thocht he wad hae taen ony +interest in my affairs?"</p> + +<p>"Ye dinna require an assistant," replied Mrs Jean Todd, "sae lang as I +live."</p> + +<p>"That's true," replied Andrew; "but the deacon has dune for me what ye +couldna hae dune."</p> + +<p>"What is that?" inquired the wife.</p> + +<p>"He apprised me o' the danger I stood in," replied the boxmaster, +"anent Templeton's bill, that's in the corporation box. I had +forgotten the date o' its becomin due, and he brocht it to my mind. +A's safe yet."</p> + +<p>The very word "bill" made Mrs Todd prick up her ears.</p> + +<p>"I hae lang thocht," replied she, "that yer corporation papers, at +least yer bills, which require greater care than the rest, should be +placed here, under my protection. The circumstance that has occurred +this day proves that I am richt. Let us awa to the hall this instant, +and bring hame a' the papers that are valuable, and for which you may +be responsible. Is the key on the hook?"</p> + +<p>"No; but I'm on the hook," muttered Andrew to himself, as he began for +the first time to suspect he had been duped. "No," said he aloud.</p> + +<p>"Give it to me, then," said she. "It will be in yer pocket, dootless."</p> + +<p>Andrew began to exhibit symptoms of fear, which were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> in an instant +perceived and understood by the quick-eyed dame, who was accustomed to +<i>look</i> for indications of that kind. She saw that something was wrong. +He remained silent, and his agitation increased as she fixed upon him +her piercing, relentless eye.</p> + +<p>"Give me the key, man," said she, in an angry tone.</p> + +<p>He still remained silent; his agitation increased, and he trembled in +every limb.</p> + +<p>"There's something wrang, Andrew," said she. "Tell me what it is. I'm +no angry. By tryin to conceal it, ye may ruin us baith; by tellin me, +we may hae a chance o' bein saved. Come, now, has Deacon Waldie the +key?"</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Andrew, in a low tone. "He asked me for't, to see if the +bill was past due, and said he would come back wi't; but he never made +his appearance."</p> + +<p>The good dame said not a word. She saw the necessity for promptitude, +and, running to her bedroom, hurriedly dressed herself. In a few +minutes she was on her way to the corporation hall. In a few minutes +more she arrived; and, having got admittance, placed herself in a +recess, where the incorporation box was deposited, and so disposed +herself as that she might see whether any person interfered with the +treasury. In a short time Deacon Waldie entered the hall, and, with +secret furtive steps, approached the box. He looked about him, but did +not perceive the dame, who, as she saw him approach, retired back +farther into the recess. He took out the key, and applied it to the +lock. It was now time for Mrs Todd to save her husband. Starting +quickly out of the recess, she walked solemnly and dignifiedly up to +the official, before whom she presented herself with a low curtsey.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Mr Deacon Waldie?" said she, repeating her curtsey, and +looking at him with an eye that pierced him to the heart.</p> + +<p>The deacon, who was a great stickler for etiquette, felt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> himself, as +he saw the dame curtseying before him, compelled to return the +compliment; but the consciousness of guilt, the cutting satire of the +dame's courteous demeanour, the surprise at seeing her there, and his +fear of being exposed, all operated so strongly, that his bow was +checked, and transformed into a low cringe, making him appear only +half his natural size; while the consciousness of rectitude, and the +superiority of virtue, swelled out the breast of his silent accuser, +and added apparently to her physical proportions. Recovering himself +in some degree—</p> + +<p>"I was just about to examine our corporation papers," said he, +irresolutely. "I like to assist Mr Todd in his <i>official</i> capacity, +while <i>you</i> keep him right in his <i>private</i> affairs."</p> + +<p>"Between the twa," replied the dame, without changing her countenance, +"he maun be weel taen care o'."</p> + +<p>As she said this, she quietly and deliberately took the key out of the +lock; and into a large red cloth pocket, which hung alongside of a +pair of scissors, with which the deacon was already well acquainted +(having tested their sharpness), she deposited the important +instrument. She then made another low curtsey.</p> + +<p>"Guid-day to ye, Mr Deacon Waldie!" she said, as she departed; "mak my +best respects to Mrs Deacon Waldie, and to her worthy father."</p> + +<p>The deacon stood stiff with amazement, looking after the erect, +dignified figure of Mrs Jean Todd, as she walked slowly along the hall +of the incorporation to the door.</p> + +<p>He skulked off in the best way he could; but she, with erect body and +noble carriage, directed her steps homeward, where she found her +husband in a state of intense fear and anxiety, both on account of the +danger he was exposed to, and of the meeting that was about to take +place with his wife. On the latter account, there might apparently +have been little reason for apprehension; for their meetings were very +unlike those mentioned in the old song<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Then up scho gate ane mekle rung,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And the gudeman he made to the door;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quoth he, 'Dame, I sall hald my tung,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For an we fecht, I'll get the woir.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Her mode of conducting her rule was different <i>toto cælo</i>. She walked +into the house with the same erect carriage she usually exhibited, +especially when upon duty, and closing the door after her, without +using any such jealous precaution as turning the key in the lock—a +mode of enforcing the conjugal authority she despised—she went up to +the table where her husband sat, with his hand upon his brow. That +flag of distress she paid little attention to; for she had often +before seen Andrew endeavour to make her own pity plead the cause of +his imprudence.</p> + +<p>"Here is the key of the treasury-box, Mr Todd," said she.</p> + +<p>Andrew was greatly relieved; but wonder took the place of his fear, +for he could not conceive how his wife could so soon have got the key +out of the hands of the deacon—and yet for certain the key was before +his eyes.</p> + +<p>"See you that ring?" continued the dame, holding out a steel key-hoop, +on which were hung a score of keys, shining as bright as silver, from +the eternal motion to which they were exposed in the red pocket of +their mistress.</p> + +<p>"Ay, weel do I see it," replied Andrew, "and weel do I ken't. It is by +that magic ring that a' my guids and gear are girded and prevented +frae fa'in into the staves o' that bankruptcy and ruin I threatened +this day to bring upon them."</p> + +<p>The dame replied nothing to the remark of her husband, though she was +inwardly well pleased to see him penitent; but, opening the +spring-clasp, she deliberately placed the treasury-box key upon the +ring, along with the score of others that had hung there for a score +of years. She did not deign to accompany this act by a single word of +objur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>gation. Her faith rested altogether upon the ring, and to have +tried to add to the security it afforded her, by impressing her +husband with a deeper sense of his imprudence, appeared to her to be +sheer supererogation. Opening the entrance to her red "pouch," she +consigned, with a suitable admonitory jingle, the whole bunch to the +keeping of that huge conservatory of the virtues of "hussyskep." She +then resumed her ordinary duties, and Andrew was delighted to have +"got off," as he inwardly termed his relief, with so easily-borne a +reproof of his weakness and imprudence.</p> + +<p>The circumstances we have here narrated became, some time after, known +to the public, through what channel it would be difficult to say, +although it is not improbable that the boxmaster, vain of the +protecting care of his wife, had given some hint of it, which, having +been taken advantage of by Deacon Waldie's enemies, gave rise to +reports, and latterly to a true exposition of the whole affair. The +effect of such a transaction upon the credit of any man could not fail +to be ruinous. In a very short time Deacon Waldie became suspected and +shunned—no one would trust him, few would deal with him; and, before +the termination of the period of his deaconship, he failed—falling +thus a victim to that female domination he so much dreaded, and for +submitting to which he so much despised his friend the boxmaster.</p> + +<p>The fate of Mr Todd was signally different. At the end of the period +of his office, there was a special meeting called of the trade, for +the purpose of making a vote of thanks to their official, for saving +the incorporation-box from spoliation, and presenting him with a small +piece of plate, in commemoration of his services. This was a delicate +matter. The members knew well to whom they owed the obligation; but +they could not, in a public hall, declare that their boxmaster was +assisted in his official capacity by his wife,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> and, therefore, they +resolved upon taking no notice of the <i>real boxmaster</i>; who, however, +like all good wives, would be gratified by the notice that was taken +of her husband. The vote of thanks was accordingly moved by the +chairman, and supported by a very good speech. Mr Todd rose to +reply:—</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "ye maunna think that I am sae blind as no to +see what is yer true meanin, concealed though it be under this thick +veil o' courtesy and delicate regard to my feelins. Ye want to try to +conceal frae me that ye ken how muckle baith you and I are obliged to +a sensible and discreet woman; and ye hae twa reasons for this: +<i>first</i>, ye dinna like to acknowledge that ye are indebted to a woman +for savin frae the hands o' the spoiler the incorporation-box; and, +<i>secondly</i>, ye dinna like to say that yer boxmaster is under the +kindly care and protection o' his guidwife. Now, as to the first, I +leave it in yer ain hands; but as to the second, I will free ye frae +a' delicacy and difficulty, for I here acknowledge and declare, wi' +pride and pleasure, that Mrs Jean Todd is my counsellor and adviser in +a' my affairs, baith public and private; and mony a time she has kept +me frae that ruin whilk my ain wit and wisdom never could hae saved me +frae. I dinna need to say that it was that admirable woman wha saved +the incorporation-box: the thing is already owre the town, and +dootless kenned to ye a', and, I warrant ye, also to yer wives. Why, +then, should I accept o' honour I never wrocht for, and couldna hae +merited by a' the power and skill o' my puir abilities? 'The labourer +is worthy o' his hire.' 'Honour to him to whom honour is due.' I +therefore move that the thanks ye intended for me should be offered to +Mrs Jean Todd—to whom also, wi' your permission, I would suggest that +the piece o' silver-plate should be presented."</p> + +<p>This speech produced much laughter throughout the hall.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> Some humorous +member relished the idea, and, standing up, seconded the boxmaster's +motion.</p> + +<p>"A' our difficulty has vanished," he began; "and glad am I to see that +the honour we intended for the <i>real</i> conservator o' our +corporation-box may be, through the noble spirit o' our <i>nominal</i> +boxmaster, communicated without the intervention o' a deputy. I second +Mr Todd's motion, because I admire his spirit, and because I rejoice +in an opportunity of doing justice to thae great conservators o' our +sex—the strong-minded, gaucy, thrifty, and loving wives o' Scotland, +to whom our very nation (if it were kenned) awes the character it has +acquired owre the face o' the earth, for its prudence, its honesty, +and its trustworthiness. Weel do I ken that the dear craturs hae +suffered for their exertions in the cause o' our sex, and their +authority has been attempted to be put an end to by drunken caitiffs, +wha, wantin the nobility o' mind to admire and <i>serve</i> wham they canna +equal, blaw up their pot-companions against petticoat authority, by +dubbin them <i>henpecked</i>, forgettin, the wretched craturs, that that +very hen supplies often the egg, at least clocks to preserve it for +future increase. The very men the dear craturs feed, and clothe, and +protect, and cherish, sing in the pot-houses that they want their +liberty—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Becaus their wifis hes maistery,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That they dar nawayis cheip;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bot gif it be in privity,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quhan thair wifis are in sleip.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And, while the sang is birrin through the fumes o' the ale, thae very +wives are busy toilin to hae the singers weel fed, cled, and cared +for, in a' their concerns. What a noble example, on the other side o' +the question, has Mr Todd this day exhibited! Wives are generally +honoured through their husbands. He shall be honoured through his +wife. What I hae said, I believe will meet wi' the approbation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> o' +this meetin; but I'm no sae sure o' the success o' what comes—because +I propose to tak a sma' liberty wi' the English language, and, by a +kind o' a trope or figure o' speech, to keep the name, while we boldly +change the thing. I'm weel aware that our minutes bear that <i>Mr</i> Todd +is our boxmaster; but we ken better than that, and we, whase trade it +is to change colours, can hae nae difficulty in reconcilin the tints. +I therefore move, as an amendment, that the piece o' plate be +presented at once to Mrs Jean Todd, <i>our boxmaster</i>."</p> + +<p>The suggestion took; the humour was relished; the minutes were +altered; the name of Mrs Jean Todd was substituted for Mr Andrew Todd; +and the books of the incorporation bore, and bear to this day, that +the plate had been presented to Mrs Jean Todd, "<i>their boxmaster</i>," as +a memorial of the gratitude of the trade for her exertions in saving +the incorporation's treasury.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE PROFESSOR'S TALES.</h2> + + +<h3>THE SOCIAL MAN.</h3> + +<p>As we look upon the title of our tale, now that we have written it, we +cannot suppress a shudder of horror. Like the handwriting on the wall, +it seems typical of misery, revolution, and death. Revolution and +death, do we say? What revolution, in the common sense of the word—we +mean in a political one—was ever productive of such deplorable +effects, as that moral revolution to which the bottle bears the social +man?—what death, viewed merely as a physical evil, can be compared to +that moral and intellectual destruction to which the good fellow so +often subjects himself? It is no palliation of the evil to say that +the social man is led by the best qualities of his heart, by the +noblest faculties of his intellect, into the path which leads to utter +wretchedness—to remorse, disease, and premature death in this world; +and, if the combined testimony of reason and revelation be sufficient +to establish any fact—to punishment in the next. Our faculties are +good or bad only according as they are cultivated or controlled; and +we cannot see that the unregulated social feelings which lead a man to +plunge into dissipation, and to drag his friends along with him into +the gulf of vice, are a whit less dangerous or fearful than the +universally execrated disposition which impels him to plunge a dagger +into his own heart, or to bury it in the bosom of his fellow-creature. +On the contrary, they seem calculated to produce even greater +mischief, and, therefore, are more worthy of general deprecation, in +the same degree that a secret enemy is more deserving of universal +abhorrence than an avowed one: the one stands forth with an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> open +defiance, and a weapon drawn before the eyes of his victim, who may +save himself by flight or conflict—the other "smiles, and smiles, and +murders while he smiles."</p> + +<p>How many noble beings have we known, destroyed utterly by the +disposition to what is vulgarly called good-fellowship!—in how many +instances have we known splendid talents, high love of moral +rectitude, nay, even strong religious principles, strangled by the +social feelings! At first, doubtless, there was but a slight +dereliction of duty, mourned for sincerely, and punished by severe +remorse; but, gradually, and with insidious motion, the victim +revolved in a wider sphere, and more remote from the orbit of virtue, +until, at length, escaping entirely from the attraction which had held +him in the just path, he fell, with headlong and irresistible +velocity, into the shapeless void of vice—the dark chaos of crime.</p> + +<p>Our heart sickens as we pass in review before us the numbers of our +early friends who have run this terrific career, who now fill timeless +graves, or are yet in the land of existence, bearing about in their +bosoms a living hell—whose hearts are already sepulchres. And, but +that we thought the relation we are about to deliver may be of service +to some who, already standing on the brink, are not fully aware of +their danger—but that we conceived the tale of talent, generosity, +and worth, miserably destroyed by the unregulated social feelings, may +arrest some kindred spirit in its path to unanticipated misery—we +should yield to the impulse which urges us to fling down our pen, and +give ourselves up to sorrow for the departed.</p> + +<p>William Riddell was the only son of a shepherd, who dwelt upon the +moorlands that overhang one of the tributaries of the Tweed. The old +man was one of those characters which have been so often and so well +described—a stern, grave, intelligent, religious Scottish shepherd. +The broad Lowland bonnet did not cover a shrewder head than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> old David +Riddell's; nor did the hodden grey coat, throughout wide Scotland, +wrap a warmer or more honest heart.</p> + +<p>His honesty was manifest to all—the warmth of his feelings was +latent, and required to be struck by strong emotion, ere it was +developed externally. The solitary influences of nature, when +habitually contemplated in her more wild and solemn aspects, seem +calculated to mould minds of good natural capabilities, but which are +shut out from the social acquisition of knowledge, into forms like +that of David Riddell's. If they all, like the nature which has +breathed its spirit into them, seem somewhat rugged and stern, they +all, like her also, bear the sterling stamp of sincerity. The +elements, which "are not flatterers, but counsellors that feelingly +persuade him what he is," are his familiar companions—among the +remote valleys, and along the precipitous mountain-sides, and upon the +wide moorlands, their irresistible power leads him to look with awe up +to their Creator and Controller, and humility also is impressed upon +him; but with these a confident reliance on the mercy and benevolence +of the Being who regulates them is naturally produced: and thus it is, +that, with this awe and humility, a slavish fear is no portion of his +character; for he has been in the heart of a thousand mists, and has +yet returned safely to his cottage ingle—he has braved the storms of +many winters, and still looks, with a prophetic eye, upon the fresh +green of approaching springs, and the purple heath-blooms of coming +summers. In a mind thus constituted, duplicity can never dwell. There +are millions who, shut up in cities, and shrinking from the inclemency +of the seasons, look on the shepherd of the mountains as one worthy +only of commiseration—who paint him as a wretch whose soul is as +barren as his moorlands, and think of him as a slave, wandering, with +vacant mind and wearied frame, over gloomy solitudes, earning with +misery to-day the food which enables his body to bear the toil of +to-morrow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>How wide is this of the truth!—The sweet and tranquil joys of home +are his, enhanced a thousand-fold by previous privation—the delights +of connubial and filial love are more keenly felt by him, in the +simplicity of nature, than by the luxurious citizen or the ermined +noble; and though he has never heard the chant of the cathedral choir, +or listened to the consecrated melody of an organ peal, the sublime +transports of religion have thrilled his bosom beneath the solitary +sky, amid the wild, or by the margin of the cataract that rolls its +unvisited torrent over nameless cliffs. It is a mistaken belief that +poverty and toil shut the shepherd's eyes from the loveliness of +nature—nor is it true, that, because he is rude in speech, and +possessed of little book-learning, he does not feel keenly, and +translate faithfully, the beautiful language which she utters to the +heart of man. Wordsworth has so exquisitely described what we are +wishing to express, that we shall, without apology for the length of +the quotation, repeat his words:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Grossly that man errs, who should suppose<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are things indifferent to the shepherd's thoughts:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fields, where with cheerful spirits he has breathed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The common air—the hills, which he so oft<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has climb'd with vigorous steps—which have impress'd<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So many incidents upon his mind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of hardship, skill or courage, joy or fear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, like a book, preserves the memory<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the dumb animals whom he has saved,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has fed or shelter'd; linking to such acts,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So grateful in themselves, the certainty<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of honourable gain;—these fields, these hills,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which are his living being, even more<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Than his own blood—what could they less?—have laid<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strong hold on his affections, are to him<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A pleasurable feeling of blind love—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The pleasure which there is in life itself."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was with this well-spring of quiet happiness in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> breast, that +David Riddell had gone from day to day among his flock, and returned +to his cottage fireside. His wife Rachel was one of those women of +whom, notwithstanding the habitual discontent and sneers of men, there +are thousands in this world, in this kingdom—nay, among our own +Border hills—who, like the stars of heaven during the daylight, hold +on their course noiselessly and unseen, but are, nevertheless, shining +with a sweet and steady radiance, every one in its place, in the +firmament. Placid, pious, and cheerful, with a quiet but kind heart, +that ever and anon displayed its workings in the sweet light of her +eyes, or in the "heartsome" smile that arranged her still lovely +features into the symmetry of benevolence; in adversity—for she had +lost children, and had known sickness—in adversity, patient and +resigned; in prosperity—for their flocks had flourished, and many of +their harvests had been abundant—in prosperity, not too much elated, +but happy with a calm and grateful joy; finally, possessed of a gentle +and forbearing nature, which rendered innocuous the occasional +sternness or irritability of her husband, and turned insensibly aside +the shafts which might have otherwise struck deadly at their domestic +peace:—such was the partner of the joys and the sharer of the sorrows +of David Riddell for above a quarter-of-a-century. Thus situated, it +could not be but that he had been a happy man. For, though care and +trouble had not unfrequently entered his dwelling, they had never long +remained; nor do they ever continue to haunt a house in which +good-nature and true piety are inmates. Four sweet children had been +taken from them, each at an age which seemed more interesting than the +other, and sorrow had, for a time, darkened their dwelling; but the +tears of those griefs were now dried, and, save an occasional sigh +from the bereaved parents, as some casual circumstance recalled their +lost little ones to their recollections, the only traces of their +former afflictions were to be found in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> prodigality of affection +which they lavished on their only remaining child. David Riddell was +verging towards threescore, when William, the subject of the following +narrative, was born. The old man's heart was entirely bound up in this +child of his age. Frequently, not from necessity, but impelled by +love, had he performed the ministrations of a mother to him; often, on +a sunny day, had he carried him, like a lamb, in the corner of his +plaid, up to the hills; and often, laying the unconscious infant on +the purple heath upon the mountain-side, had he knelt down before him, +beneath the solitary sky, and poured out his heart in gratitude to the +God who had bestowed on him this precious gift. When little William +was able to follow his father among the flocks, they became +inseparable; and it was beautiful to behold the old man laying aside +the gravity and sternness of his nature, and renewing, with his little +boy, the sports which the lapse of half-a-century had well-nigh swept +from his memory. They sought out together the nest of the lapwing and +the moorfowl; they chased the humble-bee over the heath in company; +or, loitering down the mountain streams, assisted each other in the +pursuit of the speckled trout. The old man taught his boy, amid the +secluded glens, or upon the naked hill-tops, to modulate his voice to +the hymns consecrated to religion throughout Scotland; the rich melody +of the "Old Hundred," or the "Martyrs," rose in concert from their +lips; or, perhaps the aged shepherd played on the simple Scottish +flageolet, on which he had been, in his youth, a skilful performer, +some of the touching airs of his mother-land, and then, placing the +pipe in William's hands, assisted him, by kind encouragement or +skilful rebuke, to follow out the beautiful strain. Thus they lived +together—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"A pair of friends, though one was young,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Matthew seventy-two."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Linked closer and closer together by these sweet natural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> ties, they +were happy, and their affection was the grateful theme of all the +inhabitants of the valley.</p> + +<p>A little incident which occurred in William's childhood had determined +his father to rear him for the ministry. While yet only five years of +age, he was found one day by his father, with an old family Bible upon +his knee, some of the leaves of which he had torn out, and was +arranging after a fashion of his own. On being asked by his father +what he was doing, he replied, "That he thought the evangelists +differed in some portions of their history, and that he was trying to +discover wherein the difference lay."<a name="FNanchor_C_1" id="FNanchor_C_1"></a> + <a href="#Footnote_C_1" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> + The old man retired with +streaming eyes; and from that moment William Riddell was, like Samuel +of old, vowed to the service of God.</p> + +<p>As he grew in years, he displayed proofs of talent which astonished +the shepherd, and filled old David's heart with exultation. Before he +was fifteen, there was not a stream nor a legend that belonged to his +native hills which he had not celebrated in song. His pen was always +ready to assist the shepherd lads in their rustic loves; and the +crabbed and grasping little tyrants of the valley had, more than once, +winced under his satire or his ridicule. The old man, as we have said, +rejoiced in the genius of his son, and had always, in his ample +pockets, good store of the young poet's productions, wherewith to +regale such of his companions as chose to listen. Rachel, however, +with a more prophetic eye, saw, in the vivacity of her boy's nature, +the germs of as much grief as joy to himself, and used commonly to +shake her head and sigh, while her husband and his friends were +convulsed with laughter at some of William's sallies.</p> + +<p>At length the period arrived when he was to be sent to college.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + +<p>I need not attempt to describe the feelings of the family when this +little revolution in their domestic life occurred; the quiet but deep +anxiety of Rachel—the restless and troubled looks and actions of the +old shepherd—and the exulting anticipation of the bright world into +which he was about to enter, which William displayed, tempered or +repressed, every now and then, by natural sorrow, at leaving the hills +and streams where his boyhood had been spent pleasantly, and the dear +parents to whom he owed so deep a debt of love. The last words of +David to his son, as he stood grasping his hand, at the foot of the +glen where the path turns off to the next market town—while big tears +stood heavily on his eyelashes, visitants unknown for twenty +years—were almost those of Michael to Luke, in Wordsworth's exquisite +poem—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"Amid all fear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all temptation, Luke, I pray that thou<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mayest bear in mind the life thy fathers lived,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who, being innocent, did for that cause<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bestir them in good deeds."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The old shepherd and his son had never been separated for a single +night—now they parted knowing that many months must elapse before +they could behold one another again. It was a bitter moment, though +full of the germs of joyful anticipation.</p> + +<p>William had taken his farewell embrace, and, with convulsive sobs, had +walked hastily away to a little distance; he turned, and beheld his +aged father still standing on the spot, with clasped hands uplifted, +and eyes fixed intently on his own receding form. He was unable to +withstand the sight—he rushed back again, and threw himself, in an +agony of affection, upon the old man's neck, weeping—though a manlier +heart throbbed not—weeping like a child. But at length they parted; a +sadder heart never entered into the solitudes of nature than old David +Riddell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> bore into the mountains on that evening—a purer never left +the innocence of the country for the crowded city, than his son +carried with him to the metropolis of Scotland.</p> + +<p>For four years William attended college during the winter, and +remained with his father during the summer months.</p> + +<p>It was not that his labour was required by the old man: for he had now +amassed a sufficient sum, with his moderate habits, to make him +independent; but the sight of William was pleasant to the aged +shepherd, among the hills where they had played together, and which +were consecrated to their affections. The young student had +distinguished himself highly at college, and had gained the esteem, +both publicly and privately expressed, of many of his preceptors. His +heart was still uncontaminated, his morals pure, and his habits +simple, as when he was a boy. It was at this time that Rachel died. As +her life had been peaceful, and, upon the whole, happy, so her +death-bed was tranquil and resigned. She had rejoiced, with her +husband, in the promising career of their son, and, as her dim eyes +descried his manly form bent over her in an attitude of deepest grief, +she could scarcely but feel her natural sorrow at leaving him quenched +in the glad anticipations of his future prospects in life. Yet the +misery which his ardent and imaginative nature <i>might</i> inflict upon +him was still not shut out from her mind, and almost her last words +were to warn him against indulging it too far. She died, and the old +shepherd and his son were left to attempt to comfort each other. +William was again about to depart to college, and he would fain have +had his father to give up his duties, and accompany him to Edinburgh. +He dwelt upon his increasing feebleness, his age, already beyond the +common lot of man, the solitude to which he would be left, the comfort +they would be to each other, if together. To all this the old man +replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"Comfort, my boy, there is none for me in this world, except in thee. +Gradually the circle of my love has been narrowed: first, my own +parents, then my children, last, my beloved Rachel, have been swept +away; and now thou only art left for my earthly affections to embrace. +Gladly for thy sake would I go to the city; but I think these hills +could not bear to look on another while I lived—this cottage to +shelter another shepherd while I am able to fling my plaid around me. +It is a foolish fancy for an old man to cherish, yet I cannot bid it +depart. Go, then, alone, my dearest lad, and leave me in these scenes, +which have become part of my being, to perform the duties in which my +life has been spent. And still remember, William, when temptations +assail thee, or bad men would lead thee by the cords of vanity or +friendship into vice, that there is a grey-haired man among these +hills, whom the tale would send in sorrow to the grave—a heart that +for twenty years has been fed by its love for thee, which would break +to know thou hadst become unworthy of that love. Farewell! and may +that good Being who has brought me in safety out of the heart of a +thousand storms preserve thee from the deadlier tempests of the world +of vice!"</p> + +<p>William returned to college, with a heart softened both by grief and +love. Strange, that out of this wholesome state of mind should have +sprung the elements of wretchedness and vice! Yet so it was. He had +written a poem on the subject of his late affliction, and had breathed +into it the very soul of sorrow. The wild and beautiful scenery amid +which he dwelt, and which he loved and knew so well, had also given +its hues to the language and the thoughts of his muse: his rich and +now cultivated taste imparted elegance and harmony to his numbers; the +poem was at once original, chaste, and imaginative; it gained him the +esteem of the highest literary circles in Edinburgh, and he became a +cherished guest in the houses of many distinguished men for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> whom he +had never hoped to indulge any feelings save those of distant and +respectful admiration. He emerged into a new world, too beautiful and +dazzling for him at first to see his way clearly through its mazes. +His undoubted genius commanded the respect of the men—his manly +feeling, and the ingenious eloquence of his address, presently made +him a distinguished favourite with the female portion of his +acquaintance. The tone of his thoughts and feelings underwent a +perfect revolution. Once introduced into the society of the polite and +the learned, the bashfulness and awkwardness of the shepherd-lad +seemed to fall off from him, without effort of his own, but naturally, +like the crustaceous envelope in the metamorphosis of insects. He felt +as if he were a denizen of the clime in which he now luxuriated, and +as if, till now, he had been living in a foreign land. He discovered, +to his amazement, that those great men, whose very names he had been +wont to utter with reverence, and before whose glance his eye had been +accustomed to fall abashed, were the most easy, familiar, and +communicative companions possible—that scarcely one of them was so +severe in their morality as his old father—that they listened to his +opinions with attention, and replied to them with respect. Then, +again, among the satellites of these literary luminaries—those whom, +till now, in the reflected light of their primaries, he had been wont +to behold with respect, and almost with envy—he presently perceived +weakness, dimness, and aberration; and he perceived, also, how capable +he was of outshining them all; or, to speak in less metaphorical +phrase, he found among the less distinguished literary persons who +haunted the tables of the great, a degree of ignorance on subjects of +general science, a slavishness of demeanour, and a petty jealousy, +which he could not but despise, and which it required very little +penetration to perceive that the great man despised also. He soon +acquired, therefore, a confidence in his own powers, and a conscious +respect for, I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> almost said pride in, the rectitude of his +feelings, to which, till now, he had been an entire stranger. And if +such was his success with the men, his conquest over his own timidity, +in the presence of women, struck him with yet greater surprise. He who +had been accustomed to blush and look down before a peasant girl, +presently found himself able to gaze steadily into the eyes of a noble +matron or maiden, undazzled by the jewelled coronet upon her head, or +yet more brilliant charms in which nature and art had arrayed her +brow, and neck, and bosom. The witchery of woman in all her +loveliness, instead of, as he had often imagined, causing his heart to +sink, and his cheek to burn, and his tongue to be dumb in his mouth, +awoke the latent powers of his nature—it thrilled his heart with +exulting admiration, and filled his eyes with a bold, steady radiance, +and poured from his lips the eloquence which female loveliness can +alone call forth. His nature was changed—that is, the external +development of his nature, for his heart remained the same; and often, +amid crowded assemblies and rich peals of concerted music, it called +on his imagination to portray the old solitary shepherd, amid the +hills of his boyhood, or to recall the simple strains which his father +had taught him to play upon the rude Scottish pipe.</p> + +<p>At the period to which we refer, the literary society of Edinburgh was +by no means distinguished for its abstemiousness. A "good" fellow, and +a clever one, were almost synonymous terms. Sir Walter Scott, in his +novel of "Guy Mannering," has matchlessly described the convivial +habits of the Scottish advocates: the habits of the whole literary +society of Edinburgh were pretty similar. Why should I detail the +circumstances of William's seduction from sobriety? The example of +those whom he had been accustomed to admire, respect, and love; the +gay sallies of his younger associates; the witchery of the society of +genius; the flowing feeling which followed the circulation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +bowl; the song, the speech, the story, the flash of wit, the jocose +roll of humour, and, above all, the forgiving approval (for how else +should we designate it?) of the ladies—all assailed him at once, and, +beneath their attacks, his reason and resolve,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"That column of true majesty in man,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>fell. Age, wisdom, youth, wit, humour, friendship, love, and +beauty—what could a raw shepherd lad oppose to all these? "The +request of his aged father, the injunction of the moral law, the +direct command of God!" some stern, <i>perhaps</i> good man may reply. +William tried to control his career by means of these; but the attacks +were unceasing, various, distracting—the defence was in the hands of +one, and he, alas! too often disposed to admit the enemy. We will pass +rapidly over this part of our departed friend's career. He mingled, at +first sparingly, at length more freely, in the convivial habits of his +new friends; he felt the thrill of friendship; he was keenly alive to +the social glow which the bowl awakens; his heart also was elated by +the love of men of genius, and his vanity gratified by their +loudly-expressed admiration. Unfortunately, he engaged to write for a +new periodical which some of his friends were then attempting to +establish. Amid the solitude of his native hills he had experienced +the grateful and rapid awakening of noble ideas; he was surprised to +find that, in the city, amid the distractions of ambition, music, +love, and wine, he could only now and then call up his natural powers +to his aid. He had pledged himself to support the new periodical to a +certain extent; and, in order to fulfil his promise, at the +instigation of an acquaintance, he stimulated himself to its +accomplishment by means of brandy. This was the first time he had ever +drank ardent spirits for the sake of the effects which they produce. +The paper which he had written was universally admired, the sale of +the periodical was very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> much increased by its influence, and he was +plied by the proprietors with new and lucrative engagements.</p> + +<p>On the very morning on which he had received these proposals, he also +received a letter from his aged father, informing him, that the +brother of the old man, who was engaged in commerce, and for whom he +had some time ago become surety, had failed, and that the whole of the +little earnings of his past life would be required to liquidate the +debt.</p> + +<p>William closed with the proposal of the proprietors of the magazine, +and wrote to the old man a letter, partly of condolence, but more of +triumph. He was almost glad that the resources of his father were +destroyed, now that he himself had the means of supporting him; and it +was with a joyous heart that he sat down to write his paper for the +new periodical. But alas! he felt what all who have so occupied +themselves have felt, how the mind becomes weak, and the fancy flags, +when compelled to action. He rushed into society, to escape from the +dreadful depression which follows high mental excitement; the warmth +of friendship with which he was met fell gratefully on his spirit; the +glee and glory of social intercourse first relieved his wearied +faculties, and then pleasantly excited them; the titillation of +gratified vanity, and the exercise of intellectual power, combined to +make the scene fascinating; he went more and more into society; it +became more and more necessary to him—he was a <i>social man</i>. His +father was a strange, I had almost said a stubborn man in some +respects, and he might in some measure be blamed for this gradual +sliding from sobriety of his son. To the affectionate letter of +William, which beseeched him, now that his little hoard had been +carried away, and now that his years were above fourscore, to come to +Edinburgh, and dwell with his son, the old man answered, that God had +yet left him vigour to mount the hills, and thread the valleys; and +that, so long as this was the case, he would consider it unjust to +become a burden to others.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> There was a stern independence and lofty +resolve in the determination of the aged shepherd which harmonised +well with his character; but it fell like lead upon the bright dreams +of William—it strangled many of his best resolutions of future virtue +and industry. He did not know that his father had already heard of his +relaxed habits, and had even had reported to him, in exaggerated +phrase, the detail of some of his midnight carousals. William went on, +gaining fame, but losing virtue. In the popular use of the word, it +was <i>impossible</i> for him to resist the importunities of those who +pressed him to partake of their bottle or their bowl. They grasped his +hand cordially; they sang the songs which he loved, or perhaps had +written; they drank his health with cheers of enthusiasm. It was +<i>impossible</i> for him to resist the entreaties of those persons—it was +<i>impossible</i> for him not to believe them sincere. Nor were they +otherwise; but the value of the sincerity of the intemperate and the +immoral, what is it?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ashes within beautiful fruit."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>William Riddell passed the whole of his examinations, and was, as the +students say, "ready for a church." Nor was he long in procuring one. +Among the friends to whom his genius and character had recommended him +was a nobleman, who had the gift of the very kirk to which William and +his father had been accustomed to resort. The incumbent died; the +nobleman presented the living to William. With the new duties which +now devolved upon him, came a crowd of new feelings and springs of +action. He gave up his engagement with the literary periodical, he +retired from his social companions, and he devoted himself to grave +and worthy study and contemplation. The struggle was severe; but he +bore up against it under the excitement of the new responsibility +which had fallen upon him. He went down to the country with some of +the most distinguished members<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> of the Scottish Church, who officiated +at his ordination. A proud, a tumultuously happy day was it for old +David Riddell, who, with wonder and awe, felt his horny hand grasped +by the great men whose very names he had considered subservient to his +happiness of old time, and beheld his son, little William, the boy +whom he had taught the alphabet upon Scaurhope Hill, with the pebbles +that lie there—beheld him holding high discourse with these same +dignitaries, saw that his opinions were listened to with respect, and +that his thoughts, according as they were solemn or ludicrous, were +responded to by these great men with gravity or broad grins. A +delightful day was it to the old shepherd, as he beheld the first man +in the General Assembly—the greatest man in the Scottish Kirk—lay +his hand upon the youthful head of his beloved son, and consecrate him +to the care of the souls who dwelt in the very valley where he had +been born and reared, in which his genius was known, and his family, +though humble, respected.</p> + +<p>There was another, and an equally strong reason, for William's giving +up his convivial habits and boisterous companions. He was in love.</p> + +<p>It was at that least romantic of all places for a lover, a ball in +Edinburgh, that William Riddell, the new pastor of Mosskirk, had first +met Ellen Ogilvie, the daughter of the principal heritor of his +parish, the owner of the hills on which his father had watched the +sheep for above threescore years. Ellen had beheld him moving, a gay +and welcome visitant, in noble halls; her hand had met his in the +dance, in exchange with those of countesses and duchesses; she had +heard his praise echoed from house to house, and from mouth to mouth; +she was now alone in the country, with nothing but ignorant or coarse +men around her: let it not seem wonderful that she, though the only +daughter of a wealthy landholder, should bestow her love on the poor, +handsome, manly, eloquent pastor of Mosskirk. And if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> this does not +seem wonderful, it will surely not appear singular that the proud, +haughty, bigoted, and ignorant father of Ellen should forbid the +match, and should threaten with his vengeance the usurper of his +daughter's love.</p> + +<p>His vengeance! How weak a word to such a being as William! Not that he +would not have rejoiced, for Ellen's sake, and for the sake of +decorum, to have had the old gentleman's approval; not that he would +not have used every possible means, consistent with honour and the +dignity of his own character, to have gained the good opinion of the +father of his beloved; but the laird was a man of the world, of acres, +and of hundreds; his litany lay in pounds, shillings, and pence; his +affections were wrapped up in rents and lordships; and that a poor +parson, however God had chosen to ennoble him by genius and generous +sentiments—that a poor parson should have dared to look upon a child +of his with the eyes of affection, upon the child who was the natural +heir of all those riches which he had laboured for half-a-century to +amass, smote him as a personal insult, as an indignity which nothing +but blood could wipe out. The mother of Ellen had all along thought +differently; and from the first moment in which she had perceived the +affection that existed between them (and oh, how much quicker women +are than men in discovering these things!) she had encouraged their +intimacy.</p> + +<p>William Riddell, the minister of Mosskirk, was out of the canons of +the duello, and the laird, therefore, instead of calling him out, was +compelled to be satisfied with disinheriting Ellen, who, under +circumstances which fully exonerated her from her father's tyrannical +wishes, became William's wife.</p> + +<p>My friend William had always been one of those persons who abhorred +the usual terms on which wives are sought and husbands achieved. +"Keeping a wife," was a phrase of blasphemy to him, or at least it +seemed desecrating wo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>men to the level of a dog, a horse, or a +cow—the "keeping" of which appeared, according to their phraseology, +a matter of the same general import as the cherishing a beloved +partner of all in which the human heart takes an interest. Nor, +although he was a shepherd's son, could he perceive much inequality in +a minister who earned four hundred pounds a-year, by looking after the +spiritual interests of some hundreds of individuals, and who was to +become the confidant of their griefs, and the sharer of their joys, +their supporter in sickness, and their guide in the common path of +life—he could not perceive much presumption in such a man matching +himself with the daughter of an ignorant and coarse person, whose +worth lay only in his wealth, whose character was not esteemed by his +neighbours, and whose sympathy for suffering human nature only +developed itself now and then in his bestowal of a basin of hot soup +upon a starving beggar at Christmas.</p> + +<p>On the contrary, if William thought about the matter in this relation +at all, he considered, and justly, that he was rather conferring an +honour than receiving one from the father of Ellen. But the old +gentleman thought, as the world thinks, differently; and accordingly, +in his wrath, he disinherited her.</p> + +<p>It was unfortunate for the full gratification of his malice, that +William was impassible to this mode of punishment, and that he beheld +the whole of the old gentleman's possessions conveyed over to a +charitable institution, with as much pleasure as if he had signed them +away of his own accord.</p> + +<p>In the parish of Mosskirk, as in most of the country parishes in +Scotland, there were a number of intelligent men who associated +frequently together for the sake of cultivating scientific knowledge, +and conversing on various subjects of interest in literature and +philosophy. At the time when William was inducted into Mosskirk, all +the ministers of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> the neighbouring parishes were members of this +society, and it was generally held on a convivial footing. Some of the +members came from a distance, others were jolly fellows naturally; and +thus it happened that their discussions frequently dipped deep into +the night, and sometimes were not settled until cock-crow.</p> + +<p>Into this society William Riddell was welcomed with enthusiastic +honours, and was at once made perpetual president. His fame as a poet +had gone before him, and his genial warmth as a man followed up with +general applause the sensation which he had created. He had natural +powers capable of supporting him in the sphere to which his reputation +had raised him. He had wit, humour, pathos, and fluency; and, eager to +earn the opinion of his parishioners, he exerted himself to gain it, +and he succeeded. Throughout the whole of his parish, he was admired +as a man of genius and eloquence, he was respected as a man of +irreproachable moral worth, and beloved as a friend, who shared +sincerely in the gladness, and sympathised in the sorrows, of his +flock. Unfortunately, the habits of many of his parishioners, as well +as of those of the literary club to which I have alluded, were the +very reverse of temperate. For a time the attraction of his young +wife, and presently that of his infant son, kept him from indulging in +nocturnal potations. But afterwards these attractions lost their +force; the glory and the glee of the musical and literary conclave +overcame all his resolves; and, night after night, it happened that he +returned to his manse at unseasonable hours, and greeted his wife with +the leer of intoxication, instead of the steady glance of affection. +We should have said that, before this, old David Riddell, moved by his +son's entreaties, had given up his duties among the hills, and had +come to live with him at Mosskirk Manse. A weekly delight was it to +the old man to behold his son arrayed in his black gown, and with the +smooth white bands drooping decently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> upon his bosom, delivering from +the pulpit of his native parish the words of eternal truth; and +pleasant was it to the old shepherd ever and anon to recognise, in the +elegant but simple language of the pastor, some of those sentiments +which he himself had instilled into his mind, while he was yet a +shepherd lad upon the moorlands.</p> + +<p>But it could not long be concealed from him that William was irregular +in his habits. When the fact first struck him, he almost swooned away; +for the forebodings of Rachel rushed into his mind, and he saw, as it +seemed, for the first time, that his son's destruction was sealed.</p> + +<p>It was long, however, before he could bring himself to speak on the +subject to William; he felt the shame which his son appeared to have +abandoned; and his own temperate blood sent a blush into his withered +cheek at the idea of addressing the child of his heart, the minister +of God, on the subject of his intemperance. The miserable struggles of +the old man before he gave utterance to his sentiments to William, we +are utterly unable to describe—we leave them to our reader's +imagination. At length, however, on a morning after the minister of +Mosskirk had shamefully been supported home by two of his +parishioners, in a state of deplorable intoxication, the old shepherd +gathered up resolution to speak to his son. He did not denounce, +insult, or even upbraid him; but, with tears in his eyes, delicately +alluding to his misconduct, assured him that such another occurrence +would cause him to leave the manse for ever; for that, though he might +not be able to prevent, he was resolved never to sanction, the fearful +immorality which drunkenness carries in its train, more hideous still +when attached to a minister of the Gospel.</p> + +<p>William, already disgusted with himself, and humbled before his own +heart, was crushed to the earth by his old father's appeal. He threw +himself upon his aged parent's neck, and entreated his forgiveness. +"My forgiveness, my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> boy!" replied the shepherd; "you cannot offend +me, and therefore it is vain to ask for my forgiveness. My heart is so +utterly bound up in thee, that, though it may deplore, it cannot +denounce any conduct of thine. It is as it were but a servant of +thine, and in good or in evil report, will follow in its train. But, +if my sufferings, and the sneers of men, have no influence over thee, +think, oh, my dear boy! think on death, the judgment, eternity!"</p> + +<p>Will it be believed, that, after this appeal, the remorse which he +suffered, and the resolutions of reformation which he made, a single +week saw the minister of Mosskirk reel into his manse, assisted by the +pastor of the Methodist Chapel, at two o'clock in the morning? Such +was the distressing reality; and the next morning, without speaking to +his son, but giving, amid heart-broken sobs and sighs, his blessing to +his daughter-in-law and her children, old David Riddell removed from +his son's roof: nor could all his entreaties induce him to return.</p> + +<p>Let me hasten to conclude. The conduct of William became presently so +notoriously shameful, that it could no longer be overlooked by his +parishioners, and he was more than once called upon by some of them +with remonstrances, which increased gradually in severity. Still the +infatuated man proceeded, until at length his behaviour became a +public slander to his own parishioners and to the whole church. He was +yet, however, so much beloved for his generous warmth of heart, and +admired for his talents, that a last effort was made to prevent the +sentence of expulsion, which had been passed against him, from being +carried into effect; and his punishment was commuted, if so it could +be called, into making a public apology, from his own pulpit, to his +people, for his shameful irregularities. On the day of this +heartrending exhibition, not more than one-fourth of the congregation +were present; the remainder being absent that they might not behold +the spectacle of their pastor's humiliation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> But old David Riddell +was there, supported, for the first, and alas! for the last time, into +church by a friend. Until now, the aged man had always walked +unsupported, and with a firm, nay, with something of an elastic step, +up to his pew; but during the past week, since he had heard the news +of his son's public disgrace, and the public penance which he was to +perform, his vital powers had sunk with fearful rapidity. To those +even who had seen him, on the preceding Sabbath, move decently into +his accustomed spot, and depositing the broad-brimmed hat, which, on +the Lord's-day, he exchanged for the broad Lowland bonnet, smooth +backwards his thin light-grey locks, he appeared scarcely like the +same man. His form was now bent nearly double; he shuffled his feet +painfully over the ground; his head shook from weakness, not from age; +his eyes were red and dim; he looked like a man who was only three or +four steps from the open grave. When, after the service was concluded, +William began to read the humiliating apology which he had written, +the aged shepherd crept painfully down upon his knees, and, burying +his face in his clasped hands, remained absorbed in prayer. The last +words had fallen from the minister's lips; there was a dead stillness +throughout the church, for all were penetrated with sorrow and shame +at their pastor's disgrace, when a deep groan broke from the old +shepherd, and startled the congregation from the silence in which they +were indulging. All eyes, and those of the minister among the rest, +were instantly directed towards the old man; his frame remained for a +moment in the attitude which we have described, and the next instant +it fell heavily upon the floor—a corpse!</p> + +<p>We shall not give pain to our readers, nor harrow up our own feelings, +by attempting to describe the misery which this event caused William +Riddell. It seemed to be one of those griefs which cannot, and ought +not to be outlived—a punishment greater than man is able to bear. So +thought William<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>—if the flash of this conviction across the settled +gloom of his spirit could be called thought. Yet days, weeks, months, +passed away, and he lived on, nay, performed his duties; and, at +length, by the caresses of his wife and child, became even, as it +were, sullenly reconciled to life. He found, however, that it was +impossible for him ever to regain his former station in society. His +brother ministers avoided him; and one or two of them, more harsh or +orthodox than the rest, took occasion to allude to his misconduct in a +public manner. The most respectable portion of his parishioners +pitied, but, in general, kept aloof from him. Degraded and sunk as he +was, William had a nature formed to feel, in all their most exquisite +torture, these indignities and slights. The persons who came to +comfort and sympathise with him, were unhappily those whose sympathy +was more dangerous than their contempt. How shall we go on? William +again, after severe struggles, gave way to the entreaties of some of +those mistaken friends, and to the treacherous wishes of his own +heart. He became a confirmed drunkard! He seemed to have at length +cast behind him every thought of reverence for God and his holy +vocation—every particle of respect for himself or his fellow-men. He +had two or three attacks of brain fever, brought on by his excesses; +and he no sooner recovered from them than he went on as before. His +poor young wife exhausted every argument which reason could +afford—every blandishment with which affection and beauty could +supply her, to reclaim him, but in vain. He retained, or seemed to +retain, even, all the warmth of his first love for her; and, in his +hours of intoxication, he seemed most strongly to acknowledge her +worth and loveliness; but the necessity for the violent excitement of +ardent spirits had overcome all other considerations; she wept long +and bitterly: then, as despair began to close in upon her, she +(dreadful that we should have it to relate!) sought, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> example +of her husband to escape from her sorrow! Ellen Ogilvie, the young, +the graceful, the beautiful, the accomplished, the gentle, feminine +creature, whose very frame seemed to shrink from the slightest +coarseness in speech or action, became a drunkard!</p> + +<p>Many years had passed away between the time when the old shepherd had +perished in the church and the time to which we now refer, and William +had a family of two sons and three daughters. If Ellen's father was +unfavourable to her marriage at first, it will be easily imagined that +he never now acknowledged them. His young family, therefore, had +nothing to depend upon except their father's exertions, and they were +about to be closed for ever.</p> + +<p>The time arrived when it was impossible for William to be suffered any +longer to remain in his charge. He was thrust out of his church, and +expelled from the ministry. The messenger who delivered this message +to him, delivered it to one more dead than alive. His excesses had at +length brought on a fit of apoplexy; he was but partially recovered +from it, and could only, in a dim manner, comprehend the purport of +the message, when, with his wife and children, he was removed from the +manse. A friend sheltered him for a time—afterwards he was conveyed +over to Edinburgh. Within a twelvemonth he died, having been chained +down to bed by his disease, one-half of his frame being dead, with +mind enough to see poverty and inevitable misery ready to crush his +helpless family, but without the power to use the slightest exertion +in order to avert the impending calamity. It was in a garret in the +High Street, upon rotten straw, the spectacle of an emaciated and +shattered wife before his eyes, and the cries of his starving children +sounding in his ears, that William Riddell breathed his last! What +availed it then that he had been good and pure, full of generous +sentiments, endowed with a graceful person, a noble genius, and a +manly eloquence? These otherwise invaluable qua<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>lities had been all +sunk or scattered by the spendthrift extravagances of the Social Man.</p> + +<p>It is now about five years ago, since, as we were hurrying past +Cassels Place, at the foot of Leith Walk, we were attracted by a crowd +who had gathered round a poor intoxicated woman. She had fallen +beneath the wheel of a waggon, and both her legs were crushed in a +terrible manner. As two or three assistants carried her past a +gas-light towards the nearest house, we were struck by the +resemblance—hideous, indeed, and bloated—which her features wore to +some one whom we had known. We inquired her history, and, to our +horror, discovered that this was indeed Ellen Ogilvie—the widow of +our poor friend, William Riddell. It was useless attempting to save +her; her vital energies were sinking rapidly beneath the injuries +which she had received. She revived a little from the effect of some +wine which we gave her, and began incoherently to speak of her past +life. "You see me here, sir," said she, "a poor, wretched, degraded +creature:—I was not always thus. There was not a happier heart in +wide Scotland than mine was, ten years ago. But my husband, sir, was a +Social Man!" A convulsive sob checked her words—her head sank back on +the pillow—her lower jaw fell—the death-rattle sounded in her +throat—and in a few moments the unfortunate woman expired.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE TWO COMRADES.</h2> + + +<p>Still and calm lay the sleeping waters of Loch Ard, as they reposed in +their beauty on the morning of the 17th of August, 17—. The hour was +early, and the rays of the rising sun had not yet dispersed the thick +mists that hung on the bosoms of the surrounding hills. The scenery +around, although of the most romantic character, and composed of the +choicest materials for the picturesque, had an air of gloominess and +rawness about it, that did but little justice to the thousand beauties +which its simple elements of wood and water, rock and hill, were +capable, by their various combinations, of producing. That scene yet +wanted the life and soul, the cheering, spirit-stirring influence of +the blessed sunlight, to bring out its loveliness, and to exhibit its +details in all their fairy brightness. This want was not long of being +supplied. The sun rose in all his splendour; the mist rolled away from +the face of the hill; the calm, placid surface of the lake, like a +mighty mirror, embedded in its rude and gigantic, but gorgeous +framework of wooded mountains, shone with dazzling effulgence; and the +hills and forests displayed themselves in their robes of brightest +green.</p> + +<p>As every one who has visited these romantic regions knows, the road +that conducts to Aberfoyle from the west end of Loch Ard runs, for a +considerable space, close by the margin of the lake on its northern +side—and a most beautiful locality this is. The road is low and +level; on one hand is the bright, smooth, sandy shore of the loch, +with its clear, shallow water; and, on the other, steep mountains, +shaggy with primeval woods. We have directed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> the attention of the +reader to this particular point of the landscape, for the purpose of +saying, that, at the moment at which our story opens (namely, on the +morning of the 17th of August, 17—), two persons were seen, at the +early hour which our description would indicate, trudging silently +along by the margin of the lake. They were two young men, and +evidently prosecuting a journey of some length. Over the shoulder of +each projected a stout oak stick, on whose extremity a small bundle +was suspended; probably, small as they were, containing all the +earthly possessions of their bearers. Yet, however poor the lads might +be in world's wealth—for they were, as was sufficiently evident from +their dress, of the humblest class—they were rich in the gifts of +nature; for a couple of handsomer-looking young men than they were the +Highlands of Scotland could not have produced. Strongly built, and +exhibiting in their erect and springy gait the peculiar muscular +energy of their mountain education, they appeared men capable of any +fatigue, and, to judge by the air of calm determination and mild +resolution expressed in their bold and manly countenances, of any deed +of honourable daring. Such was the personal appearance—for, although +differing in individual features, they resembled each other in their +general characteristics—of James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod, which +were the names of the two young men whom we have just introduced to +the reader. The ages of the two seemed to be about equal—somewhere +about five or six-and-twenty; in stature they were also nearly the +same; but, if there was any difference between them in this +particular, it was in favour of M'Intyre, who stood nearly six feet in +height. M'Leod might be an inch shorter. They had been brought up +together from their infancy; had a thousand times together climbed the +heights of Cruagh Moran, and as often swam across the deep, dark +waters of Loch Uisk, which lay just before their doors. Their parents +were next<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> door neighbours in the little village of Ardvortan, +situated in one of the most beautiful straths in the West of Scotland. +James and Roderick had not only been companions from their earliest +years, but earned their scanty subsistence; and they were now, +together, about to try their fortunes in a world to which they had +hitherto been strangers. Stories of the warlike renown of their +ancestors, with more recent tales of the achievements of their +countrymen who had enlisted in the 42nd and other Highland regiments, +had roused the martial spirit which they inherited from their fathers, +and determined them to leave their peaceful glen and native hills, to +seek, in "the ranks of death," for that which they had been taught to +believe was the proudest gift of fortune—a soldier's fame.</p> + +<p>It was a sad, and yet a proud day, for the mothers of the young men, +that on which they left their native village. Natural affection +deplored their departure, while maternal pride gloried in visions of +the honours that awaited them on the fields of war. The plumed bonnet, +the belted plaid, and all the other gallant array of the Highland +soldier, presented themselves to the fond mothers; and they thought, +as they gazed on the stately forms of their sons for the last time, +how well they would look in the martial garb which they were about to +assume. The young men, then, whom we have represented as wending their +way by the margin of Loch Ard, and prosecuting a southward journey, +were proceeding to Glasgow, one of the recruiting stations of the —th +Highland regiment, to enrol themselves in that gallant corps, which +was already filled with their friends and countrymen.</p> + +<p>On arriving at Glasgow, which, although a distance of nearly forty +miles from the spot where we first introduced them to the reader, they +made out with perfect ease on the evening of the same day on which +they left their native village, the young men repaired to a well-known +resort of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> the privates of Highland regiments which were from time to +time quartered in Glasgow. This was a low, dark public-house in the +High Street of that city, kept by a Serjeant M'Nab, an old veteran, +who had seen service in his day; and who, although he had now retired +into private life, continued to maintain all his military connections +with as much zeal as if he was still in the discharge of his military +duties; and, indeed, this he was to some extent, having still an +authority to enlist. The house of M'Nab was thus filled from morning +to night with soldiers of various grades of rank—serjeants, +corporals, and privates—and of various degrees of standing, from the +raw, newly-enrolled recruit, with his stiff black stock—the only +article of his military equipment with which he had been yet +provided—to the veteran serjeant, who had literally fought his way to +his present rank. In every corner of every room in this favourite +resort of the Celtic warriors, lay heaps of muskets resting against +the wall; and on every table lay piles of Highland bonnets—their +owners being engaged in discussing the contents of the oft-replenished +<i>half-mutchkin stoup</i>. Occasionally, too, the scream of a bagpipe +might be suddenly heard in some apartment, where the party by which it +was occupied had attained the point of musical excitement, while, over +all, except the sounds of the aforenamed instrument, prevailed the din +of noisy, but good-humoured colloquy, in sonorous Gaelic; for no other +language was ever heard in the warlike domicile of Serjeant M'Nab.</p> + +<p>Such, then, was the house—further distinguished, we forgot to say, by +the sign of the Ram's Head—to which James M'Intyre and Roderick +M'Leod now repaired. They were met at the door by M'Nab, then in the +act of bidding good-by to a batch of serjeants, who, adjusting their +bonnets as they stepped, one after the other, from beneath the low +doorway of the Ram's Head, were about to form a re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>cruiting party to +beat up through the streets for young aspirants after military +glory—a single drummer and fifer being in attendance for this +purpose.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Shames! Ou Rory!" exclaimed M'Nab, taking each of the young men, +who were both well known to him (he being from the same part of the +country), by the hand; "what has brought you" (we translate, for this +was spoken in Gaelic) "to this quarter of the world?"</p> + +<p>The lads smiled, and said they would inform him of that presently. +Accustomed to such visits, for such a purpose as M'Intyre and M'Leod +now made, M'Nab at once guessed their object, and, without any further +remark, conducted them into his own private apartment, where, the tact +of the recruiting serjeant and the natural hospitality of the man +combining, he entertained them liberally with the best his house +afforded. During this refection, the young men made known the object +of their visit. The serjeant highly approved of their spirit, +descanted on the glories of a soldier's life, stirred up their +ambition of military fame by recounting various exploits performed by +relations and acquaintances of their own with whom he had served, and +concluded by tendering them the ominous shilling. It was accepted, and +James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod became soldiers in His Majesty's +—th regiment of foot.</p> + +<p>Desirous, however, as the young men were of enlisting, there was a +condition which they insisted on being conceded them, before they +finally committed themselves. This was, that they should continue +comrades after they became soldiers; that is, as is well known to +every one in the least conversant with these matters, that they should +occupy the same bed, and be placed in a position to render each other +the little services of domestic intercourse in quarters.</p> + +<p>M'Nab at once promised that their wishes in this respect should be +complied with; and the promise was faithfully kept. The two lads were +allowed to continue as comrades<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> after they had joined the regiment; +and in this situation maintained that feeling of tender friendship for +each other, which had distinguished the previous part of their lives.</p> + +<p>Two handsomer or finer-looking soldiers than James M'Intyre and +Roderick M'Leod, after they had donned the full costume of the corps +to which they belonged, and had acquired the military air of their new +profession, could not have been found, not only in their own regiment, +but perhaps in the whole British army. Modest in their manners, quiet +and civil in their deportment, cleanly, sober and attentive to their +duties, they were beloved by their equals, and looked upon with +especial favour by their superiors; they were, in short, the pride and +boast of the regiment—no small honour in a corps where there was an +unusual proportion of stout and steady men.</p> + +<p>For some years, the military life of M'Intyre and M'Leod was unmarked +by any striking vicissitude. The usual movements of the corps from +place to place occurred; but hitherto they had not been called on to +take any share in active service. Their turn, however, was to +come—and it did come. They were ordered to America, shortly after the +commencement of the first war with that country and Great Britain. +Previous to their embarking for the seat of war, the two comrades +obtained three days' leave of absence—it was all that could be +allowed them—to visit their friends in the Highlands. The time was +short—too short for the distance they had to travel; but, as the +point of embarkation was Greenock, they thought they could make it +out; and, by travelling night and day, they did so. They presented +themselves in their native glen in the full costume of their corps, +and gratified their mothers' hearts by this display of their military +appointments. A few short hours of enjoyment succeeded; another bitter +parting followed; and the two comrades were again on their way to +rejoin their regiment. On the second day after, they were cross<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>ing +the ocean with their regiment, to the seat of war in the new world.</p> + +<p>In this new scene of experience, the two friends distinguished +themselves as much by their bravery as they had before by their +exemplary and soldierly conduct. In all the actions in which they were +engaged, they made themselves conspicuous by their gallantry, and by +several instances of individual heroism. But they rendered themselves +still more remarkable by the tenderness of their friendship, made +manifest in a thousand little acts of brotherly love. They stood +together foremost in the fight, and attended each other with +unremitting kindness and assiduity, when wounds and sickness had +alternately stretched them on the couch of suffering. Their affection +for each other soon became, in short, a subject of general remark, +exciting a singular degree of interest, from the romantic character +with which the bravery of the two friends had invested it.</p> + +<p>About this time—that is, about the middle of the war—the regiment to +which M'Intyre and M'Leod belonged had the misfortune to lose their +commanding officer, who was killed in action. To the regiment this was +a misfortune, and one of the most serious kind; for the gallant +soldier who had fallen was the friend as well as the commander of his +men. He studied and adapted himself to their peculiarities; knew and +appreciated their character; and was beloved by them in return, for +the kind consideration which he always evinced for their best +interests. He was, moreover, their countryman—a circumstance which +formed an additional tie between him and the brave men whom he +commanded.</p> + +<p>But the death of Colonel Campbell was a double mischance to the +regiment; inasmuch as to his loss was added the misfortune of his +place being supplied by a man of totally opposite character. His +successor, stern, and un<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>forgiving, endeavoured to procure that +efficiency in his corps through fear, which his predecessor had +commanded through love. He was an Englishman; and was a perfect +stranger to the feelings and national peculiarities of the men over +whom he was thus so suddenly placed; neither was he at any pains to +acquire so necessary a piece of information, nor in any way to conform +his system of discipline to the peculiar spirit of the mountain band +which was now under his harsh and undiscriminating control.</p> + +<p>Unfortunate, however, as was the circumstance of this officer's being +put in command of the —th regiment to every soldier in that gallant +corps generally, there were two individuals to whom it was indeed a +misfortune of the most melancholy and deplorable kind, and these two +the most meritorious and deserving men in the regiment. Need we say +that these were James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod? But we must detail +the circumstances as they occurred.</p> + +<p>To do this, then, let us mention that, after a weary night-march of +many miles over a mountainous road covered with snow, the —th +regiment, with several others, found itself within cannon-shot of one +of the enemy's positions. The ground destined for the British troops +having been gained, the whole were ordered silently to bivouac, till +the morning light should enable them to advance to the attack, which +was the particular object of the movement. It was yet, however, some +hours till morning; and it was thus necessary, in case of sudden +surprisal, to establish a chain of outposts around the position +occupied by the troops. Amongst those selected for this duty was +Roderick M'Leod, who was placed alone in a solitary post at one of the +most remote points of the circle formed by the British sentinels. It +was a perilous and important position; and for these reasons was it +that M'Leod was chosen to occupy it—every reliance being placed on +his courage, vigilance, and well-known steadiness.</p> + +<p>Aware of the importance of his trust, Roderick, with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> shouldered +firelock, commenced pacing smartly—for the night was intensely +cold—in the limits of his appointed place, and keeping a sharp +look-out in the direction of the enemy. This position he had occupied +about half-an-hour, when he thought he heard footsteps approaching. +Roderick brought down and cocked his piece, and stood ready to fire. +The sounds became more audible. He raised his musket to his shoulder, +and placed his finger on the trigger. He saw some persons approaching, +apparently with confident step. He challenged, and was answered. It +was a picket of his own regiment, commanded by a serjeant, a +particular acquaintance and friend, the son of one of his father's +neighbours. He was making a round of the outposts, to see that all +were on the alert, and to inquire if anything had been stirring.</p> + +<p>"All quiet, Roderick?" said Serjeant More M'Alister, on approaching +the former.</p> + +<p>"All quiet, serjeant," replied M'Leod.</p> + +<p>"Cold work this, Rory," rejoined the serjeant, at the same time +drawing a flask from his bosom, and handing it to the former; "here, +take a mouthful of that, to keep the frost out."</p> + +<p>M'Leod, perishing of cold, gratefully acknowledged the very timous +kindness, placed the flask to his mouth, and unguardedly took a hearty +pull of the brandy it contained. Shortly after, the visiting party +moved off on their rounds, and, for a little time subsequently, M'Leod +felt himself renovated by the spirits he had taken. The excitement, +however, was but temporary; reaction took place; a degree of lassitude +came over him, which, aided as it was by the fatigue of his previous +march and the severity of the cold, he found himself unable to shake +off. In this state of feeling, he leaned against a tree which stood +close by his post, and, ere he was aware, fell into a profound sleep. +At this unfortunate moment, his commanding officer, accompanied by a +small party, rode up to M'Leod. He was found asleep; and, still more +heinous offence, when awakened, he was found to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> be the worse of +drink—a momentary incoherence, and the smell of his breath, which +betrayed the presence of ardent spirits, being held as conclusive +proof by his superior that he was drunk.</p> + +<p>"I am not drunk, sir," replied M'Leod, calmly, on being harshly +charged with that offence by Colonel Maberly.</p> + +<p>"You <i>are</i>, sir," was the peremptory rejoinder. "Besides, you have +been asleep at your post. Men, disarm that fellow, and make him your +prisoner."</p> + +<p>The order was instantly obeyed. M'Leod's musket and bayonet were taken +from him; another man was placed on his post; and he was marched away, +to abide the consequence of his dereliction of military duty. As the +intended attack on the enemy took place on the following morning, no +proceedings were instituted in M'Leod's case for some days after; but +all dreaded the most fatal result from these, when they should occur, +from the ferocious and unforgiving nature of Colonel Maberly.</p> + +<p>We fear we would but weaken the effect of the reader's more impressive +conceptions, were we to attempt to describe the feelings of M'Intyre +during the days of agonising suspense between the period of his +comrade's arrestment and the judgment which followed. He refused all +sustenance; and, from being one of the most active and cheerful men in +the regiment, became careless in his duties and morose in his temper, +and seemed as if he courted, or would willingly have done something +calculated to expose him to the same fate which he had no doubt +awaited his unhappy comrade. The two unfortunate men—for the one was +scarcely less an object of compassion than the other—had frequent +interviews previous to M'Leod's receiving the sentence which was +thought due to his offence; and these were of the most heartrending +description. These men, of stout frame and lion heart, who side by +side had often marched unappalled up to the cannon's mouth, wept in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +each other's arms like women. Words they had none, or they were but +few.</p> + +<p>At length the fatal judgment was passed. M'Leod was condemned to be +shot; and the sentence was ordered to be carried into execution on the +afternoon of the same day on which it was awarded. The unhappy victim +of military law shrunk not at the contemplation of the miserable fate +that awaited him. He heard it announced with unmoved countenance and +unshrinking nerve; his only remark, simply expressed in his native +language, being, "that, as to being shot, he minded it not; but he +could have wished that it had been on the field of battle." Although +prepared for the dreadful intelligence which was to inform him of the +doom of his comrade—for he had no doubt from the first that it would +be so—M'Intyre knew not yet the one-half of the misery that awaited +him in connection with the impending death of his friend. It was +possible to aggravate to him the horrors of that event tenfold, and to +increase inconceivably the torture of his already agonised mind—and +poor M'Intyre found it was so.</p> + +<p>We leave it to the reader to conceive what were his feelings, when he +was informed that he was to be one of the firing-party—one of his +comrade's executioners! This was a refinement in cruelty which had +been reserved for Colonel Maberly. It was unparalleled. But his order +had gone forth. He had willed it so, and it was known that he never +yielded a point on which he had once determined. It was believed also, +that his usual obstinacy and hard-heartedness would be increased in +this case, from an idea that he was adding to the terror of the +example, by the savage proceeding just alluded to. The idea, however, +of compelling one comrade to assist in putting another to death, was +so revolting to every feeling of humanity, so wantonly cruel, that the +men of the regiment determined on sending a deputation to the colonel, +to entreat of him to rescind his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> order, and to relieve M'Intyre of +the horrible duty to which he had appointed him. This deputation +accordingly waited on the commanding officer, and, in the most +respectful language, preferred their petition. They did not seek a +remission of the unfortunate man's sentence; for they felt and +acknowledged that, however stern and cruelly severe it was, it was yet +according to military law; but they implored that his comrade might +not be compelled to share in its execution. The petition was preferred +in vain. Colonel Maberly was inexorable. "He had given his orders," he +said, briefly and impatiently, "and they must be obeyed."</p> + +<p>Finding it in vain to urge their request farther, the deputation sadly +withdrew, to communicate to M'Intyre, who was awaiting their return in +a state of mind bordering on distraction, the result of their mission. +When it was told him, he said nothing, made no reply, but seemed lost +in thought for some moments. At length—</p> + +<p>"I will go to the colonel myself," he said; "and, if there be any +portion of our common nature in him, he will not refuse to hear me. If +he does not——"</p> + +<p>Here he clenched his teeth fiercely together, but left the sentence +unfinished. Acting on the resolution which he had thus formed, +M'Intyre sought out Colonel Maberly. When he found him—</p> + +<p>"Colonel," he said, touching his bonnet with a military salute, "you +have ordered me to be of the party who are to shoot"—here his voice +faltered, and it was some seconds before he could add—"my comrade, +M'Leod."</p> + +<p>"I have, sir—and what of that?" replied the colonel, fiercely; but he +quailed when he marked the deadly scowl that now gleamed in the eye of +M'Intyre.</p> + +<p>"It was cruel, sir," replied the latter, with a desperate calmness and +determination of manner; "and I implore you, as you hope for mercy +from the God that made you, to release me from this horrible duty."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sir," exclaimed Colonel Maberly, furiously, "do you mean to +mutiny?—do you mean to disobey orders?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I do not. I merely ask you to relieve me from the dreadful +task of being my comrade's executioner."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll be d—d if I do!" said the military tyrant.</p> + +<p>"You had better, sir, <i>for your own sake</i>," replied M'Intyre.</p> + +<p>"What, sir! Do you threaten me?" exclaimed Colonel Maberly, in an +outrageous passion.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, sir," replied M'Intyre, with an air of affected respect; but +it was one in which some deep mysterious meaning might have been +discovered. "Will you absolve me from this duty?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir; I will not," replied Colonel Maberly, turning on his heel, +and cutting the conference short by walking away.</p> + +<p>"Your blood be upon your own head, you cruel, merciless man!" muttered +M'Intyre, as he looked after Colonel Maberly, himself continuing to +stand the while in the spot where the latter had left him.</p> + +<p>M'Intyre soon after returned to his quarters, and was seen calmly and +silently preparing his arms for the dreadful duty which they were +about to be called on to perform. In making these preparations, he was +observed to be particularly careful that everything should be in the +most serviceable condition. He fitted several flints to his piece, +snapping each repeatedly, before being satisfied with its efficiency, +and was even at the pains to dry and pulverise a small quantity of +powder for priming, to insure a more certain explosion than could be +counted on in its original state of grittiness.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, the hour of execution approached, and at length +arrived. The entire regiment was drawn out to witness the example +which was about to be made of the consequences that attended such +departures from duty as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> M'Leod's misconduct involved. Being formed in +military order, and the prisoner placed in a conspicuous yet secure +position, the whole were marched off, to the music of fife and muffled +drum, to a level piece of ground at the distance of about a quarter of +a mile from the quarters occupied by the regiment. M'Leod's conduct on +this trying occasion was in perfect keeping with his general +character. It was calm, firm, and manly. His step was steady and +dignified; and his whole bearing bespoke at once a resigned and +undaunted spirit. Yet it might not, nay, it certainly would not, have +been so, had he known that the comrade of his bosom was to be one of +his executioners. This, however, had been mercifully concealed from +him. It was all his fellow-soldiers could do for him; but, to a man, +had they all anxiously and carefully kept from him the appalling +secret; for they knew it would have unnerved him in the hour of +trial—in the hour of death.</p> + +<p>All unconscious, therefore, of the additional misery with which the +cruel order of his commanding officer was yet to visit him, M'Leod +marched undauntedly on to his doom. His mien was erect, his eye calm +and composed, and a slight paleness of countenance alone bore +testimony to his consciousness of the awful situation in which he was +placed. On reaching the locality intended for the scene of execution, +the corps was formed into three sides of a square. In the centre of +that which was vacant, the prisoner was placed; and, at the distance +of about twenty yards further in the square, stood the firing party. +On the left of these, and between them and the prisoner, stood Colonel +Maberly, who, in consequence of having seen some very marked symptoms +of disgust with his severity in the corps, had determined on presiding +at the execution in person.</p> + +<p>It was now, for the first time, that M'Leod became aware that his +comrade was to be of the number of his executioners. He saw him +amongst the firing-party. Un<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>knowing the fact, and never dreaming of +the possibility of such an atrocity as that which M'Intyre's position +involved, M'Leod calmly asked a serjeant who stood near him—"What +does James do there?" The serjeant evaded a reply, or rather affected +not to hear him. At this moment the chaplain of the regiment came up +to the unfortunate man, to administer the comfort and consolation of +religious aid to the doomed soldier. But, ere he could enter on his +sacred duties, M'Leod, on whose mind some approximation to the horrid +truth as regarded the part assigned his comrade had now flashed, put +the same question to the chaplain as he had done to the serjeant.</p> + +<p>"Mr Fraser," he said, "I guess the truth; but I would fain be assured +of it. Why is my comrade, James M'Intyre, amongst the firing-party?"</p> + +<p>The chaplain, as the serjeant had done, endeavoured to evade a reply, +by directing the unhappy man to matters of spiritual concernment; but +he would not be evaded, and again repeated the question. Thus pressed, +the chaplain could no longer avoid the explanation he sought. He told +him M'Intyre was one of the firing-party by order of the commanding +officer.</p> + +<p>"I guessed as much," said M'Leod, calmly. "It is a piece of dreadful +cruelty; but may God forgive him, as I freely do!"</p> + +<p>He then, without making any further remark, entered solemnly and +composedly into the devotional exercises prescribed by his spiritual +comforter. These concluded, and everything being ready for the last +fatal act of the tragedy, the firing-party were ordered to advance +nearer, when M'Intyre, stepping out from his place amongst them, +advanced towards the colonel, and again implored him to release him +from the dreadful duty imposed on him. The colonel's reply was as +determined and peremptory as before.</p> + +<p>"Do your duty, sir!" he said, waving his hand impatiently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> as a signal +to M'Intyre to return to his place, and stepping a pace or two away +from him as he spoke. "Do your duty, sir, or I'll compel you; I'll +have you in the same situation with your friend."</p> + +<p>M'Intyre obeyed the ruthless order without saying another word. He +returned to his place. The prisoner's eyes were now bandaged. The +firing-party had levelled their muskets, and were waiting the fatal +sign. It was made. Colonel Maberly himself made it. The volley was +discharged, and M'Leod fell; but he fell not alone. In the same +instant, the commanding officer of the —th regiment was also +stretched lifeless on the plain. The well-aimed musket of M'Intyre had +sent its ball through the heart of the ruthless tyrant. On +perpetrating the deed, the former threw his piece on the ground, +exclaiming, "Roderick is avenged, and the mercy the tyrant showed to +others has been meted out to himself!" and offered himself up, an +unresisting prisoner, to whoever might choose to execute that duty.</p> + +<p>It was some minutes—so sudden and unexpected had been the +catastrophe—before any one made the slightest movement; all looking +on in silent and fixed amazement, but we cannot add with much regret; +till at length a serjeant stepped out of the ranks, and seized +M'Intyre by the breast.</p> + +<p>"Right, Serjeant Thompson, right," said the latter, calmly; "you are +doing your duty. I know what awaits me, and I am prepared for it. I +did not do what I have done without making up my mind to the +consequences."</p> + +<p>These were indeed inevitable. On the third day thereafter, the roll of +the muffled drum announced that M'Intyre's hour was come; and he fell, +but not unpitied, beneath the bullets of a party of his +fellow-soldiers, on the identical spot where, three days before, his +unfortunate comrade had met a similar doom.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE SURTOUT.</h2> + + +<p>"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins," +quoth an equivocal-looking gentleman, with a stick under his arm, a +marvellously shabby hat, a rusty black coat, waistcoat pinned up to +the throat, and followed out by a battered stock, glazed and greasy, +with its edges worn to the bone; and thus making an unseemly +exhibition of the internal composition of said article of wearing +apparel. No shirt, or at least none visible; countenance bearing +strong marks of dissipation; voice loud and ferocious; look equivocal. +Such was the personage who conveyed the information above recorded to +Mr Fairly; and, considering the very particular nature of that +information, together with certain other little circumstances +thereafter following, the reader will be at no great loss, we should +suppose, to guess both the nature of his profession and the purpose of +his call. In case, however, he should not, we beg to inform him that +the speaker was one of those meritorious enforcers of the law, called, +in Scotland, messengers—in England, bailiffs.</p> + +<p>Mr Fairly, again—the person spoken to—was a fashionable tailor in a +certain city not a hundred miles from Arthur's Seat. He was a little, +active man, sharp and keen as a razor; and altogether a +dangerous-looking customer to those who found it inconvenient to +settle his demands in due time; he was, in short, the dread and terror +of dilatory payers. In such cases, he hung out the black flag, and +gave no quarter. He was, in truth, just as merciless a tailor as ever +cut cloth, and well were his savage propensities known to, and much +were they respected by, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> certain class of his customers—meaning +those who stuck too long on the left-hand side of his ledger—the +fatal ledger. Such, then, was our other interlocutor, Mr Fairly. We +have only to add, that the scene which we have opened was in a certain +parlour in that gentleman's house, and then to proceed with the +conference which this necessary digression has interrupted.</p> + +<p>"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins," +said his visiter, Mr John Howison; "what do ye mean to do? Are we to +incarcerate?"</p> + +<p>It was a needless question; for Fairly incarcerated everybody, right +and left, in such circumstances, sparing neither sex nor age.</p> + +<p>"Incarcerate!" he repeated, with a ferocious emphasis. "Surely, +surely. Nab the scoundrel. Don't give him a minute beyond his time. +Let me see what were the articles again." And he proceeded to turn +over the leaves of his ominous ledger. "Ay, a surtout, extra superfine +Saxony blue, richly braided, &c. &c., £4:15s., due 21st December, and +this is the 19th January. A month past date! Nab him, Howison. Nab the +villain, and we'll give him six months of the cage, at any rate, and +that'll be some satisfaction."</p> + +<p>Howison grinned a grin, partly of satisfaction at the prospect of a +job, and partly of approval of his employer's wit. "But I don't know +the chap exactly," said the former. "I only saw him once."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's easily sorted," replied Fairly. "Although you don't know +him, you may know my surtout, which he constantly wears—having no +other coat, I verily believe, to his back. Here, see, here is the +neighbour of it." And he ran into a back apartment, whence he shortly +returned with a very flashy article of the description he referred to, +and, expanding it before Howison, bade him mark its peculiarities. +"Sir," he said, "it's one of a thousand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> The only one of the same cut +and fashion in the whole city. <i>That</i> I know. I would pick it out, +blind, from amongst a million."</p> + +<p>Howison having carefully scanned the garment, declared that he was +ready to take his chance of recognising his man—other circumstances +corroborating—by its particular cut and adornments; and, in truth, he +needed have little hesitation about the matter; for, indeed, the +surtout was, as Fairly had said, one of a thousand. It was altogether +a very marked sort of article, especially in the department of +braiding, that being singularly rich and voluminous; and if, as its +maker had also said, it had not its fellow in the town (barring, of +course, the duplicate which he was now exhibiting), there could be no +difficulty whatever in identifying the devoted debtor.</p> + +<p>Matters being thus arranged, the messenger, after having obtained +Simmins' address, took leave of his employer, with full authority to +visit the unhappy owner of the surtout with the utmost vengeance of +the law, and with a promise on his own part that he would duly inform +the latter of his subsequent proceedings in the case—meaning thereby, +that, so soon as the bird was caged, he would give due intimation +thereof.</p> + +<p>Leaving the process just detailed at the point to which we have +brought it, we beg to introduce the reader to another personage who +figures in our little drama: this is Mr Jacob Merrilees, a student of +medicine, a gentlemanly young man, of limited means, but fair +prospects, and, withal, talented and promising. He was at this moment +pursuing his studies at the college of ——, and was making a progress +in professional learning that augured well for his future success in +the world. But, with this part of his history we have little or +nothing to do—our interest in him being on a totally different +account.</p> + +<p>Talented, however, as our young friend was, he had, like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> other men, +his little weaknesses; one in particular—but it was a natural and a +harmless one—this was a rather excessive fastidiousness on the score +of dress. He loved, of all things, to be smartly attired; and was +thus, upon the whole, something of a dandy in his way. Unfortunately +for poor Jacob, however, this was a taste which he was not always able +to indulge in to the extent he could have wished. His circumstances, +or rather his father's penuriousness, prevented it; and the +consequence was, that he frequently found himself considerably below +his own standard of perfection in the article toggery. It is true, +that one less particular in this matter would hardly have agreed with +him; but such were his own feelings on the subject, and that was +enough.</p> + +<p>Having mentioned the little weakness above alluded to—if, indeed, it +can be called a weakness—it becomes our duty to show cause for having +called the reader's attention to it. This duty, then, we will +forthwith discharge; but we must be allowed to do so in our own way. +We have said that our friend Merrilees was making rapid progress in +his professional education; he was so, but he was advancing with no +less celerity in another and fully more congenial study—namely, the +study of love. What fair maiden, in the eyes of Jacob Merrilees, could +compete with Miss Julia Willoughby? None. She was peerless! She was +the fairest of the fair! Miss Julia Willoughby, then, was the chosen +of Jacob's heart; but he had yet no assurance that his tender feelings +towards her were reciprocated. Little else than the ordinary +courtesies of society had yet passed between them, although these were +certainly rapidly melting into more familiar intercourse. Still, as we +said before, Jacob could not positively fix on the precise position +which he held in the affections of Miss Julia Willoughby. He was still +in a state of uncertainty; for no particular mark of favour had yet +been bestowed upon him by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> coy fair one. Judge, then, good reader, +of the joyous feelings of the enamoured Jacob Merrilees, when he +received the following note, written on glazed pink paper, sealed with +the impression of a heart pierced by an arrow—said heart being +supported by two pigeons—and folded into something of the fashion of +a love-knot. Judge, then, good reader, we say, of his feelings on +receiving this precious billet, the first palpable hint of his +acceptability with which he had ever been favoured by his fair +inamorato:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr Merrilees</span>,—Would you make one of a party to visit the +wax-work to-morrow? I should be happy if you could. There will be +several young ladies of my acquaintance with us, and one or two +gentlemen. We propose meeting at our house. Hour, twelve of the +clock precisely. It <i>will particularly gratify me</i>, if you can make +it convenient to be one of the party," &c. &c.</p> + +<p class="citation">"<span class="smcap">Julia Willoughby.</span>"<br /> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>"Dear, delightful creature!" exclaimed Jacob, in an ecstasy of +rapture, and kissing the delicious document with the fervour and +enthusiasm of a rapt and devoted love. "Make it convenient?" he +exclaimed, with expressive energy. "Ay, that I will, adored and +beloved Julia! although ten thousand difficulties were in my way. All +engagements, all considerations, all duties, light of my life, idol of +my adoration, must give way to thy slightest wish. It will +particularly gratify thee!" he exclaimed, with a laugh of wild +ecstasy. "Will it, will it?—oh! will it? Then am I a happy man +indeed!" and he began to pace the room with the light rapid step of +sudden and excessive joy.</p> + +<p>In this process Jacob had indulged for several minutes, without +adverting, as he usually did, in similar circumstances, to the +representation of his own handsome person in a large mirror, which +hung on one side of the apart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>ment. As his fervour, however, began to +abate, he threw glances at the glass <i>en passant</i>, and, with every +turn, these glances became more earnest, and of longer duration, until +he at length fairly planted himself before the faithful reflector, in +order to submit his person to a thorough and deliberate inspection. +The survey was perfectly satisfactory to Jacob; and he was turning +away, highly gratified by its results, when his eye fell on the sleeve +of his coat. "Ha," said Jacob, "getting scuffy, by all that's +annoying. Had no idea. Won't do, won't do—that's clear. Can never go +through the streets with Julia and her fair bevy of acquaintances in +such a coat as this—never, never, never."</p> + +<p>And, in great perplexity at the discovery he had made, Jacob flung +himself down in a chair, and, with his hand placed on his forehead, +began to think profoundly on the means of remedying the evil of a +shabby coat. The time was too short to admit of his providing a new +one; and, indeed, although it had been longer, this was an experiment +on his tailor on which he could hardly have ventured, that gentleman +having lately shown symptoms of restiveness which were by no means +encouraging. What was to be done then?</p> + +<p>"I have it!" said Jacob, starting up: "I will borrow a coat for the +nonce from my friend, Bob Simmins. He will supply me with the +desiderated garment."</p> + +<p>No sooner conceived than executed. Down Jacob immediately sat, and +forthwith indited the following billet to his friend Bob:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Bob</span>,—Being invited for to-morrow to a party, at which there +is to be a large infusion of the fair sex, and finding after a +careful inspection, that my coat is not in the most healthy +condition, might I request the favour of your lending me a +corresponding piece of toggery for the occasion, if you have such +an article to spare, and said article be of a kind creditable to +the wearer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We are about a size, I think, and can therefore calculate on a +fit. Yours truly,</p> +<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">Jacob Merrilees.</span>"</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Having written this note, Jacob forthwith sealed it, and put it into +the hands of the maid-servant, with a request that she would see to +its immediate delivery. The request was complied with. In ten minutes +after, the girl was in the presence of the redoubted Bob Simmins; for +redoubted he was, Bob being one of the most dashing fellows of his +time, nevertheless of a rigid adherence to the praiseworthy rule of +never paying a copper to anybody for anything.</p> + +<p>Having opened his friend's note, and scanned it over—</p> + +<p>"Ah yes, let me see"—and he stroked his chin, threw himself back in +the chair, gazed on the roof, and thought for a moment. At length—"My +compliments to Mr Merrilees," he said; "I will send him what he wants +to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>In due course of time, to-morrow morning made its appearance, and with +it came to Jacob's lodgings the promised article of dress. A bundle +neatly put up, and whose outward covering was a yellow silk +handkerchief, was handed in to Mr Merrilees, as he sat at breakfast. +At once guessing at the contents of the package, Jacob started up, +undid the knots by which it was secured, with an eager and impatient +hand, took up the article it contained, shook out its folds, and gazed +with ecstasy on a splendid surtout. It was Simmins'. Jacob knew it +again. He had seen it a thousand times on his friend, and as often had +praised and admired it. The cut, the braiding, the elegant fur +neck—all had been marked, and cordially approved of. How good of +Simmins, poor fellow! to send him his best coat! It was an obligation +he would never forget.</p> + +<p>Having unfolded the surtout, Jacob's next proceeding was to try it on. +It was a beautiful fit. Not the hundredth part of an inch too short, +too long, or too wide. It was, in fact, just the thing. Couldn't have +been better,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> although it had been cut for him by Stultz's foreman. +Convinced of this pleasing truth, Jacob stood before the glass for +fully a quarter-of-an-hour, throwing himself into various attitudes, +in order to bring out all the beauties of the much-admired garment; +and every change of position increasing the favourable opinion which +he entertained of his own appearance. Satisfied with the contemplation +of himself in the mirror, Jacob now commenced a series of turns up and +down the apartment; sometimes throwing his arms akimbo, sometimes +folding them across his breast, and anon glancing down with a smile of +ineffable admiration on the flowing skirts of his surtout. This new +test of the merits of the borrowed garment having also been found +satisfactory, and every other ordeal to which it could be subjected +having also been had recourse to, and it having stood them all, Jacob +put the last finishing touch to his person, gave a last look at the +glass, and, with mincing step, went forth to conquer and to captivate. +And never did man or woman either take the field for such a purpose +with greater confidence in their own powers, or with greater certainty +of success.</p> + +<p>Before proceeding, however, to the place of meeting, Jacob bethought +him of making a run the length of his friend Bob's, just to thank him +for his kindness, and to show him how the surtout fitted. Obeying this +impulse, he was, in a few minutes after, in the presence of the +obliging Simmins. A lively chat ensued between the two friends, and +continued with unabated energy, until Jacob, suddenly pulling out his +watch, found that his appointed hour had passed. On making this +discovery, he started from his chair, seized his hat, rushed out of +the house, and, at the top of his speed, made for the residence of his +beloved Julia Willoughby. Notwithstanding his speed, however, he was a +little late. The party were already assembled. This was a trifle +awkward; but it had its advantages, as we shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> presently show. The +approach to Miss Willoughby's residence was through a garden of +considerable length, and thus all visiters might be fully, fairly, and +minutely scanned as they advanced. Now, Jacob being a little late, as +we have already said, the party, particularly the ladies, in their +impatience for his arrival, had clustered around the windows, and were +anxiously looking for his advent; so that the moment he opened the +gate, both himself and his surtout were in full view of some +half-dozen or more admiring spinsters. It was a complete triumph to +Jacob, and he felt it to be so. He saw that all eyes were bent on him +as he approached the house; that his surtout had attracted particular +notice, and had become a subject of general remark and general +approbation. He felt, in short, conscious that he had excited a +sensation amongst the fair spectators of his approach. He saw the +flutter of agitation. He marked the blush, the averted eye. He was +delighted, elated. His surtout was triumphant. It had produced all the +effects, so far as others are concerned, for which a surtout can be +coveted. Conscious of the impression he had made, through the medium +of his surtout, Jacob's step became more buoyant, his head more erect, +and his whole mien more elevated and dignified.</p> + +<p>Thus he entered the parlour, where the waiting party were assembled; +and here, again, he had the satisfaction of finding his surtout an +object of general observation. But let us ask, while Jacob is thus +enjoying the favouring smiles of the fair, and thus revelling in his +own delightful feelings, who and what are they, these two fellows who +are skulking about Mr Willoughby's garden gate, as if waiting the +egress of some one? Why, it is Howison—no other; and another +professional gentleman, a concurrent. They are upon business. They +have got scent of prey, and are following it out, with noses as keen +and purpose as fell as those of a sleuth-hound. There can be no doubt +of it. Hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> them; listen to the gentle small talk that is passing +between them.</p> + +<p>Howison loquitur, and wiping his perspiring forehead with his +handkerchief: "Feth, Davy, that was a rin; and no to mak him oot after +a'. But we'll nail him yet."</p> + +<p>Concurrent respondent: "But are ye sure it was him after a'?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, perfectly! I canna be mistaen. It's the surtout, beyond a' manner +o' doubt; and of course it's the man, too, seein he cam oot o' the +house we were directed to."</p> + +<p>The reasoning being quite satisfactory to the concurrent, he ventured +no further remark on the subject of identity; and we avail ourselves +of the temporary pause which now took place between the speakers, to +explain, that they had seen Jacob emerging from Simmins'. They were +just approaching at the moment; but the rapid rate at which the former +was going prevented the closer intimacy which they intended, and hence +the chase.</p> + +<p>"Will we pin him in this house, then?" inquired Davy, again resuming +the conversation.</p> + +<p>"No; they might deny him. We'll wait whar we are a bit, till he comes +oot. Dog him, if he taks the direction o' the jail, and nab him at a +convenient opportunity."</p> + +<p>"He may bilk us."</p> + +<p>"We'll tak care o' that. We'll gie him heels for't, Davy, if that's +his gemm."</p> + +<p>A pause in the conversation, which was not for some time interrupted, +here ensued. After a short while, however, it was again broken in +upon.</p> + +<p>"Whisht! whisht! Back, Davy, back!" (The two professional gentlemen +were ensconced in a close or entry directly opposite Mr Willoughby's +garden-gate.) "Back, Davy, back!" said Howison. "There's somebody +comin. I hear folk speakin and lauchin in the garden."</p> + +<p>Davy listened an instant, then acknowledged there were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> good grounds +for the assertion, and immediately drew himself farther into his +hiding-place, like an alarmed snail into its shell.</p> + +<p>Howison, as the principal, now placed himself in front of his +assistant, squeezed himself as close as he could to the wall, until he +stuck as close to, and as flat on it, as a bat. He then, by a +dexterous movement, thrust his head in a lateral direction, till his +nose just cleared the corner of the close, when, closing his left eye, +and concentrating his whole powers of vision in his right, he planted +the solitary optic with eager vigilance on the garden gate, to watch +the coming forth of those who were on its opposite side. For this he +had not long to wait. In a few moments the gate flew open, and out +sallied, with frequent bursts of merriment, one of the gayest and most +joyous parties that a bright summer day ever brought forth; and gayest +and most joyous of the whole was Jacob Merrilees. Of the whole squad +his laugh was the loudest, his motions the liveliest, his looks the +most cheerful. Jacob was in his element. He was in the midst of a bevy +of ladies. One hung on each arm; while others, to whom fortune had not +been so propitious in allowing them to get nearer his person, +contented themselves with taking the arms again of their more favoured +sisters—of those two enviable spinsters who had secured the posts of +honour, the immediate vicinity of the admired Jacob Merrilees. Jacob +was thus in the very centre of the gay band of fair spinsters; and a +proud man was he of his enviable position. He talked!—ye gods, how he +talked!—and chattered away in a manner most delightful to hear; at +least so it seemed, from the frequent bursts of laughter which he +elicited from his lively protegées. He smirked, and he smiled, and he +bowed, first to one side and then to another, after his most +captivating manner, and, in short, did all that a man who was pleased +with himself, and desired to please others, could possibly do to +maintain these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> agreeable feelings. He was the king of the roost—that +was evident; the very centre of attraction; the delight, the glory, +the leading star in the galaxy of beauty of which he formed a part.</p> + +<p>The party having cleared the gate, took the road with a circular sweep +round, and a burst of merriment that sufficiently betokened the +lightness of heart and of heel of those of whom it was composed.</p> + +<p>"Deek yon, Davy," exclaimed Howison, at this interesting moment, and +now addressing the worthy just named, who had by this time come up +alongside of him, and was also indulging himself in a bird's-eye view +of the party round the corner of the close. "Deek yon, Davy. He's aff +like a paitrik: but we'll bring him up wi' a short turn, I'm thinkin. +We'll pit a slug through his wing. Little does he ken wha's watchin +him."</p> + +<p>"Wull we gie chase?" said the concurrent, who stood at this instant +like a dog in the slip, with his neck on the stretch, and every nerve +braced for the run.</p> + +<p>"No, no; gie him the start a bit till he gathers confidence, and then +we'll pounce on him. Wary, Davy, wary! keep in a bit. Dinna shute oot +your head so far. If he gets a glisk o' ye, he'll tak to his trotters +in a minnit, and gie us an infernal rin for't. See what lang legs the +sinner has."</p> + +<p>"I think I could rin him ony day," replied Howison's concurrent, "and +gie him a start o' a hunner yards to the bargain."</p> + +<p>"I'm no sure o' that," rejoined Howison, shaking his head doubtingly; +"ye dinna ken hoo a man can rin wi' a caption at his heels. It maks +them go at a deevil o' a rate. I've seen great, fat, auld chaps, that +ye wadna hae thocht could rin a yard an't were to save their lives, +flee like the win before a 'Whereas.'"</p> + +<p>"Noo, noo, Davy," continued Howison, and now recalling his neighbour's +attention to business, "let us be jog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>gin. He's takin the richt road, +so we'll just pin him at our leisure."</p> + +<p>Saying this, the pair started, and in a short time were hovering on +the skirts of the heedless party, and their heedless and unwary +leader, the devoted Jacob Merrilees.</p> + +<p>Wholly unconscious, as the reader will readily believe, of the plot +that was thickening over his head, or, rather, at his heels, Jacob was +continuing the career of banter, and lively small talk, and smart +repartee, which distinguished his first appearance at the garden gate, +when he suddenly felt himself gently touched from behind on the left +shoulder. He turned round, but without quitting the arms of the fair +ladies who hung upon him, and looked frowningly on Howison.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, sir?" inquired Jacob, indignantly, and now glancing +also at Howison's companion, who stood close by, with his stick tucked +under his arm.</p> + +<p>To this query the only reply was a knowing wink, and a significant wag +of the forefinger, which, when translated, meant—"Come here, friend, +and I'll tell you."</p> + +<p>"Get along with you, sir!" said Jacob, contemptuously.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, but I won't," replied Howison, saucily.</p> + +<p>"No! Then what the devil do you want?"</p> + +<p>"You," said the former, emphatically. "But you had better conduct +yourself quietly, for your own sake."</p> + +<p>"Now, my good fellow," replied Jacob, in a satirically calm tone, +"<i>do</i> tell me what you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Do ye ken such a man as Fairly the tailor?" inquired Howison, who +always affected a degree of playfulness in the execution of this +department of his duties. "Do ye ken Fairly the tailor?" he said, with +an intelligent smile.</p> + +<p>"I know no such man, sir; never heard his name before," replied Jacob, +angrily, and now urging his fair protegées onwards—the whole party +having been stopped by the incident just detailed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not so fast, friend," exclaimed Howison, making after his prey, and +again slapping him on the shoulder, but now less ceremoniously. "You +are my prisoner, and here's my authority," he added, pulling out a +crumpled piece of paper. It was the decreet against Simmins. "Although +<i>you</i> don't know Fairly, <i>I</i> happen to know Fairly's surtout. The +short and the long of the matter is, sir," continued Howison, "that I +arrest you at the instance of John Fairly, tailor and clothier, for a +debt of £4:15s., with interest and expenses, said debt being the price +of the identical surtout which you have just now on your back. So come +along quietly, or it may be worse for you."</p> + +<p>We do not suppose it is necessary that we should describe the +amazement of the unhappy wearer of the surtout in question, on so very +extraordinary and incomprehensible a statement being made to him, nor +that of his party, from the same cause. The reader will at once +conceive what it was, without any such proceeding on our part.</p> + +<p>Confounded, however, and amazed as he was, Jacob's presence of mind +instantly showed him that he was in a dilemma, a regular scrape. That +he must either acknowledge—and, in the presence of all his fair +friends, there was death in the idea—that the surtout he wore, and +which had procured for him so much admiration, was a borrowed one, or +quietly submit to be dragged to jail as the true debtor. Jacob further +saw exactly how the case stood. He saw that his friend Simmins had +never paid for the very flashy article in which he was now arrayed (a +discovery this, however, which did not in the least surprise him), and +that <i>he</i> was the person for whom the honours of Howison were +intended.</p> + +<p>Having, however, no fancy for incarceration, Jacob finally determined +on avowing the distressing fact, that his surtout was a borrowed one, +and that, not being its true owner, he was, of course, free of the +attentions of Mr<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> Howison. With a face, then, red as scarlet, and a +voice expressive of great tribulation, Jacob made a public +acknowledement of this humiliating truth, and was about to avail +himself of the advantage which he calculated on deriving from +it—namely, that of proceeding on his way—when, to his great horror +and further confusion, he found that Howison determined on still +sticking to him. In great agitation, Jacob again repeated that he was +not Simmins, and that he had merely borrowed the surtout from that +gentleman. To these earnest asseverations, Howison at first merely +replied by an incredulous smile, then added—"It may be sae, sir; but +that's a matter that maun be cleared up afterwards. In the meantime +ye'll go wi' me, if you please; and, if no o' your ain accord, as I +wad advise ye, by force, as I'll compel ye." Saying this, he plunged +his hand into one of his pockets, and produced a pair of handcuffs, +like a rat-trap. The exhibition of these ornaments, and the dread of +getting up a scene on the public street, at once decided the +unfortunate surtout-borrower to submit to his fate, and to walk +quietly off with his new friends, Mr Howison and concurrent.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes after, Jacob found himself snugly quartered in an airy +chamber, with grated windows, commanding a pleasant view of a +tread-mill in full operation; and here he remained, until the +following morning brought such evidence of his identity as procured +his liberation. On once more snuffing the fresh air, Jacob swore he +would take care again whose coat he borrowed, when he should have +occasion to ask such a favour from a friend; and we would advise the +reader to exercise the like caution, should he ever find himself in +similar circumstances.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE SURGEON'S TALES.</h2> + +<h3>THE SUICIDE.</h3> + + +<p>It is a vain question, that which has been often stirred among men of +our profession and metaphysicians, whether insanity—including under +that word all the modes of derangement of the mental powers—is +strictly a <i>disease</i>, the definition of which, according to the best +authorities, is "an alternation from a perfect state of bodily +health." Both parties may, to a certain extent, be right; for the one, +including chiefly the metaphysicians, can successfully exhibit a +gradation in the scale of derangement: beginning at the slightest +peculiarity; passing on to an eccentricity; from that to idiosyncrasy; +from that to a decay or an extraordinary increase of strength in a +particular faculty—say memory; from that to a decay or an increase in +the intensity of a feeling, an emotion, or a passion; from that to +false perception—such as monomania, progressing to derangement as to +one point or subject, often called madness, <i>quoad hoc</i>; and so on, +through many other changes, almost imperceptible in their differences, +to perfect madness—all without the slightest indication of a +pathological nature being to be discovered or detected by the finest +dissecting-knife. On the other hand, again, it is indisputable—for we +medical men have demonstrated the fact—that a certain <i>degree</i> of +madness is almost always accompanied with derangement in the cerebral +organs—the most ordinary appearance being the existence of a fluid of +a certain kind in the chambers of the brain.</p> + +<p>The best and the cleverest of us must let these questions alone; for, +so long as we remain—and that may be, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> likely will be, for +ever—ignorant of the subtle principle of organic life—the nature of +the mysterious union of mind and matter—we will never be able to tell +(notwithstanding all our mental achievements) whether madness has its +primary beginning in the body or in the mind. We must remain contented +with a knowledge of exciting causes, and with that melancholy lore +which treasures up—alas! for how little good!—the dreadful symptoms +which distinguish this miserable state of proud man from all other +conditions of his earthly sorrow; exhibiting him conscious of being +still a human creature impressed with the image of God, yet incapable +of using the proudest gift of Heaven—his reason; susceptible of and +suffering the most excruciating of all pains—imaginary evils, +torments, agonies—yet placed beyond the pale of human sympathy; bent +upon—following with cunning and assiduity the cruellest modes of +self-immolation; and sometimes calmly <i>reasoning</i> on the nature of the +mysterious power that impels to a horrible and revolting suicide.</p> + +<p>I have been led into this train of thought by the circumstances of the +case I am now about to relate. It is one of a calm, reasoning, +determined self-destroyer, in whom, with the single exception of +wishing to die by violent and bloody means, I could discover no mental +derangement. The case occurs every day; but there are circumstances in +this of a peculiar nature, which set it apart from others I have +witnessed, and seen described; and, as it bears the invaluable stamp +of truth, my description of it may be held to be a chapter, and a +melancholy one, in the wonderful history of human life, wherein, +perhaps, the succeeding capital division may consist of an account of +our own tragic fate, not less lamentable or less awful. Such creatures +are we lords of the creation!—so completely veiled are the destinies +of man!</p> + +<p>It was, I think, in the month of December in the winter of 18—, that +a man in the garb of a farmer called upon me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> and requested me to +visit George B——, a person, he said, of his own craft, who held a +small sheep-farm back among the hills about three miles distant. I +asked the messenger if the man was in danger, and if he wished me to +proceed instantly to his residence, or if a call the first time that I +passed that way, which might be next day, would suffice. He replied +that his friend was not in immediate danger, and did not wish me to +travel three miles for the special purpose of seeing him, but would be +contented with, and grateful for, a visit from me on any early day +that suited my convenience.</p> + +<p>On the following day, I happened to be in that quarter of the country, +and called at the house to which I had been directed. The day was +cloudy, raw, and cold, and a stern north wind whistled among the +brackens of the hills. I was struck with the situation and appearance +of the house. It had formerly been a mansion-house, and was much +larger than the ordinary residences of small sheep-farmers among the +hills. The situation was peculiarly bleak, sequestered, and even +dismal: no trees could be discovered in any direction; there was no +outhouses attached to the dwelling; and no neighbouring residence was +to be seen. The house stood alone, big, gaunt, cold, and comfortless, +in the midst of bare hills, exposed to the bitter wind that careered +through the valleys and ravines. Nor, as I approached, did I discover +any signs of domestic stir or comfort. Several of the windows were +closed up—the under part of the house apparently being only inhabited +by the inmates, who showed no anxiety to ascertain by looking out who +it was that had accomplished the task of getting to this barren and +sequestered place.</p> + +<p>On knocking at the door, it was opened by a young woman about eighteen +years of age. She appeared to be delicate—being thin in her person, +pale in her complexion, and of an irritable temperament, for she +started when she saw me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> An expression of melancholy pervaded +features not unhandsome, and attracted particularly my attention, by +almost instantly exciting my sympathy. I asked her if George B—— was +in the house. She answered that her father, for such he was, had just +gone to bed, having been for some time ailing. I told her that it was +upon that account I had come to see him. She seemed then to know who I +was, and thanked me for my attention. I stepped in; and, as I followed +the young woman through a long passage to the room occupied by her +father, she told me that her mother had died about a year before, and +that there was no other individual living in the house but her and her +remaining parent. A gloomy, unhappy pair! thought I, as I looked on +her sombre face, and heard the wind moaning through the big, open +house.</p> + +<p>On entering the room, which was cold and poorly furnished, I observed +George B—— sitting up in his bed reading a book, which I discovered +to be a large Bible. He had a napkin bound round his temples. His face +exhibited the true melancholic hue, being of a swarthy yellow; his +eyes wore the heaviness generally found in people of that temperament; +the muscles were firmly bound down by the rigid, severe, and +desponding expression of dejection, generally found associated with +these other characteristics; and throughout his face and manner there +was exhibited an indifference to surrounding objects, which was only +very partially relaxed by his recognition of me as I entered. There +was, however, nothing of the look of a diseased man about him; for his +face was full and fleshy, his nerves firm and well strung, his eye +steady and unclouded, and his voice, as he welcomed me in, strong, and +even rough and burly. His face resembled very much the <i>ideal</i> of that +of the old Covenanters; and the large Bible he held in his hands aided +the conception, and increased the picturesque effect of the whole +aspect of the man.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>He knew, or took it for granted, that I was the surgeon he had sent +for, pointed to a chair, that I might sit down, and beckoned to his +daughter Margaret, as he called her, to leave the room. The young +woman retired slowly, and I observed, as she proceeded towards the +door, she threw back two or three nervous looks, which I thought +indicated a strong feeling of apprehension, mixed with her filial +sympathy. As the door shut, it sounded as if it had lost the catch; +the father caught the sound, appeared angry, and requested me to rise +and shut it effectually, and, as he added, carefully. I complied, and +he seemed to listen for some time, as if to try to ascertain whether +his daughter had proceeded along the passage to the kitchen. He was +uncertain, and listened again, but was still unresolved; at last, he +said he was sorry to give me so much trouble, but he felt he could not +enter upon the subject about which he wished to consult me until he +was satisfied, beyond the possibility of doubt, that Margaret was not +listening. I rose and went to the door. On opening it, I saw the young +woman standing behind it. On perceiving me, she retreated +precipitately and fearfully along the dark passage. I shut the door; +and, being unwilling, in my ignorance of the cause of all this +mysterious secrecy and suspicion, to betray the poor girl, who had +perhaps some good legitimate object in solicitude, I said simply that +there was now nobody there. He was satisfied; and I again sat down.</p> + +<p>I then asked him what was the particular complaint about which he +wished to consult me.</p> + +<p>"That is precisely what I wish to know," he replied. "I hae nae +complaint aboot <i>my body</i>, which, God be thanked! is just as strong as +it used to be. But there is a change in my mind, different frae the +healthy griefs, and sorrows, and pains o' mortals. My wife, the best +o' women, died a year ago. In a short time after, I lost the greater +number o' my sheep in a storm, which prevented me frae<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> payin my +Candlemas rent. But mony a man loses his wife, and mony a shepherd his +sheep, without tellin a doctor o' their loss. I laid my account wi' +sufferin grief as heavy as mortal ever suffered; and in this house, in +this bed, on these hills, in the kirk, and at our cattle trysts, I hae +struggled wi' my sorrow. But, sir," leaning his head towards me, and +speaking low, "<i>it winna a' do</i>."</p> + +<p>He paused, and, as he fixed his eye upon me, drew a deep sigh, as if +he had already, as it were, broached a subject that was fearful to +himself.</p> + +<p>"What mean you?" said I.</p> + +<p>"I mean, that <i>I canna live</i>!" he replied, energetically, seizing the +Bible with a spasmodic grasp—closing it—throwing it to the back of +the bed—then falling in an instant into a state of real dejection, +with his arms folded over his breast, and his eyes cast down.</p> + +<p>"Grief often produces these gloomy thoughts," said I; "but they are +the mere fancies of a sick mind—generated in sorrow, and dying with +the time-subdued cause that produces them. There is not a bereaved +husband, wife, parent, or child in the land, that does not, in the +first struggle with a new grief, entertain and cherish, for passing +moments of agony, such sick fancies of rebelling nature. You have not +yet given time and your energies a fair trial. You must have +patience."</p> + +<p>"There is some consolation in that," he replied. "I am glad when I +think that the thought that haunts and alarms me is no sae dangerous +as it sometimes appears to me. This book (sweet comforter!) tells me +that Tobit prayed to be dissolved, and become earth, because o' his +sorrow. It tells me, also, that Job, in his agonies, cried, 'My soul +chooseth strangling and death rather than life.' My experience o' the +ills o' life (and a man o' sixty-five must have some portion o' that) +informs me o' the truth o' what you have told me, that an +extraordinary burden o' grief often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> wrings frae the sick soul a wish +to dee and be at rest. But oh! I fear my situation is different. I hae +<i>mair</i> than a wish to be dissolved; for sure none o' my brethren in +sorrow"—here his voice fell almost to a whisper, and tears rolled +down his cheek—"ever lay wi' the like o' that"—holding up a +razor—"under his sick pillow."</p> + +<p>I was alarmed, being utterly unprepared for this exhibition.</p> + +<p>"You need be under nae alarm," he continued, wiping the tears from his +eyes. "My courage is not yet strong enough. God be praised for it! +Moments o' fearfu fortitude sometimes come owre me, and I have held +that instrument in my clenched hand—ay, within an inch o' my bared +throat; but the resolution passes as quickly as it comes, and terror, +cowardice, and a shiverin cauld—dreadfu to suffer—come in their +place. Lay it past, sir—lay it past."</p> + +<p>I obeyed; and, as I proceeded to place the instrument on the top of a +chest of drawers, I heard the noise of some one in the passage, with +suppressed ejaculations of—"O God! O God!"</p> + +<p>"I wadna hae shown you that," he continued, as I sat down, "but that +it is my wish to tell you the warst; for nae man can expect +assistance, if he is ashamed or afraid to show his necessities and his +danger. I didna send for you to cure my body, but to examine my mind, +and tell me if it is sound and healthy, or weak and diseased, and +therefore I will conceal naething frae ye that may show you its state +and condition."</p> + +<p>I was pleased to find I had so tractable a patient. I paused for a +moment, to consider in what way I should draw him out, and on what +side I should attack him—whether I should argue calmly with him, and +endeavour to stimulate his feelings of duty to his Maker, to himself +and his poor daughter; or shake him roughly as a vain and sinful +dreamer who had voluntarily swallowed a pernicious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> soporific, and try +to awaken him, and keep him awake, after the manner of our remedial +endeavours to save those who have attempted to poison themselves by +laudanum. I saw, in an instant, that he was by far too strong-minded a +man to be operated upon effectually by the mere charm of the imputed +reach and strength of our cabalistic lore—an agent, if well employed, +of great good in our profession—and too determined (for such +resolutions are always, in some degree, a false result of reasoning +powers) to be put from his purpose either by a firm pressure of +logical authority, or the subtle and more dangerous means of +good-humoured or severe satire. My course was clearly to endeavour to +affect the form of his own reasoning, and, if possible, to invest it +with a character which might be recognised as true by the peculiar, +and, no doubt, morbid perceptions he possessed of moral truth. I began +by securing his eye, which I saw was, at times, inclined to wander, or +take on that unmeaning, dull, glazed aspect which people in the act of +brooding over intense sorrows—as if the optic nerves were thereby +paralysed—so often exhibit.</p> + +<p>"What train of mind are you in generally," said I, "when the wish to +die, accompanied with the fortitude you have mentioned, comes upon you +in its strongest form?"</p> + +<p>"I first fall into a state of low spirits," said he, "and then nae +effort I can use will tak my mind aff my dead wife. I think for whole +hours—sometimes on the hills, sometimes in the house, and sometimes +in my bed—of our courtship, our marriage, our happy life, and her +miserable, painful, untimely death. This feeds my sorrow, which grows +stronger, and descends deeper and deeper, till it reaches my brain, +and I am sunk in the darkness o' despair. To escape frae thoughts o' +past sorrows that are owre strong to be borne, I try to look forward +to the future; but, alas! I see naething there but the pain o' livin +for a number o' comfortless years o' auld age, draggin after me, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +memory clogged wi' past ills, and naething afore me but a jail, and +want, and lingerin death."</p> + +<p>"These are false views of life," said I—"overstrained and morbid. I +must teach you to think better. You have a daughter who will comfort +you, and whom you are bound to support and protect."</p> + +<p>"True, true," he cried; "I hae a dochter, and a better never +sacrificed her ain thochts and feelins to the comforts o' a faither. +The idea o' leavin her, young, faitherless, poor, and full o' sorrow, +in the midst o' a bad world, has before this" (lowering his voice) +"brought down that rebellious hand from this throat. But, alas for the +inconsistency and mutability o' man's fancies!—dearly as I love that +creature, and she is now my only comfort, my very affection for her +sometimes sinks me deeper into that sorrow which produces the dreadfu +purpose o' takin awa my ain life; for I think—oh! how weak is man's +proud reason, when the heart is broken wi' grief!—that an auld parent +under the ban o' poverty is a burden to a child. His death (so in +these unhappy moments do I think) relieves the unhappy bairn o' twa +evils—that o' toilin maybe in vain to support him, and that o' +witnessin age, decrepitude, pain, misery, and want, wringin frae his +shrivelled and diseased body groans o' agony, strikin the heart o' his +child wi' mair pain than would be caused by the knell o' his death."</p> + +<p>He now sank his face in the bedclothes, which he grasped with a +spasmodic hand, and groaned so deep and loud that the sounds might +have reached the passage. I again heard a noise from that quarter, as +if of stifled sighs and hysterical sobs. I was placed between the +groans of a father bent against his own judgment on self-destruction, +and the terrors and griefs of a daughter listening to the horrible +recital of her parent's designs against his life. The loneliness of +the house, and the solitude of the unhappy pair—with no one to aid +the young woman, in the event of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> any appalling extremity to which the +unnatural purpose of her father might drive him—struck me forcibly. I +had no recollection of ever experiencing a scene of grief so peculiar, +with such fearful and uncertain issues, so irremediable and +heart-stirring. The groans of the one and the sobs of the other seemed +to vie with each other in the effect they produced upon me; but, great +as the pain of the father was, the sufferings of the daughter, perhaps +as peculiar and touching as any that could be conceived, engaged to +the greatest extent my sympathy. It was my duty and wish to try to +remove the fundamental cause of all this suffering; and I waited the +end of the paroxysm of the father's sorrow in order to resume the +conversation.</p> + +<p>"These views," said I, as he calmed, "which you take of life, and its +duties and affections, are all false and distorted. It is our duty to +try to regulate our thoughts as well as our actions by some steady +supporting principle, which mankind have agreed in considering as +true, whether it be derived from the direct Word of God or from the +written tablets of the heart. The taking away of our life—originally +given to us as a trust, or imposed on us by the Author of all good, +for certain ends and purposes which are veiled from our view—is +undoubtedly in many respects, as regards God himself, ourselves, our +children, and our neighbours, a great, flagrant, horrible crime. It is +against the law of God, the law of our country, the organic law of our +physical constitution, and the moral law of our minds. It is indeed +the only act that can be mentioned that is against <i>all</i> these. It +does not require me to tell you that suicide, with other murders, was +denounced by God himself, speaking in words that all mankind have +heard, from the 'thick cloud' that hung over Mount Sinai. You are, I +presume, a Christian, and the Sacred Book containing that denunciation +lies at your side; and yet you have made the dreadful confession to +me, that you have dared to meditate on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> breaking, the despising, +the contemning of the command of Him who by less than a command—ay, +than even a word, by the lifting up of his finger—may consign you to +an eternity of agony, in comparison of which all the sorrow you now +suffer is less than a grain of sand to the sandbanks of the sea."</p> + +<p>"It is true, it is true!" replied the unhappy man. "I know, I <i>feel</i> +that every word you have uttered is true, maist true and undeniable as +are the sentiments o' this holy book," grasping again the Bible; "but +can ye—wha, by the command o' books and education, can dive farther +into the nature o' the mind than ane like me—explain this mystery, +that, when my soul is filled wi' the darkness o' sorrow, and my +rebellious purpose o' self-murder whispers in my mind treachery and +war against God, thae truths ye hae uttered, for they hae occurred to +me before, tak flight like guid angels, and leave me to warsle wi' a +power that subdues me? It is then that I am in danger, and the hand +that has held up to my throat that fatal instrument I had under my +pillow, has the moment before been lifted up vainly in prayer to God, +to throw owre my mind the light o' thae grand truths. What avails it, +then, that there are times when I love them, and am guided by them, +and thank Heaven for the precious gift o' knowin, feelin, and +appreciatin them, if there are other moments when they flee frae me, +and I am left powerless in the grasp o' my enemy?" Pausing, and +falling again into a fit of dejection. "I fear, I fear the best o' us +are only the slaves o' some mysterious power. But"—starting up, as if +recollecting himself—"I put a question to you—answer me in the name +o' Heaven; for if I gie mysel up to the belief o' an all-powerful +necessity, I am a lost man and a self-murderer."</p> + +<p>He was now clearly approaching a rock whereon many a gallant bark has +been shivered to atoms. Even healthy-minded men cannot look at the +question of the necessity of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> the will without staggering and reeling; +and hypochondriacs love to get drunk by inhaling the vapours of +mysticism that rise from it, destroying as they do all moral +responsibility, and concealing the vengeance of heaven and the terrors +of hell. It was necessary to lead him from this dangerous subject, +which it was clear he had been studying and dreaming about, with all +that love of subtlety and mysticism which melancholy generates.</p> + +<p>"No sensible man," said I, "believes in the absolute necessity of the +will. After the will is fixed, the liberty is already exercised, and +there is indeed <i>no will</i> in the mind at all, until it takes the form +of an active, moving, propelling principle. But these are abstruse +fancies, which you must fly, if you wish to possess a healthy mind. +Sorrow, or any other feeling of pain, will extinguish while it lasts +the burning lights of principle or sentiment. The pain of the +amputation of a limb prevents, while it lasts, the natural working of +the mind; but <i>grief may be averted</i>, and the great healing secret of +that is, that the mind <i>must</i> be occupied. Renounce all abstruse +thinking, all day-dreaming, all sorrowful remembering, all sentimental +musing—look upon application, exercise, work, as a duty and a +medicine, and I will answer for your expelling from your mind that +dreadful purpose that entails upon you misery, and disgraces the +nature of man."</p> + +<p>"Your advice is excellent," replied he, somewhat roused; "but, +unfortunately, I hae got the same frae my ain mind; and, what is mair, +I hae tried it—I hae tried it again and again;—the medicine is worth +nae mair to me than a bread pill. My efforts to exercise my mind, when +a fit o' sorrow presses upon it, only mak the sorrow the heavier, by +makin the mind less able to bear it. My soul is for ever bent on that +question o' the necessity o' the will which you despise and avoid. I +will, God is my witness, argue it with you, calmly and reasonably."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Unless you agree to renounce that question," said I, "I can do you no +good."</p> + +<p>"Then," replied he, with a groan, "I am left to Heaven and my +unavoidable fate. May God have mercy on my soul!"</p> + +<p>And he again relapsed into a fit of dejection, his head leaning on his +breast, and his eyes fixed on the bed.</p> + +<p>I could, I found, make no more of him that day, and my other +avocations required my departure. I told him I would call again, and +bring or send him some medicine.</p> + +<p>"It is an unnecessary waste o' your valuable time," he said, lifting +up his head, "to call again upon a wretch like me. I am much obliged +to you for advice; but the only medicine for me is—<i>death</i>."</p> + +<p>He pronounced the fearful word with an emphatic guttural tone, which +gave it a terrific effect. I opened the door to depart, and was +surprised to find that it would not go back sufficiently to allow me +to pass freely. The probable cause of the interruption flashed upon my +mind in an instant. Without speaking a word, I edged myself through, +and saw, lying at the back of the door, the body of the unfortunate +young woman, in a state of insensibility. I had presence of mind +enough not to carry her into the room where her father lay; but, +seeing the light of the kitchen at the further end of the long gloomy +passage, I snatched her up in my arms, and hastened with her thither. +Having laid her on a small truckle bed, whereon, I presume, she +usually slept, I found she was in a deep swoon; and, notwithstanding +that it was getting dark, and my time was expired, I waited her +recovery. As she lay before me, pale as a corpse, and as I thought of +the cause of her illness, and looked round in vain for any one to give +her assistance or consolation (the groans of her father, which I +indistinctly heard, being the only answer that would have been given +to a call for aid in a house more like a haunt for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> ghosts and +spectres than a residence for human beings), I felt the impression of +her peculiar misery pass over me, making me shudder as if I had been +seized with a fit of the ague. The frail, brittle creature lying +there, a victim of hysterics, fit only to be cherished and guarded by +a doting mother—placed in a large, empty, gousty mansion—doomed to +guard alone a suicide and a father, and, perhaps, to wrestle with him +through blood—her parent's blood!—for the preservation of a +remaining spark of a self-taken life! She at length recovered, +exhibiting the ordinary precursors of returning +consciousness—convulsive shiverings, rolling of the eyes, and beating +about with the hands. On perceiving me indistinctly, she articulated—</p> + +<p>"Death! death!—that was the word he spoke sae wildly.—Ah! I know it +now!—James H—— has lang tried to conceal it frae me; but I hae +discovered it at last. Can you save him, sir?—can you save the +faither o' her wha has scarcely anither freend on earth?"</p> + +<p>A flood of tears followed this ejaculation. She tore her hair like a +maniac. I tried everything in my power to pacify her; but terror had +completely mastered her weak nerves, and she shook as the successive +frightful images suggested by her situation passed through her excited +and still confused mind.</p> + +<p>"Is there no one in those parts," said I, "that can attend your +father, and assist you? Who is the James H—— you just now mentioned?"</p> + +<p>"He is my cousin," replied she. "He lived with us for some time; but +my father and he quarrelled about a <i>razor</i>, which he said James +wanted to steal from him. But I see it now. There was nae theft. +James, poor James, was innocent, and wanted to save him; but they +concealed it frae me, and my cousin was turned away."</p> + +<p>The mention of the word razor made me start. I had left the instrument +on the head of the drawers, and I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> even now heard the wretched +man's groans. I hurried to the room, and entered softly. He was in a +fit of dejection, groaning, at intervals, deeply, like a man in bodily +pain. I took up the instrument without being noticed, and returned to +the kitchen. It was now almost dark. I had three miles to ride through +wild hill paths, and I heard some threatening indications of a +night-storm. The young woman was still lying on the couch, with her +terrors undiminished; but I could do nothing more for her, and to have +impressed her with the necessity of watching her parent would have +created additional alarm, without increasing her zeal in a cause that +concerned too nearly her own heart. I told her, therefore, that I +required to depart, and was in the act of leaving to go to the door, +when, in a paroxysm of terror, she started up, and seized me, +clutching me firmly, and crying loudly—</p> + +<p>"Will you leave me alone wi' him in this house, and throughout the +dark night! He will do it when you are gone. Heaven preserve me frae +the sight o' a father's blood!"</p> + +<p>I tried to calm her, and to reason with her; but it was in vain. She +still clung to me; and I found myself necessitated either to use some +gentle force to detach myself from her grasp, or remain all night. I +adopted the former expedient, and rushing out, shut the door after me, +mounted my horse, and proceeded home. She had come out after me; for I +heard her cries for some time as I rode forward in the dark.</p> + +<p>Though soon out of sight of the house, I felt myself unconsciously +turning my head once or twice in the direction of the deserted +mansion. With all my efforts to think of some other subject—and my +own safety among these wild hills might have been sufficient to occupy +my attention—I could not, for some time, take my mind off the scene I +had witnessed, and the prospective misery that, in such different<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +forms, waited these two individuals. When I had gone about a mile and +a-half on my journey, I was accosted by a man, who asked me familiarly +how George B—— was. I recognised in him at once the individual who +had asked me to call for him. I told him that he was well enough in +his body, but had taken some wild and distorted views of life, which +might place him in danger of his own hands, while there was nobody in +the house to watch him but his daughter, who did not seem to me to be +well fitted for the task, seeing she was weakly, hysterical, and +timid. He told me he knew all I had stated; that his name was James +H——; that he was a cousin of the young woman's, George B—— having +been married on his mother's sister; that he had resided in the house, +and had discovered the tendency of his uncle's mind; and that, on one +occasion, he had snatched out of his hands a razor with which he +intended to destroy himself—an act for which he was expelled the +house, though he was the acknowledged suitor of the young woman, whom +he intended to wed. I told him he should marry her, protect her, and +save the father; but he replied that the old man would neither allow +him to live in the house, nor take his daughter from him; so that she +was compelled to remain in the dreadful condition in which I had found +her. I told him to call upon me next day, and proceeded homewards.</p> + +<p>Before James H—— called, which he did about two o'clock, I revolved +in my mind what should be done for the unfortunate man. I recollected +that, in a conversation I had with Dr D—— of Edinburgh, he told me +of a case of melancholy, and accompanying determination to commit +self-murder, which he had successfully treated by presenting to the +mind of the patient such horrific stories and narratives of men who +had taken their own lives, and suffered in their death inexpressible +agonies, and such shocking pictures of murders where the wretched +victims were brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> back, by the hand of their offended Maker, from +the gates of death, with their consciences seared by the burning iron +of his vengeance, that the man got alarmed, was cured of his thirst +for his own blood, and never again spoke of self-destruction. I +resolved upon trying this expedient, and could not think of a better +book for my purpose than that extraordinary record of human vice and +suffering, the "Newgate Calendar." I fortunately possessed a copy, +with those fearfully graphic pictures, that suit so well, in their +coarse, half-caricatured, grotesque delineations, with the dreadful +narratives they are intended to illustrate. I picked out the most +fearful volume, that contained, at the same time, the greatest number +of attempted self-murders, where the victims were snatched from their +own chosen death, and, after their wounds were healed, devoted to that +pointed out by the law as due to their crimes. When James H—— called +in the afternoon, I gave him the volume, and requested him to hand it +to the patient's daughter, with directions to put it into the hands of +her father, as having been sent to him by me. He said he would take +the first opportunity of complying with my request.</p> + +<p>I had no visits to make that required my presence in that part of the +country for two or three days. On the second day after I had sent the +book, I had another call from James H——, who said that he had been +requested by the patient's daughter to return the volume, and to +request another one, which the patient desired, above all things, to +be sent to him that day. I accordingly sent him another volume, +although I did not know whether to augur well or ill from this +anxiety; but I was inclined to be of opinion that the symptom was an +auspicious one. Two days afterwards, the messenger called again, with +a repetition of his former request for another volume as soon as it +could be sent. I complied with it instantly; sending, however, on this +occasion, two—for I thought my medicine was operat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>ing beneficially, +and it was of that kind that could be of no use unless administered in +large doses, so, as it were, to surfeit and sicken the disease, and +force it, by paralysing its energies, to relinquish its grasp of the +patient's mind and body.</p> + +<p>Two days more having elapsed, I felt anxious to ascertain the effect +of my moral <i>emetocathartics</i>, and set out on the special errand of +visiting my patient. The house, as I approached, exhibited the same +still, dead-like aspect it possessed on my first visit. On knocking at +the door, it was opened timidly and slowly by the daughter, who +appeared to be paler, more sorrow-stricken, more weak and irritable, +than on the occasion of my former visit. Her eye exhibited that +terrorstruck look which nervous people, kept on the rack of a fearful +apprehension, so often exhibit. Her voice was low, monotonous, and +weak, as if she had been exhausted by mental anxiety, watching, and +care. There was still no one in the house but her and her father; the +same stillness reigned everywhere—the same air of dejection—the same +goustiness in the large empty dwelling. On asking her how her father +was, she replied, mournfully, that he had scarcely ever been out of +his bed since my last visit; that he lay, night and day, reading the +books I had sent him; that he had eaten very little meat, and had +fallen several times into dreadful fits of groaning, and talking to +himself. She added that he felt, at times, disinclined to see her; but +at others, his affection for her rose to such a height, that he flung +his arms about her neck, and wept like a child on her bosom. She had +proposed to him, she said, to bring some person into the house; but he +got into a violent rage when she mentioned it, and said he would expel +the first intruder, whether man or woman. She had therefore been +compelled to remain alone. She had lain at the back of his room-door +every night, watching his motions, whereby, in addition to her grief, +she had caught a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> violent rheumatism, which had stricken into her +bones. When, for a short time, she had gone to sleep, she was awakened +by terrific dreams and nightmares, which made her cry aloud for help, +and exposed the situation she had taken, for the purpose of watching +her parent, and defeating his purpose of self-murder.</p> + +<p>I proceeded to the patient's room. When I entered, which I did softly, +I found him lying in bed, with his head, as formerly, bound up in a +handkerchief; a volume of the "Newgate Calendar" lying on his breast. +So occupied was he with his enjoyment of this <i>morceau</i> of horrors, +that he did not notice my entry or approach to his bedside. I stood +and gazed at him. He had finished the page that was open before +him—exhibiting John Torrance, the blacksmith of Hockley. His eye +rested at least five minutes on this horrific picture; and, as he +continued his rapt gaze, he drew deep sighs—his breast heaving with +great force, as if to throw off an unbearable load. He turned the +page, and noticed me.</p> + +<p>"You are very intent upon that book," said I. "I hope it <i>interests</i> +you."</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied he. "My mind has been dead or entranced for a year. +This is the only thing in the world I have met wi' during my sorrow +capable o' putting life into my soul. It seems as if all the energies +that have been lying useless for that period had risen at the magic +power o' this wonderfu book, to pour their collected strength upon its +pages."</p> + +<p>"Then it has served its end," said I, doubting greatly the truth of my +own statement. "I sent it for the purpose of entertaining you—that +is—interesting you."</p> + +<p>"Entertaining me!" he ejaculated. "You mean, binding my soul wi' iron +bands: my heart now loves the misery it formerly loathed. But, sir, I +am not <i>fed</i> with this food. I devour it wi' a false and ravenous +appetite; and were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> there a thousand volumes, I think I could read +them a' before I broke bread or closed an ee."</p> + +<p>He rolled out these words with a volubility and an enthusiasm that +surprised me. It was clear that I had poisoned the mind of this poor +man. I had stimulated and partly fed his appetite for horrors. +Familiarity with fearful objects kills the terror, and sometimes +raises in its place a morbid affection—a fact established in France +at the end of the last century by an empirical test of a horrific +character, but which no knowledge of man's mind could have dreamed of +<i>à priori</i>. Why had I forgotten this matter of history, and allowed +myself to be led astray by vain theories and partial experiments? What +was I now to do? The man's appetite for the bloody narratives was so +strong, that, even while I was thus cogitating, his greedy eye had +again sought the page. It was necessary that I should conceal from him +my apprehensions, and take up his words on a feigned construction.</p> + +<p>"This kind of reading," said I, "interests you, I presume, because it +fills your mind with a salutary disgust and terror—makes you loathe +the act of the suicide—and mans your soul against the hateful purpose +you entertained against your own life."</p> + +<p>He looked to the door, and beckoned to me to see if it was shut. I +went and satisfied him that it was, while I was myself assured that +she whom he was so anxious to deceive was again at her post behind it.</p> + +<p>"You ask me," he continued, "if this book has disgusted or terrified +me against my purpose o' deein. Are we disgusted and terrified at what +we love? I hae seen the day when thae stories had sma' attraction for +me. But, alas! alas! I am a changed—a fearfully changed man. My soul +now gloats owre tales o' crime and scenes o' blood. To me there is an +interest, an indescribable, mysterious interest in this book, beyond +the charm o' the miser's wealth, or the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> bridegroom's bride—ay, sir, +or what I ance thocht was in life to the deein sinner. It is a +medicine; but"—pausing, and eyeing me sorrowfully—"do you mean it to +<i>kill</i> or <i>cure</i>?"</p> + +<p>"To save you from self-destruction," said I—"the most fearful and the +most cowardly of all the terminations of human life."</p> + +<p>"If you could keep me readin this <i>for ever</i>," he said, "yer object +would be served."</p> + +<p>"I can give you no more of it," said I, conscious that, by indulging +his morbid appetite for blood, I had been leading him to his ruin.</p> + +<p>"Then I must read thae volumes owre, and owre, and owre again," said +he; "and when I hae dune, I hae naething mair to interest me in this +dark, bleak warld."</p> + +<p>He fell now into one of his fits of dejection, assuming his accustomed +attitude of folding his hands over his breast, and fixing his eyes on +the bed, while deep sighs and groans were thrown from his heaving +breast. It was necessary, I now saw, to take from him the book which +had produced an effect the very opposite of what I had intended and +expected. I took it up and placed it beside the other volume that was +lying on a side-table, with a view to take them away with me—blaming +myself sorely and deservedly for the injury I had done by +experimenting so rashly on the life and eternal interests of a human +being. As I moved away the volume, he observed me, and followed it +wistfully and sorrowfully with his eye.</p> + +<p>"Ye hae dune weel," he said—"ye hae whetted my appetite for my ain +life; and it matters naething that the whetter and the whet-stane are +taen awa when they're nae mair needed!"</p> + +<p>I felt keenly the reproach, for it was just. I might have taken credit +for a good intention; but my sympathy for the wretched being +restrained any wish I had to defend myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> I endeavoured to change +the subject of our conversation, and turn his mind to a subject which +I knew engaged his interests and feelings more than anything else on +earth.</p> + +<p>"Your daughter," said I, "is unwell. She seems to be miserable. I know +a change upon her both in mind and body, since I called here only a +few days ago. Her body is thin and emaciated, her cheek is blanched, +and her eye dimmed. These signs do not visit the young frame for +nothing. I fear she has heard of the deadly intention you still +persist in entertaining—to take away your own life. It is clear to me +that her sickly constitution cannot long stand against a terror and an +apprehension which even the aged and the strong cannot endure without +grievous injury to all the faculties of the body and mind. Sir, take +heed"—pausing and looking at him seriously and impressively—"you may +become <i>a daughter's murderer</i> before your <i>cowardly</i> courage enables +you to become <i>your own</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Hold, sir!—hold!" cried the roused man. "You now speak daggers to +me! I could hae borne this when you were here last; but ye hae +unmanned me—ye hae made me familiar wi' him, the king o' terrors, wha +waits for me. I know him in his worst shapes. He is nae langer hideous +to me; and, being his friend, I canna be my dochter's faither and +guardian! Why cam you here to revive a struggle that was past? My mind +was made up. Owre the pages o' that book, my resolution was fixed; now +you wad re-resolve me back to my doubt, my pain, my insufferable +agony, by bringin up into my mind the tender image o' a sufferin, +sorrowin, starvin dochter. My Margaret—my Margaret!—her mother's +image—the pledge o' a love dearer than life——"</p> + +<p>The door opened, and the young woman, who had been listening at the +back of it, rushed in and flung herself on the bosom of the agonised +man.</p> + +<p>"O father!" she cried, "I ken everything. Yer dreadfu purpose has been +revealed to me. Ye intend to tak awa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> yer ain life, which my mother, +yer beloved Agnes, on her death-bed, bade ye preserve for my sake. But +ye canna do that without takin also mine. Yer death will be my death. +I hae already seen yer bleedin body in my dreams—the image haunts me +like a spirit, and leaves me nae rest. The doctor says true—ye will +kill me before yer dreadfu purpose is fulfilled; but if, in God's +will, I should be left when ye are awa, wha is to guard me, wha is to +comfort me—without freends, without means, and without health?"</p> + +<p>The scene now presented to me transcended anything I had ever seen +during my long intercourse with suffering humanity. The excited girl +clung with a firm grasp to the neck of her parent, and sobbed +intensely; while he, struggling to be liberated, and holding away his +face to the back of the bed, groaned and appealed for relief in +broken, guttural, half-choked aspirations to Heaven. I saw his eyes +turned to the throne of mercy, and big tears rolled down his rugged +cheeks. In my anxiety to aid this struggle, and assist him to the +return to his natural love of life and duty to his God, I was afraid +to interfere with the sacred service of a bursting heart, turned in +its agony to the only source of consolation and healing virtue; while, +if I allowed this opportunity to escape, I might not have another for +adding a mortal's means and energies (sometimes God's instruments) to +the workings of nature, and the silent but powerful voice of religion +speaking from the innermost recesses of his moral constitution.</p> + +<p>"This is nature and truth," said I, after a pause—"powers a thousand +times stronger than the brain-sick fancies of a diseased mind. It is +the voice of God himself, sounding through the heart, and, like the +electric energy, heaving it with convulsive throes, as if to cast +forth from it the impious daring and unnatural purpose you have +cherished in it so long that no lesser power will expel it. I rejoice +in these throes; cherish them and aid them, for they are the +expul<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>sers of poison that, having got into your blood, and reached the +heart, the seat of life, madly stimulates it to self-destruction. This +is the time—here is the vantage-ground of a return to all that is +right, true, and good, from cowardice, cruelty, irreligion, and even +rebellion against God!"</p> + +<p>"Listen to him—listen to him!" cried the young woman, still sobbing. +"Hear thae words o' truth, for they are sent from Heaven. Receive them +into your heart, and it will be changed, and I will live to see my +father enjoy life and be happy."</p> + +<p>"<i>When?</i>" groaned the miserable man, satirically, as if roused by the +sound of the distasteful word "happy." "When I am sittin at the window +o' a prison, thinkin o' my dead Agnes, and lookin at the red settin o' +my sixty-fifth sun?"</p> + +<p>These words showed that the struggle had been ineffectual. Released +from the grasp of his daughter, who sat at the side of the bed, he +doggedly and sternly folded his arms, and relapsed into a silent fit +of dejection. No effort would make him open his lips. There seemed to +be no principle of reaction in his moral economy; all was penetrated +by a fatal lethargy, which closed up every issue, broke every spring +of living thought, feeling, or motion. My professional knowledge was +entirely useless, my personal services unavailing. I called to him +loudly to answer me, and got no reply but deep groans. I even shook +him roughly, and tried to bend his head to his weeping daughter. My +efforts were quickened by a sense that bore in upon me with fearful +strength and importunity, that I had, by experimenting on his mind, +and filling it with images of horror, increased the disease I intended +to cure. Pained beyond measure, I was anxious to redeem my fault and +correct my error by getting him again engaged in conversation, whereby +I might have a last opportunity of drawing him into a train of thought +which might lead to a sense of his awful condition,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> and a prospect of +escaping from its present misery, and its horrible consequences. But +my medicine had operated too powerfully. There he sat, unmoved, +immoveable—a sad and melancholy victim of the worst species of +hypochondria—that which exhibits as one of its pathognomonic +symptoms, the desire, the determination, persevered in through all +difficulties, all oppositions, all wiles and schemes, to commit +self-murder.</p> + +<p>I waited for a considerable period, standing at the side of his bed, +to see if he would exhibit any signs of returning moral vitality: but +in vain. My other pressing avocations demanded imperiously my presence +in quarters where I could be of more service. The daughter was herself +buried in despondency, her face being hid in her hands, and broken +ejaculations escaping from her lips. I took up the book which had +produced so much harm, and whispered lowly in her ear, to request +James H—— to call for me next day. At the sound of this name she +started, and looked up wildly. I was afraid I might have to encounter +another scene like that I had witnessed on the occasion of my last +departure. I therefore hurried away, giving her no time to reply, +where conversation was apparently useless. My intention was to try and +devise some means of introducing a person into the house—though +against the determined will of the father—to guard him and assist the +daughter; but that could only be done through the medium of the +messenger who went between me and the young woman.</p> + +<p>When I had got some distance from the house, I could not resist the +feeling that on the occasion of my prior visit compelled me to look +back upon this miserable dwelling. I had seen diseases of all kinds +grinding the feelings of unhappy man; but in the worst of them there +is some principle, either of resistance or resignation, that comes to +the aid of the sufferer, and enables him to pass the ordeal, whether +for life or death. The duty he is called upon to per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>form is to +<i>bear</i>; for no man I ever yet saw on a sick-bed can get quit of the +thought—however much he may try to philosophise about physical +causes, or to conceal his sense of a divine influence—that he is +placed there by a superior Hand <i>for the very purpose of suffering</i>, +with a view to some end that is veiled from his eye. Every pang, +therefore, that is borne carries with it, or leaves after it, some +feeling of necessity to <i>bear</i>, and a satisfaction of having endured, +and to a certain extent obeyed, the behest of Him that sent it. In +many, this feeling is strong and decided, yielding comfort and +consolation when no other power could have any effect; and though in +others it may be less discernible—being often denied by the patients +themselves, and attempted to be laughed at and scorned—it is, I +assert, still there, silently working its progress in the heart, and +spreading its balm even against the sufferer's own rebellious will. +But the case of the suicide is left purposely by Him against whose law +and authority the unholy purpose is directed, in a solitary condition +of unmitigated horror; for the desire to get quit of pain—the +inheritance of mortals—is itself the very exclusion of that +resignation which is its legitimate antidote, while the devoted +victim, obeying a necessity that forces him to eschew a misery he is +not noble-minded enough to bear, not only has <i>no good</i> in view, but +is conscious that he is flying <i>from</i> evil, <i>through</i> evil, <i>to</i> evil; +so that from behind, around him, within him, before him—wherever he +casts his eye—there is nothing but darkness, pain, and utter +desolation. To complete the scene—there is, perhaps, no living +<i>natural</i> evil more peculiar and acute, and less capable of generating +resistance or resignation, than the rack of apprehension and terror of +an only daughter watching, alone and unaided, the issues of a purpose +that is, in all likelihood, to force her through the energies of the +strongest instinct—filial affection—to stop, with her trembling +hands, the flow of a father's life-blood. Yet all this evil, this +misery, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> to be found in that house, standing alone in the midst of +these bleak hills, like a temple dedicated to sorrow.</p> + +<p>Next day James H—— called upon me, having seen the young woman, +unknown to the father, on the previous night, and received from her +the instructions I left for him. He saw himself the necessity of +something being done towards the amelioration of the condition of the +two unhappy individuals; but he acknowledged the difficulty of +effecting it. He perceived (what was true) that, if any watch were set +over his uncle, it might only make certain that which at present was +doubtful; that the watchman could only proceed on the principle that +he was mad, and bind him, or confine him, or otherwise treat him as +insane; and that, besides, he knew no one who, without pay (and there +was no money), would undertake so unpleasant a duty, which might last +for weeks, or months, or even years. No concealed surveillance could +be kept over him; for he suspected in an instant the object of any one +visiting him, and had ordered one or two individuals, who had come +from a distance to call for him, out of the house, suspecting (such is +the way of all his unhappy tribe) that they came for the purpose of +observing his motions. The difficulty was greatly owing to the lonely +position of the house: the cloak of friendly intercourse might have +covered the frequent visits of near neighbours; but there were none +such—for the nearest house was two miles off; and as for relations, +they were in another part of the country, distant in locality as well +as blood.</p> + +<p>The case was hedged with difficulties. Violent diseases require strong +remedies. I recollected that James H—— said, on a former occasion, +that he was the suitor of the young woman, and wished to wed her. I +came to a resolution on the instant—firm, decided, and sound. I told +him that, if he wished to save the father and the daughter, he must +accelerate his intended marriage with the latter, even in the midst of +the unfortunate circumstances in which she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> was placed, and under the +unfavourable auspices of an event of joy being shadowed with a cloud +of sorrow. This would give him a claim on the daughter; and if the old +man would not permit his son-in-law to remain in the house, and assist +him as formerly with the labours of his land, he could threaten to +take her from him altogether—a threat that would not, in all +likelihood, fail to make him consent to his becoming an inmate in the +house. The young man was pleased with an advice that quadrated with +his wishes, and left me, to consult with some other friends on the +propriety of instantly following it.</p> + +<p>I heard the banns proclaimed next Sunday in the parish church, and was +somewhat surprised at the rapidity with which my advice had been +adopted, and the plan put into execution. The intelligence was +promptly communicated to me by the bridegroom himself, who informed me +also that the fact of the proclamation of the banns had been +communicated to his uncle, who had expressed himself strongly against +the match. He had, in fact, taken up a strong prejudice against his +nephew, in consequence of the latter's interference with his purpose +of self-immolation. He had never allowed the young man to come near +him since the day on which he had taken the razor out of his hands by +force; and the intelligence that he was to marry his daughter, and +deprive him of her society, roused him to fury. He denounced the +union, and said that it added another drop of bitterness to the cup of +his misery, which was already overflowing. I told the young man that +the anger into which his uncle had been thrown would, in all +likelihood, do him more good than harm: it might stimulate a mind, +dead or dormant, from the effects of brooding over imaginary evils, +which produced ten times more self-murders than the real misfortunes +of life. He told me the marriage would not, on account of his uncle's +anger, be put off; that it was fixed for the 15th of the month, and +would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> be celebrated in private. I informed him that I required to go +to a distant part of the country, and could not, for some time, see +his uncle, and that he must endeavour, by all means, to support and +comfort the unhappy bride in her watchful care over her unfortunate +father, who, according to his account, was still under the cloud from +which he threatened every instant to draw down the lightning that was +to strike him to death.</p> + +<p>When I returned from my journey, I called again upon the unfortunate +man, in the hope of finding some amelioration in his condition, as +well as that of his daughter. I found him still in bed, though he had +been up and out on several occasions since I visited him. I saw no +signs of improvement. I endeavoured to get him engaged in a +conversation about his own condition; but I saw that, in place of +being fond of dwelling on the state of his mind, talking of his +sorrows, and contemplating the purpose he entertained against his +existence, he showed an utter repugnance to the subject, having become +perfectly taciturn, sullen, and morose, giving me monosyllables for +answers, and sometimes not deigning even to show that he attended to +me, or understood me. The only thing that seemed to interest him was +his daughter's marriage—looking dark and gloomy when the subject was +broached, and muttering indistinct words of reproach and anger. The +condition of his daughter was changed; but it was only a new form of +anguish. Some days previous, she had observed him with another razor +in his hand; but he had secreted it somewhere, and all her efforts had +as yet been ineffectual to get it. Her watch had therefore been more +unremitting—her apprehensions were increased, while her strength was +greatly diminished. She was reduced to a shadow; the pale skin that +covered her face seemed to be in contact with the bones; while her +eyes burned with fever and excitement. Yet <i>her marriage</i> was fixed to +take place two or three days after! She could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> not avoid it; she had +pledged her word, and her father's safety depended in a great degree +upon it. She could bear her condition no longer—all her powers of +suffering were worn out; and if her father would not permit her +husband to remain in the house, she would, she said, allow the latter +to exercise what authority he pleased, in endeavouring, by force, to +save his father-in-law and his wife from the ruin that seemed to await +them. The gloom that enveloped her mind was deepened by the contrast +of the light of a happiness she had long sighed for, now changed into +a refinement of peculiar pain. She shuddered when she thought of her +marriage with the man she loved, and feared that the power of Heaven +would fall on her, for presuming to bring joy into the chamber of +mourning, if not death. As she spoke, tears moistened her burning eye, +and ran down her thin, pallid cheeks. She wished the ceremony over, as +an evil to be endured, and then fate must take its course, though she +feared the termination would be miserable, as well for her father as +for her. His life was hanging by a thread; hers was worn out by +watching, fainting, and suffering, till it was on the very eve of +leaving the body, which was no longer able to support or contain it. +These were the misfortunes in the inside of the house; but there were +others without-doors. The landlord had sequestrated the stock +belonging to her father—a circumstance that had plunged him deeper in +his despondency and misery, and explained the very altered state in +which I had found him. The attorney, a hard man, <i>laughed</i> at the +<i>device</i> of threatened self-murder, resorted to for the purpose of +exciting his sympathy, and robbing his client's pocket.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she concluded, "he <i>laughed</i>"—and she repeated the word +"laughed" with a hysterical action of the throat, as if it choked her, +and next moment burst into tears.</p> + +<p>Two days afterwards, a man on horseback arrived at my door, and rapped +with great violence; his horse was heated,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> and foaming at the mouth, +as if it had been hard pressed, and he himself was flushed and +excited. He told me, in a hurried manner, that I was wanted instantly +at George B——'s; he had been sent to me by another man, and could +tell me nothing beyond the fact that something very alarming had taken +place, and that, if I did not hasten thither on the instant, and with +my very greatest speed, I could be of no use. I took with me what I +conceived might be wanted, for my suspicions were more communicative +than the messenger, and proceeded, with all the expedition in my +power, to the house where I had lately seen so much suffering.</p> + +<p>On my entering the house, a most extraordinary spectacle presented +itself. On the small truckle-bed that stood opposite the door in the +kitchen lay a female figure, dressed in white, with both her hands +wrapped up in cloth, from which issues of blood rolled on the bed; and +her face, not less pale than her dress, was spotted and besmeared with +the same element. It was Margaret B—— in her <i>marriage dress</i>. A +young woman, her bridesmaid, was beside her, looking in her face as if +to see whether life was still in her body. A young man, also dressed +as if for the marriage, hurried me to the apartment of George B——, +where a scene not less awful was presented to me. The unhappy man was +lying in the middle of the floor, on his back, with his throat cut, +and James H——, in his bridegroom clothes, was bending over him, with +his hands busily occupied in stanching a wound that would have let out +ten lives, if he had had as many to destroy; the floor was literally +swimming in blood, and on a chair in the corner of the room lay the +fatal instrument, still open. My services were useless: the man was +dead; his attendants were engaged in stopping blood already curdled +with death. I hurried to the patient that was still living. She had +lost almost the whole blood of her body, and it was difficult to +detect in her any symptoms of life.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> I unloosed the cloths from her +hands; they were cut in a fearful manner—the blade of the razor, +which she had, in her struggles with her parent, endeavoured to wrest +from him, having been <i>whisked</i> through them when hard clenched. No +one had been in the house; her marriage-dress was still +incomplete—her bosom bare, and her head uncovered; a proof that she +had been called from the mirror wherein she saw a half-dressed bride, +to see a father kill himself by his own hand against her efforts to +save him. Her screams were heard by the bridesmaid and bridegroom, as +they approached the house; but, before they entered, the struggle was +nearly over; they found her bending over the body of her father, which +lay on the floor, grasping the open wound with her hands. So spoke the +attendants as I dressed the wounds. I took up several arteries; but +there was one in the left wrist which, for a long period, defied my +efforts, unassisted as I was with professional aid, to stem its +torrent. I succeeded at last—so, at least, I thought—in my +endeavours to stop all the issues. Vain thought! <i>Death</i> had stopped +them!</p> + +<p>This was the first time I had seen a <i>dead bride</i>.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE GHOST OF HOWDYCRAIGS.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"<i>They</i> gather round, and wonder at the tale<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of horrid apparition, tall and ghastly."—<span class="smcap">Blair.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p>After all that has been written, printed, and circulated, in the way +of "Statistical Accounts," "Topographical Descriptions," "Guides to +Picturesque Scenery," &c., there are still large tracts of country in +Scotland of which comparatively little is known. While certain +districts have risen, all at once, into notoriety, and occupied for a +time the efforts of the press and the attention of the public, there +are others, perhaps little inferior to them in point of scenery, +through which no traveller has passed, no writer drawn his pen, and +upon which no printer has inked his types. Among other neglected +regions, the Ochil Hills may be mentioned—at least the eastern part +of them. These, so far as we know, have not been fruitful of battles, +and consequently the historian has had nothing to say concerning them. +They are traversed by few roads; the few that do exist are nearly +impassable, except to pedestrians of a daring disposition; and the +novelist, never having seen them, has not thought of making them the +home of his imaginary heroes. They have given birth to no poet of +eminence—none such has condescended to celebrate them in his songs; +and, except to the few scattered inhabitants who nestle in their +hollows, they are nearly unknown.</p> + +<p>This, however, is not the fault of the hills themselves, but of the +circumstances just alluded to; for here heroes might have found a +field on which to spill whole seas of blood; novelists might have +found all the variation of hill, valley, rock, and stream, with which +they usually ornament their pages; and Ossian himself, had it been his +fortune to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> travel in the district, might have found "grey mist" and +"brown heath" to his heart's content, and, in the proper season, as +much snow as would have served to deck out at least half-a-dozen +"Morvens" in their winter coat. These hills, on the east and south, +rise from the adjoining country by a gradual slope, surmounted, in +some instances, by thriving plantations, while, in others, the plough +and harrow have reached what appears to be their summit. On the north, +they are terminated by a rocky front, which runs nearly parallel to +the river Tay, and afterwards to the Earn, thus forming the southern +boundary of Strathearn, which is perhaps one of the most fertile +districts in Scotland. The elevation on this side is partly composed +of the rocky front just mentioned; partly of a cultivated slope at its +base; and partly of a green acclivity above, which, when seen from the +plain below, seems to crown the whole, while it conceals from the eye +those barren altitudes and dreary regions which lie behind. But, after +having surmounted this barrier, the prospect which then opens may be +regarded as a miniature picture of those more lofty mountain-ranges +which are to be found in other parts of the island. Here the ground +again declines a little, forming a sort of shoulder upon the ascent, +as if the Great Architect of nature had intended thereby to secure the +foundation of the superstructure which he was about to rear above. It +then rises into frowning eminences, on which nothing seems to vegetate +except coarse heath, a few stunted whin-bushes, and, here and there, +an <i>astrogalus</i>, a <i>lotus carniculatus</i>; or a white <i>orchus</i>. Those, +however, with the exception of the first, are too scanty to produce +any effect upon the colouring of the landscape; and the whole looks +withered, brown, and, in some instances, even black, in the distance. +But, on passing these barren altitudes, or on penetrating one of the +gorges by which the central district communicates with the country +around, and of which there are several, the eye is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> saluted with +extensive tracts of plantation—some composed of the light-green +larch, others of the sombre-looking Scottish pine; and, where the soil +is more favourable to the growth of corn, portions of cultivated land, +interspersed with streams, giving a fresher green to their banks, +clumps of trees standing in sheltered positions, and the isolated +habitations of men.</p> + +<p>The last of these may be said to constitute a sort of <i>little world</i>, +enclosed by a mountain rampart of its own—holding little or no +communication with the great world without; and consequently escaping +all the contamination which such intercourse is supposed to imply. +But, if its inhabitants had escaped the contamination, it were +reasonable to infer that they had missed that stimulus which mind +derives from mind, when brought into close contact; and also many of +those improvements and more correct modes of thinking which almost +every passing year brings forth. In such a region, children must +travel far for education; and men, not unfrequently, live and die in +the prejudices in which they were nursed. To conclude this imperfect +sketch, it may be observed that the scenery of these hills is bleak, +rather than bold; barren, rather than wild; and though some parts of +them possess a sort of dreary interest, in general they can lay no +claim to that quality which has been denominated the <i>sublime</i>.</p> + +<p>The particular district of Fifeshire in which the following incidents +occurred lies between the villages of Strathmiglo and Auchtermuchty on +the south, and those of Newburgh and Abernethy on the north. From the +last of these places, which is still known as the metropolis of the +ancient Pictish empire, a deep and narrow gorge, called <i>Abernethy +Glen</i>, stretches southward amongst the Ochils for more than a mile. On +leaving the open fertile country below, and getting into this pass, +the contrast is striking. In some places the footpath winds along the +face of a bank so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> steep, that, but for the circumstance of its being +composed of earth, it might have almost been termed a precipice; and +here, if the passenger should miss his footing, it would be nearly +impossible for him to stop himself till he reached the bottom, in +which a turbulent stream brawls and foams over rocks and stones, +disturbing the silence and the solitude of the place with sounds which +have a tendency to inspire feelings of superstitious fears. The scene, +from its nature and situation, appears to be well suited for those +transactions which, according to popular brief, "surpass Nature's +law;" and it has been regarded as the favourite haunt of <i>witches</i>, +<i>fairies</i>, <i>ghosts</i>, and other mysterious beings, from time +immemorial. Numbers of the inhabitants of the village below had been +scared, in their nocturnal rambles, by the orgies of these uncouth +neighbours; many a belated traveller had seen strange sights, and +heard stranger sounds, in this haunted dell; many a luckless lad, in +journeying through it, to see the mistress of his heart, had met such +adventures as to drive love nearly out of his head for whole weeks to +come; and even maids, upon whom the sun went down in the dangerous +pass, had seen things at the mention of which they shook their heads, +and seemed unable to speak. Nor were there awanting instances of +individuals who, in returning at the "witching time of night" from a +delightful interview, in the course of which the marriage-day was +settled, had been so terrified that they forgot every word of what had +been said; and, when the minister and the marriage-guests arrived, +behold they were found in the barn or in the field, or, what was +worse, they had gone upon a journey, and were not to be found at all. +Those of the villagers who had not seen and heard of these unearthly +doings for themselves, had been told of them by their mothers and +grandmothers; and thus one generation after another went forth into +the world completely armed against sceptics and unbelievers of all +sorts.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> If any one ventured to doubt the veracity of these statements, +or to call in question the cogency of the arguments by which they +supported them, they had only to appeal to the testimony of their +fathers and grandfathers, their mothers and grandmothers, and the most +sceptical were convinced at once. No man durst venture to cast the +shadow of a doubt upon such incontrovertible evidence, because to have +done so would have been to implicate their relations in the charge of +speaking beside the truth, and these, they said, "were decent, +respectable folk, and never kenned for lee'rs in their lives."</p> + +<p>In this metropolis, and near the scene of these memorable events, +Nelly Kilgour was born—the exact date of her birth we do not pretend +to determine, though it must have been some time in the eighteenth +century—and had lived, running about, going to school, and serving +sundry of the lieges who were indwellers thereof, till she had arrived +at years of discretion—in other words, till she had seen +three-and-thirty "summers," as a poet would say, and nearly the same +number of winters, as our reader may guess. It has been said that +there are three distinct questions which a woman naturally puts to +herself at three different periods of her life. The first is—"Who +will I take?"—a most important question, no doubt; and we may +reasonably suppose that it occurs about the time when the attentions +of the other sex first awaken her to a sense of her own charms, and +she is thus ready to look upon every one who smiles on her as a lover, +and every young fellow who contemplates her face while talking to her +as anxious to become her husband. The second question, which is +scarcely less important, is—"Who will I get?" and this, we may again +suppose, begins to be repeated seriously, after she has seen the same +individual smile upon half-a-dozen damsels on the same day, and after +she has learned that it is possible for an unmarried man to +contem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>plate her own fair face with the deepest interest, and converse +with her on the most interesting subjects on Monday morning, and then +go and do the same to another on Tuesday evening. But the last, and +perhaps the most important, as it certainly is the most perplexing of +these questions, is—"<i>Will I get onybody ava?</i>" and this, there can +be little doubt, begins to force itself upon her attention, after the +smiles of her admirers have become so faint that they are no longer +able to climb over the nose; when, instead of talking of love, they +begin to yawn, and speak about the weather; in short, after she +becomes conscious that her charms are at a discount, and that those +who are coming up behind her are every day stealing away her +sweethearts.</p> + +<p>Through the whole of the previous stages Nelly Kilgour had passed; and +she had now arrived at this important question, which, as has been +just said, is the last a woman can put to herself. She had seen her +admirers, one after another, come and look in her face, and continue +their visits, their smiles, and their conversation for a season, and +then go away and leave her, as if they had got nothing else to do. She +had spent a considerable portion of her life, as has been already +observed, in serving the lieges in and about the place of her +nativity—to no purpose, as it appeared; at least, in so far as the +getting of the husband was concerned, nothing had been effected. The +proper season for securing this desideratum of the female world was +fast wearing away; something, she saw, must of necessity be done; and, +thinking that women, like some other commodities, might sell better at +a distance than at home, she engaged herself as a servant on the +little farm of <i>Howdycraigs</i>—a place situated among that portion of +the Ochils already noticed.</p> + +<p>When she entered upon this engagement, which was to last for a year, +she was spoken of as "a weel <i>reikit</i> lass"—the meaning of which +phrase is, that she had already pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>vided what was considered a +woman's part of the furnishing of a house; and some of the sober +matrons "wondered what had come owre a' the lads noo," and said, "they +were sure Nelly Kilgour wad mak a better wife than ony o' thae young +glaikit hizzies wha carried a' their reikin to the kirk on their back +ilka Sabbath." But, of Nelly's being made a wife, there was no +prospect; she was <i>three-and-thirty</i>; so far as was known, no lover +had ever ventured to throw himself upon his knees before her, begging +to be permitted to kiss her <i>foot</i>, and threatening, at the same time, +to <i>hang himself</i>, if she did not consent to be his better half; still +there was no appearance of any one doing so; and those who delighted +in tracing effects back to their proper causes, began to recollect +that her mother, "when she was a thoughtless lassie," had once given +some offence to one of the witches, who were accused of holding +nightly revels in the glen; and the witch, by way of retaliation, had +said, that "the bairn unborn would maybe hae cause to rue its mother's +impudence." Nelly had been born after this oracular saying was +uttered; and the aged dames who remembered it doubted not that this +was the true cause of her celibacy. And when they heard that she was +engaged to go to Howdycraigs at Martinmas, and that Jock Jervis was +engaged to go there also, they said that, "if it hadna been for the +witch's ill <i>wisses</i>, they were sure Nelly would mak baith a better +sweetheart and a better wife to Jock, than that licht-headed limmer, +Lizzy Gimmerton."</p> + +<p>From this the reader will perceive that Jock and Nelly were to be +fellow-servants; he was the only man, and she was the only woman—the +master and mistress excepted—about the place; and much of their time +was necessarily spent together. During the stormy days of winter, when +he was thrashing in the barn, she was employed in <i>shakin the strae</i> +and <i>riddlin the corn</i>, which he had separated from the husks; and in +the long evenings, while she was wash<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>ing the dishes, or engaged in +spinning, he sat by the fire telling stories about lads and lasses, +markets and tent-preachings, and sometimes he even sung a verse or two +of a song, to keep her from wearying. On these occasions, she would +tuck up the sleeves of her short-gown an inch or two beyond the +ordinary extent, or allow her neckerchief to sink a little lower than +usual, for the purpose, as is supposed, of showing him that she was +not destitute of charms, and that her arms and neck, where not exposed +to the weather, were as white as those of any lady in the land. In +such circumstances, Jock, who was really a lad of some spirit, could +not refrain from throwing his arms about her waist, and toozling her +for a kiss. This was, no doubt, the very reverse of what she had +anticipated; and to these unmannerly efforts on the part of the youth, +she never failed to offer a becoming resistance, by turning away her +head, to have the place threatened as far from the danger as +possible—raising her hand, and holding it between their faces, so as +to retard the progress of the enemy, at least for a time; and, lest +these defensive operations should be misunderstood, uttering some such +deprecatory sentence as the following:—"Hoot! haud awa, Jock! If ye +want a kiss, gang and kiss Lizzy Gimmerton, and let me mind my wark." +But it has been ascertained by the ablest engineers that the most +skilfully-constructed and most bravely-defended fortifications must +ultimately fall into the hands of a besieging army, if it be only +properly provided, and persevere in the attack. This theory is no +longer disputed, and the present case is one among a number of +instances in which its truth has been experimentally proved. Jock was +provided with a certain degree of strength, and a most laudable +portion of perseverance in these matters, and, in spite of all the +resistance which Nelly could offer, he was in general triumphant; +after which she could only sigh and look down, as she threatened him +with some ter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>rible vengeance, such as—"makin his parritch without +saut," or "giving him sour milk to his sowans at supper-time," or +doing something else which would seriously annoy him. At these +threatenings the victor only laughed, and not unfrequently, too, he +renewed the battle and repeated the offence, by robbing her of another +kiss. To reclaim him from these wicked ways, she could only repeat her +former threatenings—adding, perhaps, to their number anything new +which happened to come into her head; but then, like those mothers who +think threatening is enough, and who, by sparing the rod, sometimes +spoil the child, she always forgot to inflict the punishment when the +opportunity for doing so occurred; and Jock, as a natural consequence +of this remissness on the part of the <i>executive</i>, became hardened in +his transgressions.</p> + +<p>But, when not engaged in these battles, Jock was rather kind to Nelly +than otherwise; sometimes he assisted her with such parts of her work +as a man could perform; and sometimes, too, when the evening was wet +or stormy, to save her from going out, he would take her pitchers of +his own accord, and "bring in a raik o' water." This kindness Nelly +was careful to repay by mending his coat, darning his stockings, and +performing various other little services for him. When the faculty of +observation has few objects upon which to exercise itself, little +things become interesting; this interchange of good offices was soon +noticed by the wise women of the neighbourhood, and, as they knew of +only one cause from which such things could proceed, to that cause +they attributed them, making certain in their own minds that the whole +secret would, some day or other, be brought before the parish by the +session-clerk. Such was the general belief; and whether it was "the +birds of the air," as Solomon saith, or whether it was the beggars and +<i>chapmen</i>, occasionally quartered at Howdycraigs, who "carried the +matter," is of little importance;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> but in time the whole of the facts, +with the inferences drawn therefrom, reached Nelly's former +acquaintances, and then, for some reason which has never been +satisfactorily explained, they saw occasion entirely to alter their +previous opinion. Instead of saying, as they had done before, that +"Nelly <i>wud</i> mak a guid wife to Jock—'<i>at she wud</i>," they now said, +that "Jock, wha was scarcely outgane nineteen, was owre young ever to +think o' marryin an auld hizzie o' three-and-thirty like her;" that +"the carryin o' the water, and the darnin o' the stockins, <i>wud</i> a' +end in naething;" that "Jock <i>wud</i> be far better without her;" and +when they recollected the implied malediction of the witch, they +considered that it was as impossible for her to be his wife, as it is +for potatoes to grow above ground; and concluded the discussion with a +pious wish "that she micht aye be keepit in the richt road."</p> + +<p>In the course of the winter, Jock had been absent for several nights, +during which he was understood to have braved the terrors of witch, +ghost, and fairy, in going to see Lizzie Gimmerton; but Nelly took no +further notice of the circumstance than by asking "if he had seen +naething about the glen." On these occasions he promptly denied having +been "near the glen;" and Nelly, whether she believed him or not, was +obliged to be satisfied. But this gave her an opportunity, of which +she never failed to avail herself, to give him a friendly caution to +"tak care o' himsel when he gaed that airt after it was dark;" nor did +she forget to assign a proper reason for her care over him, by +reminding him of as many of the supernatural sights which had been +seen in this region as she could remember. These hints were not +without their effect; for, as the spring, which was said to be a +particularly dangerous season, advanced, Jock's nocturnal wanderings +were nearly discontinued. But Abernethy Market, which, time out of +mind, had been held between the 20th and the 30th of May, was now +approaching,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> and to this important period the parties in question +looked forward with very different feelings. <i>Markets</i> have frequently +changed the destinies of lads and lasses in the same manner as +<i>revolutions</i> have sometimes changed the dynasties of kings—the +latter always aiming at subverting an established government; the +former is often the means of overthrowing an empire in the heart; and, +for these reasons, both should be avoided by all who would wish to +live at peace. Jock looked forward to the pleasure which he should +have in spending a whole day with the peerless Lizzie +Gimmerton—stuffing her pockets with <i>sweeties</i> and gingerbread, and +paying innumerable compliments to her beauty the while; and poor Nelly +apprehended nothing less than the loss of every particle of that +influence which she had some reason for supposing she now possessed +over him. In this dilemma, she resolved to accompany him to the scene +of action, and there to watch the revolutions of the wheel of fortune, +if peradventure anything in her favour might turn up.</p> + +<p>"Jock," said she, on the evening previous to the important day, "I'm +gaun wi' ye to the market, and ye maun gie me my market-fare."</p> + +<p>At this announcement Jock scratched his head, looked demure for a +little, and appeared as though he would have preferred solitude to +society in the proposed expedition. But he could find no excuse for +declining the honour thus intended him. He recollected, moreover, +that, as he had been the better for Nelly's care in time past, so her +future favour was essential to his future comfort, and that it would +be prejudicial in the last degree to his interest to offend her. After +having thought of these things, in a time infinitely shorter than that +in which they can be spoken of, Jock sagely determined to yield to +"necessity," which, according to the common proverb, "has no law." He +also determined to watch the revolutions of the wheel of for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>tune, in +the hope that his own case might come uppermost. But, for the present +putting on as good a grace as he could, "Aweel, aweel, Nelly," said +he, "I'll be unco glad o' your company; for to say, the truth, I dinna +like very weel to gang through the glen my lane. If it hadna been for +you, the feint a <i>fit</i> would have been at my stockings langsyne; and +as ye aye darned them, and mendit the knees o' my breeks, and the +elbows o' my coat forby, it would be ill o' my pairt no to gie you +your market-fare. Sae we can e'en gang thegither; and if we dinna lose +ither i' the thrang, I'll maybe get you to come owre the hill wi' at +nicht."</p> + +<p>"Mind noo ye've promised," said Nelly, highly pleased with the +reception her proposal had met;—"mind ye've promised to come hame wi' +me; and there's no ane in a' the warld I would like sae weel to come +hame wi' as our ain Jock."</p> + +<p>"I'll mind that," said Jock. But, notwithstanding what he said, he had +no intention of coming home with Nelly; his thoughts ran in another +direction; he had merely spoken of the thing because he fancied it +would <i>please</i>; the idea of her presence, as matters now stood, was +anything but agreeable to him; and he trusted to the chapter of +accidents for "losing her i' the thrang," as himself would have said, +and thus regaining his freedom.</p> + +<p>On the following day they journeyed together to the scene of popular +confusion—whiling away the time with such conversation as their +knowledge of courtships, marriages, births, baptisms, and burials, +could supply. Nelly frequently looked in Jock's face, to try if she +could read his thoughts; but somehow, in the present instance, his +eyes were either turned upon the ground, or seized with an unwonted +wandering. At one time he kept carefully examining the road, as though +he had lost a shilling; at another he surveyed the tops of the distant +hills with as much care as if he had been speculating upon their +heights and dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>tances. And while these intelligencers were thus +employed, she could read but little; yet, nevertheless, his manner was +courteous; and in their conduct and conversation they exhibited a fine +specimen of that harmony which, in most instances, results from a wish +to please and to be pleased on the part of the female.</p> + +<p>On arriving at the market, Jock soon discovered the mistress of his +affections in the person of Lizzie Gimmerton. But, in the plenitude of +her power, and the extent of her dominion, she had become capricious, +as despotic sovereigns are very apt to do; and nettled, as it +appeared, at the long intervals which had lately occurred between the +times of his making obeisance at her throne, she had chosen another +sweetheart, whom she now dignified with the honour of leading her from +place to place, and showing her off to the admiring multitude. +Supported by this new minister, she seemed to pay no attention to the +smiles and sly winks with which Jock greeted her; but still he did not +despair of being the successful candidate, if he were only left at +liberty to offer the full amount of his devotion; and to this object +he now began to direct his thoughts.</p> + +<p>A certain chapman had displayed a number of necklaces, and other showy +trinkets of little value, upon his stand, which was thus the most +brilliantly-decorated of any in the market. This had drawn together a +crowd of purchasers, and other people, who were anxious to see the +sparkling wares. Men civilly pushed aside men, and maidens pushed +aside maidens, while each appeared eager to have a peep at some +particular article, or to learn the price thereof; and to this place +Jock drew Nelly, under pretence of giving her her market-fare from +among the gewgaws which it afforded. But, while she was looking about +for something which "she might wear for his sake," as she said, and +which, at the same time, would be an easy purchase, he contrived to +jostle rather rudely the people on both sides of him, making them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +jostle those who stood next them, and those again perform the same +operation on others at a greater distance. This, as he had +anticipated, soon produced a universal hubbub; every one, to be +avenged for the insult or injury he had sustained, thrust his elbows +into the sides of such as he supposed were the aggressors. These were +not slow to retaliate. In a short time the innocent and the guilty +were involved in the same confusion; and, while the precious wares of +the packman, and the persons of his customers, were both in imminent +danger, Jock started off, leaving Nelly to make the best of her way +out of a bad bargain. He had now obtained his freedom; and in a +twinkling he was by the side of Lizzie Gimmerton, whom he found at +another stand, receiving the benediction of her new jo in the form of +a "pennyworth of <i>peppermint-drops</i>."</p> + +<p>"How are ye the day, Lizzie?" said he, in tones so tender, that he had +supposed they would melt any heart which was less hard than Clatchert +Craig.</p> + +<p>"No that ill, Jock," was the reply; "how are ye yersel? and how's +Nelly?"</p> + +<p>And therewith the damsel put her arm in that of her companion, whom +she now permitted, or rather urged, to lead her away; and, as he did +so, she turned on Jock a side-long look, accompanied by a sort of +smile, which told him, in terms not to be mistaken, that he was not +her only sweetheart, and that, at present, he was not likely to be a +successful one.</p> + +<p>If we could form such a thing as a proper conception of one who, in +attempting to ascend a throne, stumbled, fell below it, and, in +looking up from thence, saw another seated in his place, perhaps we +should have some idea of Jock's feelings on this occasion. Like a true +hero, he, no doubt, thought of thrashing his rival's skin for him; but +then this was by no means doing the whole of the work, for it was +Lizzie Gimmerton who had led away the man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> and not the man who had +led away Lizzie Gimmerton; and, though the man were thrashed into +chaff, Lizzie Gimmerton might very probably find as many more as she +pleased, willing to be led away in the same manner, which, in the end, +might entail upon Jock the labour of thrashing half the people in the +market, not to mention the risk which he would run of being thrashed +himself. Finding that this plan would not do, it were difficult to say +if he did not entertain serious thoughts of making a pilgrimage to the +River Earn, for the purpose of drowning himself, or of taking signal +vengeance upon the hard-hearted maiden in some other way; but, as +farther speculations upon the subject, in the existing state of our +information, must be purely conjectural, it were absurd to follow +them. In the beginning of his despair, he looked down, as men very +naturally do; but, in the middle of it, he looked up, to see what was +to be done, and there he saw Nelly, who was not so easily "lost i' the +thrang" as he had imagined, standing close beside him, and regarding +him with a look of real compassion, which contrasted strongly with the +malicious smile of the other damsel.</p> + +<p>"Dinna vex yersel owre sair, Jock," said she, "though Lizzie's awa wi' +anither lad; when he leaves her, I'll warrant she'll be glad to see ye +again."</p> + +<p>"The deil confound her and her lads baith!" said Jock, his despair +beginning to pass off in a passion. "If ever I gae near her again, may +I fa' and brak my leg i' the first burn I cross! Ye're worth at least +five dozen o' her yersel, Nelly; and, if ye can let byganes be +byganes, and gang wi' me through the market, I'll let her see, afore +lang, that I can get anither sweetheart, though she should gang and +hang hersel!"</p> + +<p>This sudden change in Jock's sentiments must have been produced by +what is commonly called a <i>reaction</i>. But Nelly, who had no +inclination for being thus shown off,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> tried to persuade him to desist +from his present purpose.</p> + +<p>"Na, na, Jock," said she, "we'll no gang trailin through the market +like twa <i>pointers</i> tethered thegither wi' a string, for fear the +youngest ane should rin aff. But, if ye like, Ise try to keep sicht o' +ye; and, if ye like too, we'll gang hame afore it's late, for it wad +vex me sair to see you spendin your siller <i>unwordily</i>, and still +sairer to hear tell o' ye gettin ony fricht about the glen. Sae, if ye +think me worth your while, we can gang hame thegither, and I'll tak +your arm after we're on the road. If a lad hae ony wark wi' a lass, or +a lass ony wark wi' a lad, it's no the best way to be lettin a' the +warld ken about it."</p> + +<p>With her care, and the wisdom of her counsel upon this occasion, Jock +felt sensibly touched.</p> + +<p>"Aweel, Nelly," said he, "I'll e'en tak your advice; ye never +counselled me to do a wrang thing in your life, and I'll gang hame wi' +ye ony time ye like. But come away," he continued, "and look out some +grand thing for your market-fare. I've ten shillings i' my pouch—no +ae bawbee o't spent yet; and, be what it like, if that'll buy't, yese +no want it."</p> + +<p>In compliance with his wishes, they began to look about for the +article in question; but Nelly, who had lived long enough to know the +value of money, would suffer him to purchase nothing of an expensive +nature; and, after some friendly expostulation, a pair of scissors was +agreed upon, for which he paid sixpence, and she put them in her +pocket, observing, at the same time, that "they would be o' mair use +to her than twenty ells o' riband, or a hale pouchfu o' <i>sweeties</i>."</p> + +<p>"I've often wondered," said she, "if a lass could hae ony <i>real</i> likin +for a lad, when she was temptin him to fling awa his siller, buyin +whigmaleeries, to gar her look like an <i>antic</i> amang ither folk, or +how she thought a lad wha<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> would let his siller gang that gate, could +ever provide for the wants o' a house, if they should come to hae ane +o' their ain."</p> + +<p>Jock readily acknowledged the good sense of all this; he also +acknowledged to himself that young women with such sentiments were not +over and above being rife; and, though Nelly was not very young, he +thought her a more discerning lass than he had ever done before. They +therefore kept together during what remained of their stay; and, as +Jock's greatest fault was a propensity to spend his money on trifles, +Nelly easily persuaded him to accompany her home before the afternoon +was far advanced.</p> + +<p>They accordingly journeyed up the glen together; and, without +encountering either ghost, witch, or fairy, they had reached a part of +the road from which a house, a barn, and a byre, were to be seen. The +husband and wife were already home from the market, whither they had +gone to buy a cow, and standing at the end of the house with their +three children, the oldest of whom appeared to be a stout girl, beside +them. Such scenes seem to have a peculiar charm for women, and Nelly +was the first to notice it.</p> + +<p>"Look, Jock," said she, "yonder's Andrew Braikens and his wife hame +frae the market already. Dinna ye see them standing at the end o' +their house there, and their three bairns beside them, and baith +lookin as happy as the day's lang? Noo, Jock," she continued, looking +in his face as she spoke, "tak an example by them, and when ye get a +wife, if she's a guid ane, aye tak her advice afore ony ither body's, +and ye'll never hae cause to rue it. Afore Andrew was married, he ran +to a' the markets i' the round; he could never win hame that day he +gaed awa; his pouches were aye toom, and his duds were aften like to +bid him guid-day. Folk ca'd him a <i>weirdless cratur</i> and a +<i>ne'er-do-weel</i>; and when he fell in wi' Tibby Crawford, some o' them +said, if they were her, they wouldna tak him, and ithers leugh at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> him +for drawin up wi' an auld hizzie like her; but Tibby took Andrew, and +Andrew took Tibby's advice; and noo they've a haudin o' their ain, wi' +plenty o' baith meat and claes, and three bonny bairns into the +bargain."</p> + +<p>Jock seemed to listen more attentively to this harangue than he had +ever done to a sermon in his life. During the latter part of it he +appeared thoughtful; and, when it was concluded—"I've been thinkin," +said he, "that, as Andrew and Tibby hae come sae weel on——" Here he +seemed to have forgotten what he was about to say, and was silent.</p> + +<p>"Weel, Jock," said the other, "as I was gaun to say, there's Betsy +Braikens, a stout lassie already; she's Sandy Crawford's cousin, as ye +ken brawly, and troth I wouldna wonder muckle at seein her——"</p> + +<p>"Ou ay, Nelly," interrupted Jock; "but, as I was gaun to tell ye, I've +been thinkin——" Here, however, he again halted, and seemed to have +nothing farther to say.</p> + +<p>"I dinna ken what ye've been thinkin," said Nelly, after a +considerable pause; "but I think they would need to hae a hantle +patience that listen to your thoughts, for ye're unco lang o' coming +out wi' them. But, whatever they are, ye needna hesitate sae muckle in +tellin them to me, for I never telled a tale o' yours owre again in my +life."</p> + +<p>"It's no for that either," said Jock, laughing; "but I just thought +shame to speak about it, and yet there's nae ill in't, after a'. I've +been thinkin, aye since ye wouldna let me gie half-a-crown for yon +<i>strowl</i> o' lace i' the market, that you and me micht do waur than +make a bargain oorsels. I wad just need somebody like you to look +after me; and noo, Nelly, if you would promise to be my wife, I would +never seek anither."</p> + +<p>Nelly's countenance brightened up with a glow of satisfaction, such as +it had not exhibited for years, at hearing these words. But, striving +to suppress those unwonted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> feelings which were rising in her bosom, +and endeavouring to appear as unconcerned as before—"Hoot, Jock," was +her reply, "what need I promise?—though I were to mak twenty +promises, ye ken brawly that ye would just rin awa and leave me, to +follow the first bonny lass ye saw, at the next market or the next +tent-preachin; and then, <i>guid-day to ye, Nelly</i>."</p> + +<p>These words, though apparently intended to discourage Jock in his +suit, were spoken in such a manner as to produce a quite contrary +effect. We need not, however, repeat his vows and promises, and the +solemn oaths with which he confirmed them: they were such as have been +a thousand times made, and, sad to say, nearly as often broken, upon +similar occasions. But when they were concluded, though Nelly did not +speak, she <i>looked</i> a promise which, to Jock, was satisfactory! She +also allowed him to have a kiss without the customary battle, or, at +least, without a battle of the customary length; and for what remained +of that and the two following days, though she was three-and-thirty, +she looked almost as young as if she had been only two-and-twenty.</p> + +<p>But "pleasures," which everybody now likens to "poppies spread," are, +in most instances, short-lived. On the third day from Abernethy +Market, Betsy Braikens, in returning from Auchtermuchty, whither she +had been on some errand, called at Howdycraigs, "to speer for her +cousin, Sandy Crawford, who was the herd laddie, and to tell Nelly +Kilgour, of whom she had also some acquaintance, that Grizzy Glaiket +had haen a bairn to Geordy Gowkshanks. No ane kenned a single thing +about it afore it cam hame," continued the girl; "and, as he has +naething to enable him to pay for it, and her father is determined no +to let him gang, the folk say that he'll just hae to marry her."</p> + +<p>Geordy Gowkshanks was no other than the beau who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> had been seen +gallanting Lizzie Gimmerton through the market; and Nelly felt a +strange misgiving when she heard his name mentioned in the present +affair, for she doubted not, when matters stood thus, that some +attempt would be forthwith made to recall Jock to his former +allegiance. Nor was she long left in suspense; for Jock himself soon +came in for his dinner, and the girl exclaimed—"Losh, Jock, I'm glad +I've seen ye, for, if ye hadna come in, I would forgotten to tell ye +that I saw Lizzie last nicht, and when I telled her that I was comin +owre here on the morn, and that I would maybe see you, she bade me be +sure to speer if ye had gotten ony fricht wi' the witches about the +glen, or if ye was feared for the <i>croupie craws</i> fleein awa wi' ye +after it was dark, that ye never cam owre to see your auld +acquaintances about Abernethy noo!"</p> + +<p>These questions, and the new light which they threw upon an old +subject, made both Jock and Nelly look thoughtful, though it is +reasonable to suppose their thoughts ran in very different channels. +The effects of <i>reaction</i> have been already noticed; but, after +<i>reaction</i> has <i>acted</i>, there are such things as the <i>actions</i> +themselves beginning to <i>react</i>. Jock was now under the influence of +the last-mentioned principle. Its exact operations need not be +particularised; but, from that hour, his kindness to Nelly began to +abate, and she began to feel less comfortable under the change than +might have been expected from a discreet damsel of her years. On the +following night she slept but little; and next morning she rose +earlier than was her usual, and was just beginning to kindle up the +fire, when she heard Jock engaged in a low but earnest conversation +with the <i>herd laddie</i>. She was separated from them only by a thin +partition, or <i>clay hallan</i>, as it was called in those days, so that +she could easily hear what was passing; and, reprehensible as her +conduct in this respect may seem, she could not refrain from +listening.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I need a new bannet," said Jock; "and I'm gaun owre to Abernethy for +ane the morn's nicht—but mind, Sandy, ye maunna tell Nell whar I am; +and, if she happens to speer, ye can just say that I'm awa down to +Auchtermuchty for a pickle snuff."</p> + +<p>"Aweel, aweel," said the other, "I can haud my tongue. But what need +can there be for makin lees aboot it? I'll warrant Nell winna care how +aften ye gang to Abernethy."</p> + +<p>"I hae nae time to tell ye aboot it enow," said Jock; "but I'll maybe +tell ye afterhend—and mind, as your name's Sandy Crawford, dinna ye +speak aboot it; and I'll gie ye as muckle market-fare as ye can +devour, <i>gin</i> mid-simmer."</p> + +<p>As this conversation concluded, Nelly contrived to get into her bed +again without noise; and, covering herself up with the bedclothes, and +pretending to sleep, Jock passed through the kitchen without in the +least suspecting that she had become a party to his supposed secret. +From what she had heard, however, she saw plainly what was <i>brewing</i>, +and whither fate was tending. She saw that Lizzy Gimmerton's scheme +for once more attaching Jock to her interest had already succeeded; +and that, if he should "break both his leg and his neck in the first +burn he crossed," he had determined to go again and see her. But what +could she do to prevent things from taking their course? Like other +disconsolate maidens, she might lament in secret, and shed tears of +disappointment and sorrow without number—but this would by no means +mend the matter. Jock, she thought, would make a good husband, if he +had only a wife who knew how to manage him; but, unless something +extraordinary interposed, he was likely to get one who was a still +greater fool than himself; and, at this distance of time, it were +difficult to say how far <i>benevolence</i>, and a wish to prevent him from +making himself a mis-sworn man, might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> have a place in her +cogitations. She thought, also, that she would make a good wife, if it +were only her good fortune to get a husband; but, then, something or +other had always come to thwart her wishes in this respect; and even +now, when the prize seemed almost won, without a miracle, or +something, at least, out of the ordinary course of events, she stood a +fair chance for being again left in the lurch. She felt that it was a +sore matter to have hope from time to time deferred in this manner; +but what to do she could not exactly determine. She, however, +determined to leave nothing undone; and, after her, let none despair!</p> + +<p>Whether upon that morning the cows had given an extraordinary quantity +of milk, or whether Nelly had forgotten to empty the milking-pail of +water before she began to milk them, is not known; but, on coming in +from the byre, she could not, by any means, get the cogs to hold the +milk. Her mistress was called; and, after some consultation, Nelly +recollected that "Margaret Crawford"—who was the <i>herd laddie's</i> +mother—"had plenty o' milk-dishes; and she would maybe lend them a +cog or twa."</p> + +<p>"The drap milk that the cogs winna haud may stand i' the water-pitcher +afore supper-time," she continued; "and Sandy may rin owre to +Gairyburn, after he comes in, and stay a' nicht wi' his mither, and +get the cog, and be back next morning in time to tak oot the kye."</p> + +<p>This plan seemed at least feasible; and the farther prosecution of it +was left to Nelly.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter wi' the milk the nicht?" inquired Sandy, as Nelly +was hastening him with his supper.</p> + +<p>"I ken o' naething that can be the matter," was her reply—"but what's +the matter wi't, say ye?"</p> + +<p>"I dinna ken either," said the boy; "but it's turned terrible +blue-like, isn't it? I can compare it to naething but the syndins o' +my mither's sye-dish."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hoot! never mind the milk," rejoined Nelly; "but sup ye up yer supper +as fast as ye're able, and rin owre to yer mither, and tell her the +mistress sent ye to see if she could gie ye a len o' ane o' her +milk-cogs, for a fortnicht or sae, till the <i>first flush</i> gang aff +Hawky. Ye can stay a' nicht at Gairyburn," she added; "and ye'll be +back in braw time next morning to gang <i>out</i>."</p> + +<p>The boy seemed glad of an opportunity to spend a night in his paternal +home. His supper was soon despatched, and away he went.</p> + +<p>The shortsightedness of mortals has been a theme for the moralists of +all ages to descant upon; and Nelly, had her history been sooner +known, might have afforded them as good a subject as any which they +have hitherto discussed. Attached as she evidently was to Jock, had +her foresight extended so far as to show her what was to follow, she +would certainly have strained every nerve to prevent him from being +left alone on that momentous night. Alone, however, he was left; +and—as he lay dreaming of Lizzy Gimmerton, and the happiness he +should experience from finding himself again reinstated in her +favour—exactly at the solitary hour of midnight a most terrible +apparition entered his apartment. How it entered was never known; for +the <i>outer</i> door was securely locked; and the good people of the house +being, one and all, fast asleep, saw it not; but, as doors, windows, +walls, and roofs, afford no obstruction to an immaterial essence, its +entrance need not be matter of surprise. It was, in all respects save +one, a most legitimate ghost. A winding-sheet was wrapped round what +appeared to be its body; its head was tied up in a white handkerchief; +and its face and hands, where they were visible, were as white as the +drapery in which it was attired; but, then, in its right hand it +carried <i>a candle</i>—a thing which ghosts are not accustomed to do. +But, as there are exigencies among mortals which sometimes oblige<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +them to deviate from the common rules of conduct, the same things may, +perhaps, occur among ghosts. In the present instance, indeed, +something of the kind seemed to be indispensable; for, without such +aid, more than half its terrors would have been invisible. The candle, +moreover, was evidently the candle of a ghost; for it showed only a +small point of white flame in the middle, while around the edges it +burned as blue as <i>brimstone</i> itself. In short, the light which it +gave must have been a thousand times more appalling than that of those +flames which Milton emphatically calls "darkness visible."</p> + +<p>Jock, however, still continued to sleep, till it uttered a hollow +groan, which awakened him; and then, rubbing his eyes, to make certain +that he was not still dreaming, he stared at it in inexpressible +terror. It returned his stare with a steady look of defiance and a +horrible grin, which seemed to make the blood curdle at the remotest +extremity of his body. It, however, appeared willing to abide by the +law of ghosts, and to wait in silence till it should be spoken to. But +Jock had already lost the power of speech. His erected hair had nearly +thrown off his nightcap; his tongue seemed to have fallen back into +his throat; not even a scream of terror could he utter, far less an +articulate sound; and it might have waited till morning, or till the +end of time, before an accent of his had set it at liberty to deliver +its message. But here it showed itself possessed of something like +"business habits," or at least of ten times more sense than the +majority of those ghosts who, "at the crowing of the cock," have been +obliged to run off without having effected anything except perhaps +frightening some rustic nearly out of his wits. When <i>it</i> saw no +prospect of being spoken to, it spoke; and in this its example should +be imitated by all future ghosts.</p> + +<p>"Jock Jervis," it said, in tones so hollow and so sepulchral, that no +further doubts could be entertained of its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> authority—"Jock Jervis, +ye ken the promises and the solemn oaths ye've made already to Nelly +Kilgour; and if ye dinna fulfil thae promises, and mak her yer married +wife afore a fortnicht is at an end, ye maun gang to hell-fire, to be +burned for a mis-sworn loon. And mair than a' that, if ye prove +fause-hearted, I'll choke ye wi' this windin-sheet, and fling ye owre +my shouther, and carry ye to Arangask kirkyard, and gie ye to the +witches, to pick your banes ahint the aisle, afore ye get leave to +gang aff the earth."</p> + +<p>Having uttered this terrible malediction, it shook its winding-sheet, +and then waved the candle round its head. The <i>white</i> part of the +flame immediately disappeared; the <i>blue</i> parted into a thousand +fragments, and flew through the apartment in as many directions, like +infernal meteors.</p> + +<p>While these appalling phenomena were passing before the eyes of the +terrified spectator, the ghost had disappeared, he could scarcely tell +how, and in a moment more all was dark—awfully dark. But of those +terrific sparkles which the candle had emitted in going out, one had +fallen on Jock's hand, which happened to be lying out of the +bedclothes, and there it continued to sputter and to burn most +distressingly blue, till the pain, which, in this case, amounted to +torment, and the absence of the ghost, restored his speech; or, at +least, restored him the use of his tongue. He roared out most lustily +for comfort in his distress, and for assistance against his spiritual +enemies, in case they should reappear; and the noise which he thus +made soon alarmed Nelly, who, with her under-petticoat hastily thrown +on, and wanting the whole of her upper garments, came into the +apartment, holding a half-trimmed lamp in her hand, rubbing her eyes, +and alternately speaking to herself and him.</p> + +<p>"Sic a noise I never heard i' my life; and yet I dinna like to gae +near him afore I get my claes on; but that's awfu—Jock, man, what's +the matter wi' ye? Na, no ae word will he speak, but roar and cry as +if somebody were stickin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> him. Jock, man, it's me—it's your auld +acquaintance, Nelly, but tell me, Jock, hae ye gane clean out o' yer +judgment?"</p> + +<p>"O Nelly, Nelly!" said Jock, "is't you—is't you?—gie's a haud o' yer +hand, woman—oh, gie's a haud o' yer hand, for I canna speak."</p> + +<p>"Atweel no," said Nelly; "if ye had on yer claes, and were butt at the +kitchen fire, I micht maybe gie ye my hand, if it were to do ye guid; +but, as lang as ye lie there, and roar and squall that gate, ye needna +look for a hand o' mine."</p> + +<p>"Aweel, Nelly, I canna help it," said the other. "I'll never be at the +kitchen fire again, I fear; and if ye dinna gie me your hand, ye'll +maybe repent it when it's owre late; for I canna stand this lang, and +I'll no be lang to the fore. My hand's burnin as if it were in a +smiddy fire; but that's naething. Oh, if I could only touch somebody, +to let me ken it's flesh and blood that I'm speakin till."</p> + +<p>On hearing that he was really in pain, Nelly could no longer stand +back. "Dear me," said she, "what can be the matter wi' ye?" and, as +she spoke, she took his hand in hers to examine it with the lamp. +"It's burned, I declare!" she continued, in a tone of sympathy, which +appeared somewhat to comfort him; "how did that happen? But I maun rin +for some <i>sour 'ream</i> to rub it wi'."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Nelly," said Jock, grasping her hand firmly in his, to detain +her, and now considerably relieved by the consciousness that he was in +the presence of one who had hands and arms, and a body of flesh and +blood like his own; "dinna leave me," he continued, "and I'll tell ye +a' about it. It's no five minutes yet since I saw a ghaist—oh dear, +oh dear! it gars my very blood rin cauld o' thinkin on't—and it said, +if I dinna marry you in less than a fortnicht, I maun gang to +hell-fire to be burned, for the promises I made i' the glen. O Nelly, +Nelly, tak pity on me, and let the marriage be on Monanday, or Tysday +at farrest."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You're surely wrang, Jock," was the reply; "if the ghaist kenned +onything ava, it would ken brawly that ye had nae wark wi' me. It had +been Lizzie Gimmerton it bade ye tak, and ye had just taen up the tale +wrang."</p> + +<p>"Na, na," rejoined the other; "it was you—it was Nelly Kilgour. Oh, +I'll never forget its words!—and if ye winna tak pity on me, what am +I to do?"</p> + +<p>"Ye needna speer what ye're to do at me," said Nelly; "but it seems +the ghaist and you maun think that ye can get me to <i>marry</i> ony time +ye like, just as ye would get a pickle strae to gather up ahint your +horse on a mornin. But I daresay, after a', the ghaist would ken +brawly that it needna sent you to Lizzie upon sic an errand, for the +first lad that would gang awa wi' her, she would gang awa wi' him, and +leave you to whistle on your thumb or your forefinger, if it answered +you better; and yet ye micht gang owre <i>the morn's nicht</i>, and gie her +a trial."</p> + +<p>The awful words, "hell-fire," and "pick your banes at the back o' the +aisle," were still ringing in Jock's ears. Nelly's observation seemed +to preclude all hope of escape from the terrible doom which they +plainly denounced, and he groaned deeply, but did not speak: this was +what the other could not endure, and she now tried to comfort him in +the best manner she could.</p> + +<p>"I'm no sayin," she resumed, "but I would tak ye, rather than see ony +ill come owre ye, if ye would only promise to gie up your glaikit +gates, and to do your best to keep yoursel and me comfortable." Here +she was interrupted by the guidman, who, like herself, had been +awakened by the first alarm; but, in coming into the kitchen, and +hearing only Jock and her conversing together, he had thought it best +to dress himself before he entered upon an investigation of the +matter. He was now at the bedside, however, and anxious to learn what +had occasioned such an uproar. And Jock, who had been partly recovered +from his terror by Nelly's presence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> and partly by her assurance that +she would become his wife rather than see him carried away by his +spiritual foe, began to give them a most sublime account of the ghost.</p> + +<p>"I canna tell ye hoo it cam in," said he, "for it was i' the middle o' +the floor afore I was waukin. But when I first opened my een, there it +stood wi' three or four windin-sheets about it, and its head rowed up +in a white clout, and its face and its hands a hantle whiter than +either the windin-sheet or the clout—only I thought I saw some earth +stickin on that side o' its nose that was farrest frae the licht. But +what was a thousand times waur than a' that, it had a cannel in its +hand that micht weel hae terrified a hale army o' sodgers; and I aye +think yet, it had been the deevil himsel, and nae ghaist, for the +cannel had just a wee <i>peek</i> o' white low i' the middle, and a' round +the edges it burned as blue as a blawort, and bizzed and spitted, and +threw out sparks like blue starns. And after it had telled me what +I've telled you, it gae the cannel a wave round its head, and then the +hale hoose, wa's, roof, and riggin, gaed a' in a blue low; and I saw +the ghaist flee up through the couple bauks as clear as ever I saw the +owsen afore me when the sun was shinin! But I could stand nae mair, +for I steekit my een, and I'm sure I lay dead for near an hour. But +when I cam to life again, the hale house was filled wi' a smell o' +brimstane that would putten down a' the bees'-skeps i' the yard; and +my richt hand was burning just as if ye had dippit it in a tar-kettle, +and then set a lunt till't; but it was ten times waur than tar, for it +had the smell o' brimstane, and it would scarcely gang out. The pain +garred me roar as I never roared in a' my life afore; and I'm sure +I'll never forget the relief I felt when Nelly cam to see what had +happened."</p> + +<p>As an evidence of the truth of this account, Jock showed them his +hand, upon which a portion of the skin was really burned as black as a +cinder. The goodman and the good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>wife, both of whom were now present, +stood astonished at this circumstance; but Nelly, who had evinced a +considerable degree of composure in this trying scene, now appeared +less dismayed.</p> + +<p>"Hoot, man!" said she, addressing Jock, "dinna gang out o' your wits +though ye've gotten a fear; mony a ane has seen a ghaist, and lived to +see their bairns' bairns after a'—sae may ye, if ye would only tak +heart again."</p> + +<p>"O Nelly, Nelly," said Jock, "I micht maybe tak heart, if ye would +only promise faithfully, afore witnesses, to let yoursel be married +next week."</p> + +<p>"What need I promise," rejoined Nelly, "when, for onything I ken, ye +may be gaun to see Lizzie Gimmerton <i>the morn's nicht</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Oh dear! oh dear!" ejaculated Jock. Again the terrible denunciation +of the ghost rang in his ears, and again he groaned in an agony of +despair. But here the master and mistress interposed in his behalf, +and, by their mediation, Nelly was at last brought to consent to that +important change in her condition which alone would save him from +perdition. She still insisted, however, on making conditions; and +these were, <i>first</i>, that he should not go to a market except when he +had some business to transact; <i>second</i>, that, upon these occasions, +he should always take her along with him, if she was willing to go; +<i>third</i>, that he should never enter upon any important concern without +first apprising her of it; and, <i>fourth</i>, that he should always come +home to his own fireside when his day's work was done.</p> + +<p>These conditions were readily subscribed by Jock, or, which is the +same thing, they were agreed to before witnesses, after which Nelly +frankly consented to be his wife. When this had been settled, she +would have made out another set of conditions, specifying what her own +conduct was to be, and what he might expect of her in certain +situations; but Jock had determined on making an unconditional<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +surrender of himself and his effects into her hands; and all she was +permitted to say was, that "she would do her best to mak a guid wife +to him."</p> + +<p>Matters were thus far satisfactorily adjusted; but still Jock could +not rest till his promised bride was <i>contracket</i>, as he phrased it; +and, to free his mind from those remains of terror under which he +still laboured, the master of the house went in quest of the dominie +as soon as daylight began to appear. Dominies are seldom slow in these +matters; a contract of marriage was forthwith drawn up in the usual +form; due proclamation of their intentions was made in the church next +Sabbath; and, as the case was an urgent one, they were cried out in +the same day. On Monday the marriage was solemnised in a becoming +manner; and, when the parties were put to bed, Jock, who had up to +that moment been rather feverish on the subject of the ghost, declared +that "he wasna feared noo."</p> + +<p>Had this marriage been brought about by ordinary means, it might have +staggered some of the lieges in their faith—at least it must have +taxed their ingenuity to reconcile the event, happening as it had +done, in the face of a plain prediction, with the unlimited power +which the witches certainly possessed; but, as it was, the matter +needed no comment. The decision of the witch had evidently been +reversed in the court of the ghosts, who, from being a superior order, +had power to do such things; and thus Nelly Kilgour had got a husband, +even after she had been predestined, by the former of these +authorities, to a life of single blessedness.</p> + +<p>Jock had also good reason to congratulate himself on the intervention +of his spiritual <i>friend</i>—the ghost being no longer regarded as an +enemy; for, in less than six months from the date of his marriage, +Lizzie Gimmerton was discovered to be in a condition which would have +been rather derogatory to his fame, had she been his yoke-fellow. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +was acknowledged upon all hands, however, that he had got a better +bargain. In a few weeks after the marriage, his appearance was so much +improved, that people, of their own accord, began to call him <i>John</i>; +and, in another month, his wife was the only individual who still +persisted in calling him <i>Jock</i>. But this, in her case, was, as it +appeared, "habit and repute," and could not be easily altered. Whoever +had an empty snuff-box, Jock's was always full; whoever might be seen +at church with coarse or ill-washed linen, Jock was not among the +number; whoever went to the public-house, or to the houses of their +neighbours, for amusement, Jock came always home "to his ain +fireside;" and, when others were heard to complain of the +thriftlessness of their wives, he only said that "he had aye been a +hantle better since he got Nelly than ever he was afore."</p> + +<p>In conclusion, it may be remarked, that, though Nelly was evidently +the <i>managing partner</i>, she gave herself no airs of superiority. She +seldom did anything without taking her husband's advice; but, while +she sought, she tried to direct his opinion into the proper channel, +by pointing out what was likely to be results of the affair, if it +were conducted in such a manner; and thus his advice was, in general, +only an echo of her own sentiments. If Jock, in the presence of +others, directed her to do anything, she, in general, did it, without +questioning its propriety; but, if she thought it was wrong, she +represented the case to him when they were by themselves—telling him, +at the same time, that "she just did it to please him, though she +thought it was wrang." Upon these occasions, his common reply was—</p> + +<p>"Deed ay, Nelly, I daresay ye're richt. I dinna aye see sae far afore +me as ye do; but I'm sure, wi' a' my fauts, ye canna say but I like ye +as weel yet as ever I did."</p> + +<p>"Deed do ye," was frequently Nelly's rejoinder; "and proud am I to +think that my ain Jock aye likes his ain wife better than ither +folk."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + +<p>Within a year after their marriage, Nelly made her husband the father +of a female child, who was christened Jenny Jervis. In a few years, +their united industry enabled them to stock the little farm of +Rummledykes—of which they were so fortunate as to obtain a <i>tack</i>. +The place consisted, for the most part, of pasture ground; but Jock +laboured assiduously to improve and cultivate it. Nelly, by her +management of the dairy, contributed materially to increase their +possessions; and here we must leave them, contented and happy, for the +present—promising, however, to give the reader some glimpses of their +subsequent history—and perhaps some hints, too, which may enable him +to form his own conjectures as to those supernatural appearances which +brought about their union—in a future story.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE GHOST OF GAIRYBURN.</h2> + + +<p>In the fulfilment of our promise of "a future story," which we made at +the termination of "The Ghost of Howdycraigs," we may premise thus:—</p> + +<p>It would be both trite and bombastic to say, as some orators have +done, that "time rolls on;" and yet it is wholly owing to their having +been so often repeated, that such sayings excite no interest, and the +subjects to which they refer pass unnoticed; for, however we may +forget the truth, or however the regular recurrence of evening and +morning, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, may make us callous +to the result which these revolutions are destined to produce, nothing +can be more certain than that Time never pauses in his career. His +progress may be observed, not only in those great events which give +birth to new eras in the history of the world—in the overthrow of +ancient empires, the extinction of ancient dynasties, and the +discovery of new countries: it may be traced in the occurrences of +every year, every month, and almost of every day. The connections of +families, the numbers of which they are composed, their relative +position in society, and their prospects in life, are undergoing +perpetual changes. Changeable as are the fortunes, so are the minds +and the emotions of men: one hour they laugh, another they weep; and, +perhaps, the very next hour they laugh again; while events the most +important and the most trifling, the most solemn and the most +ludicrous, mingle together, and follow each other by a law which fools +our powers of investigation, and baffles our understanding.</p> + +<p>Eighteen years had nearly elapsed since the period at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> which the +former part of this history concludes; and <i>the Ghost of Howdycraigs</i> +was nearly forgotten. Betsy Braikens, who was then only a girl, was +now a full-grown woman, who, for the last eight or nine of the +above-mentioned years, would not have been irreconcilably offended +with a well-looking sweetheart for proposing to make her his wife. Her +brother James, who, in the same interval, had arrived at man's estate, +had been endeavouring, not very successfully, for some time past to +establish himself as a merchant in Perth; and his cousin, Sandy +Crawford, whom the reader will recollect as the herd laddie at +Howdycraigs, had, by the death of his father, been promoted to be +tacksman of Gairyburn; upon which place he resided with his mother. +Jenny Jervis, too, with whose birth the preceding story concludes, was +by this time a lass upon whom those who were neither too young nor too +old might have looked with as much interest at least as it is common +to bestow on a maiden in her eighteenth year. It is also probable that +she herself had begun to steal an occasional glance at the young men +of the district, as she saw them passing on the road, or assembled at +their rustic sports; and to recollect, when her mind was otherwise +unoccupied, that one was tall, that another had dark eyes, that a +third had a smiling countenance; and, perhaps, that a fourth united +all these charms in his proper person.</p> + +<p>It was the middle of winter, or what is commonly called "the daft +days," which has long been a season of festivity to the rich, and, in +so far as circumstances will permit, to the poor also. The cottagers +were invited to each other's houses, to spend an evening in +forgetfulness of care. Cakes, cheese, and ale, supplied them with a +cheap, and, at the same time, a cheery repast. The old people talked +of bygone times, and the feats of dexterity or strength which they had +performed in their youth, with all the enthusiasm of heroes when +"fighting their battles over again;" while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> the young ones looked in +each other's faces, and laughed heartily at little jests. +Unpremeditated compliments were paid in off-handed profusion; old and +incredible stories were revived; and, in the words of Goldsmith, "news +much older than their ale went round;" but, whatever might be their +age, at such seasons they were certain to produce as much merriment as +upon the occasion when they were first produced. To conclude the +picture—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The nappy reek'd wi' mantling 'ream,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And shed a heart-inspiring stream;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And luntin pipe and sneeshin mill<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Were handed round wi' richt guid-will."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Sandy Crawford and his mother had been invited to "get their cakes," +and spend the evening with John Jervis and his wife. They came, +according to custom; and, after the cheese, the oaten bread, and the +ale had been sent round in the usual manner—</p> + +<p>"Troth, Nelly," said Margaret Crawford, addressing her hostess, "your +Jenny's turned a perfect woman, I declare. Sic an odds there's on her +within the last twalmonth! Mony a time I look at her when she's gaun +past; and, to say the truth, ye may weel be proud o' yer dochter, for +I dinna see a bonnier lassie i' the hale country-side than she is."</p> + +<p>"Beauty is only skin-deep," said Nelly, with a smile of satisfaction, +which showed how highly she appreciated the quality in her daughter +which she pretended to undervalue. "But the lassie's weel aneugh, +though she were nae freend o' mine. And noo, Sandy," she continued, in +a jesting tone, and turning from the mother to the son as she spoke, +"what think ye o' her for a wife? Yer mither seems to be unco weel +pleased wi' her; I'm sure I would like weel to see ye gang thegither, +and I dinna think our Jock would say onything against sic a marriage."</p> + +<p>"Hoot, woman," interrupted her husband, "were I to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> haver like you, I +would say that, if I thought she would only turn out half as guid a +wife to him as you've dune to me, I would maist advise him to tak her; +but she's our ain bairn, and we should haud our tongues."</p> + +<p>"That's as true as ye hae said it," rejoined Nelly; "fathers and +mithers should say little on sic a subject; but as this is a nicht on +which a'body haver, ye maun just allow me to haver too: when folk only +haver for diversion, it can do little ill. And sae, as I was gaun to +say," she continued, again addressing Sandy, "yer mither seems to be +pleased; I'm weel pleased; Jock's no that sair set against the match, +and noo there's naebody's consent awantin but your ain."</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Sandy, "there's anither yet, though you've forgotten about +it; ye maun get her consent too afore it can be a bargain. Jenny has a +heart as weel as her neebors, I'll warrant her," he continued, +stealing a look at the object of whom he spoke, "and I'm maybe no +amang the folk she likes best."</p> + +<p>"Weel, Jenny, it's a' at your door noo, I declare," said her mother, +laughing outright. "What say ye to this affair?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, if ye would only haud your tongue!" said Jenny, blushing, and +still keeping her eyes fixed upon a rather profitless occupation in +which she had been engaged for some time past—namely, that of folding +and unfolding the corners of her apron with great assiduity; but the +rest of the company, if we except Sandy, perhaps, were so deeply +engaged in their own nonsensical conversation, that they took no +notice of this circumstance.</p> + +<p>"That's just the way wi' a' young folk," said Nelly, still laughing; +"the lad thinks the lass has some ither body that she likes better +than him, and the lass thinks the lad pays mair attention to anither +than he does to her; she daurna say a word unless she maybe tak the +dorts and misca him; he hesitates to speak for fear he should be +refused; and be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>tween them they aften contrive to torment ane anither +for years, when twa words micht settle the matter, and mak them baith +happy. But I'm sure, Margaret, if they would only leave the thing to +you and me, we could mak a bargain for them the nicht yet."</p> + +<p>"It's likely, at least, that we would mak a bargain sooner than they +would do," said the other. But the sigh with which she concluded +bespoke some emotion which accorded ill with the lightness of the +previous conversation. There was a something, too, in her manner, +which seemed to say that, while she was not averse to the proposed +match, she did not altogether relish the jest in which its immediate +consummation had been spoken of.</p> + +<p>Mothers have frequently thrown serious obstacles in the path of young +people when they supposed themselves travelling on the highway to +happiness; but sometimes, too, they seem inclined to give them an +opportunity of forming that liking for each other, without which, +according to the popular creed, no happiness can exist. Nelly now +proposed that, while the guidman was suppering the horse, Margaret +should go with her to the byre and see the cow, the yearling, and the +calf, which, she said, "were in wonderfu guid order, considerin how +little they had to gie them." Sandy and Jenny were thus left to +themselves; but upon this occasion they seemed to have the greatest +difficulty in keeping up a sort of intermitting conversation upon the +weather, the state of the roads, and some other subjects of the same +kind. Each wished to appear witty and amiable in the eyes of the +other; but somehow their wits seemed to have forsaken them, and they +appeared to be perfectly ignorant of the means by which their wishes +could be accomplished. Perhaps the former conversation had awakened, +or rather called into a state of activity, some feelings which they +knew not how to express; and it might be that, while these feelings +predominated, they could not think of anything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> else in such a manner +as to talk of it to the purpose; or perhaps it was only the mere +awkwardness of finding themselves, for the first time since they were +children, thus left to each other, which in a great measure locked up +their conversational powers. Be the matter as it may, with the "eldern +dames" it was otherwise.</p> + +<p>When they got to the byre, Margaret appeared more willing to resume +the former subject than to look at her neighbour's chattels. "Ye would +maybe think," said she, "that I didna seem sae frank as I micht hae +done when ye spoke about Jenny and Sandy; but, for a' that, I've aften +thought, if ever it were the laddie's luck to get a wife, Jenny would +mak a better ane than ony ither young woman I ken. But after him +that's now awa began to tak death till himsel," she continued, +lowering her voice to a confidential whisper, "when he made owre the +tack to Sandy, he left me as a burden upon Gairyburn. Noo, the place +is but sma, as ye ken, and there's but ae house on't, and, if he were +to marry, I dinna ken how a'thing would answer."</p> + +<p>"Hoot, woman," rejoined the other, "ye've a <i>butt and a ben</i>; the +house would haud ye a' brawly. And, though our lassie's owre young to +be a wife to onybody, and I was only passin a joke about her and +Sandy, if she were a year or twa aulder, and if a'thing were +agreeable, I canna say but I would like weel to see them gang +thegither. For it's just the gate o' a' mithers—they would aye like +to see their ain bairns gettin guid bargains. No that I would care a +snuff for the lassie gettin a man wi' a hantle riches; but I would +like to see her get ane that would ken how to guide her, and how to +guide the warld too. Noo, Sandy is baith a canny and a carefu chield; +and, if they dinna thrive, I'm sure it wouldna be his faut."</p> + +<p>"It's a' true ye say," responded Margaret; "and weel it pleases me to +hear your guid opinion o' my son. He has a wark wi' the lassie +already, if I'm no far deceived; for ony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> time when she comes owre to +our house, I've remarkit that he's aye kinder to her than to ony ither +body. But there's a proverb that says, 'young wives seldom like auld +guidmithers'—and that's what troubles me."</p> + +<p>"But that needna trouble ye owre muckle either," was the reply; +"for—what's this I was gaun to say, again?—ou ay—wi' respect to +Jenny, puir thing, if it were her guid fortune to draw his affection, +I'm sure she would strive, as far as lay in her power, to mak ye +comfortable."</p> + +<p>"I dinna doubt a single word o' what ye say," rejoined the other. +"Jenny is a dutiful and a kind-hearted lassie; I ken that weel. But, +as the auld sayin is, ilka body kens their ain sair best; and, though +it's nae doubt a weakness, I maun e'en tell ye a'. When I was +married—I mind as weel as yesterday—baith David and me thought we +could live happy wi' his mither; and we did live happy, for aught days +or sae; but, after that, I could do naethin to please her. If I tried +to 'earn the milk, it was either owre het or owre cauld when I put in +the 'earning; if I began to wash the dishes, she aye milkit the kye +first, and then she wondered how some folk had sae little sense. I +could neither mak the parritch, nor wash, nor spin, nor mak up a hasp +o' yarn—no, nor soop in the very house, to please her; and, though I +tried, as far as was in my power, to do a'thing her way, it gae me +mony a sleepless nicht, and cost him that's awa nae little vexation. +And weel do I mind mony a time I wondered what pleasure she could tak +in distressin me; but I think noo it was just a frailty o' our +nature—a something that auld folk canna help. And I think, too, I've +discovered the cause o' her grumlin since I began to see the prospect +o' Sandy takin a wife. Now, ye'll nae doubt think it strange," she +continued, in a hesitating tone—"ye'll nae doubt think it strange, +Nelly; but, dearly as I like my ain son—and weel as I would like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> to +see him happy wi' a woman wha loved him better than a' the warld +beside—still there's a something in the idea o' anither comin in to +be the mistress o' the hoose whaur I've had the management sae lang, +that aye distresses me when I think on't."</p> + +<p>"I dinna wonder ava at what ye say," responded Nelly. "If I were in +your place, a' that troubles you would trouble me. But there's naebody +without something to distress them; and we maun just look upon things +o' that kind as a <i>crook in our lot</i>, a something that maun be borne. +But, after a', woman, if the twa were to gang thegither, could ye no +come owre here? Ye have only him, and we have only her; the little +gear we hae maun a' gang to him at last; and, if the young folk could +live thegither in ane o' the places, the auld folk micht surely do the +same in the tither."</p> + +<p>"Thank ye, Nelly—thank ye!" said Margaret; "ye're aye the same +guid-hearted creature yet. But a body's ain hame's aye kindly. And +yet, if sic a thing were to happen, I would rather come here, than +gang to ony freend I hae." As she uttered these words, she made an +involuntary motion forward, and would have fallen, had she not +supported herself by the wall.</p> + +<p>"Dear me, Margaret, what's the matter wi' ye?" said Nelly, in a tone +of evident alarm.</p> + +<p>"It's a dizziness i' my head, woman," was the reply. "I've never been +mysel since that illness I had afore the term. Thae curious turns come +owre me aye, noo and then," she continued, her voice sinking and +saddening as she spoke; "and, for the last six weeks, it's been borne +in upon me, that I'm no to be lang to the fore. Now, if I was taen +awa, Sandy would be sair to mean wi' naebody about the house but a +servant; and that gars me sometimes think I would maist like to see +him married to some carefu lass like your Jenny afore my head be laid +down."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Wheesht, Margaret!" said the other; "never let thae thoughts come +owre ye, for there's an auld proverb that says, <i>thought can kill and +thought can cure</i>. And I doubt I've driven the joke owre far already. +But, though it's natural aneugh for young lasses to like to get +husbands, and natural aneugh, too, for their mithers to like to see +them weel married, I would ten times owre see our Jenny live and dee +without a man a'thegither, rather than see her married to the best man +on earth, if her marriage were to gie you real vexation, or be the +means o' shortenin your days."</p> + +<p>"It's no that," said Margaret, in the same low solemn tone in which +she had before spoken—"it's no onything ye have said that has hurt +me, for I've thought about a' thae things afore. When I had that ill +turn afore Martinmas, when folk thought I was deein, I began to +consider wha would be maist likely to keep a comfortable hame to my +ain bairn; and then, I confess, my thoughts turned upon your Jenny. +This made me look mair attentively at baith him and her than I had +ever done before; and twa or three times, when she cam owre to see how +I was, I thought I saw something like the first symptoms of affection +in his manner as weel as hers; and I felt glad at the sicht. But, as I +began to get a little better, and to be able to gang about again, the +things that had happened wi' my ain guidmither came fresh to my +memory, and I thought I would like to manage the house mysel, and do +for the best as lang as I was able. But I fear," she added, with a +deep sigh, "this complaint, whatever it is, will weather me afore it's +lang."</p> + +<p>"Na, Margaret; I hope better things," said the other; "and ye maun +strive to hope for better things too. Though ye mayna be sae stout +through the winter, when the warm weather comes in ye'll gather +strength again; and, if ance ye had yer fit on a May gowan, ye'll be +as hale and hearty as the best o' us."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's lang to the month o' May," said Margaret, in a voice unwontedly +solemn; "and, afore that time come round, hundreds that are laughin +and makin muckle sport the nicht may be cauld in their graves. But +promise, if I'm taen awa, that ye'll do yer best to supply my place, +and to bring the twa thegither if ye can."</p> + +<p>Nelly was really distressed to think that this gloomy presentiment had +taken such firm hold of her neighbour's mind; but, fancying that it +had been in some measure suggested by their former conversation, and +hoping that it would soon pass off, she promised to comply with her +wishes, and then urged her to rejoin the company within.</p> + +<p>They accordingly went into the house, where they found the little +party—which, in their absence, consisted of only three—engaged in a +cheerful conversation. Freed at length from that embarrassment which +they had experienced while alone, the others soon recovered their +spirits and their freedom of speech. Margaret, however, could not so +easily recover her former cheerfulness. She strove, indeed, to appear +as merry as the rest; but her late indisposition, though only of a +momentary nature, seemed to have left an effect upon her spirits which +did not immediately pass away. There was also a something in the +fitfulness of her manner, and the expression of deep solemnity into +which her countenance frequently relapsed after a laugh, which told +too plainly that her merriment came not from the heart. These symptoms +were soon observed, and by degrees her sadness appeared to communicate +itself to the rest of the company.</p> + +<p>In this state of things, they seemed to feel as if an early separation +would have been a relief, and almost the only relief of which the case +would admit. When the propriety of a measure is felt by a whole +company, some one or other of their number in general stammers upon +the wishes of the rest; and here, shortly after the above-mentioned +feeling had begun to prevail, Margaret Crawford said that—"As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> the +nicht was dark and micht end in rain, she thought it would be best for +her and Sandy to gang hame afore it was late." To this proposal Nelly +and her husband made a friendly show of resistance such as is common +on these occasions, and urged, as reasons for delaying their guests, +that "it was not late yet," and that "they would be hame in braw time, +though they staid anither hour." But this resistance, though +reiterated, was so faint, that it was at once felt to be formal; and +Margaret, who had no very great temptation to do otherwise, seemed +inclined to adhere to her first intention. She therefore repeated her +reasons for going home; and, at the same time expressed a hope, "if +<i>naething extrordinar</i> cam i' the way, that she would see John and +Nelly, and Jenny too, at Gairyburn, some nicht neist week, to spend +the e'enin wi' her"—after which, the little company broke up.</p> + +<p>The night was far advanced before Jenny could close her eyes; and when +at last she did sink into the arms of the "leaden god," it was only to +dream of having lost her way, along with Sandy Crawford, in some wide +and wildering desert which she had never seen before. At first the +scene seemed solitary, shaded with lofty yews, and tangled with +trailing shrubs; dark clouds spread a gloom over it; mists rested on +the top of every rock; and the night-dews hung heavily from every +branch and every blade of grass. Then the prospect appeared to +brighten: the landscape assumed a variety of charms; every hour +disclosed some new beauty, or opened up some glowing vista which she +had not before seen. The sun gradually dissipated the clouds which +hitherto had concealed him, and, bursting through, dried up the +superfluous moisture from the earth; the air became pure, and the day +delightfully warm; and, though as yet she had discovered no road by +which she could return, she did not feel greatly perplexed. But the +pleasing prospect was soon overcast: clouds appeared to gather round +them; anon she was separated from her companion by rocks and +unfathomable gulfs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> the nature and extent of which she could not +distinctly see. At times she fancied he was lost, and felt inclined to +weep at the thought that she should never see him more; then she +obtained a glimpse of him, as if he still waited for her, and then her +heart panted to come up with him; then he disappeared, and she knew +not which way to turn. At last she thought Betsy Braikens came up to +her, and offered to conduct her to where he was; but at that moment +the sky grew dark, and the storm raged so terribly, that she could not +stir a step to follow her. It soon ceased, however; the day again +cleared; she seemed to see him advancing to meet her, with a smile of +welcome upon his countenance; and, just as he was about to throw his +arms around her waist, she started aside to avoid his embrace, struck +her arm upon the post of the bed, and the pain which the circumstance +occasioned, aided by an importunate knocking at the door, awakened +her. On being thus made aware that some one wanted admittance, she +started up, threw on a part of her clothes, snatched up the poker, +broke the <i>gathering-coal</i>, and stirred the fire, which instantly +burst forth in a blaze; and then she hastened to open the door.</p> + +<p>The present visiter was Sandy Crawford, in most respects the very same +as she had seen him in her dream; but the <i>smile</i> with which that +illusion had presented her was wanting, and in its stead she thought +she could discover, by the light of the fire, marks of anxiety, +perturbation, and fear, upon his countenance. The contrast was so +striking, that she almost forgot one part of it was only a dream. At +the very first glance, she felt certain that something was wrong; and +she would have inquired what it was, but, before she could speak, he +told her, in terms which betrayed his own agitation, that his mother, +without having previously complained of being worse than her ordinary, +had been struck with what appeared to be <i>palsy</i> in the course of the +night, that she was now wholly deprived of speech, and nearly +de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>prived of motion in one side, and that he had hastened thither as +soon as she could be left, to beg either her or her mother to come +over and watch her till he could procure further assistance. He would +have said something more—he would have hinted the probability of the +fatal termination of his mother's disease, and the further probability +that this termination might occur in a few hours, both of which were +painfully impressed upon his heart; but he shrank from the idea of +speaking on such a subject, as though he apprehended some mysterious +connection between his own words and the fate of his mother, and that +what he was about to say might hurry on the crisis which he wished to +avert. He was therefore silent; while Jenny, between the effects of +her dream, and the alarming intelligence which she had just heard, +knew not what to answer, or what she should do. In general, she +possessed activity, and all that was necessary to enable her to render +assistance in any case with which she was acquainted; but she was +susceptible of strong impressions—those who are so seldom act with +ease in an untried situation—and she was now placed in one which was +perfectly new to her. In her agitation, she would have stood where she +was, like a statue, or she would have accompanied him without taking +time to put on what remained of her clothes, had he repeated his +request; but her mother, who had been awakened by the opening of the +door, on overhearing the conversation which followed, had dressed +herself with characteristic despatch, now came to her daughter's +relief.</p> + +<p>"Dinna forget to milk the cow, lassie," said she, "nor to mak yer +father's parritch about eight o'clock, and I'll rin owre mysel, and +see what's the matter wi' puir Margaret Crawford. But, if I'm no back +afore dinner-time, mind ye to come and see how she is." With these +brief orders, Nelly wrapped herself up in her cloak, and hastened to +carry her services where they were most wanted.</p> + +<p>On reaching Gairyburn, they found Margaret, as she had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> been +represented, very ill. The shock, however, did not, as there was at +first some reason to fear, prove immediately mortal; and about noon, +when Jenny arrived, her mother proposed that she herself should go +home, leaving her in constant attendance, and promising, at the same +time, to return as often as possible, and give them all the assistance +in her power. This arrangement appeared satisfactory to all parties; +but, at the end of three weeks, a second shock brought rest to the +sufferer, and mourning to the house of Gairyburn.</p> + +<p>This mournful event, as is common in such cases, brought together the +whole of the friends and relations of the deceased; and among the rest +came Betsy Braikens and her brother. Betsy had been for some time past +residing with that brother in Perth; but, as soon as it was known that +she had arrived, those who pretended to take an interest in the +affairs of her cousin hastened to represent to her in the strongest +terms the necessity of her coming "to <i>keep his house</i>;" and, yielding +to their representations, she did offer her services. These were +declined, however, from the consideration that it would be +inconvenient for her brother to want her assistance. But, as soon as +it was understood that she had made such an offer, the very +individuals who had advised her to make it began to search for other +motives than their own advice, and they soon discovered what they +considered a sufficient reason for her doing so, in the embarrassed +circumstances of her brother. It was generally believed that his trade +had never been very flourishing, and some surmises had lately reached +them of the failure of a merchant in Glasgow, with whom he was +understood to be connected, which would involve him in very +considerable pecuniary difficulties. Putting these things together, +they deemed them a sufficient warrant for supposing that Betsy had her +cousin's <i>hand</i> as well as his house in view, and that, if she did not +succeed in securing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> one of them at least, she might soon have no +house to keep.</p> + +<p>This supposition was not altogether without a foundation; for all his +endeavours had been so unsuccessful of late, that her brother had now +come to the determination of dropping business, as soon as he could +sell off his stock, and wind up his affairs; but, as it would be +several months before this could be done with any prospect of +advantage, he still continued to keep his intentions a perfect secret. +And this being the case, it was agreed on the evening of the funeral +that he and his sister should set off, early next morning, for Perth.</p> + +<p>The weather, however, did not appear to favour their intentions. For +the last eight days it had been fair, and uncommonly mild, with slight +frosts during the night, so that, in the estimation of the country +people, "the earth was prepared for a storm." But, on the day alluded +to, the atmosphere had become loaded with stagnant vapours; a +continuous mass of dark, leaden-coloured cloud, which seemed to rest +upon the nearest hills, arched the concave; not a single speck of blue +sky had been visible since morning; and in the evening, one of those +dense and wildering falls of snow, which have frequently misled the +traveller, came on.</p> + +<p>The night was one which, in most respects, seemed to accord with the +sorrowful feelings of the little party at Gairyburn. It was gloomy and +silent; while the snow continued to accumulate around the house, as if +to exclude everything which might have a tendency to disturb their +recollections of the solemn scene in which they had been so lately +engaged. At times, a sort of conversation, carried on in subdued +tones, prevailed for a season; and then it was followed by +considerable intervals of silence, broken only by an occasional sigh, +a casual observation on the stillness of the night, or an injunction +to stir the fire. Anon, the colloquial powers of the party seemed to +gather strength from the re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>pose which they had been permitted to +enjoy; and the discourse was again renewed, to continue for a season, +and then to flag, as it had done before. In most respects, this +conversation bore a striking resemblance to the evening fire of the +poor widow, which is only kept alive by an occasional handful of +brushwood thrown upon the expiring embers; after which it emits a +flickering flame for a short while, and then gradually decays, till +the last spark is scarcely perceptible, and it is only prevented from +utter extinction by a repetition of the same process.</p> + +<p>In one of these intervals of silence, Betsy Braikens had gone to the +door—partly to pass the time which hung so heavily, and partly to see +if there was any prospect of being able to travel in the morning. +While thus reconnoitring, her attention was attracted by a whistle, +followed by a faint cry for assistance, which, though evidently at a +distance, was, owing to the stillness of the night, distinctly heard. +This made her listen more attentively. The whistle and the cry were +repeated, which satisfied her that they proceeded from some one in +distress; and she now thought it time to give notice of what she had +heard to those within. On hearing the circumstance, her brother and +cousin immediately set off in the direction which she had pointed out; +and in a short time they returned, bringing along with them a +stranger, who had lost his way when it grew dark; and, after having +wandered for several hours among the hills, without knowing where he +was going, had at last stumbled over a bank into a miry slough, where, +as he was unable to extricate himself from the mud, he would in all +probability have perished, but for the assistance which he had +received.</p> + +<p>The care of ministering to the new guest devolved principally upon +Betsy Braikens, who had been the first to give notice of his previous +distress; and for such an office she was better qualified than any +other female who, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> time, could have been found, within several +miles—both from that knowledge of the conventionalities of society +which she had acquired during her residence in Perth, and from a +disposition which was naturally kind. With that alacrity which is +common to her sex, she made the necessary preparations for enabling +him to shift such parts of his clothes as were wet. A repast +calculated to refresh him, after the fatigues of his journey, was next +provided; and, as there was no inn or other place of accommodation +within reach, and the night was one in which no stranger could find +his way, she represented the necessity of his remaining where he was +till morning; and then he might travel with her and her brother, if he +chanced to be journeying in that direction; and, if his road was +different, he would at least have the advantage of daylight to direct +his steps.</p> + +<p>To this proposal the stranger did not seem to be averse. In such +circumstances, men are often more grateful for a mere trifle than, in +others, they would be for the greatest favours. He seemed highly +sensible of the kindness with which he was treated, and soon began to +regard his entertainers with a feeling of respect. Upon further +conversation, it was discovered that his name was Robert Walker—that +he was the son of the Glasgow merchant whoso failure has been already +noticed as having been prejudicial to the interests of James Braikens; +and, on learning that he was in the society of one who had been in the +habit of dealing with his father, he proceeded to give them a brief +sketch of his story.</p> + +<p>After his prospects had been obscured by the bankruptcy of his father, +he had succeeded in procuring for himself a situation in Aberdeen; +and, as he was a good pedestrian—and had, moreover, a liking for +rural scenery, rural manners, and unfrequented roads—these +considerations, backed by motives of economy, had induced him to +undertake the journey on foot. He had accordingly proceeded by +Kinross,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> intending to make his line as straight as possible, without +paying much attention to the highways; and, on reaching the village of +Strathmiglo, he had been directed across a part of the Ochils as the +nearest road to Newburgh—at which part he intended to cross the Tay. +He had taken these directions, and pushed forward, in the expectation +that he would reach the last-mentioned place before it was late; but +the snow coming on, he soon lost all traces of the road, and, what was +worse, he soon after lost everything like an idea of what direction he +was travelling in. He had, however, no alternative but to proceed. +Exertion was indispensable to prevent his limbs from being benumbed +with cold; but the dense fall of snow prevented him from seeing any +distant object upon which he might direct his course, and thus arrive +at some place of shelter. In this state of uncertainty, he had +wandered he neither knew where nor how long, when—stumbling over the +bank, as already noticed, and being unable to extricate himself—he +was beginning to fear that he had reached the end of his journey +before his deliverers reached him.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, which was fair, though the clouds still +appeared to be far from having discharged the whole of their contents, +the stranger was easily induced to accompany Betsy Braikens and her +brother to Perth—alleging, as his reason for doing so, a wish to see +the town, and the possibility of his being there able to procure some +mode of conveying himself to Aberdeen less laborious than travelling +had now become. They accordingly set forward together; but before they +had reached the head of Abernethy Glen, the snow again began to fall, +accompanied by gusts of wind, which whirled whole wreaths into the air +at once, and drove the dazzling particles before them with such +violence, that suffocation seemed to be the inevitable consequence of +being long exposed to the fury of the storm. In a short time the snow +had accumulated to such a depth in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> the hollows as to render +travelling a most laborious operation; and it was with some difficulty +that the party reached the domicile of Andrew Braikens, where they +thought it best to take shelter for the present, and postpone their +further journey till the weather should be more favourable. The storm +continued for nearly forty-eight hours without intermission, so that, +dating from the time at which they set out, it was not till the +evening of the third day that they reached Perth.</p> + +<p>Whatever loss in the way of business this delay might have occasioned, +the merchant found, on his arrival, that it was only his absence which +had saved him from being declared bankrupt, and, in all probability, +imprisoned for debt at the same time. But, on the previous day, one of +his most clamorous creditors had been suddenly taken ill. A temporary +respite was thus obtained; and, with the assistance of Robert Walker, +who exerted all his oratorical powers in his behalf, matters were +again patched up, and he was allowed to go on with the concerns of his +shop as before. These things being settled, this new friend +strenuously advised him to retain his business if possible, assuring +him, at the same time, that there was nothing like perseverance, and +then went on his way, whither we follow him not.</p> + +<p>At Gairyburn things went on much in the same way as they had done +before, except that the management of the house was now committed to +the care of a servant-girl. But some circumstances soon transpired +which led the people around to suppose that the girl might, in due +time, be promoted to be mistress of what at present she only managed +for another. Sandy Crawford had bought rather a better suit of +mournings for Jenny Jervis than it was common to give to a servant; +and this, along with a number of other incidents and occurrences, too +minute to be enumerated here, but not so minute as to escape the +notice of a country population, was made the subject of discussion at +the fire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>sides of the neighbouring cottages. But as neither men nor +women, since the world began, were ever known to agree about either +religion or politics, or any other important matter whatever, so here +there was a difference of opinion; and many were the conferences and +disputes which ensued. With one party, the buying of the gown, and the +other corroborating circumstances, were deemed incontestable evidence; +and they affirmed that Sandy and Jenny only waited till the proper +season for laying aside their mournings, to be married. In this +marriage they saw, or at least fancied they could see, such a number +of advantages as would render it most desirable. "Jenny," they said, +"was a thrifty lassie, and wad mak a guid wife. She kenned a' about +the management o' the kye, and she wad aye hae her mither at hand to +apply to in ony strait." Another party differed from them entirely, +both as to the conclusiveness of the evidence, and the advantages to +be derived from the marriage. "The buyin o' the gown," they +maintained, "was naething. Jenny Jervis was a young, thoughtless +lassie, wha wad be soon aneugh married four or five years hence; and +they were sure Sandy wad be far better wi' his cousin Betsy, wha was +baith a weel-faured and a weel-conditioned cummer, and had some +experience in the management o' a house." They said, further, that +"Betsy, they were sure, wad be the woman; for Sandy was a thoughtfu +callant; and though he might be led awa, for a time, wi' twa blue een, +a slender waist, and the red and white on a lassie's face, he wad soon +come to see that ither things were needfu to a man fechtin for his +bread, and strugglin for the rent o' a farm." A third party presumed +to differ from both of these in every particular save one. They +admitted, indeed, that Sandy "was a thoughtfu callant;" but from that +very admission they drew a quite contrary conclusion. "Baith Betsy and +Jenny," they averred, "might remain <i>single</i> lang aneugh for him; and +if he ever took a wife ava, they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> sure it wadna be in ony hurry." +They also pointed out several advantages which were likely to accrue +to him from adopting this theory, and several disadvantages which +would infallibly result from his adoption of any other. "The place," +they said, "was but sma', and the rent high; and as lang as he had +only a servant, he had naething but her bit year's wage to pay at the +term. But, were he to tak a wife, he wad hae to get new beds, and new +chairs, and a hantle whigmaleeries forby, that wad cost him nae little +siller; he wad hae to buy <i>fykes</i> to her in ilka market, and in ilka +shop he cam past—not to mention bairns' meat and bairns' claes—mair +o' baith, maybe, than the place wad afford." Thus, as the great +political world is at present divided into Tories, Whigs, and +Radicals, this little sequestered district was divided into parties, +which, for the sake of distinction, we shall denominate <i>Jervisines</i>, +<i>Braikenites</i>, and <i>Malthusians</i>.</p> + +<p>Though Betsy Braikens had not been at Gairyburn for several years +before the death of her aunt, after that occurrence she continued to +pay occasional visits there; and it was observed, by those who knew +and could interpret the signs of the times, that her cousin always +looked more thoughtful for a day or two after she went away, than was +his usual. This seemed to favour the theory of the <i>Jervisines</i>, who +said that he was pestered with her visits, and did not know how to get +quit of her. The <i>Braikenites</i>, on the other hand, maintained, that, +if he did not give her some encouragement, she would not return so +often; and that his thoughtful looks were occasioned by regret at her +absence.</p> + +<p>Several months after the death of Margaret Crawford, and just as the +first party were beginning to be certain that their theory was the +correct one, and that they would, ere long, obtain a notable victory +over their opponents, both Betsy and her brother paid a visit to +Gairyburn. They stayed a night and a day with their cousin; and, after +they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> had taken their departure, it was observed that he looked more +thoughtful than he had done on any former occasion, with the +additional aggravation of his thoughtfulness not passing away in a day +or two, as it had done before. At the end of a fortnight, the +neighbours said to each other—"Preserve us a'! saw ye ever sic an +alteration as has come owre Sandy Crawford! He's surely seen something +that's no canny, and daurna speak aboot it." At the end of a month, +they might have made the same observation; but by that time they had +become accustomed to the change, and they only said—"Puir fellow! +he's as sair altered as though that cummer frae Perth had ta'en awa +his last penny."</p> + +<p>He was indeed changed, though not to the extent which they seemed to +suppose. He managed the whole of his concerns as he had done before; +in company or conversation there was little perceptible difference; +but, when silent or alone, there was frequently an expression of +resignation on his countenance, as if some misfortune were impending +which he could not avert, and which, if it should fall, he had +determined to endure with patience. Strict observations were now made +on his conduct towards Jenny; and here, too, an alteration was +discovered, though that alteration did not seem to admit of being +explicitly expressed in words. It was agreed, however, by the wise +women who had made the observations, that he appeared like one who had +determined never again to urge his suit, and that he had certainly +made up his mind to see her give her hand to another. This conclusion +was favourable to the Malthusians: they repeated their assertion, that +"he was a thoughtfu callant, and that he had determined not to marry +at all;" while the others, if they did not "hide their diminished +heads," were at least compelled to hold their peace.</p> + +<p>But of all who were puzzled by the mysterious change in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> the manners +of the should-be bridegroom, none were more so than poor Jenny +herself, who really loved him, and who had been led to suppose that he +loved her in return, though hitherto he had never directly declared +his intention of marrying her. Her mother was equally puzzled to +assign a satisfactory reason for the change; but she was not equally +affected by it. In her younger years, she had learned, from +experience, that there is nothing more mutable than the heart of a +lover; and she fancied, even in ordinary cases, that it was only by +practising a great deal of art and finesse that a husband could be +secured. This, in her estimation, being the case, she determined +that—if the experience which she had acquired in these matters could +be rendered available—her daughter should not remain so long +unmarried as she had done herself; and she immediately set her head to +work to contrive the means of bringing about a marriage as speedily as +possible. Nelly recollected some years ago having had a young <i>pig</i>, +which could not be prevailed upon to take its victuals. She had tried +to feed it, or, in other words, to thrust meat into its mouth, in the +hope that it would then swallow it; but this only served to make it +more obdurate in its resistance. It seemed determined to starve itself +to death, and she knew not what to make of it. Her husband, however, +bethought him of a scheme which proved successful: on the following +day, he brought home another, which was put in beside its refractory +kinsman, and afterwards, when she came with the victuals, they +immediately commenced fighting about their respective shares. It was +then <i>who should get most</i>; and each would have eaten up the whole, if +its skin would have contained as much. The bee is said to gather honey +from every flower; and there are some people who will learn something +from every incident. Nelly instantly discovered a strong analogy +between the case of the single <i>pig</i> and its victuals, and the case of +a young woman with a single sweetheart;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> and, having discovered an +analogy in the cases, she felt certain that there must also be an +analogy in the cures. The present emergency seemed to be a most +favourable opportunity for trying the correctness of this theory by +that best of all possible tests—an experiment; and she forthwith +resolved, were the thing practicable, that Jenny should have a new +sweetheart, if peradventure his presence would produce a favourable +revolution in the sentiments of the old one.</p> + +<p>Measures were accordingly adopted, and the most feasible schemes were +laid—schemes which, with proper management, could hardly have failed +of success. Jenny also received such hints and instructions as were +deemed necessary to enable her to act her part. But Jenny was, as her +mother phrased it, "an even-forrit, silly, simple lassie;" and in her +hands nothing succeeded. It was with the utmost difficulty that she +could be brought to give the slightest encouragement to a new lover, +and if at any time she did muster sufficient resolution to smile upon +a rival in the presence of Sandy Crawford, her eye immediately turned +upon the latter, to see if he approved of what she had done; and when, +in his guarded look, she could read neither approbation nor +disapprobation, a deep sigh commonly revealed her apprehensions for +having done wrong. The preposterousness of such conduct needs no +remark; its evident tendency was, to keep him free from the slightest +suspicions of having a competitor for her hand, and the most distant +idea that he was in any danger of losing her—and all this in the +midst of schemes intended to produce a contrary effect!</p> + +<p>It is probable that other schemes might have been devised, or the same +ones might have been prosecuted to a still greater extent; but what +had been already done, aided by his own observation, had opened his +eyes to some things of which he was not before fully aware. Hitherto, +he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> seemed to have supposed that he was himself the only sufferer; but +he now discovered that there was another whom he was making unhappy, +and her unhappiness evidently pained him, adding, at the same time, to +his other causes of anxiety, whatever they were, and consequently to +the thoughtfulness of his looks. But still he seemed to fear coming to +an explanation, as much as if he had been certain that such a step +would destroy his last remains of hope. He could not, however, long +endure such an idea; and adopting what had become the least painful +alternative, he seemed to have made up his mind to the unfolding of +that secret which, hitherto, he had kept to himself.</p> + +<p>"Jenny," said he, one day, after a long and thoughtful silence, "for +some months I have scarcely known what it was to be happy for a single +hour; and, strange as ye may think it, <i>love</i> has been one of the +principal causes of my misery. Had it not been for <i>that</i>, I could +have thought lightly of poverty and everything else. I have acted +foolishly, perhaps, and made myself altogether unworthy of the woman +whom I love; but, yet, I would fain hope that she will not despise me, +and I am now resolved——"</p> + +<p>At hearing these words, Jenny's heart had begun to palpitate +violently. But, just as he uttered the word "<i>resolved</i>," a rap was +heard at the door; and, on its being opened, Betsy Braikens came in, +and saluted her cousin with a profusion of smiles; while poor Jenny, +to conceal her own agitation, was glad to make an excuse for leaving +the house.</p> + +<p>As soon as Betsy's coming was known, people were on the alert. On +Sabbath she accompanied her cousin to the church, and, on the road +thither, it was observed that the thoughtful expression of his +countenance had passed away—that, after making the proper allowance +for the solemnity of the day, he was to all appearance as cheerful as +ever he had been in his life; and that he behaved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> to his relation +with the greatest kindness, accompanied by an easiness of manner for +which the wise women could only account by supposing that a still +nearer relationship was in contemplation, or, in other words, that the +marriage-day was already set. The star of the <i>Braikenites</i> was now in +the ascendant; they began to feel certain that their opinions had all +along been correct; and they upbraided their opponents for their +slowness of belief, and their backwardness to place implicit +confidence in the understanding of those who were evidently wiser than +themselves.</p> + +<p>The Tuesday following was that on which <i>Auchtermuchty Market</i> +occurred. Betsy remained until that important day; went to the market +with her cousin like a betrothed damsel; while Jenny, who had also +been invited to accompany him, preferred staying at home; and, to +place the matter beyond further dispute, he bought and presented the +former with a gown, so fine and so costly, that those who had seen it +declared "there wasna anither like it selled that day i' the town." No +man, it was affirmed, would thus throw away money in buying gowns, +unless he expected to be benefited by the wearer—and the triumph of +the Braikenites was now almost complete.</p> + +<p>While these important events were passing, it was not to be expected +that Jenny should remain an unconcerned spectator. She had been the +first to notice that remarkable change for the better which his +cousin's presence had produced in the looks and manners of Sandy +Crawford. She saw his cheerfulness restored—she saw his kindness to +Betsy; and, for the first time in her life, she believed that he +<i>really</i> loved her.</p> + +<p>On the day after the market, Betsy Braikens was to go home, and her +cousin gallantly offered to accompany her as far as her father's. +Shortly after they were gone, Jenny hastened to tell her mother what +she had seen and heard.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> Nelly now considered that her own character +for prudence and management was at stake; and Jenny was prevailed upon +to adopt her views, and to promise to be directed by her advice.</p> + +<p>In the evening, when Sandy Crawford returned from escorting his +cousin, he was in high spirits; it was also evident that he had drunk +a <i>glass</i> or two more than was his usual, though not so much as to +injure his understanding; and he now appeared most anxious to obtain a +private conference with Jenny. Between her and the <i>herd laddie</i> a +sort of tacit understanding appeared now to exist, for he did not +leave the house to follow his pastime, as was his wont; and, when his +master bade him "gang and clean out his byre," the boy told him that +he had done so already. He next desired him to "bring some water from +the well for a drink, as he was thirsty." But Jenny, who answered for +him, said that, "as the cow had been <i>tigging</i> in the afternoon, he +would be tired with chasing her;" and she took the pitcher and went to +obey the order herself. The individual who had given it followed her +out; but she was at the well, and had filled her pitcher, before he +could come near enough to speak. When he had almost come up with her, +he repeated her name, in that low, earnest tone, which people +sometimes use when they wish to draw the attention of a listener; but +she either did not hear, or did not <i>wish</i> to hear him. He made +certain of meeting her, however, as she returned; but here also he was +deceived, for she went round by the other side of the <i>kailyard</i>, for +the purpose, as it appeared, of taking with her a handful of sticks, +with which to kindle up the fire next morning. On seeing this +manœuvre, he jumped over the dike, repeating her name as he had +done before; but, on the present, as on the former occasion, she +either heard him not, or pretended not to hear him; and, by hastening +her pace, she had reached the house-door before he could intercept +her. As a <i>dernier</i> resource,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> the last-mentioned personage was now +ordered to "gang and water the horse." And he rose to obey; but here +again Jenny seemed to sympathise with him in his labours. "As the cow +had <i>tiggit</i> i' the afternoon," she said, "it was like aneugh the +horse micht rin awa i' the e'enin; and, as the laddie, puir thing, had +chased the cow till he was ready to fa' down, it couldna be expeckit +that he would be able to chase the horse, and sae she would gang and +help him."</p> + +<p>If ever Jenny Jervis had been puzzled to account for the conduct of +Sandy Crawford, he was now as much puzzled to account for the change +which had come over her. He thought of the subject without being able +to come to any conclusion, and then thought of it again to as little +purpose as he had done before, till at last, wearied out with vain +conjectures, he flung himself upon his bed in a state of mind not easy +to be described; and when Jenny, who was in no great haste to return, +came in, his heavy breathing told that he was already asleep. On +stealing a glance into the apartment where he was, she saw that he was +still lying with his clothes on, and that his sleep was of that +profound sort which commonly lasts for the night.</p> + +<p>Sandy Crawford had fallen asleep, little dreaming of either alarm or +danger; but, about midnight, he was disturbed by an indistinct and +inarticulate sound, which, though it conveyed no meaning to his ear, +was loud enough to awake him. Slowly and heavily he opened his eyes; +but it was not dark, as he expected it to be. On the contrary, a +strange light glimmered around him, and, on turning his head to see +whence it proceeded, he saw in the middle of the floor a spectre, +which might have well appalled the heart of a hero. The ghost of +Howdycraigs, to which his present visiter bore a striking resemblance, +rushed back upon his memory, and he would have trembled, but that he +did not recollect any bad consequences which followed that memo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>rable +event. Thus, in time, even ghosts might fail to terrify, were they to +repeat their visits too often. In the present instance, it were +difficult to say if Sandy was not strengthened for the sight by some +faint hope that this might be a second marriage-making expedition of +the same benevolent spirit, and that it might eventually help him to a +<i>wife</i>, the getting of which thing he had begun to regard as no easy +matter.</p> + +<p>The ghost of Gairyburn, however, at first bade fair for being as +famous in its day and generation as the ghost of Howdycraigs had been; +and doubtless it had succeeded in a less hazardous enterprise. Like +the other, its head was tied up in a white handkerchief, its body was +carefully wrapped in the folds of an ample winding-sheet. On its feet +it wore white stockings, but no shoes—the absence of which exhibited +a finely-turned ankle to such advantage, that any male onlooker might +have been excused for wishing it a substantial woman. But then its +face and hands were as white as the finest flour or the whitest chalk +could have made them—thus setting every earthly feeling, except fear, +at defiance. In one hand it carried a candle, which burned as blue as +any spiritual light ever burned, while with the other it managed its +apparel, which was scrupulously clean—thus making it appear that it +had been washed since it left its subterranean abode, from which +circumstance it were reasonable to infer that it was either a female +ghost, or had got a wife to do these things for it.</p> + +<p>Though we have thus detained the reader, by describing it, <i>it</i> +detained not its auditor; for, as soon as he appeared to be fully +awake—"Sandy Crawford," it said. But it was evidently an apprentice +in the task it had undertaken, and knew but little of the manner in +which a message should be delivered; for here its voice faltered, and +its hands trembled in a most curious manner—thus making it evident +that ghosts have feelings as well as mortals, and that they may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +sometimes be sent upon errands they dislike. The shaking of its hands +caused the blue flame to fall from the candle, which immediately +burned out with a clear and natural light; while that which had fallen +hissed and sputtered on the floor. In attempting to remedy this +mistake, by restoring the blue flame to its proper place, it seemed to +burn its fingers—at least it drew back its hand with the appearance +of pain, drawing in its breath, and starting up rather hurriedly at +the same time. While performing the last mentioned of these +operations, it unfortunately struck its head against the back of a +chair, which chanced to be standing near, and ruffled its head-dress, +from under which a most enchanting ringlet of fair hair escaped, and +began to play about its white temples. One mistake followed another: +in attempting to replace the hair, it passed a portion of the +winding-sheet, in which it was muffled up, over its face; and when it +was removed, its lips were no longer pale, but provokingly red—one +cheek was of the same hue, and the deep blush of the other was now +beginning to shine through its treacherous covering. As a further +proof of its inexperience, it heaved a deep sigh, and was about to +retire in apparent confusion, when Sandy, who had overcome his fear so +far as to look at it steadily for the last minute or two, started up, +with a heroism which has seldom been equalled, and, endeavouring to +catch it in his arms, he exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"Jenny, ye daft limmer, what set ye to playin thae mad pranks at this +time o' nicht?"</p> + +<p>In this emergency the ghost, confused as it was, contrived to make its +escape; but not before it had thrown the winding-sheet which it wore +around the very woman for whom he had mistaken it. By some "cantrip +slight," it had no doubt brought her there to be ready in case of +accidents, and it now left her to be caught in its stead. Jenny, not +being a ghost, could not escape so easily; and, though she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> struggled +a little when she found herself in the arms of a man, she did not +appear extremely anxious to get away, while Sandy was so much pleased +at having got her by herself at last, that he soon forgot the terrors +of the ghost.</p> + +<p>"Jenny," he continued, still mistaking her for his spiritual visiter, +"if I hadna <i>liket</i> ye better than every ither living cratur, since ye +was a lassie, I declare I would never kenned ye dressed up as ye are +in a' that trumpery. But now that I've gotten ye, I maun keep ye, for +I've been wishing to tell ye something this lang time; but ye aye ran +frae me as if I had been a <i>ghost</i>, though ye see I've catched you +when ye was tryin to act ane."</p> + +<p>The candle which the ghost had left was now placed in a candlestick; +and as Jenny appeared perfectly willing to listen to whatever he might +have to say, he proceeded to give her such information as served in a +great measure to clear up the whole of the mystery.</p> + +<p>Though he had been long attached to her, and had felt a growing +inclination to call her his wife, his mother's death had prevented him +from speaking of the subject for a time. During this interval, Betsy +Braikens had come oftener than once, soliciting assistance for her +brother; upon these occasions, he had always given her what +ready-money he could command, and, at last, to save him from +bankruptcy, he had become security for a hundred pounds, which was +considerably more than his whole effects were worth. No sooner had he +done this than he began to doubt the possibility of his cousin ever +being able to redeem his debts; in which case his own prospects were +ruined. The idea that it would be criminal to involve an unsuspecting +female in misery and poverty made him resolve to say nothing of his +affections, till he should see what was to be the issue; and for a +time he had kept his resolution. But he had determined to make a +candid confession of his circumstances, and run any risk which she +might be willing to share, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> he was interrupted by Betsy Braikens, +who had come expressly for the purpose of telling him that her brother +had redeemed the whole of his debts, and was now in prosperous +circumstances. In a few days thereafter Jenny went to reside with her +mother for a short time; and one evening, as Sandy bade her +good-night, he gave her a clap on the shoulder, and called her his +"spectre bride." On the following week they went to Perth; and Jenny +Jervis and Betsy Braikens were married on the same day—the former to +Sandy Crawford, and the latter to Robert Walker, who had kept up a +regular correspondence with her ever since the night on which he lost +his way among the snow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE SMUGGLER.</h2> + + +<p>The golden days of the smuggler are gone by; his hiding-places are +empty; and, like Othello, he finds his "occupation gone." Our +neighbours on the other side of the herring-pond now bring us <i>dry +bones</i>, according to the law, instead of <i>spirits</i>, contrary to the +law. Cutters, preventive-boats, and border-rangers, have destroyed the +<i>trade</i>—it is becoming as a tale that was told. From Spittal to +Blyth—yea, from the Firth of Forth to the Tyne—brandy is no longer +to be purchased for a trifle; the kilderkin of Holland gin is no +longer placed at the door in the dead of night; nor is a yard of +tobacco to be purchased for a penny. The smuggler's phrase, that the +"<i>cow has calved</i>,"<a name="FNanchor_D_1" id="FNanchor_D_1"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_D_1" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> +is becoming obsolete. Now, smuggling is almost +confined to crossing "the river," here and there, the "ideal line by +fancy drawn;" to Scotland saying unto England, "Will you taste?" and +to England replying, "Cheerfully, sister." There was a time, however, +when the clincher-built lugger plied her trade as boldly, and almost +as regularly, as the regular coaster; and that period is within the +memory of those who are yet young. It was an evil and a dangerous +trade; and it gave a character to the villagers on the sea-coasts +which, even unto this day, is not wholly effaced. But in the character +of the smuggler there was much that was interesting—there were many +bold and redeeming points. I have known many; but I prefer, at +present, giving a few passages from the history of one who lived +before my time, and who was noted in his day as an extraordinary +character.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<p>Harry Teasdale was a native of Embleton, near Bamborough. He was the +sole owner of a herring-boat and a fishing-cobble; he was also the +proprietor of the house in which he lived, and was reputed to be worth +money—nor was it any secret that he had obtained his property by +other means than those of the haddock hand-line and the herring-net. +Harry, at the period we take up his history, was between forty and +fifty years of age. He was a tall thin man, with long sandy hair +falling over his shoulders, and the colour of his countenance was +nearly as rosy as the brandy in which he dealt. But, if there was the +secrecy of midnight in his calling, his heart and his hand were open +as mid-day. It is too true that money always begets the outward show +of respect for him who possesses it, though in conduct he may be a +tyrant, and in capacity a fool; but Harry Teasdale was respected, not +because he was reputed to be rich, but because of the boldness and +warmness of his heart, the readiness of his hand, and the clearness of +his head. He was the king of fishermen, and the prince of smugglers, +from Holy Island to Hartlepool. Nevertheless, there was nothing +unusual in his appearance. Harry looked like his occupation. His dress +(save where disguise was necessary) consisted in a rudely-glazed +sou'-wester, the flap of which came over his shoulders, half covering +his long sandy hair. Around him was a coarse and open <i>monkey</i> or +<i>pea</i>-jacket, with a Guernsey frock beneath, and a sort of canvas kilt +descending below the knee; and his feet were cased in a pair of +sea-boots. When not dressing his hand-lines or sorting his nets, he +might generally be seen upon the beach, with a long telescope under +his arm. As Harry was possessed of more of this world's substance than +his brother fishermen, so also was there a character of greater +comfort and neatness about his house. It consisted of three rooms; but +it also bore the distinguishing marks of a smuggler's habitation. At +the door hung the hand-line, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> hooks, and the creel; and in a +corner of Harry's sleeping-room a "<i>keg</i>" was occasionally visible; +while over the chimneypiece hung a cutlass and four horse-pistols; and +in a cupboard there were more packages of powder and pistol-bullets +than it became a man of peace to have in his possession. But the third +room, which he called his daughter's, contained emblems of peace and +happiness. Around the walls were specimens of curious needlework, the +basket of fruit and of flowers, and the landscape—the "<i>sampler</i>," +setting forth the genealogy of the family for three generations, and +the age of her whose fair hands wrought it. Around the window, also, +carefully trained, were varieties of the geranium, and the rose, the +bigonia, and cressula, the aloe, and the ice-plant, with others of +strange leaf and lovely covering. This Harry called his daughter's +room—and he was proud of her: she was his sole thought, his only +boast. His weatherbeaten countenance always glowed, and there was +something like a tear in his eyes, when he spoke of "my Fanny." She +had little in common with the daughter of a fisherman; for his +neighbours said that her mother had made her unfit for anything, and +that Harry was worse than her mother had been. But that mother was no +more, and she had left their only child to her widowed husband's care; +and, rough as he appeared, never was there a more tender or a more +anxious parent—never had there been a more affectionate husband. But +I may here briefly notice the wife of Harry Teasdale, and his first +acquaintance with her.</p> + +<p>When Harry was a youth of one-and-twenty, and as he and others of his +comrades were one day preparing their nets upon the sea-banks for the +north herring-fishing, a bitter hurricane came suddenly away, and they +observed that the mast of a Scotch smack, which was then near the +Ferne Isles, was carried overboard. The sea was breaking over her, and +the vessel was unmanageable; but the wind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> being from the north-east, +she was driving towards the shore. Harry and his friends ran to get +their boats in readiness, to render assistance if possible. The smack +struck the ground between Embleton and North Sunderland, and being +driven side-on by the force of the billows, which were dashing over +her, formed a sort of break-water, which rendered it less dangerous +for a boat to put off to the assistance of the passengers and crew, +who were seen clinging in despair to the flapping ropes and sides of +the vessel. Harry's cobble was launched along the beach to where the +vessel was stranded, and he and six others attempted to reach her. +After many ineffectual efforts, and much danger, they gained her side, +and a rope was thrown on board. Amongst the smack's passengers was a +Scottish gentleman, with his family, and their governess. She was a +beautiful creature, apparently not exceeding nineteen; and as she +stood upon the deck, with one hand clinging to a rope, and in the +other clasping a child to her side, her countenance alone, of all on +board, did not betoken terror. In the midst of the storm, and through +the raging of the sea, Harry was struck with her appearance. She was +one of the last to leave the vessel; and when she had handed the child +into the arms of a fisherman, and was herself in the act of stepping +into the boat, it lurched, the vessel rocked, a sea broke over it, she +missed her footing, and was carried away upon the wave. Assistance +appeared impossible. The spectators on the shore and the people in the +boat uttered a scream. Harry dropped the helm, he sprung from the +boat, he buffeted the boiling surge, and, after a hopeless struggle, +he clutched the hand of the sinking girl. He bore her to the boat; +they were lifted into it.</p> + +<p>"Keep the helm, Ned," said he, addressing one of his comrades who had +taken his place; "I must look after this poor girl—one of the seamen +will take your oar." And she lay insensible, with her head upon his +bosom, and his arm around her waist.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>Consciousness returned before they reached the shore, and Harry had +her conveyed to his mother's house. It is difficult for a sensitive +girl of nineteen to look with indifference upon a man who has saved +her life, and who risked his in doing so; and Eleanor Macdonald (for +such was the name of the young governess) did not look with +indifference upon Harry Teasdale. I might tell you how the shipwrecked +party remained for five days at Embleton, and how, during that period, +love rose in the heart of the young fisherman, and gratitude warmed +into affection in the breast of Eleanor—how he discovered that she +was an orphan, with no friend, save the education which her parents +had conferred on her, and how he loved her the more, when he heard +that she was friendless and alone in the world—how the tear was on +his hardy cheek when they parted—how more than once he went many +miles to visit her—and how Eleanor Macdonald, forsaking the +refinements of the society of which she was a dependant, became the +wife of the Northumbrian fisherman. But it is not of Harry's younger +days that I am now about to write. Throughout sixteen happy years they +lived together; and though, when the tempests blew and the storms +raged, while his skiff was on the waves, she often shed tears for his +sake, yet, though her education was superior to his, his conduct and +conversation never raised a blush to her cheeks. Harry was also proud +of his wife, and he showed his pride, by spending every moment he +could command at her side, by listening to her words, and gazing on +her face with delight. But she died, leaving him an only daughter as +the remembrancer of their loves; and to that daughter she had imparted +all that she herself knew.</p> + +<p>Besides his calling as a fisherman, and his adventures as a smuggler +on sea, Harry also made frequent inland excursions. These were +generally performed by night, across the wild muir, and by the most +unfrequented paths. A strong black horse, remarkable for its swiftness +of foot, was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> constant companion of his midnight journeys. A +canvas bag, fastened at both ends, and resembling a wallet, was +invariably placed across the back of the animal, and at each end of +the bag was a keg of brandy or Hollands, while the rider sat over +these; and behind him was a large and rude portmanteau, containing +packages of tea and tobacco. In his hand he carried a strong +riding-whip, and in the breast-pocket of his greatcoat two +horse-pistols, always loaded and ready for extremities. These journeys +frequently required several days, or rather nights, for their +performance; for he carried his contraband goods to towns fifty miles +distant, and on both sides of the Border. The darker the night was, +and the more tempestuous, the more welcome it was to Harry. He saw +none of the beauties in the moon on which poets dwell with admiration. +Its light may have charms for the lover, but it has none for the +smuggler. For twenty years he had carried on this mode of traffic with +uninterrupted success. He had been frequently pursued; but his good +steed, aided by his knowledge of localities, had ever carried him +beyond the reach of danger; and his <i>stow-holes</i> had been so secretly +and so cunningly designed, that no one but himself was able to +discover them, and informations against him always fell to the ground.</p> + +<p>Emboldened by long success, he had ceased to be a mere purchaser of +contraband goods upon the sea, and the story became current that he +had bought a share of a lugger, in conjunction with an Englishman then +resident at Cuxhaven. His brother-fishermen were not all men of +honour; for you will find black sheep in every society, and amongst +all ranks of life. Some of them had looked with an envious eye upon +Harry's run of good fortune, and they bore it with impatience; but +now, when he fairly, boldly, and proudly stepped out of their walk, +and seemed to rise head and shoulders above them, it was more than +they could stand. It was the lugger's first trip, and they, having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +managed to obtain intelligence of the day on which she was to sail +with a rich cargo, gave information of the fact to the commander of a +revenue-cutter then cruising upon the coast.</p> + +<p>I have mentioned that Harry was in the habit of wandering along the +coast with a telescope under his arm. From the period of his wife's +death, he had not gone regularly to sea, but let others have a share +of his boats for a stipulated portion of the fish they caught. Now, it +was about daybreak, on a morning in the middle of September, that he +was on the beach as I have described him, and perceiving the figure of +the cutter on the water, he raised his glass to his eye, to examine it +more minutely. He expected the lugger on the following night, and the +cutter was an object of interest to Harry. As day began to brighten, +he knelt down behind a sand-bank, in order that he might take his +observations, without the chance of being discovered; and while he yet +knelt, he perceived a boat pulled from the side of the cutter towards +the shore. At the first glance, he descried it to be an Embleton +cobble, and before it proceeded far, he discovered to whom it +belonged. He knew that the owner was his enemy, though he had not the +courage openly to acknowledge it, and in a moment the nature of his +errand to the cutter flashed through Harry's brain.</p> + +<p>"I see it! I see it all!" said the smuggler, dashing the telescope +back into its case; "the low, the skulking coward, to go blab upon a +neighbour! But Ise have the weather-gauge o' both o' them, or my +name's not Harry Teasdale."</p> + +<p>So saying, he hastened home to his house—he examined his cutlass, his +pistols, the bullets, and the powder. "All's right," said the +smuggler, and he entered the room where his daughter slept. He laid +his rough hand gently upon hers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Fanny, love," said he, "thou knowest that I expect the lugger +to-night, and I don't think I shall be at home, and I mayn't be all +to-morrow; but you won't fret, like a good girl, I know you won't. +Keep all right, love, till I be back; and say nothing."</p> + +<p>"Dear father," returned Fanny, who was now a lovely girl of eighteen, +"I tremble for this life which we lead—as my poor mother said, it +adds the punishment of the law to the dangers of the sea."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't mention thy mother, dearest!" said the smuggler, "or thou +wilt make a child of thy father, when he should be thinking of other +things. Ah, Fanny! when I lost thy mother, I lost everything that gave +delight to my heart. Since then, the fairest fields are to me no +better than a bare muir, and I have only thee, my love—only my Fanny, +to comfort me. So, thou wilt not cry now—thou wilt not distress thy +father, wilt thou? No, no! I know thou wilt not. I shall be back to +thee to-morrow, love."</p> + +<p>More passed between the smuggler and his daughter—words of +remonstrance, of tenderness, and assurance; and when he had left her, +he again went to the beach, to where his boat had just landed from the +night's fishing. None of the other boats had yet arrived. As he +approached, the crew said they "saw by his face there was something +unpleasant in the wind," and others added—</p> + +<p>"Something's vexed Skipper Harry this morning, and that's a shame, for +a better soul never lived."</p> + +<p>"Well, mates," said he, as he approached them, "have you seen a shark +cruising off the coast this morning?"</p> + +<p>"No," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"But I have," said Harry, "though she is making off to keep out of +sight now; and, more than that, I have seen a cut-throat lubber that I +would not set my foot upon—I mean the old Beelzebub imp, with the +white and yellow stripe on his yawl, pull from her side. And what was +he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> doing there? Was it not telling them to look out for the lugger?"</p> + +<p>Some of the boat's crew uttered sudden and bitter imprecations.</p> + +<p>"Let us go and sink the old rascal before he reach the shore," said +one.</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," cried another; for they were all interested in +the landing of the lugger, and in the excitement of the moment they +wist not what they said.</p> + +<p>"Softly, softly, my lads," returned Harry; "we must think now what we +can do for the cargo and ourselves, and not of him."</p> + +<p>"Right, master," replied another; "that is what I am thinking."</p> + +<p>"Now, look ye," continued Harry, "I believe we shall have a squall +before night, and a pretty sharp one, too; but we mustn't mind that +when our fortunes are at stake. Hang all black-hearted knaves that +would peach on a neighbour, say I; but it is done in our case, and we +must only do our best to make the rascal's story stick in his throat, +or be the same as if it had; and I think it may be done yet. I know, +but the peachers can't, that the lugger is to deliver a few score kegs +at Blyth before she run down here. We must off and meet her, and give +warning."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, Master Teasdale, thou'rt right; but, now that the thing has +got wind, the sharks will keep a hawk's eye on us, and how we are to +do it, I can't see."</p> + +<p>"Why, because thou'rt blind," said Harry.</p> + +<p>"No, hang it, and if I be, master," replied the other; "I can see as +far as most o' folks, as ye can testify; and I dow see plain enough, +that if we put to sea now, we shall hae the cutter after us; and that +would be what I call only leading the shark to where the salmon lay."</p> + +<p>"Man, I wonder to hear thee," said Harry; "folk wad say thou hadst nae +mair gumption than a born fool. Do ye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> think I wad be such an ass as +to send out spies in the face o' the enemy? Hae I had a run o' gud +luck for twenty years, and yet ye think me nae better general than +that comes to? I said, nae doubt, that we should gang to sea to meet +the lugger, though there will be a squall, and a heavy one, too, +before night, as sure as I'm telling ye; but I didna say that we +should dow sae under the bows o' the cutter, in our awn boat, or out +o' Embleton."</p> + +<p>"Right, right, master," said another, "no more you did. Ned isn't half +awake."</p> + +<p>The name of the fisherman alluded to was Ned Thomson.</p> + +<p>"Well, Ned, my lad," continued Harry, "I tell thee what must be done: +I shall go saddle my old nag, get thou a horse from thy wife's +father—he has two, and can spare one—and let us jog on as fast as we +can for Blyth; but we mustn't keep by the coast, lest the king's folk +get their eyes upon us. So away, get ready, lad, set out as quick as +thee can—few are astir yet. I won't wait on thee, and thou won't wait +on me; but whoever comes first to Felton Brig shall just place two +bits o' stones about the middle—on the parapet I think they ca' it; +but it is the dyke on each side o' the brig I mean, ye knaw. Put them +on the left-hand side in gaun alang, down the water; or if they're +there when ye come up, ye'll ken that I'm afore ye. So get ready, +lad—quick as ever ye can. Tell the awd man naething about what ye +want wi' the horse—the fewer that knaw onything about thir things the +better. And ye, lads, will be upon the look-out; and, if we can get +the lugger run in here, have a'thing in readiness."</p> + +<p>"No fear o' that, master," said they.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir," said Ned, "I'll be ready in a trap-stick, but I knaw the +awd chap will kick up a sang about lendin his horse."</p> + +<p>"Tell him I'll pay for it, if ye break its legs," said Harry.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>The crew of the boat laughed, and some of them said—"Nobody will +doubt that, master—you are able enough to do it."</p> + +<p>It must be observed that, since Harry had ceased to go regularly to +sea, and when he was really considered to be a rich man, the crew of +his boat began to call him <i>master</i>, notwithstanding his sou'-wester +and canvas kilt. And now that it was known to them, and currently +rumoured in Embleton, that he was part proprietor of a lugger, many of +the villagers began to call Fanny Miss Teasdale; and it must be said, +that in her dress and conversation she much nearer approximated to one +that might be styled <i>Miss</i>, than to a fisherman's daughter. But, when +the character and education of her mother are taken into account, this +will not be wondered at.</p> + +<p>It would be uninteresting to the reader to describe the journey of +Harry and Ned Thomson to Blyth; before they arrived at Felton, Harry +had overtaken Ned, and they rode on together.</p> + +<p>On arriving at Blyth, they stopped at the door of an individual who +was to receive forty kilderkins of Hollands from the lugger, and a +quantity of tobacco. It is well known to be the first duty of an +equestrian traveller to look after his horse, and to see that it is +fed; but, in this instance, Harry forgot the established rule—the +horses were given in charge of a girl to take them to a stable, to see +them fed, or otherwise, and Harry hastened into the house, and +breathlessly inquired of its owner—"I hope to heaven, sir, ye have +heard nothing of the Swallow?"</p> + +<p>[The lugger was called the "Swallow," from the carpenter in Cuxhaven, +who built her, having warranted that she "would <i>fly</i> through the +water."]</p> + +<p>"Why, nothing," replied Harry's brother smuggler; "but we shall be on +the look-out for her to-night."</p> + +<p>"So far well," said Harry; "but I hope you have no fear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> of any king's +lobsters being upon the coast, or rats ashore?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think we have anything to fear from the cutters," said the +other; "but I won't answer for the spies on shore; there are folk wi' +us here, as weel as wi' ye, that canna see their neighbours thrive and +haud their tongue; and I think some o' them hae been gaun owre aften +about wi' the spy-glass this day or two."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Harry, "the lugger doesna break bulk here, nor at +Embleton outher—that's flat. Get ye a boat ready, neighbour, and we +maun off and meet her, or ye may drink sma' yill to your venture and +mine."</p> + +<p>"It is growing too stormy for a boat to venture out," answered the +other.</p> + +<p>"Smash, man!" rejoined Harry; "wad you sit here on your hunkers, while +your capital is in danger o' being robbed frae ye as simply as ye +would snuff out a candle, and a' to escape a night's doukin! Get up, +man—get a boat—we maun to sea—we maun meet the lugger, or you and I +are done men—clean ruined a'thegither. I hae risked the better part +o' my bit Fanny's fortune upon this venture, and, Heaven! I'll suffer +death ten thousand-fold afore I see her brought to poverty; sae get a +boat—get it—and if ye daurna gang out, and if nane o' your folk daur +gang, Ned and me will gang our tow sels."</p> + +<p>"Surely ye wad be mad, Harry, to attempt such a thing in an open boat +to-night," said the Blyth merchant.</p> + +<p>"Mad or no mad," answered Harry, "I hae said it, and I am determined. +There is nae danger yet wi' a man that knaws how to manage a boat. If +ye gang pullin through thick and thin, through main strength and for +bare life, as many of the folk upon our coast dee, then there is +danger—but there is nae use for the like o' that. It isna enough to +manage an oar; you must knaw how to humour the sea, and to manage a +wave. Dinna think I've been at sea mair than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> thirty years without +knawing something about the matter. But I tell you what it is, +friend—ye knaw what the Bible says—'The race is not to the swift, +nor the battle to the strong;' now, the way to face breakers, or a +storm at sea, is not to pull through desperation, as if your life +depended on the pulling; but when you see a wave coming, ye must +backwater and backwater, and not pull again until ye see an +opportunity of gauin forward. It is the trusting to mere pulling, sir, +that makes our life-boats useless. The rowers in a life-boat should +study the sea as well as their oars. They should consider that they +save life by watching the wave that breaks over the vessel, as well as +by straining every nerve to reach her. Now, this is a stormy night, +nae doubt, but we maun just consider ourselves gaun off to the lugger +in the situation o' folk gaun off in a life-boat. We maun work cannily +and warily, and I'll tak the management o' the boat mysel."</p> + +<p>"If ye dow that, master," said Ned Thomson, "then I gang wi' ye to a +dead certainty."</p> + +<p>"Well, Harry," replied the merchant, "if it maun be sae, it just maun +be sae; but I think it a rash and a dangerous undertaking. I wad +sooner risk a' that I have on board."</p> + +<p>"Why, man, I really wonder to hear ye," said Harry; "folk wad say that +ye had been swaddled in lambs' wool a' your life, and nursed on your +mother's knee. Get a boat, and let us off to the lugger, and nae mair +about it."</p> + +<p>His orders were obeyed; and, about an hour after sunset, himself, with +Ned Thomson, the merchant, and four others, put off to sea. They had +indeed embarked upon a perilous voyage—before they were a mile from +the shore, the wind blew a perfect hurricane, and the waves chased +each other in circles, like monsters at play. Still Harry guided the +boat with unerring skill. He ordered them to draw back from the +bursting wave—they rose over it—he rendered it subservient to his +purpose. Within two hours he descried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> the lights of the lugger. He +knew them, for he had given directions for their use, and similar +lights were hoisted from the cobble which he steered.</p> + +<p>"All's well!" said Harry, and in his momentary joy he forgot the +tempestuous sea in which they laboured. They reached the lugger—they +gained the deck.</p> + +<p>"Put back, friend—put back," was the first salutation of Harry to the +skipper; "the camp is blown, and there are sharks along shore."</p> + +<p>"The devil!" replied the captain, who was an Englishman; "and what +shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"Back, back," answered Harry; "that is all in the meantime."</p> + +<p>But the storm now raged with more fierceness—it was impossible for +the boat to return to the shore, and Harry and his comrades were +compelled to put to sea with the lugger. Even she became in danger, +and it required the exertions of all hands to manage her.</p> + +<p>The storm continued until near daybreak, and the vessel had plied many +miles from the shore; but as day began to dawn, and the storm abated, +an enemy that they feared more appeared within a quarter-of-a-mile +from them, in the shape of a cutter-brig. A gun was fired from the +latter, as a signal for the lugger to lie to. Consternation seized the +crew, and they hurried to and fro upon the deck in confusion.</p> + +<p>"Clear the decks!" cried the skipper; "they shan't get all without +paying for it. Look to the guns, my hearties."</p> + +<p>"Avast! Master Skipper," said Harry; "though my property be in danger, +I see no cause why I should put my neck in danger too. It will be time +enough to fight when we canna better dow; and if we can keep them in +play a' day there will be sma' danger in wur gi'en them the slip at +night."</p> + +<p>"As you like, Mr Teasdale," said the skipper; "all's one to me. Helm +about, my lad," added he, addressing the steersman, and away went the +lugger, as an arrow, scudding before the wind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>The cutter made all sail, and gave chase, firing shot after shot. She +was considered one of the fastest vessels in the service; and though, +on the part of Harry and his friends, every nerve was strained, every +sail hoisted, and every manœuvre used, they could not keep the +lugger out of harm's way. Every half-hour he looked at his watch, and +wished for night, and his friend, the skipper, followed his example. +There was a hot chase for several hours; and, though tubs of brandy +were thrown overboard by the dozen, still the whizzing bullets from +the cutter passed over the heads of the smugglers. It ought to be +mentioned, also, that the rigging of the lugger had early sustained +damage, and her speed was checked. About sunset a shot injured her +rudder, and she became for a time, as Harry described her, "as +helpless as a child." The cutter instantly bore down upon her.</p> + +<p>"Now for it, my lads!" cried the skipper; "there is nothing for it but +fighting now—I suppose that is what you mean, Master Teasdale?"</p> + +<p>Harry nodded his head, and quietly drew his pistols from the +breast-pocket of his greatcoat; and then added—</p> + +<p>"Now, lads, this is a bad job, but we must try to make the best on't, +and, as we hae gone thus far" (and he discharged a pistol at the +cutter as he spoke), "ye knaw it is o' nae use to think o' +yielding—it is better to be shot than hanged."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the firing of the cutter was returned by the lugger, +from two large guns and a number of small-arms. Harry, in the midst of +the smoke and flame of the action, and the havoc of the bullets, was +as cool and collected as if smoking his pipe upon the beach at +Embleton.</p> + +<p>"See to get the helm repaired, lad, as fast as ye can," said he to the +carpenter, while in the act of reloading his pistols. "Let us fight +away, but mind ye your awn wark."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>Harry's was the philosophy of courage, mingled with the calculations +of worldly wisdom.</p> + +<p>The firing had been kept up on both sides for the space of +half-an-hour, and the decks of both were stained with the blood of the +wounded, when a party from the brig, headed by her first mate, +succeeded in boarding the lugger. Harry seized a cutlass which lay +unsheathed by the side of the companion, and was the first who rushed +forward to repel them.</p> + +<p>"Out o' my ship, ye thieves!" cried he, while, with his long arm, he +brandished the deadly weapon, and for a moment forgot his habitual +discretion.</p> + +<p>Others of the crew instantly sprang to the assistance of Harry; and, +after a short but desperate encounter, the invaders were driven from +the deck, leaving their chief mate, insensible from wounds, behind +them.</p> + +<p>The rudder being repaired so as to render her manageable, the lugger +kept up a sort of retreating fight until night set in, when, as Harry +said, "she gave the cutter the slip like a knotless thread."</p> + +<p>But now a disagreeable question arose amongst them, and that was, what +they should do with the wounded officer, who had been left as a prize +in their hands—though a prize that they would much rather have been +without. Some wished that he might die of his wounds, and so they +would get rid of him; for they were puzzled how to dispose of him in +such a way as not to lead to their detection, and place their lives in +jeopardy. Harry was on his knees by the side of the officer, washing +his wounds with Riga balsam, of which they had a store on board, and +binding them up, when one desperate fellow cut short the perplexity +and discussion of the crew, by proposing to fling their <i>prize</i> +overboard.</p> + +<p>On hearing the brutal proposal, Harry sprang to his feet, and hurling +out his long bony arm, he exclaimed, "Ye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> savage!" and, dashing his +fist in the face of the ruffian, felled him to the deck.</p> + +<p>The man (if we may call one who could entertain so inhuman an idea by +the name of man) rose, bleeding, growling, and muttering threats of +revenge.</p> + +<p>"Ye'll blab, will ye?" said Harry, eyeing him fiercely; "threaten to +dow it again, and there's the portion that's waiting for yur neck!" +and, as he spoke, he pointed with his finger to the cross-tree of the +lugger, and added, "and ye knaw that the same reward awaits ye if ye +set yur weel-faur'd face ashore! Out o' my sight, ye +'scape-the-gallows!"</p> + +<p>For three days and nights, after her encounter with the brig, the +lugger kept out to sea; and on the fourth night, which was thick, +dark, and starless, Harry resolved to risk all; and, desiring the +skipper to stand for the shore, all but run her aground on Embleton +beach. No light was hoisted, no signal given. Harry held up his +finger, and every soul in the lugger was mute as death. A boat was +lowered in silence, and four of the crew being placed under the +command of Ned Thomson, pulled ashore. The boat flew quickly, but the +oars seemed only to kiss the water, and no sound audible at the +distance of five yards proceeded from their stroke.</p> + +<p>"Now, pull back quietly, mates," said Ned, "and I'll be aboard wi' +some o' wur awn folks in a twinkling."</p> + +<p>It was between one and two in the morning, and there was no outward +sign amongst the fishermen of Embleton that they were on the alert for +the arrival of a smuggler. The party who gave information to the +cutter having missed Harry for a few days, justly imagined that he had +obtained notice of what they had done; and also believed that he had +ordered the cargo to be delivered on some other part of the coast, and +they therefore were off their guard. Ned, therefore, proceeded to the +village; and, at the houses of certain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> friends, merely gave three +distinct and peculiar taps with his fingers upon their shutterless +windows, from none of which, if I may use the expression, proceeded +even the <i>shadow</i> of light; but no sooner was the last tap given upon +each, than it was responded to by a low cough from within. No words +passed; and at one window only was Ned detained for a space exceeding +ten seconds, and that was at the house of his master, Harry Teasdale. +Fanny had slept but little since her father left; when she sought rest +for an hour, it was during the day, and she now sat anxiously watching +every sound. On hearing the understood signal, she sprang to the door. +"Edward!" she whispered, eagerly, "is it you?—where is my +father?—what has detained him?"</p> + +<p>"Don't be asking questions now, Miss Fanny—sure it is very foolish," +replied Ned, in the same tone; "Master will be here by and by; but ye +knaw we have bonny wark to dow afore daylight yet. Gud-nicht, hinny."</p> + +<p>So saying, Ned stole softly along the village; and, within +half-an-hour, half-a-dozen boats were alongside the lugger; and, an +hour before daybreak, every tub and every bale on board was safely +landed and stowed away.</p> + +<p>Yet, after she was a clean ship, there was one awkward business that +still remained to be settled, and that was how they were to dispose of +the wounded officer of the cutter-brig. A consultation was held—many +opinions were given.</p> + +<p>"At ony rate we must act like Christians," said Harry.</p> + +<p>Some proposed that he should be taken over to Holland and landed +there; but this the skipper positively refused to do, swearing that +the sooner he could get rid of such a customer the better.</p> + +<p>"Why, I canna tell," said Ned Thomson; "but what dow ye say, if we +just take him ashore, and lay him at the door o' the awd rascal that +gied information on us?"</p> + +<p>"Capital!" cried two or three of the conclave; "that's just the +ticket, Ned!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" interrupted Harry, "it's nae such thing. Man, Ned, I +wonder that sic a clever chap as ye aye talks like a fool. Why, ye +might as weel go and ask them to tak you and me off to Morpeth before +dinner-time, as to lay him at their door this morning."</p> + +<p>"Well, Master Teasdale," said the skipper, who was becoming impatient, +"what would you have us to do with him?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I see there's naething for it," answered Harry, "but I maun tak +the burden o' him upon my awn shouthers. Get the boat ready." So +saying, and while it was yet dark, he entered the cabin where the +wounded officer lay, but who was now conscious of his situation.</p> + +<p>"I say, my canny lad," said Harry, approaching his bedside, and +addressing him, "ye maun allow me to tie a bit handkerchur owre yur +een for a quarter-of-an-hour or sae.—Ye needna be feared, for there's +naething shall happen ye—but only, in looking after yur gud, I maunna +lose sight o' my awn. You shall be ta'en ashore as gently as we can."</p> + +<p>The wounded man was too feeble to offer any resistance, and Harry, +binding up his eyes, wrapped the clothes on the bed around him, and +carried him in his arms upon deck. In the same manner he placed him in +the boat, supporting him with his arm, and, on reaching the shore, he +bore him on his shoulders to his house.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," said he, as he set him down from his shoulders on an +arm-chair, "ye needna be under the smallest apprehension, for every +attention shall be paid ye here; and, as soon as ye are better, ye +shall be at liberty to return, safe and sound, to your friends, your +ship, or wherever ye like." Harry then turned to his daughter, and +continued—"Now, my bird, come awa in by wi' me, and I will let ye +knaw what ye have to dow."</p> + +<p>Fanny wondered at the unusual burden which her father<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> had brought +upon his shoulders into the house; and at his request she anxiously +accompanied him into her own apartment. When they had entered, and he +had shut the door behind them, he took her hand affectionately, and, +addressing her in a sort of whisper, said—</p> + +<p>"Now, Fanny, love, ye maun be very cautious—as I knaw ye will be—and +mind what I am telling ye to dow." He then made her acquainted with +the rank of their inmate, and the manner in which he had fallen into +their hands, and added—"Now, darling, ye see we maun be very +circumspect, and keep his being here a secret frae everybody: he maun +remain ignorant o' his awn situation, nowther knawing where he is, nor +in whose hands he is; for if it were found out, it wad be as much as +your father's life is worth. Now he maun stop in this room, as it +looks into the garden, and he can see naething frae it, nor will +onybody be able to see him. Ye maun sleep wi' the lass in the kitchen, +and yur '<i>sampler</i>,' and every book, or onything that has a name on't, +maun be taken out o' the room. It winna dow for onybody but you and me +ever to see him, or to wait on him; and, when we dow, he maunna be +allowed to see either yur face or mine; but I will put my awd mask on, +that I used to wear at night sometimes when there was onything +particular to dow, and I thought there wad be danger in the way; and," +continued he, as the doating parent rose in his bosom, "it wadna be +<i>chancy</i> for him to see my Fanny's face at ony rate; and when ye dow +see him, ye maun have your features so concealed, that, if he met you +again, he wadna knaw ye. Now, hinny, ye'll attend to a' that I've +said—for ye remember your father's life depends on it—and we maun be +as kind to the lad as we can, and try to bring him about as soon as +possible, to get clear on him."</p> + +<p>Fanny promised to obey her father's injunctions; but fears for his +safety, and the danger in which he was placed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> banished every other +thought. The books, the "<i>sampler</i>," everything that could lead the +stranger to a knowledge of the name of his keepers, or of the place +where he was, was taken out of the room.</p> + +<p>Harry, muffling up his face, returned to the apartment where the +wounded man was, and, supporting him on his arm, he led him to that +which he was to occupy. He then took the bandage from his eyes, and, +placing him on the bed, again desired him to keep himself easy, and +wished him "good-morning," for day was now beginning to dawn.</p> + +<p>The name of our smuggler's wounded prisoner was Augustus Hartley. He +was about twenty-four years of age, and the son of a gentleman of +considerable property in Devonshire; and, at the period we speak of, +he was in expectation of being removed from his situation as second +officer of the brig, and promoted to the command of a revenue-cutter. +The wounds which he had received on the deck of the lugger were +severe, and had reduced him to a state of extreme feebleness; but they +were not dangerous. He knew not where he was, and he marvelled at the +treatment he experienced; for it was kind, yea, even roughly +courteous, and unlike what he might have expected from the hands of +such men as those into whose power he had fallen. Anxiety banished +sleep; and when the risen sun lighted up the chamber where he lay, he +stretched forth his hand and drew aside the curtains, to ascertain +whether the appearance of the apartment would in any way reveal the +mystery which surrounded his situation. But it rather increased it. In +the window were the flowers—around the walls the curious needlework; +the furniture was neatly arranged—there was an elegance over all; +and, to increase his wonder, in a corner by the window was a small +harp, and a few pages of music lay on a table near him.</p> + +<p>"Surely," thought Augustus, "this cannot be the habi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>tation of a +half-uncivilised smuggler; and yet the man who brought me here seemed +such."</p> + +<p>He drew back his head upon his pillow, to seek the explanation in +conjectures which he could not otherwise obtain; and while he lay +conjuring up strange fancies, Harry, with the mask upon his face, his +hair tied up and concealed, and his body wrapped in a greatcoat, +entered the room.</p> + +<p>"Well, how art thou now, lad?" said the smuggler, approaching the bed; +"dost think ye could take breakfast yet?"</p> + +<p>Augustus thanked him; but the appearance of Harry in his strange +disguise increased his curiosity and anxiety.</p> + +<p>Harry withdrew, and again returned with the breakfast; and though an +awkward waiter, he was an attentive one. Few words passed between +them, for the questions which Augustus felt desirous to ask were +checked by the smuggler saying—"Now, my canny lad, while ye are here +I maun lay an embargo on your asking ony questions, either at me or +onybody else. Ye shall be taken gud care on—if ye want onything, just +tak that bit stick at your bedside, and gie a rap on the floor, and +I'll come to ye. Ye shall want for naething; and, as soon as ye are +better, ye shall be at liberty to gang where ye like. But I maun +caution ye again, that ye are to ask nae questions."</p> + +<p>Augustus again thanked him, and was silent.</p> + +<p>At the end of eight days, he was able to rise from his bed, and to sit +up for a few hours. Harry now said to him—</p> + +<p>"As thou wilt be dull, belike thou wilt have nae objections to a +little music to cheer thee."</p> + +<p>Thus saying, he left the room, and, in a few minutes, returned with +Fanny. He was disguised as before, and her features were concealed by +several folds of black crape, which covered her head and face, after +the fashion of a nun.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> She curtsied with a modest grace to the +stranger as she entered.</p> + +<p>"That cannot be the daughter of a rude and ignorant smuggler," thought +Augustus; "and how should such a creature be connected with them?" He +noted the elegance of her form, and his imagination again began to +dream. The mystery of his situation deepened around him, and he gazed +anxiously on the thick and folded veil that concealed her features.</p> + +<p>"Wilt thou amuse the poor gentleman with a song, love," said Harry, +"for I fear he has but a dull time on't?"</p> + +<p>Fanny took the harp which stood in the corner—she touched the +trembling cords—she commenced a Scottish melody; and, as Augustus +listened to the music of her clear and silvery voice, blending with +the tones of the instrument, it</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Came o'er the ear like the sweet south<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Breathing upon a bank of violets,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stealing and giving odour."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It seemed the sweetest strain to which he had ever listened; and +romance and mystery lent it their magic. His eyes kindled at the +sounds; and when Harry saw the change that was produced on him, he was +well pleased to observe it, and he was proud also of his daughter's +performance, and in the simplicity and fulness of his heart he said—</p> + +<p>"Thou mayest amuse the gentleman with thy music every day, child, or +thou mayest read to him, to mak him as comfortable as we can; only he +must ask thee no questions, and thou must answer him none. But I can +trust to thee."</p> + +<p>From that moment Augustus no longer wearied for the days of his +captivity to pass away; and he retired to rest, or rather to dream of +the veiled songstress, and to conjure up a thousand faces of youth and +beauty which might be like her face—for he doubted not but her +countenance was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> lovely as her form was handsome; and he pictured dark +eyes where the soul beamed, and the raven hair waved on the snowy +temples, with the soft blue eyes where affection smiled, and the +flaxen tresses were parted on the brow; but he knew not which might be +like hers on whom his imagination dwelt.</p> + +<p>Many days passed; and, during a part of each, Fanny sat beside him to +beguile his solitude. She read to him; they conversed together; and +the words which fell from her lips surprised and delighted him. She +also taught him the use of the harp, and he was enabled to play a few +tunes. He regarded her as a veiled angel, and his desire to look upon +her features each day became more difficult to control. He argued that +it was impossible to love one whose face he had never seen—yet, when +she was absent from his side, he was unhappy until her return; she had +become the one idea of his thoughts—the spirit of his fancies; he +watched her fair fingers as they glided on the harp—his hand shook +when he touched them, and more than once he half raised it to untie +the thick veil which hid her features from him.</p> + +<p>But, while such feelings passed through his mind, others of a kindred +character had crept into the bosom of Fanny, and she sighed when she +thought that, in a few weeks, she would see him no more, that even her +face he might not see, and that her name he must never know; and fears +for her father's safety mingled with the feelings which the stranger +had awakened in her bosom. She had beheld the anxiety that glowed in +his dark eyes—she had listened to his impassioned words—she felt +their influence: but duty forbade her to acknowledge that she felt it.</p> + +<p>Eight weeks had passed; the wounds of Augustus were nearly healed; his +health was restored, and his strength returned, and Harry said that in +another week he might depart; but the announcement gave no joy to him +to whom it was addressed. His confinement had been robbed of its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +solitariness, it had become as a dream in which he delighted, and he +could have asked but permission to gaze upon the face of his +companion, to endure it for ever. About an hour after he received this +intelligence, Fanny entered the apartment. He rose to meet her—he +took her hand, and they sat down together. But her harp lay +untouched—she spoke little—he thought she sighed, and he, too, was +silent.</p> + +<p>"Lady," said he, anxiously, still holding her hand in his, "I know not +where I am, nor by whom I am surrounded—this only I know, that you, +with an angel's care, have watched over me, that you have restored me +to health, and rendered confinement more grateful than liberty; but, +in a few days, we must part—part, perhaps, for ever; then, before I +go, grant me but one request—let me look upon the face of her whose +remembrance will dwell in my heart as its dearest thought, while the +pulse of life throbs within it."</p> + +<p>"I must not, I dare not," said Fanny, and she paused and sighed; "'tis +not worth looking on," she added.</p> + +<p>"Nay, dearest," continued he, "deny me not—it is a small request. +Fear nothing—never shall danger fall upon any connected with you +through me. I will swear to you——"</p> + +<p>"Swear not!" interrupted Fanny—"I dare not!—no!—no!" and she again +sighed.</p> + +<p>He pressed her hand more closely within his. A breathless silence +followed, and a tear glistened in his eyes. Her bosom heaved—her +countenance bespoke the struggle that warred in her breast.</p> + +<p>"Do I look as one who would betray your friends—if they be your +friends?" said he, with emotion.</p> + +<p>"No," she faltered, and her head fell on her bosom.</p> + +<p>He placed his hand across her shoulders—it touched the riband by +which the deep folds of the veil were fastened over her head—it was +the impulse of a moment—he unloosed it, the veil fell upon the floor, +and the flaxen locks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> and the lovely features of Fanny Teasdale were +revealed. Augustus started in admiration; for weeks he had conjured up +phantoms of ideal beauty, but the fair face before him exceeded them +all. She blushed—her countenance bespoke anxiety rather than +anger—tears fell down her cheeks, and he kissed them away. He sat, +silently gazing on her features, drawing happiness from her eyes.</p> + +<p>Again ten days had passed, and, during each of them, Fanny, in the +absence of her father, sat unveiled by his side. Still he knew not her +name, and, when he entreated her to pronounce it, she wept, and +replied, "I dare not."</p> + +<p>He had told her his. "Call me <i>your</i> Augustus," said he, "and tell me +by what name I shall call <i>you</i>, my own. Come, dearest, do you doubt +me still? Do you still think me capable of the part of an informer?"</p> + +<p>But she wept the more, for she knew that to tell her name was to make +known her father's also—to betray him, and to place his life in +jeopardy. He urged her yet more earnestly, and he had sunk upon his +knee, and was pressing her hand to his lips, when Harry, in the +disguise in which he had always seen him, entered the room. The +smuggler started back.</p> + +<p>"What!" cried he, sternly, "what hast thou done, girl?—shown thy face +and betrayed me?—and told thy name, and mine, too, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no! no! dear father!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms around him; +"I have not—indeed I have not. Do not be angry with your Fanny."</p> + +<p>"Fanny!" hastily exclaimed Augustus—"Fanny! Bless thee for that +word!"</p> + +<p>"That thou mayest make it the clue to destroy her father!" returned +the smuggler.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," answered Augustus, proudly, "but that I may treasure it up +in my heart, as the name of one who is dearer to me than the life +which thou hast preserved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>."</p> + +<p>"Ay! ay!" replied Harry, "thou talkest like every hot-headed youth; +but it was an ungrateful return in thee, for preserving thy life, to +destroy my peace. Get thee ben to the other room, Fanny, for thou'st +been a silly girl."</p> + +<p>She rose weeping, and withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," continued Harry, "thou must remain nae langer under this +roof. This very hour will I get a horse ready, and conduct thee to +where ye can go to your friends, or wherever ye like; and as ye were +brought blindfolded here, ye maun consent to be taken blindfolded +away."</p> + +<p>"Nay, trust to my honour, sir," said Augustus—"I am incapable of +betraying you."</p> + +<p>"I'm no sae sure about that," returned the smuggler, "and it's best to +be sure. I trusted to your honour that ye wad ask no questions while +here—and how have you kept your honour? Na, lad, na!—what ye dinna +see ye winna be able to swear to. So make ready." Thus saying, Harry +left the apartment, locking the door behind him.</p> + +<p>It was about an hour after nightfall, and within ten minutes the +smuggler again entered the room. He carried a pistol in one hand, and +a silk handkerchief in the other. He placed the pistol upon the table, +and said, "I have no time to argue—allow me to tie thy eyes up, lest +worse follow."</p> + +<p>Augustus requested that he might see Fanny but for a few minutes, and +he would comply without a murmur.</p> + +<p>"No," said Harry, sternly; "wouldst tamper with my child's heart, when +her trusting in thee would place my life in thy power? Say no more—I +won't hear thee," he continued, again raising the pistol in his hand.</p> + +<p>Augustus, finding expostulation vain, submitted to have his eyes bound +up; and as the smuggler was leading him from the house, the bitter +sobs of Fanny reached his ear: he was almost tempted to burst from the +grasp of his conductor, and rush towards her; but, endeavouring to +suppress the tumult of his feelings, he exclaimed aloud<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>"Forget me not, dear Fanny!—we shall meet again."</p> + +<p>"Never!" whispered Harry in his ear.</p> + +<p>The smuggler's horse stood ready at the door. In a moment he sprang +upon the saddle (if saddle it could be called), and, taking Augustus +by the hand, placed him behind him; and at a word spoken the +well-trained animal started off, as though spurs had been dashed into +its sides. For several hours they galloped on, but in what direction +Augustus knew not, nor wist he from whence he had been brought. At +length the smuggler suddenly drew up his horse, and exclaimed, +"Dismount!"</p> + +<p>Augustus obeyed, but scarce had his feet touched the ground, when +Harry, crying "Farewell!" dashed away as an arrow shot from a bow; and +before the other could unfasten the handkerchief with which his eyes +were bound up, the horse and its rider were invisible.</p> + +<p>It was drawing towards grey dawn, and he knew neither where he was nor +in what direction to proceed. He remembered, also, that he was without +money; but there was something heavy tied in a corner of the +handkerchief, which he yet held in his hand. He examined it, and found +ten guineas, wrapped in a scrap of paper, on which some words seemed +to be written. He longed for day, that he might be enabled to read +them, and, as the light increased, he deciphered, written with a +trembling hand—</p> + +<p>"You may need money.—Think sometimes of me!"</p> + +<p>"Heaven bless thee, my unknown Fanny!" cried he, "whoever thou art; +never will I think of any but thee."</p> + +<p>I need not tell about his discovering in what part of the country the +smuggler had left him; of his journey to his father's house in +Devonshire, or his relation of what had befallen him; nor how he dwelt +upon the remembrance of Fanny, and vainly endeavoured to trace where +her residence was, or to discover what was her name beyond Fanny.</p> + +<p>He was appointed to the command of a cutter, and four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> years passed +from the period of the scenes that had been described, when, following +in pursuit of a smuggling vessel, he again arrived upon the coast of +Northumberland. Some of his crew, who had been on shore, brought him +information that the vessel was delivering her cargo near Embleton; +and, ordering two boats to be manned, he instantly proceeded to the +land. They came upon the smuggler; a scuffle ensued, and one of +Captain Hartley's men was stabbed by his side with a clasp-knife, and +fell dead at his feet; and he wrenched the knife from the hand of the +murderer, who with his companions, effected his escape without being +discovered.</p> + +<p>But day had not yet broken when two constables knocked at the door of +Harry Teasdale, and demanded admission. The servant-girl opened the +door—they rushed into the house, and to the side of the bed where he +slept. They grasped him by the shoulder, and exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"You are our prisoner."</p> + +<p>"Your prisoner!" replied Harry; "for what, neighbours?"</p> + +<p>"Weel dow ye knaw for what," was the answer.</p> + +<p>Harry sprang upon the floor, and, in the excitement of the moment, he +raised his hand to strike the officers of the law.</p> + +<p>"You are only making things worse," said one of them; and he submitted +to have handcuffs placed upon his wrists.</p> + +<p>Fanny sprang into the room, exclaiming—</p> + +<p>"My father—my father!" and flinging her arms around his neck; "oh, +what is it?—what is it?" she continued, breathless, and her voice +choked with sobbing—"what do they say that you have done?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, love—nothing," said he endeavouring to be calm; "it is some +mistake, but some one shall answer for it."</p> + +<p>His daughter's arms were forcibly torn from around his neck; and he +was taken before a neighbouring magistrate,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> by whom the deposition of +Captain Hartley had been received. Harry was that morning committed to +the county prison on a charge of murder. I shall neither attempt to +describe his feelings, nor will I dwell upon the agony which was worse +than death to his poor daughter. She knew her father innocent; but she +knew not his accusers, nor the nature of the evidence which they would +bring forward to prove him guilty of the crime which they imputed to +him.</p> + +<p>But the fearful day of trial came. Harry Teasdale was placed at the +bar. The principal witness against him was Captain Hartley. The colour +came and went upon the prisoner's cheeks, as his eye fell upon the +face of his accuser. He seemed struggling with sudden emotion; and +many who observed it took it as a testimony of guilt. In his evidence +Captain Hartley deposed, that he and a part of his crew came upon the +smugglers on the beach, while in the act of concealing their goods; +that he, and the seaman who was murdered by his side, having attacked +three of the smugglers, the tallest of the three, whom he believed to +be the prisoner, with a knife gave the mortal stab to the deceased; +that he raised the weapon also against him, and that he only escaped +the fate of his companion by striking down the arm of the smuggler, +and wrenching the knife from his hands, who then escaped. He also +stated that, on examining the knife, which was of great length, he +read the words, "<span class="smcap">Harry Teasdale</span>," which were deeply burned into its +bone handle, and which led to the apprehension of the prisoner. The +knife was then produced in court, and a murmur of horror ran through +the multitude.</p> + +<p>Other witnesses were examined, who proved that, on the day of the +murder, they had seen the knife in the hands of the prisoner; and the +counsel for the prosecution, in remarking on the evidence, pronounced +it to be</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Confirmation strong as holy writ."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>The judge inquired of the prisoner if he had anything to say, or aught +to bring forward in his defence.</p> + +<p>"I have only this to say, my lord," said Harry, firmly, "that I am as +innocent o' the crime laid to my charge as the child unborn. My poor +daughter and my servant can prove that, on the night when the deed was +committed, I never was across my own door. And," added he, firmly, and +in a louder tone, and pointing to Captain Hartley as he spoke, "I can +only say that he whose life I saved at the peril o' my own has, +through some mistake, endeavoured to take away mine; and his +conscience will carry its punishment when he discovers his error."</p> + +<p>Captain Hartley started to his feet, his cheeks became pale; he +inquired, in an eager tone, "Have you seen me before?" The prisoner +returned no answer; and at that moment the officer of the court called +the name of</p> + +<p>"<i>Fanny Teasdale!</i>"</p> + +<p>"Ha!" exclaimed the captain, convulsively, and suddenly striking his +hand upon his breast—"is it so?"</p> + +<p>The prisoner bowed his head and wept. The court were stricken with +astonishment.</p> + +<p>Fanny was led towards the witness-box; there was a buzz of admiration +and of pity as she passed along. Captain Hartley beheld her—he +clasped his hands together. "Gracious heavens! my own Fanny!" he +exclaimed aloud.</p> + +<p>He sprang forward—he stood by her side—her head fell on his bosom. +"My lord!—O my lord!" he cried, wildly, addressing the judge, "I +doubt—I disbelieve, my own evidence. There must be some mistake. I +cannot be the murderer of the man who saved me—of my Fanny's father!"</p> + +<p>The most anxious excitement prevailed through the court: every +individual was moved, and, on the bench, faces were turned aside to +conceal a tear.</p> + +<p>The judge endeavoured to restore order.</p> + +<p>The shock of meeting with Augustus, in such a place and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> in such an +hour, though she knew not that he was her father's accuser, added to +her agony, was too much for Fanny, and, in a state of insensibility, +she was carried out of the court.</p> + +<p>Harry's servant-girl was examined; and, although she swore that, on +the night on which the murder was committed, he had not been out of +his own house, yet, in her cross-examination, she admitted that he +frequently was out during the night without her knowledge, and that he +<i>might</i> have been so on the night in question. Other witnesses were +called, who spoke to the excellent character of the prisoner, and to +his often-proved courage and humanity; but they could not prove that +he had not been engaged in the affray in which the murder had been +committed.</p> + +<p>Captain Hartley strove anxiously to undo the impression which his +evidence had already produced; but it was too late.</p> + +<p>The judge addressed the jury, and began to sum up the evidence. He +remarked upon the knife with which the deed was perpetrated, being +proved and acknowledged to be the property of the prisoner—of its +being seen in his hand on the same day, and of his admitting the +fact—on the resemblance of the figure to that of the individual who +was seen to strike the blow, and on his inability to prove that he was +not that individual. He was proceeding to notice the singular scene +that had occurred, with regard to the principal witness and the +prisoner, when a shout was heard from the court-door, and a gentleman, +dressed as a clergyman, pressed through the crowd, and reaching the +side of the prisoner, he exclaimed, "My lord, and gentlemen of the +jury, <i>the prisoner, Harry Teasdale, is innocent</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Thank Heaven!" exclaimed Captain Hartley.</p> + +<p>The spectators burst into a shout, which the judge instantly +suppressed, and desired the clergyman to be sworn, and to produce his +evidence. "We are here to give it," said two others, who had followed +behind them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + +<p>The clergyman briefly stated that he had been sent for on the previous +evening to attend the death-bed of an individual whom he named, and +who had been wounded in the affray with Captain Hartley's crew, and +that, in his presence, and in the presence of the other witnesses who +then stood by his side, a deposition had been taken down from his lips +an hour before his death. The deposition, or confession, was handed +into court; and it set forth that his hand struck the fatal blow, and +with Harry Teasdale's knife, which he had found lying upon the stern +of his boat on the afternoon of the day on which the deed was +committed—and, farther, that Harry was not upon the beach that night.</p> + +<p>The jury looked for a moment at each other—they instantly rose, and +their foreman pronounced the prisoner "<i>Not Guilty!</i>" A loud and +spontaneous shout burst from the multitude. Captain Hartley sprang +forward—he grasped his hand.</p> + +<p>"I forgive thee, lad," said Harry.</p> + +<p>Hartley led him from the dock—he conducted him to Fanny, whom he had +taken to an adjoining inn.</p> + +<p>"Here is your father!—he is safe!—he is safe, my love!" cried +Augustus, as he entered the room where she was.</p> + +<p>Fanny wept on her father's bosom, and he kissed her brow, and said, +"Bless thee."</p> + +<p>"And canst thou bless me, too," said Augustus, "after all that I have +done?"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, I see how it is to be," said Harry; and he took their +hands and placed them in each other. I need only add, that Fanny +Teasdale became the happy wife of Augustus Hartley; and Harry, having +acquired a competency, gave up the trade of a smuggler.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE SCHOOLFELLOWS.</h2> + + +<p>A few years ago, I happened to pass through the main street of +Carlisle, just as the south mail had "pulled up" at the door of "The +Bush." The night was very cold; the horses were tossing their heads, +and pawing the ground, impatient to escape from the restraint of their +harness; and the steam, which rose in clouds from their bodies, gave +evidence that they had just "come off" a rapid and fatiguing stage. At +the coach-door stood a middle-aged, gentlemanly-looking man, whose +blue nose, muffled throat, and frozen body, pointed him out as one of +the new arrivals. As I loitered slowly past, the stranger, who had +just settled the claims of the guard, turned round, and observed me. +His keen eye rested for a moment on my features—he started, looked +again, and then said—</p> + +<p>"No; I cannot be mistaken. I surely ought to know that face. Is not +your name Lorrimer?"</p> + +<p>"It is," replied I, surprised at being thus accosted by a perfect +stranger. "You seem to be better acquainted with my name, sir, than I +am with yours; for I am not conscious of ever having seen you before."</p> + +<p>"Look at me again, Frank; try if you cannot recollect me," said he, as +we entered the travellers' room, and the gas-light shone full on his +face.</p> + +<p>I looked; but in vain.</p> + +<p>"I am ashamed to say, I do not know who you can be, though I have a +kind of consciousness that your features are those of an old friend."</p> + +<p>"Do you remember Richard Musgrave?"</p> + +<p>"What! Dick Muzzy? To be sure I do—the kindest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>-hearted fellow that +ever dog's-eared a Latin grammar. What news of my old schoolmate?"</p> + +<p>"He is speaking to you now."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible? You Richard Musgrave? Why, Richard was younger, I +rather think, than myself; and you, begging your pardon, look almost +old enough to be my father."</p> + +<p>"So it is, notwithstanding. I am Richard Musgrave. Time and climate +must have altered me even more sadly than I conceived, since Frank +Lorrimer fails to recognise me."</p> + +<p>He was indeed changed. Some alteration might have been expected, for +several years had elapsed since we had met; but time alone could not +have thus metamorphosed him. We had been schoolfellows and intimate +friends; and, when he left home, ten years before, he was a handsome, +vigorous young fellow, with hair dark as a raven's wing, and a brow +clear as alabaster. Now, his hair was iron-grey, his features were +dark and sunburned, and the scar, of a sabre-wound apparently, +disfigured his forehead. Even with my knowledge of his identity, some +minutes elapsed ere I could persuade myself that the friend of my +early years stood before me; but my recollection slowly revived as I +gazed upon him, and I wondered at my own stupidity in not having +sooner recognised him.</p> + +<p>"Musgrave, my dear fellow," said I, shaking him cordially by the hand, +"I rejoice to see you. Time has altered us both outwardly; but, I +trust, it has left our hearts unchanged. The recollection of youthful +joys and sorrows is the last to leave us. Amid all the changes and +chances of life, our thoughts fondly dwell upon the days of our +innocent and happy childhood; and all the friendships we form in after +years can never efface the remembrance of those who were dear to us in +early youth. I have often thought of you, Musgrave, and often, though +in vain, I have made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> anxious inquiries after the fate of my old +friend and schoolfellow; and, now that you <i>have</i> returned, I should +have passed you by as a common stranger, had your memory been as +treacherous as my own."</p> + +<p>"You forget, my dear fellow," replied he, "that <i>you</i> are but little +changed; your florid cheek, and smooth, unwrinkled brow, prove that +time has been flowing on in a smooth, unruffled current with <i>you</i>; +that you have been leading a life of ease and comfort. But look at me; +on my sunburned features you may read a tale of hardship and exposure. +Look at my brow! these premature wrinkles are mementos of care and +anxiety. But, come, I have much to ask and to tell you; if you have +leisure, let us retire to a private room, and talk over the past. I +cannot, I find, proceed on my journey till the morning, and I could +not employ my time more agreeably than in conversation with an old +friend."</p> + +<p>I willingly complied with his request, and we were soon seated beside +a comfortable fire, with "all appliances and means to boot," for +making the evening pass with <i>spirit</i>.</p> + +<p>"Now, Frank," said Musgrave, "before we commence, set my mind at rest +about my family. Do you know anything of them?"</p> + +<p>"It is some time since I saw them; but I heard a few days ago that +they were all well."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, thank you, my dear fellow; you have removed a load of +anxiety from my mind. Fill your glass to 'auld langsyne,' and then we +will talk over old scenes and old friends."</p> + +<p>Long and confidential was our conversation, and varied were the +feelings which it excited. There can be few more interesting events in +a man's life than the unexpected meeting with a long-absent friend. +There is a mournful pleasure in recalling the past, in contrasting the +sad experience of maturer years with the sanguine and glowing +anticipa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>tions of our youth. For a few passing moments we forget the +march of time, we look back through the long vista of years, and once +more the warm, and joyous, and fresh feelings of youth seem to gush +forth, and to soften and revive our world-seared and hardened hearts. +So it was with <i>us</i>.</p> + +<p>The present was for awhile forgotten by us; we were living in the +past; and loud and joyful were our bursts of merriment when we talked +of old jokes and adventures; and then again the thought came over us, +like a chilling blight, suffusing our eyes with tears, that the +curtain of death had fallen over most of our young and cheerful +fellow-actors on the early stage of life. It was with saddened and +subdued hearts we dwelt upon the brief career of some of our early +companions; and we sat for some minutes in silence, musing upon the +vicissitudes of human life. At last, with a forced attempt at +merriment, Musgrave exclaimed, in the words of an old sea ditty—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"'Come, grieving's a folly;<br /></span> +<span class="i10">So let us be jolly:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If we've troubles at sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Replenish your tumbler, Frank," continued he; "we'll talk no more of +the past; that's gone beyond recall; but let us make the most of the +present. We have not many hours before us; and I have heard nothing of +your adventures since we parted, nor you of mine. Set a good example, +and begin."</p> + +<p>"My story is soon told," replied I; "for, as you remarked before, time +has been flowing on, for me, quiet and undisturbed. I have no +adventures to relate—no stirring accidents by field or flood; mine +has been a humdrum, peaceful life, unmarked by variety, except those +common ones which would be uninteresting to a man of travel and +adventure like yourself."</p> + +<p>"Nothing connected with my old friend can prove un<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>interesting," said +Musgrave; "so pray commence your tale."</p> + +<p>Thus urged, I began as follows:—I continued at school two years after +you so suddenly left it, and was then bound apprentice to a lawyer in +this town. I did not much like the profession which had been chosen +for me; but there was no help for it. I knew that my father had no +interest, and that I must trust entirely to my own exertions for a +provision for my future life. I therefore applied myself diligently to +my duties, and soon had the good fortune to gain the confidence of my +employer. I had been with him about three years, when he sent me to a +neighbouring village to wait upon a client of his. This gentleman was +a retired post-captain, a man who had seen much service, and had been +often and severely wounded.</p> + +<p>He was, as I had been before informed, as smart an officer as ever +trod a ship's deck; his whole heart was in his profession; and his +long residence on shore had not broken him of his habit of +interlarding his conversation with sea-phrases; and he delighted in +talking over the adventures of his past life to all who would listen +to him. Notwithstanding his little peculiarities, he was universally +loved and respected. He was a hospitable, kind-hearted man, and a +"gentleman of Nature's own making;" for, though he was a little +wanting in external polish, his actions proved him worthy of the +title. I had often heard of him before, but had never chanced to meet +him. I was much pleased with him at first sight: there was so much +warmth and frankness in his reception of me; and I felt at home with +him in a minute. He was a man of short stature, upright as a dart, +with iron-grey hair, and a keen, quick eye; and had on, when I met him +in the avenue to his house, an old rusty hat, pinched up in the rims, +and placed transversely on his head, so as to look like a "fore and +after," as he called it, or, as we would say, a cocked hat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh," interrupted Musgrave, "you need not take the trouble of +explaining sea terms to <i>me</i>; they are as natural to me as my native +tongue almost."</p> + +<p>"I forgot," replied I, "that you are a chip of the same block; so I +will continue my <i>yarn</i>—you see I have picked up a little sea-lingo +too. After I had transacted my business with Captain Trimmer, he +pressed me to stay and partake of family fare."</p> + +<p>"We pipe to dinner at six-bells," said he; "three o'clock, I mean. You +will have plain fare and a sailor's welcome; which, you know, is a +warm one either to friend or foe."</p> + +<p>I accepted his frank invitation with pleasure; and, as it still wanted +an hour to dinner-time, he proposed that we should "take a cruise" +through the grounds till "the grub" was ready. During the walk, he +amused me greatly with his tales of the sea; but I was often obliged +to request him to interpret terms which were as unintelligible to me +as Hebrew or Sanscrit. He laughed heartily at my ignorance, but did +all in his power to enlighten me.</p> + +<p>"You have not had the benefit of a sea education, so what can we +expect from you? I'll tell you what, my young friend—I would as soon +come athwart the hawse of a shark as a lawyer (no offence to <i>you</i>), +but, somehow or other, I like the cut of your jib, and think we shall +be good friends nevertheless."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said I, laughing, alluding to my professional visit, "I am not +the lawyer, but the lawyer's <i>avant courier</i>—the pilot-fish, not the +shark."</p> + +<p>He laughed heartily, and kept bantering me on the sharking +propensities of my tribe in such an amusing manner that I could not +restrain my mirth. At last, the dinner-bell rang.</p> + +<p>"Ah! there's pipe to dinner at last! Come along, youngster; let's see +if you can take your grub as well as you can take a joke."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<p>We dined alone; for his only daughter, he told me, had gone to visit a +neighbour, and would not return till evening. The dinner was +substantial and good; the wines excellent; but, though the old +gentleman pressed me much to drink, he was very moderate himself. When +the cloth was removed, he said—</p> + +<p>"Now I will pipe to grog; if you like to join my mess, do so, unless +you prefer your wine."</p> + +<p>"Why, if you have no objection," said I, "I will not desert this +capital claret; you may have all the grog to yourself."</p> + +<p>"Well, tastes differ; of course, as a landsman you prefer wine; but +you know the old song says—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'A sailor's sheet-anchor is grog.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He told me a number of his old adventures; and hours passed away like +minutes in listening to them; but I am free to admit that none of his +yarns were half so pleasant to me as some of the silken thread-ends he +let fall about his daughter Emmeline. There was something in the rough +manner in which he gave vent to the feelings of a father, that +possessed a tenderness which never could have been expressed by the +soft vocables of sentimentality. It is thus (excuse my poetry) that we +often admire the fragrance of a flower the more for the rough petals +from which it emanates. I was captivated, and twitched the old +gentleman on the string which yielded me the best music, till I +thought he suspected some love-larking in my sly attempts to get him +to praise the absent fair one.</p> + +<p>"Come, come," he said, "mind your grog; although <i>I</i> say it, who +shouldn't say it, she's as pretty a little craft as ever sailed the +ocean of life; but we're not to take her in tow throughout all our +voyages—so we'll drop her."</p> + +<p>"Not till I drink to her, with your leave, sir," said I.</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to that, there's no harm," said he. "All I say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> is, it's a +pity you belong to the land sharks. If you'd been a seaman, I might +have fancied you for a son-in-law."</p> + +<p>The words startled me; and, if he had had the keen perception of a +refined man of the world, he might have augured something from the +sound of my voice, though my words belied my thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Well, here's to her!" said I; "and may her fortune yield her a better +cast up than a limb of the——" Law I would have said, but he roared +out devil, with a laugh, and I joined him.</p> + +<p>But, as I had a long walk before me, I was obliged to take my leave of +the old gentleman rather early in the night. His daughter had not yet +returned; but he was not uneasy on her account, as it was a fine +moonlight night, and she was well acquainted with the road.</p> + +<p>"Let me see you often, my young friend," said the captain; "I should +like to become better acquainted with you. We always pipe to breakfast +at nine o'clock, and to dinner at three. I hate your late shore hours. +Come whenever you are inclined to do so. I shall be happy to see you."</p> + +<p>We shook hands, and parted; and I was really quite sorry to leave my +new and agreeable friend.</p> + +<p>I was walking quietly along the road homewards; the moon was shining +brightly, and the shadow of the high hedge darkened half the road, +when I thought I heard the sound of suppressed voices some short +distance ahead of me. I stopped and listened, and, almost immediately +afterwards, I saw two men creep out from the light side of the road, +and, looking cautiously around, dart over into the shade. The stealthy +motions of the men, and their evident wish for concealment, impressed +me with a conviction that mischief of some kind was intended, and I +was determined to watch their movements. I got through the hedge, and +crept silently along the back of it, till I came to a kind of recess +for holding stones, where I paused and listened. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> again heard the +murmur of voices near me, and, crawling quietly on, I came close +behind the speakers, so near to them that I could distinctly hear +every word they said, though I could not see them.</p> + +<p>"She'll be here soon, Jem," said one of them; "we couldn't have had a +better night for such a job."</p> + +<p>"Too much light, for my taste," replied the other; "however, we must +make the best on't. Our own mothers wouldn't know us in this disguise, +and, without it, she would be too frightened to take particular notice +of us. But are you sure she has the swag?"</p> + +<p>"Certain, Smooth-faced Jess told me that her mistress was going to +receive the rent for her father this evening."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right; we'll save her the trouble of carrying it all +the way home. It will be rather awkward, though, if she has any one +with her."</p> + +<p>"No fear of that. I was in the shrubbery when she was leaving the +house; and I heard her refuse to have a servant with her. I took the +short cut across the fields to join you; and I'm surprised she has not +come up yet. She can't be long, however."</p> + +<p>This was a pleasant conversation for me to overhear; it was evident +that robbery, if not murder, was about to be perpetrated, and I was as +evidently destined to be a witness of the act. I might, to be sure, +have sneaked out of the scrape, as the men were quite unconscious of +my vicinity; but I could not bear the thought of deserting a +fellow-creature in the hour of danger, without some attempt for her +rescue—and yet what could I do? I was unarmed, except with a small +walking cane, which would be of little avail against two ruffians, who +were, of course, well provided with the means of offence. I was just +meditating to crawl onwards, and endeavour to warn the expected female +of her danger, when I was arrested by hearing one of the rascals +murmur—"Here she is at last, Jem." A light step<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> was now heard; and, +peeping through a gap in the hedge close beside me, I saw a female +form fast approaching. The lady—for such she seemed by her dress—was +walking along the illuminated part of the road, apparently unconscious +of danger or fear; for she was humming a tune, and every now and then +glancing up at the moon. The critical moment had arrived. I could +almost <i>hear</i> the throbbing of my heart, I felt such a feverish +impatience to put an end to my suspense; my nerves were strung to a +pitch of desperation. I felt as if the strength of a dozen men were in +my arm. I seized a large stone, and, crouching in the gap of the +hedge, I waited with breathless impatience for the expected attack. +The lady was nearly opposite me, when the ruffians rushed out upon +her. There was a faint scream, a momentary struggle, and she lay on +the ground at their feet. Their backs were turned towards me. During +the noise of the scuffle, my footsteps were unheard, and I was close +to them before they were aware.</p> + +<p>"Silence! or I'll settle you!" said one of the robbers to his almost +unconscious victim; whom, with all the coolness of fancied security, +he was beginning to plunder. I dashed the stone I held in my hand into +his face, and he fell senseless to the ground, with a heavy groan, +while I shouted at the same time, as if addressing some one behind me, +"Now, Harry, blow the other rascal's brains out. The other <i>rascal</i>, +however, did not wait to see the result. He was over the hedge in a +moment, and running for bare life. I pretended to follow him, shouting +aloud till he disappeared into the next enclosure. I then returned to +the road, where I found the man still lying senseless, though +breathing heavily. I took the handkerchief from his neck and bound his +hands together; and tearing the crape from his face, I took a long and +steady look at his features, that I might be able to swear to his +identity, if necessary. The lady, who was fortunately unhurt, and had +by this time recovered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> from her alarm, overwhelmed me with +acknowledgments, which I parried as well as I was able; and I +endeavoured to turn her thoughts into another channel, by requesting +her to look at the face of the senseless man. After a little +hesitation, she did so, and immediately recognised him as an old +servant of her father's—a worthless vagabond, who had been discharged +for theft, and had vowed revenge. Hitherto I had had little time to +take any particular notice of the appearance of the lady I had been so +fortunate as to rescue. I had merely remarked the grace of her form, +and the soft, sweet tone of her voice; but now that I had leisure to +look at her features, as the moonbeam rested brightly upon them, I was +struck with their beauty: I felt, as Byron has it,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">"My sinking heart confess<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The might, the majesty of loveliness."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I gladly offered to escort her to her home, which, she said, was only +about half-a-mile distant, and where we could procure assistance to +remove the still insensible footpad. Before we set off, however, I +took the liberty of securing his pistols, which could be of no service +to him in his present state, but might materially benefit us. After a +sharp walk of ten minutes, the lady stopped at a gate, which I +immediately knew to be the one I had so lately left.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir, I am at home. Allow me to welcome to it my brave deliverer, +and to introduce him to my father."</p> + +<p>"I require no introduction," replied I, "if you are, as I surmise, the +daughter of Captain Trimmer."</p> + +<p>"Do you know him?—he is my father."</p> + +<p>"I only left him about an hour ago; and fortunate it was that I did +not yield to his urgent wish for me to remain longer."</p> + +<p>Captain Trimmer listened in breathless anxiety as his daughter told +the tale of her danger and deliverance; and drawing a long breath when +it was ended, he muttered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> "Heaven be praised!" He then rang the bell +violently, and gave the servants orders, and directions where to find +the wounded footpad.</p> + +<p>"And now, my dear young friend," said he, "what can I say to <i>you</i>? I +can't say anything just now, my heart is too full! but there's my +hand, and you shall find me, as long as I live, a firm and warm +friend."</p> + +<p>I could only press <i>his</i> affectionately in reply. He insisted upon my +remaining where I was for the night, and despatched a man on horseback +to explain to my friends the reason of my absence. From this time my +intercourse with the worthy captain became daily more intimate—almost +every spare hour of my time was devoted to his society. As his +character opened out upon me, I saw in his conduct so many proofs of +genuine goodness of heart and rectitude of principle, that I felt as +much affection and respect for him as for a dear and honoured parent. +His daughter Emmeline, too, was one of those gentle, retiring +characters, who may require to be known to be admired, and whose +virtues, like those of the sweet and modest violet, require to be +sought after to be properly appreciated. I was always fond of music. +We all know its influence over the feelings—its power to awaken the +hidden sympathies of the heart—to recall the joys and sorrows of the +past, and to stir up glowing anticipations and high resolves for the +future. Her voice was clear and sweet as a bird's; and when she +warbled over the melodies of her native land, I felt so much absorbed +in the beauty of the strain, as almost to forget the singer. You +smile, and anticipate the result. How could it be otherwise? How could +I live in close and constant communion with one so fascinating, and +escape the fascination? It is not amid the factitious glare and +excitement of society that such characters as hers can be appreciated: +there the tinsel too often glitters more brightly than the pure gold; +but in the calm and peaceful intercourse of domestic life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> their pure +and gentle influence is felt and valued. I was becoming daily more and +more an admirer of the gentle Emmeline, when the sudden death of my +father awakened me from my dream of love, and startled me into serious +consideration. He died as he had lived—poor; for it was found, on +examining his affairs, that, though maintaining an appearance of +wealth and comfort, his life must have been a constant struggle with +difficulties; and there was barely sufficient left behind to satisfy +the claims of his creditors. Deeply as I was grieved by his loss, I +must say that feeling was not a little heightened by the +disappointment of finding myself unprovided for. I had always been led +to hope, that, though my father, from a wish to give me a spirit of +independence, had left me, during my early life, to the exertions of +my own energies for support, yet that at his death, he would leave me +a handsome competency. But this hope was now disappointed, and with it +vanished my bright dreams of Emmeline and happiness. I could not bear +the thoughts of exposing the woman of my heart to the risk of poverty +and privation. She knew not of my love, and now she must remain for +ever in ignorance of it; for what had I to offer her?—a heart, and +nothing more; and you know, Musgrave, that though <i>loving</i> hearts are +very pretty things in <i>poetry</i>, <i>smoking</i> ones would better furnish +forth a poor man's table. I gradually withdrew myself from the society +of my good old friend, though it cost me many a severe pang to do so; +and whenever I did meet him, I had always some faltering excuse to +make about press of business, ill health, or bad weather. I was +talking to him one day, when Emmeline, whom I had not seen for some +time, unexpectedly joined us. The conscious blood rushed to my face +immediately, and I stammered out some incoherent apology in reply to +her expression of surprise at my long absence. The old man noticed my +embarrassment, and became silent and thoughtful. At last, turning to +his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> daughter, he said, "Emmeline, my love, see what we are to have +for dinner; Mr. Lorimer will take family fare with us. Not a word, +youngster" (to me, as I was beginning to remonstrate), "I am +commanding officer here." We walked on together for some time in +silence; at last he stopped, and taking my hand, while he looked full +in my face he said—-</p> + +<p>"I am not so blind, Mr. Lorimer, but I can see which way the land +lies. I like to be fair and above-board with every one; and you are +not the man I shall break through the rule with. I like you, Frank +Lorimer; and I would do much to serve you. Emmeline—(ah, there go the +red colours again!)—you love her Frank!—win her and wear her if you +can; you have my free and full consent. I have heard of your father's +death, and its results; and I understand and honour the motives that +have induced you to absent yourself from us. I am not a rich man, but +I have enough to make two young people happy; and I know no one to +whom I would more joyfully confide my daughter's happiness than to +yourself."</p> + +<p>Kind, generous old man! I had not a word to say. I merely pressed his +hand in silence and tears. Yes, tears; for joy can weep as well as +grief. I was soon again a constant visiter at Oak Lodge; and in a few +months I had the happiness of calling Emmeline my own. I have been now +married three years, and have every day greater cause to bless the +happy chance which first led me to Oak Lodge. My excellent +father-in-law lives with us, and delights in spending his day in +nursing his little grandchildren. Long may he be spared to us!</p> + +<p>"What! married and a father! O Frank, what a fortunate fellow you have +been! Here have I been buffeting about the world for years, the +shuttlecock of fate, hunting fortune in every corner of the world, and +I return home, poor and penniless as the day I left it. I, whose early +dreams were all of the happiness of a married life, shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> sink into +my grave a solitary bachelor, without one loved hand to tend my +pillow, and to smooth my passage to the tomb."</p> + +<p>"Oh, nonsense. Cheer up, Musgrave," said I; "I shall dance at your +wedding yet. But why need you care now about the scurvy tricks of +fortune abroad, since you have returned to enjoy her favours at home?"</p> + +<p>"Favours! What do you mean, Frank?"</p> + +<p>"Have you not heard of the death of your poor brother George, and that +the lawsuit in which your father was so long engaged has terminated +favourably for him. He is now in possession of a rental of three +thousand per annum, to which, of course, you will be heir?"</p> + +<p>"Heavens! you don't say so!" exclaimed Musgrave; "but I am sure you +would not deceive me. I have not heard from home for upwards of a +twelvemonth. Frank, you are a fine fellow; shake hands with me."</p> + +<p>"Ay, that I will," said I; "and I congratulate you with all my heart. +I am glad I have been the first to communicate such pleasing +intelligence; and now, the least you can do in return is to give me an +account of yourself since we parted."</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm not in the best mood in the world for storytelling," replied +Musgrave; "this unexpected good fortune has rather destroyed my +equilibrium; however, I will brush up my memory for your +gratification, though the retrospect will be anything but agreeable to +myself. You remember, I daresay, the day when I left school; on my +memory, at least, the recollection of it is as vivid as if it were +yesterday. When I drove away in my uncle's carriage, I thought I was +going home on a temporary visit, and little imagined I was never to +return. When I arrived at home, I found in the drawing-room with my +father a little, active, dark-looking man, with a stern, prompt +manner, who was introduced to me as Captain Fleetwood."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Richard, my boy," said my father, "you have often expressed a wish to +go to sea, and I have now an opportunity of gratifying you. My friend +Captain Fleetwood has volunteered to take you out with him as +midshipman; and, as I know I could not intrust you to better hands, I +am glad to avail myself of his offer. The warning is rather a short +one, as you must be on board your ship within a fortnight; you have no +time to lose; and I will accompany you to town to prepare your +equipment. We will leave this to-morrow morning at nine o'clock."</p> + +<p>I was rather staggered by this sudden announcement; for, though it had +always been the dearest wish of my heart to go to sea, yet there was +something so unexpected in the accomplishment of it, that I repented +of my choice. My heart sank at the thought of such a sudden parting +from home and all that was dear to me; besides, as I had just left +school, I would have preferred having a few days' holiday, and an +opportunity of strutting in my sailor's dress before the eyes of my +admiring schoolfellows. However, there was no help for it now—my lot +was cast for life; and, in a fortnight's time, I was fairly shipped on +board the Anne, a snug free-trader, bound to the East Indies. I pass +over the various details of my early career; you may find an accurate +description of my first feelings and impressions, and those of five +hundred others, on first joining a ship, in any circulating library in +the kingdom. I encountered the usual hardships, and was exposed to the +usual privations, incidental to the life of a sailor; but, as there +was nothing particularly worthy of notice in the first seven or eight +years of my sailor's life, I shall pass at once to the most +interesting event in a career of no trifling variety. It is now +upwards of two years since I went out chief mate of my old ship, under +the command of my first friend, Captain Fleetwood, who was a clever, +active seaman himself, and well qualified to make those under him the +same. We had a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> crew of twenty-five young and able fellows, with, as +usual, a sprinkling of black sheep among them. Our passengers were +four in number—a gentleman and his wife, and two young ladies, going +out to Bombay under their protection; all agreeable and well-informed +people, and the young ladies blessed with a tolerable share of beauty. +Time passed very pleasantly with us, for we were uncommonly favoured +in wind and weather; and our captain, who was as kind and benevolent +as a man, as he was strict and unflinching as an officer, delighted in +promoting to the utmost every plan for the comfort and amusement of +the crew.</p> + +<p>"Och, isn't he a broth of a boy, now, that captain of ours?" I heard +one of our men say to another, on one of the quiet tropical evenings, +when the crew were enjoying themselves in the "waist," and the captain +was whirling one of the ladies round in a waltz on the quarterdeck. +"He's as full of fun as a monkey."</p> + +<p>"Take care you don't shave the monkey too close, though, Mike, or +perhaps the <i>cat</i> will shave <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>"Is it the cat you mane?" replied Mike; "then, by the powers, it's +myself that's not afeered for the 'cat,' for she never wags her tail +here but when a man's either an ass or a skulk, and no man can say +black's the white of the eye of Mike Delaney. But I say, Tom, hasn't +this been an out-and-out passage? Why, we've never had nothing to do +but to spin yarns and knot them; we might have stowed away the +reef-points in the hold, we've never had no 'casion for them, and as +for salt water, we haven't had a breeze to wash our faces for us since +we left home. Blowed if we shan't get too fine for our work by and +by—reg'lar gentlemen afloat. I think I'll sport a pair of them +overalls that the long-shore beggars call gloves, to keep my flippers +white," said Mike—at the same time spreading out a pair as dirty as +the back of a chimney and as broad as the back of a skate.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Gloves and delicate flippers like that!" answered his companion; "no, +no, Mike—'twould be a sin and a shame to <i>hide</i> it; that's a regular +dare-devil hand—it cares neither for soap nor water. But, Mike, the +voyage is not half over yet. We've had a fair weather passage so far; +but I'm always afeerd of those unkimmon fine beginnings; ev'rything +goes by contraries in this here world, and a good beginning often +brings in its wake a bad ending. It's not in the coorse of nature to +see such a long spell of fine weather; it's quite unnatural; it'll +break out, by and by, in a fresh place—see if it don't. That 'ere +butcher, the sea, lies there a-smiling at us as if we were so many +hinnocent lambs; but he'll maybe have his hand on our throats yet."</p> + +<p>"Well, Tom, it's never no use smelling mischief afore it comes; time +enough when it does show its ugly mug, to grin in its face. I'm not +the man to turn my back on it—nor you neither, for that matter, I'll +be bound."</p> + +<p>We had run nearly thirty-four degrees to the south of the equator, +when the weather became very variable, and the wind at last settled +into a strong breeze from the northward. One evening, we were spanking +along with the wind in that quarter, with a heavy confused sea, when a +thick gloom gradually overspread the sky, and the mercury, falling in +the barometer, gave warning of approaching bad weather. All our small +sails were taken in, and every necessary precaution adopted to prepare +for a change. Our topsails were reefed, and the mainsail was hauled up +and handled. About 6 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> Captain Fleetwood came on deck, and asked +what I thought of the weather.</p> + +<p>"Bad enough, sir; it does not seem to have made up its mind what to +do; however, we are tolerably well prepared for a change, whichever +way it may be."</p> + +<p>"You must keep a sharp look-out, Musgrave; if it should begin to rain, +depend upon it, the wind will chop suddenly round to southward. You +must not let it take you unawares."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll look for it in time, sir."</p> + +<p>He had scarcely left the deck, when a light, drizzling rain came on, a +partial lull succeeded, and the wind veered suddenly round to the +south-westward. We were prepared for it, however, and our yards were +soon trimmed to the wind; but our troubles were only beginning. The +breeze freshened up so rapidly, that we had barely time to take in +sail fast enough; no sooner was one reef in, than it became necessary +to take in another. The sea was running, as landsmen say, mountains +high; the winds howled through our rigging; and the giant albatrosses +hovered round us, seen indistinctly for a moment through the gloom, +and then soaring away on the gale, as if they were floating down a +stream—their enormous wings extended, but motionless.</p> + +<p>But men were aloft, close-reefing, and preparing to furl the +foretopsail, when a heavy sea struck the ship, and a sudden squall +laid her over on her beam-ends almost. The sudden jerk carried away +the topmast backstays. There was no rolling tackle on the topsailyard, +which jerked violently as the ship fell over, and the mast snapped +just above the parrell. Five of the poor fellows were thrown off the +topsailyard to leeward; we heard their cries dying away on the breeze; +we could not see them, the weather was so thick, and darkness was +coming on; and as for saving them, the attempt to do so would have +been madness, although several men sprung forward to volunteer. It was +with heavy hearts the men set to work to clear away the wreck; the +cries of their poor shipmates were still ringing in their ears, and an +hour or two elapsed before it was accomplished. All night long we were +hard at work, furling sails, and sending down yards and masts; and +when the morning appeared, the ship was hove to, with her head to the +south-eastward, under a storm staysail. The decks were lumbered with +wet sails, the main and mizen-topgallantmast and yards, and the +remnants of canvas and rigging saved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> from the wreck of the topmast. +We spliced the mainbrace, or, as you would say, served out drams; and +the helm being lashed a-lee, the ship's company were sent below, to +obtain the rest they stood so much in need of. Poor fellows! they were +not allowed to enjoy it long.</p> + +<p>"Where is the captain?" said the carpenter, rushing up the +quarter-hatch with a face like a ghost—"where is the captain?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Soundings," said Captain Fleetwood, "what do you want with me?"</p> + +<p>"It's just about the soundings, sir, I want to speak to you." Then, +drawing close to his side, he muttered, "There are four feet water in +the well, sir."</p> + +<p>The captain started, but recovered himself immediately.</p> + +<p>"Very well. Rig the pumps directly. Mr. Musgrave, call the hands out; +the ship has taken a little too much water in, over all. Heaven grant +it's nothing worse!" murmured he.</p> + +<p>The scene around us was now dreary and desolate in the extreme: the +sky was dark, gloomy, and threatening; light, angry-looking, +discoloured clouds flitted over it, like spirits disturbed, while +overhead the scud careered with lightning-like rapidity; the sea was +covered, as far as the eye could reach, with white foam, and the spray +was blown over the ship in a constant heavy shower; the little "Mother +Carey's chickens" were dipping their tiny wings in the waves under our +stern, and the stormy petrel and albatross swept in wide circles round +our storm-tossed vessel. The gale howled mournfully through our +rigging, and every now and then a giant sea dashed against our side, +and threw torrents of water over our decks. The hatches were battened +down fore and aft, and the monotonous clanking of the pumps was heard, +mingled with the loud cheers of the men, as they spirited each other +up to renewed exertions, and the loud "spell oh!" when the different +gangs relieved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> each other at the pump brakes. The whole of that day +was one of incessant labour; for, when, after some hours of hard work, +we had gained considerably upon the water, and relaxed a little from +our exertions, we found that renewed efforts were required to keep the +enemy at bay. Next morning the wind had greatly decreased, and was +gradually dying away; but a high sea was still running, and the ship +laboured tremendously. More sail was made to steady her; but, in spite +of all our efforts, the leak increased; and at last it became evident, +after everything had been done which seamanship could propose, or +perseverance carry into effect, that the ship was in a foundering +state. The captain, who had shewn himself active and energetic during +the excitement of the storm, now proved that he possessed that true +courage which can face unflinchingly the slow but sure approach of +danger and of death. Calm and collected, nay, even cheerful, at least +in appearance, his example encouraged and animated the crew, now +almost exhausted with their constant exertions. He ordered one watch +below to their hammocks, while the other was busied in fitting out the +boats, and preparing provisions to put into them, and in keeping the +pumps steadily but slowly at work. At last the hands were called +out—"Out boats!" and when they were all assembled, Captain Fleetwood +addressed them as follows:—</p> + +<p>"My lads, the ship is sinking under us, and we must take to the boats. +You have been active, patient, and obedient hitherto—be so still, and +you may yet all be saved. Remember, that, as long as <i>one</i> of your +officers is above the water with you, to that officer you owe +obedience. For my part, I am determined—and you know I am no +flincher—to maintain my authority with my life; but I hope you will +not put me to the proof. My intention is to steer for the Island of +Tristan d'Acunha, which, if Providence favours us, we may reach in a +week or ten days; but much depends<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> upon your own exertions. Now, go +below, and take the last meal you will ever eat on board your old +ship. Heaven grant that we may all meet once more on shore!"</p> + +<p>The men listened in silence, and uncovered while he spoke; and when he +ended, they burst into a loud cheer, and one of them shouted out—</p> + +<p>"We will stand by you to the last, sir!"</p> + +<p>"Ay, that we will," was responded by all.</p> + +<p>The captain took off his hat, and bowed, evidently much affected, and +dismissed them.</p> + +<p>In about twenty minutes they were again called up, and the boats were +hoisted out. We had two quarter-boats, a launch, and a jolly-boat, +which were amply sufficient to hold our whole number, reduced as it +was by the loss of the five poor fellows in the gale; one of the +quarter-boats, however, proved to be so leaky when lowered into the +water, that we were obliged to abandon her. The other boats were +furnished with masts, sails, a fortnight's short provision and water, +arms—everything, in fact, that could be thought of as likely to be +necessary. The captain took charge of the launch, and the second mate +and I cast lots for the cutter; the chance was against me, and I took +command of the jolly-boat. We were eight-and-twenty in number: twelve +men, the captain, and two of the passengers, in the launch; myself, +one of the ladies, and four men, in the jolly-boat; and the remainder +in the cutter. When we had shoved off from the ship, we lay on our +oars at some little distance, as if by mutual consent, to see the last +of her; but the captain shouted out—</p> + +<p>"Come, my lads, we have no time to spare; give the old craft one +parting cheer, and let us make the best of our way."</p> + +<p>The men stood up, and, taking off their hats, gave three loud and +lengthened cheers. The deserted ship seemed as if she heard and wished +to acknowledge the compliment;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> her head turned gradually towards us; +she rose slowly and heavily before the swell, then dipped her bows +deep into the water, gave a heavy roll, and sank to rise no more. A +stifled groan broke from the men at this sad sight, which cast an +evident damp over their spirits.</p> + +<p>"Come, cheer up, my lads," said the captain; "we've seen the last of +as good a craft as ever floated; but it's of no use being downhearted. +Let us have a cheer for good success!"</p> + +<p>The men caught his tone immediately, and their spirits rose when they +saw how cheerfully he bore his loss. Tristan d'Acunha bore about S. +10° W., about 200 miles distant; and, as the wind had again drawn to +the northward, we had every prospect of reaching it in the course of +five or six days. For the first two days we went along merrily enough +with a fine steady breeze, and tolerably smooth water, but, on the +afternoon of the third, the sky again became overcast, and there was +every appearance of another "round turn" in the wind. As night closed +in around us, the captain hailed us from the launch, and desired us to +keep as near together as possible, for fear of separation. This order +was obeyed as long as we were able; but, in the darkness, we soon lost +sight of each other, and the sound of our voices was drowned in the +increasing noise of wind and sea. About ten o'clock, the wind suddenly +shifted in a sharp squall; the sail was taken aback, and the little +boat lay over for a moment as if never to rise again. Fortunately the +haulyards gave way, and the sail went overboard, or she must have been +capsized; as it was, she was nearly half-full of water. I immediately +jumped forward to drag the sail in again, when, to my horror, I heard +the sound of voices crying for help, to leeward: the sail had knocked +two of the men overboard, and it was their dying cry we heard. We +pulled round the boat, and shouted out to them; there was no +answer—they were gone; they must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> have been half-drowned before they +could get clear of the sail, which had fallen on the top of them. Our +grief for their loss was soon absorbed by our fears for our own +safety. There were now only three of us remaining—for the lady could +be of no assistance—in a small boat, half-full of water; the wind and +sea rising, darkness all around, and the nearest land upwards of one +hundred miles distant; our prospects were dismal indeed. Fortunately +for us, however, we had no time to brood over our misfortunes; the +necessity for active exertion drove all thoughts but those of present +danger from our minds. We baled the boat out as fast as possible, got +the broken mast in-board, and made all as snug as we could. The wind +had shifted, as I said before, to the southward, and came on to blow +fresh; and the sea was again rapidly rising. We had nothing for it but +to keep the boat right before the wind, although it carried us almost +in a contrary direction to the course we wished to steer.</p> + +<p>At daylight, we looked anxiously around for the other boats; but in +vain did we strain our eyes—nothing was visible. Sad were our +forebodings as to the fate of our shipmates, and gloomy our +anticipations of the future for ourselves. The wind had moderated +considerably, but we were still obliged to run before it; and it was +not till late in the afternoon that we considered it safe to turn the +boat's head again to the southward. By this time it was almost calm, +but our two oars could do little against the head sea; and after +tugging away at them for some time, we were obliged to lay them in +from sheer exhaustion, merely keeping the boat's head to the sea. A +light breeze springing up at last from the northward, we got the stump +of the mast up, and set the reefed sail upon it, and began slowly to +make headway in the wished-for direction.</p> + +<p>During the whole of our perilous voyage, the young lady, who had been +committed to my charge, behaved with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> greatest courage and +resignation; not a complaint escaped her lips, though she was drenched +to the skin by the spray and rain; not a scream did she utter when the +dark sea rose under our stern, threatening to engulf our little bark. +We did all we could to make her as comfortable as circumstances would +allow; for rough indeed must be the nature that does not feel kindly +towards youth and beauty in distress. She received all our attentions +with such heartfelt expressions of gratitude, and bore her discomforts +with such cheerful resignation, that the men could not help audibly +expressing their admiration, and vowing to spend their life's-blood in +her service.</p> + +<p>The sun was again smiling over our heads, and the water rippled under +the bows of the boat, as she danced before the breeze; and our spirits +were revived by the change. On examining our stock of provisions, we +found that most of our biscuit was completely saturated with salt +water, and that, with the most sparing economy, we had barely +sufficient rum and meat left to last us for a week longer. We +immediately spread the wet bread on the boat's thwarts to dry, and cut +the meat into small equal portions.</p> + +<p>"Now, Miss Neville," said I, laughing—though, Heaven knows, there was +little joy in my heart—"I, as commander of this vessel, constitute +you acting-purser; you shall serve out our rations to us equally and +fairly, and, if any one of my ship's company shall dare to question +the justness of your division, or to attempt to help himself without +your permission, he shall feel the weight of my anger."</p> + +<p>There was <i>faint</i> laugh at this <i>faint</i> attempt at pleasantry on my +part; and Miss Neville replied—</p> + +<p>"I think, <i>Captain</i> Musgrave, you might have appointed a more +sufficient purser than myself; however, I will do my best to justify +your choice."</p> + +<p>Another day, and another, we kept crawling slowly on; there was little +or no wind, and our two oars made but little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> way. I said before that +the boat's crew was reduced to two men and myself. One of these men, a +Scotchman, named M'Farlane, had only lately recovered from a severe +attack of illness, before we left the ship. The fatigue incurred +during the gale, and the danger and excitement of our situation since, +had a fatal effect upon the poor fellow's already shattered +constitution; he suffered in silence, never uttering a word of +complaint; but it was evident to us all that he was sinking fast. On +this day he had been taking his turn at the oar, in spite of my +remonstrances.</p> + +<p>"You will kill yourself, M'Farlane," said I. "You are not strong +enough to pull; take the helm, and give Riley the oar again."</p> + +<p>"No, sir," replied he; "Riley has had his spell, and I will take mine, +though I die for it. I feel that I am going; but let me die in +harness. No man shall have it to say that Tom M'Farlane was not game +to the last."</p> + +<p>Miss Neville joined her entreaties to mine, that he would give over +rowing; but in vain.</p> + +<p>"Heaven bless you, ma'am," said he—"and it will bless you, and bring +you in safety out of your dangers. You are just beginning the voyage +of life—and a rough beginning it has been; but never fear. You'll +make a happy port at last. As for me, my voyage is just over. I have +had both rough and smooth in my time. I've had no cause to complain; +and I shall die happy, if I die doing my duty."</p> + +<p>The words were scarcely uttered, when he ceased rowing. I turned +round, and saw him, with his face deadly pale, bending over the oar, +which he was in vain endeavouring to dip in the water. He made two or +three convulsive movements, as if in the act of rowing, muttered +"Hurrah, my lads!" and, with a heavy groan, fell backward. Riley and I +raised him immediately, blood was gushing from his nose and mouth, +which we in vain attempted to staunch. He opened his eyes once, +shuddered, and expired. I will not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> attempt to describe the feelings +with which we gazed upon the body of our unfortunate shipmate, and +thought how soon a still more dreadful doom might be ours. Death, with +all its horrid accompaniments of starvation, drowning, &c., came +before us. All the horrible stories we had heard of deaths at sea, of +misery, hunger, and cannibalism, came crowding upon our memories. At +last the silence was broken by Riley, who growled out—</p> + +<p>"Well, there's one more going to feed the fishes! It'll be our turn +soon. However, its some comfort he has left his share of the grub +behind: there'll be more for those who remain."</p> + +<p>I could hardly restrain my anger at this cold-blooded speech; but a +look from Emily Neville checked me. Riley, however, observed the +impression his words had made upon me, and, with a diabolical sneer, +said—</p> + +<p>"You need not look so black about it. I don't care a button about your +looks or your anger either. One man's as good as another now, and I +won't obey you any longer."</p> + +<p>"Riley," said I, starting forward, and seizing him by the collar, +while my voice trembled with suppressed passion, "mark my words! As +long as one plank of this boat hangs to another, I am your officer; +and while I have life in my body, you <i>shall</i> obey me."</p> + +<p>The scoundrel was staggered by my firmness, and sat gloomily down upon +the "thwart." Riley had been one of our <i>black sheep</i> on board the +Anne. I never liked the fellow. He was always a skulking, +discontented, vagabond; ever foremost in mischief, and striving to +make his shipmates as mutinous as himself. I saw, by his louring +looks, and his sullen, dogged manner, that we must, before long, come +into collision again, and I determined to prepare for the worst. I +threw all the fire-arms overboard, except a single musket and a brace +of pistols, the latter of which I loaded deliberately before his +eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Come," said I, "the sun is long past the meridian, we must pipe to +dinner. Miss Neville, serve out our allowance, if you please."</p> + +<p>While Riley received his modicum of spirits, he growled out, "Here's a +pretty allowance for a hard-working man. Not a stroke more will I put +till I get more rum."</p> + +<p>"Not a drop more shall you have till the regular time; you must be +contented with just enough to keep soul and body together, like your +neighbours; we must not all be sacrificed to gratify your greediness."</p> + +<p>"Better die at once," said he, "than starve by inches; a short life +and a merry one for me!—so hand out the stuff at once, for have it I +<i>will</i>." And he made a rush to snatch the spirits from Miss Neville.</p> + +<p>"Back, scoundrel!" said I, cocking one of my pistols, "or I'll blow +your brains out."</p> + +<p>The words were scarcely out of my mouth, when the rascal stooped, and +snatching up a cutlass which he had concealed in the bottom of the +boat, made a cut at me with it, which, but for the tough rim of my +leather hat, would have laid my skull open. As it was, I shall carry +the scar to my grave. One touch of my trigger, and Miss Neville and I +were left in the boat alone. The ball went through his head; he +staggered against the gunwale, toppled overboard, and sank at once, +tinging the water with his blood. Miss Neville was now obliged to act +as doctor as well as purser. She washed my wound, and bound it up as +well as she was able. We neither of us spoke; but fearful were the +thoughts that passed through my mind. The boat lay becalmed upon the +water; my strength, wounded as it was, could do little towards forcing +her onwards. Unless a breeze sprung up, we must lie in utter +helplessness, and die a lingering death by starvation! Miss Neville +read my thoughts, and, stifling her own fears, exerted herself to +inspire me with confidence.</p> + +<p>"Fear not, Mr. Musgrave," said she; "the merciful Pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>vidence which +has watched over us hitherto, will protect us till the end. Utterly +helpless and hopeless as our situation appears at present, He <i>can</i> +save us, and He <i>will</i>."</p> + +<p>Her words inspired me with renewed energy; and, with a good deal of +difficulty, I stepped the mast, which we had unshipped for greater +convenience in rowing. Next day we made the land, and, before evening, +after a little danger in passing the surf, I landed my precious charge +in safety.</p> + +<p>But I must hurry to the conclusion of my tale, for I see Lorrimer, you +are beginning to yawn, and I am tired of it myself.</p> + +<p>My first care was to seek a snug shelter among the rocks where I +quickly lighted a fire, and shared with my fair fellow prisoner the +last remains of our slender sea stock. For the next day's subsistence +we were obliged to rely upon my skill as a fowler. I spread the +remainder of the powder to dry, and contrived to make up a rude bed +for Miss Neville, on which, worn out with fatigue and excitement, she +soon enjoyed that rest which she so much required. I retired to a +little distance to watch her slumbers; but very soon followed her +example. In the morning, invigorated and refreshed, I sallied out with +my gun, and soon succeeded in procuring some birds for our morning +meal; I then climbed the highest part of the island, and set up the +boat's mast with a handkerchief flying from it, in hopes of attracting +the attention of some passing South Sea whaler. Weeks passed in dreary +monotony; we wanted for none of the absolute necessaries of life; but +we were prisoners, and that consciousness alone was enough to make +<i>me</i> discontented and restless. My fair companion bore all her +inconveniences unrepiningly, and did all in her power to soothe and +comfort me; her sweet disposition, and gentle, silent attentions, +insensibly withdrew my thoughts from the discomforts of the present, +and hope pictured a bright future of happiness with her whom fate had +thrown upon my protection. One morning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> at daybreak, I climbed as +usual to my signal-post, and there, about three miles to windward of +the island, a ship was standing under easy sail to the westward. The +ship was hove to, and a boat lowered. I rushed down to apprise Miss +Neville of the joyful event, and we both hurried to the beach, to +receive our welcome visiters. After considerable difficulty, on +account of the surf, they effected a landing, and were greeted by us +with the warmest gratitude. The vessel, we were told, was the Medusa, +South Seaman, and had been out from England nearly two years; they had +observed my flag some time before they hove to, and at first thought +it had been left there by some former ship, as there were no settlers +on the island at the time; but they fortunately saw me through their +glasses, and determined upon landing.</p> + +<p>The evening was closing in cloudy and threatening, the surf was +beginning to run high, and everything indicated bad weather.</p> + +<p>"Come, be quick!" said the captain of the Medusa, who was in the boat; +"jump in, we've no time to lose; there's a gale coming on, and I +wouldn't wait two minutes longer for the world."</p> + +<p>As we were struggling through the heavy surf, a sudden roll of the +boat threw me overboard, and in a moment I was swept some distance +towards the beach. I swam for the shore immediately, as I knew it was +in vain to attempt reaching the boat again, or to hope that they would +risk their own lives, or the safety of the ship, by longer delay. I +was an excellent swimmer, and reached shore in safety, where I had the +mortification of seeing the Medusa make sail, and haul off the land. I +comforted myself, however, with the reflection, that Emily Neville was +in safety, and that, if the captain of the Medusa was a <i>Christian</i>, +he would return to take me off the island. That night a heavy gale of +wind came on from the north-west and a constant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> succession of stormy +changes of wind and calm followed for some time. In about a month, a +sail hove in sight; it was the Medusa! Oh, how delighted I was, once +more to feel a solid plank under my foot! I felt myself at home once +more when I touched her deck, and asked for Emily Neville. She was +gone! The Medusa had fallen in with a Cape trader, and Miss Neville +had taken a passage on board of her to the Cape, from whence she meant +to proceed to England. Imagine my disappointment! For two months +longer we beat about in these latitudes in the Medusa, and then, our +cargo being completed, we shaped our course homewards. On my arrival +in England, I went to my old friend, Darcy, who provided me with the +needful, and I am now so far on my way home. You tell me I have gained +a fortune; but I have lost the only girl I ever loved, and without her +fortune is valueless.</p> + +<p>I did what I could to comfort Musgrave, but he would not be comforted.</p> + +<p>Next morning he proceeded on his journey. A short time afterwards, +there appeared in the papers the following announcement—"Arrival in +the river, the Proserpine, from the Cape. The vessel has on board one +of the survivors of the wreck of the ship Anne, which foundered at sea +some months since, the lady was saved in one of the ship's boat, and +taken off the island of Tristan d'Acunha by the Medusa whaler."</p> + +<p>I immediately wrote to Musgrave, congratulating him on this happy +event; and received an answer in the course of a few weeks, telling me +that he was now amply repaid for his past dangers and disappointment; +for Emily Neville had consented to become his wife, and to share with +him the bounties, as she had before partaken with him of the harsher +dispensations, of Providence.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"/><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE RED HALL; <span class="smcap">OR</span>, BERWICK IN 1296.</h2> + + +<p>Somewhat more than five hundred years ago, and Berwick-upon-Tweed was +the most wealthy and flourishing city in Great Britain. Its commerce +was the most extensive, its merchants the most enterprising and +successful. London in some measure strove to be its rival, but it +possessed not a tenth of the natural advantages, and Berwick continued +to bear the palm alone—being styled the Alexandria of the nations, +the emporium of commerce, and one of the first commercial cities of +the world. This state of prosperity it owed almost solely to Alexander +III., who did more for Berwick than any sovereign that has since +claimed its allegiance. He brought over a colony of wealthy Flemings, +for whom he erected an immense building, called the Red Hall (situated +where the wool market now stands), and which at once served as +dwelling-houses, factories, and a fortress. The terms upon which he +granted a charter to this company of merchants were, that they should +defend, even unto death, their Red Hall against every attack of an +enemy, and of the English in particular. Wool was the staple commodity +of their commerce, but they also traded extensively in silks and in +foreign manufactures. The people of Berwick understood <span class="smcap">Free Trade</span> in +those days. In this state of peace and enviable prosperity it +continued till the spring of 1296. The bold, the crafty, and +revengeful Edward I. meditated an invasion of Scotland; and Berwick, +from its wealth, situation, and importance, was naturally anticipated +to be the first object of his attack. To defeat this, Baliol—whom we +can sometimes almost admire, though generally we despise and pity +him—sent the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> chief men of Fife and their retainers to the assistance +of the town. Easter week arrived, but no tidings were heard of +Edward's movements, and business went on with its wonted bustle. +Amongst the merchants of the Red Hall was one known by the appellation +of William the Fleming, and he had a daughter, an heiress and an only +child, whose beauty was the theme of Berwick's minstrels, when rhyme +was beginning to begin. Many a knee was bent to the rich and beautiful +Isabella; but she preferred the humble and half-told passion of +Francis Scott, who was one of the clerks in the Red Hall, to all the +chivalrous declarations of prouder lovers. Francis possessed industry +and perseverance; and these, in the eyes of her father, were +qualifications precious as rubies. These, with love for his daughter, +overcome other mercenary objections, and the day for their marriage +had arrived. Francis and Isabella were kneeling before the altar, and +the priest was pronouncing the service, the merchant was gazing fondly +over his child, when a sudden and hurried peal from the Bell Tower +broke upon the ceremony, and cries of "The English! to arms!" were +heard from the street. The voice of the priest faltered—he stopped; +William the Fleming placed his hand upon his sword; the bridegroom +started to his feet, and the fair Isabella clung to his side. "Come, +children," said the merchant, "let us to the Hall—a happier hour may +bless your nuptials—this is no moment for bridal ceremony." And in +silence, each man grasping his sword, they departed from the chapel, +where the performance of the marriage rites was broken by the sounds +of invasion. The ramparts were crowded with armed citizens, and a +large English fleet was seen bearing round Lindisfarne. In a few hours +the hostile vessels entered the river, and commenced a furious attack +upon the town. Their assault was returned by the inhabitants as men +who were resolved to die for liberty. For hours the battle raged, and +the Tweed became as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> sheet of blood. But while the conflict rose +fiercest, again the Bell Tower sent forth its sounds of death. Edward, +at the head of thirty-five thousand chosen troops, had crossed the +river at Coldstream, and was now seen encamping at the foot of Halidon +Hill. Part of his army immediately descended upon the town, to the +assistance of his fleet. They commenced a resolute attack from the +north, while the greater part of the garrison held bloody combat with +the ships in the river. Though thus attacked upon both sides, the +besieged fought with the courage of surrounded lions, and the proud +fleet was defeated and driven from the river. The attacks of the army +were desperate, but without success, for desperate were the men who +opposed them. Treachery, however, that to this day remains +undiscovered, existed in the town; and, at an hour when the garrison +thought not, the gates were deceitfully opened, and the English army +rushed like a torrent upon the streets. Wildly the work of slaughter +began. With the sword and with the knife, the inhabitants defended +every house, every foot of ground. Mild mothers and gentle maidens +fought for their thresholds with the fury of hungry wolves—and +delicate hands did deeds of carnage. The war of blood raged from +street to street, while the English army poured on like a ceaseless +stream. Shouts, groans, the clang of swords, and the shrieks of women +mingled together. Fiercer grew the close and the deadly warfare; but +the numbers of the besieged became few. Heaps of dead men lay at every +door, each with his sword glued to his hands by the blood of an enemy. +Of the warriors from Fife, every man perished; but their price was a +costly sacrifice of the boldest lives in England. The streets ran deep +with blood; and, independent of slaughtered enemies, the mangled and +lifeless bodies of seventeen thousand of the inhabitants paved the +streets. The war of death ceased only from lack of lives to prey upon. +With the exception of the Red Hall, the town was an awful and a +silent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> charnel-house. Within it were the thirty brave Flemings, +pouring their arrows upon the triumphant besiegers, and resolved to +defend it to death. Amongst them was the father of Isabella, and by +his side his intended son-in-law, his hands, which lately held a +bride's dripping with blood. The entire strength of the English army +pressed around the Hall; and fearful were the doings which the band of +devoted merchants, like death's own marksmen, made in the midst of +them. What the besiegers, however, failed to effect by force, they +effected by fire; and the Red Hall became enveloped in flames—its +wool, its silk, and rich merchandise blazing together, and causing the +fierce element to ascend like a pyramid. Still the brave men stood in +the midst of the conflagration, unquailed, hurling death upon their +enemies; and, as the fire raged from room to room, they rushed to the +roof of their hall, discharging their last arrow on their besiegers, +and waving their swords around their heads, with a shout of triumph. +There also stood the father, his daughter, and her lover, smiling and +embracing each other in death. Crash succeeded crash—the flames +ascended higher and higher—and the proud building was falling to +pieces. A louder crash followed, the fierce element surrounded the +brave victims—the gentle Isabella, leaning on her bridegroom, was +seen waving her slender hand in triumph round her head—the hardy band +waved their swords, and shouted, "<i>Liberty!</i>" and in one moment more +the building fell to the earth; and the heroes, the bridegroom, and +his bride, were buried in the ruins of their fortress and their +factory.</p> + +<p>Thus fell the Red Hall, and with it the commercial glory of Berwick.</p> + + +<h4>END OF VOL. XI.<br /><br /></h4> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_A_1"> + <span class="label">[A]</span></a> +This tale was written by Mr Wilson from the circumstance of "The +Tales of the Borders" having been adopted as a lesson-book in several +schools—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span> + </p></div> + + +<div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="Footnote_B_1" id="Footnote_B_1"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_B_1"> + <span class="label">[B]</span></a> +The contrast here shown may be extended by a reference to "The +Henpecked Man," and thus three specimens of the <i>uxori emancipatus</i> +will be brought into comparison.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span> +</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="Footnote_C_1" id="Footnote_C_1"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_C_1"> + <span class="label">[C]</span></a> +The same anecdote is related of Dr Thomas Brown, the philosopher. + </p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + <p> + <a name="Footnote_D_1" id="Footnote_D_1"></a> + <a href="#FNanchor_D_1"> + <span class="label">[D]</span></a> +A phrase signifying that a smuggling vessel had delivered her +cargo. + </p> +</div> +</div> + + +<div class="tnote"> + +<h3>Transcriber's Note</h3> + + +<p>Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.</p> + +<p>The following printers errors were addressed.</p> + +<p>Page 13 'new' to 'knew'<br /> +(He scarce knew what he did)</p> + +<p>Page 13 'is' to 'his'<br /> +(took her hand in his)</p> + +<p>Page 16 'fund' to 'found'<br /> +(who found him owre heavy for them)</p> + +<p>Page 20 'mannner' to 'manner'<br /> +(and the manner in which)</p> + +<p>Page 21 'certainly' to certainty'<br /> +(a liking for the certainty of the science)</p> + +<p>Page 21 ''ve' to 'ye'<br /> +(the rest of ye wad hae been selling)</p> + +<p>Page 24 'duplicate 'as' removed.<br /> +(people as ye could, meet)</p> + +<p>Page 38 'uparalleled' to 'unparalleled'<br /> +(condescension and unparalleled favour)</p> + +<p>Page 120 'indentity' to 'identity'<br /> +(evidence of his identity)</p> + +<p>Page 125 'secresy' to 'secrecy'<br /> +(this mysterious secrecy and suspicion)</p> + +<p>Page 129 'father' to 'faither'<br /> +(to the comforts o' a faither)<br /> +Changed to maintain consistency of dialect.</p> + +<p>Page 151 'bridemaid' to 'bridesmaid'<br /> +(her bridesmaid was beside her)</p> + +<p>Page 152 'succeded' to 'succeeded'<br /> +(I succeeded at last)</p> + +<p>Page 171 'she' to She'<br /> +(She also allowed him)</p> + +<p>Page 177 'pike' to 'pick'<br /> +(to pick your banes ahint)</p> + +<p>Page 210 'thse' to 'these'<br /> +(While these important events)</p> + +<p>Page 217 'Frith' to 'Firth'<br /> +(the Firth of Forth to the Tyne)</p> + +<p>Page 218 'secresy' to 'secrecy'<br /> +(there was the secrecy of midnight)</p> + +<p>Page 257 'though' to 'thought'<br /> +(when I thought I heard)</p> + +<p>Page 266 'uncomonly' to 'uncommonly'<br /> +(we were uncommonly favoured)</p> + +<p>Page 280 'of' to 'off'<br /> +(and taken off the island)</p> + +<p>Page 282 'buisness' to 'business'<br /> +(and business went on)</p> + +<p>Page 282 'Lindisferne' to 'Lindisfarne'<br /> +(was seen bearing round Lindisfarne)</p> + +<p>visiter/visiters<br /> +These words are spelt thus throughout the book with<br /> +the exception of two places which have been standardised with the<br /> +above.</p> + +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland, by John Mackay Wilson and Thomas Gillespie and Alexander Campbell and Alexander Bethune and Oliver Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF BORDERS, VOL 11 *** + +***** This file should be named 31761-h.htm or 31761-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/7/6/31761/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland + Volume 11 + +Author: John Mackay Wilson + Thomas Gillespie + Alexander Campbell + Alexander Bethune + Oliver Richardson + +Editor: Alexander Leighton + +Release Date: March 24, 2010 [EBook #31761] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF BORDERS, VOL 11 *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + Wilson's + + Tales of the Borders + + AND OF SCOTLAND. + + + HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE. + + WITH A GLOSSARY. + + REVISED BY + ALEXANDER LEIGHTON, + ONE OF THE ORIGINAL EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS. + + + VOL. XI. + + + LONDON: + WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, + AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. + 1884. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Page + + THE DOMINIE'S CLASS (_John Mackay Wilson_) 1 + + THE CONTRAST OF WIVES (_Alexander Leighton_) 33 + + THE PROFESSOR'S TALES (_Professor Thomas Gillespie_) + THE SOCIAL MAN 65 + + THE TWO COMRADES (_Alexander Campbell_) 90 + + THE SURTOUT (_Alexander Campbell_) 106 + + THE SURGEON'S TALES + THE SUICIDE (_Alexander Leighton_) 121 + + THE GHOST OF HOWDYCRAIGS (_Alexander Bethune_) 153 + + THE GHOST OF GAIRYBURN (_Alexander Bethune_) 185 + + THE SMUGGLER (_John Mackay Wilson_) 217 + + THE SCHOOLFELLOWS (_Oliver Richardson_) 250 + + THE RED HALL; OR, + BERWICK IN 1296 (_John Mackay Wilson_) 281 + + + + +WILSON'S + +TALES OF THE BORDERS, + +AND OF SCOTLAND. + +THE DOMINIE'S CLASS.[A] + + "Their ends as various as the roads they take + In journeying through life." + + +There is no class of men to whom the memory turns with more +complacency, or more frequently, than to those who "taught the young +idea how to shoot." There may be a few tyrants of the birch, who never +inspired a feeling save fear or hatred; yet their number is but few, +and I would say that the schoolmaster _is abroad_ in more senses than +that in which it is popularly applied. He is abroad in the memory and +in the affections of his pupils; and his remembrance is cherished +wheresoever they may be. For my own part, I never met with a teacher +whom I did not love when a boy, and reverence when a man; from him +before whom I used to stand and endeavour to read my task in his eyes, +as he held the book before his face, and the page was reflected in his +spectacles--and from his spectacles I spelled my _qu_--to him who, as +an elder friend, bestowed on me my last lesson. When a man has been +absent from the place of his nativity for years, and when he returns +and grasps the hands of his surviving kindred, one of his first +questions to them (after family questions are settled) is--"Is Mr ----, +my old schoolmaster, yet alive?" And if the answer be in the +affirmative, one of the first on whom he calls is the dominie of his +boyhood; and he enters the well-remembered school--and his first +glance is to the seat he last occupied--as an urchin opens the door +and admits him, as he gently taps at it, and cries to the master (who +is engaged with a class), when the stranger enters-- + +"Sir, here's one wants you." + +Then steps forward the man of letters, looking anxiously--gazing as +though he had a right to gaze in the stranger's face; and, throwing +out his head, and particularly his chin, while he utters the +hesitating interrogative--"Sir?" And the stranger replies--"You don't +know me, I suppose? I am such-an-one, who was at your school at such a +time." The instiller of knowledge starts-- + +"What!" cries he, shifting his spectacles, "you Johnnie (Thomas, or +Peter, as the case may be) So-and-so?--it's not possible! O man, I'm +glad to see ye! Ye'll mak me an auld man, whether I will or no. And +how hae ye been, and where hae ye been?"--And, as he speaks, he flings +his tawse over to the corner where his desk stands. The young stranger +still cordially shakes his hand, a few kindly words pass between them, +and the teacher, turning to his scholars, says--"You may put by your +books and slates, and go for the day;" when an instantaneous movement +takes place through the school; there is a closing of books, a +clanking of slates, a pocketing of pencils, a clutching for hats, +caps, and bonnets, a springing over seats, and a falling off seats, a +rushing to the door, and a shouting when at the door a "_hurra for +play!_"--and the stranger seems to have made a hundred happy, while +the teacher and he retire, to + + "Drink a cup o' kindness, + For auld langsyne." + +But to proceed with our story of stories. There was a Dr Montgomery, a +native of Annan, who, after he had been for more than twenty years a +physician in India, where he had become rich, visited his early home, +which was also the grave of his fathers. There were but few of his +relatives in life when he returned (for death makes sad havoc in +families in twenty years); but, after he had seen them, he inquired if +his old teacher, Mr Grierson, yet lived; and being answered in the +affirmative, the doctor proceeded to the residence of his first +instructor. He found him occupying the same apartments in which he +resided thirty years before, and which were situated on the south side +of the main street, near the bridge. + +When the first congratulations--the shaking of hands and the +expressions of surprise--had been got over, the doctor invited the +dominie to dinner; and, after the cloth was withdrawn, and the better +part of a bottle of port had vanished between them, the man of +medicine thus addressed his ancient preceptor:-- + +"Can you inform me, sir, what has become of my old class-fellows?--who +of them are yet in the land of the living?--who have caught the face +of fortune as she smiled, or been rendered the 'sport o' her slippery +ba'?' Of the fate of one of them I know something, and to me their +history would be more interesting than a romance." + +"Do ye remember the names that ye used to gie ane anither?" inquired +the man of letters, with a look of importance, which showed that the +history of the whole class was forthcoming. + +"I remember them well," replied the doctor; "there were seven of us: +Solitary Sandy--Glaikit Willie--Venturesome Jamie--Cautious +Watty--Leein' Peter--Jock the dunce--and myself." + +"And hae ye forgot the lounderings that I used to gie ye, for ca'in +ane anither such names?" inquired Mr Grierson, with a smile. + +"I remember you were displeased at it," replied the other. + +"Weel, doctor," continued the teacher, "I believe I can gratify your +curiosity, and I am not sure but you'll find that the history of your +class-fellows is not without interest. The career of some of them has +been to me as a recompense for a' the pains I bestowed on them, and +that o' others has been a source o' grief. Wi' some I hae been +disappointed, wi' ithers, surprised; but you'll allow that I did my +utmost to fleech and to thrash your besetting sins out o' ye a'. I +will first inform ye what I know respecting the history of Alexander +Rutherford, whom all o' ye used to ca' Solitary Sandy, because he +wasna a hempy like yoursels. Now, sir, harken to the history of + + +SOLITARY SANDY. + +I remarked that Sandy was an extraordinary callant, and that he would +turn out a character that would be heard tell o' in the world; though +that he would ever rise in it, as some term it, or become rich in it I +did not believe. I dinna think that e'er I had to raise the tawse to +Sandy in my life. He had always his task as ready by heart as he could +count his fingers. Ye ne'er saw Sandy looking over his book, or +nodding wi' it before his face. He and his lessons were like twa +acquaintances--fond o' each other's company. I hae observed fra the +window, when the rest o' ye would hae been driving at the hand-ba', +cleeshin your peerie-taps, or endangerin' your legs wi' the +duck-stane, Sandy wad been sitting on his hunkers in the garden, +looking as earnestly on a daisy or ony bit flower, as if the twa +creatures could hae held a crack wi' ane anither, and the bonny leaves +o' the wee silent things whispered to Sandy how they got their +colours, how they peeped forth to meet the kiss o' spring, and how the +same power that created the lowly daisy called man into existence, and +fashioned the bright sun and the glorious firmament. He was ance dux +and aye dux. From the first moment he got to the head o' the class, +there he remained as immoveable as a mountain. There was nae trapping +him; for his memory was like clockwark. I canna say that he had a +great turn for mathematics; but ye will remember, as weel as me, that +he was a great Grecian; and he had screeds o' Virgil as ready aff by +heart as the twenty-third psalm. Mony a time hae I said concerning +him, in the words o' Butler-- + + "Latin to him's no more difficil, + Than for a blackbird 'tis to whistle." + +The classics, indeed, were his particular hobby; and, though I was +proud o' Sandy, I often wished that I could direct his bent to studies +o' greater practical utility. His exercises showed that he had an +evident genius for poetry, and that o' a very high order; but his +parents were poor, and I didna see what poetry was to put in his +pocket. I therefore by no means encouraged him to follow out what I +conceived to be a profitless, though a pleasing, propensity; but, on +the contrary, when I had an opportunity o' speakin' to him by himsel, +I used to say to him-- + +"Alexander, ye have a happy turn for versification, and there is both +boldness and originality about your ideas--though no doubt they would +require a great deal of pruning before they could appear in a +respectable shape before the world. But you must not indulge in +verse-writing. When you do it, let it only be for an exercise, or for +amusement, when you have nothing better to do. It may make rhyme +jingle in your ears, but it will never make sterling coin jink in your +pockets. Even the immortal Homer had to sing his own verses about the +streets; and ye have heard the epigram-- + + 'Seven cities now contend for _Homer dead_, + Through which the _living Homer_ begg'd his bread.' + +Boethius, like Savage in our own days, died in a prison; Terence was a +slave, and Plautus did the work of a horse. Cervantes perished for +lack of food, on the same day that our great Shakspere died; but +Shakspere had worldly wisdom as well as heavenly genius. Camoens died +in an almshouse. The magical Spenser was a supplicant at court for +years, for a paltry pension, till hope deferred made his heart sick, +and he vented his disappointment in these words-- + + 'I was promised, on a time, + To have reason for my rhyme: + From that time unto this season, + I received not rhyme nor reason.' + +Butler asked for bread, and they gave him a stone. Dryden lived +between the hand and the mouth. Poor Otway perished through penury; +and Chatterton, the inspired boy, terminated his wretchedness with a +pennyworth of poison. But there is a more striking example than these, +Sandy. It was but the other day that our immortal countryman, Robbie +Burns--the glory o' our age--sank, at our very door, neglected and in +poverty, wi' a broken heart, into the grave. Sandy,' added I, 'never +think o' being a poet. If ye attempt it, ye will embark upon an ocean +where, for every one that reaches their desired haven, ninety-and-nine +become a wreck.' + +On such occasions, Sandy used to listen most attentively, and crack to +me very auld-farrantly. Well, sir, it was just after ye went to learn +to be a doctor, that I resolved to try and do something to push him +forward mysel, as his parents were not in ability; and I had made +application to a gentleman on his behalf, to use his influence to +procure him a bursary in ane o' the universities, when Sandy's faither +died, and, puir man, left hardly as muckle behind him as would pay the +expenses o' the funeral. This was a death-blow to Sandy's prospects +and my hopes. He wasna seventeen at the time, and his widowed mother +had five bairns younger. He was the only ane in the family that she +could look up to as a bread-winner. It was about harvest; and, when +the shearing commenced, he went out wi' ithers and took his place on +the rig. As it was his first year, and he was but a learner, his wages +were but sma'; but, sma' as they were, at the end o' the season he +brought them hame, and my puir blighted scholar laddie thought himsel +a man, when he placed his earnings, to a farthing, in his mother's +hand. + +I was sorry for Sandy. It pained me to see one by whom I had had so +much credit, and who, I was conscious, would make ane o' the brightest +ornaments o' the pu'pit that ever entered it, throwing his learning +and his talents awa', and doomed to be a labouring man. I lost mony a +night's sleep on his account; but I was determined to serve him if I +could, and I at last succeeded in getting him appointed tutor in a +gentleman's family o' the name o' Crompton, owre in Cumberland. He was +to teach twa bits o' laddies English and arithmetic, Latin and Greek. +He wasna out eighteen when he entered upon the duties o' his office; +and great cause had I to be proud o' my scholar, and satisfied wi' my +recommendation; for, before he had been six months in his situation, I +received a letter from the gentleman himsel, intimating his esteem for +Sandy, the great progress his sons had made under his tuition, and +expressing his gratitude to me for recommending such a tutor. He was, +in consequence, kind and generous to my auld scholar, and he doubled +his wages, and made him presents beside; so that Sandy was enabled to +assist his mother and his brethren. + +But we ne'er hae a sunny day, though it be the langest day in summer, +but sooner or later, a rainy ane follows it. Now, Mr Crompton had a +daughter about a year younger than Sandy. She wasna what people would +ca' a pretty girl, for I hae seen her; but she had a sonsy face and +intelligent een. She also, forsooth, wrote sonnets to the moon, and +hymns to the rising sun. She, of a' women, was the maist likely to +bewitch puir Sandy; and she did bewitch him. A strong liking sprang up +between them. They couldna conceal their partiality for ane anither. +He was everything that was perfect in her een, and she was an angel in +his. Her name was Ann; and he had celebrated it in every measure, from +the hop-and-step line of four syllables to that o' fourteen, which +rolleth like the echoing o' the trumpet. + +Now her faither, though a ceevil and a kind man, was also a shrewd, +sharp-sighted, and determined man; and he saw the flutter that had +risen up in the breasts o' his daughter and the young tutor. So he +sent for Sandy, and without seeming to be angry wi' him, or even +hinting at the cause-- + +"Mr Rutherford," said he, "you are aware that I am highly gratified +with the manner in which you have discharged the duties of tutor to my +boys; but I have been thinking that it will be more to their advantage +that their education, for the future, be a public one, and to-morrow I +intend sending them to a boarding-school in Yorkshire." + +"To-morrow!" said Sandy, mechanically, scarce knowing what he said, or +where he stood. + +"To-morrow," added Mr. Crompton; "and I have sent for you, sir, in +order to settle with you respecting your salary." + +This was bringing the matter home to the business and the bosom o' the +scholar somewhat suddenly. Little as he was versed in the ways o' the +world, something like the real cause for the hasty removal o' his +pupils to Yorkshire began to dawn upon his mind. He was stricken with +dismay and with great agony, and he longed to pour out his soul upon +the gentle bosom o' Ann. But she had gone on a visit with her mother +to a friend in a different part of the country, and Mr Crompton was to +set out with his sons for Yorkshire on the following day. Then, also, +would Sandy have to return to the humble roof o' his mother. When he +retired to pack up his books and his few things, he wrung his +hands--yea, there were tears upon his cheeks--and, in the bitterness +of the spirit, he said-- + +"My own sweet Ann! and shall I never see thee again--never hear +thee--never hope!" And he laid his hand upon his forehead, and pressed +it there, repeating as he did so--"never! oh, never!" + +I was surprised beyond measure when Sandy came back to Annan, and, wi' +a wobegone countenance, called upon me. I thought that Mr. Crompton +was not a man of the discernment and sagacity that I had given him +credit to be, and I desired Sandy not to lay it so sair to heart, for +that something else would cast up. But, in a day or two, I received a +letter from the gentleman himsel, showing me how matters stood, and +giving me to understand the _why_ and the _wherefore_. + +"O the gowk!" said I, "what business had he to fa' in love, when he +had the bairns and his books to mind?" + +So I determined to rally him a wee thought on the subject, in order to +bring him back to his senses; for, when a haflins laddie is labouring +under the first dizziness o' a bonnie lassie's influence, I dinna +consider that he is capable o' either seeing, feeling, hearing, or +acting wi' the common-sense discretion o' a reasonable being. It is a +pleasant heating and wandering o' the brain. Therefore, the next time +I saw him-- + +"Sandy," says I, "wha was't laid Troy in ashes?" + +He at first started and stared at me, rather vexed like, but at last +he answered, wi' a sort o' forced laugh, "A woman." + +"A woman, was it?" says I; "and wha was the cause o' Sandy Rutherford +losing his situation as tutor, and being sent back to Annan?" + +"Sir!" said he, and he scowled down his eyebrows, and gied a look at +me that wad hae spained a ewe's lamb. I saw that he was too far gone, +and that his mind was in a state that it would not be safe to trifle +wi'; so I tried him no more upon the subject. + +Weel, as his mother, puir woman, had enough to do, and couldna keep +him in idleness, and as there was naething for him in Annan, he went +to Edinburgh to see what would cast up, and what his talents and +education would do for him there. He had recommendations from several +gentlemen, and also from myself. But month after month passed on, and +he was like to hear of nothing. His mother was becoming extremely +unhappy on his account, and the more so because he had given up +writing, which astonished me a great deal, for I could not divine the +cause of such conduct as not to write to his own mother, to say that +he was well or what he was doing; and I was the more surprised at it, +because of the excellent opinion I had entertained of his character +and disposition. However, I think it would be about six months after +he had left, I received a letter from him; and, as that letter is of +importance in giving you an account of his history, I shall just step +along to the school for it, where I have it carefully placed in my +desk, and shall bring it and any other papers that I think may be +necessary in giving you an account of your other schoolfellows. + +Thus saying, Dominie Grierson, taking up his three-cornered hat and +silver-mounted walking-stick, stalked out of the room. And, as people +generally like to have some idea of the sort of person who is telling +them a story, I shall here describe to them the appearance of Mr +Grierson. He was a fine-looking old man, about five feet nine inches +high; his age might be about threescore and fifteen, and he was a +bachelor. His hair was as white as the driven snow, yet as fresh and +as thick as though he had been but thirty. His face was pale. He could +not properly be called corpulent, but his person had an inclination +that way. His shoes were fastened with large silver buckles; he wore a +pair of the finest black lamb's-wool stockings; breeches of the same +colour, fastened at the knees by buckles similar to those in his +shoes. His coat and waistcoat were also black, and both were +exceedingly capacious; for the former, with its broad skirts, which +descended almost to his heels, would have made a greatcoat now-a-days; +and in the kingly flaps of the latter, which defended his loins, was +cloth enough and to spare to have made a modern vest. This, with the +broad-brimmed, round-crowned, three-cornered hat, already referred to, +a pair of spectacles, and the silver-mounted cane, completed the +outward appearance of Dominie Grierson, with the exception of his +cambric handkerchief, which was whiter than his own locks, and did +credit to the cleanliness of his housekeeper, and her skill as a +laundress. + +In a few moments he returned, with Sandy's letter and other papers in +his hand, and, helping himself to another glass of wine, he rubbed the +glass of his spectacles with his handkerchief, and said-- + +"Now, doctor, here is poor Sandy's letter; listen, and ye shall hear +it."-- + + "_Edinburgh, June 10, 17--_ + + "HONOURED SIR,--I fear that, on account of my not having written to + you, you will ere now have accused me of ingratitude; and when I + tell you that, until the other day, I have not for months even + written to my mother, you may think me undutiful, as well as + ungrateful. But my own breast holds me guiltless of both. When I + arrived here, I met with nothing but disappointments, and those I + found at every hand. For many weeks I walked the streets of this + city in despair, hopeless as a fallen angel. I was hungry, and no + one gave me to eat; but they knew not that I was in want. Keen + misery held me in its grasp--ruin caressed me, and laughed at its + plaything. I will not pain you by detailing a catalogue of the + privations I endured, and which none but those who have felt and + fathomed the depths of misery can imagine. Through your letter of + recommendation, I was engaged to give private lessons to two + pupils; but the salary was small, and that was only to be paid + quarterly. While I was teaching them, I was starving, living on a + penny a day. But this was not all. I was frequently without a + lodging; and, being expelled from one for lack of the means of + paying for it, it was many days before I could venture to inquire + for another. My lodging was on a common-stair, or on the bare + sides of the Calton; and my clothes, from exposure to the weather, + became unsightly. They were no longer fitting garments for one who + gave lessons in a fashionable family. For several days I observed + the eyes of the lady of the house where I taught fixed with a most + supercilious and scrutinising expression upon my shabby and + unfortunate coat. I saw and felt that she was weighing the + shabbiness of my garments against my qualifications, and I trembled + for the consequence. In a short time my worst fears were realised; + for, one day, calling as usual, instead of being shown into a small + parlour, where I gave my lessons, the man-servant, who opened the + door, permitted me to stand in the lobby, and in two minutes + returned with two guineas upon a small silver plate, intimating, as + he held them before me, that 'the services of Mr Rutherford were no + longer required.' The sight of the two guineas took away the + bitterness and mortification of the abrupt dismissal. I pocketed + them, and engaged a lodging; and never, until that night, did I + know or feel the exquisite luxury of a deep, dreamless sleep. It + was bathing in Lethe, and rising refreshed, having no + consciousness, save the grateful feeling of the cooling waters of + forgetfulness around me. Having some weeks ago translated an old + deed, which was written in Latin, for a gentleman who is what is + called an in-door advocate, and who has an extensive practice, he + has been pleased to take me into his office, and has fixed on me a + liberal salary. He advises me to push my way to the bar, and kindly + promises his assistance. I shall follow his advice, and I despair + not but I may one day solicit the hand of the only woman I ever + have loved, or can love, from her father, as his equal. I am, sir, + yours, indebtedly, + + "ALEX. RUTHERFORD." + +Now, sir (continued the dominie), about three years after I had +received this letter, my old scholar was called to the bar, and a +brilliant first appearance he made. Bench, bar, and jury were lost in +wonder at the power o' his eloquence. A Demosthenes had risen up +amongst them. The half o' Edinburgh spoke o' naething but the young +advocate. But it was on the very day that he made his first appearance +as a pleader, that I received a letter from Mr. Crompton, begging to +know if I could gie him ony information respecting the old tutor o' +his family, and stating, in the language o' a broken-hearted man, that +his only daughter was then upon her death-bed, and that, before she +died, she begged she might be permitted to see and to speak with +Alexander Rutherford. I enclosed the letter, and sent it off to the +young advocate. He was sitting at a dinner-party, receiving the homage +of beauty and the congratulations of learned men, when the fatal +letter was put into his hands. He broke the seal--his hand shook as he +read--his cheeks grew pale--and large drops of sweat burst upon his +brow. He rose from the table. He scarce knew what he did. But within +half-an-hour he was posting on his way to Cumberland. He reached the +house, her parents received him with tears, and he was conducted into +the room where the dying maiden lay. She knew his voice, as he +approached. + +"He is come!--he is come! He loves me still!" cried the poor thing, +endeavouring to raise herself upon her elbow. + +Sandy approached the bedside--he burst into tears--he bent down, and +kissed her pale and wasted cheeks, over which death seemed already to +have cast its shadow. + +"Ann! my beloved Ann!" said he; and he took her hand in his, and +pressed it to his lips; "do not leave me--we shall yet be happy!" + +Her eyes brightened for a moment--in them joy struggled with death, +and the contest was unequal. From the day that he had been sent from +her father's house, she had withered away, as a tender flower that is +transplanted to an unkindly soil. She desired that they would lift her +up, and she placed her hand upon his shoulder, and, gazing anxiously +in his face, said-- + +"And Alexander still loves me--even in death!" + +"Yes, dearest--yes!" he replied. But she had scarce heard his answer, +and returned it with a smile of happiness, when her head sank upon +his bosom, and a deep sigh escaped from hers. It was her last. Her +soul seemed only to have lingered till her eyes might look on him. She +was removed a corpse from his breast; but on that breast the weight of +death was still left. He became melancholy--his ambition died--she +seemed to have been the only object that stimulated him to pursue fame +and to seek for fortune. In intense study he sought to forget his +grief--or rather he made them companions--till his health broke under +them; and in the thirtieth year of his age died one who possessed +talents and learning that would have adorned his country, and rendered +his name immortal. Such, sir, is the brief history o' yer auld +class-fellow, Solitary Sandy. + +In the history o' + + +GLAIKIT WILLIE + +(continued Mr Grierson), the only thing remarkable is, that he has +been as fortunate a man as he was a thochtless laddie. After leaving +the school, he flung his Greek and Latin aside, and that was easily +done, for it was but little that he ever learned, and less that he +remembered, for he paid so little attention to onything he did, that +what he got by heart one day, he forgot the next. In spite o' the +remonstrances o' his friends, naething would haud Willie but he would +be a sailor. Weel, he was put on board o' an American trader, and for +several years there was naething heard o' concerning him, but +accidents that had happened him, and all through his glaikitness. +Sometimes he was fa'ing owre a boat, and was mostly drowned; and at +ither times, we heard o' him fa'ing headlong into the ship's hold; +ance o' his tumbling overboard in the middle o' the great Atlantic; +and at last, o' his fa'ing from the mast upon the deck, and having his +legs broken. It was the luckiest thing that ever happened him. It +brought him to think, and gied him leisure to do it; he was laid up +for twelve weeks, and, during part o' the time, he applied himself to +navigation, in the elements o' which science I had instructed him. +Soon after his recovery, he got the command o' a vessel, and was very +fortunate, and, for several years, he has been sole owner of a number +of vessels, and is reputed to be very rich. He also married weel, as +the phrase runs, for the woman had a vast o' money, only she was--a +mulatto. That, sir, is a' I ken concerning William Armstrong, or, as +ye ca'ed him, Glaikit Willie; for he was a callant that was so +thochtless when under my care, that he never interested me a great +deal. And noo, sir, I shall gie ye a' the particulars I know +concerning the fate o' + + +VENTURESOME JAMIE. + +Ye will remember him best o' ony o' them, I reckon; for even when ye +were baith bits o' callants, there was a sort o' rivalship between ye +for the affections o' bonny Katie Alison, the loveliest lassie that +ever I had at my school. I hae frequently observed the looks o' +jealousy that used to pass between ye when she seemed to show mair +kindness to ane than anither; and, when ye little thocht I saw ye, I +hae noticed ane o' ye pushing oranges into her hand, and anither +sweeties. When she got a bit comb, too, to fasten up her gowden hair, +I weel divined whose pennies had purchased it--for they were yours, +doctor. I remember, also, hoo ye was aye a greater favourite wi' her +than Jamie, and hoo he challenged ye to fecht him for her affections, +and o'ercam' ye in the battle, and sent ye to the school next day wi' +yer face a' disfigured--and I, as in duty bound, gied each o' ye a +heartier thrashin than ye had gien ane anither. Katie hung her head a' +the time, and when she looked up, a tear was rowin in her bonny blue +een. But ye left the school and the country-side when ye was little +mair than seventeen; and the next thing that we heard o' ye was that +ye had gane oot to India about three years afterwards. Yer departure +evidently removed a load from Jamie's breast. He followed Katie like +her shadow, though with but little success, as far as I could +perceive, and as it was generally given out. + +But, ye must remember, in his case the name o' Venturesome Jamie was +well applied. Never in my born days did I know such a callant. He +would have climbed the highest trees as though he had been speeling +owre a common yett, and swung himsel by the heels frae their topmost +branches. Oh, he was a terrible laddie! When I hae seen ye a' bathing +in the river, sometimes I used to tremble for him. He was a perfect +amphibious animal. I have seen him dive from a height of twenty or +thirty feet, and remain under the water till I almost lost my breath +wi' anxiety for his uprising; and then he would have risen at as many +yards distant from the place where he had dived. I recollect o' +hearing o' his permitting himsel to be suspended owre a precipice +aboon a hundred feet high, wi' a rope fastened round his oxters, and +three laddies like himsel hauding on by the ither end o't--and this +was dune merely to harry the nest o' a waterwagtail. Had the screams +o' the callants, who found him owre heavy for them, and that they were +unable to draw him up again, not brought some ploughmen to their +assistance, he must have been precipitated into eternity. However, as +I intended to say, it was shortly after the news arrived o' your +having sailed for India, that a fire broke out in the dead o' nicht in +a house occupied by Katie Alison's father. Never shall I forget the +uproar and consternation o' that terrible nicht. There was not a +countenance in the town but was pale wi' terror. The flames roared and +raged from every window, and were visible through some parts in the +roof. The great black clouds o' smoke seemed rushing from the crater +of a volcano. The floors o' the second storey were falling, and +crashing, and crackling, and great burning sparks, some o' them as big +as a man's hand, were rising in thousands and tens o' thousands from +the flaming ruins, and were driven by the wind, like a shower o' fire, +across the heavens. It was the most fearsome sight I had ever beheld. +But this was not the worst o't; for, at a window in the third storey, +which was the only one in the house from which the flames were not +bursting, stood bonny Katie Alison, wringing her hands and screaming +for assistance, while her gowden hair fell upon her shouthers, and her +cries were heard aboon the raging o' the conflagration. I heard her +cry distinctly, "My father!--my father!--will nobody save my father?" +for he lay ill of a fever in the room where she was, and was +unconscious of his situation. But there was none to render them +assistance. At times, the flames and the smoke, issuing from the +windows below, concealed her from the eyes of the multitude. Several +had attempted her rescue, but all of them had been forced to retreat, +and some of them scorched fearfully; for in many places the stairs had +given way, and the flames were bursting on every side. They were +attempting to throw up a rope to her assistance--for the flames issued +so fiercely from the lower window, that, though a ladder had been +raised, no man could have ascended it--when at that moment, my old +scholar, James Johnstone (Venturesome Jamie, indeed!), arrived. He +heard the cries o' Katie--he beheld her hands outstretched for +help--"Let me past!--let me past!--ye cowards! ye cowards!" cried he, +as he eagerly forced his way through the crowd. He rushed into the +door, from which the dense smoke and the sparks were issuing as from a +great furnace. There was a thrill o' horror through the crowd, for +they kenned his character, and they kenned also his fondness for +Katie--and no one expected to see him in life again. But, in less than +ten seconds from his rushing in at the door, he was seen to spring +forward to the window where Katie stood--he flung his arm round her +waist, and, in an instant, both disappeared--but, within a quarter of +a minute, he rushed out at the street-door, through the black smoke +and the thick sparks, wi' the bonny creature that he adored in his +arms. O doctor, had ye heard the shout that burst frae the +multitude!--there was not one amongst them at that moment that couldna +have hugged Jamie to his heart. His hands were sore burned, and on +several places his clothes were on fire. Katie was but little hurt; +but, on finding herself on the street, she cast an anxious and +despairing look towards the window from which she had been snatched, +and again wringing her hands, exclaimed, in accents of bitterness that +go through my heart to this day-- + +"My father! oh, my father! Is there no help for him?--shall my father +perish?" + +"The rope!--gie me the rope!" cried Jamie. + +He snatched it from the hand of a bystander, and again rushed into the +smoking ruins. The consternation of the crowd became greater, and +their anxiety more intense than before. Full three minutes passed, and +nothing was seen of him. The crowded street became as silent as death; +even those who were running backward and forward, carrying water, for +a time stood still. The suspense was agonising. At length he appeared +at the window, with the sick man wrapped up in the bedclothes, and +holding him to his side with his right arm around him. The hope and +fear of the people became indescribable. Never did I witness such a +scene--never may I witness such again! Having fastened one end of the +rope to the bed, he flung the other from the window to the street; +and, grasping it with his left hand, he drew himself out of the +window, with Katie's father in his arm, and, crossing his feet around +the rope, he slid down to the street, bearing his burden with him! +Then, sir, the congratulations o' the multitude were unbounded. Every +one was anxious to shake him by the hand; but what with the burning +his right hand had sustained, and the worse than burning his left had +suffered wi' the sliding down a rope frae a third storey, wi' a man +under his arm, I may say that my venturesome and gallant auld scholar +hadna a hand to shake. + +Ye canna be surprised to hear--and, at the time o' life ye've arrived +at, ye'll be no longer jealous; besides, during dinner, I think ye +spoke o' having a wife and family--I say, therefore, doctor, that +ye'll neither be jealous nor surprised to hear, that from that day +Katie's dryness to Jamie melted down. Moreover, as ye had gane out to +India, where ye would be mair likely to look after siller than think +o' a wife, and as I understand ye had dropped correspondence for some +length o' time, ye couldna think yoursel in ony way slighted. Now, +folk say that "nineteen _nay-says_ are half a _yes_." For my part (and +my age is approaching the heels o' the patriarchs), I never put it in +the power o' woman born to say _No_ to me. But, as I have heard and +believe, Katie had said _No_ to Jamie before the fire, not only +nineteen times, but thirty-eight times twice told, and he found +seventy-six (which is about my age) nae nearer a _yea_ than the first +_nay_. And folk said it was a' on account o' a foolish passion for the +doctor laddie that had gane abroad. But Katie was a kind, gratefu +lassie. She couldna look wi' cauldness upon the man that had not only +saved her life, but her father's also; and I ought to have informed +you that, within two minutes from the time of her father's being +snatched from the room where he lay, the floor fell in, and the flames +burst from the window where Katie had been standing a few minutes +before. + +Her father recovered from the fever, but he died within six months +after the fire, and left her a portionless orphan, or what was next +door to it. Jamie urged her to make him happy, and at last she +consented, and they were married. But ye remember that his parents +were in affluent circumstances; they thought he had demeaned himself +by his marriage, and they shut their door upon him, and disowned him +athegither. As he was his father's heir, he was brought up to no +calling or business whatsoever; and, when the auld man not only vowed +to cut him off wi' a shilling, on account of his marriage, but +absolutely got his will altered accordingly, what did the silly lad +do, but, in desperation, list into a regiment that was gaun abroad. +"The laddie has done it in a fit o' passion," said I, "and what will +become o' poor Katie?" Weel, although it was said that the lassie +never had ony particular affection for him, but just married him out +o' gratitude, and although several genteel families in the +neighbourhood offered her respectable and comfortable situations (for +she was universally liked), yet the strange creature preferred to +follow the hard fortunes o' Jamie, who had been disowned on her +account, and she implored the officers of the regiment to be allowed +to accompany him. It is possible that they were interested with her +appearance, and what they had heard of his connection, and the manner +in which he had been treated, for they granted her request; and about +a month after he enlisted, the regiment marched from Carlisle, and +Katie accompanied her husband. They went abroad somewhere--to the East +or West Indies, I believe; but from that day to this I have never +heard a word concerning either the one or the other, or whether they +be living or not. All I know is, that the auld man died within two +years after his son had become a soldier, and, keeping his resentment +to his last breath, actually left his property to a brother's son. And +that, sir, is all that I know of Venturesome Jamie and your old +sweetheart, Katie. + +The doctor looked thoughtful, exceedingly thoughtful; and the old +dominie, acquiring additional loquacity as he went on, poured out +another glass, and added-- + +"But come, doctor, we will drink a bumper, 'for auld langsyne,' to the +lassie wi' the gowden locks, be she dead or living." + +"With my whole heart and soul," replied the doctor, impassionedly; +and, pouring out a glass, he drained it to the dregs. + +"The auld feeling is not quenched yet, doctor," said the venerable +teacher, "and I am sorry for it; for, had I known, I would have spoken +more guardedly. But I will proceed to gie ye an account o' the rest o' +your class-fellows, and I will do it briefly. There was Walter +Fairbairn, who went amongst ye by the name o' + + +CAUTIOUS WATTY. + +He was the queerest laddie that ever I had at my school. He had +neither talent nor cleverness; but he made up for both, and, I may +say, more than made up for both, by method and application. Ye would +have said that nature had been in a miserly humour when it made his +brains; but, if it had been niggardly in the quantity, it certainly +had spared no pains in placing them properly. He was the very reverse +o' Solitary Sandy. I never could get Watty to scan a line or construe +a sentence richt in my days. He did not seem to understand the nature +o' words, or, at least, in so far as applied to sentiment, idea, or +fine writing. Figures were Watty's alphabet; and, from his earliest +years, pounds, shillings, and pence were the syllables by which he +joined them together. The abstruser points of mathematics were beyond +his intellect; but he seemed to have a liking for the _certainty_ of +the science, and he manifested a wish to master it. My housekeeper +that then was has informed me that, when a' the rest o' ye wad hae +been selling your copies as waste-paper, for _taffy_, or what some ca' +_treacle-candy_, Watty would only part wi' his to the paper purchaser +for money down; and when ony o' ye took a greenin for the sweet things +o' the shopkeeper, without a halfpenny to purchase one, Watty would +volunteer to lend ye the money until a certain day, upon condition +that ye would then pay him a penny for the loan o' his halfpenny. But +he exhibited a grand trait o' this disposition when he cam to learn +the rule o' _Compound Interest_. Indeed, I need not say he _learned_, +it, for he literally _devoured_ it. He wrought every question in +Dilworth's Rule within two days; and, when he had finished it (for he +seldom had his slate away from my face, and I was half tired wi' +saying to him, "That will do, sir"), he came up to my desk, and, says +he, wi' a face as earnest as a judge-- + +"May I go through this rule again, sir?" + +"I think ye understand it, Watty," said I, rather significantly. + +"But I would like to be perfect in it, sir," answered he. + +"Then go through it again, Watty," said I, "and I have nae doubt but +ye will be _perfect_ in it very quickly." + +I said this wi' a degree o' irony which I was not then, and which I am +not now, in the habit of exhibiting before my scholars; but, from what +I had observed and heard o' him, it betrayed to me a trait in human +nature that literally disgusted me. But I have no pleasure in dwelling +upon his history. Shortly after leaving the school, he was sent up to +London to an uncle; and, as his parents had the means o' setting him +up in the world, he was there to make choice o' a profession. After +looking about the great city for a time, it was the choice and +pleasure o' Cautious Watty to be bound as an apprentice to a +pawnbroker. He afterwards commenced business for himself, and every +day in his life indulging in his favourite study, compound interest, +and, as far as he durst, putting it in practice, he in a short time +became rich. But, as his substance increased, he did not confine +himself to portable articles, or such things as are usually taken in +pledge by the members of his profession; but he took estates in +pledge, receiving the title-deeds as his security; and in such cases +he did exact his compound interest to the last farthing to which he +could stretch it. He neither knew the meaning of generosity nor mercy. +Shakspere's beautiful apostrophe to the latter god-like attribute in +the "Merchant of Venice," would have been flat nonsense in the +estimation of Watty. He had but one answer to every argument and to +every case, and which he laid to his conscience in all his +transactions (if he had a conscience), and that was--"A bargain's a +bargain!" This was his ten times repeated phrase every day. It was the +doctrine by which he swore; and Shylock would have died wi' envy to +have seen Watty exacting his "_pound o' flesh_." I have only to tell +ye that he has been twice married. The first time was to a widow four +years older than his mother, wi' whom he got ten thousand. The second +time was to a maiden lady, who had been a coquette and a flirt in her +day, but who, when the deep crow-feet upon her brow began to reflect +sermons from her looking-glass, became a patroniser of piety and +religious institutions. Watty heard o' her fortune, and o' her +disposition and habits. He turned an Episcopalian, because she was +one. He became a sitter and a regular attender in the same pew in the +church. He began his courtship by opening the pew-door to her when he +saw her coming, before the sexton reached it. He next sought her out +the services for the day in the prayer-book--he had it always open, +and ready to put in her hand. He dusted the cushion on which she was +to sit with his handkerchief, as she entered the pew. He, in short, +showed her a hundred little pious attentions. The sensibility of the +converted flirt was affected by them. At length he offered her his arm +from the pew to the hackney-coach or sedan-chair which waited for her +at the church-door; and, eventually, he led her to the altar in the +seventy-third year of her age; when, to use his own words, he married +her thirty thousand pounds, and took the old woman before the minister +as a witness. Such, sir, is all I know concerning Cautious Watty. + +The next o' your auld class-mates that I have to notice (continued Mr. +Grierson) is + + +LEEIN PETER. + +Peter Murray was the cause o' mair grief to me than ony scholar that +ever was at my school. He could not tell a story the same way in which +he heard it, or give you a direct answer to a positive question, had +it been to save his life. I sometimes was at a loss whether to +attribute his grievous propensity to a defect o' memory, a +preponderance o' imagination over baith memory and judgment, or to the +natural depravity o' his heart, and the force o' abominable habits +early acquired. Certain it is, that, all the thrashing that I could +thrash, I couldna get the laddie to speak the truth. His parents were +perpetually coming to me to lick him soundly for this lie and the +other lie; and I did lick him, until I saw that bodily punishment was +of no effect. Moral means were to be tried, and I did try them. I +tried to shame him out o't. I reasoned wi' him. I showed him the folly +and the enormity o' his offence, and also pointed out its +consequences--but I might as weel hae spoken to the stane in the wa'. +He was Leein Peter still. After he left me, he was a while wi' a +grocer, and a while wi' a haberdasher, and then he went to a painter, +and after that he was admitted into a writer's office; but one after +another, they had to turn him away, and a' on account o' his +unconquerable habit o' uttering falsehoods. His character became so +well known, that nobody about the place would take him to be anything. +He was a sad heartbreak to his parents, and they were as decent people +as ye could meet wi'. But, as they had respectable connections, they +got him into some situation about Edinburgh, where his character and +his failings were unknown. But it was altogether useless. He was +turned out of one situation after another, and a' on account o' his +incurable and dangerous habit, until his friends could do no more for +him. Noo, doctor, I daresay ye may have observed, that a confirmed +drunkard, rather than want drink, will steal to procure it--and, as +sure as that is the case, tak my word for it, that, in nine cases out +o' ten, he who begins by being a habitual liar, will end in being a +thief. Such was the case wi' Leein Peter. After being disgraced and +turned from one situation after anither, he at last was caught in the +act of purloining his master's property, and cast into prison. He +broke his mother's heart, and covered his father's grey hairs wi' +shame; and he sank from one state o' degradation to another, till now, +I believe, he is ane o' those prowlers and pests o' society who are to +be found in every large town, and who live naebody can tell how, but +every one can tell that it cannot be honestly. Such, sir, has been the +fate o' Leein Peter. + +There is only another o' your book-mates that I have to make mention +o', and that is John Mathewson or + + +JOCK THE DUNCE. + +Many a score o' times hae I said that Jock's head was as impervious to +learning as a nether-millstane. It would hae been as easy to hae +driven mensuration into the head o' an ox, as instruction into the +brain o' Jock Mathewson. He was born a dunce. I fleeched him, and I +coaxed him, and I endeavoured to divert him, to get him to learn, and +I kicked him, and I cuffed him; but I might as weel hae kicked my heel +upon the floor, or fleeched the fireplace. Jock was knowledge-proof. +All my efforts were o' no avail. I could get him to learn nothing, and +to comprehend nothing. Often I had half made up my mind to turn him +awa from the school, for I saw that I never would have any credit by +the blockhead. But what was most annoying was, that here was his +mother at me, every hand-awhile, saying-- + +"Mr Grierson, I'm really surprised at ye. My son John is not coming on +ava. I really wush ye wad tak mair pains wi' him. It is an unco thing +to be paying you guid money, and the laddie to be getting nae guid for +it. I wad hae ye to understand that his faither doesna make his money +sae easily--no by sitting on a seat, or walking up and down a room--as +ye do. There's such-a-ane's son awa into the Latin, nae less, I +understand, and my John no out o' the Testament. But, depend upon it, +Mr Grierson, if ye dinna try to do something wi' him, I maun tak him +awa frae your school, and that is the short and the lang o't." + +"Do sae, ma'am," said I, "and I'll thank ye. Mercy me! it's a bonny +thing, indeed--do ye suppose that I had the makin o' your son? If +Nature has formed his head out o' a whinstane, can I transform it into +marble? Your son would try the patience o' Job--his head is thicker +than a door-post. I can mak naething o' him. I would sooner teach a +hundred than be troubled wi' him." + +"Hundred here, hundred there!" said she, in a tift; "but it's a hard +matter, Mr Grierson, for his faither and me to be payin ye money for +naething; and if ye dinna try to mak something o' him, I'll tak him +frae your school, and that will be baith seen and heard tell o'!" + +So saying, away she would drive, tossing her head wi' the airs o' my +lady. Ye canna conceive, sir, what a teacher has to put up wi'. +Thomson says-- + + "Delightful task, + To teach the young idea how to shoot!" + +I wish to goodness he had tried it, and a month's specimen o' its +_delights_ would have surfeited him, and instead o' what he has +written, he would have said-- + + "Degrading thought, + To be each snivelling blockhead's parent's slave!" + +Now, ye'll remember that Jock was perpetually sniftering and gaping +wi' his mouth, or even sucking his thumb like an idiot. There was nae +keeping the animal cleanly, much less instructing him; and then, if he +had the book in his hand, there he sat staring owre it, wi' a look as +vacant and stupid as a tortoise. Or, if he had the slate before him, +there was he drawing scores on't, or amusing himsel wi' twirling and +twisting the pencil in the string through the frame. Never had I such +a lump o' stupidity within the walls o' my school. + +After his leaving me, he was put as an apprentice to a bookseller. I +thought, of all the callings under the sun, that which had been chosen +for him was the least suited to a person o' his capacity. But--would +ye believe it, sir?--Jock surprised us a'. He fairly turned the corner +on a' my calculations. When he began to look after the lassies, he +also began to "smart up." He came to my night-school when he would be +about eighteen, and I was perfectly astonished at the change that had +taken place, even in the appearance o' the callant. His very nose, +which had always been so stuffed and thick like, was now an ornament +to his face. He had become altogether a lively, fine-looking lad; and, +more marvellous still, his whole heart's desire seemed to be to learn; +and he did learn with a rapidity that both astonished and delighted +me. I actually thought the instructions which I had endeavoured to +instil into him for years, and apparently without effect, had been +lying dormant, as it were, in the chambers o' his brain, like a cuckoo +in winter--that they had been sealed up as fast as I imparted them, by +some cause that I did not comprehend, and that now they had got vent, +and were issuing out in rapid and vigorous strength, like a person +refreshed after a sleep. + +After he had been two years at the night-school, so far from +considering him a dunce, I regarded him as an amazingly clever lad. +From the instance I had had in him, I began to perceive that precocity +o' intellect was nae proof o' its power. Well, shortly after the time +I am speaking o', he left Annan for Glasgow, and after being a year or +twa there, he commenced business upon his own account. I may safely +say, that never man was more fortunate. But, as his means increased, +he did not confine himself to the business in which he had been +brought up, but he became an extensive shipowner; he also became a +partner in a cotton-mill concern. He was elected a member of the town +council, and was distinguished as a leading member and orator of the +guild. Eventually, he rose to be one of the city magistrates. He is +now also an extensive landed proprietor; and I even hear it affirmed, +that it is in contemplation to put him in nomination for some place or +other at the next election. Such things happen, doctor--and wha would +hae thocht it o' Jack the dunse? + +Now, sir (added the dominie), so far as I have been able, I have given +you the history o' your schoolfellows. Concerning you, doctor, I have +known less and heard less than o' ony o' them. You being so far awa, +and so long awa, and your immediate relations about here being dead, +so that ye have dropped correspondence, I have heard nothing +concerning ye; and I have often been sorry on that account; for, +believe me, doctor (here the doctor pushed the bottle to him, and the +old man, helping himself to another glass, and drinking it, again +continued)--I say, believe me, doctor, that I never had twa scholars +under my care, o' whose talents I had greater opinion than o' Solitary +Sandy and yoursel; and it has often vexed me that I could hear +naething concerning ye, or whether ye were dead or living. Now, sir, +if ye'll favour me wi' an account o' your history, from the time o' +your going out to India, your auld dominie will be obliged to ye; for +I like to hear concerning ye a', as though ye had been my ain bairns. + +"There is little of interest in my history, sir," said the doctor; +"but, as far as there is any, your wish shall be gratified." And he +proceeded as is hereafter written. + + +THE DOCTOR'S STORY. + +"In your history, sir, of Venturesome Jamie, which you are unable to +finish, you mentioned the rivalry that existed between him and me, for +the affections o' bonny Katie Alison. James was a noble fellow. I am +not ashamed that I had such a rival. In our youth I esteemed him while +I hated him. But, sir, I do not remember the time when Katie Alison +was not as a dream in my heart--when I did not tremble at her touch. +Even when we pulled the gowans and cowslips together, though there had +been twenty present, it was for Katie that I pulled mine. When we +plaited the rushes, I did it for her. She preferred me to Jamie, and I +knew it. When I left your school, and when I proceeded to India, I did +not forget her. But, as you said, men go there to make money--so did +I. My friends laughed at my boyish fancy--they endeavoured to make me +ashamed of it. I became smitten with the eastern disease of +fortune-making, and, though I did not forget her, I neglected her. + +But, sir, to drop this: I was not twenty-one when I arrived in Bombay; +nor had I been long there till I was appointed physician to several +Parsee families of great wealth. With but little effort, fortune +opened before me. I performed a few surgical operations of +considerable difficulty, with success. In several desperate cases I +effected cures, and my name was spread not only through the city, but +throughout the island. The riches I went to seek I found. But even +then, sir, my heart would turn to your school, and to the happy hours +I had spent by the side of bonny Katie Alison. + +However, it would be of no interest to enter into the details of my +monotonous life. I shall dwell only upon one incident, which is, of +all others, the most remarkable that ever occurred to me, and which +took place about six years after my arrival in India. I was in my +carriage, and accompanying the remains of a patient to the burial +ground--for you know that doctors cannot cure, when death is +determined to have its way. The burial ground lies about three miles +from Bombay, across an extensive and beautiful plain, and the road to +it is by a sort of avenue, lined and shaded on each side by +cocoa-nut-trees, which spread their branches over the path, and distil +their cooling juice into the cups which the Hindoos have placed around +them to receive it. You can form but a faint conception of the clear +azure of an Indian sky, and never had I seen it more beautiful than on +the day to which I refer, though some of the weather-prophets about +Bombay were predicting a storm. + +We were about the middle of the avenue I have described, when we +overtook the funeral of an officer who had held a commission in a +corps of Sepoys. The coffin was carried upon the shoulders of four +soldiers; before it marched the Sepoys, and behind it, seated in a +palanquin, borne by four Hindoos, came the widow of the deceased. A +large black veil thrown over her head, almost enveloped her person. +Her head was bent upon her bosom, and she seemed to weep bitterly. We +followed behind them to the burial-place; but, before the service was +half concluded, the heavens overcast, and a storm, such as I had never +witnessed, burst over our heads, and hurled its fury upon the graves. +The rain poured down in a fierce and impetuous torrent--but you know +not, in this country, what a torrent of rain is. The thunder seemed +tearing heaven in twain. It rolled, reverbed, and pealed, and rattled +with its tremendous voice over the graves of the dead, as though it +were the outbursting of eternity--the first blast of the archangel's +trumpet announcing the coming judgment! The incessant lightnings +flashed through the air, like spirits winged with flame, and awakening +the dead. + +The Sepoys fled in terror, and hastened to the city, to escape the +terrible fury of the storm. Even those who had accompanied my friend's +body fled with them, before the earth was covered over the dead that +they had followed to the grave. But still, by the side of the +officer's grave, and unmindful of the storm, stood his poor widow. She +refused to leave the spot till the last sod was placed upon her +husband's bosom. My heart bled for her. Within three yards from her +stood a veteran English serjeant, who, with the Hindoos that bore her +palanquin, were all that remained in the burial-place. + +Common humanity prompted me to offer her a place in my carriage back +to the city. I inquired of the serjeant who the deceased was. He +informed me that he was a young Scotch officer--that his marriage had +offended his friends--that they had denounced him in consequence--that +he had enlisted--and that the officers of the regiment which he had +first joined, had procured him an ensigncy in a corps of Sepoys, but +that he had died, leaving the young widow who wept over his grave, a +stranger in a strange land. And, added the serjeant, "a braver fellow +never set foot upon the ground." + +When the last sod had been placed upon the grave, I approached the +young widow. I respectfully offered to convey her and the serjeant to +the city in my carriage, as the violence of the storm increased. + +At my voice she started--she uttered a suppressed scream--she raised +her head--she withdrew her handkerchief from her eyes!--I beheld her +features!--and, gracious Heaven!--whom, sir!--whom--whom did I see, +but my own Katie Alison! + +"Doctor!--doctor!" exclaimed the old dominie, starting from his seat, +"what do I hear?" + +"I cannot describe to you," continued the other, "the tumultuous joy, +combined with agony, the indescribable feelings of that moment. We +stood--we gasped--we gazed upon each other; neither of us spoke. I +took her hand--I led her to the carriage--I conveyed her to the +city." + +"And, oh doctor, what then?" inquired the dominie. + +"Why, sir," said the doctor, "many days passed--many words were +spoken--mutual tears were shed for Jamie Johnstone--and bonny Katie +Alison, the lassie of my first love, became my wife, and is the mother +of my children. She will be here in a few days, and will see her old +dominie." + + + + +THE CONTRAST OF WIVES.[B] + + +In the absence of that finely-adjusted balance of power which ought to +be found in the state of marriage, it becomes a nice question, whether +less evil results from an overstretched domination on the part of the +husband, or from his due submission or subjugation to an authority +exercised by her, and carried farther than is generally deemed +consistent with the delicacy of her sex, or the situation in which she +is placed. Connected with this question is that which comprises the +comparative evil arising from a superabundance or deficiency of the +intellectual powers of the wife. We are too well aware of the +uselessness, as well as the impracticability, of solving such +speculative questions, to say a single word on either side of the +vexed argument to which they have given rise; but we will be within +our province, and probably not beyond the wishes of our readers, if we +lay before them a _case of real life_, involving a solution of the +question in one exemplary instance, where the "grey mare" is not only +found to be the "better horse," but where, by her powers of judicious +leading, she saves not only herself but her partner from the dangers +of a rough road and a precipitous course. In those good days of old +Scotland, when the corporation hall formed the theatre wherein was +enacted the great play (comedy, if you please) of "Burgh Ambition," +the influence of petticoat power extended its secret workings behind +the green curtain, and often regulated all the actions of the +performers in a manner which was not only totally concealed from the +spectators, but even from the moving puppets themselves. In one +instance--that to which we have referred--this secret authority +transpired, and in a manner so ludicrous that it deserves to be +recorded. The incorporation of Dyers and Scourers of P---- (at the +time of which we speak a considerable fraternity) had a deacon and +boxmaster; the former named Murdoch Waldie, and the latter Andrew +Todd. Their names still figure in the old books of the corporation, if +these are not gone astray; and there is, or was, an entry in these +same books, connected with the reign of the two worthies, which, +illustrative and probative as it is of our story, we shall have +occasion to lay before our readers. Well, to proceed in historical +order, the worthy boxmaster had been married for a number of years. He +might be about fifty years of age, was of small stature, very bland +and affable in his manners, of an easy disposition, but, withal, as +ambitious of fame as any of the aspirants for office in his +corporation. Endowed by nature with very inadequate powers of +judgment, he experienced no want of the powers of speech, which was as +fluent as a shallow mind could make it; and he had, besides, a species +of humour about him, which owed its existence rather to the simplicity +and _bonhommie_ of his nature, than to the more ordinary source of a +perception of the ludicrous. As almost every want is remedied by some +equipollent surrogation which strangely often supplies its place, +Andrew Todd was _sensible_ of his want of mental powers; and thus he +exhibited that sense of a _want of sense_, which is often more +valuable than sense itself, in so far as the modesty with which it is +accompanied leads the individual to seek the assistance of good +advisers, by which he sometimes surpasses, in the race of life, +conceited wiseacres. We do not say that he married Mrs Jean Todd +merely because he saw she was endowed with greater powers than +himself; but it is certain that, after he came to appreciate the +extent of her understanding, he had the prudence to take every +advantage of her excellent sense and judgment, as well in the private +affairs of his business, as in the public concerns of the corporation +treasurership, with which he came, by her means, to be invested. This +was not only advantageous to his pecuniary interests, but congenial to +his feelings, as, getting quit, in this way, of the trouble of +thinking--a most laborious operation to him, and generally very ill +executed, if not altogether bungled--he was left at liberty to indulge +his speech and humour; two powers which had nothing more to do with +judgment or even common sense, than with the sublimated spirit of +genius itself. + +His wife, Mrs Jean, was, as partly hinted, the very opposite of her +husband. She was a large, stout, gaucy woman, at least twice as big as +her mate. She had been, early in life, considerably pitted with the +small-pox, enough of the traces of which were still left to give her +that sturdy, hardy aspect they generally impart; while a strong and +somewhat rough voice, agreeing well with her other attributes, gave +her ideas and sentiments an apparent breadth and weight, which, added +to their own sterling qualities, could not fail to produce a +considerable effect even on men of strong minds, and to give her a +decided advantage over her sex. Her original powers of mind were +strengthened by reading--an occupation in which, as it required +silence, her husband very seldom engaged; and, what few women are able +to accomplish, she never allowed this favourite habit to interfere +with the regulation of her domestic economy, or of the actions of her +husband. Bold and masculine, however, as she was, she was a +kind-hearted woman; and, having no family to her husband, she was a +warm friend, a ready adviser to all her female acquaintances, and a +charitable giver to those who, after a strict and very stern +investigation, she thought worthy of her assistance. + +The deacon of the incorporation again, Murdoch Waldie, was a man of a +very different cast from the boxmaster. He was a person of +considerable parts; but his conceit, which led him to conceive himself +cleverer than nature had made him, produced often all the consequences +which result from a deficiency of mental parts. Proud and domineering, +he loved to rule his corporation with dignity and authority; while his +love of official show and domestic parade rendered him extravagant, +and made him poor, notwithstanding of a good trade, which he carried +on with great success. In his choice of a wife, there might have been +perceived the tendency of his peculiar disposition; for he married a +beauty, who qualified his love of authority by an affected softness, +gentleness, and meekness, and his self-conceit, by showing herself +inferior to him in understanding, as indeed she was, though she +excelled him in another quality, which more than supplied its place. +What with his business, his deaconship, his chain, his gold-headed +cane, and his fair wife, dressed in the gaudy colours of his own +dyeing, Deacon Waldie was an important personage in those times, when +to be high in a corporation was to be in the enjoyment of the truest +elevation to which human nature, in this world, could aspire. + +Vain, showy, gaudy, and frivolous, Mrs Deacon Waldie held the same +position to Mrs Todd that the boxmaster did to her husband. She had no +sense or power to rule her lord, who, indeed, would not have submitted +to female authority; but she had what Mrs Todd wanted, and what served +her purpose equally well, and that was cunning--the signal quality of +small, weak minds, and the very curse of the whole race of man and +woman. This insidious power enabled her to detect her husband's +failings, as well as to profit by them--and hence her affectation of +total subjugation to his high will and authority, and her tame system +of according and assenting to everything he said or did, whether right +or wrong. But in all this her selfish cunning had a part; because, +while she pretended to love him, and dote on him and prize him beyond +all mortals, her adulation, her blandishments, and submission were +accompanied or followed always by _petitions_. She contrived to have +hardihood enough to make the most unreasonable requests, and to show +that she was too sensitive, too fragile, and too weak, to bear a +refusal. If her suit was rejected, she flung herself upon the haughty +deacon's bosom, and sobbed; and what deacon could withstand the appeal +of beauty in tears? The sight was the very personification of the +triumph of his pride and dignity. The chain of his official authority, +and the arms of a praying, supplicating, weeping wife, hanging at the +same time around his proud neck, were the very counterparts of each +other. His love of subjugation bent, as it often does, his own head; +and cunning enjoyed its greatest triumph in overcoming one, by turning +his own weapons against himself. + +The contrast which we have thus exhibited between these two couples, +is that of real everyday life. The characters of too many married +parties partake, more or less, of the qualities possessed by those we +have now mentioned; but how strangely do apparent contrasts often meet +in grotesque resemblances? Mrs Todd ruled her husband, and he knew it; +but Mrs Waldie ruled her husband, and he was ignorant of it: while the +one followed her occupation for her own and her husband's good, the +other was bent (unconsciously, it may be) on her own and her husband's +ruin. + +These two couples were on the most intimate terms--the circumstance of +the two husbands being office-bearers of the same corporation having +increased an intimacy which had been of considerable duration. But +there was little respect felt for her showy friends on the part of the +wife of the minor official, who probably saw that their extravagance +was fast driving them to ruin. This foresight was soon verified. The +demands of Mrs Deacon Waldie were not limited to her own wants and +wishes--they were extended to those of her friends. Her father, +trusting to the reputation of her husband's deaconship, had occasion +for his security to the extent of L200; and she was fixed upon as the +instrument to wring, by her usual artifice, out of her proud lord and +master, not only his own name to the bond, but also that of some of +his friends, to be procured through his means and intercession. She +had, for a considerable time, been occupied zealously in endeavouring +to accomplish her object--bringing into contrast her husband's proud +domination, and her innocent and interesting weakness and timidity, +and showing, as she hung round his neck, her helplessness and +insignificance, at the very moment when she was exercising more power +than ever was arrogated by the boxmaster's wife in all her female +tyranny. She succeeded in her scheme, and Waldie consented--but only +as a king grants the prayer of a petition--not only to give his own +name to the bill, but to endeavour to get that of Mr Andrew Todd. +Tears of thankfulness, and a full acknowledgment of his great power +over her, was the reward offered and granted for this great +condescension and unparalleled favour. But it was more easy for Mrs +Waldie to ask, and give thanks and tears, and for her husband to +vouchsafe his own name as cautioner, than for him to get out of the +clutches of Mrs Jean Todd the consent of her husband. The deacon knew +how his brother-official was ruled by his wife, and lustily despised +the white-livered caitiff for his pusillanimity. + +"I canna promise, Mrs Deacon Waldie," said he to his wife, according +to the fashion of address that suited his dignity--"I canna promise to +get the boxmaster to gie his name to yer faither's bond. He's sae +completely, puir cratur! under the power and direction o' a woman, +that he daurna tak sae muckle liberty wi' his ain. The woman brocht +him naething when he married her, but the iron rod o' authority by +which she rules him; and yet, strange to say, he seems to like her the +better for a' the stern dominion she exercises owre him." + +"That's a fault, I'm sure, ye canna charge me wi'," replied his wife. + +"No, Margaret," said the deacon; "you dare not presume to dictate to +me; and, to do you justice, you never attempted it; but I began ye +fair. I showed you at first the proper conduct o' a husband towards +his wife--firm but kind; and the duty o' a wife towards a +husband--obedient and loving; and it was weel that you had the sense +to understand me, and the good-nature to comply wi' my wishes; for, if +I had seen the least glimpse o' an inclination to rule me or force me +into yer measures, there wad sune hae been rebellion in the house o' +Deacon Waldie. The consequences o' a wife's domination are weel +exemplified in the case o' that contemptible man whase assistance we +now require. He daurna assist a freend. His wife is cash-keeper, +conscience-keeper, housekeeper, and, by and by, she may be box-keeper, +to the entire disgrace o' oor trade, wha, though they live by women +(for men never employ dyers), wouldna relish to acknowledge the +authority o' a female boxmaster. When a man resigns himsel to the +authority o' a wife, he is dune for a' guid to himsel as weel as his +neebors." + +"Ye canna, my dear Murdoch," said the soft wife, "look upon a tame +husband, wha submits to the rule o' a wife, wi' mair contemp and ill +favour than I do upon the virago wha presumes to reverse the order o' +nature, and wrest the authority frae the lord o' the creation." + +"You gie a fine turn to the sentiment, Margaret," replied the +gratified deacon. "I am anxious (but it is my ain free will) to do yer +faither this service; and I will try, for ance, if I canna fecht Mrs +Jean Todd wi' her ain weapons. The boxmaster's no dead to shame; and +surety, if there's ony power on earth whereby the blush can be brought +to the face o' man, it's the power o' being in a condition to tell +him to that very face he is _henpecked_. The very word has a spur and +a neb in't to rouse him to the vindication o' the rights o' man. I was +aye afraid o't; and, God be thanked! I hae escaped even the very +chance o' its application to me." + +"You forgot, my love, that you hae also _me_ to thank for that +happiness," said the wife. + +"No, it is mysel, it is mysel," cried the proud lord of his own +household. "It lies in my native sense o' the rights o' our superior +sex, and my firmness o' purpose in keepin the reins ticht upon ye. You +hae only the merit o' no rebellin; but even your rebellion I would hae +sune laid." + +"I fancy, then," said Mrs Waldie, gently, "it will be your intention +and pleasure to see the boxmaster immediately." + +"No, Mrs Waldie," replied the deacon, a little touched; "not +_immediately_, but by and by." + +The deacon, however, did almost immediately wait upon the boxmaster, +and got him to adjourn to a tavern in the Lawnmarket, at that time +much frequented by the members of the incorporation. They had scarcely +seated themselves when the superior official opened his subject. + +"I am a frank man, Mr Todd," began he, "and I winna hesitate to tell +ye at ance that I want a favour frae ye. Will ye join me in security +for my father-in-law to the extent o' twa hunder pounds?" + +The boxmaster paused, and thought of the stern chamberlain at home. He +was inclined to assist his deacon, who was a person of great +importance in his eyes, but he saw the danger which might result from +his going out of his province, and acting upon what he conceived to be +right. His pause was at once understood by the deacon, whose keenness +to make a dash at the supposed obstacle to his suit arose from his +contempt of his friend's pusillanimous conduct, and his desire to +attain the object of his request. + +"I can read your thoughts, Mr Todd," said he, as the boxmaster still +paused, and seemed irresolute and confused. "You _wish_ to serve, but +you daurna. Mrs Todd winna let ye follow the counsel o' yer ain heart. +This is a delicate subject; but I am your freend, and would wish to +redeem ye frae the slavery o' a woman's (and otherwise, I grant, a +guid and sensible woman's) domination in matters wherein she has nae +legitimate authority." + +He waited the effect of this speech, which was a kind of touchstone. + +"I see nae delicacy in a subject," replied the boxmaster, "whar +there's nae secresy. How does it come to be known that my wife is my +counsellor and adviser?--Because I mak nae secret o' what I hae nae +reason to be ashamed o'. I dinna ken how you feel, Mr Waldie, but I +think it's the pleasantest thing on earth to be, as it were, compelled +to alloo yersel to be taen care o', and defended, and nursed, and +petted, and ruled, by a guid wife. In my opinion, to be loved by a +wife is only the half o' oor right. Ony woman may love a man--it's a +woman's _trade_ to love; but when you see a dear cratur takin the +pains and trouble o' governin a' yer actions--ay, and as it were, even +yer very thoughts--lookin wi' a keen and carefu ee after yer maist +minute affairs, regulatin yer conduct, keepin yer siller, directin yer +financial, domestic, personal, private, and public operations; and, in +short, _thinkin_ for ye--how is it possible for a man to see sae +muckle care taen wi' him and his concerns, without bein filled wi' +gratitude and affection to her wha labours sae officiously for his +guid?" + +"Mr Andrew Todd," said the deacon, impatiently, "you are describin ane +o' the maist pitifu and contemptible spirits that ever warmed the +scaly body o' a reptile that has nae sting. What man wi' a spark o' +independence in his breast would think o' resignin his judgment into +the hands o' a woman? They are guid craturs in their ain place, and +baith interestin and usefu when they are occupied in conductin the +affairs o' their houses, obeyin the commands o' their husbands, and +ministerin to his slichtest wishes, as if every look were an act of +parliament; but, to stoop to mak a woman a counsellor, to gie her a +vote in the great council o' the noble thoughts o' man's divine mind! +Unheard o' humiliation! Why, man, a woman is only the twenty-fourth +part o' a man, seein we hae, as the doctors say, twenty-four ribs; and +we hae the authority o' Scripture for sayin that, at the very best, +she is only a help to man. She was, besides, the beginnin o' a' evil. +And yet this fractional thing, this help, this unlucky author o' the +waes o' mortals, ye dignify and raise up into the very place and power +o' yer inheritance frae Adam; reversin the order o' nature, degradin +our noble sex and makin laughinstocks o' a' married men." + +"I'm no sure if there's muckle practical truth in a' this, deacon," +said Andrew, smiling good-naturedly. "Suppose, for an instant, that, +besides the satisfaction and pleasure I derive frae nestlin safely in +the arms o' my wife's judgment, and courin aneath her protectin +wing--whilk gies me, sometimes, a flap I like as weel as her kindest +embrace--I hae discovered that her thoughts and reflections are a +thousand times better than the boxmaster's--what say ye to that, +deacon? I hae seen an oaken tree twenty-four times bigger than its +parent, and yet a' it ever had to thank the auld stock for was an +acorn. Sae, in place o' only bein a twenty-fourth part, as you say, o' +man, I am satisfied I hae scarcely a twenty-fourth part o' my wife's +mind; and will onybody tell me that a wise counsellor should be +rejected, because she happens to be dressed in petticoats?" + +"Yes, Mr Todd, I will tell you that," replied the deacon. "The private +sodger has dootless often a mind superior to the general's; but he +maun still keep the ranks. Mind is naething in this affair--station +is everything. Look at Mrs Margaret Waldie--a cleverer cratur doesna +exist--that is, in her ain way; but did she ever dare to counsel me? +Did she ever presume to sway or alter, in the slightest degree, the +decrees o' my judgment? Na; she has owre muckle respect for the status +and respectability o' her lord and maister. Rouse yersel, Andrew; tak +example by me, man; act as your kind heart prompts in this freendly +affair; and join me in the bond, whereby you'll incur nae danger." + +"I am anxious to oblige ye, deacon," said Andrew; "but I scarcely +think it wad be a gratefu part in me to repay a' Mrs Jean Todd's care +o' me for twenty years, by actin, in this affair, upon my ain +individual and responsible judgment. I micht anger her, and she micht +withdraw frae me her countenance and protection: I micht as weel lose +the licht o' the sun. Ye dinna understand me, deacon; ye are made to +command--I to obey. Pressure brings out the power o' the spring; and +a' my happiness in life is produced and brocht out by the weight o' +the judgment and authority o' Mrs Jean Todd. Her very mind seems to +hae passed into mine; and I feel, when I'm thinking her thoughts, a +satisfaction I never feel when my ain are passin, like unbidden +ghaists, through my mind. But surely I hae some excuse: is she no a +noble cratur? How she maks a body shake wi' the sound o' her voice, +and the solidity o' her thoughts! and how beautifully she softens doun +the impression o' her authority, by restorin, wi' a half-severe, +half-kind sort o' a smile, peculiar to hersel, the confidence she +frightened awa by the mere force o' her superior intellect!" + +"How beautifully, in short, Andrew," said the deacon, "are you +_henpecked_! That is the very soul and marrow o' a' ye hae uttered." + +"Ay; and I glory to be pecked by _such_ a hen!" cried Andrew, with +sparkling eyes, and a real and unsophisticated appearance of triumph. + +The deacon, notwithstanding of his anxiety to get the bond signed, +laughed outright at this tremendous sally of the boxmaster's +enthusiasm of servitude; but it was a laugh of derision, and he forgot +that he was himself daily losing more feathers, by a silent process of +peculation going on under his wing, than were taken from Andrew by the +conservative operation of his wife's billing and cooing. + +"Then I suppose you will not refuse my request?" said the deacon, +"seein you glory in the _henpeckin_ it may produce. Seriously, will ye +comply wi' my request?" + +"Seriously, deacon, I am inclined to oblige ye," replied Andrew, "if I +could get Mrs Jean to agree to it. I'll try her this very nicht. I can +say nae mair." + +The deacon could make no more of him. He went home, and reported the +result of the negotiation to his wife, who despaired of success, but +overpowered her husband with thanks for what he had done. She had a +secret wish that he should do more--viz., call upon Mrs Jean Todd +herself, and solicit her. The difficulty of accomplishing this was to +herself apparent; but she was determined to carry her point in some +way or another; so she straightway began to weep bitterly, crying that +her father would be ruined; but never hinting any remedy for her +distress. This paroxysm of affected grief produced its usual effect +upon the proud husband; who, hard as a rock when attempted to be +dictated to, was as weak as a child when attacked with tears, and an +apparent helpless subjugation to his high will. He took the weeping +wife in his arms, and asked her what more he could do to assist her +father in this emergency. + +"There's only ae way," said she, wiping her eyes; "there's just ae +remedy for our case." + +"What is it, my love?" said the deacon. + +"I canna mention't," said the cunning wife. "It's against a' the high +and proud feelins o' yer noble natur." + +"But we are sometimes obliged to sacrifice our feelins," said the +gratified deacon. "Speak, my dear Margaret; ye ken wha ye're speakin +to. What is your remedy?" + +"It's to ca' upon Mrs Jean Todd yersel," said she, holding away her +head, while another burst of tears overtook her voluntarily. + +The deacon started back in amazement. The request _was_ against all +the feelings of his nature. The proud stickler for marital rule was in +an extraordinary position: first, his wife was governing him at that +moment, unknown to himself; and, secondly, he was requested to sue, at +the feet of a woman, for liberty to her husband to act as he chose. + +"Margaret," said the deacon, "_you_, I am sure, dinna ask me to +overturn, at ae blow, a' the principles o' my life, conversation, and +conduct?" + +"Na, Murdoch," said she, throwing her arms round his neck, and weeping +again--"na, na; _I_ dinna _ask_ ye." + +"But ye maybe wish it, my dear Peggy," replied he, whimpering. +"Necessity is a great power: maybe ye feel _compelled_ to wish it." + +"Maybe I do," said the wife, with another burst. + +"Weel, Peggy, dry up yer tears, my love," said the conquered lord; +"I'll awa to Mrs Jean Todd." + +And he was as good as his word. Away he went, to recognise that +authority in a wife which he so heartily despised, and to which he was +himself, at the very moment, bowing his head. He took the bill with +him, with the view of taking advantage of a compliance upon the +instant, as he feared the effects of a night's reconsideration. He +found the couple in a curious position. They were sitting, one on each +side of the fire. Mrs Jean Todd had on her spectacles; but her book +was lying on the table. Mr Todd was apparently doing nothing; but he +was thinking more deeply, and with more difficulty, than was his +partner, who was occupied doubtless in digesting what she had been +reading. Mr Todd was, in truth, at that very moment in the very act of +endeavouring to call up courage to tell his wife the import of the +deacon's request, and to make some attempt at supporting his petition. +A few words had passed previous to the entry of the deacon. + +"I had a lang sederunt wi' our worthy deacon the day," said Andrew. +"He's no an ill body, the deacon. I canna forget the trouble he took +on my appointment to the honourable office o' boxmaster." + +"It was _I_ that made ye boxmaster, Andrew," said Mrs Jean Todd. "I +commanded the suffrages o' the hail corporation. Deacon Waldie couldna +hae opposed me. I was at the blind side o' the electors, through their +wives; and what man could hae dared to compete wi' the electors' +wives, when they were determined to vote for me? The deacon professes +to laugh at _our_ authority. Puir man! he forgets, or doesna see, that +there's no a man in the hail corporation wha is mair ruled, and mair +dangerously ruled, by his wife than he is! She'll ruin him; and that +ye'll sune see. Nae tradesman could stand her extravagance; and, I +understand, she cunningly contrives to get him to assist _her_ +friends, and to despise and disregard his ain. How different is my +conduct! Your friends, Andrew, I hae assisted; and the only thing I +ever left to your unassisted judgment was the benefiting o' mine." + +This sensible speech had, as the sun does the fire, extinguished +Andrew's mental cogitations, and put out his courage. A silence had +reigned for several minutes, when Mr Deacon Waldie entered. Drawing in +a chair, he commenced-- + +"The boxmaster would doubtless be tellin ye, madam," said he, "that I +wanted a sma' favour aff him. My wife's father requires a bill for +intromissions the noo to the extent o' twa hunder pounds, and the +employers insist upon twa securities. They micht hae been content wi' +mysel; but, seein they hae refused my single name, I hae asked Andrew +to gie his, as a mere matter o' form, alang wi' my ain. I dinna doot" +(looking into Mrs Jean Todd's face, and attempting to laugh) "that ye +may hae _some_ influence wi' the boxmaster. He's quite _against_ it" +(looking at Andrew, and winking--a device observed by the quick-eyed +dame), "though there's nae danger; and I hae, therefore, come at ance +to the fountain-head o' a' authority. Just say to the boxmaster that +he ought sae far to oblige a freend, and the bill, which I hae here in +my hand, will be signed in an instant." + +This speech was understood in a moment by Mrs Jean Todd. The manner +of her husband previous to the entry of the deacon--the deacon's +visit so soon after the meeting, his speech, his wink, and all +together--satisfied her that her husband was inclined to sign the +bill, and that they had laid their heads together to accomplish +their object by the manoeuvre to which they had thus resorted. Her +pride and honesty made her despise these underhand and crooked +schemes; but her prudence prevented her from showing either her +penetration or her feelings. There was one thing, however, which she +was determined not to countenance. She knew that Deacon Waldie +despised, and, indeed, openly, and at all times, and often in her +own presence, denounced the husband who allowed himself to be +dictated to by his wife; and now he was in the very act of proving +that her husband was worthy of that denouncement, and that she +herself was the individual who, by exercising authority over her +husband, had degraded him, and rendered him the subject of the +deacon's scorn. This hurt her beyond bearing; but she was determined +that she should not recognise this imputed authority. At the same +time, she could not allow her husband to be ruined; and the question +was, how she should act in these trying circumstances? Her quick +mind was soon at work. For some time she contrived to prevent an +awkward silence from sitting down upon them and producing +embarrassment; and this she accomplished by putting a few +insignificant questions to the deacon regarding his father-in-law, +while she was deliberating with herself what she was to do, and how +she was to escape from the dilemma in which she was situated. + +In the first place, she caught her husband's eye, through which the +charm of her authority could generally be very easily sent. She +endeavoured to retain his glance, and to show that she was decidedly +opposed to this scheme, and saw through all its bearings. Without +altogether losing this hold of Andrew, she directed a prudent and +cautious speech to the ears of the deacon. + +"I winna affect, Mr Deacon Waldie," said she, "notwithstanding I hae +often heard yer sentiments on the subject o' the authority o' wives--I +winna affect either to be ignorant o' my husband's affairs, or to be +careless o' what concerns baith him and me. I will say further, that I +dinna hesitate to gie him a guid advice when I think he requires it; +for out o' many counsellors comes wisdom; and, as Solomon says, 'every +purpose is established by counsel.' Though 'a good wife,' says the +same wise man, 'layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands holdeth +the distaff,' her business doesna finish there; for he adds, that 'the +heart o' her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have +no fear o' spoil.' But there's a limit to a wife's interference. You +say my husband has already declared his opinion" (looking at +Andrew)--"why then should I be asked to overturn the resolution o' his +ain mind and judgment? If my advice had been asked in time, it would +hae been given; but I canna think o' endeavourin to overrule my +master, when ance his mind is made up and his resolution fixed." + +She rose as she finished this judicious speech, and left the room, +kindly bidding the deacon good-night. Both the men were surprised. +The deacon was chagrined. The boxmaster was left in great doubt and +perplexity. Both had great cause; for the first was caught in his own +snare, and the latter had had thrown upon him a superabundance of +power and authority in forming his own judgments that he never got +awarded to him before. The deacon was determined not to lose his +ground. _The dame had left the matter in the hands of the boxmaster_. +That was a great point gained; and he set about to convince Andrew +that he was left at liberty to do as he chose. But the worthy +boxmaster had very great doubts and scruples upon the subject, and +wished to follow Mrs Jean, to consult her in private. To this again +the deacon could not give his consent; but continued to pour into the +ears of the irresolute boxmaster all the arguments he could muster, to +satisfy him that the construction he had put upon Mrs Jean Todd's +speech was favourable to the exercise of his liberty, at least in this +case. The position was scarcely denied by Andrew; but he could not get +out of his mind the expression of his wife's eye. He had read in it a +denial and a reproof. At the same time, he could not reconcile it with +her speech, which was entirely different from anything of the kind he +had ever witnessed. Her opinions were always ready and decided; and he +never saw her shrink from declaring a difference of sentiment, when +she entertained an opinion different from his. Why, then, did she in +this instance depart from her ordinary course? The question was +difficult to answer. It seemed that she _did actually_ in a manner +leave it to himself. The deacon seemed to be right in his +construction; and his arguments were almost unanswerable. + +"If," said he, "Mrs Jean Todd had been hostile to this measure, would +she not have declared it _manfully_, as is her uniform practice in +similar cases?" + +The boxmaster could not answer the question satisfactorily; and the +deacon, continuing his arguments, persuasions, promises, and +flatteries, at last got the victim to put his name to the bill. Upon +the instant the door opened, and Mrs Jean Todd appeared before them. +She went forward to the table, and laid her hand upon the document. + +"Is that your signature, sir?" said she, looking calmly at her +husband. + +"Ou ay--I believe, yes--I did put my name to that paper," replied +Andrew, in great agitation; "but I thocht ye left me to do as I chose +when ye gaed oot. If ye didna want me to sign it, ye shouldna hae left +the room." + +"A bill is no a bindin document," continued she, without seeming to +attend to what the boxmaster said, "until it be delivered. It's no +delivered sae lang as it is in my hands; and never will be delivered +by me sae lang as I recollect the words o' the wise man o' the east, +wha said--'If thou be surety for thy friend, thou art snared with the +words o' thy mouth.' Yet this paper is no my property. The stamp is +yours, though my husband's name is still his." Turning to the +boxmaster, who was shaking and retaining his breath with pure +fear--"Do you stand by this, sir," said she, in a commanding voice, +which increased his fear, "or do ye repent o't?" + +"I repent o't," replied Andrew, with dry lips, and a gurgling of the +throat, as if he had been on the eve of choking. + +"Then, I fancy," continued Mrs Jean Todd, "ye would like yer name back +again?" + +"Ou ay--surely," replied Andrew. + +"Well, then," said she, as she with the greatest coolness took up her +scissors that hung by her side, and with affected precision cut away +his name; "there it is"--handing it to him. And turning to the +deacon--"The rest is yours, sir--I hae nae richt to meddle wi' your +name--there's yer paper"--returning to him the mutilated bill. + +At this operation the deacon stared with a stupified look of wonder +and contempt. He had never before seen so cool an example of female +rule and marital weakness; and his pride, his selfishness, and his +spite were all roused and interested by the extraordinary sight. He +was too much affected for indulging in a vulgar expression of feelings +which could not adequately be expressed by mere language. Taking up +his hat, and casting upon the boxmaster a look of sovereign contempt, +and upon Mrs Jean Todd one of anger, he bowed as low as a deacon ought +to do, and left the room. The circumstance produced no very unpleasant +consequences to either the boxmaster or his wife. She, no doubt, +reproved him for his stupidity; but the point of her wrath was turned +away by the repentance and soft words of her husband, who promised +never to do the like again. He had, besides, some defence, arising out +of her dubious conduct, which, though quite easily understood, he +could not well comprehend. The naivete of his statement, that "she +shouldna hae left him unprotected," was quite enough to have mollified +a much sterner woman than Mrs Jean Todd, and during that same night +they were a far happier couple than Deacon Waldie and his fair spouse. + +When the deacon went home, and reported the extraordinary proceeding +to his obedient wife, the grief it occasioned was in some degree +overcome, on the part of the husband, by the favourable contrast it +enabled him to form between the boxmaster and his wife, and him and +his obedient spouse. Mrs Waldie did all in her power to aid the +operation; but she did not forget the bill, which her father was +pressing hard to procure. + +"Surely every man's no under the rule o' his wife," said she, with the +view to leading to another cautioner. + +"No, God be thanked!" said the deacon, "there are some independent men +i' the world besides mysel. Every husband's no _henpecked_. Every man +that has a wife doesna 'glory' in being 'pecked by _such_ a hen.'" + +"There's William M'Gillavry," said the sly wife, in a soft and +unassuming tone; "_he_ is independent o' his wife." + +"Do ye mean, Peggy, that I should get him to sign the bill?" + +"Na," replied she, "I dinna say that; I merely meant that he was an +independent man like you, wha, if _ye asked_ him to do it, wouldna +refuse on such a ground as the want o' consent o' his wife. Oh, what +will my puir faither do? I canna live if he is in sorrow and +perplexity." (Weeping.) "I saw William M'Gillavry yesterday. He asked +kindly for ye. Ye haena visited him for a lang time. Twa husbands sae +like each other might meet oftener, and twa wives, wha agree in the ae +grand point o' submittin to the authority o' their lords and masters, +might, wi' advantage, be greater gossips than we hae been." + +"Might I try William, think ye, Margaret?" said he. + +"My puir advice canna be o' muckle avail to ye," said she; "ye ken +best yersel; but I think, _if_ he were asked, he wadna refuse the sma' +favour." + +"I see you wish me to try him, Peggy," said he; "and I _will_ try +him." + +Away hastened the deacon to William M'Gillavry. He found him at home; +and, as a deacon, was well received. Having opened the subject to him, +he found that M'Gillavry was not inclined to become cautioner, unless +he got put into his hands some security, that, in the event of his +being called upon to pay the money, he might, in the end, be safe. +This proposition was not expected by the deacon, who did not possess +any portable security that he could give. He endeavoured to get his +friend to be satisfied with his own obligation, to keep him scatheless +against all the effects of his obligation; but the other would not +agree to this, and, pretending to be called away by some one, left the +room for a little, promising to be back instantly. In the meantime, +the deacon heard a conflict of words in an adjoining apartment, in the +course of which several half-sentences met his ear. The wordy war was +between William M'Gillavry and his wife. Her notes were shrill and +high, and repeatedly she said--"Get my brither John's bill frae +him"--"that will do"--"he, puir fallow! canna pay't, at ony rate, and +I want to save him frae the hands o' the law." The deacon did not +understand this broken conversation; but he could easily perceive that +his friend was taking the advice of his wife. The words of old +Fleming's ballad of evil wives came into his mind:-- + + "An evil wyfe is the werst aught + That ony man can haif, + For he may never sit in saught + Onless he be her sklaif." + +As he muttered the last words, forgetful of his own case, his friend +entered. + +"My wife's brither," said he, "has a bill in your corporation's box +for L250. You can impledge that in my hands, and I'll sign yer +father-in-law's security." + +"The corporation's property's no mine," answered the deacon; "I hae, +besides, nae power owre't; the bill's i' the box, and Mr Andrew Todd +has the key." + +"I ken that," replied the other (who was a dishonest man), with a +knowing wink; "but ye can easily get haud o' the paper, and I'll gie +ye a back letter that I winna use't unless I'm obliged to pay yer +father-in-law's debt. Naebody will ever hear o't." + +The proposition did not altogether please the deacon, who, though very +far from being an upright man, did not care about his frailty being +known to another. He said he would think of what had passed between +them, and came away. His wife, when he came home, was waiting in the +greatest anxiety. Her father had called in the meantime, and told her, +that, if he did not get the bill immediately, with two good names upon +it, he would be put in jail. This alarmed his daughter, who, if she +could save her father, cared little for the ruin of her husband. She +heard with deep anguish the announcement of another disappointment. +Having been weeping before he came in, her eyes were red and swollen, +and the bad intelligence again struck the fountain of her tears, and +made her weep and moan bitterly. The deacon was moved at the picture +of distress. He had not told her William M'Gillavry's proposition, but +only simply that he had refused, unless adequate security were put +into his hands. His wife's grief wrung from him every satisfaction he +could bestow; for he could not stand and witness the sorrow of his +tender and obedient partner, while there remained any chance of +ameliorating her anguish. + +"There is ae way, Peggy, o' gettin this affair managed," said he, at +last. + +"What is that?" said she, looking up, and throwing back her curls, +which, amidst all her grief, were never forgot. + +"William M'Gillavry's wife's brother," said he, "is awin our +corporation L250; and his bill for that sum is in our corporation box. +He says he would sign the bill to your father, if I gave him his +brother-in-law's bill to hauld in security; but I'm no quite sure if +that wad be honest." + +"Thae things lie far out o' a weak woman's way," said she. "We haena +the power o' mind possessed by you men; but, if I were entitled to +speak a word on the subject, I would say there was nae dishonesty whar +there was nae wrang. Ye ken the signin o' my faither's bill's a mere +form; and, if William M'Gillavry's brither-in-law's bill were taen out +the box, it would just be put back again. Correct me, my dear Murdoch, +if ye think me wrang." + +"I dinna think ye're far wrang, Peggy," said the deacon; "but how is +William M'Gillavry's brither-in-law's bill to be got out o' our +corporation box? There's the difficulty--and I needna ask a woman how +that's to be got owre." + +"Na, Murdoch--ye needna ask me that question," replied the wife. "It's +far beyond the reach o' my puir brain; but, if it's in the power o' +ony mortal man to say how a difficulty o' that kind's to be mastered, +it is in that o' Murdoch Waldie. Maybe ye may gie't a cast through yer +powerfu mind. Oh! if ye saw my distractit faither! He left me just as +you cam in, wi' the tears o' sorrow rinnin doun his auld cheeks. Will +ye think o't, my dear Murdoch?" (embracing him) "What's weel intended +canna be wrang; and what's planned by a mind like yours canna fail." + +"I couldna get the key frae Andrew Todd," said the gratified deacon, +"unless I told him an untruth." + +"A lee for guid has been justified," said the wife. "Rahab was +approved for hiding the spies, and denyin their presence; but I +couldna ask ye to imitate Rahab. I hae nae richt to dictate to my +husband." + +"But wouldna ye _wish_ me, my dear Peggy, to stretch a point to get +yer faither's tears dried up, and yer ain stopped? Dinna hesitate, +Peggy--speak yer mind bauldly--I'll forgie ye." + +"Ou ay," whimpered the gentle dame. "If Rahab was justified, sae will +Murdoch Waldie be forgiven." + +"Weel--I'll try the boxmaster again," said the deacon. + +Next day, accordingly, he threw himself in the way of Mr Andrew Todd. +The boxmaster had been in the corporation hall, and was returning home +to deposit the key of the box in the place where he kept it. The +deacon got him inveigled into a public-house, where, when they had +seated themselves, he saw that Mr Todd was blushing scarlet, doubtless +at the recollection of the scene that had taken place the day before. + +"Ye needna be ashamed, Andrew," said the deacon, "at the conduct of +Mrs Jean Todd. _Ye_ werena to blame--I assoilzie ye. Think nae mair +o't. You can just sign a fresh bill. I'll buy the stamp round the +corner at Dickson's, and we can draw it out here." + +"I beg yer pardon," replied Andrew; "I maunna get into that scrape +again. I'll never resist the authority o' Mrs Jean Todd mair on +earth. To her I owe my boxmastership--my trade--my status--my +health--my happiness--and a' that's worth livin for in this evil +warld; and she will never hae it to say again, that I'm no gratefu for +the care she taks o' me, and the love she bears to me. Let the warld +say, if they like, that I am henpecked--I dinna care." + +"Weel, weel," replied the deacon; "we were speakin o' bills. Are ye +quite sure that ye haena allowed the days o' grace in Templeton's bill +to expire? There's indorsers there; and if it is as I suspect, ye've +lost recourse, and may be liable for the debt." + +"Mercy on us!" cried the terrified Andrew. "It's impossible. Dinna +say't. Let me count." (Using his fingers). "Count, deacon--count, +man." + +"I think we had better see the bill itsel," cried the deacon. "Where's +the key?" + +"Here it is," replied the simple boxmaster, taking it out. + +"Give it to me," said the deacon, taking it out of Andrew's hand; +"we'll sune see if the bill's past due." + +Waldie hurried out of the room, telling Andrew, as he went out, that +he would come back, and inform him how the fact stood. The mind of the +boxmaster was now too much occupied about the danger of having allowed +the days of grace to pass without intimation to the indorsers on the +bill, to have any space left for doubting the honesty of the deacon. +The suspicion of having been cajoled never approached him; he sat and +sipped the liquor that lay before him, occupied all the time in a +brown study, with the thought continually rising--"What will Mrs Jean +Todd say to my stupidity, in making myself responsible for the amount +of Templeton's bill? It will ruin me; and a' her care and prudence +will in an instant be scattered to the winds." He still sat, expecting +the deacon to return with the required information. Half-an-hour +passed, and no deacon came; but a messenger came with a note, stating +that all was quite safe, and that, as something had occurred to +prevent the writer from returning to the tavern, he had sent that +intelligence, to ease his mind, and that he would return the key in +the course of the day. Andrew's mind was relieved by this statement; +he paid the tavern-keeper for the liquor, and went away, to resume his +ordinary occupations. + +At dinner-time he went home; and, during the meal, he began talking +again about Deacon Waldie. + +"After a'," said he, "he is a guid cratur, the deacon. After the usage +he got here last nicht, wha could hae thocht he wad hae taen ony +interest in my affairs?" + +"Ye dinna require an assistant," replied Mrs Jean Todd, "sae lang as I +live." + +"That's true," replied Andrew; "but the deacon has dune for me what ye +couldna hae dune." + +"What is that?" inquired the wife. + +"He apprised me o' the danger I stood in," replied the boxmaster, +"anent Templeton's bill, that's in the corporation box. I had +forgotten the date o' its becomin due, and he brocht it to my mind. +A's safe yet." + +The very word "bill" made Mrs Todd prick up her ears. + +"I hae lang thocht," replied she, "that yer corporation papers, at +least yer bills, which require greater care than the rest, should be +placed here, under my protection. The circumstance that has occurred +this day proves that I am richt. Let us awa to the hall this instant, +and bring hame a' the papers that are valuable, and for which you may +be responsible. Is the key on the hook?" + +"No; but I'm on the hook," muttered Andrew to himself, as he began for +the first time to suspect he had been duped. "No," said he aloud. + +"Give it to me, then," said she. "It will be in yer pocket, dootless." + +Andrew began to exhibit symptoms of fear, which were in an instant +perceived and understood by the quick-eyed dame, who was accustomed to +_look_ for indications of that kind. She saw that something was wrong. +He remained silent, and his agitation increased as she fixed upon him +her piercing, relentless eye. + +"Give me the key, man," said she, in an angry tone. + +He still remained silent; his agitation increased, and he trembled in +every limb. + +"There's something wrang, Andrew," said she. "Tell me what it is. I'm +no angry. By tryin to conceal it, ye may ruin us baith; by tellin me, +we may hae a chance o' bein saved. Come, now, has Deacon Waldie the +key?" + +"Ay," said Andrew, in a low tone. "He asked me for't, to see if the +bill was past due, and said he would come back wi't; but he never made +his appearance." + +The good dame said not a word. She saw the necessity for promptitude, +and, running to her bedroom, hurriedly dressed herself. In a few +minutes she was on her way to the corporation hall. In a few minutes +more she arrived; and, having got admittance, placed herself in a +recess, where the incorporation box was deposited, and so disposed +herself as that she might see whether any person interfered with the +treasury. In a short time Deacon Waldie entered the hall, and, with +secret furtive steps, approached the box. He looked about him, but did +not perceive the dame, who, as she saw him approach, retired back +farther into the recess. He took out the key, and applied it to the +lock. It was now time for Mrs Todd to save her husband. Starting +quickly out of the recess, she walked solemnly and dignifiedly up to +the official, before whom she presented herself with a low curtsey. + +"How are you, Mr Deacon Waldie?" said she, repeating her curtsey, and +looking at him with an eye that pierced him to the heart. + +The deacon, who was a great stickler for etiquette, felt himself, as +he saw the dame curtseying before him, compelled to return the +compliment; but the consciousness of guilt, the cutting satire of the +dame's courteous demeanour, the surprise at seeing her there, and his +fear of being exposed, all operated so strongly, that his bow was +checked, and transformed into a low cringe, making him appear only +half his natural size; while the consciousness of rectitude, and the +superiority of virtue, swelled out the breast of his silent accuser, +and added apparently to her physical proportions. Recovering himself +in some degree-- + +"I was just about to examine our corporation papers," said he, +irresolutely. "I like to assist Mr Todd in his _official_ capacity, +while _you_ keep him right in his _private_ affairs." + +"Between the twa," replied the dame, without changing her countenance, +"he maun be weel taen care o'." + +As she said this, she quietly and deliberately took the key out of the +lock; and into a large red cloth pocket, which hung alongside of a +pair of scissors, with which the deacon was already well acquainted +(having tested their sharpness), she deposited the important +instrument. She then made another low curtsey. + +"Guid-day to ye, Mr Deacon Waldie!" she said, as she departed; "mak my +best respects to Mrs Deacon Waldie, and to her worthy father." + +The deacon stood stiff with amazement, looking after the erect, +dignified figure of Mrs Jean Todd, as she walked slowly along the hall +of the incorporation to the door. + +He skulked off in the best way he could; but she, with erect body and +noble carriage, directed her steps homeward, where she found her +husband in a state of intense fear and anxiety, both on account of the +danger he was exposed to, and of the meeting that was about to take +place with his wife. On the latter account, there might apparently +have been little reason for apprehension; for their meetings were very +unlike those mentioned in the old song-- + + "Then up scho gate ane mekle rung, + And the gudeman he made to the door; + Quoth he, 'Dame, I sall hald my tung, + For an we fecht, I'll get the woir.'" + +Her mode of conducting her rule was different _toto caelo_. She walked +into the house with the same erect carriage she usually exhibited, +especially when upon duty, and closing the door after her, without +using any such jealous precaution as turning the key in the lock--a +mode of enforcing the conjugal authority she despised--she went up to +the table where her husband sat, with his hand upon his brow. That +flag of distress she paid little attention to; for she had often +before seen Andrew endeavour to make her own pity plead the cause of +his imprudence. + +"Here is the key of the treasury-box, Mr Todd," said she. + +Andrew was greatly relieved; but wonder took the place of his fear, +for he could not conceive how his wife could so soon have got the key +out of the hands of the deacon--and yet for certain the key was before +his eyes. + +"See you that ring?" continued the dame, holding out a steel key-hoop, +on which were hung a score of keys, shining as bright as silver, from +the eternal motion to which they were exposed in the red pocket of +their mistress. + +"Ay, weel do I see it," replied Andrew, "and weel do I ken't. It is by +that magic ring that a' my guids and gear are girded and prevented +frae fa'in into the staves o' that bankruptcy and ruin I threatened +this day to bring upon them." + +The dame replied nothing to the remark of her husband, though she was +inwardly well pleased to see him penitent; but, opening the +spring-clasp, she deliberately placed the treasury-box key upon the +ring, along with the score of others that had hung there for a score +of years. She did not deign to accompany this act by a single word of +objurgation. Her faith rested altogether upon the ring, and to have +tried to add to the security it afforded her, by impressing her +husband with a deeper sense of his imprudence, appeared to her to be +sheer supererogation. Opening the entrance to her red "pouch," she +consigned, with a suitable admonitory jingle, the whole bunch to the +keeping of that huge conservatory of the virtues of "hussyskep." She +then resumed her ordinary duties, and Andrew was delighted to have +"got off," as he inwardly termed his relief, with so easily-borne a +reproof of his weakness and imprudence. + +The circumstances we have here narrated became, some time after, known +to the public, through what channel it would be difficult to say, +although it is not improbable that the boxmaster, vain of the +protecting care of his wife, had given some hint of it, which, having +been taken advantage of by Deacon Waldie's enemies, gave rise to +reports, and latterly to a true exposition of the whole affair. The +effect of such a transaction upon the credit of any man could not fail +to be ruinous. In a very short time Deacon Waldie became suspected and +shunned--no one would trust him, few would deal with him; and, before +the termination of the period of his deaconship, he failed--falling +thus a victim to that female domination he so much dreaded, and for +submitting to which he so much despised his friend the boxmaster. + +The fate of Mr Todd was signally different. At the end of the period +of his office, there was a special meeting called of the trade, for +the purpose of making a vote of thanks to their official, for saving +the incorporation-box from spoliation, and presenting him with a small +piece of plate, in commemoration of his services. This was a delicate +matter. The members knew well to whom they owed the obligation; but +they could not, in a public hall, declare that their boxmaster was +assisted in his official capacity by his wife, and, therefore, they +resolved upon taking no notice of the _real boxmaster_; who, however, +like all good wives, would be gratified by the notice that was taken +of her husband. The vote of thanks was accordingly moved by the +chairman, and supported by a very good speech. Mr Todd rose to +reply:-- + +"Gentlemen," he said, "ye maunna think that I am sae blind as no to +see what is yer true meanin, concealed though it be under this thick +veil o' courtesy and delicate regard to my feelins. Ye want to try to +conceal frae me that ye ken how muckle baith you and I are obliged to +a sensible and discreet woman; and ye hae twa reasons for this: +_first_, ye dinna like to acknowledge that ye are indebted to a woman +for savin frae the hands o' the spoiler the incorporation-box; and, +_secondly_, ye dinna like to say that yer boxmaster is under the +kindly care and protection o' his guidwife. Now, as to the first, I +leave it in yer ain hands; but as to the second, I will free ye frae +a' delicacy and difficulty, for I here acknowledge and declare, wi' +pride and pleasure, that Mrs Jean Todd is my counsellor and adviser in +a' my affairs, baith public and private; and mony a time she has kept +me frae that ruin whilk my ain wit and wisdom never could hae saved me +frae. I dinna need to say that it was that admirable woman wha saved +the incorporation-box: the thing is already owre the town, and +dootless kenned to ye a', and, I warrant ye, also to yer wives. Why, +then, should I accept o' honour I never wrocht for, and couldna hae +merited by a' the power and skill o' my puir abilities? 'The labourer +is worthy o' his hire.' 'Honour to him to whom honour is due.' I +therefore move that the thanks ye intended for me should be offered to +Mrs Jean Todd--to whom also, wi' your permission, I would suggest that +the piece o' silver-plate should be presented." + +This speech produced much laughter throughout the hall. Some humorous +member relished the idea, and, standing up, seconded the boxmaster's +motion. + +"A' our difficulty has vanished," he began; "and glad am I to see that +the honour we intended for the _real_ conservator o' our +corporation-box may be, through the noble spirit o' our _nominal_ +boxmaster, communicated without the intervention o' a deputy. I second +Mr Todd's motion, because I admire his spirit, and because I rejoice +in an opportunity of doing justice to thae great conservators o' our +sex--the strong-minded, gaucy, thrifty, and loving wives o' Scotland, +to whom our very nation (if it were kenned) awes the character it has +acquired owre the face o' the earth, for its prudence, its honesty, +and its trustworthiness. Weel do I ken that the dear craturs hae +suffered for their exertions in the cause o' our sex, and their +authority has been attempted to be put an end to by drunken caitiffs, +wha, wantin the nobility o' mind to admire and _serve_ wham they canna +equal, blaw up their pot-companions against petticoat authority, by +dubbin them _henpecked_, forgettin, the wretched craturs, that that +very hen supplies often the egg, at least clocks to preserve it for +future increase. The very men the dear craturs feed, and clothe, and +protect, and cherish, sing in the pot-houses that they want their +liberty-- + + 'Becaus their wifis hes maistery, + That they dar nawayis cheip; + Bot gif it be in privity, + Quhan thair wifis are in sleip.' + +And, while the sang is birrin through the fumes o' the ale, thae very +wives are busy toilin to hae the singers weel fed, cled, and cared +for, in a' their concerns. What a noble example, on the other side o' +the question, has Mr Todd this day exhibited! Wives are generally +honoured through their husbands. He shall be honoured through his +wife. What I hae said, I believe will meet wi' the approbation o' +this meetin; but I'm no sae sure o' the success o' what comes--because +I propose to tak a sma' liberty wi' the English language, and, by a +kind o' a trope or figure o' speech, to keep the name, while we boldly +change the thing. I'm weel aware that our minutes bear that _Mr_ Todd +is our boxmaster; but we ken better than that, and we, whase trade it +is to change colours, can hae nae difficulty in reconcilin the tints. +I therefore move, as an amendment, that the piece o' plate be +presented at once to Mrs Jean Todd, _our boxmaster_." + +The suggestion took; the humour was relished; the minutes were +altered; the name of Mrs Jean Todd was substituted for Mr Andrew Todd; +and the books of the incorporation bore, and bear to this day, that +the plate had been presented to Mrs Jean Todd, "_their boxmaster_," as +a memorial of the gratitude of the trade for her exertions in saving +the incorporation's treasury. + + + + +THE PROFESSOR'S TALES. + + +THE SOCIAL MAN. + +As we look upon the title of our tale, now that we have written it, we +cannot suppress a shudder of horror. Like the handwriting on the wall, +it seems typical of misery, revolution, and death. Revolution and +death, do we say? What revolution, in the common sense of the word--we +mean in a political one--was ever productive of such deplorable +effects, as that moral revolution to which the bottle bears the social +man?--what death, viewed merely as a physical evil, can be compared to +that moral and intellectual destruction to which the good fellow so +often subjects himself? It is no palliation of the evil to say that +the social man is led by the best qualities of his heart, by the +noblest faculties of his intellect, into the path which leads to utter +wretchedness--to remorse, disease, and premature death in this world; +and, if the combined testimony of reason and revelation be sufficient +to establish any fact--to punishment in the next. Our faculties are +good or bad only according as they are cultivated or controlled; and +we cannot see that the unregulated social feelings which lead a man to +plunge into dissipation, and to drag his friends along with him into +the gulf of vice, are a whit less dangerous or fearful than the +universally execrated disposition which impels him to plunge a dagger +into his own heart, or to bury it in the bosom of his fellow-creature. +On the contrary, they seem calculated to produce even greater +mischief, and, therefore, are more worthy of general deprecation, in +the same degree that a secret enemy is more deserving of universal +abhorrence than an avowed one: the one stands forth with an open +defiance, and a weapon drawn before the eyes of his victim, who may +save himself by flight or conflict--the other "smiles, and smiles, and +murders while he smiles." + +How many noble beings have we known, destroyed utterly by the +disposition to what is vulgarly called good-fellowship!--in how many +instances have we known splendid talents, high love of moral +rectitude, nay, even strong religious principles, strangled by the +social feelings! At first, doubtless, there was but a slight +dereliction of duty, mourned for sincerely, and punished by severe +remorse; but, gradually, and with insidious motion, the victim +revolved in a wider sphere, and more remote from the orbit of virtue, +until, at length, escaping entirely from the attraction which had held +him in the just path, he fell, with headlong and irresistible +velocity, into the shapeless void of vice--the dark chaos of crime. + +Our heart sickens as we pass in review before us the numbers of our +early friends who have run this terrific career, who now fill timeless +graves, or are yet in the land of existence, bearing about in their +bosoms a living hell--whose hearts are already sepulchres. And, but +that we thought the relation we are about to deliver may be of service +to some who, already standing on the brink, are not fully aware of +their danger--but that we conceived the tale of talent, generosity, +and worth, miserably destroyed by the unregulated social feelings, may +arrest some kindred spirit in its path to unanticipated misery--we +should yield to the impulse which urges us to fling down our pen, and +give ourselves up to sorrow for the departed. + +William Riddell was the only son of a shepherd, who dwelt upon the +moorlands that overhang one of the tributaries of the Tweed. The old +man was one of those characters which have been so often and so well +described--a stern, grave, intelligent, religious Scottish shepherd. +The broad Lowland bonnet did not cover a shrewder head than old David +Riddell's; nor did the hodden grey coat, throughout wide Scotland, +wrap a warmer or more honest heart. + +His honesty was manifest to all--the warmth of his feelings was +latent, and required to be struck by strong emotion, ere it was +developed externally. The solitary influences of nature, when +habitually contemplated in her more wild and solemn aspects, seem +calculated to mould minds of good natural capabilities, but which are +shut out from the social acquisition of knowledge, into forms like +that of David Riddell's. If they all, like the nature which has +breathed its spirit into them, seem somewhat rugged and stern, they +all, like her also, bear the sterling stamp of sincerity. The +elements, which "are not flatterers, but counsellors that feelingly +persuade him what he is," are his familiar companions--among the +remote valleys, and along the precipitous mountain-sides, and upon the +wide moorlands, their irresistible power leads him to look with awe up +to their Creator and Controller, and humility also is impressed upon +him; but with these a confident reliance on the mercy and benevolence +of the Being who regulates them is naturally produced: and thus it is, +that, with this awe and humility, a slavish fear is no portion of his +character; for he has been in the heart of a thousand mists, and has +yet returned safely to his cottage ingle--he has braved the storms of +many winters, and still looks, with a prophetic eye, upon the fresh +green of approaching springs, and the purple heath-blooms of coming +summers. In a mind thus constituted, duplicity can never dwell. There +are millions who, shut up in cities, and shrinking from the inclemency +of the seasons, look on the shepherd of the mountains as one worthy +only of commiseration--who paint him as a wretch whose soul is as +barren as his moorlands, and think of him as a slave, wandering, with +vacant mind and wearied frame, over gloomy solitudes, earning with +misery to-day the food which enables his body to bear the toil of +to-morrow. + +How wide is this of the truth!--The sweet and tranquil joys of home +are his, enhanced a thousand-fold by previous privation--the delights +of connubial and filial love are more keenly felt by him, in the +simplicity of nature, than by the luxurious citizen or the ermined +noble; and though he has never heard the chant of the cathedral choir, +or listened to the consecrated melody of an organ peal, the sublime +transports of religion have thrilled his bosom beneath the solitary +sky, amid the wild, or by the margin of the cataract that rolls its +unvisited torrent over nameless cliffs. It is a mistaken belief that +poverty and toil shut the shepherd's eyes from the loveliness of +nature--nor is it true, that, because he is rude in speech, and +possessed of little book-learning, he does not feel keenly, and +translate faithfully, the beautiful language which she utters to the +heart of man. Wordsworth has so exquisitely described what we are +wishing to express, that we shall, without apology for the length of +the quotation, repeat his words:-- + + "Grossly that man errs, who should suppose + That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks, + Are things indifferent to the shepherd's thoughts: + Fields, where with cheerful spirits he has breathed + The common air--the hills, which he so oft + Has climb'd with vigorous steps--which have impress'd + So many incidents upon his mind, + Of hardship, skill or courage, joy or fear, + Which, like a book, preserves the memory + Of the dumb animals whom he has saved, + Has fed or shelter'd; linking to such acts, + So grateful in themselves, the certainty + Of honourable gain;--these fields, these hills, + Which are his living being, even more + Than his own blood--what could they less?--have laid + Strong hold on his affections, are to him + A pleasurable feeling of blind love-- + The pleasure which there is in life itself." + +It was with this well-spring of quiet happiness in his breast, that +David Riddell had gone from day to day among his flock, and returned +to his cottage fireside. His wife Rachel was one of those women of +whom, notwithstanding the habitual discontent and sneers of men, there +are thousands in this world, in this kingdom--nay, among our own +Border hills--who, like the stars of heaven during the daylight, hold +on their course noiselessly and unseen, but are, nevertheless, shining +with a sweet and steady radiance, every one in its place, in the +firmament. Placid, pious, and cheerful, with a quiet but kind heart, +that ever and anon displayed its workings in the sweet light of her +eyes, or in the "heartsome" smile that arranged her still lovely +features into the symmetry of benevolence; in adversity--for she had +lost children, and had known sickness--in adversity, patient and +resigned; in prosperity--for their flocks had flourished, and many of +their harvests had been abundant--in prosperity, not too much elated, +but happy with a calm and grateful joy; finally, possessed of a gentle +and forbearing nature, which rendered innocuous the occasional +sternness or irritability of her husband, and turned insensibly aside +the shafts which might have otherwise struck deadly at their domestic +peace:--such was the partner of the joys and the sharer of the sorrows +of David Riddell for above a quarter-of-a-century. Thus situated, it +could not be but that he had been a happy man. For, though care and +trouble had not unfrequently entered his dwelling, they had never long +remained; nor do they ever continue to haunt a house in which +good-nature and true piety are inmates. Four sweet children had been +taken from them, each at an age which seemed more interesting than the +other, and sorrow had, for a time, darkened their dwelling; but the +tears of those griefs were now dried, and, save an occasional sigh +from the bereaved parents, as some casual circumstance recalled their +lost little ones to their recollections, the only traces of their +former afflictions were to be found in the prodigality of affection +which they lavished on their only remaining child. David Riddell was +verging towards threescore, when William, the subject of the following +narrative, was born. The old man's heart was entirely bound up in this +child of his age. Frequently, not from necessity, but impelled by +love, had he performed the ministrations of a mother to him; often, on +a sunny day, had he carried him, like a lamb, in the corner of his +plaid, up to the hills; and often, laying the unconscious infant on +the purple heath upon the mountain-side, had he knelt down before him, +beneath the solitary sky, and poured out his heart in gratitude to the +God who had bestowed on him this precious gift. When little William +was able to follow his father among the flocks, they became +inseparable; and it was beautiful to behold the old man laying aside +the gravity and sternness of his nature, and renewing, with his little +boy, the sports which the lapse of half-a-century had well-nigh swept +from his memory. They sought out together the nest of the lapwing and +the moorfowl; they chased the humble-bee over the heath in company; +or, loitering down the mountain streams, assisted each other in the +pursuit of the speckled trout. The old man taught his boy, amid the +secluded glens, or upon the naked hill-tops, to modulate his voice to +the hymns consecrated to religion throughout Scotland; the rich melody +of the "Old Hundred," or the "Martyrs," rose in concert from their +lips; or, perhaps the aged shepherd played on the simple Scottish +flageolet, on which he had been, in his youth, a skilful performer, +some of the touching airs of his mother-land, and then, placing the +pipe in William's hands, assisted him, by kind encouragement or +skilful rebuke, to follow out the beautiful strain. Thus they lived +together-- + + "A pair of friends, though one was young, + And Matthew seventy-two." + +Linked closer and closer together by these sweet natural ties, they +were happy, and their affection was the grateful theme of all the +inhabitants of the valley. + +A little incident which occurred in William's childhood had determined +his father to rear him for the ministry. While yet only five years of +age, he was found one day by his father, with an old family Bible upon +his knee, some of the leaves of which he had torn out, and was +arranging after a fashion of his own. On being asked by his father +what he was doing, he replied, "That he thought the evangelists +differed in some portions of their history, and that he was trying to +discover wherein the difference lay."[C] The old man retired with +streaming eyes; and from that moment William Riddell was, like Samuel +of old, vowed to the service of God. + +As he grew in years, he displayed proofs of talent which astonished +the shepherd, and filled old David's heart with exultation. Before he +was fifteen, there was not a stream nor a legend that belonged to his +native hills which he had not celebrated in song. His pen was always +ready to assist the shepherd lads in their rustic loves; and the +crabbed and grasping little tyrants of the valley had, more than once, +winced under his satire or his ridicule. The old man, as we have said, +rejoiced in the genius of his son, and had always, in his ample +pockets, good store of the young poet's productions, wherewith to +regale such of his companions as chose to listen. Rachel, however, +with a more prophetic eye, saw, in the vivacity of her boy's nature, +the germs of as much grief as joy to himself, and used commonly to +shake her head and sigh, while her husband and his friends were +convulsed with laughter at some of William's sallies. + +At length the period arrived when he was to be sent to college. + +I need not attempt to describe the feelings of the family when this +little revolution in their domestic life occurred; the quiet but deep +anxiety of Rachel--the restless and troubled looks and actions of the +old shepherd--and the exulting anticipation of the bright world into +which he was about to enter, which William displayed, tempered or +repressed, every now and then, by natural sorrow, at leaving the hills +and streams where his boyhood had been spent pleasantly, and the dear +parents to whom he owed so deep a debt of love. The last words of +David to his son, as he stood grasping his hand, at the foot of the +glen where the path turns off to the next market town--while big tears +stood heavily on his eyelashes, visitants unknown for twenty +years--were almost those of Michael to Luke, in Wordsworth's exquisite +poem-- + + "Amid all fear + And all temptation, Luke, I pray that thou + Mayest bear in mind the life thy fathers lived, + Who, being innocent, did for that cause + Bestir them in good deeds." + +The old shepherd and his son had never been separated for a single +night--now they parted knowing that many months must elapse before +they could behold one another again. It was a bitter moment, though +full of the germs of joyful anticipation. + +William had taken his farewell embrace, and, with convulsive sobs, had +walked hastily away to a little distance; he turned, and beheld his +aged father still standing on the spot, with clasped hands uplifted, +and eyes fixed intently on his own receding form. He was unable to +withstand the sight--he rushed back again, and threw himself, in an +agony of affection, upon the old man's neck, weeping--though a manlier +heart throbbed not--weeping like a child. But at length they parted; a +sadder heart never entered into the solitudes of nature than old David +Riddell bore into the mountains on that evening--a purer never left +the innocence of the country for the crowded city, than his son +carried with him to the metropolis of Scotland. + +For four years William attended college during the winter, and +remained with his father during the summer months. + +It was not that his labour was required by the old man: for he had now +amassed a sufficient sum, with his moderate habits, to make him +independent; but the sight of William was pleasant to the aged +shepherd, among the hills where they had played together, and which +were consecrated to their affections. The young student had +distinguished himself highly at college, and had gained the esteem, +both publicly and privately expressed, of many of his preceptors. His +heart was still uncontaminated, his morals pure, and his habits +simple, as when he was a boy. It was at this time that Rachel died. As +her life had been peaceful, and, upon the whole, happy, so her +death-bed was tranquil and resigned. She had rejoiced, with her +husband, in the promising career of their son, and, as her dim eyes +descried his manly form bent over her in an attitude of deepest grief, +she could scarcely but feel her natural sorrow at leaving him quenched +in the glad anticipations of his future prospects in life. Yet the +misery which his ardent and imaginative nature _might_ inflict upon +him was still not shut out from her mind, and almost her last words +were to warn him against indulging it too far. She died, and the old +shepherd and his son were left to attempt to comfort each other. +William was again about to depart to college, and he would fain have +had his father to give up his duties, and accompany him to Edinburgh. +He dwelt upon his increasing feebleness, his age, already beyond the +common lot of man, the solitude to which he would be left, the comfort +they would be to each other, if together. To all this the old man +replied-- + +"Comfort, my boy, there is none for me in this world, except in thee. +Gradually the circle of my love has been narrowed: first, my own +parents, then my children, last, my beloved Rachel, have been swept +away; and now thou only art left for my earthly affections to embrace. +Gladly for thy sake would I go to the city; but I think these hills +could not bear to look on another while I lived--this cottage to +shelter another shepherd while I am able to fling my plaid around me. +It is a foolish fancy for an old man to cherish, yet I cannot bid it +depart. Go, then, alone, my dearest lad, and leave me in these scenes, +which have become part of my being, to perform the duties in which my +life has been spent. And still remember, William, when temptations +assail thee, or bad men would lead thee by the cords of vanity or +friendship into vice, that there is a grey-haired man among these +hills, whom the tale would send in sorrow to the grave--a heart that +for twenty years has been fed by its love for thee, which would break +to know thou hadst become unworthy of that love. Farewell! and may +that good Being who has brought me in safety out of the heart of a +thousand storms preserve thee from the deadlier tempests of the world +of vice!" + +William returned to college, with a heart softened both by grief and +love. Strange, that out of this wholesome state of mind should have +sprung the elements of wretchedness and vice! Yet so it was. He had +written a poem on the subject of his late affliction, and had breathed +into it the very soul of sorrow. The wild and beautiful scenery amid +which he dwelt, and which he loved and knew so well, had also given +its hues to the language and the thoughts of his muse: his rich and +now cultivated taste imparted elegance and harmony to his numbers; the +poem was at once original, chaste, and imaginative; it gained him the +esteem of the highest literary circles in Edinburgh, and he became a +cherished guest in the houses of many distinguished men for whom he +had never hoped to indulge any feelings save those of distant and +respectful admiration. He emerged into a new world, too beautiful and +dazzling for him at first to see his way clearly through its mazes. +His undoubted genius commanded the respect of the men--his manly +feeling, and the ingenious eloquence of his address, presently made +him a distinguished favourite with the female portion of his +acquaintance. The tone of his thoughts and feelings underwent a +perfect revolution. Once introduced into the society of the polite and +the learned, the bashfulness and awkwardness of the shepherd-lad +seemed to fall off from him, without effort of his own, but naturally, +like the crustaceous envelope in the metamorphosis of insects. He felt +as if he were a denizen of the clime in which he now luxuriated, and +as if, till now, he had been living in a foreign land. He discovered, +to his amazement, that those great men, whose very names he had been +wont to utter with reverence, and before whose glance his eye had been +accustomed to fall abashed, were the most easy, familiar, and +communicative companions possible--that scarcely one of them was so +severe in their morality as his old father--that they listened to his +opinions with attention, and replied to them with respect. Then, +again, among the satellites of these literary luminaries--those whom, +till now, in the reflected light of their primaries, he had been wont +to behold with respect, and almost with envy--he presently perceived +weakness, dimness, and aberration; and he perceived, also, how capable +he was of outshining them all; or, to speak in less metaphorical +phrase, he found among the less distinguished literary persons who +haunted the tables of the great, a degree of ignorance on subjects of +general science, a slavishness of demeanour, and a petty jealousy, +which he could not but despise, and which it required very little +penetration to perceive that the great man despised also. He soon +acquired, therefore, a confidence in his own powers, and a conscious +respect for, I had almost said pride in, the rectitude of his +feelings, to which, till now, he had been an entire stranger. And if +such was his success with the men, his conquest over his own timidity, +in the presence of women, struck him with yet greater surprise. He who +had been accustomed to blush and look down before a peasant girl, +presently found himself able to gaze steadily into the eyes of a noble +matron or maiden, undazzled by the jewelled coronet upon her head, or +yet more brilliant charms in which nature and art had arrayed her +brow, and neck, and bosom. The witchery of woman in all her +loveliness, instead of, as he had often imagined, causing his heart to +sink, and his cheek to burn, and his tongue to be dumb in his mouth, +awoke the latent powers of his nature--it thrilled his heart with +exulting admiration, and filled his eyes with a bold, steady radiance, +and poured from his lips the eloquence which female loveliness can +alone call forth. His nature was changed--that is, the external +development of his nature, for his heart remained the same; and often, +amid crowded assemblies and rich peals of concerted music, it called +on his imagination to portray the old solitary shepherd, amid the +hills of his boyhood, or to recall the simple strains which his father +had taught him to play upon the rude Scottish pipe. + +At the period to which we refer, the literary society of Edinburgh was +by no means distinguished for its abstemiousness. A "good" fellow, and +a clever one, were almost synonymous terms. Sir Walter Scott, in his +novel of "Guy Mannering," has matchlessly described the convivial +habits of the Scottish advocates: the habits of the whole literary +society of Edinburgh were pretty similar. Why should I detail the +circumstances of William's seduction from sobriety? The example of +those whom he had been accustomed to admire, respect, and love; the +gay sallies of his younger associates; the witchery of the society of +genius; the flowing feeling which followed the circulation of the +bowl; the song, the speech, the story, the flash of wit, the jocose +roll of humour, and, above all, the forgiving approval (for how else +should we designate it?) of the ladies--all assailed him at once, and, +beneath their attacks, his reason and resolve, + + "That column of true majesty in man," + +fell. Age, wisdom, youth, wit, humour, friendship, love, and +beauty--what could a raw shepherd lad oppose to all these? "The +request of his aged father, the injunction of the moral law, the +direct command of God!" some stern, _perhaps_ good man may reply. +William tried to control his career by means of these; but the attacks +were unceasing, various, distracting--the defence was in the hands of +one, and he, alas! too often disposed to admit the enemy. We will pass +rapidly over this part of our departed friend's career. He mingled, at +first sparingly, at length more freely, in the convivial habits of his +new friends; he felt the thrill of friendship; he was keenly alive to +the social glow which the bowl awakens; his heart also was elated by +the love of men of genius, and his vanity gratified by their +loudly-expressed admiration. Unfortunately, he engaged to write for a +new periodical which some of his friends were then attempting to +establish. Amid the solitude of his native hills he had experienced +the grateful and rapid awakening of noble ideas; he was surprised to +find that, in the city, amid the distractions of ambition, music, +love, and wine, he could only now and then call up his natural powers +to his aid. He had pledged himself to support the new periodical to a +certain extent; and, in order to fulfil his promise, at the +instigation of an acquaintance, he stimulated himself to its +accomplishment by means of brandy. This was the first time he had ever +drank ardent spirits for the sake of the effects which they produce. +The paper which he had written was universally admired, the sale of +the periodical was very much increased by its influence, and he was +plied by the proprietors with new and lucrative engagements. + +On the very morning on which he had received these proposals, he also +received a letter from his aged father, informing him, that the +brother of the old man, who was engaged in commerce, and for whom he +had some time ago become surety, had failed, and that the whole of the +little earnings of his past life would be required to liquidate the +debt. + +William closed with the proposal of the proprietors of the magazine, +and wrote to the old man a letter, partly of condolence, but more of +triumph. He was almost glad that the resources of his father were +destroyed, now that he himself had the means of supporting him; and it +was with a joyous heart that he sat down to write his paper for the +new periodical. But alas! he felt what all who have so occupied +themselves have felt, how the mind becomes weak, and the fancy flags, +when compelled to action. He rushed into society, to escape from the +dreadful depression which follows high mental excitement; the warmth +of friendship with which he was met fell gratefully on his spirit; the +glee and glory of social intercourse first relieved his wearied +faculties, and then pleasantly excited them; the titillation of +gratified vanity, and the exercise of intellectual power, combined to +make the scene fascinating; he went more and more into society; it +became more and more necessary to him--he was a _social man_. His +father was a strange, I had almost said a stubborn man in some +respects, and he might in some measure be blamed for this gradual +sliding from sobriety of his son. To the affectionate letter of +William, which beseeched him, now that his little hoard had been +carried away, and now that his years were above fourscore, to come to +Edinburgh, and dwell with his son, the old man answered, that God had +yet left him vigour to mount the hills, and thread the valleys; and +that, so long as this was the case, he would consider it unjust to +become a burden to others. There was a stern independence and lofty +resolve in the determination of the aged shepherd which harmonised +well with his character; but it fell like lead upon the bright dreams +of William--it strangled many of his best resolutions of future virtue +and industry. He did not know that his father had already heard of his +relaxed habits, and had even had reported to him, in exaggerated +phrase, the detail of some of his midnight carousals. William went on, +gaining fame, but losing virtue. In the popular use of the word, it +was _impossible_ for him to resist the importunities of those who +pressed him to partake of their bottle or their bowl. They grasped his +hand cordially; they sang the songs which he loved, or perhaps had +written; they drank his health with cheers of enthusiasm. It was +_impossible_ for him to resist the entreaties of those persons--it was +_impossible_ for him not to believe them sincere. Nor were they +otherwise; but the value of the sincerity of the intemperate and the +immoral, what is it? + + "Ashes within beautiful fruit." + +William Riddell passed the whole of his examinations, and was, as the +students say, "ready for a church." Nor was he long in procuring one. +Among the friends to whom his genius and character had recommended him +was a nobleman, who had the gift of the very kirk to which William and +his father had been accustomed to resort. The incumbent died; the +nobleman presented the living to William. With the new duties which +now devolved upon him, came a crowd of new feelings and springs of +action. He gave up his engagement with the literary periodical, he +retired from his social companions, and he devoted himself to grave +and worthy study and contemplation. The struggle was severe; but he +bore up against it under the excitement of the new responsibility +which had fallen upon him. He went down to the country with some of +the most distinguished members of the Scottish Church, who officiated +at his ordination. A proud, a tumultuously happy day was it for old +David Riddell, who, with wonder and awe, felt his horny hand grasped +by the great men whose very names he had considered subservient to his +happiness of old time, and beheld his son, little William, the boy +whom he had taught the alphabet upon Scaurhope Hill, with the pebbles +that lie there--beheld him holding high discourse with these same +dignitaries, saw that his opinions were listened to with respect, and +that his thoughts, according as they were solemn or ludicrous, were +responded to by these great men with gravity or broad grins. A +delightful day was it to the old shepherd, as he beheld the first man +in the General Assembly--the greatest man in the Scottish Kirk--lay +his hand upon the youthful head of his beloved son, and consecrate him +to the care of the souls who dwelt in the very valley where he had +been born and reared, in which his genius was known, and his family, +though humble, respected. + +There was another, and an equally strong reason, for William's giving +up his convivial habits and boisterous companions. He was in love. + +It was at that least romantic of all places for a lover, a ball in +Edinburgh, that William Riddell, the new pastor of Mosskirk, had first +met Ellen Ogilvie, the daughter of the principal heritor of his +parish, the owner of the hills on which his father had watched the +sheep for above threescore years. Ellen had beheld him moving, a gay +and welcome visitant, in noble halls; her hand had met his in the +dance, in exchange with those of countesses and duchesses; she had +heard his praise echoed from house to house, and from mouth to mouth; +she was now alone in the country, with nothing but ignorant or coarse +men around her: let it not seem wonderful that she, though the only +daughter of a wealthy landholder, should bestow her love on the poor, +handsome, manly, eloquent pastor of Mosskirk. And if this does not +seem wonderful, it will surely not appear singular that the proud, +haughty, bigoted, and ignorant father of Ellen should forbid the +match, and should threaten with his vengeance the usurper of his +daughter's love. + +His vengeance! How weak a word to such a being as William! Not that he +would not have rejoiced, for Ellen's sake, and for the sake of +decorum, to have had the old gentleman's approval; not that he would +not have used every possible means, consistent with honour and the +dignity of his own character, to have gained the good opinion of the +father of his beloved; but the laird was a man of the world, of acres, +and of hundreds; his litany lay in pounds, shillings, and pence; his +affections were wrapped up in rents and lordships; and that a poor +parson, however God had chosen to ennoble him by genius and generous +sentiments--that a poor parson should have dared to look upon a child +of his with the eyes of affection, upon the child who was the natural +heir of all those riches which he had laboured for half-a-century to +amass, smote him as a personal insult, as an indignity which nothing +but blood could wipe out. The mother of Ellen had all along thought +differently; and from the first moment in which she had perceived the +affection that existed between them (and oh, how much quicker women +are than men in discovering these things!) she had encouraged their +intimacy. + +William Riddell, the minister of Mosskirk, was out of the canons of +the duello, and the laird, therefore, instead of calling him out, was +compelled to be satisfied with disinheriting Ellen, who, under +circumstances which fully exonerated her from her father's tyrannical +wishes, became William's wife. + +My friend William had always been one of those persons who abhorred +the usual terms on which wives are sought and husbands achieved. +"Keeping a wife," was a phrase of blasphemy to him, or at least it +seemed desecrating women to the level of a dog, a horse, or a +cow--the "keeping" of which appeared, according to their phraseology, +a matter of the same general import as the cherishing a beloved +partner of all in which the human heart takes an interest. Nor, +although he was a shepherd's son, could he perceive much inequality in +a minister who earned four hundred pounds a-year, by looking after the +spiritual interests of some hundreds of individuals, and who was to +become the confidant of their griefs, and the sharer of their joys, +their supporter in sickness, and their guide in the common path of +life--he could not perceive much presumption in such a man matching +himself with the daughter of an ignorant and coarse person, whose +worth lay only in his wealth, whose character was not esteemed by his +neighbours, and whose sympathy for suffering human nature only +developed itself now and then in his bestowal of a basin of hot soup +upon a starving beggar at Christmas. + +On the contrary, if William thought about the matter in this relation +at all, he considered, and justly, that he was rather conferring an +honour than receiving one from the father of Ellen. But the old +gentleman thought, as the world thinks, differently; and accordingly, +in his wrath, he disinherited her. + +It was unfortunate for the full gratification of his malice, that +William was impassible to this mode of punishment, and that he beheld +the whole of the old gentleman's possessions conveyed over to a +charitable institution, with as much pleasure as if he had signed them +away of his own accord. + +In the parish of Mosskirk, as in most of the country parishes in +Scotland, there were a number of intelligent men who associated +frequently together for the sake of cultivating scientific knowledge, +and conversing on various subjects of interest in literature and +philosophy. At the time when William was inducted into Mosskirk, all +the ministers of the neighbouring parishes were members of this +society, and it was generally held on a convivial footing. Some of the +members came from a distance, others were jolly fellows naturally; and +thus it happened that their discussions frequently dipped deep into +the night, and sometimes were not settled until cock-crow. + +Into this society William Riddell was welcomed with enthusiastic +honours, and was at once made perpetual president. His fame as a poet +had gone before him, and his genial warmth as a man followed up with +general applause the sensation which he had created. He had natural +powers capable of supporting him in the sphere to which his reputation +had raised him. He had wit, humour, pathos, and fluency; and, eager to +earn the opinion of his parishioners, he exerted himself to gain it, +and he succeeded. Throughout the whole of his parish, he was admired +as a man of genius and eloquence, he was respected as a man of +irreproachable moral worth, and beloved as a friend, who shared +sincerely in the gladness, and sympathised in the sorrows, of his +flock. Unfortunately, the habits of many of his parishioners, as well +as of those of the literary club to which I have alluded, were the +very reverse of temperate. For a time the attraction of his young +wife, and presently that of his infant son, kept him from indulging in +nocturnal potations. But afterwards these attractions lost their +force; the glory and the glee of the musical and literary conclave +overcame all his resolves; and, night after night, it happened that he +returned to his manse at unseasonable hours, and greeted his wife with +the leer of intoxication, instead of the steady glance of affection. +We should have said that, before this, old David Riddell, moved by his +son's entreaties, had given up his duties among the hills, and had +come to live with him at Mosskirk Manse. A weekly delight was it to +the old man to behold his son arrayed in his black gown, and with the +smooth white bands drooping decently upon his bosom, delivering from +the pulpit of his native parish the words of eternal truth; and +pleasant was it to the old shepherd ever and anon to recognise, in the +elegant but simple language of the pastor, some of those sentiments +which he himself had instilled into his mind, while he was yet a +shepherd lad upon the moorlands. + +But it could not long be concealed from him that William was irregular +in his habits. When the fact first struck him, he almost swooned away; +for the forebodings of Rachel rushed into his mind, and he saw, as it +seemed, for the first time, that his son's destruction was sealed. + +It was long, however, before he could bring himself to speak on the +subject to William; he felt the shame which his son appeared to have +abandoned; and his own temperate blood sent a blush into his withered +cheek at the idea of addressing the child of his heart, the minister +of God, on the subject of his intemperance. The miserable struggles of +the old man before he gave utterance to his sentiments to William, we +are utterly unable to describe--we leave them to our reader's +imagination. At length, however, on a morning after the minister of +Mosskirk had shamefully been supported home by two of his +parishioners, in a state of deplorable intoxication, the old shepherd +gathered up resolution to speak to his son. He did not denounce, +insult, or even upbraid him; but, with tears in his eyes, delicately +alluding to his misconduct, assured him that such another occurrence +would cause him to leave the manse for ever; for that, though he might +not be able to prevent, he was resolved never to sanction, the fearful +immorality which drunkenness carries in its train, more hideous still +when attached to a minister of the Gospel. + +William, already disgusted with himself, and humbled before his own +heart, was crushed to the earth by his old father's appeal. He threw +himself upon his aged parent's neck, and entreated his forgiveness. +"My forgiveness, my boy!" replied the shepherd; "you cannot offend +me, and therefore it is vain to ask for my forgiveness. My heart is so +utterly bound up in thee, that, though it may deplore, it cannot +denounce any conduct of thine. It is as it were but a servant of +thine, and in good or in evil report, will follow in its train. But, +if my sufferings, and the sneers of men, have no influence over thee, +think, oh, my dear boy! think on death, the judgment, eternity!" + +Will it be believed, that, after this appeal, the remorse which he +suffered, and the resolutions of reformation which he made, a single +week saw the minister of Mosskirk reel into his manse, assisted by the +pastor of the Methodist Chapel, at two o'clock in the morning? Such +was the distressing reality; and the next morning, without speaking to +his son, but giving, amid heart-broken sobs and sighs, his blessing to +his daughter-in-law and her children, old David Riddell removed from +his son's roof: nor could all his entreaties induce him to return. + +Let me hasten to conclude. The conduct of William became presently so +notoriously shameful, that it could no longer be overlooked by his +parishioners, and he was more than once called upon by some of them +with remonstrances, which increased gradually in severity. Still the +infatuated man proceeded, until at length his behaviour became a +public slander to his own parishioners and to the whole church. He was +yet, however, so much beloved for his generous warmth of heart, and +admired for his talents, that a last effort was made to prevent the +sentence of expulsion, which had been passed against him, from being +carried into effect; and his punishment was commuted, if so it could +be called, into making a public apology, from his own pulpit, to his +people, for his shameful irregularities. On the day of this +heartrending exhibition, not more than one-fourth of the congregation +were present; the remainder being absent that they might not behold +the spectacle of their pastor's humiliation. But old David Riddell +was there, supported, for the first, and alas! for the last time, into +church by a friend. Until now, the aged man had always walked +unsupported, and with a firm, nay, with something of an elastic step, +up to his pew; but during the past week, since he had heard the news +of his son's public disgrace, and the public penance which he was to +perform, his vital powers had sunk with fearful rapidity. To those +even who had seen him, on the preceding Sabbath, move decently into +his accustomed spot, and depositing the broad-brimmed hat, which, on +the Lord's-day, he exchanged for the broad Lowland bonnet, smooth +backwards his thin light-grey locks, he appeared scarcely like the +same man. His form was now bent nearly double; he shuffled his feet +painfully over the ground; his head shook from weakness, not from age; +his eyes were red and dim; he looked like a man who was only three or +four steps from the open grave. When, after the service was concluded, +William began to read the humiliating apology which he had written, +the aged shepherd crept painfully down upon his knees, and, burying +his face in his clasped hands, remained absorbed in prayer. The last +words had fallen from the minister's lips; there was a dead stillness +throughout the church, for all were penetrated with sorrow and shame +at their pastor's disgrace, when a deep groan broke from the old +shepherd, and startled the congregation from the silence in which they +were indulging. All eyes, and those of the minister among the rest, +were instantly directed towards the old man; his frame remained for a +moment in the attitude which we have described, and the next instant +it fell heavily upon the floor--a corpse! + +We shall not give pain to our readers, nor harrow up our own feelings, +by attempting to describe the misery which this event caused William +Riddell. It seemed to be one of those griefs which cannot, and ought +not to be outlived--a punishment greater than man is able to bear. So +thought William--if the flash of this conviction across the settled +gloom of his spirit could be called thought. Yet days, weeks, months, +passed away, and he lived on, nay, performed his duties; and, at +length, by the caresses of his wife and child, became even, as it +were, sullenly reconciled to life. He found, however, that it was +impossible for him ever to regain his former station in society. His +brother ministers avoided him; and one or two of them, more harsh or +orthodox than the rest, took occasion to allude to his misconduct in a +public manner. The most respectable portion of his parishioners +pitied, but, in general, kept aloof from him. Degraded and sunk as he +was, William had a nature formed to feel, in all their most exquisite +torture, these indignities and slights. The persons who came to +comfort and sympathise with him, were unhappily those whose sympathy +was more dangerous than their contempt. How shall we go on? William +again, after severe struggles, gave way to the entreaties of some of +those mistaken friends, and to the treacherous wishes of his own +heart. He became a confirmed drunkard! He seemed to have at length +cast behind him every thought of reverence for God and his holy +vocation--every particle of respect for himself or his fellow-men. He +had two or three attacks of brain fever, brought on by his excesses; +and he no sooner recovered from them than he went on as before. His +poor young wife exhausted every argument which reason could +afford--every blandishment with which affection and beauty could +supply her, to reclaim him, but in vain. He retained, or seemed to +retain, even, all the warmth of his first love for her; and, in his +hours of intoxication, he seemed most strongly to acknowledge her +worth and loveliness; but the necessity for the violent excitement of +ardent spirits had overcome all other considerations; she wept long +and bitterly: then, as despair began to close in upon her, she +(dreadful that we should have it to relate!) sought, in the example +of her husband to escape from her sorrow! Ellen Ogilvie, the young, +the graceful, the beautiful, the accomplished, the gentle, feminine +creature, whose very frame seemed to shrink from the slightest +coarseness in speech or action, became a drunkard! + +Many years had passed away between the time when the old shepherd had +perished in the church and the time to which we now refer, and William +had a family of two sons and three daughters. If Ellen's father was +unfavourable to her marriage at first, it will be easily imagined that +he never now acknowledged them. His young family, therefore, had +nothing to depend upon except their father's exertions, and they were +about to be closed for ever. + +The time arrived when it was impossible for William to be suffered any +longer to remain in his charge. He was thrust out of his church, and +expelled from the ministry. The messenger who delivered this message +to him, delivered it to one more dead than alive. His excesses had at +length brought on a fit of apoplexy; he was but partially recovered +from it, and could only, in a dim manner, comprehend the purport of +the message, when, with his wife and children, he was removed from the +manse. A friend sheltered him for a time--afterwards he was conveyed +over to Edinburgh. Within a twelvemonth he died, having been chained +down to bed by his disease, one-half of his frame being dead, with +mind enough to see poverty and inevitable misery ready to crush his +helpless family, but without the power to use the slightest exertion +in order to avert the impending calamity. It was in a garret in the +High Street, upon rotten straw, the spectacle of an emaciated and +shattered wife before his eyes, and the cries of his starving children +sounding in his ears, that William Riddell breathed his last! What +availed it then that he had been good and pure, full of generous +sentiments, endowed with a graceful person, a noble genius, and a +manly eloquence? These otherwise invaluable qualities had been all +sunk or scattered by the spendthrift extravagances of the Social Man. + +It is now about five years ago, since, as we were hurrying past +Cassels Place, at the foot of Leith Walk, we were attracted by a crowd +who had gathered round a poor intoxicated woman. She had fallen +beneath the wheel of a waggon, and both her legs were crushed in a +terrible manner. As two or three assistants carried her past a +gas-light towards the nearest house, we were struck by the +resemblance--hideous, indeed, and bloated--which her features wore to +some one whom we had known. We inquired her history, and, to our +horror, discovered that this was indeed Ellen Ogilvie--the widow of +our poor friend, William Riddell. It was useless attempting to save +her; her vital energies were sinking rapidly beneath the injuries +which she had received. She revived a little from the effect of some +wine which we gave her, and began incoherently to speak of her past +life. "You see me here, sir," said she, "a poor, wretched, degraded +creature:--I was not always thus. There was not a happier heart in +wide Scotland than mine was, ten years ago. But my husband, sir, was a +Social Man!" A convulsive sob checked her words--her head sank back on +the pillow--her lower jaw fell--the death-rattle sounded in her +throat--and in a few moments the unfortunate woman expired. + + + + +THE TWO COMRADES. + + +Still and calm lay the sleeping waters of Loch Ard, as they reposed in +their beauty on the morning of the 17th of August, 17--. The hour was +early, and the rays of the rising sun had not yet dispersed the thick +mists that hung on the bosoms of the surrounding hills. The scenery +around, although of the most romantic character, and composed of the +choicest materials for the picturesque, had an air of gloominess and +rawness about it, that did but little justice to the thousand beauties +which its simple elements of wood and water, rock and hill, were +capable, by their various combinations, of producing. That scene yet +wanted the life and soul, the cheering, spirit-stirring influence of +the blessed sunlight, to bring out its loveliness, and to exhibit its +details in all their fairy brightness. This want was not long of being +supplied. The sun rose in all his splendour; the mist rolled away from +the face of the hill; the calm, placid surface of the lake, like a +mighty mirror, embedded in its rude and gigantic, but gorgeous +framework of wooded mountains, shone with dazzling effulgence; and the +hills and forests displayed themselves in their robes of brightest +green. + +As every one who has visited these romantic regions knows, the road +that conducts to Aberfoyle from the west end of Loch Ard runs, for a +considerable space, close by the margin of the lake on its northern +side--and a most beautiful locality this is. The road is low and +level; on one hand is the bright, smooth, sandy shore of the loch, +with its clear, shallow water; and, on the other, steep mountains, +shaggy with primeval woods. We have directed the attention of the +reader to this particular point of the landscape, for the purpose of +saying, that, at the moment at which our story opens (namely, on the +morning of the 17th of August, 17--), two persons were seen, at the +early hour which our description would indicate, trudging silently +along by the margin of the lake. They were two young men, and +evidently prosecuting a journey of some length. Over the shoulder of +each projected a stout oak stick, on whose extremity a small bundle +was suspended; probably, small as they were, containing all the +earthly possessions of their bearers. Yet, however poor the lads might +be in world's wealth--for they were, as was sufficiently evident from +their dress, of the humblest class--they were rich in the gifts of +nature; for a couple of handsomer-looking young men than they were the +Highlands of Scotland could not have produced. Strongly built, and +exhibiting in their erect and springy gait the peculiar muscular +energy of their mountain education, they appeared men capable of any +fatigue, and, to judge by the air of calm determination and mild +resolution expressed in their bold and manly countenances, of any deed +of honourable daring. Such was the personal appearance--for, although +differing in individual features, they resembled each other in their +general characteristics--of James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod, which +were the names of the two young men whom we have just introduced to +the reader. The ages of the two seemed to be about equal--somewhere +about five or six-and-twenty; in stature they were also nearly the +same; but, if there was any difference between them in this +particular, it was in favour of M'Intyre, who stood nearly six feet in +height. M'Leod might be an inch shorter. They had been brought up +together from their infancy; had a thousand times together climbed the +heights of Cruagh Moran, and as often swam across the deep, dark +waters of Loch Uisk, which lay just before their doors. Their parents +were next door neighbours in the little village of Ardvortan, +situated in one of the most beautiful straths in the West of Scotland. +James and Roderick had not only been companions from their earliest +years, but earned their scanty subsistence; and they were now, +together, about to try their fortunes in a world to which they had +hitherto been strangers. Stories of the warlike renown of their +ancestors, with more recent tales of the achievements of their +countrymen who had enlisted in the 42nd and other Highland regiments, +had roused the martial spirit which they inherited from their fathers, +and determined them to leave their peaceful glen and native hills, to +seek, in "the ranks of death," for that which they had been taught to +believe was the proudest gift of fortune--a soldier's fame. + +It was a sad, and yet a proud day, for the mothers of the young men, +that on which they left their native village. Natural affection +deplored their departure, while maternal pride gloried in visions of +the honours that awaited them on the fields of war. The plumed bonnet, +the belted plaid, and all the other gallant array of the Highland +soldier, presented themselves to the fond mothers; and they thought, +as they gazed on the stately forms of their sons for the last time, +how well they would look in the martial garb which they were about to +assume. The young men, then, whom we have represented as wending their +way by the margin of Loch Ard, and prosecuting a southward journey, +were proceeding to Glasgow, one of the recruiting stations of the --th +Highland regiment, to enrol themselves in that gallant corps, which +was already filled with their friends and countrymen. + +On arriving at Glasgow, which, although a distance of nearly forty +miles from the spot where we first introduced them to the reader, they +made out with perfect ease on the evening of the same day on which +they left their native village, the young men repaired to a well-known +resort of the privates of Highland regiments which were from time to +time quartered in Glasgow. This was a low, dark public-house in the +High Street of that city, kept by a Serjeant M'Nab, an old veteran, +who had seen service in his day; and who, although he had now retired +into private life, continued to maintain all his military connections +with as much zeal as if he was still in the discharge of his military +duties; and, indeed, this he was to some extent, having still an +authority to enlist. The house of M'Nab was thus filled from morning +to night with soldiers of various grades of rank--serjeants, +corporals, and privates--and of various degrees of standing, from the +raw, newly-enrolled recruit, with his stiff black stock--the only +article of his military equipment with which he had been yet +provided--to the veteran serjeant, who had literally fought his way to +his present rank. In every corner of every room in this favourite +resort of the Celtic warriors, lay heaps of muskets resting against +the wall; and on every table lay piles of Highland bonnets--their +owners being engaged in discussing the contents of the oft-replenished +_half-mutchkin stoup_. Occasionally, too, the scream of a bagpipe +might be suddenly heard in some apartment, where the party by which it +was occupied had attained the point of musical excitement, while, over +all, except the sounds of the aforenamed instrument, prevailed the din +of noisy, but good-humoured colloquy, in sonorous Gaelic; for no other +language was ever heard in the warlike domicile of Serjeant M'Nab. + +Such, then, was the house--further distinguished, we forgot to say, by +the sign of the Ram's Head--to which James M'Intyre and Roderick +M'Leod now repaired. They were met at the door by M'Nab, then in the +act of bidding good-by to a batch of serjeants, who, adjusting their +bonnets as they stepped, one after the other, from beneath the low +doorway of the Ram's Head, were about to form a recruiting party to +beat up through the streets for young aspirants after military +glory--a single drummer and fifer being in attendance for this +purpose. + +"Ah, Shames! Ou Rory!" exclaimed M'Nab, taking each of the young men, +who were both well known to him (he being from the same part of the +country), by the hand; "what has brought you" (we translate, for this +was spoken in Gaelic) "to this quarter of the world?" + +The lads smiled, and said they would inform him of that presently. +Accustomed to such visits, for such a purpose as M'Intyre and M'Leod +now made, M'Nab at once guessed their object, and, without any further +remark, conducted them into his own private apartment, where, the tact +of the recruiting serjeant and the natural hospitality of the man +combining, he entertained them liberally with the best his house +afforded. During this refection, the young men made known the object +of their visit. The serjeant highly approved of their spirit, +descanted on the glories of a soldier's life, stirred up their +ambition of military fame by recounting various exploits performed by +relations and acquaintances of their own with whom he had served, and +concluded by tendering them the ominous shilling. It was accepted, and +James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod became soldiers in His Majesty's +--th regiment of foot. + +Desirous, however, as the young men were of enlisting, there was a +condition which they insisted on being conceded them, before they +finally committed themselves. This was, that they should continue +comrades after they became soldiers; that is, as is well known to +every one in the least conversant with these matters, that they should +occupy the same bed, and be placed in a position to render each other +the little services of domestic intercourse in quarters. + +M'Nab at once promised that their wishes in this respect should be +complied with; and the promise was faithfully kept. The two lads were +allowed to continue as comrades after they had joined the regiment; +and in this situation maintained that feeling of tender friendship for +each other, which had distinguished the previous part of their lives. + +Two handsomer or finer-looking soldiers than James M'Intyre and +Roderick M'Leod, after they had donned the full costume of the corps +to which they belonged, and had acquired the military air of their new +profession, could not have been found, not only in their own regiment, +but perhaps in the whole British army. Modest in their manners, quiet +and civil in their deportment, cleanly, sober and attentive to their +duties, they were beloved by their equals, and looked upon with +especial favour by their superiors; they were, in short, the pride and +boast of the regiment--no small honour in a corps where there was an +unusual proportion of stout and steady men. + +For some years, the military life of M'Intyre and M'Leod was unmarked +by any striking vicissitude. The usual movements of the corps from +place to place occurred; but hitherto they had not been called on to +take any share in active service. Their turn, however, was to +come--and it did come. They were ordered to America, shortly after the +commencement of the first war with that country and Great Britain. +Previous to their embarking for the seat of war, the two comrades +obtained three days' leave of absence--it was all that could be +allowed them--to visit their friends in the Highlands. The time was +short--too short for the distance they had to travel; but, as the +point of embarkation was Greenock, they thought they could make it +out; and, by travelling night and day, they did so. They presented +themselves in their native glen in the full costume of their corps, +and gratified their mothers' hearts by this display of their military +appointments. A few short hours of enjoyment succeeded; another bitter +parting followed; and the two comrades were again on their way to +rejoin their regiment. On the second day after, they were crossing +the ocean with their regiment, to the seat of war in the new world. + +In this new scene of experience, the two friends distinguished +themselves as much by their bravery as they had before by their +exemplary and soldierly conduct. In all the actions in which they were +engaged, they made themselves conspicuous by their gallantry, and by +several instances of individual heroism. But they rendered themselves +still more remarkable by the tenderness of their friendship, made +manifest in a thousand little acts of brotherly love. They stood +together foremost in the fight, and attended each other with +unremitting kindness and assiduity, when wounds and sickness had +alternately stretched them on the couch of suffering. Their affection +for each other soon became, in short, a subject of general remark, +exciting a singular degree of interest, from the romantic character +with which the bravery of the two friends had invested it. + +About this time--that is, about the middle of the war--the regiment to +which M'Intyre and M'Leod belonged had the misfortune to lose their +commanding officer, who was killed in action. To the regiment this was +a misfortune, and one of the most serious kind; for the gallant +soldier who had fallen was the friend as well as the commander of his +men. He studied and adapted himself to their peculiarities; knew and +appreciated their character; and was beloved by them in return, for +the kind consideration which he always evinced for their best +interests. He was, moreover, their countryman--a circumstance which +formed an additional tie between him and the brave men whom he +commanded. + +But the death of Colonel Campbell was a double mischance to the +regiment; inasmuch as to his loss was added the misfortune of his +place being supplied by a man of totally opposite character. His +successor, stern, and unforgiving, endeavoured to procure that +efficiency in his corps through fear, which his predecessor had +commanded through love. He was an Englishman; and was a perfect +stranger to the feelings and national peculiarities of the men over +whom he was thus so suddenly placed; neither was he at any pains to +acquire so necessary a piece of information, nor in any way to conform +his system of discipline to the peculiar spirit of the mountain band +which was now under his harsh and undiscriminating control. + +Unfortunate, however, as was the circumstance of this officer's being +put in command of the --th regiment to every soldier in that gallant +corps generally, there were two individuals to whom it was indeed a +misfortune of the most melancholy and deplorable kind, and these two +the most meritorious and deserving men in the regiment. Need we say +that these were James M'Intyre and Roderick M'Leod? But we must detail +the circumstances as they occurred. + +To do this, then, let us mention that, after a weary night-march of +many miles over a mountainous road covered with snow, the --th +regiment, with several others, found itself within cannon-shot of one +of the enemy's positions. The ground destined for the British troops +having been gained, the whole were ordered silently to bivouac, till +the morning light should enable them to advance to the attack, which +was the particular object of the movement. It was yet, however, some +hours till morning; and it was thus necessary, in case of sudden +surprisal, to establish a chain of outposts around the position +occupied by the troops. Amongst those selected for this duty was +Roderick M'Leod, who was placed alone in a solitary post at one of the +most remote points of the circle formed by the British sentinels. It +was a perilous and important position; and for these reasons was it +that M'Leod was chosen to occupy it--every reliance being placed on +his courage, vigilance, and well-known steadiness. + +Aware of the importance of his trust, Roderick, with his shouldered +firelock, commenced pacing smartly--for the night was intensely +cold--in the limits of his appointed place, and keeping a sharp +look-out in the direction of the enemy. This position he had occupied +about half-an-hour, when he thought he heard footsteps approaching. +Roderick brought down and cocked his piece, and stood ready to fire. +The sounds became more audible. He raised his musket to his shoulder, +and placed his finger on the trigger. He saw some persons approaching, +apparently with confident step. He challenged, and was answered. It +was a picket of his own regiment, commanded by a serjeant, a +particular acquaintance and friend, the son of one of his father's +neighbours. He was making a round of the outposts, to see that all +were on the alert, and to inquire if anything had been stirring. + +"All quiet, Roderick?" said Serjeant More M'Alister, on approaching +the former. + +"All quiet, serjeant," replied M'Leod. + +"Cold work this, Rory," rejoined the serjeant, at the same time +drawing a flask from his bosom, and handing it to the former; "here, +take a mouthful of that, to keep the frost out." + +M'Leod, perishing of cold, gratefully acknowledged the very timous +kindness, placed the flask to his mouth, and unguardedly took a hearty +pull of the brandy it contained. Shortly after, the visiting party +moved off on their rounds, and, for a little time subsequently, M'Leod +felt himself renovated by the spirits he had taken. The excitement, +however, was but temporary; reaction took place; a degree of lassitude +came over him, which, aided as it was by the fatigue of his previous +march and the severity of the cold, he found himself unable to shake +off. In this state of feeling, he leaned against a tree which stood +close by his post, and, ere he was aware, fell into a profound sleep. +At this unfortunate moment, his commanding officer, accompanied by a +small party, rode up to M'Leod. He was found asleep; and, still more +heinous offence, when awakened, he was found to be the worse of +drink--a momentary incoherence, and the smell of his breath, which +betrayed the presence of ardent spirits, being held as conclusive +proof by his superior that he was drunk. + +"I am not drunk, sir," replied M'Leod, calmly, on being harshly +charged with that offence by Colonel Maberly. + +"You _are_, sir," was the peremptory rejoinder. "Besides, you have +been asleep at your post. Men, disarm that fellow, and make him your +prisoner." + +The order was instantly obeyed. M'Leod's musket and bayonet were taken +from him; another man was placed on his post; and he was marched away, +to abide the consequence of his dereliction of military duty. As the +intended attack on the enemy took place on the following morning, no +proceedings were instituted in M'Leod's case for some days after; but +all dreaded the most fatal result from these, when they should occur, +from the ferocious and unforgiving nature of Colonel Maberly. + +We fear we would but weaken the effect of the reader's more impressive +conceptions, were we to attempt to describe the feelings of M'Intyre +during the days of agonising suspense between the period of his +comrade's arrestment and the judgment which followed. He refused all +sustenance; and, from being one of the most active and cheerful men in +the regiment, became careless in his duties and morose in his temper, +and seemed as if he courted, or would willingly have done something +calculated to expose him to the same fate which he had no doubt +awaited his unhappy comrade. The two unfortunate men--for the one was +scarcely less an object of compassion than the other--had frequent +interviews previous to M'Leod's receiving the sentence which was +thought due to his offence; and these were of the most heartrending +description. These men, of stout frame and lion heart, who side by +side had often marched unappalled up to the cannon's mouth, wept in +each other's arms like women. Words they had none, or they were but +few. + +At length the fatal judgment was passed. M'Leod was condemned to be +shot; and the sentence was ordered to be carried into execution on the +afternoon of the same day on which it was awarded. The unhappy victim +of military law shrunk not at the contemplation of the miserable fate +that awaited him. He heard it announced with unmoved countenance and +unshrinking nerve; his only remark, simply expressed in his native +language, being, "that, as to being shot, he minded it not; but he +could have wished that it had been on the field of battle." Although +prepared for the dreadful intelligence which was to inform him of the +doom of his comrade--for he had no doubt from the first that it would +be so--M'Intyre knew not yet the one-half of the misery that awaited +him in connection with the impending death of his friend. It was +possible to aggravate to him the horrors of that event tenfold, and to +increase inconceivably the torture of his already agonised mind--and +poor M'Intyre found it was so. + +We leave it to the reader to conceive what were his feelings, when he +was informed that he was to be one of the firing-party--one of his +comrade's executioners! This was a refinement in cruelty which had +been reserved for Colonel Maberly. It was unparalleled. But his order +had gone forth. He had willed it so, and it was known that he never +yielded a point on which he had once determined. It was believed also, +that his usual obstinacy and hard-heartedness would be increased in +this case, from an idea that he was adding to the terror of the +example, by the savage proceeding just alluded to. The idea, however, +of compelling one comrade to assist in putting another to death, was +so revolting to every feeling of humanity, so wantonly cruel, that the +men of the regiment determined on sending a deputation to the colonel, +to entreat of him to rescind his order, and to relieve M'Intyre of +the horrible duty to which he had appointed him. This deputation +accordingly waited on the commanding officer, and, in the most +respectful language, preferred their petition. They did not seek a +remission of the unfortunate man's sentence; for they felt and +acknowledged that, however stern and cruelly severe it was, it was yet +according to military law; but they implored that his comrade might +not be compelled to share in its execution. The petition was preferred +in vain. Colonel Maberly was inexorable. "He had given his orders," he +said, briefly and impatiently, "and they must be obeyed." + +Finding it in vain to urge their request farther, the deputation sadly +withdrew, to communicate to M'Intyre, who was awaiting their return in +a state of mind bordering on distraction, the result of their mission. +When it was told him, he said nothing, made no reply, but seemed lost +in thought for some moments. At length-- + +"I will go to the colonel myself," he said; "and, if there be any +portion of our common nature in him, he will not refuse to hear me. If +he does not----" + +Here he clenched his teeth fiercely together, but left the sentence +unfinished. Acting on the resolution which he had thus formed, +M'Intyre sought out Colonel Maberly. When he found him-- + +"Colonel," he said, touching his bonnet with a military salute, "you +have ordered me to be of the party who are to shoot"--here his voice +faltered, and it was some seconds before he could add--"my comrade, +M'Leod." + +"I have, sir--and what of that?" replied the colonel, fiercely; but he +quailed when he marked the deadly scowl that now gleamed in the eye of +M'Intyre. + +"It was cruel, sir," replied the latter, with a desperate calmness and +determination of manner; "and I implore you, as you hope for mercy +from the God that made you, to release me from this horrible duty." + +"Sir," exclaimed Colonel Maberly, furiously, "do you mean to +mutiny?--do you mean to disobey orders?" + +"No, sir, I do not. I merely ask you to relieve me from the dreadful +task of being my comrade's executioner." + +"Then I'll be d--d if I do!" said the military tyrant. + +"You had better, sir, _for your own sake_," replied M'Intyre. + +"What, sir! Do you threaten me?" exclaimed Colonel Maberly, in an +outrageous passion. + +"Oh no, sir," replied M'Intyre, with an air of affected respect; but +it was one in which some deep mysterious meaning might have been +discovered. "Will you absolve me from this duty?" + +"No, sir; I will not," replied Colonel Maberly, turning on his heel, +and cutting the conference short by walking away. + +"Your blood be upon your own head, you cruel, merciless man!" muttered +M'Intyre, as he looked after Colonel Maberly, himself continuing to +stand the while in the spot where the latter had left him. + +M'Intyre soon after returned to his quarters, and was seen calmly and +silently preparing his arms for the dreadful duty which they were +about to be called on to perform. In making these preparations, he was +observed to be particularly careful that everything should be in the +most serviceable condition. He fitted several flints to his piece, +snapping each repeatedly, before being satisfied with its efficiency, +and was even at the pains to dry and pulverise a small quantity of +powder for priming, to insure a more certain explosion than could be +counted on in its original state of grittiness. + +In the meantime, the hour of execution approached, and at length +arrived. The entire regiment was drawn out to witness the example +which was about to be made of the consequences that attended such +departures from duty as M'Leod's misconduct involved. Being formed in +military order, and the prisoner placed in a conspicuous yet secure +position, the whole were marched off, to the music of fife and muffled +drum, to a level piece of ground at the distance of about a quarter of +a mile from the quarters occupied by the regiment. M'Leod's conduct on +this trying occasion was in perfect keeping with his general +character. It was calm, firm, and manly. His step was steady and +dignified; and his whole bearing bespoke at once a resigned and +undaunted spirit. Yet it might not, nay, it certainly would not, have +been so, had he known that the comrade of his bosom was to be one of +his executioners. This, however, had been mercifully concealed from +him. It was all his fellow-soldiers could do for him; but, to a man, +had they all anxiously and carefully kept from him the appalling +secret; for they knew it would have unnerved him in the hour of +trial--in the hour of death. + +All unconscious, therefore, of the additional misery with which the +cruel order of his commanding officer was yet to visit him, M'Leod +marched undauntedly on to his doom. His mien was erect, his eye calm +and composed, and a slight paleness of countenance alone bore +testimony to his consciousness of the awful situation in which he was +placed. On reaching the locality intended for the scene of execution, +the corps was formed into three sides of a square. In the centre of +that which was vacant, the prisoner was placed; and, at the distance +of about twenty yards further in the square, stood the firing party. +On the left of these, and between them and the prisoner, stood Colonel +Maberly, who, in consequence of having seen some very marked symptoms +of disgust with his severity in the corps, had determined on presiding +at the execution in person. + +It was now, for the first time, that M'Leod became aware that his +comrade was to be of the number of his executioners. He saw him +amongst the firing-party. Unknowing the fact, and never dreaming of +the possibility of such an atrocity as that which M'Intyre's position +involved, M'Leod calmly asked a serjeant who stood near him--"What +does James do there?" The serjeant evaded a reply, or rather affected +not to hear him. At this moment the chaplain of the regiment came up +to the unfortunate man, to administer the comfort and consolation of +religious aid to the doomed soldier. But, ere he could enter on his +sacred duties, M'Leod, on whose mind some approximation to the horrid +truth as regarded the part assigned his comrade had now flashed, put +the same question to the chaplain as he had done to the serjeant. + +"Mr Fraser," he said, "I guess the truth; but I would fain be assured +of it. Why is my comrade, James M'Intyre, amongst the firing-party?" + +The chaplain, as the serjeant had done, endeavoured to evade a reply, +by directing the unhappy man to matters of spiritual concernment; but +he would not be evaded, and again repeated the question. Thus pressed, +the chaplain could no longer avoid the explanation he sought. He told +him M'Intyre was one of the firing-party by order of the commanding +officer. + +"I guessed as much," said M'Leod, calmly. "It is a piece of dreadful +cruelty; but may God forgive him, as I freely do!" + +He then, without making any further remark, entered solemnly and +composedly into the devotional exercises prescribed by his spiritual +comforter. These concluded, and everything being ready for the last +fatal act of the tragedy, the firing-party were ordered to advance +nearer, when M'Intyre, stepping out from his place amongst them, +advanced towards the colonel, and again implored him to release him +from the dreadful duty imposed on him. The colonel's reply was as +determined and peremptory as before. + +"Do your duty, sir!" he said, waving his hand impatiently as a signal +to M'Intyre to return to his place, and stepping a pace or two away +from him as he spoke. "Do your duty, sir, or I'll compel you; I'll +have you in the same situation with your friend." + +M'Intyre obeyed the ruthless order without saying another word. He +returned to his place. The prisoner's eyes were now bandaged. The +firing-party had levelled their muskets, and were waiting the fatal +sign. It was made. Colonel Maberly himself made it. The volley was +discharged, and M'Leod fell; but he fell not alone. In the same +instant, the commanding officer of the --th regiment was also +stretched lifeless on the plain. The well-aimed musket of M'Intyre had +sent its ball through the heart of the ruthless tyrant. On +perpetrating the deed, the former threw his piece on the ground, +exclaiming, "Roderick is avenged, and the mercy the tyrant showed to +others has been meted out to himself!" and offered himself up, an +unresisting prisoner, to whoever might choose to execute that duty. + +It was some minutes--so sudden and unexpected had been the +catastrophe--before any one made the slightest movement; all looking +on in silent and fixed amazement, but we cannot add with much regret; +till at length a serjeant stepped out of the ranks, and seized +M'Intyre by the breast. + +"Right, Serjeant Thompson, right," said the latter, calmly; "you are +doing your duty. I know what awaits me, and I am prepared for it. I +did not do what I have done without making up my mind to the +consequences." + +These were indeed inevitable. On the third day thereafter, the roll of +the muffled drum announced that M'Intyre's hour was come; and he fell, +but not unpitied, beneath the bullets of a party of his +fellow-soldiers, on the identical spot where, three days before, his +unfortunate comrade had met a similar doom. + + + + +THE SURTOUT. + + +"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins," +quoth an equivocal-looking gentleman, with a stick under his arm, a +marvellously shabby hat, a rusty black coat, waistcoat pinned up to +the throat, and followed out by a battered stock, glazed and greasy, +with its edges worn to the bone; and thus making an unseemly +exhibition of the internal composition of said article of wearing +apparel. No shirt, or at least none visible; countenance bearing +strong marks of dissipation; voice loud and ferocious; look equivocal. +Such was the personage who conveyed the information above recorded to +Mr Fairly; and, considering the very particular nature of that +information, together with certain other little circumstances +thereafter following, the reader will be at no great loss, we should +suppose, to guess both the nature of his profession and the purpose of +his call. In case, however, he should not, we beg to inform him that +the speaker was one of those meritorious enforcers of the law, called, +in Scotland, messengers--in England, bailiffs. + +Mr Fairly, again--the person spoken to--was a fashionable tailor in a +certain city not a hundred miles from Arthur's Seat. He was a little, +active man, sharp and keen as a razor; and altogether a +dangerous-looking customer to those who found it inconvenient to +settle his demands in due time; he was, in short, the dread and terror +of dilatory payers. In such cases, he hung out the black flag, and +gave no quarter. He was, in truth, just as merciless a tailor as ever +cut cloth, and well were his savage propensities known to, and much +were they respected by, a certain class of his customers--meaning +those who stuck too long on the left-hand side of his ledger--the +fatal ledger. Such, then, was our other interlocutor, Mr Fairly. We +have only to add, that the scene which we have opened was in a certain +parlour in that gentleman's house, and then to proceed with the +conference which this necessary digression has interrupted. + +"The decreet's oot the morn, Mr Fairly, against that man Simmins," +said his visiter, Mr John Howison; "what do ye mean to do? Are we to +incarcerate?" + +It was a needless question; for Fairly incarcerated everybody, right +and left, in such circumstances, sparing neither sex nor age. + +"Incarcerate!" he repeated, with a ferocious emphasis. "Surely, +surely. Nab the scoundrel. Don't give him a minute beyond his time. +Let me see what were the articles again." And he proceeded to turn +over the leaves of his ominous ledger. "Ay, a surtout, extra superfine +Saxony blue, richly braided, &c. &c., L4:15s., due 21st December, and +this is the 19th January. A month past date! Nab him, Howison. Nab the +villain, and we'll give him six months of the cage, at any rate, and +that'll be some satisfaction." + +Howison grinned a grin, partly of satisfaction at the prospect of a +job, and partly of approval of his employer's wit. "But I don't know +the chap exactly," said the former. "I only saw him once." + +"Oh, that's easily sorted," replied Fairly. "Although you don't know +him, you may know my surtout, which he constantly wears--having no +other coat, I verily believe, to his back. Here, see, here is the +neighbour of it." And he ran into a back apartment, whence he shortly +returned with a very flashy article of the description he referred to, +and, expanding it before Howison, bade him mark its peculiarities. +"Sir," he said, "it's one of a thousand. The only one of the same cut +and fashion in the whole city. _That_ I know. I would pick it out, +blind, from amongst a million." + +Howison having carefully scanned the garment, declared that he was +ready to take his chance of recognising his man--other circumstances +corroborating--by its particular cut and adornments; and, in truth, he +needed have little hesitation about the matter; for, indeed, the +surtout was, as Fairly had said, one of a thousand. It was altogether +a very marked sort of article, especially in the department of +braiding, that being singularly rich and voluminous; and if, as its +maker had also said, it had not its fellow in the town (barring, of +course, the duplicate which he was now exhibiting), there could be no +difficulty whatever in identifying the devoted debtor. + +Matters being thus arranged, the messenger, after having obtained +Simmins' address, took leave of his employer, with full authority to +visit the unhappy owner of the surtout with the utmost vengeance of +the law, and with a promise on his own part that he would duly inform +the latter of his subsequent proceedings in the case--meaning thereby, +that, so soon as the bird was caged, he would give due intimation +thereof. + +Leaving the process just detailed at the point to which we have +brought it, we beg to introduce the reader to another personage who +figures in our little drama: this is Mr Jacob Merrilees, a student of +medicine, a gentlemanly young man, of limited means, but fair +prospects, and, withal, talented and promising. He was at this moment +pursuing his studies at the college of ----, and was making a progress +in professional learning that augured well for his future success in +the world. But, with this part of his history we have little or +nothing to do--our interest in him being on a totally different +account. + +Talented, however, as our young friend was, he had, like other men, +his little weaknesses; one in particular--but it was a natural and a +harmless one--this was a rather excessive fastidiousness on the score +of dress. He loved, of all things, to be smartly attired; and was +thus, upon the whole, something of a dandy in his way. Unfortunately +for poor Jacob, however, this was a taste which he was not always able +to indulge in to the extent he could have wished. His circumstances, +or rather his father's penuriousness, prevented it; and the +consequence was, that he frequently found himself considerably below +his own standard of perfection in the article toggery. It is true, +that one less particular in this matter would hardly have agreed with +him; but such were his own feelings on the subject, and that was +enough. + +Having mentioned the little weakness above alluded to--if, indeed, it +can be called a weakness--it becomes our duty to show cause for having +called the reader's attention to it. This duty, then, we will +forthwith discharge; but we must be allowed to do so in our own way. +We have said that our friend Merrilees was making rapid progress in +his professional education; he was so, but he was advancing with no +less celerity in another and fully more congenial study--namely, the +study of love. What fair maiden, in the eyes of Jacob Merrilees, could +compete with Miss Julia Willoughby? None. She was peerless! She was +the fairest of the fair! Miss Julia Willoughby, then, was the chosen +of Jacob's heart; but he had yet no assurance that his tender feelings +towards her were reciprocated. Little else than the ordinary +courtesies of society had yet passed between them, although these were +certainly rapidly melting into more familiar intercourse. Still, as we +said before, Jacob could not positively fix on the precise position +which he held in the affections of Miss Julia Willoughby. He was still +in a state of uncertainty; for no particular mark of favour had yet +been bestowed upon him by the coy fair one. Judge, then, good reader, +of the joyous feelings of the enamoured Jacob Merrilees, when he +received the following note, written on glazed pink paper, sealed with +the impression of a heart pierced by an arrow--said heart being +supported by two pigeons--and folded into something of the fashion of +a love-knot. Judge, then, good reader, we say, of his feelings on +receiving this precious billet, the first palpable hint of his +acceptability with which he had ever been favoured by his fair +inamorato:-- + + "DEAR MR MERRILEES,--Would you make one of a party to visit the + wax-work to-morrow? I should be happy if you could. There will be + several young ladies of my acquaintance with us, and one or two + gentlemen. We propose meeting at our house. Hour, twelve of the + clock precisely. It _will particularly gratify me_, if you can make + it convenient to be one of the party," &c. &c. + +"JULIA WILLOUGHBY." + +"Dear, delightful creature!" exclaimed Jacob, in an ecstasy of +rapture, and kissing the delicious document with the fervour and +enthusiasm of a rapt and devoted love. "Make it convenient?" he +exclaimed, with expressive energy. "Ay, that I will, adored and +beloved Julia! although ten thousand difficulties were in my way. All +engagements, all considerations, all duties, light of my life, idol of +my adoration, must give way to thy slightest wish. It will +particularly gratify thee!" he exclaimed, with a laugh of wild +ecstasy. "Will it, will it?--oh! will it? Then am I a happy man +indeed!" and he began to pace the room with the light rapid step of +sudden and excessive joy. + +In this process Jacob had indulged for several minutes, without +adverting, as he usually did, in similar circumstances, to the +representation of his own handsome person in a large mirror, which +hung on one side of the apartment. As his fervour, however, began to +abate, he threw glances at the glass _en passant_, and, with every +turn, these glances became more earnest, and of longer duration, until +he at length fairly planted himself before the faithful reflector, in +order to submit his person to a thorough and deliberate inspection. +The survey was perfectly satisfactory to Jacob; and he was turning +away, highly gratified by its results, when his eye fell on the sleeve +of his coat. "Ha," said Jacob, "getting scuffy, by all that's +annoying. Had no idea. Won't do, won't do--that's clear. Can never go +through the streets with Julia and her fair bevy of acquaintances in +such a coat as this--never, never, never." + +And, in great perplexity at the discovery he had made, Jacob flung +himself down in a chair, and, with his hand placed on his forehead, +began to think profoundly on the means of remedying the evil of a +shabby coat. The time was too short to admit of his providing a new +one; and, indeed, although it had been longer, this was an experiment +on his tailor on which he could hardly have ventured, that gentleman +having lately shown symptoms of restiveness which were by no means +encouraging. What was to be done then? + +"I have it!" said Jacob, starting up: "I will borrow a coat for the +nonce from my friend, Bob Simmins. He will supply me with the +desiderated garment." + +No sooner conceived than executed. Down Jacob immediately sat, and +forthwith indited the following billet to his friend Bob:-- + + "DEAR BOB,--Being invited for to-morrow to a party, at which there + is to be a large infusion of the fair sex, and finding after a + careful inspection, that my coat is not in the most healthy + condition, might I request the favour of your lending me a + corresponding piece of toggery for the occasion, if you have such + an article to spare, and said article be of a kind creditable to + the wearer. + + "We are about a size, I think, and can therefore calculate on a + fit. Yours truly, JACOB MERRILEES." + +Having written this note, Jacob forthwith sealed it, and put it into +the hands of the maid-servant, with a request that she would see to +its immediate delivery. The request was complied with. In ten minutes +after, the girl was in the presence of the redoubted Bob Simmins; for +redoubted he was, Bob being one of the most dashing fellows of his +time, nevertheless of a rigid adherence to the praiseworthy rule of +never paying a copper to anybody for anything. + +Having opened his friend's note, and scanned it over-- + +"Ah yes, let me see"--and he stroked his chin, threw himself back in +the chair, gazed on the roof, and thought for a moment. At length--"My +compliments to Mr Merrilees," he said; "I will send him what he wants +to-morrow morning." + +In due course of time, to-morrow morning made its appearance, and with +it came to Jacob's lodgings the promised article of dress. A bundle +neatly put up, and whose outward covering was a yellow silk +handkerchief, was handed in to Mr Merrilees, as he sat at breakfast. +At once guessing at the contents of the package, Jacob started up, +undid the knots by which it was secured, with an eager and impatient +hand, took up the article it contained, shook out its folds, and gazed +with ecstasy on a splendid surtout. It was Simmins'. Jacob knew it +again. He had seen it a thousand times on his friend, and as often had +praised and admired it. The cut, the braiding, the elegant fur +neck--all had been marked, and cordially approved of. How good of +Simmins, poor fellow! to send him his best coat! It was an obligation +he would never forget. + +Having unfolded the surtout, Jacob's next proceeding was to try it on. +It was a beautiful fit. Not the hundredth part of an inch too short, +too long, or too wide. It was, in fact, just the thing. Couldn't have +been better, although it had been cut for him by Stultz's foreman. +Convinced of this pleasing truth, Jacob stood before the glass for +fully a quarter-of-an-hour, throwing himself into various attitudes, +in order to bring out all the beauties of the much-admired garment; +and every change of position increasing the favourable opinion which +he entertained of his own appearance. Satisfied with the contemplation +of himself in the mirror, Jacob now commenced a series of turns up and +down the apartment; sometimes throwing his arms akimbo, sometimes +folding them across his breast, and anon glancing down with a smile of +ineffable admiration on the flowing skirts of his surtout. This new +test of the merits of the borrowed garment having also been found +satisfactory, and every other ordeal to which it could be subjected +having also been had recourse to, and it having stood them all, Jacob +put the last finishing touch to his person, gave a last look at the +glass, and, with mincing step, went forth to conquer and to captivate. +And never did man or woman either take the field for such a purpose +with greater confidence in their own powers, or with greater certainty +of success. + +Before proceeding, however, to the place of meeting, Jacob bethought +him of making a run the length of his friend Bob's, just to thank him +for his kindness, and to show him how the surtout fitted. Obeying this +impulse, he was, in a few minutes after, in the presence of the +obliging Simmins. A lively chat ensued between the two friends, and +continued with unabated energy, until Jacob, suddenly pulling out his +watch, found that his appointed hour had passed. On making this +discovery, he started from his chair, seized his hat, rushed out of +the house, and, at the top of his speed, made for the residence of his +beloved Julia Willoughby. Notwithstanding his speed, however, he was a +little late. The party were already assembled. This was a trifle +awkward; but it had its advantages, as we shall presently show. The +approach to Miss Willoughby's residence was through a garden of +considerable length, and thus all visiters might be fully, fairly, and +minutely scanned as they advanced. Now, Jacob being a little late, as +we have already said, the party, particularly the ladies, in their +impatience for his arrival, had clustered around the windows, and were +anxiously looking for his advent; so that the moment he opened the +gate, both himself and his surtout were in full view of some +half-dozen or more admiring spinsters. It was a complete triumph to +Jacob, and he felt it to be so. He saw that all eyes were bent on him +as he approached the house; that his surtout had attracted particular +notice, and had become a subject of general remark and general +approbation. He felt, in short, conscious that he had excited a +sensation amongst the fair spectators of his approach. He saw the +flutter of agitation. He marked the blush, the averted eye. He was +delighted, elated. His surtout was triumphant. It had produced all the +effects, so far as others are concerned, for which a surtout can be +coveted. Conscious of the impression he had made, through the medium +of his surtout, Jacob's step became more buoyant, his head more erect, +and his whole mien more elevated and dignified. + +Thus he entered the parlour, where the waiting party were assembled; +and here, again, he had the satisfaction of finding his surtout an +object of general observation. But let us ask, while Jacob is thus +enjoying the favouring smiles of the fair, and thus revelling in his +own delightful feelings, who and what are they, these two fellows who +are skulking about Mr Willoughby's garden gate, as if waiting the +egress of some one? Why, it is Howison--no other; and another +professional gentleman, a concurrent. They are upon business. They +have got scent of prey, and are following it out, with noses as keen +and purpose as fell as those of a sleuth-hound. There can be no doubt +of it. Hear them; listen to the gentle small talk that is passing +between them. + +Howison loquitur, and wiping his perspiring forehead with his +handkerchief: "Feth, Davy, that was a rin; and no to mak him oot after +a'. But we'll nail him yet." + +Concurrent respondent: "But are ye sure it was him after a'?" + +"Oh, perfectly! I canna be mistaen. It's the surtout, beyond a' manner +o' doubt; and of course it's the man, too, seein he cam oot o' the +house we were directed to." + +The reasoning being quite satisfactory to the concurrent, he ventured +no further remark on the subject of identity; and we avail ourselves +of the temporary pause which now took place between the speakers, to +explain, that they had seen Jacob emerging from Simmins'. They were +just approaching at the moment; but the rapid rate at which the former +was going prevented the closer intimacy which they intended, and hence +the chase. + +"Will we pin him in this house, then?" inquired Davy, again resuming +the conversation. + +"No; they might deny him. We'll wait whar we are a bit, till he comes +oot. Dog him, if he taks the direction o' the jail, and nab him at a +convenient opportunity." + +"He may bilk us." + +"We'll tak care o' that. We'll gie him heels for't, Davy, if that's +his gemm." + +A pause in the conversation, which was not for some time interrupted, +here ensued. After a short while, however, it was again broken in +upon. + +"Whisht! whisht! Back, Davy, back!" (The two professional gentlemen +were ensconced in a close or entry directly opposite Mr Willoughby's +garden-gate.) "Back, Davy, back!" said Howison. "There's somebody +comin. I hear folk speakin and lauchin in the garden." + +Davy listened an instant, then acknowledged there were good grounds +for the assertion, and immediately drew himself farther into his +hiding-place, like an alarmed snail into its shell. + +Howison, as the principal, now placed himself in front of his +assistant, squeezed himself as close as he could to the wall, until he +stuck as close to, and as flat on it, as a bat. He then, by a +dexterous movement, thrust his head in a lateral direction, till his +nose just cleared the corner of the close, when, closing his left eye, +and concentrating his whole powers of vision in his right, he planted +the solitary optic with eager vigilance on the garden gate, to watch +the coming forth of those who were on its opposite side. For this he +had not long to wait. In a few moments the gate flew open, and out +sallied, with frequent bursts of merriment, one of the gayest and most +joyous parties that a bright summer day ever brought forth; and gayest +and most joyous of the whole was Jacob Merrilees. Of the whole squad +his laugh was the loudest, his motions the liveliest, his looks the +most cheerful. Jacob was in his element. He was in the midst of a bevy +of ladies. One hung on each arm; while others, to whom fortune had not +been so propitious in allowing them to get nearer his person, +contented themselves with taking the arms again of their more favoured +sisters--of those two enviable spinsters who had secured the posts of +honour, the immediate vicinity of the admired Jacob Merrilees. Jacob +was thus in the very centre of the gay band of fair spinsters; and a +proud man was he of his enviable position. He talked!--ye gods, how he +talked!--and chattered away in a manner most delightful to hear; at +least so it seemed, from the frequent bursts of laughter which he +elicited from his lively protegees. He smirked, and he smiled, and he +bowed, first to one side and then to another, after his most +captivating manner, and, in short, did all that a man who was pleased +with himself, and desired to please others, could possibly do to +maintain these agreeable feelings. He was the king of the roost--that +was evident; the very centre of attraction; the delight, the glory, +the leading star in the galaxy of beauty of which he formed a part. + +The party having cleared the gate, took the road with a circular sweep +round, and a burst of merriment that sufficiently betokened the +lightness of heart and of heel of those of whom it was composed. + +"Deek yon, Davy," exclaimed Howison, at this interesting moment, and +now addressing the worthy just named, who had by this time come up +alongside of him, and was also indulging himself in a bird's-eye view +of the party round the corner of the close. "Deek yon, Davy. He's aff +like a paitrik: but we'll bring him up wi' a short turn, I'm thinkin. +We'll pit a slug through his wing. Little does he ken wha's watchin +him." + +"Wull we gie chase?" said the concurrent, who stood at this instant +like a dog in the slip, with his neck on the stretch, and every nerve +braced for the run. + +"No, no; gie him the start a bit till he gathers confidence, and then +we'll pounce on him. Wary, Davy, wary! keep in a bit. Dinna shute oot +your head so far. If he gets a glisk o' ye, he'll tak to his trotters +in a minnit, and gie us an infernal rin for't. See what lang legs the +sinner has." + +"I think I could rin him ony day," replied Howison's concurrent, "and +gie him a start o' a hunner yards to the bargain." + +"I'm no sure o' that," rejoined Howison, shaking his head doubtingly; +"ye dinna ken hoo a man can rin wi' a caption at his heels. It maks +them go at a deevil o' a rate. I've seen great, fat, auld chaps, that +ye wadna hae thocht could rin a yard an't were to save their lives, +flee like the win before a 'Whereas.'" + +"Noo, noo, Davy," continued Howison, and now recalling his neighbour's +attention to business, "let us be joggin. He's takin the richt road, +so we'll just pin him at our leisure." + +Saying this, the pair started, and in a short time were hovering on +the skirts of the heedless party, and their heedless and unwary +leader, the devoted Jacob Merrilees. + +Wholly unconscious, as the reader will readily believe, of the plot +that was thickening over his head, or, rather, at his heels, Jacob was +continuing the career of banter, and lively small talk, and smart +repartee, which distinguished his first appearance at the garden gate, +when he suddenly felt himself gently touched from behind on the left +shoulder. He turned round, but without quitting the arms of the fair +ladies who hung upon him, and looked frowningly on Howison. + +"What do you mean, sir?" inquired Jacob, indignantly, and now glancing +also at Howison's companion, who stood close by, with his stick tucked +under his arm. + +To this query the only reply was a knowing wink, and a significant wag +of the forefinger, which, when translated, meant--"Come here, friend, +and I'll tell you." + +"Get along with you, sir!" said Jacob, contemptuously. + +"Thank you, but I won't," replied Howison, saucily. + +"No! Then what the devil do you want?" + +"You," said the former, emphatically. "But you had better conduct +yourself quietly, for your own sake." + +"Now, my good fellow," replied Jacob, in a satirically calm tone, +"_do_ tell me what you mean?" + +"Do ye ken such a man as Fairly the tailor?" inquired Howison, who +always affected a degree of playfulness in the execution of this +department of his duties. "Do ye ken Fairly the tailor?" he said, with +an intelligent smile. + +"I know no such man, sir; never heard his name before," replied Jacob, +angrily, and now urging his fair protegees onwards--the whole party +having been stopped by the incident just detailed. + +"Not so fast, friend," exclaimed Howison, making after his prey, and +again slapping him on the shoulder, but now less ceremoniously. "You +are my prisoner, and here's my authority," he added, pulling out a +crumpled piece of paper. It was the decreet against Simmins. "Although +_you_ don't know Fairly, _I_ happen to know Fairly's surtout. The +short and the long of the matter is, sir," continued Howison, "that I +arrest you at the instance of John Fairly, tailor and clothier, for a +debt of L4:15s., with interest and expenses, said debt being the price +of the identical surtout which you have just now on your back. So come +along quietly, or it may be worse for you." + +We do not suppose it is necessary that we should describe the +amazement of the unhappy wearer of the surtout in question, on so very +extraordinary and incomprehensible a statement being made to him, nor +that of his party, from the same cause. The reader will at once +conceive what it was, without any such proceeding on our part. + +Confounded, however, and amazed as he was, Jacob's presence of mind +instantly showed him that he was in a dilemma, a regular scrape. That +he must either acknowledge--and, in the presence of all his fair +friends, there was death in the idea--that the surtout he wore, and +which had procured for him so much admiration, was a borrowed one, or +quietly submit to be dragged to jail as the true debtor. Jacob further +saw exactly how the case stood. He saw that his friend Simmins had +never paid for the very flashy article in which he was now arrayed (a +discovery this, however, which did not in the least surprise him), and +that _he_ was the person for whom the honours of Howison were +intended. + +Having, however, no fancy for incarceration, Jacob finally determined +on avowing the distressing fact, that his surtout was a borrowed one, +and that, not being its true owner, he was, of course, free of the +attentions of Mr Howison. With a face, then, red as scarlet, and a +voice expressive of great tribulation, Jacob made a public +acknowledement of this humiliating truth, and was about to avail +himself of the advantage which he calculated on deriving from +it--namely, that of proceeding on his way--when, to his great horror +and further confusion, he found that Howison determined on still +sticking to him. In great agitation, Jacob again repeated that he was +not Simmins, and that he had merely borrowed the surtout from that +gentleman. To these earnest asseverations, Howison at first merely +replied by an incredulous smile, then added--"It may be sae, sir; but +that's a matter that maun be cleared up afterwards. In the meantime +ye'll go wi' me, if you please; and, if no o' your ain accord, as I +wad advise ye, by force, as I'll compel ye." Saying this, he plunged +his hand into one of his pockets, and produced a pair of handcuffs, +like a rat-trap. The exhibition of these ornaments, and the dread of +getting up a scene on the public street, at once decided the +unfortunate surtout-borrower to submit to his fate, and to walk +quietly off with his new friends, Mr Howison and concurrent. + +In ten minutes after, Jacob found himself snugly quartered in an airy +chamber, with grated windows, commanding a pleasant view of a +tread-mill in full operation; and here he remained, until the +following morning brought such evidence of his identity as procured +his liberation. On once more snuffing the fresh air, Jacob swore he +would take care again whose coat he borrowed, when he should have +occasion to ask such a favour from a friend; and we would advise the +reader to exercise the like caution, should he ever find himself in +similar circumstances. + + + + +THE SURGEON'S TALES. + +THE SUICIDE. + + +It is a vain question, that which has been often stirred among men of +our profession and metaphysicians, whether insanity--including under +that word all the modes of derangement of the mental powers--is +strictly a _disease_, the definition of which, according to the best +authorities, is "an alternation from a perfect state of bodily +health." Both parties may, to a certain extent, be right; for the one, +including chiefly the metaphysicians, can successfully exhibit a +gradation in the scale of derangement: beginning at the slightest +peculiarity; passing on to an eccentricity; from that to idiosyncrasy; +from that to a decay or an extraordinary increase of strength in a +particular faculty--say memory; from that to a decay or an increase in +the intensity of a feeling, an emotion, or a passion; from that to +false perception--such as monomania, progressing to derangement as to +one point or subject, often called madness, _quoad hoc_; and so on, +through many other changes, almost imperceptible in their differences, +to perfect madness--all without the slightest indication of a +pathological nature being to be discovered or detected by the finest +dissecting-knife. On the other hand, again, it is indisputable--for we +medical men have demonstrated the fact--that a certain _degree_ of +madness is almost always accompanied with derangement in the cerebral +organs--the most ordinary appearance being the existence of a fluid of +a certain kind in the chambers of the brain. + +The best and the cleverest of us must let these questions alone; for, +so long as we remain--and that may be, as it likely will be, for +ever--ignorant of the subtle principle of organic life--the nature of +the mysterious union of mind and matter--we will never be able to tell +(notwithstanding all our mental achievements) whether madness has its +primary beginning in the body or in the mind. We must remain contented +with a knowledge of exciting causes, and with that melancholy lore +which treasures up--alas! for how little good!--the dreadful symptoms +which distinguish this miserable state of proud man from all other +conditions of his earthly sorrow; exhibiting him conscious of being +still a human creature impressed with the image of God, yet incapable +of using the proudest gift of Heaven--his reason; susceptible of and +suffering the most excruciating of all pains--imaginary evils, +torments, agonies--yet placed beyond the pale of human sympathy; bent +upon--following with cunning and assiduity the cruellest modes of +self-immolation; and sometimes calmly _reasoning_ on the nature of the +mysterious power that impels to a horrible and revolting suicide. + +I have been led into this train of thought by the circumstances of the +case I am now about to relate. It is one of a calm, reasoning, +determined self-destroyer, in whom, with the single exception of +wishing to die by violent and bloody means, I could discover no mental +derangement. The case occurs every day; but there are circumstances in +this of a peculiar nature, which set it apart from others I have +witnessed, and seen described; and, as it bears the invaluable stamp +of truth, my description of it may be held to be a chapter, and a +melancholy one, in the wonderful history of human life, wherein, +perhaps, the succeeding capital division may consist of an account of +our own tragic fate, not less lamentable or less awful. Such creatures +are we lords of the creation!--so completely veiled are the destinies +of man! + +It was, I think, in the month of December in the winter of 18--, that +a man in the garb of a farmer called upon me, and requested me to +visit George B----, a person, he said, of his own craft, who held a +small sheep-farm back among the hills about three miles distant. I +asked the messenger if the man was in danger, and if he wished me to +proceed instantly to his residence, or if a call the first time that I +passed that way, which might be next day, would suffice. He replied +that his friend was not in immediate danger, and did not wish me to +travel three miles for the special purpose of seeing him, but would be +contented with, and grateful for, a visit from me on any early day +that suited my convenience. + +On the following day, I happened to be in that quarter of the country, +and called at the house to which I had been directed. The day was +cloudy, raw, and cold, and a stern north wind whistled among the +brackens of the hills. I was struck with the situation and appearance +of the house. It had formerly been a mansion-house, and was much +larger than the ordinary residences of small sheep-farmers among the +hills. The situation was peculiarly bleak, sequestered, and even +dismal: no trees could be discovered in any direction; there was no +outhouses attached to the dwelling; and no neighbouring residence was +to be seen. The house stood alone, big, gaunt, cold, and comfortless, +in the midst of bare hills, exposed to the bitter wind that careered +through the valleys and ravines. Nor, as I approached, did I discover +any signs of domestic stir or comfort. Several of the windows were +closed up--the under part of the house apparently being only inhabited +by the inmates, who showed no anxiety to ascertain by looking out who +it was that had accomplished the task of getting to this barren and +sequestered place. + +On knocking at the door, it was opened by a young woman about eighteen +years of age. She appeared to be delicate--being thin in her person, +pale in her complexion, and of an irritable temperament, for she +started when she saw me. An expression of melancholy pervaded +features not unhandsome, and attracted particularly my attention, by +almost instantly exciting my sympathy. I asked her if George B---- was +in the house. She answered that her father, for such he was, had just +gone to bed, having been for some time ailing. I told her that it was +upon that account I had come to see him. She seemed then to know who I +was, and thanked me for my attention. I stepped in; and, as I followed +the young woman through a long passage to the room occupied by her +father, she told me that her mother had died about a year before, and +that there was no other individual living in the house but her and her +remaining parent. A gloomy, unhappy pair! thought I, as I looked on +her sombre face, and heard the wind moaning through the big, open +house. + +On entering the room, which was cold and poorly furnished, I observed +George B---- sitting up in his bed reading a book, which I discovered +to be a large Bible. He had a napkin bound round his temples. His face +exhibited the true melancholic hue, being of a swarthy yellow; his +eyes wore the heaviness generally found in people of that temperament; +the muscles were firmly bound down by the rigid, severe, and +desponding expression of dejection, generally found associated with +these other characteristics; and throughout his face and manner there +was exhibited an indifference to surrounding objects, which was only +very partially relaxed by his recognition of me as I entered. There +was, however, nothing of the look of a diseased man about him; for his +face was full and fleshy, his nerves firm and well strung, his eye +steady and unclouded, and his voice, as he welcomed me in, strong, and +even rough and burly. His face resembled very much the _ideal_ of that +of the old Covenanters; and the large Bible he held in his hands aided +the conception, and increased the picturesque effect of the whole +aspect of the man. + +He knew, or took it for granted, that I was the surgeon he had sent +for, pointed to a chair, that I might sit down, and beckoned to his +daughter Margaret, as he called her, to leave the room. The young +woman retired slowly, and I observed, as she proceeded towards the +door, she threw back two or three nervous looks, which I thought +indicated a strong feeling of apprehension, mixed with her filial +sympathy. As the door shut, it sounded as if it had lost the catch; +the father caught the sound, appeared angry, and requested me to rise +and shut it effectually, and, as he added, carefully. I complied, and +he seemed to listen for some time, as if to try to ascertain whether +his daughter had proceeded along the passage to the kitchen. He was +uncertain, and listened again, but was still unresolved; at last, he +said he was sorry to give me so much trouble, but he felt he could not +enter upon the subject about which he wished to consult me until he +was satisfied, beyond the possibility of doubt, that Margaret was not +listening. I rose and went to the door. On opening it, I saw the young +woman standing behind it. On perceiving me, she retreated +precipitately and fearfully along the dark passage. I shut the door; +and, being unwilling, in my ignorance of the cause of all this +mysterious secrecy and suspicion, to betray the poor girl, who had +perhaps some good legitimate object in solicitude, I said simply that +there was now nobody there. He was satisfied; and I again sat down. + +I then asked him what was the particular complaint about which he +wished to consult me. + +"That is precisely what I wish to know," he replied. "I hae nae +complaint aboot _my body_, which, God be thanked! is just as strong as +it used to be. But there is a change in my mind, different frae the +healthy griefs, and sorrows, and pains o' mortals. My wife, the best +o' women, died a year ago. In a short time after, I lost the greater +number o' my sheep in a storm, which prevented me frae payin my +Candlemas rent. But mony a man loses his wife, and mony a shepherd his +sheep, without tellin a doctor o' their loss. I laid my account wi' +sufferin grief as heavy as mortal ever suffered; and in this house, in +this bed, on these hills, in the kirk, and at our cattle trysts, I hae +struggled wi' my sorrow. But, sir," leaning his head towards me, and +speaking low, "_it winna a' do_." + +He paused, and, as he fixed his eye upon me, drew a deep sigh, as if +he had already, as it were, broached a subject that was fearful to +himself. + +"What mean you?" said I. + +"I mean, that _I canna live_!" he replied, energetically, seizing the +Bible with a spasmodic grasp--closing it--throwing it to the back of +the bed--then falling in an instant into a state of real dejection, +with his arms folded over his breast, and his eyes cast down. + +"Grief often produces these gloomy thoughts," said I; "but they are +the mere fancies of a sick mind--generated in sorrow, and dying with +the time-subdued cause that produces them. There is not a bereaved +husband, wife, parent, or child in the land, that does not, in the +first struggle with a new grief, entertain and cherish, for passing +moments of agony, such sick fancies of rebelling nature. You have not +yet given time and your energies a fair trial. You must have +patience." + +"There is some consolation in that," he replied. "I am glad when I +think that the thought that haunts and alarms me is no sae dangerous +as it sometimes appears to me. This book (sweet comforter!) tells me +that Tobit prayed to be dissolved, and become earth, because o' his +sorrow. It tells me, also, that Job, in his agonies, cried, 'My soul +chooseth strangling and death rather than life.' My experience o' the +ills o' life (and a man o' sixty-five must have some portion o' that) +informs me o' the truth o' what you have told me, that an +extraordinary burden o' grief often wrings frae the sick soul a wish +to dee and be at rest. But oh! I fear my situation is different. I hae +_mair_ than a wish to be dissolved; for sure none o' my brethren in +sorrow"--here his voice fell almost to a whisper, and tears rolled +down his cheek--"ever lay wi' the like o' that"--holding up a +razor--"under his sick pillow." + +I was alarmed, being utterly unprepared for this exhibition. + +"You need be under nae alarm," he continued, wiping the tears from his +eyes. "My courage is not yet strong enough. God be praised for it! +Moments o' fearfu fortitude sometimes come owre me, and I have held +that instrument in my clenched hand--ay, within an inch o' my bared +throat; but the resolution passes as quickly as it comes, and terror, +cowardice, and a shiverin cauld--dreadfu to suffer--come in their +place. Lay it past, sir--lay it past." + +I obeyed; and, as I proceeded to place the instrument on the top of a +chest of drawers, I heard the noise of some one in the passage, with +suppressed ejaculations of--"O God! O God!" + +"I wadna hae shown you that," he continued, as I sat down, "but that +it is my wish to tell you the warst; for nae man can expect +assistance, if he is ashamed or afraid to show his necessities and his +danger. I didna send for you to cure my body, but to examine my mind, +and tell me if it is sound and healthy, or weak and diseased, and +therefore I will conceal naething frae ye that may show you its state +and condition." + +I was pleased to find I had so tractable a patient. I paused for a +moment, to consider in what way I should draw him out, and on what +side I should attack him--whether I should argue calmly with him, and +endeavour to stimulate his feelings of duty to his Maker, to himself +and his poor daughter; or shake him roughly as a vain and sinful +dreamer who had voluntarily swallowed a pernicious soporific, and try +to awaken him, and keep him awake, after the manner of our remedial +endeavours to save those who have attempted to poison themselves by +laudanum. I saw, in an instant, that he was by far too strong-minded a +man to be operated upon effectually by the mere charm of the imputed +reach and strength of our cabalistic lore--an agent, if well employed, +of great good in our profession--and too determined (for such +resolutions are always, in some degree, a false result of reasoning +powers) to be put from his purpose either by a firm pressure of +logical authority, or the subtle and more dangerous means of +good-humoured or severe satire. My course was clearly to endeavour to +affect the form of his own reasoning, and, if possible, to invest it +with a character which might be recognised as true by the peculiar, +and, no doubt, morbid perceptions he possessed of moral truth. I began +by securing his eye, which I saw was, at times, inclined to wander, or +take on that unmeaning, dull, glazed aspect which people in the act of +brooding over intense sorrows--as if the optic nerves were thereby +paralysed--so often exhibit. + +"What train of mind are you in generally," said I, "when the wish to +die, accompanied with the fortitude you have mentioned, comes upon you +in its strongest form?" + +"I first fall into a state of low spirits," said he, "and then nae +effort I can use will tak my mind aff my dead wife. I think for whole +hours--sometimes on the hills, sometimes in the house, and sometimes +in my bed--of our courtship, our marriage, our happy life, and her +miserable, painful, untimely death. This feeds my sorrow, which grows +stronger, and descends deeper and deeper, till it reaches my brain, +and I am sunk in the darkness o' despair. To escape frae thoughts o' +past sorrows that are owre strong to be borne, I try to look forward +to the future; but, alas! I see naething there but the pain o' livin +for a number o' comfortless years o' auld age, draggin after me, a +memory clogged wi' past ills, and naething afore me but a jail, and +want, and lingerin death." + +"These are false views of life," said I--"overstrained and morbid. I +must teach you to think better. You have a daughter who will comfort +you, and whom you are bound to support and protect." + +"True, true," he cried; "I hae a dochter, and a better never +sacrificed her ain thochts and feelins to the comforts o' a faither. +The idea o' leavin her, young, faitherless, poor, and full o' sorrow, +in the midst o' a bad world, has before this" (lowering his voice) +"brought down that rebellious hand from this throat. But, alas for the +inconsistency and mutability o' man's fancies!--dearly as I love that +creature, and she is now my only comfort, my very affection for her +sometimes sinks me deeper into that sorrow which produces the dreadfu +purpose o' takin awa my ain life; for I think--oh! how weak is man's +proud reason, when the heart is broken wi' grief!--that an auld parent +under the ban o' poverty is a burden to a child. His death (so in +these unhappy moments do I think) relieves the unhappy bairn o' twa +evils--that o' toilin maybe in vain to support him, and that o' +witnessin age, decrepitude, pain, misery, and want, wringin frae his +shrivelled and diseased body groans o' agony, strikin the heart o' his +child wi' mair pain than would be caused by the knell o' his death." + +He now sank his face in the bedclothes, which he grasped with a +spasmodic hand, and groaned so deep and loud that the sounds might +have reached the passage. I again heard a noise from that quarter, as +if of stifled sighs and hysterical sobs. I was placed between the +groans of a father bent against his own judgment on self-destruction, +and the terrors and griefs of a daughter listening to the horrible +recital of her parent's designs against his life. The loneliness of +the house, and the solitude of the unhappy pair--with no one to aid +the young woman, in the event of any appalling extremity to which the +unnatural purpose of her father might drive him--struck me forcibly. I +had no recollection of ever experiencing a scene of grief so peculiar, +with such fearful and uncertain issues, so irremediable and +heart-stirring. The groans of the one and the sobs of the other seemed +to vie with each other in the effect they produced upon me; but, great +as the pain of the father was, the sufferings of the daughter, perhaps +as peculiar and touching as any that could be conceived, engaged to +the greatest extent my sympathy. It was my duty and wish to try to +remove the fundamental cause of all this suffering; and I waited the +end of the paroxysm of the father's sorrow in order to resume the +conversation. + +"These views," said I, as he calmed, "which you take of life, and its +duties and affections, are all false and distorted. It is our duty to +try to regulate our thoughts as well as our actions by some steady +supporting principle, which mankind have agreed in considering as +true, whether it be derived from the direct Word of God or from the +written tablets of the heart. The taking away of our life--originally +given to us as a trust, or imposed on us by the Author of all good, +for certain ends and purposes which are veiled from our view--is +undoubtedly in many respects, as regards God himself, ourselves, our +children, and our neighbours, a great, flagrant, horrible crime. It is +against the law of God, the law of our country, the organic law of our +physical constitution, and the moral law of our minds. It is indeed +the only act that can be mentioned that is against _all_ these. It +does not require me to tell you that suicide, with other murders, was +denounced by God himself, speaking in words that all mankind have +heard, from the 'thick cloud' that hung over Mount Sinai. You are, I +presume, a Christian, and the Sacred Book containing that denunciation +lies at your side; and yet you have made the dreadful confession to +me, that you have dared to meditate on the breaking, the despising, +the contemning of the command of Him who by less than a command--ay, +than even a word, by the lifting up of his finger--may consign you to +an eternity of agony, in comparison of which all the sorrow you now +suffer is less than a grain of sand to the sandbanks of the sea." + +"It is true, it is true!" replied the unhappy man. "I know, I _feel_ +that every word you have uttered is true, maist true and undeniable as +are the sentiments o' this holy book," grasping again the Bible; "but +can ye--wha, by the command o' books and education, can dive farther +into the nature o' the mind than ane like me--explain this mystery, +that, when my soul is filled wi' the darkness o' sorrow, and my +rebellious purpose o' self-murder whispers in my mind treachery and +war against God, thae truths ye hae uttered, for they hae occurred to +me before, tak flight like guid angels, and leave me to warsle wi' a +power that subdues me? It is then that I am in danger, and the hand +that has held up to my throat that fatal instrument I had under my +pillow, has the moment before been lifted up vainly in prayer to God, +to throw owre my mind the light o' thae grand truths. What avails it, +then, that there are times when I love them, and am guided by them, +and thank Heaven for the precious gift o' knowin, feelin, and +appreciatin them, if there are other moments when they flee frae me, +and I am left powerless in the grasp o' my enemy?" Pausing, and +falling again into a fit of dejection. "I fear, I fear the best o' us +are only the slaves o' some mysterious power. But"--starting up, as if +recollecting himself--"I put a question to you--answer me in the name +o' Heaven; for if I gie mysel up to the belief o' an all-powerful +necessity, I am a lost man and a self-murderer." + +He was now clearly approaching a rock whereon many a gallant bark has +been shivered to atoms. Even healthy-minded men cannot look at the +question of the necessity of the will without staggering and reeling; +and hypochondriacs love to get drunk by inhaling the vapours of +mysticism that rise from it, destroying as they do all moral +responsibility, and concealing the vengeance of heaven and the terrors +of hell. It was necessary to lead him from this dangerous subject, +which it was clear he had been studying and dreaming about, with all +that love of subtlety and mysticism which melancholy generates. + +"No sensible man," said I, "believes in the absolute necessity of the +will. After the will is fixed, the liberty is already exercised, and +there is indeed _no will_ in the mind at all, until it takes the form +of an active, moving, propelling principle. But these are abstruse +fancies, which you must fly, if you wish to possess a healthy mind. +Sorrow, or any other feeling of pain, will extinguish while it lasts +the burning lights of principle or sentiment. The pain of the +amputation of a limb prevents, while it lasts, the natural working of +the mind; but _grief may be averted_, and the great healing secret of +that is, that the mind _must_ be occupied. Renounce all abstruse +thinking, all day-dreaming, all sorrowful remembering, all sentimental +musing--look upon application, exercise, work, as a duty and a +medicine, and I will answer for your expelling from your mind that +dreadful purpose that entails upon you misery, and disgraces the +nature of man." + +"Your advice is excellent," replied he, somewhat roused; "but, +unfortunately, I hae got the same frae my ain mind; and, what is mair, +I hae tried it--I hae tried it again and again;--the medicine is worth +nae mair to me than a bread pill. My efforts to exercise my mind, when +a fit o' sorrow presses upon it, only mak the sorrow the heavier, by +makin the mind less able to bear it. My soul is for ever bent on that +question o' the necessity o' the will which you despise and avoid. I +will, God is my witness, argue it with you, calmly and reasonably." + +"Unless you agree to renounce that question," said I, "I can do you no +good." + +"Then," replied he, with a groan, "I am left to Heaven and my +unavoidable fate. May God have mercy on my soul!" + +And he again relapsed into a fit of dejection, his head leaning on his +breast, and his eyes fixed on the bed. + +I could, I found, make no more of him that day, and my other +avocations required my departure. I told him I would call again, and +bring or send him some medicine. + +"It is an unnecessary waste o' your valuable time," he said, lifting +up his head, "to call again upon a wretch like me. I am much obliged +to you for advice; but the only medicine for me is--_death_." + +He pronounced the fearful word with an emphatic guttural tone, which +gave it a terrific effect. I opened the door to depart, and was +surprised to find that it would not go back sufficiently to allow me +to pass freely. The probable cause of the interruption flashed upon +my mind in an instant. Without speaking a word, I edged myself +through, and saw, lying at the back of the door, the body of the +unfortunate young woman, in a state of insensibility. I had presence +of mind enough not to carry her into the room where her father lay; +but, seeing the light of the kitchen at the further end of the long +gloomy passage, I snatched her up in my arms, and hastened with her +thither. Having laid her on a small truckle bed, whereon, I presume, +she usually slept, I found she was in a deep swoon; and, +notwithstanding that it was getting dark, and my time was expired, I +waited her recovery. As she lay before me, pale as a corpse, and as +I thought of the cause of her illness, and looked round in vain for +any one to give her assistance or consolation (the groans of her +father, which I indistinctly heard, being the only answer that would +have been given to a call for aid in a house more like a haunt for +ghosts and spectres than a residence for human beings), I felt the +impression of her peculiar misery pass over me, making me shudder as +if I had been seized with a fit of the ague. The frail, brittle +creature lying there, a victim of hysterics, fit only to be +cherished and guarded by a doting mother--placed in a large, empty, +gousty mansion--doomed to guard alone a suicide and a father, and, +perhaps, to wrestle with him through blood--her parent's blood!--for +the preservation of a remaining spark of a self-taken life! She at +length recovered, exhibiting the ordinary precursors of returning +consciousness--convulsive shiverings, rolling of the eyes, and +beating about with the hands. On perceiving me indistinctly, she +articulated-- + +"Death! death!--that was the word he spoke sae wildly.--Ah! I know it +now!--James H---- has lang tried to conceal it frae me; but I hae +discovered it at last. Can you save him, sir?--can you save the +faither o' her wha has scarcely anither freend on earth?" + +A flood of tears followed this ejaculation. She tore her hair like a +maniac. I tried everything in my power to pacify her; but terror had +completely mastered her weak nerves, and she shook as the successive +frightful images suggested by her situation passed through her excited +and still confused mind. + +"Is there no one in those parts," said I, "that can attend your +father, and assist you? Who is the James H---- you just now mentioned?" + +"He is my cousin," replied she. "He lived with us for some time; but +my father and he quarrelled about a _razor_, which he said James +wanted to steal from him. But I see it now. There was nae theft. +James, poor James, was innocent, and wanted to save him; but they +concealed it frae me, and my cousin was turned away." + +The mention of the word razor made me start. I had left the instrument +on the head of the drawers, and I had even now heard the wretched +man's groans. I hurried to the room, and entered softly. He was in a +fit of dejection, groaning, at intervals, deeply, like a man in bodily +pain. I took up the instrument without being noticed, and returned to +the kitchen. It was now almost dark. I had three miles to ride through +wild hill paths, and I heard some threatening indications of a +night-storm. The young woman was still lying on the couch, with her +terrors undiminished; but I could do nothing more for her, and to have +impressed her with the necessity of watching her parent would have +created additional alarm, without increasing her zeal in a cause that +concerned too nearly her own heart. I told her, therefore, that I +required to depart, and was in the act of leaving to go to the door, +when, in a paroxysm of terror, she started up, and seized me, +clutching me firmly, and crying loudly-- + +"Will you leave me alone wi' him in this house, and throughout the +dark night! He will do it when you are gone. Heaven preserve me frae +the sight o' a father's blood!" + +I tried to calm her, and to reason with her; but it was in vain. She +still clung to me; and I found myself necessitated either to use some +gentle force to detach myself from her grasp, or remain all night. I +adopted the former expedient, and rushing out, shut the door after me, +mounted my horse, and proceeded home. She had come out after me; for I +heard her cries for some time as I rode forward in the dark. + +Though soon out of sight of the house, I felt myself unconsciously +turning my head once or twice in the direction of the deserted +mansion. With all my efforts to think of some other subject--and my +own safety among these wild hills might have been sufficient to occupy +my attention--I could not, for some time, take my mind off the scene I +had witnessed, and the prospective misery that, in such different +forms, waited these two individuals. When I had gone about a mile and +a-half on my journey, I was accosted by a man, who asked me familiarly +how George B---- was. I recognised in him at once the individual who +had asked me to call for him. I told him that he was well enough in +his body, but had taken some wild and distorted views of life, which +might place him in danger of his own hands, while there was nobody in +the house to watch him but his daughter, who did not seem to me to be +well fitted for the task, seeing she was weakly, hysterical, and +timid. He told me he knew all I had stated; that his name was James +H----; that he was a cousin of the young woman's, George B---- having +been married on his mother's sister; that he had resided in the house, +and had discovered the tendency of his uncle's mind; and that, on one +occasion, he had snatched out of his hands a razor with which he +intended to destroy himself--an act for which he was expelled the +house, though he was the acknowledged suitor of the young woman, whom +he intended to wed. I told him he should marry her, protect her, and +save the father; but he replied that the old man would neither allow +him to live in the house, nor take his daughter from him; so that she +was compelled to remain in the dreadful condition in which I had found +her. I told him to call upon me next day, and proceeded homewards. + +Before James H---- called, which he did about two o'clock, I revolved +in my mind what should be done for the unfortunate man. I recollected +that, in a conversation I had with Dr D---- of Edinburgh, he told me +of a case of melancholy, and accompanying determination to commit +self-murder, which he had successfully treated by presenting to the +mind of the patient such horrific stories and narratives of men who +had taken their own lives, and suffered in their death inexpressible +agonies, and such shocking pictures of murders where the wretched +victims were brought back, by the hand of their offended Maker, from +the gates of death, with their consciences seared by the burning iron +of his vengeance, that the man got alarmed, was cured of his thirst +for his own blood, and never again spoke of self-destruction. I +resolved upon trying this expedient, and could not think of a better +book for my purpose than that extraordinary record of human vice and +suffering, the "Newgate Calendar." I fortunately possessed a copy, +with those fearfully graphic pictures, that suit so well, in their +coarse, half-caricatured, grotesque delineations, with the dreadful +narratives they are intended to illustrate. I picked out the most +fearful volume, that contained, at the same time, the greatest number +of attempted self-murders, where the victims were snatched from their +own chosen death, and, after their wounds were healed, devoted to that +pointed out by the law as due to their crimes. When James H---- called +in the afternoon, I gave him the volume, and requested him to hand it +to the patient's daughter, with directions to put it into the hands of +her father, as having been sent to him by me. He said he would take +the first opportunity of complying with my request. + +I had no visits to make that required my presence in that part of the +country for two or three days. On the second day after I had sent the +book, I had another call from James H----, who said that he had been +requested by the patient's daughter to return the volume, and to +request another one, which the patient desired, above all things, to +be sent to him that day. I accordingly sent him another volume, +although I did not know whether to augur well or ill from this +anxiety; but I was inclined to be of opinion that the symptom was an +auspicious one. Two days afterwards, the messenger called again, with +a repetition of his former request for another volume as soon as it +could be sent. I complied with it instantly; sending, however, on this +occasion, two--for I thought my medicine was operating beneficially, +and it was of that kind that could be of no use unless administered in +large doses, so, as it were, to surfeit and sicken the disease, and +force it, by paralysing its energies, to relinquish its grasp of the +patient's mind and body. + +Two days more having elapsed, I felt anxious to ascertain the effect +of my moral _emetocathartics_, and set out on the special errand of +visiting my patient. The house, as I approached, exhibited the same +still, dead-like aspect it possessed on my first visit. On knocking at +the door, it was opened timidly and slowly by the daughter, who +appeared to be paler, more sorrow-stricken, more weak and irritable, +than on the occasion of my former visit. Her eye exhibited that +terrorstruck look which nervous people, kept on the rack of a fearful +apprehension, so often exhibit. Her voice was low, monotonous, and +weak, as if she had been exhausted by mental anxiety, watching, and +care. There was still no one in the house but her and her father; the +same stillness reigned everywhere--the same air of dejection--the same +goustiness in the large empty dwelling. On asking her how her father +was, she replied, mournfully, that he had scarcely ever been out of +his bed since my last visit; that he lay, night and day, reading the +books I had sent him; that he had eaten very little meat, and had +fallen several times into dreadful fits of groaning, and talking to +himself. She added that he felt, at times, disinclined to see her; but +at others, his affection for her rose to such a height, that he flung +his arms about her neck, and wept like a child on her bosom. She had +proposed to him, she said, to bring some person into the house; but he +got into a violent rage when she mentioned it, and said he would expel +the first intruder, whether man or woman. She had therefore been +compelled to remain alone. She had lain at the back of his room-door +every night, watching his motions, whereby, in addition to her grief, +she had caught a violent rheumatism, which had stricken into her +bones. When, for a short time, she had gone to sleep, she was awakened +by terrific dreams and nightmares, which made her cry aloud for help, +and exposed the situation she had taken, for the purpose of watching +her parent, and defeating his purpose of self-murder. + +I proceeded to the patient's room. When I entered, which I did softly, +I found him lying in bed, with his head, as formerly, bound up in a +handkerchief; a volume of the "Newgate Calendar" lying on his breast. +So occupied was he with his enjoyment of this _morceau_ of horrors, +that he did not notice my entry or approach to his bedside. I stood +and gazed at him. He had finished the page that was open before +him--exhibiting John Torrance, the blacksmith of Hockley. His eye +rested at least five minutes on this horrific picture; and, as he +continued his rapt gaze, he drew deep sighs--his breast heaving with +great force, as if to throw off an unbearable load. He turned the +page, and noticed me. + +"You are very intent upon that book," said I. "I hope it _interests_ +you." + +"Yes," replied he. "My mind has been dead or entranced for a year. +This is the only thing in the world I have met wi' during my sorrow +capable o' putting life into my soul. It seems as if all the energies +that have been lying useless for that period had risen at the magic +power o' this wonderfu book, to pour their collected strength upon its +pages." + +"Then it has served its end," said I, doubting greatly the truth of my +own statement. "I sent it for the purpose of entertaining you--that +is--interesting you." + +"Entertaining me!" he ejaculated. "You mean, binding my soul wi' iron +bands: my heart now loves the misery it formerly loathed. But, sir, I +am not _fed_ with this food. I devour it wi' a false and ravenous +appetite; and were there a thousand volumes, I think I could read +them a' before I broke bread or closed an ee." + +He rolled out these words with a volubility and an enthusiasm that +surprised me. It was clear that I had poisoned the mind of this poor +man. I had stimulated and partly fed his appetite for horrors. +Familiarity with fearful objects kills the terror, and sometimes +raises in its place a morbid affection--a fact established in France +at the end of the last century by an empirical test of a horrific +character, but which no knowledge of man's mind could have dreamed of +_a priori_. Why had I forgotten this matter of history, and allowed +myself to be led astray by vain theories and partial experiments? What +was I now to do? The man's appetite for the bloody narratives was so +strong, that, even while I was thus cogitating, his greedy eye had +again sought the page. It was necessary that I should conceal from him +my apprehensions, and take up his words on a feigned construction. + +"This kind of reading," said I, "interests you, I presume, because it +fills your mind with a salutary disgust and terror--makes you loathe +the act of the suicide--and mans your soul against the hateful purpose +you entertained against your own life." + +He looked to the door, and beckoned to me to see if it was shut. I +went and satisfied him that it was, while I was myself assured that +she whom he was so anxious to deceive was again at her post behind it. + +"You ask me," he continued, "if this book has disgusted or terrified +me against my purpose o' deein. Are we disgusted and terrified at what +we love? I hae seen the day when thae stories had sma' attraction for +me. But, alas! alas! I am a changed--a fearfully changed man. My soul +now gloats owre tales o' crime and scenes o' blood. To me there is an +interest, an indescribable, mysterious interest in this book, beyond +the charm o' the miser's wealth, or the bridegroom's bride--ay, sir, +or what I ance thocht was in life to the deein sinner. It is a +medicine; but"--pausing, and eyeing me sorrowfully--"do you mean it to +_kill_ or _cure_?" + +"To save you from self-destruction," said I--"the most fearful and the +most cowardly of all the terminations of human life." + +"If you could keep me readin this _for ever_," he said, "yer object +would be served." + +"I can give you no more of it," said I, conscious that, by indulging +his morbid appetite for blood, I had been leading him to his ruin. + +"Then I must read thae volumes owre, and owre, and owre again," said +he; "and when I hae dune, I hae naething mair to interest me in this +dark, bleak warld." + +He fell now into one of his fits of dejection, assuming his accustomed +attitude of folding his hands over his breast, and fixing his eyes on +the bed, while deep sighs and groans were thrown from his heaving +breast. It was necessary, I now saw, to take from him the book which +had produced an effect the very opposite of what I had intended and +expected. I took it up and placed it beside the other volume that was +lying on a side-table, with a view to take them away with me--blaming +myself sorely and deservedly for the injury I had done by +experimenting so rashly on the life and eternal interests of a human +being. As I moved away the volume, he observed me, and followed it +wistfully and sorrowfully with his eye. + +"Ye hae dune weel," he said--"ye hae whetted my appetite for my ain +life; and it matters naething that the whetter and the whet-stane are +taen awa when they're nae mair needed!" + +I felt keenly the reproach, for it was just. I might have taken credit +for a good intention; but my sympathy for the wretched being +restrained any wish I had to defend myself I endeavoured to change +the subject of our conversation, and turn his mind to a subject which +I knew engaged his interests and feelings more than anything else on +earth. + +"Your daughter," said I, "is unwell. She seems to be miserable. I know +a change upon her both in mind and body, since I called here only a +few days ago. Her body is thin and emaciated, her cheek is blanched, +and her eye dimmed. These signs do not visit the young frame for +nothing. I fear she has heard of the deadly intention you still +persist in entertaining--to take away your own life. It is clear to me +that her sickly constitution cannot long stand against a terror and an +apprehension which even the aged and the strong cannot endure without +grievous injury to all the faculties of the body and mind. Sir, take +heed"--pausing and looking at him seriously and impressively--"you may +become _a daughter's murderer_ before your _cowardly_ courage enables +you to become _your own_!" + +"Hold, sir!--hold!" cried the roused man. "You now speak daggers to +me! I could hae borne this when you were here last; but ye hae +unmanned me--ye hae made me familiar wi' him, the king o' terrors, wha +waits for me. I know him in his worst shapes. He is nae langer hideous +to me; and, being his friend, I canna be my dochter's faither and +guardian! Why cam you here to revive a struggle that was past? My mind +was made up. Owre the pages o' that book, my resolution was fixed; now +you wad re-resolve me back to my doubt, my pain, my insufferable +agony, by bringin up into my mind the tender image o' a sufferin, +sorrowin, starvin dochter. My Margaret--my Margaret!--her mother's +image--the pledge o' a love dearer than life----" + +The door opened, and the young woman, who had been listening at the +back of it, rushed in and flung herself on the bosom of the agonised +man. + +"O father!" she cried, "I ken everything. Yer dreadfu purpose has been +revealed to me. Ye intend to tak awa yer ain life, which my mother, +yer beloved Agnes, on her death-bed, bade ye preserve for my sake. But +ye canna do that without takin also mine. Yer death will be my death. +I hae already seen yer bleedin body in my dreams--the image haunts me +like a spirit, and leaves me nae rest. The doctor says true--ye will +kill me before yer dreadfu purpose is fulfilled; but if, in God's +will, I should be left when ye are awa, wha is to guard me, wha is to +comfort me--without freends, without means, and without health?" + +The scene now presented to me transcended anything I had ever seen +during my long intercourse with suffering humanity. The excited girl +clung with a firm grasp to the neck of her parent, and sobbed +intensely; while he, struggling to be liberated, and holding away his +face to the back of the bed, groaned and appealed for relief in +broken, guttural, half-choked aspirations to Heaven. I saw his eyes +turned to the throne of mercy, and big tears rolled down his rugged +cheeks. In my anxiety to aid this struggle, and assist him to the +return to his natural love of life and duty to his God, I was afraid +to interfere with the sacred service of a bursting heart, turned in +its agony to the only source of consolation and healing virtue; while, +if I allowed this opportunity to escape, I might not have another for +adding a mortal's means and energies (sometimes God's instruments) to +the workings of nature, and the silent but powerful voice of religion +speaking from the innermost recesses of his moral constitution. + +"This is nature and truth," said I, after a pause--"powers a thousand +times stronger than the brain-sick fancies of a diseased mind. It is +the voice of God himself, sounding through the heart, and, like the +electric energy, heaving it with convulsive throes, as if to cast +forth from it the impious daring and unnatural purpose you have +cherished in it so long that no lesser power will expel it. I rejoice +in these throes; cherish them and aid them, for they are the +expulsers of poison that, having got into your blood, and reached the +heart, the seat of life, madly stimulates it to self-destruction. This +is the time--here is the vantage-ground of a return to all that is +right, true, and good, from cowardice, cruelty, irreligion, and even +rebellion against God!" + +"Listen to him--listen to him!" cried the young woman, still sobbing. +"Hear thae words o' truth, for they are sent from Heaven. Receive them +into your heart, and it will be changed, and I will live to see my +father enjoy life and be happy." + +"_When?_" groaned the miserable man, satirically, as if roused by the +sound of the distasteful word "happy." "When I am sittin at the window +o' a prison, thinkin o' my dead Agnes, and lookin at the red settin o' +my sixty-fifth sun?" + +These words showed that the struggle had been ineffectual. Released +from the grasp of his daughter, who sat at the side of the bed, he +doggedly and sternly folded his arms, and relapsed into a silent fit +of dejection. No effort would make him open his lips. There seemed to +be no principle of reaction in his moral economy; all was penetrated +by a fatal lethargy, which closed up every issue, broke every spring +of living thought, feeling, or motion. My professional knowledge was +entirely useless, my personal services unavailing. I called to him +loudly to answer me, and got no reply but deep groans. I even shook +him roughly, and tried to bend his head to his weeping daughter. My +efforts were quickened by a sense that bore in upon me with fearful +strength and importunity, that I had, by experimenting on his mind, +and filling it with images of horror, increased the disease I intended +to cure. Pained beyond measure, I was anxious to redeem my fault and +correct my error by getting him again engaged in conversation, whereby +I might have a last opportunity of drawing him into a train of thought +which might lead to a sense of his awful condition, and a prospect of +escaping from its present misery, and its horrible consequences. But +my medicine had operated too powerfully. There he sat, unmoved, +immoveable--a sad and melancholy victim of the worst species of +hypochondria--that which exhibits as one of its pathognomonic +symptoms, the desire, the determination, persevered in through all +difficulties, all oppositions, all wiles and schemes, to commit +self-murder. + +I waited for a considerable period, standing at the side of his bed, +to see if he would exhibit any signs of returning moral vitality: but +in vain. My other pressing avocations demanded imperiously my presence +in quarters where I could be of more service. The daughter was herself +buried in despondency, her face being hid in her hands, and broken +ejaculations escaping from her lips. I took up the book which had +produced so much harm, and whispered lowly in her ear, to request +James H---- to call for me next day. At the sound of this name she +started, and looked up wildly. I was afraid I might have to encounter +another scene like that I had witnessed on the occasion of my last +departure. I therefore hurried away, giving her no time to reply, +where conversation was apparently useless. My intention was to try and +devise some means of introducing a person into the house--though +against the determined will of the father--to guard him and assist the +daughter; but that could only be done through the medium of the +messenger who went between me and the young woman. + +When I had got some distance from the house, I could not resist the +feeling that on the occasion of my prior visit compelled me to look +back upon this miserable dwelling. I had seen diseases of all kinds +grinding the feelings of unhappy man; but in the worst of them there +is some principle, either of resistance or resignation, that comes to +the aid of the sufferer, and enables him to pass the ordeal, whether +for life or death. The duty he is called upon to perform is to +_bear_; for no man I ever yet saw on a sick-bed can get quit of the +thought--however much he may try to philosophise about physical +causes, or to conceal his sense of a divine influence--that he is +placed there by a superior Hand _for the very purpose of suffering_, +with a view to some end that is veiled from his eye. Every pang, +therefore, that is borne carries with it, or leaves after it, some +feeling of necessity to _bear_, and a satisfaction of having endured, +and to a certain extent obeyed, the behest of Him that sent it. In +many, this feeling is strong and decided, yielding comfort and +consolation when no other power could have any effect; and though in +others it may be less discernible--being often denied by the patients +themselves, and attempted to be laughed at and scorned--it is, I +assert, still there, silently working its progress in the heart, and +spreading its balm even against the sufferer's own rebellious will. +But the case of the suicide is left purposely by Him against whose law +and authority the unholy purpose is directed, in a solitary condition +of unmitigated horror; for the desire to get quit of pain--the +inheritance of mortals--is itself the very exclusion of that +resignation which is its legitimate antidote, while the devoted +victim, obeying a necessity that forces him to eschew a misery he is +not noble-minded enough to bear, not only has _no good_ in view, but +is conscious that he is flying _from_ evil, _through_ evil, _to_ evil; +so that from behind, around him, within him, before him--wherever he +casts his eye--there is nothing but darkness, pain, and utter +desolation. To complete the scene--there is, perhaps, no living +_natural_ evil more peculiar and acute, and less capable of generating +resistance or resignation, than the rack of apprehension and terror of +an only daughter watching, alone and unaided, the issues of a purpose +that is, in all likelihood, to force her through the energies of the +strongest instinct--filial affection--to stop, with her trembling +hands, the flow of a father's life-blood. Yet all this evil, this +misery, was to be found in that house, standing alone in the midst of +these bleak hills, like a temple dedicated to sorrow. + +Next day James H---- called upon me, having seen the young woman, +unknown to the father, on the previous night, and received from her +the instructions I left for him. He saw himself the necessity of +something being done towards the amelioration of the condition of the +two unhappy individuals; but he acknowledged the difficulty of +effecting it. He perceived (what was true) that, if any watch were set +over his uncle, it might only make certain that which at present was +doubtful; that the watchman could only proceed on the principle that +he was mad, and bind him, or confine him, or otherwise treat him as +insane; and that, besides, he knew no one who, without pay (and there +was no money), would undertake so unpleasant a duty, which might last +for weeks, or months, or even years. No concealed surveillance could +be kept over him; for he suspected in an instant the object of any one +visiting him, and had ordered one or two individuals, who had come +from a distance to call for him, out of the house, suspecting (such is +the way of all his unhappy tribe) that they came for the purpose of +observing his motions. The difficulty was greatly owing to the lonely +position of the house: the cloak of friendly intercourse might have +covered the frequent visits of near neighbours; but there were none +such--for the nearest house was two miles off; and as for relations, +they were in another part of the country, distant in locality as well +as blood. + +The case was hedged with difficulties. Violent diseases require strong +remedies. I recollected that James H---- said, on a former occasion, +that he was the suitor of the young woman, and wished to wed her. I +came to a resolution on the instant--firm, decided, and sound. I told +him that, if he wished to save the father and the daughter, he must +accelerate his intended marriage with the latter, even in the midst of +the unfortunate circumstances in which she was placed, and under the +unfavourable auspices of an event of joy being shadowed with a cloud +of sorrow. This would give him a claim on the daughter; and if the old +man would not permit his son-in-law to remain in the house, and assist +him as formerly with the labours of his land, he could threaten to +take her from him altogether--a threat that would not, in all +likelihood, fail to make him consent to his becoming an inmate in the +house. The young man was pleased with an advice that quadrated with +his wishes, and left me, to consult with some other friends on the +propriety of instantly following it. + +I heard the banns proclaimed next Sunday in the parish church, and was +somewhat surprised at the rapidity with which my advice had been +adopted, and the plan put into execution. The intelligence was +promptly communicated to me by the bridegroom himself, who informed me +also that the fact of the proclamation of the banns had been +communicated to his uncle, who had expressed himself strongly against +the match. He had, in fact, taken up a strong prejudice against his +nephew, in consequence of the latter's interference with his purpose +of self-immolation. He had never allowed the young man to come near +him since the day on which he had taken the razor out of his hands by +force; and the intelligence that he was to marry his daughter, and +deprive him of her society, roused him to fury. He denounced the +union, and said that it added another drop of bitterness to the cup of +his misery, which was already overflowing. I told the young man that +the anger into which his uncle had been thrown would, in all +likelihood, do him more good than harm: it might stimulate a mind, +dead or dormant, from the effects of brooding over imaginary evils, +which produced ten times more self-murders than the real misfortunes +of life. He told me the marriage would not, on account of his uncle's +anger, be put off; that it was fixed for the 15th of the month, and +would be celebrated in private. I informed him that I required to go +to a distant part of the country, and could not, for some time, see +his uncle, and that he must endeavour, by all means, to support and +comfort the unhappy bride in her watchful care over her unfortunate +father, who, according to his account, was still under the cloud from +which he threatened every instant to draw down the lightning that was +to strike him to death. + +When I returned from my journey, I called again upon the unfortunate +man, in the hope of finding some amelioration in his condition, as +well as that of his daughter. I found him still in bed, though he had +been up and out on several occasions since I visited him. I saw no +signs of improvement. I endeavoured to get him engaged in a +conversation about his own condition; but I saw that, in place of +being fond of dwelling on the state of his mind, talking of his +sorrows, and contemplating the purpose he entertained against his +existence, he showed an utter repugnance to the subject, having become +perfectly taciturn, sullen, and morose, giving me monosyllables for +answers, and sometimes not deigning even to show that he attended to +me, or understood me. The only thing that seemed to interest him was +his daughter's marriage--looking dark and gloomy when the subject was +broached, and muttering indistinct words of reproach and anger. The +condition of his daughter was changed; but it was only a new form of +anguish. Some days previous, she had observed him with another razor +in his hand; but he had secreted it somewhere, and all her efforts had +as yet been ineffectual to get it. Her watch had therefore been more +unremitting--her apprehensions were increased, while her strength was +greatly diminished. She was reduced to a shadow; the pale skin that +covered her face seemed to be in contact with the bones; while her +eyes burned with fever and excitement. Yet _her marriage_ was fixed to +take place two or three days after! She could not avoid it; she had +pledged her word, and her father's safety depended in a great degree +upon it. She could bear her condition no longer--all her powers of +suffering were worn out; and if her father would not permit her +husband to remain in the house, she would, she said, allow the latter +to exercise what authority he pleased, in endeavouring, by force, to +save his father-in-law and his wife from the ruin that seemed to await +them. The gloom that enveloped her mind was deepened by the contrast +of the light of a happiness she had long sighed for, now changed into +a refinement of peculiar pain. She shuddered when she thought of her +marriage with the man she loved, and feared that the power of Heaven +would fall on her, for presuming to bring joy into the chamber of +mourning, if not death. As she spoke, tears moistened her burning eye, +and ran down her thin, pallid cheeks. She wished the ceremony over, as +an evil to be endured, and then fate must take its course, though she +feared the termination would be miserable, as well for her father as +for her. His life was hanging by a thread; hers was worn out by +watching, fainting, and suffering, till it was on the very eve of +leaving the body, which was no longer able to support or contain it. +These were the misfortunes in the inside of the house; but there were +others without-doors. The landlord had sequestrated the stock +belonging to her father--a circumstance that had plunged him deeper in +his despondency and misery, and explained the very altered state in +which I had found him. The attorney, a hard man, _laughed_ at the +_device_ of threatened self-murder, resorted to for the purpose of +exciting his sympathy, and robbing his client's pocket. + +"Yes," she concluded, "he _laughed_"--and she repeated the word +"laughed" with a hysterical action of the throat, as if it choked her, +and next moment burst into tears. + +Two days afterwards, a man on horseback arrived at my door, and rapped +with great violence; his horse was heated, and foaming at the mouth, +as if it had been hard pressed, and he himself was flushed and +excited. He told me, in a hurried manner, that I was wanted instantly +at George B----'s; he had been sent to me by another man, and could +tell me nothing beyond the fact that something very alarming had taken +place, and that, if I did not hasten thither on the instant, and with +my very greatest speed, I could be of no use. I took with me what I +conceived might be wanted, for my suspicions were more communicative +than the messenger, and proceeded, with all the expedition in my +power, to the house where I had lately seen so much suffering. + +On my entering the house, a most extraordinary spectacle presented +itself. On the small truckle-bed that stood opposite the door in the +kitchen lay a female figure, dressed in white, with both her hands +wrapped up in cloth, from which issues of blood rolled on the bed; and +her face, not less pale than her dress, was spotted and besmeared with +the same element. It was Margaret B---- in her _marriage dress_. A +young woman, her bridesmaid, was beside her, looking in her face as if +to see whether life was still in her body. A young man, also dressed +as if for the marriage, hurried me to the apartment of George B----, +where a scene not less awful was presented to me. The unhappy man was +lying in the middle of the floor, on his back, with his throat cut, +and James H----, in his bridegroom clothes, was bending over him, with +his hands busily occupied in stanching a wound that would have let out +ten lives, if he had had as many to destroy; the floor was literally +swimming in blood, and on a chair in the corner of the room lay the +fatal instrument, still open. My services were useless: the man was +dead; his attendants were engaged in stopping blood already curdled +with death. I hurried to the patient that was still living. She had +lost almost the whole blood of her body, and it was difficult to +detect in her any symptoms of life. I unloosed the cloths from her +hands; they were cut in a fearful manner--the blade of the razor, +which she had, in her struggles with her parent, endeavoured to wrest +from him, having been _whisked_ through them when hard clenched. No +one had been in the house; her marriage-dress was still +incomplete--her bosom bare, and her head uncovered; a proof that she +had been called from the mirror wherein she saw a half-dressed bride, +to see a father kill himself by his own hand against her efforts to +save him. Her screams were heard by the bridesmaid and bridegroom, as +they approached the house; but, before they entered, the struggle was +nearly over; they found her bending over the body of her father, which +lay on the floor, grasping the open wound with her hands. So spoke the +attendants as I dressed the wounds. I took up several arteries; but +there was one in the left wrist which, for a long period, defied my +efforts, unassisted as I was with professional aid, to stem its +torrent. I succeeded at last--so, at least, I thought--in my +endeavours to stop all the issues. Vain thought! _Death_ had stopped +them! + +This was the first time I had seen a _dead bride_. + + + + +THE GHOST OF HOWDYCRAIGS. + + "_They_ gather round, and wonder at the tale + Of horrid apparition, tall and ghastly."--BLAIR. + + +After all that has been written, printed, and circulated, in the way +of "Statistical Accounts," "Topographical Descriptions," "Guides to +Picturesque Scenery," &c., there are still large tracts of country in +Scotland of which comparatively little is known. While certain +districts have risen, all at once, into notoriety, and occupied for a +time the efforts of the press and the attention of the public, there +are others, perhaps little inferior to them in point of scenery, +through which no traveller has passed, no writer drawn his pen, and +upon which no printer has inked his types. Among other neglected +regions, the Ochil Hills may be mentioned--at least the eastern part +of them. These, so far as we know, have not been fruitful of battles, +and consequently the historian has had nothing to say concerning them. +They are traversed by few roads; the few that do exist are nearly +impassable, except to pedestrians of a daring disposition; and the +novelist, never having seen them, has not thought of making them the +home of his imaginary heroes. They have given birth to no poet of +eminence--none such has condescended to celebrate them in his songs; +and, except to the few scattered inhabitants who nestle in their +hollows, they are nearly unknown. + +This, however, is not the fault of the hills themselves, but of the +circumstances just alluded to; for here heroes might have found a +field on which to spill whole seas of blood; novelists might have +found all the variation of hill, valley, rock, and stream, with which +they usually ornament their pages; and Ossian himself, had it been his +fortune to travel in the district, might have found "grey mist" and +"brown heath" to his heart's content, and, in the proper season, as +much snow as would have served to deck out at least half-a-dozen +"Morvens" in their winter coat. These hills, on the east and south, +rise from the adjoining country by a gradual slope, surmounted, in +some instances, by thriving plantations, while, in others, the plough +and harrow have reached what appears to be their summit. On the north, +they are terminated by a rocky front, which runs nearly parallel to +the river Tay, and afterwards to the Earn, thus forming the southern +boundary of Strathearn, which is perhaps one of the most fertile +districts in Scotland. The elevation on this side is partly composed +of the rocky front just mentioned; partly of a cultivated slope at its +base; and partly of a green acclivity above, which, when seen from the +plain below, seems to crown the whole, while it conceals from the eye +those barren altitudes and dreary regions which lie behind. But, after +having surmounted this barrier, the prospect which then opens may be +regarded as a miniature picture of those more lofty mountain-ranges +which are to be found in other parts of the island. Here the ground +again declines a little, forming a sort of shoulder upon the ascent, +as if the Great Architect of nature had intended thereby to secure the +foundation of the superstructure which he was about to rear above. It +then rises into frowning eminences, on which nothing seems to vegetate +except coarse heath, a few stunted whin-bushes, and, here and there, +an _astrogalus_, a _lotus carniculatus_; or a white _orchus_. Those, +however, with the exception of the first, are too scanty to produce +any effect upon the colouring of the landscape; and the whole looks +withered, brown, and, in some instances, even black, in the distance. +But, on passing these barren altitudes, or on penetrating one of the +gorges by which the central district communicates with the country +around, and of which there are several, the eye is saluted with +extensive tracts of plantation--some composed of the light-green +larch, others of the sombre-looking Scottish pine; and, where the soil +is more favourable to the growth of corn, portions of cultivated land, +interspersed with streams, giving a fresher green to their banks, +clumps of trees standing in sheltered positions, and the isolated +habitations of men. + +The last of these may be said to constitute a sort of _little world_, +enclosed by a mountain rampart of its own--holding little or no +communication with the great world without; and consequently escaping +all the contamination which such intercourse is supposed to imply. +But, if its inhabitants had escaped the contamination, it were +reasonable to infer that they had missed that stimulus which mind +derives from mind, when brought into close contact; and also many of +those improvements and more correct modes of thinking which almost +every passing year brings forth. In such a region, children must +travel far for education; and men, not unfrequently, live and die in +the prejudices in which they were nursed. To conclude this imperfect +sketch, it may be observed that the scenery of these hills is bleak, +rather than bold; barren, rather than wild; and though some parts of +them possess a sort of dreary interest, in general they can lay no +claim to that quality which has been denominated the _sublime_. + +The particular district of Fifeshire in which the following incidents +occurred lies between the villages of Strathmiglo and Auchtermuchty on +the south, and those of Newburgh and Abernethy on the north. From the +last of these places, which is still known as the metropolis of the +ancient Pictish empire, a deep and narrow gorge, called _Abernethy +Glen_, stretches southward amongst the Ochils for more than a mile. On +leaving the open fertile country below, and getting into this pass, +the contrast is striking. In some places the footpath winds along the +face of a bank so steep, that, but for the circumstance of its being +composed of earth, it might have almost been termed a precipice; and +here, if the passenger should miss his footing, it would be nearly +impossible for him to stop himself till he reached the bottom, in +which a turbulent stream brawls and foams over rocks and stones, +disturbing the silence and the solitude of the place with sounds which +have a tendency to inspire feelings of superstitious fears. The scene, +from its nature and situation, appears to be well suited for those +transactions which, according to popular brief, "surpass Nature's +law;" and it has been regarded as the favourite haunt of _witches_, +_fairies_, _ghosts_, and other mysterious beings, from time +immemorial. Numbers of the inhabitants of the village below had been +scared, in their nocturnal rambles, by the orgies of these uncouth +neighbours; many a belated traveller had seen strange sights, and +heard stranger sounds, in this haunted dell; many a luckless lad, in +journeying through it, to see the mistress of his heart, had met such +adventures as to drive love nearly out of his head for whole weeks to +come; and even maids, upon whom the sun went down in the dangerous +pass, had seen things at the mention of which they shook their heads, +and seemed unable to speak. Nor were there awanting instances of +individuals who, in returning at the "witching time of night" from a +delightful interview, in the course of which the marriage-day was +settled, had been so terrified that they forgot every word of what had +been said; and, when the minister and the marriage-guests arrived, +behold they were found in the barn or in the field, or, what was +worse, they had gone upon a journey, and were not to be found at all. +Those of the villagers who had not seen and heard of these unearthly +doings for themselves, had been told of them by their mothers and +grandmothers; and thus one generation after another went forth into +the world completely armed against sceptics and unbelievers of all +sorts. If any one ventured to doubt the veracity of these statements, +or to call in question the cogency of the arguments by which they +supported them, they had only to appeal to the testimony of their +fathers and grandfathers, their mothers and grandmothers, and the most +sceptical were convinced at once. No man durst venture to cast the +shadow of a doubt upon such incontrovertible evidence, because to have +done so would have been to implicate their relations in the charge of +speaking beside the truth, and these, they said, "were decent, +respectable folk, and never kenned for lee'rs in their lives." + +In this metropolis, and near the scene of these memorable events, +Nelly Kilgour was born--the exact date of her birth we do not pretend +to determine, though it must have been some time in the eighteenth +century--and had lived, running about, going to school, and serving +sundry of the lieges who were indwellers thereof, till she had arrived +at years of discretion--in other words, till she had seen +three-and-thirty "summers," as a poet would say, and nearly the same +number of winters, as our reader may guess. It has been said that +there are three distinct questions which a woman naturally puts to +herself at three different periods of her life. The first is--"Who +will I take?"--a most important question, no doubt; and we may +reasonably suppose that it occurs about the time when the attentions +of the other sex first awaken her to a sense of her own charms, and +she is thus ready to look upon every one who smiles on her as a lover, +and every young fellow who contemplates her face while talking to her +as anxious to become her husband. The second question, which is +scarcely less important, is--"Who will I get?" and this, we may again +suppose, begins to be repeated seriously, after she has seen the same +individual smile upon half-a-dozen damsels on the same day, and after +she has learned that it is possible for an unmarried man to +contemplate her own fair face with the deepest interest, and converse +with her on the most interesting subjects on Monday morning, and then +go and do the same to another on Tuesday evening. But the last, and +perhaps the most important, as it certainly is the most perplexing of +these questions, is--"_Will I get onybody ava?_" and this, there can +be little doubt, begins to force itself upon her attention, after the +smiles of her admirers have become so faint that they are no longer +able to climb over the nose; when, instead of talking of love, they +begin to yawn, and speak about the weather; in short, after she +becomes conscious that her charms are at a discount, and that those +who are coming up behind her are every day stealing away her +sweethearts. + +Through the whole of the previous stages Nelly Kilgour had passed; and +she had now arrived at this important question, which, as has been +just said, is the last a woman can put to herself. She had seen her +admirers, one after another, come and look in her face, and continue +their visits, their smiles, and their conversation for a season, and +then go away and leave her, as if they had got nothing else to do. She +had spent a considerable portion of her life, as has been already +observed, in serving the lieges in and about the place of her +nativity--to no purpose, as it appeared; at least, in so far as the +getting of the husband was concerned, nothing had been effected. The +proper season for securing this desideratum of the female world was +fast wearing away; something, she saw, must of necessity be done; and, +thinking that women, like some other commodities, might sell better at +a distance than at home, she engaged herself as a servant on the +little farm of _Howdycraigs_--a place situated among that portion of +the Ochils already noticed. + +When she entered upon this engagement, which was to last for a year, +she was spoken of as "a weel _reikit_ lass"--the meaning of which +phrase is, that she had already provided what was considered a +woman's part of the furnishing of a house; and some of the sober +matrons "wondered what had come owre a' the lads noo," and said, "they +were sure Nelly Kilgour wad mak a better wife than ony o' thae young +glaikit hizzies wha carried a' their reikin to the kirk on their back +ilka Sabbath." But, of Nelly's being made a wife, there was no +prospect; she was _three-and-thirty_; so far as was known, no lover +had ever ventured to throw himself upon his knees before her, begging +to be permitted to kiss her _foot_, and threatening, at the same time, +to _hang himself_, if she did not consent to be his better half; still +there was no appearance of any one doing so; and those who delighted +in tracing effects back to their proper causes, began to recollect +that her mother, "when she was a thoughtless lassie," had once given +some offence to one of the witches, who were accused of holding +nightly revels in the glen; and the witch, by way of retaliation, had +said, that "the bairn unborn would maybe hae cause to rue its mother's +impudence." Nelly had been born after this oracular saying was +uttered; and the aged dames who remembered it doubted not that this +was the true cause of her celibacy. And when they heard that she was +engaged to go to Howdycraigs at Martinmas, and that Jock Jervis was +engaged to go there also, they said that, "if it hadna been for the +witch's ill _wisses_, they were sure Nelly would mak baith a better +sweetheart and a better wife to Jock, than that licht-headed limmer, +Lizzy Gimmerton." + +From this the reader will perceive that Jock and Nelly were to be +fellow-servants; he was the only man, and she was the only woman--the +master and mistress excepted--about the place; and much of their time +was necessarily spent together. During the stormy days of winter, when +he was thrashing in the barn, she was employed in _shakin the strae_ +and _riddlin the corn_, which he had separated from the husks; and in +the long evenings, while she was washing the dishes, or engaged in +spinning, he sat by the fire telling stories about lads and lasses, +markets and tent-preachings, and sometimes he even sung a verse or two +of a song, to keep her from wearying. On these occasions, she would +tuck up the sleeves of her short-gown an inch or two beyond the +ordinary extent, or allow her neckerchief to sink a little lower than +usual, for the purpose, as is supposed, of showing him that she was +not destitute of charms, and that her arms and neck, where not exposed +to the weather, were as white as those of any lady in the land. In +such circumstances, Jock, who was really a lad of some spirit, could +not refrain from throwing his arms about her waist, and toozling her +for a kiss. This was, no doubt, the very reverse of what she had +anticipated; and to these unmannerly efforts on the part of the youth, +she never failed to offer a becoming resistance, by turning away her +head, to have the place threatened as far from the danger as +possible--raising her hand, and holding it between their faces, so as +to retard the progress of the enemy, at least for a time; and, lest +these defensive operations should be misunderstood, uttering some such +deprecatory sentence as the following:--"Hoot! haud awa, Jock! If ye +want a kiss, gang and kiss Lizzy Gimmerton, and let me mind my wark." +But it has been ascertained by the ablest engineers that the most +skilfully-constructed and most bravely-defended fortifications must +ultimately fall into the hands of a besieging army, if it be only +properly provided, and persevere in the attack. This theory is no +longer disputed, and the present case is one among a number of +instances in which its truth has been experimentally proved. Jock was +provided with a certain degree of strength, and a most laudable +portion of perseverance in these matters, and, in spite of all the +resistance which Nelly could offer, he was in general triumphant; +after which she could only sigh and look down, as she threatened him +with some terrible vengeance, such as--"makin his parritch without +saut," or "giving him sour milk to his sowans at supper-time," or +doing something else which would seriously annoy him. At these +threatenings the victor only laughed, and not unfrequently, too, he +renewed the battle and repeated the offence, by robbing her of another +kiss. To reclaim him from these wicked ways, she could only repeat her +former threatenings--adding, perhaps, to their number anything new +which happened to come into her head; but then, like those mothers who +think threatening is enough, and who, by sparing the rod, sometimes +spoil the child, she always forgot to inflict the punishment when the +opportunity for doing so occurred; and Jock, as a natural consequence +of this remissness on the part of the _executive_, became hardened in +his transgressions. + +But, when not engaged in these battles, Jock was rather kind to Nelly +than otherwise; sometimes he assisted her with such parts of her work +as a man could perform; and sometimes, too, when the evening was wet +or stormy, to save her from going out, he would take her pitchers of +his own accord, and "bring in a raik o' water." This kindness Nelly +was careful to repay by mending his coat, darning his stockings, and +performing various other little services for him. When the faculty of +observation has few objects upon which to exercise itself, little +things become interesting; this interchange of good offices was soon +noticed by the wise women of the neighbourhood, and, as they knew of +only one cause from which such things could proceed, to that cause +they attributed them, making certain in their own minds that the whole +secret would, some day or other, be brought before the parish by the +session-clerk. Such was the general belief; and whether it was "the +birds of the air," as Solomon saith, or whether it was the beggars and +_chapmen_, occasionally quartered at Howdycraigs, who "carried the +matter," is of little importance; but in time the whole of the facts, +with the inferences drawn therefrom, reached Nelly's former +acquaintances, and then, for some reason which has never been +satisfactorily explained, they saw occasion entirely to alter their +previous opinion. Instead of saying, as they had done before, that +"Nelly _wud_ mak a guid wife to Jock--'_at she wud_," they now said, +that "Jock, wha was scarcely outgane nineteen, was owre young ever to +think o' marryin an auld hizzie o' three-and-thirty like her;" that +"the carryin o' the water, and the darnin o' the stockins, _wud_ a' +end in naething;" that "Jock _wud_ be far better without her;" and +when they recollected the implied malediction of the witch, they +considered that it was as impossible for her to be his wife, as it is +for potatoes to grow above ground; and concluded the discussion with a +pious wish "that she micht aye be keepit in the richt road." + +In the course of the winter, Jock had been absent for several +nights, during which he was understood to have braved the terrors of +witch, ghost, and fairy, in going to see Lizzie Gimmerton; but Nelly +took no further notice of the circumstance than by asking "if he had +seen naething about the glen." On these occasions he promptly denied +having been "near the glen;" and Nelly, whether she believed him or +not, was obliged to be satisfied. But this gave her an opportunity, +of which she never failed to avail herself, to give him a friendly +caution to "tak care o' himsel when he gaed that airt after it was +dark;" nor did she forget to assign a proper reason for her care +over him, by reminding him of as many of the supernatural sights +which had been seen in this region as she could remember. These +hints were not without their effect; for, as the spring, which was +said to be a particularly dangerous season, advanced, Jock's +nocturnal wanderings were nearly discontinued. But Abernethy Market, +which, time out of mind, had been held between the 20th and the 30th +of May, was now approaching, and to this important period the +parties in question looked forward with very different feelings. +_Markets_ have frequently changed the destinies of lads and lasses +in the same manner as _revolutions_ have sometimes changed the +dynasties of kings--the latter always aiming at subverting an +established government; the former is often the means of +overthrowing an empire in the heart; and, for these reasons, both +should be avoided by all who would wish to live at peace. Jock +looked forward to the pleasure which he should have in spending a +whole day with the peerless Lizzie Gimmerton--stuffing her pockets +with _sweeties_ and gingerbread, and paying innumerable compliments +to her beauty the while; and poor Nelly apprehended nothing less +than the loss of every particle of that influence which she had some +reason for supposing she now possessed over him. In this dilemma, +she resolved to accompany him to the scene of action, and there to +watch the revolutions of the wheel of fortune, if peradventure +anything in her favour might turn up. + +"Jock," said she, on the evening previous to the important day, "I'm +gaun wi' ye to the market, and ye maun gie me my market-fare." + +At this announcement Jock scratched his head, looked demure for a +little, and appeared as though he would have preferred solitude to +society in the proposed expedition. But he could find no excuse for +declining the honour thus intended him. He recollected, moreover, +that, as he had been the better for Nelly's care in time past, so her +future favour was essential to his future comfort, and that it would +be prejudicial in the last degree to his interest to offend her. After +having thought of these things, in a time infinitely shorter than that +in which they can be spoken of, Jock sagely determined to yield to +"necessity," which, according to the common proverb, "has no law." He +also determined to watch the revolutions of the wheel of fortune, in +the hope that his own case might come uppermost. But, for the present +putting on as good a grace as he could, "Aweel, aweel, Nelly," said +he, "I'll be unco glad o' your company; for to say, the truth, I dinna +like very weel to gang through the glen my lane. If it hadna been for +you, the feint a _fit_ would have been at my stockings langsyne; and +as ye aye darned them, and mendit the knees o' my breeks, and the +elbows o' my coat forby, it would be ill o' my pairt no to gie you +your market-fare. Sae we can e'en gang thegither; and if we dinna lose +ither i' the thrang, I'll maybe get you to come owre the hill wi' at +nicht." + +"Mind noo ye've promised," said Nelly, highly pleased with the +reception her proposal had met;--"mind ye've promised to come hame wi' +me; and there's no ane in a' the warld I would like sae weel to come +hame wi' as our ain Jock." + +"I'll mind that," said Jock. But, notwithstanding what he said, he had +no intention of coming home with Nelly; his thoughts ran in another +direction; he had merely spoken of the thing because he fancied it +would _please_; the idea of her presence, as matters now stood, was +anything but agreeable to him; and he trusted to the chapter of +accidents for "losing her i' the thrang," as himself would have said, +and thus regaining his freedom. + +On the following day they journeyed together to the scene of popular +confusion--whiling away the time with such conversation as their +knowledge of courtships, marriages, births, baptisms, and burials, +could supply. Nelly frequently looked in Jock's face, to try if she +could read his thoughts; but somehow, in the present instance, his +eyes were either turned upon the ground, or seized with an unwonted +wandering. At one time he kept carefully examining the road, as though +he had lost a shilling; at another he surveyed the tops of the distant +hills with as much care as if he had been speculating upon their +heights and distances. And while these intelligencers were thus +employed, she could read but little; yet, nevertheless, his manner was +courteous; and in their conduct and conversation they exhibited a fine +specimen of that harmony which, in most instances, results from a wish +to please and to be pleased on the part of the female. + +On arriving at the market, Jock soon discovered the mistress of his +affections in the person of Lizzie Gimmerton. But, in the plenitude of +her power, and the extent of her dominion, she had become capricious, +as despotic sovereigns are very apt to do; and nettled, as it +appeared, at the long intervals which had lately occurred between the +times of his making obeisance at her throne, she had chosen another +sweetheart, whom she now dignified with the honour of leading her from +place to place, and showing her off to the admiring multitude. +Supported by this new minister, she seemed to pay no attention to the +smiles and sly winks with which Jock greeted her; but still he did not +despair of being the successful candidate, if he were only left at +liberty to offer the full amount of his devotion; and to this object +he now began to direct his thoughts. + +A certain chapman had displayed a number of necklaces, and other showy +trinkets of little value, upon his stand, which was thus the most +brilliantly-decorated of any in the market. This had drawn together a +crowd of purchasers, and other people, who were anxious to see the +sparkling wares. Men civilly pushed aside men, and maidens pushed +aside maidens, while each appeared eager to have a peep at some +particular article, or to learn the price thereof; and to this place +Jock drew Nelly, under pretence of giving her her market-fare from +among the gewgaws which it afforded. But, while she was looking about +for something which "she might wear for his sake," as she said, and +which, at the same time, would be an easy purchase, he contrived to +jostle rather rudely the people on both sides of him, making them +jostle those who stood next them, and those again perform the same +operation on others at a greater distance. This, as he had +anticipated, soon produced a universal hubbub; every one, to be +avenged for the insult or injury he had sustained, thrust his elbows +into the sides of such as he supposed were the aggressors. These were +not slow to retaliate. In a short time the innocent and the guilty +were involved in the same confusion; and, while the precious wares of +the packman, and the persons of his customers, were both in imminent +danger, Jock started off, leaving Nelly to make the best of her way +out of a bad bargain. He had now obtained his freedom; and in a +twinkling he was by the side of Lizzie Gimmerton, whom he found at +another stand, receiving the benediction of her new jo in the form of +a "pennyworth of _peppermint-drops_." + +"How are ye the day, Lizzie?" said he, in tones so tender, that he had +supposed they would melt any heart which was less hard than Clatchert +Craig. + +"No that ill, Jock," was the reply; "how are ye yersel? and how's +Nelly?" + +And therewith the damsel put her arm in that of her companion, whom +she now permitted, or rather urged, to lead her away; and, as he did +so, she turned on Jock a side-long look, accompanied by a sort of +smile, which told him, in terms not to be mistaken, that he was not +her only sweetheart, and that, at present, he was not likely to be a +successful one. + +If we could form such a thing as a proper conception of one who, in +attempting to ascend a throne, stumbled, fell below it, and, in +looking up from thence, saw another seated in his place, perhaps we +should have some idea of Jock's feelings on this occasion. Like a true +hero, he, no doubt, thought of thrashing his rival's skin for him; but +then this was by no means doing the whole of the work, for it was +Lizzie Gimmerton who had led away the man, and not the man who had +led away Lizzie Gimmerton; and, though the man were thrashed into +chaff, Lizzie Gimmerton might very probably find as many more as she +pleased, willing to be led away in the same manner, which, in the end, +might entail upon Jock the labour of thrashing half the people in the +market, not to mention the risk which he would run of being thrashed +himself. Finding that this plan would not do, it were difficult to say +if he did not entertain serious thoughts of making a pilgrimage to the +River Earn, for the purpose of drowning himself, or of taking signal +vengeance upon the hard-hearted maiden in some other way; but, as +farther speculations upon the subject, in the existing state of our +information, must be purely conjectural, it were absurd to follow +them. In the beginning of his despair, he looked down, as men very +naturally do; but, in the middle of it, he looked up, to see what was +to be done, and there he saw Nelly, who was not so easily "lost i' the +thrang" as he had imagined, standing close beside him, and regarding +him with a look of real compassion, which contrasted strongly with the +malicious smile of the other damsel. + +"Dinna vex yersel owre sair, Jock," said she, "though Lizzie's awa wi' +anither lad; when he leaves her, I'll warrant she'll be glad to see ye +again." + +"The deil confound her and her lads baith!" said Jock, his despair +beginning to pass off in a passion. "If ever I gae near her again, may +I fa' and brak my leg i' the first burn I cross! Ye're worth at least +five dozen o' her yersel, Nelly; and, if ye can let byganes be +byganes, and gang wi' me through the market, I'll let her see, afore +lang, that I can get anither sweetheart, though she should gang and +hang hersel!" + +This sudden change in Jock's sentiments must have been produced by +what is commonly called a _reaction_. But Nelly, who had no +inclination for being thus shown off, tried to persuade him to desist +from his present purpose. + +"Na, na, Jock," said she, "we'll no gang trailin through the market +like twa _pointers_ tethered thegither wi' a string, for fear the +youngest ane should rin aff. But, if ye like, Ise try to keep sicht o' +ye; and, if ye like too, we'll gang hame afore it's late, for it wad +vex me sair to see you spendin your siller _unwordily_, and still +sairer to hear tell o' ye gettin ony fricht about the glen. Sae, if ye +think me worth your while, we can gang hame thegither, and I'll tak +your arm after we're on the road. If a lad hae ony wark wi' a lass, or +a lass ony wark wi' a lad, it's no the best way to be lettin a' the +warld ken about it." + +With her care, and the wisdom of her counsel upon this occasion, Jock +felt sensibly touched. + +"Aweel, Nelly," said he, "I'll e'en tak your advice; ye never +counselled me to do a wrang thing in your life, and I'll gang hame wi' +ye ony time ye like. But come away," he continued, "and look out some +grand thing for your market-fare. I've ten shillings i' my pouch--no +ae bawbee o't spent yet; and, be what it like, if that'll buy't, yese +no want it." + +In compliance with his wishes, they began to look about for the +article in question; but Nelly, who had lived long enough to know the +value of money, would suffer him to purchase nothing of an expensive +nature; and, after some friendly expostulation, a pair of scissors was +agreed upon, for which he paid sixpence, and she put them in her +pocket, observing, at the same time, that "they would be o' mair use +to her than twenty ells o' riband, or a hale pouchfu o' _sweeties_." + +"I've often wondered," said she, "if a lass could hae ony _real_ likin +for a lad, when she was temptin him to fling awa his siller, buyin +whigmaleeries, to gar her look like an _antic_ amang ither folk, or +how she thought a lad wha would let his siller gang that gate, could +ever provide for the wants o' a house, if they should come to hae ane +o' their ain." + +Jock readily acknowledged the good sense of all this; he also +acknowledged to himself that young women with such sentiments were not +over and above being rife; and, though Nelly was not very young, he +thought her a more discerning lass than he had ever done before. They +therefore kept together during what remained of their stay; and, as +Jock's greatest fault was a propensity to spend his money on trifles, +Nelly easily persuaded him to accompany her home before the afternoon +was far advanced. + +They accordingly journeyed up the glen together; and, without +encountering either ghost, witch, or fairy, they had reached a part of +the road from which a house, a barn, and a byre, were to be seen. The +husband and wife were already home from the market, whither they had +gone to buy a cow, and standing at the end of the house with their +three children, the oldest of whom appeared to be a stout girl, beside +them. Such scenes seem to have a peculiar charm for women, and Nelly +was the first to notice it. + +"Look, Jock," said she, "yonder's Andrew Braikens and his wife hame +frae the market already. Dinna ye see them standing at the end o' +their house there, and their three bairns beside them, and baith +lookin as happy as the day's lang? Noo, Jock," she continued, looking +in his face as she spoke, "tak an example by them, and when ye get a +wife, if she's a guid ane, aye tak her advice afore ony ither body's, +and ye'll never hae cause to rue it. Afore Andrew was married, he ran +to a' the markets i' the round; he could never win hame that day he +gaed awa; his pouches were aye toom, and his duds were aften like to +bid him guid-day. Folk ca'd him a _weirdless cratur_ and a +_ne'er-do-weel_; and when he fell in wi' Tibby Crawford, some o' them +said, if they were her, they wouldna tak him, and ithers leugh at him +for drawin up wi' an auld hizzie like her; but Tibby took Andrew, and +Andrew took Tibby's advice; and noo they've a haudin o' their ain, wi' +plenty o' baith meat and claes, and three bonny bairns into the +bargain." + +Jock seemed to listen more attentively to this harangue than he had +ever done to a sermon in his life. During the latter part of it he +appeared thoughtful; and, when it was concluded--"I've been thinkin," +said he, "that, as Andrew and Tibby hae come sae weel on----" Here he +seemed to have forgotten what he was about to say, and was silent. + +"Weel, Jock," said the other, "as I was gaun to say, there's Betsy +Braikens, a stout lassie already; she's Sandy Crawford's cousin, as ye +ken brawly, and troth I wouldna wonder muckle at seein her----" + +"Ou ay, Nelly," interrupted Jock; "but, as I was gaun to tell ye, I've +been thinkin----" Here, however, he again halted, and seemed to have +nothing farther to say. + +"I dinna ken what ye've been thinkin," said Nelly, after a +considerable pause; "but I think they would need to hae a hantle +patience that listen to your thoughts, for ye're unco lang o' coming +out wi' them. But, whatever they are, ye needna hesitate sae muckle in +tellin them to me, for I never telled a tale o' yours owre again in my +life." + +"It's no for that either," said Jock, laughing; "but I just thought +shame to speak about it, and yet there's nae ill in't, after a'. I've +been thinkin, aye since ye wouldna let me gie half-a-crown for yon +_strowl_ o' lace i' the market, that you and me micht do waur than +make a bargain oorsels. I wad just need somebody like you to look +after me; and noo, Nelly, if you would promise to be my wife, I would +never seek anither." + +Nelly's countenance brightened up with a glow of satisfaction, such as +it had not exhibited for years, at hearing these words. But, striving +to suppress those unwonted feelings which were rising in her bosom, +and endeavouring to appear as unconcerned as before--"Hoot, Jock," was +her reply, "what need I promise?--though I were to mak twenty +promises, ye ken brawly that ye would just rin awa and leave me, to +follow the first bonny lass ye saw, at the next market or the next +tent-preachin; and then, _guid-day to ye, Nelly_." + +These words, though apparently intended to discourage Jock in his +suit, were spoken in such a manner as to produce a quite contrary +effect. We need not, however, repeat his vows and promises, and the +solemn oaths with which he confirmed them: they were such as have been +a thousand times made, and, sad to say, nearly as often broken, upon +similar occasions. But when they were concluded, though Nelly did not +speak, she _looked_ a promise which, to Jock, was satisfactory! She +also allowed him to have a kiss without the customary battle, or, at +least, without a battle of the customary length; and for what remained +of that and the two following days, though she was three-and-thirty, +she looked almost as young as if she had been only two-and-twenty. + +But "pleasures," which everybody now likens to "poppies spread," are, +in most instances, short-lived. On the third day from Abernethy +Market, Betsy Braikens, in returning from Auchtermuchty, whither she +had been on some errand, called at Howdycraigs, "to speer for her +cousin, Sandy Crawford, who was the herd laddie, and to tell Nelly +Kilgour, of whom she had also some acquaintance, that Grizzy Glaiket +had haen a bairn to Geordy Gowkshanks. No ane kenned a single thing +about it afore it cam hame," continued the girl; "and, as he has +naething to enable him to pay for it, and her father is determined no +to let him gang, the folk say that he'll just hae to marry her." + +Geordy Gowkshanks was no other than the beau who had been seen +gallanting Lizzie Gimmerton through the market; and Nelly felt a +strange misgiving when she heard his name mentioned in the present +affair, for she doubted not, when matters stood thus, that some +attempt would be forthwith made to recall Jock to his former +allegiance. Nor was she long left in suspense; for Jock himself soon +came in for his dinner, and the girl exclaimed--"Losh, Jock, I'm glad +I've seen ye, for, if ye hadna come in, I would forgotten to tell ye +that I saw Lizzie last nicht, and when I telled her that I was comin +owre here on the morn, and that I would maybe see you, she bade me be +sure to speer if ye had gotten ony fricht wi' the witches about the +glen, or if ye was feared for the _croupie craws_ fleein awa wi' ye +after it was dark, that ye never cam owre to see your auld +acquaintances about Abernethy noo!" + +These questions, and the new light which they threw upon an old +subject, made both Jock and Nelly look thoughtful, though it is +reasonable to suppose their thoughts ran in very different channels. +The effects of _reaction_ have been already noticed; but, after +_reaction_ has _acted_, there are such things as the _actions_ +themselves beginning to _react_. Jock was now under the influence of +the last-mentioned principle. Its exact operations need not be +particularised; but, from that hour, his kindness to Nelly began to +abate, and she began to feel less comfortable under the change than +might have been expected from a discreet damsel of her years. On the +following night she slept but little; and next morning she rose +earlier than was her usual, and was just beginning to kindle up the +fire, when she heard Jock engaged in a low but earnest conversation +with the _herd laddie_. She was separated from them only by a thin +partition, or _clay hallan_, as it was called in those days, so that +she could easily hear what was passing; and, reprehensible as her +conduct in this respect may seem, she could not refrain from +listening. + +"I need a new bannet," said Jock; "and I'm gaun owre to Abernethy for +ane the morn's nicht--but mind, Sandy, ye maunna tell Nell whar I am; +and, if she happens to speer, ye can just say that I'm awa down to +Auchtermuchty for a pickle snuff." + +"Aweel, aweel," said the other, "I can haud my tongue. But what need +can there be for makin lees aboot it? I'll warrant Nell winna care how +aften ye gang to Abernethy." + +"I hae nae time to tell ye aboot it enow," said Jock; "but I'll maybe +tell ye afterhend--and mind, as your name's Sandy Crawford, dinna ye +speak aboot it; and I'll gie ye as muckle market-fare as ye can +devour, _gin_ mid-simmer." + +As this conversation concluded, Nelly contrived to get into her bed +again without noise; and, covering herself up with the bedclothes, and +pretending to sleep, Jock passed through the kitchen without in the +least suspecting that she had become a party to his supposed secret. +From what she had heard, however, she saw plainly what was _brewing_, +and whither fate was tending. She saw that Lizzy Gimmerton's scheme +for once more attaching Jock to her interest had already succeeded; +and that, if he should "break both his leg and his neck in the first +burn he crossed," he had determined to go again and see her. But what +could she do to prevent things from taking their course? Like other +disconsolate maidens, she might lament in secret, and shed tears of +disappointment and sorrow without number--but this would by no means +mend the matter. Jock, she thought, would make a good husband, if he +had only a wife who knew how to manage him; but, unless something +extraordinary interposed, he was likely to get one who was a still +greater fool than himself; and, at this distance of time, it were +difficult to say how far _benevolence_, and a wish to prevent him from +making himself a mis-sworn man, might have a place in her +cogitations. She thought, also, that she would make a good wife, if it +were only her good fortune to get a husband; but, then, something or +other had always come to thwart her wishes in this respect; and even +now, when the prize seemed almost won, without a miracle, or +something, at least, out of the ordinary course of events, she stood a +fair chance for being again left in the lurch. She felt that it was a +sore matter to have hope from time to time deferred in this manner; +but what to do she could not exactly determine. She, however, +determined to leave nothing undone; and, after her, let none despair! + +Whether upon that morning the cows had given an extraordinary quantity +of milk, or whether Nelly had forgotten to empty the milking-pail of +water before she began to milk them, is not known; but, on coming in +from the byre, she could not, by any means, get the cogs to hold the +milk. Her mistress was called; and, after some consultation, Nelly +recollected that "Margaret Crawford"--who was the _herd laddie's_ +mother--"had plenty o' milk-dishes; and she would maybe lend them a +cog or twa." + +"The drap milk that the cogs winna haud may stand i' the water-pitcher +afore supper-time," she continued; "and Sandy may rin owre to +Gairyburn, after he comes in, and stay a' nicht wi' his mither, and +get the cog, and be back next morning in time to tak oot the kye." + +This plan seemed at least feasible; and the farther prosecution of it +was left to Nelly. + +"What's the matter wi' the milk the nicht?" inquired Sandy, as Nelly +was hastening him with his supper. + +"I ken o' naething that can be the matter," was her reply--"but what's +the matter wi't, say ye?" + +"I dinna ken either," said the boy; "but it's turned terrible +blue-like, isn't it? I can compare it to naething but the syndins o' +my mither's sye-dish." + +"Hoot! never mind the milk," rejoined Nelly; "but sup ye up yer supper +as fast as ye're able, and rin owre to yer mither, and tell her the +mistress sent ye to see if she could gie ye a len o' ane o' her +milk-cogs, for a fortnicht or sae, till the _first flush_ gang aff +Hawky. Ye can stay a' nicht at Gairyburn," she added; "and ye'll be +back in braw time next morning to gang _out_." + +The boy seemed glad of an opportunity to spend a night in his paternal +home. His supper was soon despatched, and away he went. + +The shortsightedness of mortals has been a theme for the moralists of +all ages to descant upon; and Nelly, had her history been sooner +known, might have afforded them as good a subject as any which they +have hitherto discussed. Attached as she evidently was to Jock, had +her foresight extended so far as to show her what was to follow, she +would certainly have strained every nerve to prevent him from being +left alone on that momentous night. Alone, however, he was left; +and--as he lay dreaming of Lizzy Gimmerton, and the happiness he +should experience from finding himself again reinstated in her +favour--exactly at the solitary hour of midnight a most terrible +apparition entered his apartment. How it entered was never known; for +the _outer_ door was securely locked; and the good people of the house +being, one and all, fast asleep, saw it not; but, as doors, windows, +walls, and roofs, afford no obstruction to an immaterial essence, its +entrance need not be matter of surprise. It was, in all respects save +one, a most legitimate ghost. A winding-sheet was wrapped round what +appeared to be its body; its head was tied up in a white handkerchief; +and its face and hands, where they were visible, were as white as the +drapery in which it was attired; but, then, in its right hand it +carried _a candle_--a thing which ghosts are not accustomed to do. +But, as there are exigencies among mortals which sometimes oblige +them to deviate from the common rules of conduct, the same things may, +perhaps, occur among ghosts. In the present instance, indeed, +something of the kind seemed to be indispensable; for, without such +aid, more than half its terrors would have been invisible. The candle, +moreover, was evidently the candle of a ghost; for it showed only a +small point of white flame in the middle, while around the edges it +burned as blue as _brimstone_ itself. In short, the light which it +gave must have been a thousand times more appalling than that of those +flames which Milton emphatically calls "darkness visible." + +Jock, however, still continued to sleep, till it uttered a hollow +groan, which awakened him; and then, rubbing his eyes, to make certain +that he was not still dreaming, he stared at it in inexpressible +terror. It returned his stare with a steady look of defiance and a +horrible grin, which seemed to make the blood curdle at the remotest +extremity of his body. It, however, appeared willing to abide by the +law of ghosts, and to wait in silence till it should be spoken to. But +Jock had already lost the power of speech. His erected hair had nearly +thrown off his nightcap; his tongue seemed to have fallen back into +his throat; not even a scream of terror could he utter, far less an +articulate sound; and it might have waited till morning, or till the +end of time, before an accent of his had set it at liberty to deliver +its message. But here it showed itself possessed of something like +"business habits," or at least of ten times more sense than the +majority of those ghosts who, "at the crowing of the cock," have been +obliged to run off without having effected anything except perhaps +frightening some rustic nearly out of his wits. When _it_ saw no +prospect of being spoken to, it spoke; and in this its example should +be imitated by all future ghosts. + +"Jock Jervis," it said, in tones so hollow and so sepulchral, that no +further doubts could be entertained of its authority--"Jock Jervis, +ye ken the promises and the solemn oaths ye've made already to Nelly +Kilgour; and if ye dinna fulfil thae promises, and mak her yer married +wife afore a fortnicht is at an end, ye maun gang to hell-fire, to be +burned for a mis-sworn loon. And mair than a' that, if ye prove +fause-hearted, I'll choke ye wi' this windin-sheet, and fling ye owre +my shouther, and carry ye to Arangask kirkyard, and gie ye to the +witches, to pick your banes ahint the aisle, afore ye get leave to +gang aff the earth." + +Having uttered this terrible malediction, it shook its winding-sheet, +and then waved the candle round its head. The _white_ part of the +flame immediately disappeared; the _blue_ parted into a thousand +fragments, and flew through the apartment in as many directions, like +infernal meteors. + +While these appalling phenomena were passing before the eyes of the +terrified spectator, the ghost had disappeared, he could scarcely tell +how, and in a moment more all was dark--awfully dark. But of those +terrific sparkles which the candle had emitted in going out, one had +fallen on Jock's hand, which happened to be lying out of the +bedclothes, and there it continued to sputter and to burn most +distressingly blue, till the pain, which, in this case, amounted to +torment, and the absence of the ghost, restored his speech; or, at +least, restored him the use of his tongue. He roared out most lustily +for comfort in his distress, and for assistance against his spiritual +enemies, in case they should reappear; and the noise which he thus +made soon alarmed Nelly, who, with her under-petticoat hastily thrown +on, and wanting the whole of her upper garments, came into the +apartment, holding a half-trimmed lamp in her hand, rubbing her eyes, +and alternately speaking to herself and him. + +"Sic a noise I never heard i' my life; and yet I dinna like to gae +near him afore I get my claes on; but that's awfu--Jock, man, what's +the matter wi' ye? Na, no ae word will he speak, but roar and cry as +if somebody were stickin him. Jock, man, it's me--it's your auld +acquaintance, Nelly, but tell me, Jock, hae ye gane clean out o' yer +judgment?" + +"O Nelly, Nelly!" said Jock, "is't you--is't you?--gie's a haud o' yer +hand, woman--oh, gie's a haud o' yer hand, for I canna speak." + +"Atweel no," said Nelly; "if ye had on yer claes, and were butt at the +kitchen fire, I micht maybe gie ye my hand, if it were to do ye guid; +but, as lang as ye lie there, and roar and squall that gate, ye needna +look for a hand o' mine." + +"Aweel, Nelly, I canna help it," said the other. "I'll never be at the +kitchen fire again, I fear; and if ye dinna gie me your hand, ye'll +maybe repent it when it's owre late; for I canna stand this lang, and +I'll no be lang to the fore. My hand's burnin as if it were in a +smiddy fire; but that's naething. Oh, if I could only touch somebody, +to let me ken it's flesh and blood that I'm speakin till." + +On hearing that he was really in pain, Nelly could no longer stand +back. "Dear me," said she, "what can be the matter wi' ye?" and, as +she spoke, she took his hand in hers to examine it with the lamp. +"It's burned, I declare!" she continued, in a tone of sympathy, which +appeared somewhat to comfort him; "how did that happen? But I maun rin +for some _sour 'ream_ to rub it wi'." + +"No, no, Nelly," said Jock, grasping her hand firmly in his, to detain +her, and now considerably relieved by the consciousness that he was in +the presence of one who had hands and arms, and a body of flesh and +blood like his own; "dinna leave me," he continued, "and I'll tell ye +a' about it. It's no five minutes yet since I saw a ghaist--oh dear, +oh dear! it gars my very blood rin cauld o' thinkin on't--and it said, +if I dinna marry you in less than a fortnicht, I maun gang to +hell-fire to be burned, for the promises I made i' the glen. O Nelly, +Nelly, tak pity on me, and let the marriage be on Monanday, or Tysday +at farrest." + +"You're surely wrang, Jock," was the reply; "if the ghaist kenned +onything ava, it would ken brawly that ye had nae wark wi' me. It had +been Lizzie Gimmerton it bade ye tak, and ye had just taen up the tale +wrang." + +"Na, na," rejoined the other; "it was you--it was Nelly Kilgour. Oh, +I'll never forget its words!--and if ye winna tak pity on me, what am +I to do?" + +"Ye needna speer what ye're to do at me," said Nelly; "but it seems +the ghaist and you maun think that ye can get me to _marry_ ony time +ye like, just as ye would get a pickle strae to gather up ahint your +horse on a mornin. But I daresay, after a', the ghaist would ken +brawly that it needna sent you to Lizzie upon sic an errand, for the +first lad that would gang awa wi' her, she would gang awa wi' him, and +leave you to whistle on your thumb or your forefinger, if it answered +you better; and yet ye micht gang owre _the morn's nicht_, and gie her +a trial." + +The awful words, "hell-fire," and "pick your banes at the back o' the +aisle," were still ringing in Jock's ears. Nelly's observation seemed +to preclude all hope of escape from the terrible doom which they +plainly denounced, and he groaned deeply, but did not speak: this was +what the other could not endure, and she now tried to comfort him in +the best manner she could. + +"I'm no sayin," she resumed, "but I would tak ye, rather than see ony +ill come owre ye, if ye would only promise to gie up your glaikit +gates, and to do your best to keep yoursel and me comfortable." Here +she was interrupted by the guidman, who, like herself, had been +awakened by the first alarm; but, in coming into the kitchen, and +hearing only Jock and her conversing together, he had thought it best +to dress himself before he entered upon an investigation of the +matter. He was now at the bedside, however, and anxious to learn what +had occasioned such an uproar. And Jock, who had been partly recovered +from his terror by Nelly's presence, and partly by her assurance that +she would become his wife rather than see him carried away by his +spiritual foe, began to give them a most sublime account of the ghost. + +"I canna tell ye hoo it cam in," said he, "for it was i' the middle o' +the floor afore I was waukin. But when I first opened my een, there it +stood wi' three or four windin-sheets about it, and its head rowed up +in a white clout, and its face and its hands a hantle whiter than +either the windin-sheet or the clout--only I thought I saw some earth +stickin on that side o' its nose that was farrest frae the licht. But +what was a thousand times waur than a' that, it had a cannel in its +hand that micht weel hae terrified a hale army o' sodgers; and I aye +think yet, it had been the deevil himsel, and nae ghaist, for the +cannel had just a wee _peek_ o' white low i' the middle, and a' round +the edges it burned as blue as a blawort, and bizzed and spitted, and +threw out sparks like blue starns. And after it had telled me what +I've telled you, it gae the cannel a wave round its head, and then the +hale hoose, wa's, roof, and riggin, gaed a' in a blue low; and I saw +the ghaist flee up through the couple bauks as clear as ever I saw the +owsen afore me when the sun was shinin! But I could stand nae mair, +for I steekit my een, and I'm sure I lay dead for near an hour. But +when I cam to life again, the hale house was filled wi' a smell o' +brimstane that would putten down a' the bees'-skeps i' the yard; and +my richt hand was burning just as if ye had dippit it in a tar-kettle, +and then set a lunt till't; but it was ten times waur than tar, for it +had the smell o' brimstane, and it would scarcely gang out. The pain +garred me roar as I never roared in a' my life afore; and I'm sure +I'll never forget the relief I felt when Nelly cam to see what had +happened." + +As an evidence of the truth of this account, Jock showed them his +hand, upon which a portion of the skin was really burned as black as a +cinder. The goodman and the goodwife, both of whom were now present, +stood astonished at this circumstance; but Nelly, who had evinced a +considerable degree of composure in this trying scene, now appeared +less dismayed. + +"Hoot, man!" said she, addressing Jock, "dinna gang out o' your wits +though ye've gotten a fear; mony a ane has seen a ghaist, and lived to +see their bairns' bairns after a'--sae may ye, if ye would only tak +heart again." + +"O Nelly, Nelly," said Jock, "I micht maybe tak heart, if ye would +only promise faithfully, afore witnesses, to let yoursel be married +next week." + +"What need I promise," rejoined Nelly, "when, for onything I ken, ye +may be gaun to see Lizzie Gimmerton _the morn's nicht_?" + +"Oh dear! oh dear!" ejaculated Jock. Again the terrible denunciation +of the ghost rang in his ears, and again he groaned in an agony of +despair. But here the master and mistress interposed in his behalf, +and, by their mediation, Nelly was at last brought to consent to that +important change in her condition which alone would save him from +perdition. She still insisted, however, on making conditions; and +these were, _first_, that he should not go to a market except when he +had some business to transact; _second_, that, upon these occasions, +he should always take her along with him, if she was willing to go; +_third_, that he should never enter upon any important concern without +first apprising her of it; and, _fourth_, that he should always come +home to his own fireside when his day's work was done. + +These conditions were readily subscribed by Jock, or, which is the +same thing, they were agreed to before witnesses, after which Nelly +frankly consented to be his wife. When this had been settled, she +would have made out another set of conditions, specifying what her own +conduct was to be, and what he might expect of her in certain +situations; but Jock had determined on making an unconditional +surrender of himself and his effects into her hands; and all she was +permitted to say was, that "she would do her best to mak a guid wife +to him." + +Matters were thus far satisfactorily adjusted; but still Jock could +not rest till his promised bride was _contracket_, as he phrased it; +and, to free his mind from those remains of terror under which he +still laboured, the master of the house went in quest of the dominie +as soon as daylight began to appear. Dominies are seldom slow in these +matters; a contract of marriage was forthwith drawn up in the usual +form; due proclamation of their intentions was made in the church next +Sabbath; and, as the case was an urgent one, they were cried out in +the same day. On Monday the marriage was solemnised in a becoming +manner; and, when the parties were put to bed, Jock, who had up to +that moment been rather feverish on the subject of the ghost, declared +that "he wasna feared noo." + +Had this marriage been brought about by ordinary means, it might have +staggered some of the lieges in their faith--at least it must have +taxed their ingenuity to reconcile the event, happening as it had +done, in the face of a plain prediction, with the unlimited power +which the witches certainly possessed; but, as it was, the matter +needed no comment. The decision of the witch had evidently been +reversed in the court of the ghosts, who, from being a superior order, +had power to do such things; and thus Nelly Kilgour had got a husband, +even after she had been predestined, by the former of these +authorities, to a life of single blessedness. + +Jock had also good reason to congratulate himself on the intervention +of his spiritual _friend_--the ghost being no longer regarded as an +enemy; for, in less than six months from the date of his marriage, +Lizzie Gimmerton was discovered to be in a condition which would have +been rather derogatory to his fame, had she been his yoke-fellow. It +was acknowledged upon all hands, however, that he had got a better +bargain. In a few weeks after the marriage, his appearance was so much +improved, that people, of their own accord, began to call him _John_; +and, in another month, his wife was the only individual who still +persisted in calling him _Jock_. But this, in her case, was, as it +appeared, "habit and repute," and could not be easily altered. Whoever +had an empty snuff-box, Jock's was always full; whoever might be seen +at church with coarse or ill-washed linen, Jock was not among the +number; whoever went to the public-house, or to the houses of their +neighbours, for amusement, Jock came always home "to his ain +fireside;" and, when others were heard to complain of the +thriftlessness of their wives, he only said that "he had aye been a +hantle better since he got Nelly than ever he was afore." + +In conclusion, it may be remarked, that, though Nelly was evidently +the _managing partner_, she gave herself no airs of superiority. She +seldom did anything without taking her husband's advice; but, while +she sought, she tried to direct his opinion into the proper channel, +by pointing out what was likely to be results of the affair, if it +were conducted in such a manner; and thus his advice was, in general, +only an echo of her own sentiments. If Jock, in the presence of +others, directed her to do anything, she, in general, did it, without +questioning its propriety; but, if she thought it was wrong, she +represented the case to him when they were by themselves--telling him, +at the same time, that "she just did it to please him, though she +thought it was wrang." Upon these occasions, his common reply was-- + +"Deed ay, Nelly, I daresay ye're richt. I dinna aye see sae far afore +me as ye do; but I'm sure, wi' a' my fauts, ye canna say but I like ye +as weel yet as ever I did." + +"Deed do ye," was frequently Nelly's rejoinder; "and proud am I to +think that my ain Jock aye likes his ain wife better than ither +folk." + +Within a year after their marriage, Nelly made her husband the father +of a female child, who was christened Jenny Jervis. In a few years, +their united industry enabled them to stock the little farm of +Rummledykes--of which they were so fortunate as to obtain a _tack_. +The place consisted, for the most part, of pasture ground; but Jock +laboured assiduously to improve and cultivate it. Nelly, by her +management of the dairy, contributed materially to increase their +possessions; and here we must leave them, contented and happy, for the +present--promising, however, to give the reader some glimpses of their +subsequent history--and perhaps some hints, too, which may enable him +to form his own conjectures as to those supernatural appearances which +brought about their union--in a future story. + + + + +THE GHOST OF GAIRYBURN. + + +In the fulfilment of our promise of "a future story," which we made at +the termination of "The Ghost of Howdycraigs," we may premise thus:-- + +It would be both trite and bombastic to say, as some orators have +done, that "time rolls on;" and yet it is wholly owing to their having +been so often repeated, that such sayings excite no interest, and the +subjects to which they refer pass unnoticed; for, however we may +forget the truth, or however the regular recurrence of evening and +morning, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, may make us callous +to the result which these revolutions are destined to produce, nothing +can be more certain than that Time never pauses in his career. His +progress may be observed, not only in those great events which give +birth to new eras in the history of the world--in the overthrow of +ancient empires, the extinction of ancient dynasties, and the +discovery of new countries: it may be traced in the occurrences of +every year, every month, and almost of every day. The connections of +families, the numbers of which they are composed, their relative +position in society, and their prospects in life, are undergoing +perpetual changes. Changeable as are the fortunes, so are the minds +and the emotions of men: one hour they laugh, another they weep; and, +perhaps, the very next hour they laugh again; while events the most +important and the most trifling, the most solemn and the most +ludicrous, mingle together, and follow each other by a law which fools +our powers of investigation, and baffles our understanding. + +Eighteen years had nearly elapsed since the period at which the +former part of this history concludes; and _the Ghost of Howdycraigs_ +was nearly forgotten. Betsy Braikens, who was then only a girl, was +now a full-grown woman, who, for the last eight or nine of the +above-mentioned years, would not have been irreconcilably offended +with a well-looking sweetheart for proposing to make her his wife. Her +brother James, who, in the same interval, had arrived at man's estate, +had been endeavouring, not very successfully, for some time past to +establish himself as a merchant in Perth; and his cousin, Sandy +Crawford, whom the reader will recollect as the herd laddie at +Howdycraigs, had, by the death of his father, been promoted to be +tacksman of Gairyburn; upon which place he resided with his mother. +Jenny Jervis, too, with whose birth the preceding story concludes, was +by this time a lass upon whom those who were neither too young nor too +old might have looked with as much interest at least as it is common +to bestow on a maiden in her eighteenth year. It is also probable that +she herself had begun to steal an occasional glance at the young men +of the district, as she saw them passing on the road, or assembled at +their rustic sports; and to recollect, when her mind was otherwise +unoccupied, that one was tall, that another had dark eyes, that a +third had a smiling countenance; and, perhaps, that a fourth united +all these charms in his proper person. + +It was the middle of winter, or what is commonly called "the daft +days," which has long been a season of festivity to the rich, and, in +so far as circumstances will permit, to the poor also. The cottagers +were invited to each other's houses, to spend an evening in +forgetfulness of care. Cakes, cheese, and ale, supplied them with a +cheap, and, at the same time, a cheery repast. The old people talked +of bygone times, and the feats of dexterity or strength which they had +performed in their youth, with all the enthusiasm of heroes when +"fighting their battles over again;" while the young ones looked in +each other's faces, and laughed heartily at little jests. +Unpremeditated compliments were paid in off-handed profusion; old and +incredible stories were revived; and, in the words of Goldsmith, "news +much older than their ale went round;" but, whatever might be their +age, at such seasons they were certain to produce as much merriment as +upon the occasion when they were first produced. To conclude the +picture-- + + "The nappy reek'd wi' mantling 'ream, + And shed a heart-inspiring stream; + And luntin pipe and sneeshin mill + Were handed round wi' richt guid-will." + +Sandy Crawford and his mother had been invited to "get their cakes," +and spend the evening with John Jervis and his wife. They came, +according to custom; and, after the cheese, the oaten bread, and the +ale had been sent round in the usual manner-- + +"Troth, Nelly," said Margaret Crawford, addressing her hostess, "your +Jenny's turned a perfect woman, I declare. Sic an odds there's on her +within the last twalmonth! Mony a time I look at her when she's gaun +past; and, to say the truth, ye may weel be proud o' yer dochter, for +I dinna see a bonnier lassie i' the hale country-side than she is." + +"Beauty is only skin-deep," said Nelly, with a smile of satisfaction, +which showed how highly she appreciated the quality in her daughter +which she pretended to undervalue. "But the lassie's weel aneugh, +though she were nae freend o' mine. And noo, Sandy," she continued, in +a jesting tone, and turning from the mother to the son as she spoke, +"what think ye o' her for a wife? Yer mither seems to be unco weel +pleased wi' her; I'm sure I would like weel to see ye gang thegither, +and I dinna think our Jock would say onything against sic a marriage." + +"Hoot, woman," interrupted her husband, "were I to haver like you, I +would say that, if I thought she would only turn out half as guid a +wife to him as you've dune to me, I would maist advise him to tak her; +but she's our ain bairn, and we should haud our tongues." + +"That's as true as ye hae said it," rejoined Nelly; "fathers and +mithers should say little on sic a subject; but as this is a nicht on +which a'body haver, ye maun just allow me to haver too: when folk only +haver for diversion, it can do little ill. And sae, as I was gaun to +say," she continued, again addressing Sandy, "yer mither seems to be +pleased; I'm weel pleased; Jock's no that sair set against the match, +and noo there's naebody's consent awantin but your ain." + +"Ay," said Sandy, "there's anither yet, though you've forgotten about +it; ye maun get her consent too afore it can be a bargain. Jenny has a +heart as weel as her neebors, I'll warrant her," he continued, +stealing a look at the object of whom he spoke, "and I'm maybe no +amang the folk she likes best." + +"Weel, Jenny, it's a' at your door noo, I declare," said her mother, +laughing outright. "What say ye to this affair?" + +"Oh, if ye would only haud your tongue!" said Jenny, blushing, and +still keeping her eyes fixed upon a rather profitless occupation in +which she had been engaged for some time past--namely, that of folding +and unfolding the corners of her apron with great assiduity; but the +rest of the company, if we except Sandy, perhaps, were so deeply +engaged in their own nonsensical conversation, that they took no +notice of this circumstance. + +"That's just the way wi' a' young folk," said Nelly, still laughing; +"the lad thinks the lass has some ither body that she likes better +than him, and the lass thinks the lad pays mair attention to anither +than he does to her; she daurna say a word unless she maybe tak the +dorts and misca him; he hesitates to speak for fear he should be +refused; and between them they aften contrive to torment ane anither +for years, when twa words micht settle the matter, and mak them baith +happy. But I'm sure, Margaret, if they would only leave the thing to +you and me, we could mak a bargain for them the nicht yet." + +"It's likely, at least, that we would mak a bargain sooner than they +would do," said the other. But the sigh with which she concluded +bespoke some emotion which accorded ill with the lightness of the +previous conversation. There was a something, too, in her manner, +which seemed to say that, while she was not averse to the proposed +match, she did not altogether relish the jest in which its immediate +consummation had been spoken of. + +Mothers have frequently thrown serious obstacles in the path of young +people when they supposed themselves travelling on the highway to +happiness; but sometimes, too, they seem inclined to give them an +opportunity of forming that liking for each other, without which, +according to the popular creed, no happiness can exist. Nelly now +proposed that, while the guidman was suppering the horse, Margaret +should go with her to the byre and see the cow, the yearling, and the +calf, which, she said, "were in wonderfu guid order, considerin how +little they had to gie them." Sandy and Jenny were thus left to +themselves; but upon this occasion they seemed to have the greatest +difficulty in keeping up a sort of intermitting conversation upon the +weather, the state of the roads, and some other subjects of the same +kind. Each wished to appear witty and amiable in the eyes of the +other; but somehow their wits seemed to have forsaken them, and they +appeared to be perfectly ignorant of the means by which their wishes +could be accomplished. Perhaps the former conversation had awakened, +or rather called into a state of activity, some feelings which they +knew not how to express; and it might be that, while these feelings +predominated, they could not think of anything else in such a manner +as to talk of it to the purpose; or perhaps it was only the mere +awkwardness of finding themselves, for the first time since they were +children, thus left to each other, which in a great measure locked up +their conversational powers. Be the matter as it may, with the "eldern +dames" it was otherwise. + +When they got to the byre, Margaret appeared more willing to resume +the former subject than to look at her neighbour's chattels. "Ye would +maybe think," said she, "that I didna seem sae frank as I micht hae +done when ye spoke about Jenny and Sandy; but, for a' that, I've aften +thought, if ever it were the laddie's luck to get a wife, Jenny would +mak a better ane than ony ither young woman I ken. But after him +that's now awa began to tak death till himsel," she continued, +lowering her voice to a confidential whisper, "when he made owre the +tack to Sandy, he left me as a burden upon Gairyburn. Noo, the place +is but sma, as ye ken, and there's but ae house on't, and, if he were +to marry, I dinna ken how a'thing would answer." + +"Hoot, woman," rejoined the other, "ye've a _butt and a ben_; the +house would haud ye a' brawly. And, though our lassie's owre young to +be a wife to onybody, and I was only passin a joke about her and +Sandy, if she were a year or twa aulder, and if a'thing were +agreeable, I canna say but I would like weel to see them gang +thegither. For it's just the gate o' a' mithers--they would aye like +to see their ain bairns gettin guid bargains. No that I would care a +snuff for the lassie gettin a man wi' a hantle riches; but I would +like to see her get ane that would ken how to guide her, and how to +guide the warld too. Noo, Sandy is baith a canny and a carefu chield; +and, if they dinna thrive, I'm sure it wouldna be his faut." + +"It's a' true ye say," responded Margaret; "and weel it pleases me to +hear your guid opinion o' my son. He has a wark wi' the lassie +already, if I'm no far deceived; for ony time when she comes owre to +our house, I've remarkit that he's aye kinder to her than to ony ither +body. But there's a proverb that says, 'young wives seldom like auld +guidmithers'--and that's what troubles me." + +"But that needna trouble ye owre muckle either," was the reply; +"for--what's this I was gaun to say, again?--ou ay--wi' respect to +Jenny, puir thing, if it were her guid fortune to draw his affection, +I'm sure she would strive, as far as lay in her power, to mak ye +comfortable." + +"I dinna doubt a single word o' what ye say," rejoined the other. +"Jenny is a dutiful and a kind-hearted lassie; I ken that weel. But, +as the auld sayin is, ilka body kens their ain sair best; and, though +it's nae doubt a weakness, I maun e'en tell ye a'. When I was +married--I mind as weel as yesterday--baith David and me thought we +could live happy wi' his mither; and we did live happy, for aught days +or sae; but, after that, I could do naethin to please her. If I tried +to 'earn the milk, it was either owre het or owre cauld when I put in +the 'earning; if I began to wash the dishes, she aye milkit the kye +first, and then she wondered how some folk had sae little sense. I +could neither mak the parritch, nor wash, nor spin, nor mak up a hasp +o' yarn--no, nor soop in the very house, to please her; and, though I +tried, as far as was in my power, to do a'thing her way, it gae me +mony a sleepless nicht, and cost him that's awa nae little vexation. +And weel do I mind mony a time I wondered what pleasure she could tak +in distressin me; but I think noo it was just a frailty o' our +nature--a something that auld folk canna help. And I think, too, I've +discovered the cause o' her grumlin since I began to see the prospect +o' Sandy takin a wife. Now, ye'll nae doubt think it strange," she +continued, in a hesitating tone--"ye'll nae doubt think it strange, +Nelly; but, dearly as I like my ain son--and weel as I would like to +see him happy wi' a woman wha loved him better than a' the warld +beside--still there's a something in the idea o' anither comin in to +be the mistress o' the hoose whaur I've had the management sae lang, +that aye distresses me when I think on't." + +"I dinna wonder ava at what ye say," responded Nelly. "If I were in +your place, a' that troubles you would trouble me. But there's naebody +without something to distress them; and we maun just look upon things +o' that kind as a _crook in our lot_, a something that maun be borne. +But, after a', woman, if the twa were to gang thegither, could ye no +come owre here? Ye have only him, and we have only her; the little +gear we hae maun a' gang to him at last; and, if the young folk could +live thegither in ane o' the places, the auld folk micht surely do the +same in the tither." + +"Thank ye, Nelly--thank ye!" said Margaret; "ye're aye the same +guid-hearted creature yet. But a body's ain hame's aye kindly. And +yet, if sic a thing were to happen, I would rather come here, than +gang to ony freend I hae." As she uttered these words, she made an +involuntary motion forward, and would have fallen, had she not +supported herself by the wall. + +"Dear me, Margaret, what's the matter wi' ye?" said Nelly, in a tone +of evident alarm. + +"It's a dizziness i' my head, woman," was the reply. "I've never been +mysel since that illness I had afore the term. Thae curious turns come +owre me aye, noo and then," she continued, her voice sinking and +saddening as she spoke; "and, for the last six weeks, it's been borne +in upon me, that I'm no to be lang to the fore. Now, if I was taen +awa, Sandy would be sair to mean wi' naebody about the house but a +servant; and that gars me sometimes think I would maist like to see +him married to some carefu lass like your Jenny afore my head be laid +down." + +"Wheesht, Margaret!" said the other; "never let thae thoughts come +owre ye, for there's an auld proverb that says, _thought can kill and +thought can cure_. And I doubt I've driven the joke owre far already. +But, though it's natural aneugh for young lasses to like to get +husbands, and natural aneugh, too, for their mithers to like to see +them weel married, I would ten times owre see our Jenny live and dee +without a man a'thegither, rather than see her married to the best man +on earth, if her marriage were to gie you real vexation, or be the +means o' shortenin your days." + +"It's no that," said Margaret, in the same low solemn tone in which +she had before spoken--"it's no onything ye have said that has hurt +me, for I've thought about a' thae things afore. When I had that ill +turn afore Martinmas, when folk thought I was deein, I began to +consider wha would be maist likely to keep a comfortable hame to my +ain bairn; and then, I confess, my thoughts turned upon your Jenny. +This made me look mair attentively at baith him and her than I had +ever done before; and twa or three times, when she cam owre to see how +I was, I thought I saw something like the first symptoms of affection +in his manner as weel as hers; and I felt glad at the sicht. But, as I +began to get a little better, and to be able to gang about again, the +things that had happened wi' my ain guidmither came fresh to my +memory, and I thought I would like to manage the house mysel, and do +for the best as lang as I was able. But I fear," she added, with a +deep sigh, "this complaint, whatever it is, will weather me afore it's +lang." + +"Na, Margaret; I hope better things," said the other; "and ye maun +strive to hope for better things too. Though ye mayna be sae stout +through the winter, when the warm weather comes in ye'll gather +strength again; and, if ance ye had yer fit on a May gowan, ye'll be +as hale and hearty as the best o' us." + +"It's lang to the month o' May," said Margaret, in a voice unwontedly +solemn; "and, afore that time come round, hundreds that are laughin +and makin muckle sport the nicht may be cauld in their graves. But +promise, if I'm taen awa, that ye'll do yer best to supply my place, +and to bring the twa thegither if ye can." + +Nelly was really distressed to think that this gloomy presentiment had +taken such firm hold of her neighbour's mind; but, fancying that it +had been in some measure suggested by their former conversation, and +hoping that it would soon pass off, she promised to comply with her +wishes, and then urged her to rejoin the company within. + +They accordingly went into the house, where they found the little +party--which, in their absence, consisted of only three--engaged in a +cheerful conversation. Freed at length from that embarrassment which +they had experienced while alone, the others soon recovered their +spirits and their freedom of speech. Margaret, however, could not so +easily recover her former cheerfulness. She strove, indeed, to appear +as merry as the rest; but her late indisposition, though only of a +momentary nature, seemed to have left an effect upon her spirits which +did not immediately pass away. There was also a something in the +fitfulness of her manner, and the expression of deep solemnity into +which her countenance frequently relapsed after a laugh, which told +too plainly that her merriment came not from the heart. These symptoms +were soon observed, and by degrees her sadness appeared to communicate +itself to the rest of the company. + +In this state of things, they seemed to feel as if an early separation +would have been a relief, and almost the only relief of which the case +would admit. When the propriety of a measure is felt by a whole +company, some one or other of their number in general stammers upon +the wishes of the rest; and here, shortly after the above-mentioned +feeling had begun to prevail, Margaret Crawford said that--"As the +nicht was dark and micht end in rain, she thought it would be best for +her and Sandy to gang hame afore it was late." To this proposal Nelly +and her husband made a friendly show of resistance such as is common +on these occasions, and urged, as reasons for delaying their guests, +that "it was not late yet," and that "they would be hame in braw time, +though they staid anither hour." But this resistance, though +reiterated, was so faint, that it was at once felt to be formal; and +Margaret, who had no very great temptation to do otherwise, seemed +inclined to adhere to her first intention. She therefore repeated her +reasons for going home; and, at the same time expressed a hope, "if +_naething extrordinar_ cam i' the way, that she would see John and +Nelly, and Jenny too, at Gairyburn, some nicht neist week, to spend +the e'enin wi' her"--after which, the little company broke up. + +The night was far advanced before Jenny could close her eyes; and when +at last she did sink into the arms of the "leaden god," it was only to +dream of having lost her way, along with Sandy Crawford, in some wide +and wildering desert which she had never seen before. At first the +scene seemed solitary, shaded with lofty yews, and tangled with +trailing shrubs; dark clouds spread a gloom over it; mists rested on +the top of every rock; and the night-dews hung heavily from every +branch and every blade of grass. Then the prospect appeared to +brighten: the landscape assumed a variety of charms; every hour +disclosed some new beauty, or opened up some glowing vista which she +had not before seen. The sun gradually dissipated the clouds which +hitherto had concealed him, and, bursting through, dried up the +superfluous moisture from the earth; the air became pure, and the day +delightfully warm; and, though as yet she had discovered no road by +which she could return, she did not feel greatly perplexed. But the +pleasing prospect was soon overcast: clouds appeared to gather round +them; anon she was separated from her companion by rocks and +unfathomable gulfs, the nature and extent of which she could not +distinctly see. At times she fancied he was lost, and felt inclined to +weep at the thought that she should never see him more; then she +obtained a glimpse of him, as if he still waited for her, and then her +heart panted to come up with him; then he disappeared, and she knew +not which way to turn. At last she thought Betsy Braikens came up to +her, and offered to conduct her to where he was; but at that moment +the sky grew dark, and the storm raged so terribly, that she could not +stir a step to follow her. It soon ceased, however; the day again +cleared; she seemed to see him advancing to meet her, with a smile of +welcome upon his countenance; and, just as he was about to throw his +arms around her waist, she started aside to avoid his embrace, struck +her arm upon the post of the bed, and the pain which the circumstance +occasioned, aided by an importunate knocking at the door, awakened +her. On being thus made aware that some one wanted admittance, she +started up, threw on a part of her clothes, snatched up the poker, +broke the _gathering-coal_, and stirred the fire, which instantly +burst forth in a blaze; and then she hastened to open the door. + +The present visiter was Sandy Crawford, in most respects the very same +as she had seen him in her dream; but the _smile_ with which that +illusion had presented her was wanting, and in its stead she thought +she could discover, by the light of the fire, marks of anxiety, +perturbation, and fear, upon his countenance. The contrast was so +striking, that she almost forgot one part of it was only a dream. At +the very first glance, she felt certain that something was wrong; and +she would have inquired what it was, but, before she could speak, he +told her, in terms which betrayed his own agitation, that his mother, +without having previously complained of being worse than her ordinary, +had been struck with what appeared to be _palsy_ in the course of the +night, that she was now wholly deprived of speech, and nearly +deprived of motion in one side, and that he had hastened thither as +soon as she could be left, to beg either her or her mother to come +over and watch her till he could procure further assistance. He would +have said something more--he would have hinted the probability of the +fatal termination of his mother's disease, and the further probability +that this termination might occur in a few hours, both of which were +painfully impressed upon his heart; but he shrank from the idea of +speaking on such a subject, as though he apprehended some mysterious +connection between his own words and the fate of his mother, and that +what he was about to say might hurry on the crisis which he wished to +avert. He was therefore silent; while Jenny, between the effects of +her dream, and the alarming intelligence which she had just heard, +knew not what to answer, or what she should do. In general, she +possessed activity, and all that was necessary to enable her to render +assistance in any case with which she was acquainted; but she was +susceptible of strong impressions--those who are so seldom act with +ease in an untried situation--and she was now placed in one which was +perfectly new to her. In her agitation, she would have stood where she +was, like a statue, or she would have accompanied him without taking +time to put on what remained of her clothes, had he repeated his +request; but her mother, who had been awakened by the opening of the +door, on overhearing the conversation which followed, had dressed +herself with characteristic despatch, now came to her daughter's +relief. + +"Dinna forget to milk the cow, lassie," said she, "nor to mak yer +father's parritch about eight o'clock, and I'll rin owre mysel, and +see what's the matter wi' puir Margaret Crawford. But, if I'm no back +afore dinner-time, mind ye to come and see how she is." With these +brief orders, Nelly wrapped herself up in her cloak, and hastened to +carry her services where they were most wanted. + +On reaching Gairyburn, they found Margaret, as she had been +represented, very ill. The shock, however, did not, as there was at +first some reason to fear, prove immediately mortal; and about noon, +when Jenny arrived, her mother proposed that she herself should go +home, leaving her in constant attendance, and promising, at the same +time, to return as often as possible, and give them all the assistance +in her power. This arrangement appeared satisfactory to all parties; +but, at the end of three weeks, a second shock brought rest to the +sufferer, and mourning to the house of Gairyburn. + +This mournful event, as is common in such cases, brought together the +whole of the friends and relations of the deceased; and among the rest +came Betsy Braikens and her brother. Betsy had been for some time past +residing with that brother in Perth; but, as soon as it was known that +she had arrived, those who pretended to take an interest in the +affairs of her cousin hastened to represent to her in the strongest +terms the necessity of her coming "to _keep his house_;" and, yielding +to their representations, she did offer her services. These were +declined, however, from the consideration that it would be +inconvenient for her brother to want her assistance. But, as soon as +it was understood that she had made such an offer, the very +individuals who had advised her to make it began to search for other +motives than their own advice, and they soon discovered what they +considered a sufficient reason for her doing so, in the embarrassed +circumstances of her brother. It was generally believed that his trade +had never been very flourishing, and some surmises had lately reached +them of the failure of a merchant in Glasgow, with whom he was +understood to be connected, which would involve him in very +considerable pecuniary difficulties. Putting these things together, +they deemed them a sufficient warrant for supposing that Betsy had her +cousin's _hand_ as well as his house in view, and that, if she did not +succeed in securing one of them at least, she might soon have no +house to keep. + +This supposition was not altogether without a foundation; for all his +endeavours had been so unsuccessful of late, that her brother had now +come to the determination of dropping business, as soon as he could +sell off his stock, and wind up his affairs; but, as it would be +several months before this could be done with any prospect of +advantage, he still continued to keep his intentions a perfect secret. +And this being the case, it was agreed on the evening of the funeral +that he and his sister should set off, early next morning, for Perth. + +The weather, however, did not appear to favour their intentions. For +the last eight days it had been fair, and uncommonly mild, with slight +frosts during the night, so that, in the estimation of the country +people, "the earth was prepared for a storm." But, on the day alluded +to, the atmosphere had become loaded with stagnant vapours; a +continuous mass of dark, leaden-coloured cloud, which seemed to rest +upon the nearest hills, arched the concave; not a single speck of blue +sky had been visible since morning; and in the evening, one of those +dense and wildering falls of snow, which have frequently misled the +traveller, came on. + +The night was one which, in most respects, seemed to accord with the +sorrowful feelings of the little party at Gairyburn. It was gloomy and +silent; while the snow continued to accumulate around the house, as if +to exclude everything which might have a tendency to disturb their +recollections of the solemn scene in which they had been so lately +engaged. At times, a sort of conversation, carried on in subdued +tones, prevailed for a season; and then it was followed by +considerable intervals of silence, broken only by an occasional sigh, +a casual observation on the stillness of the night, or an injunction +to stir the fire. Anon, the colloquial powers of the party seemed to +gather strength from the repose which they had been permitted to +enjoy; and the discourse was again renewed, to continue for a season, +and then to flag, as it had done before. In most respects, this +conversation bore a striking resemblance to the evening fire of the +poor widow, which is only kept alive by an occasional handful of +brushwood thrown upon the expiring embers; after which it emits a +flickering flame for a short while, and then gradually decays, till +the last spark is scarcely perceptible, and it is only prevented from +utter extinction by a repetition of the same process. + +In one of these intervals of silence, Betsy Braikens had gone to the +door--partly to pass the time which hung so heavily, and partly to see +if there was any prospect of being able to travel in the morning. +While thus reconnoitring, her attention was attracted by a whistle, +followed by a faint cry for assistance, which, though evidently at a +distance, was, owing to the stillness of the night, distinctly heard. +This made her listen more attentively. The whistle and the cry were +repeated, which satisfied her that they proceeded from some one in +distress; and she now thought it time to give notice of what she had +heard to those within. On hearing the circumstance, her brother and +cousin immediately set off in the direction which she had pointed out; +and in a short time they returned, bringing along with them a +stranger, who had lost his way when it grew dark; and, after having +wandered for several hours among the hills, without knowing where he +was going, had at last stumbled over a bank into a miry slough, where, +as he was unable to extricate himself from the mud, he would in all +probability have perished, but for the assistance which he had +received. + +The care of ministering to the new guest devolved principally upon +Betsy Braikens, who had been the first to give notice of his previous +distress; and for such an office she was better qualified than any +other female who, at the time, could have been found, within several +miles--both from that knowledge of the conventionalities of society +which she had acquired during her residence in Perth, and from a +disposition which was naturally kind. With that alacrity which is +common to her sex, she made the necessary preparations for enabling +him to shift such parts of his clothes as were wet. A repast +calculated to refresh him, after the fatigues of his journey, was next +provided; and, as there was no inn or other place of accommodation +within reach, and the night was one in which no stranger could find +his way, she represented the necessity of his remaining where he was +till morning; and then he might travel with her and her brother, if he +chanced to be journeying in that direction; and, if his road was +different, he would at least have the advantage of daylight to direct +his steps. + +To this proposal the stranger did not seem to be averse. In such +circumstances, men are often more grateful for a mere trifle than, in +others, they would be for the greatest favours. He seemed highly +sensible of the kindness with which he was treated, and soon began to +regard his entertainers with a feeling of respect. Upon further +conversation, it was discovered that his name was Robert Walker--that +he was the son of the Glasgow merchant whoso failure has been already +noticed as having been prejudicial to the interests of James Braikens; +and, on learning that he was in the society of one who had been in the +habit of dealing with his father, he proceeded to give them a brief +sketch of his story. + +After his prospects had been obscured by the bankruptcy of his father, +he had succeeded in procuring for himself a situation in Aberdeen; +and, as he was a good pedestrian--and had, moreover, a liking for +rural scenery, rural manners, and unfrequented roads--these +considerations, backed by motives of economy, had induced him to +undertake the journey on foot. He had accordingly proceeded by +Kinross, intending to make his line as straight as possible, without +paying much attention to the highways; and, on reaching the village of +Strathmiglo, he had been directed across a part of the Ochils as the +nearest road to Newburgh--at which part he intended to cross the Tay. +He had taken these directions, and pushed forward, in the expectation +that he would reach the last-mentioned place before it was late; but +the snow coming on, he soon lost all traces of the road, and, what was +worse, he soon after lost everything like an idea of what direction he +was travelling in. He had, however, no alternative but to proceed. +Exertion was indispensable to prevent his limbs from being benumbed +with cold; but the dense fall of snow prevented him from seeing any +distant object upon which he might direct his course, and thus arrive +at some place of shelter. In this state of uncertainty, he had +wandered he neither knew where nor how long, when--stumbling over the +bank, as already noticed, and being unable to extricate himself--he +was beginning to fear that he had reached the end of his journey +before his deliverers reached him. + +On the following morning, which was fair, though the clouds still +appeared to be far from having discharged the whole of their contents, +the stranger was easily induced to accompany Betsy Braikens and her +brother to Perth--alleging, as his reason for doing so, a wish to see +the town, and the possibility of his being there able to procure some +mode of conveying himself to Aberdeen less laborious than travelling +had now become. They accordingly set forward together; but before they +had reached the head of Abernethy Glen, the snow again began to fall, +accompanied by gusts of wind, which whirled whole wreaths into the air +at once, and drove the dazzling particles before them with such +violence, that suffocation seemed to be the inevitable consequence of +being long exposed to the fury of the storm. In a short time the snow +had accumulated to such a depth in the hollows as to render +travelling a most laborious operation; and it was with some difficulty +that the party reached the domicile of Andrew Braikens, where they +thought it best to take shelter for the present, and postpone their +further journey till the weather should be more favourable. The storm +continued for nearly forty-eight hours without intermission, so that, +dating from the time at which they set out, it was not till the +evening of the third day that they reached Perth. + +Whatever loss in the way of business this delay might have occasioned, +the merchant found, on his arrival, that it was only his absence which +had saved him from being declared bankrupt, and, in all probability, +imprisoned for debt at the same time. But, on the previous day, one of +his most clamorous creditors had been suddenly taken ill. A temporary +respite was thus obtained; and, with the assistance of Robert Walker, +who exerted all his oratorical powers in his behalf, matters were +again patched up, and he was allowed to go on with the concerns of his +shop as before. These things being settled, this new friend +strenuously advised him to retain his business if possible, assuring +him, at the same time, that there was nothing like perseverance, and +then went on his way, whither we follow him not. + +At Gairyburn things went on much in the same way as they had done +before, except that the management of the house was now committed to +the care of a servant-girl. But some circumstances soon transpired +which led the people around to suppose that the girl might, in due +time, be promoted to be mistress of what at present she only managed +for another. Sandy Crawford had bought rather a better suit of +mournings for Jenny Jervis than it was common to give to a servant; +and this, along with a number of other incidents and occurrences, too +minute to be enumerated here, but not so minute as to escape the +notice of a country population, was made the subject of discussion at +the firesides of the neighbouring cottages. But as neither men nor +women, since the world began, were ever known to agree about either +religion or politics, or any other important matter whatever, so here +there was a difference of opinion; and many were the conferences and +disputes which ensued. With one party, the buying of the gown, and the +other corroborating circumstances, were deemed incontestable evidence; +and they affirmed that Sandy and Jenny only waited till the proper +season for laying aside their mournings, to be married. In this +marriage they saw, or at least fancied they could see, such a number +of advantages as would render it most desirable. "Jenny," they said, +"was a thrifty lassie, and wad mak a guid wife. She kenned a' about +the management o' the kye, and she wad aye hae her mither at hand to +apply to in ony strait." Another party differed from them entirely, +both as to the conclusiveness of the evidence, and the advantages to +be derived from the marriage. "The buyin o' the gown," they +maintained, "was naething. Jenny Jervis was a young, thoughtless +lassie, wha wad be soon aneugh married four or five years hence; and +they were sure Sandy wad be far better wi' his cousin Betsy, wha was +baith a weel-faured and a weel-conditioned cummer, and had some +experience in the management o' a house." They said, further, that +"Betsy, they were sure, wad be the woman; for Sandy was a thoughtfu +callant; and though he might be led awa, for a time, wi' twa blue een, +a slender waist, and the red and white on a lassie's face, he wad soon +come to see that ither things were needfu to a man fechtin for his +bread, and strugglin for the rent o' a farm." A third party presumed +to differ from both of these in every particular save one. They +admitted, indeed, that Sandy "was a thoughtfu callant;" but from that +very admission they drew a quite contrary conclusion. "Baith Betsy and +Jenny," they averred, "might remain _single_ lang aneugh for him; and +if he ever took a wife ava, they were sure it wadna be in ony hurry." +They also pointed out several advantages which were likely to accrue +to him from adopting this theory, and several disadvantages which +would infallibly result from his adoption of any other. "The place," +they said, "was but sma', and the rent high; and as lang as he had +only a servant, he had naething but her bit year's wage to pay at the +term. But, were he to tak a wife, he wad hae to get new beds, and new +chairs, and a hantle whigmaleeries forby, that wad cost him nae little +siller; he wad hae to buy _fykes_ to her in ilka market, and in ilka +shop he cam past--not to mention bairns' meat and bairns' claes--mair +o' baith, maybe, than the place wad afford." Thus, as the great +political world is at present divided into Tories, Whigs, and +Radicals, this little sequestered district was divided into parties, +which, for the sake of distinction, we shall denominate _Jervisines_, +_Braikenites_, and _Malthusians_. + +Though Betsy Braikens had not been at Gairyburn for several years +before the death of her aunt, after that occurrence she continued to +pay occasional visits there; and it was observed, by those who knew +and could interpret the signs of the times, that her cousin always +looked more thoughtful for a day or two after she went away, than was +his usual. This seemed to favour the theory of the _Jervisines_, who +said that he was pestered with her visits, and did not know how to get +quit of her. The _Braikenites_, on the other hand, maintained, that, +if he did not give her some encouragement, she would not return so +often; and that his thoughtful looks were occasioned by regret at her +absence. + +Several months after the death of Margaret Crawford, and just as the +first party were beginning to be certain that their theory was the +correct one, and that they would, ere long, obtain a notable victory +over their opponents, both Betsy and her brother paid a visit to +Gairyburn. They stayed a night and a day with their cousin; and, after +they had taken their departure, it was observed that he looked more +thoughtful than he had done on any former occasion, with the +additional aggravation of his thoughtfulness not passing away in a day +or two, as it had done before. At the end of a fortnight, the +neighbours said to each other--"Preserve us a'! saw ye ever sic an +alteration as has come owre Sandy Crawford! He's surely seen something +that's no canny, and daurna speak aboot it." At the end of a month, +they might have made the same observation; but by that time they had +become accustomed to the change, and they only said--"Puir fellow! +he's as sair altered as though that cummer frae Perth had ta'en awa +his last penny." + +He was indeed changed, though not to the extent which they seemed to +suppose. He managed the whole of his concerns as he had done before; +in company or conversation there was little perceptible difference; +but, when silent or alone, there was frequently an expression of +resignation on his countenance, as if some misfortune were impending +which he could not avert, and which, if it should fall, he had +determined to endure with patience. Strict observations were now made +on his conduct towards Jenny; and here, too, an alteration was +discovered, though that alteration did not seem to admit of being +explicitly expressed in words. It was agreed, however, by the wise +women who had made the observations, that he appeared like one who had +determined never again to urge his suit, and that he had certainly +made up his mind to see her give her hand to another. This conclusion +was favourable to the Malthusians: they repeated their assertion, that +"he was a thoughtfu callant, and that he had determined not to marry +at all;" while the others, if they did not "hide their diminished +heads," were at least compelled to hold their peace. + +But of all who were puzzled by the mysterious change in the manners +of the should-be bridegroom, none were more so than poor Jenny +herself, who really loved him, and who had been led to suppose that he +loved her in return, though hitherto he had never directly declared +his intention of marrying her. Her mother was equally puzzled to +assign a satisfactory reason for the change; but she was not equally +affected by it. In her younger years, she had learned, from +experience, that there is nothing more mutable than the heart of a +lover; and she fancied, even in ordinary cases, that it was only by +practising a great deal of art and finesse that a husband could be +secured. This, in her estimation, being the case, she determined +that--if the experience which she had acquired in these matters could +be rendered available--her daughter should not remain so long +unmarried as she had done herself; and she immediately set her head to +work to contrive the means of bringing about a marriage as speedily as +possible. Nelly recollected some years ago having had a young _pig_, +which could not be prevailed upon to take its victuals. She had tried +to feed it, or, in other words, to thrust meat into its mouth, in the +hope that it would then swallow it; but this only served to make it +more obdurate in its resistance. It seemed determined to starve itself +to death, and she knew not what to make of it. Her husband, however, +bethought him of a scheme which proved successful: on the following +day, he brought home another, which was put in beside its refractory +kinsman, and afterwards, when she came with the victuals, they +immediately commenced fighting about their respective shares. It was +then _who should get most_; and each would have eaten up the whole, if +its skin would have contained as much. The bee is said to gather honey +from every flower; and there are some people who will learn something +from every incident. Nelly instantly discovered a strong analogy +between the case of the single _pig_ and its victuals, and the case of +a young woman with a single sweetheart; and, having discovered an +analogy in the cases, she felt certain that there must also be an +analogy in the cures. The present emergency seemed to be a most +favourable opportunity for trying the correctness of this theory by +that best of all possible tests--an experiment; and she forthwith +resolved, were the thing practicable, that Jenny should have a new +sweetheart, if peradventure his presence would produce a favourable +revolution in the sentiments of the old one. + +Measures were accordingly adopted, and the most feasible schemes were +laid--schemes which, with proper management, could hardly have failed +of success. Jenny also received such hints and instructions as were +deemed necessary to enable her to act her part. But Jenny was, as her +mother phrased it, "an even-forrit, silly, simple lassie;" and in her +hands nothing succeeded. It was with the utmost difficulty that she +could be brought to give the slightest encouragement to a new lover, +and if at any time she did muster sufficient resolution to smile upon +a rival in the presence of Sandy Crawford, her eye immediately turned +upon the latter, to see if he approved of what she had done; and when, +in his guarded look, she could read neither approbation nor +disapprobation, a deep sigh commonly revealed her apprehensions for +having done wrong. The preposterousness of such conduct needs no +remark; its evident tendency was, to keep him free from the slightest +suspicions of having a competitor for her hand, and the most distant +idea that he was in any danger of losing her--and all this in the +midst of schemes intended to produce a contrary effect! + +It is probable that other schemes might have been devised, or the same +ones might have been prosecuted to a still greater extent; but what +had been already done, aided by his own observation, had opened his +eyes to some things of which he was not before fully aware. Hitherto, +he seemed to have supposed that he was himself the only sufferer; but +he now discovered that there was another whom he was making unhappy, +and her unhappiness evidently pained him, adding, at the same time, to +his other causes of anxiety, whatever they were, and consequently to +the thoughtfulness of his looks. But still he seemed to fear coming to +an explanation, as much as if he had been certain that such a step +would destroy his last remains of hope. He could not, however, long +endure such an idea; and adopting what had become the least painful +alternative, he seemed to have made up his mind to the unfolding of +that secret which, hitherto, he had kept to himself. + +"Jenny," said he, one day, after a long and thoughtful silence, "for +some months I have scarcely known what it was to be happy for a single +hour; and, strange as ye may think it, _love_ has been one of the +principal causes of my misery. Had it not been for _that_, I could +have thought lightly of poverty and everything else. I have acted +foolishly, perhaps, and made myself altogether unworthy of the woman +whom I love; but, yet, I would fain hope that she will not despise me, +and I am now resolved----" + +At hearing these words, Jenny's heart had begun to palpitate +violently. But, just as he uttered the word "_resolved_," a rap was +heard at the door; and, on its being opened, Betsy Braikens came in, +and saluted her cousin with a profusion of smiles; while poor Jenny, +to conceal her own agitation, was glad to make an excuse for leaving +the house. + +As soon as Betsy's coming was known, people were on the alert. On +Sabbath she accompanied her cousin to the church, and, on the road +thither, it was observed that the thoughtful expression of his +countenance had passed away--that, after making the proper allowance +for the solemnity of the day, he was to all appearance as cheerful as +ever he had been in his life; and that he behaved to his relation +with the greatest kindness, accompanied by an easiness of manner for +which the wise women could only account by supposing that a still +nearer relationship was in contemplation, or, in other words, that the +marriage-day was already set. The star of the _Braikenites_ was now in +the ascendant; they began to feel certain that their opinions had all +along been correct; and they upbraided their opponents for their +slowness of belief, and their backwardness to place implicit +confidence in the understanding of those who were evidently wiser than +themselves. + +The Tuesday following was that on which _Auchtermuchty Market_ +occurred. Betsy remained until that important day; went to the market +with her cousin like a betrothed damsel; while Jenny, who had also +been invited to accompany him, preferred staying at home; and, to +place the matter beyond further dispute, he bought and presented the +former with a gown, so fine and so costly, that those who had seen it +declared "there wasna anither like it selled that day i' the town." No +man, it was affirmed, would thus throw away money in buying gowns, +unless he expected to be benefited by the wearer--and the triumph of +the Braikenites was now almost complete. + +While these important events were passing, it was not to be expected +that Jenny should remain an unconcerned spectator. She had been the +first to notice that remarkable change for the better which his +cousin's presence had produced in the looks and manners of Sandy +Crawford. She saw his cheerfulness restored--she saw his kindness to +Betsy; and, for the first time in her life, she believed that he +_really_ loved her. + +On the day after the market, Betsy Braikens was to go home, and her +cousin gallantly offered to accompany her as far as her father's. +Shortly after they were gone, Jenny hastened to tell her mother what +she had seen and heard. Nelly now considered that her own character +for prudence and management was at stake; and Jenny was prevailed upon +to adopt her views, and to promise to be directed by her advice. + +In the evening, when Sandy Crawford returned from escorting his +cousin, he was in high spirits; it was also evident that he had drunk +a _glass_ or two more than was his usual, though not so much as to +injure his understanding; and he now appeared most anxious to obtain a +private conference with Jenny. Between her and the _herd laddie_ a +sort of tacit understanding appeared now to exist, for he did not +leave the house to follow his pastime, as was his wont; and, when his +master bade him "gang and clean out his byre," the boy told him that +he had done so already. He next desired him to "bring some water from +the well for a drink, as he was thirsty." But Jenny, who answered for +him, said that, "as the cow had been _tigging_ in the afternoon, he +would be tired with chasing her;" and she took the pitcher and went to +obey the order herself. The individual who had given it followed her +out; but she was at the well, and had filled her pitcher, before he +could come near enough to speak. When he had almost come up with her, +he repeated her name, in that low, earnest tone, which people +sometimes use when they wish to draw the attention of a listener; but +she either did not hear, or did not _wish_ to hear him. He made +certain of meeting her, however, as she returned; but here also he was +deceived, for she went round by the other side of the _kailyard_, for +the purpose, as it appeared, of taking with her a handful of sticks, +with which to kindle up the fire next morning. On seeing this +manoeuvre, he jumped over the dike, repeating her name as he had +done before; but, on the present, as on the former occasion, she +either heard him not, or pretended not to hear him; and, by hastening +her pace, she had reached the house-door before he could intercept +her. As a _dernier_ resource, the last-mentioned personage was now +ordered to "gang and water the horse." And he rose to obey; but here +again Jenny seemed to sympathise with him in his labours. "As the cow +had _tiggit_ i' the afternoon," she said, "it was like aneugh the +horse micht rin awa i' the e'enin; and, as the laddie, puir thing, had +chased the cow till he was ready to fa' down, it couldna be expeckit +that he would be able to chase the horse, and sae she would gang and +help him." + +If ever Jenny Jervis had been puzzled to account for the conduct of +Sandy Crawford, he was now as much puzzled to account for the change +which had come over her. He thought of the subject without being able +to come to any conclusion, and then thought of it again to as little +purpose as he had done before, till at last, wearied out with vain +conjectures, he flung himself upon his bed in a state of mind not easy +to be described; and when Jenny, who was in no great haste to return, +came in, his heavy breathing told that he was already asleep. On +stealing a glance into the apartment where he was, she saw that he was +still lying with his clothes on, and that his sleep was of that +profound sort which commonly lasts for the night. + +Sandy Crawford had fallen asleep, little dreaming of either alarm or +danger; but, about midnight, he was disturbed by an indistinct and +inarticulate sound, which, though it conveyed no meaning to his ear, +was loud enough to awake him. Slowly and heavily he opened his eyes; +but it was not dark, as he expected it to be. On the contrary, a +strange light glimmered around him, and, on turning his head to see +whence it proceeded, he saw in the middle of the floor a spectre, +which might have well appalled the heart of a hero. The ghost of +Howdycraigs, to which his present visiter bore a striking resemblance, +rushed back upon his memory, and he would have trembled, but that he +did not recollect any bad consequences which followed that memorable +event. Thus, in time, even ghosts might fail to terrify, were they to +repeat their visits too often. In the present instance, it were +difficult to say if Sandy was not strengthened for the sight by some +faint hope that this might be a second marriage-making expedition of +the same benevolent spirit, and that it might eventually help him to a +_wife_, the getting of which thing he had begun to regard as no easy +matter. + +The ghost of Gairyburn, however, at first bade fair for being as +famous in its day and generation as the ghost of Howdycraigs had been; +and doubtless it had succeeded in a less hazardous enterprise. Like +the other, its head was tied up in a white handkerchief, its body was +carefully wrapped in the folds of an ample winding-sheet. On its feet +it wore white stockings, but no shoes--the absence of which exhibited +a finely-turned ankle to such advantage, that any male onlooker might +have been excused for wishing it a substantial woman. But then its +face and hands were as white as the finest flour or the whitest chalk +could have made them--thus setting every earthly feeling, except fear, +at defiance. In one hand it carried a candle, which burned as blue as +any spiritual light ever burned, while with the other it managed its +apparel, which was scrupulously clean--thus making it appear that it +had been washed since it left its subterranean abode, from which +circumstance it were reasonable to infer that it was either a female +ghost, or had got a wife to do these things for it. + +Though we have thus detained the reader, by describing it, _it_ +detained not its auditor; for, as soon as he appeared to be fully +awake--"Sandy Crawford," it said. But it was evidently an apprentice +in the task it had undertaken, and knew but little of the manner in +which a message should be delivered; for here its voice faltered, and +its hands trembled in a most curious manner--thus making it evident +that ghosts have feelings as well as mortals, and that they may +sometimes be sent upon errands they dislike. The shaking of its hands +caused the blue flame to fall from the candle, which immediately +burned out with a clear and natural light; while that which had fallen +hissed and sputtered on the floor. In attempting to remedy this +mistake, by restoring the blue flame to its proper place, it seemed to +burn its fingers--at least it drew back its hand with the appearance +of pain, drawing in its breath, and starting up rather hurriedly at +the same time. While performing the last mentioned of these +operations, it unfortunately struck its head against the back of a +chair, which chanced to be standing near, and ruffled its head-dress, +from under which a most enchanting ringlet of fair hair escaped, and +began to play about its white temples. One mistake followed another: +in attempting to replace the hair, it passed a portion of the +winding-sheet, in which it was muffled up, over its face; and when it +was removed, its lips were no longer pale, but provokingly red--one +cheek was of the same hue, and the deep blush of the other was now +beginning to shine through its treacherous covering. As a further +proof of its inexperience, it heaved a deep sigh, and was about to +retire in apparent confusion, when Sandy, who had overcome his fear so +far as to look at it steadily for the last minute or two, started up, +with a heroism which has seldom been equalled, and, endeavouring to +catch it in his arms, he exclaimed-- + +"Jenny, ye daft limmer, what set ye to playin thae mad pranks at this +time o' nicht?" + +In this emergency the ghost, confused as it was, contrived to make its +escape; but not before it had thrown the winding-sheet which it wore +around the very woman for whom he had mistaken it. By some "cantrip +slight," it had no doubt brought her there to be ready in case of +accidents, and it now left her to be caught in its stead. Jenny, not +being a ghost, could not escape so easily; and, though she struggled +a little when she found herself in the arms of a man, she did not +appear extremely anxious to get away, while Sandy was so much pleased +at having got her by herself at last, that he soon forgot the terrors +of the ghost. + +"Jenny," he continued, still mistaking her for his spiritual visiter, +"if I hadna _liket_ ye better than every ither living cratur, since ye +was a lassie, I declare I would never kenned ye dressed up as ye are +in a' that trumpery. But now that I've gotten ye, I maun keep ye, for +I've been wishing to tell ye something this lang time; but ye aye ran +frae me as if I had been a _ghost_, though ye see I've catched you +when ye was tryin to act ane." + +The candle which the ghost had left was now placed in a candlestick; +and as Jenny appeared perfectly willing to listen to whatever he might +have to say, he proceeded to give her such information as served in a +great measure to clear up the whole of the mystery. + +Though he had been long attached to her, and had felt a growing +inclination to call her his wife, his mother's death had prevented him +from speaking of the subject for a time. During this interval, Betsy +Braikens had come oftener than once, soliciting assistance for her +brother; upon these occasions, he had always given her what +ready-money he could command, and, at last, to save him from +bankruptcy, he had become security for a hundred pounds, which was +considerably more than his whole effects were worth. No sooner had he +done this than he began to doubt the possibility of his cousin ever +being able to redeem his debts; in which case his own prospects were +ruined. The idea that it would be criminal to involve an unsuspecting +female in misery and poverty made him resolve to say nothing of his +affections, till he should see what was to be the issue; and for a +time he had kept his resolution. But he had determined to make a +candid confession of his circumstances, and run any risk which she +might be willing to share, when he was interrupted by Betsy Braikens, +who had come expressly for the purpose of telling him that her brother +had redeemed the whole of his debts, and was now in prosperous +circumstances. In a few days thereafter Jenny went to reside with her +mother for a short time; and one evening, as Sandy bade her +good-night, he gave her a clap on the shoulder, and called her his +"spectre bride." On the following week they went to Perth; and Jenny +Jervis and Betsy Braikens were married on the same day--the former to +Sandy Crawford, and the latter to Robert Walker, who had kept up a +regular correspondence with her ever since the night on which he lost +his way among the snow. + + + + +THE SMUGGLER. + + +The golden days of the smuggler are gone by; his hiding-places are +empty; and, like Othello, he finds his "occupation gone." Our +neighbours on the other side of the herring-pond now bring us _dry +bones_, according to the law, instead of _spirits_, contrary to the +law. Cutters, preventive-boats, and border-rangers, have destroyed the +_trade_--it is becoming as a tale that was told. From Spittal to +Blyth--yea, from the Firth of Forth to the Tyne--brandy is no longer +to be purchased for a trifle; the kilderkin of Holland gin is no +longer placed at the door in the dead of night; nor is a yard of +tobacco to be purchased for a penny. The smuggler's phrase, that the +"_cow has calved_,"[D] is becoming obsolete. Now, smuggling is almost +confined to crossing "the river," here and there, the "ideal line by +fancy drawn;" to Scotland saying unto England, "Will you taste?" and +to England replying, "Cheerfully, sister." There was a time, however, +when the clincher-built lugger plied her trade as boldly, and almost +as regularly, as the regular coaster; and that period is within the +memory of those who are yet young. It was an evil and a dangerous +trade; and it gave a character to the villagers on the sea-coasts +which, even unto this day, is not wholly effaced. But in the character +of the smuggler there was much that was interesting--there were many +bold and redeeming points. I have known many; but I prefer, at +present, giving a few passages from the history of one who lived +before my time, and who was noted in his day as an extraordinary +character. + +Harry Teasdale was a native of Embleton, near Bamborough. He was the +sole owner of a herring-boat and a fishing-cobble; he was also the +proprietor of the house in which he lived, and was reputed to be worth +money--nor was it any secret that he had obtained his property by +other means than those of the haddock hand-line and the herring-net. +Harry, at the period we take up his history, was between forty and +fifty years of age. He was a tall thin man, with long sandy hair +falling over his shoulders, and the colour of his countenance was +nearly as rosy as the brandy in which he dealt. But, if there was the +secrecy of midnight in his calling, his heart and his hand were open +as mid-day. It is too true that money always begets the outward show +of respect for him who possesses it, though in conduct he may be a +tyrant, and in capacity a fool; but Harry Teasdale was respected, not +because he was reputed to be rich, but because of the boldness and +warmness of his heart, the readiness of his hand, and the clearness of +his head. He was the king of fishermen, and the prince of smugglers, +from Holy Island to Hartlepool. Nevertheless, there was nothing +unusual in his appearance. Harry looked like his occupation. His dress +(save where disguise was necessary) consisted in a rudely-glazed +sou'-wester, the flap of which came over his shoulders, half covering +his long sandy hair. Around him was a coarse and open _monkey_ or +_pea_-jacket, with a Guernsey frock beneath, and a sort of canvas kilt +descending below the knee; and his feet were cased in a pair of +sea-boots. When not dressing his hand-lines or sorting his nets, he +might generally be seen upon the beach, with a long telescope under +his arm. As Harry was possessed of more of this world's substance than +his brother fishermen, so also was there a character of greater +comfort and neatness about his house. It consisted of three rooms; but +it also bore the distinguishing marks of a smuggler's habitation. At +the door hung the hand-line, the hooks, and the creel; and in a +corner of Harry's sleeping-room a "_keg_" was occasionally visible; +while over the chimneypiece hung a cutlass and four horse-pistols; and +in a cupboard there were more packages of powder and pistol-bullets +than it became a man of peace to have in his possession. But the third +room, which he called his daughter's, contained emblems of peace and +happiness. Around the walls were specimens of curious needlework, the +basket of fruit and of flowers, and the landscape--the "_sampler_," +setting forth the genealogy of the family for three generations, and +the age of her whose fair hands wrought it. Around the window, also, +carefully trained, were varieties of the geranium, and the rose, the +bigonia, and cressula, the aloe, and the ice-plant, with others of +strange leaf and lovely covering. This Harry called his daughter's +room--and he was proud of her: she was his sole thought, his only +boast. His weatherbeaten countenance always glowed, and there was +something like a tear in his eyes, when he spoke of "my Fanny." She +had little in common with the daughter of a fisherman; for his +neighbours said that her mother had made her unfit for anything, and +that Harry was worse than her mother had been. But that mother was no +more, and she had left their only child to her widowed husband's care; +and, rough as he appeared, never was there a more tender or a more +anxious parent--never had there been a more affectionate husband. But +I may here briefly notice the wife of Harry Teasdale, and his first +acquaintance with her. + +When Harry was a youth of one-and-twenty, and as he and others of his +comrades were one day preparing their nets upon the sea-banks for the +north herring-fishing, a bitter hurricane came suddenly away, and they +observed that the mast of a Scotch smack, which was then near the +Ferne Isles, was carried overboard. The sea was breaking over her, and +the vessel was unmanageable; but the wind being from the north-east, +she was driving towards the shore. Harry and his friends ran to get +their boats in readiness, to render assistance if possible. The smack +struck the ground between Embleton and North Sunderland, and being +driven side-on by the force of the billows, which were dashing over +her, formed a sort of break-water, which rendered it less dangerous +for a boat to put off to the assistance of the passengers and crew, +who were seen clinging in despair to the flapping ropes and sides of +the vessel. Harry's cobble was launched along the beach to where the +vessel was stranded, and he and six others attempted to reach her. +After many ineffectual efforts, and much danger, they gained her side, +and a rope was thrown on board. Amongst the smack's passengers was a +Scottish gentleman, with his family, and their governess. She was a +beautiful creature, apparently not exceeding nineteen; and as she +stood upon the deck, with one hand clinging to a rope, and in the +other clasping a child to her side, her countenance alone, of all on +board, did not betoken terror. In the midst of the storm, and through +the raging of the sea, Harry was struck with her appearance. She was +one of the last to leave the vessel; and when she had handed the child +into the arms of a fisherman, and was herself in the act of stepping +into the boat, it lurched, the vessel rocked, a sea broke over it, she +missed her footing, and was carried away upon the wave. Assistance +appeared impossible. The spectators on the shore and the people in the +boat uttered a scream. Harry dropped the helm, he sprung from the +boat, he buffeted the boiling surge, and, after a hopeless struggle, +he clutched the hand of the sinking girl. He bore her to the boat; +they were lifted into it. + +"Keep the helm, Ned," said he, addressing one of his comrades who had +taken his place; "I must look after this poor girl--one of the seamen +will take your oar." And she lay insensible, with her head upon his +bosom, and his arm around her waist. + +Consciousness returned before they reached the shore, and Harry had +her conveyed to his mother's house. It is difficult for a sensitive +girl of nineteen to look with indifference upon a man who has saved +her life, and who risked his in doing so; and Eleanor Macdonald (for +such was the name of the young governess) did not look with +indifference upon Harry Teasdale. I might tell you how the shipwrecked +party remained for five days at Embleton, and how, during that period, +love rose in the heart of the young fisherman, and gratitude warmed +into affection in the breast of Eleanor--how he discovered that she +was an orphan, with no friend, save the education which her parents +had conferred on her, and how he loved her the more, when he heard +that she was friendless and alone in the world--how the tear was on +his hardy cheek when they parted--how more than once he went many +miles to visit her--and how Eleanor Macdonald, forsaking the +refinements of the society of which she was a dependant, became the +wife of the Northumbrian fisherman. But it is not of Harry's younger +days that I am now about to write. Throughout sixteen happy years they +lived together; and though, when the tempests blew and the storms +raged, while his skiff was on the waves, she often shed tears for his +sake, yet, though her education was superior to his, his conduct and +conversation never raised a blush to her cheeks. Harry was also proud +of his wife, and he showed his pride, by spending every moment he +could command at her side, by listening to her words, and gazing on +her face with delight. But she died, leaving him an only daughter as +the remembrancer of their loves; and to that daughter she had imparted +all that she herself knew. + +Besides his calling as a fisherman, and his adventures as a smuggler +on sea, Harry also made frequent inland excursions. These were +generally performed by night, across the wild muir, and by the most +unfrequented paths. A strong black horse, remarkable for its swiftness +of foot, was the constant companion of his midnight journeys. A +canvas bag, fastened at both ends, and resembling a wallet, was +invariably placed across the back of the animal, and at each end of +the bag was a keg of brandy or Hollands, while the rider sat over +these; and behind him was a large and rude portmanteau, containing +packages of tea and tobacco. In his hand he carried a strong +riding-whip, and in the breast-pocket of his greatcoat two +horse-pistols, always loaded and ready for extremities. These journeys +frequently required several days, or rather nights, for their +performance; for he carried his contraband goods to towns fifty miles +distant, and on both sides of the Border. The darker the night was, +and the more tempestuous, the more welcome it was to Harry. He saw +none of the beauties in the moon on which poets dwell with admiration. +Its light may have charms for the lover, but it has none for the +smuggler. For twenty years he had carried on this mode of traffic with +uninterrupted success. He had been frequently pursued; but his good +steed, aided by his knowledge of localities, had ever carried him +beyond the reach of danger; and his _stow-holes_ had been so secretly +and so cunningly designed, that no one but himself was able to +discover them, and informations against him always fell to the ground. + +Emboldened by long success, he had ceased to be a mere purchaser of +contraband goods upon the sea, and the story became current that he +had bought a share of a lugger, in conjunction with an Englishman then +resident at Cuxhaven. His brother-fishermen were not all men of +honour; for you will find black sheep in every society, and amongst +all ranks of life. Some of them had looked with an envious eye upon +Harry's run of good fortune, and they bore it with impatience; but +now, when he fairly, boldly, and proudly stepped out of their walk, +and seemed to rise head and shoulders above them, it was more than +they could stand. It was the lugger's first trip, and they, having +managed to obtain intelligence of the day on which she was to sail +with a rich cargo, gave information of the fact to the commander of a +revenue-cutter then cruising upon the coast. + +I have mentioned that Harry was in the habit of wandering along the +coast with a telescope under his arm. From the period of his wife's +death, he had not gone regularly to sea, but let others have a share +of his boats for a stipulated portion of the fish they caught. Now, it +was about daybreak, on a morning in the middle of September, that he +was on the beach as I have described him, and perceiving the figure of +the cutter on the water, he raised his glass to his eye, to examine it +more minutely. He expected the lugger on the following night, and the +cutter was an object of interest to Harry. As day began to brighten, +he knelt down behind a sand-bank, in order that he might take his +observations, without the chance of being discovered; and while he yet +knelt, he perceived a boat pulled from the side of the cutter towards +the shore. At the first glance, he descried it to be an Embleton +cobble, and before it proceeded far, he discovered to whom it +belonged. He knew that the owner was his enemy, though he had not the +courage openly to acknowledge it, and in a moment the nature of his +errand to the cutter flashed through Harry's brain. + +"I see it! I see it all!" said the smuggler, dashing the telescope +back into its case; "the low, the skulking coward, to go blab upon a +neighbour! But Ise have the weather-gauge o' both o' them, or my +name's not Harry Teasdale." + +So saying, he hastened home to his house--he examined his cutlass, his +pistols, the bullets, and the powder. "All's right," said the +smuggler, and he entered the room where his daughter slept. He laid +his rough hand gently upon hers. + +"Fanny, love," said he, "thou knowest that I expect the lugger +to-night, and I don't think I shall be at home, and I mayn't be all +to-morrow; but you won't fret, like a good girl, I know you won't. +Keep all right, love, till I be back; and say nothing." + +"Dear father," returned Fanny, who was now a lovely girl of eighteen, +"I tremble for this life which we lead--as my poor mother said, it +adds the punishment of the law to the dangers of the sea." + +"Oh, don't mention thy mother, dearest!" said the smuggler, "or thou +wilt make a child of thy father, when he should be thinking of other +things. Ah, Fanny! when I lost thy mother, I lost everything that gave +delight to my heart. Since then, the fairest fields are to me no +better than a bare muir, and I have only thee, my love--only my Fanny, +to comfort me. So, thou wilt not cry now--thou wilt not distress thy +father, wilt thou? No, no! I know thou wilt not. I shall be back to +thee to-morrow, love." + +More passed between the smuggler and his daughter--words of +remonstrance, of tenderness, and assurance; and when he had left her, +he again went to the beach, to where his boat had just landed from the +night's fishing. None of the other boats had yet arrived. As he +approached, the crew said they "saw by his face there was something +unpleasant in the wind," and others added-- + +"Something's vexed Skipper Harry this morning, and that's a shame, for +a better soul never lived." + +"Well, mates," said he, as he approached them, "have you seen a shark +cruising off the coast this morning?" + +"No," was the reply. + +"But I have," said Harry, "though she is making off to keep out of +sight now; and, more than that, I have seen a cut-throat lubber that I +would not set my foot upon--I mean the old Beelzebub imp, with the +white and yellow stripe on his yawl, pull from her side. And what was +he doing there? Was it not telling them to look out for the lugger?" + +Some of the boat's crew uttered sudden and bitter imprecations. + +"Let us go and sink the old rascal before he reach the shore," said +one. + +"With all my heart," cried another; for they were all interested in +the landing of the lugger, and in the excitement of the moment they +wist not what they said. + +"Softly, softly, my lads," returned Harry; "we must think now what we +can do for the cargo and ourselves, and not of him." + +"Right, master," replied another; "that is what I am thinking." + +"Now, look ye," continued Harry, "I believe we shall have a squall +before night, and a pretty sharp one, too; but we mustn't mind that +when our fortunes are at stake. Hang all black-hearted knaves that +would peach on a neighbour, say I; but it is done in our case, and we +must only do our best to make the rascal's story stick in his throat, +or be the same as if it had; and I think it may be done yet. I know, +but the peachers can't, that the lugger is to deliver a few score kegs +at Blyth before she run down here. We must off and meet her, and give +warning." + +"Ay, ay, Master Teasdale, thou'rt right; but, now that the thing has +got wind, the sharks will keep a hawk's eye on us, and how we are to +do it, I can't see." + +"Why, because thou'rt blind," said Harry. + +"No, hang it, and if I be, master," replied the other; "I can see as +far as most o' folks, as ye can testify; and I dow see plain enough, +that if we put to sea now, we shall hae the cutter after us; and that +would be what I call only leading the shark to where the salmon lay." + +"Man, I wonder to hear thee," said Harry; "folk wad say thou hadst nae +mair gumption than a born fool. Do ye think I wad be such an ass as +to send out spies in the face o' the enemy? Hae I had a run o' gud +luck for twenty years, and yet ye think me nae better general than +that comes to? I said, nae doubt, that we should gang to sea to meet +the lugger, though there will be a squall, and a heavy one, too, +before night, as sure as I'm telling ye; but I didna say that we +should dow sae under the bows o' the cutter, in our awn boat, or out +o' Embleton." + +"Right, right, master," said another, "no more you did. Ned isn't half +awake." + +The name of the fisherman alluded to was Ned Thomson. + +"Well, Ned, my lad," continued Harry, "I tell thee what must be done: +I shall go saddle my old nag, get thou a horse from thy wife's +father--he has two, and can spare one--and let us jog on as fast as we +can for Blyth; but we mustn't keep by the coast, lest the king's folk +get their eyes upon us. So away, get ready, lad, set out as quick as +thee can--few are astir yet. I won't wait on thee, and thou won't wait +on me; but whoever comes first to Felton Brig shall just place two +bits o' stones about the middle--on the parapet I think they ca' it; +but it is the dyke on each side o' the brig I mean, ye knaw. Put them +on the left-hand side in gaun alang, down the water; or if they're +there when ye come up, ye'll ken that I'm afore ye. So get ready, +lad--quick as ever ye can. Tell the awd man naething about what ye +want wi' the horse--the fewer that knaw onything about thir things the +better. And ye, lads, will be upon the look-out; and, if we can get +the lugger run in here, have a'thing in readiness." + +"No fear o' that, master," said they. + +"Well, sir," said Ned, "I'll be ready in a trap-stick, but I knaw the +awd chap will kick up a sang about lendin his horse." + +"Tell him I'll pay for it, if ye break its legs," said Harry. + +The crew of the boat laughed, and some of them said--"Nobody will +doubt that, master--you are able enough to do it." + +It must be observed that, since Harry had ceased to go regularly to +sea, and when he was really considered to be a rich man, the crew of +his boat began to call him _master_, notwithstanding his sou'-wester +and canvas kilt. And now that it was known to them, and currently +rumoured in Embleton, that he was part proprietor of a lugger, many of +the villagers began to call Fanny Miss Teasdale; and it must be said, +that in her dress and conversation she much nearer approximated to one +that might be styled _Miss_, than to a fisherman's daughter. But, when +the character and education of her mother are taken into account, this +will not be wondered at. + +It would be uninteresting to the reader to describe the journey of +Harry and Ned Thomson to Blyth; before they arrived at Felton, Harry +had overtaken Ned, and they rode on together. + +On arriving at Blyth, they stopped at the door of an individual who +was to receive forty kilderkins of Hollands from the lugger, and a +quantity of tobacco. It is well known to be the first duty of an +equestrian traveller to look after his horse, and to see that it is +fed; but, in this instance, Harry forgot the established rule--the +horses were given in charge of a girl to take them to a stable, to see +them fed, or otherwise, and Harry hastened into the house, and +breathlessly inquired of its owner--"I hope to heaven, sir, ye have +heard nothing of the Swallow?" + +[The lugger was called the "Swallow," from the carpenter in Cuxhaven, +who built her, having warranted that she "would _fly_ through the +water."] + +"Why, nothing," replied Harry's brother smuggler; "but we shall be on +the look-out for her to-night." + +"So far well," said Harry; "but I hope you have no fear of any king's +lobsters being upon the coast, or rats ashore?" + +"I don't think we have anything to fear from the cutters," said the +other; "but I won't answer for the spies on shore; there are folk wi' +us here, as weel as wi' ye, that canna see their neighbours thrive and +haud their tongue; and I think some o' them hae been gaun owre aften +about wi' the spy-glass this day or two." + +"Then," said Harry, "the lugger doesna break bulk here, nor at +Embleton outher--that's flat. Get ye a boat ready, neighbour, and we +maun off and meet her, or ye may drink sma' yill to your venture and +mine." + +"It is growing too stormy for a boat to venture out," answered the +other. + +"Smash, man!" rejoined Harry; "wad you sit here on your hunkers, while +your capital is in danger o' being robbed frae ye as simply as ye +would snuff out a candle, and a' to escape a night's doukin! Get up, +man--get a boat--we maun to sea--we maun meet the lugger, or you and I +are done men--clean ruined a'thegither. I hae risked the better part +o' my bit Fanny's fortune upon this venture, and, Heaven! I'll suffer +death ten thousand-fold afore I see her brought to poverty; sae get a +boat--get it--and if ye daurna gang out, and if nane o' your folk daur +gang, Ned and me will gang our tow sels." + +"Surely ye wad be mad, Harry, to attempt such a thing in an open boat +to-night," said the Blyth merchant. + +"Mad or no mad," answered Harry, "I hae said it, and I am determined. +There is nae danger yet wi' a man that knaws how to manage a boat. If +ye gang pullin through thick and thin, through main strength and for +bare life, as many of the folk upon our coast dee, then there is +danger--but there is nae use for the like o' that. It isna enough to +manage an oar; you must knaw how to humour the sea, and to manage a +wave. Dinna think I've been at sea mair than thirty years without +knawing something about the matter. But I tell you what it is, +friend--ye knaw what the Bible says--'The race is not to the swift, +nor the battle to the strong;' now, the way to face breakers, or a +storm at sea, is not to pull through desperation, as if your life +depended on the pulling; but when you see a wave coming, ye must +backwater and backwater, and not pull again until ye see an +opportunity of gauin forward. It is the trusting to mere pulling, sir, +that makes our life-boats useless. The rowers in a life-boat should +study the sea as well as their oars. They should consider that they +save life by watching the wave that breaks over the vessel, as well as +by straining every nerve to reach her. Now, this is a stormy night, +nae doubt, but we maun just consider ourselves gaun off to the lugger +in the situation o' folk gaun off in a life-boat. We maun work cannily +and warily, and I'll tak the management o' the boat mysel." + +"If ye dow that, master," said Ned Thomson, "then I gang wi' ye to a +dead certainty." + +"Well, Harry," replied the merchant, "if it maun be sae, it just maun +be sae; but I think it a rash and a dangerous undertaking. I wad +sooner risk a' that I have on board." + +"Why, man, I really wonder to hear ye," said Harry; "folk wad say that +ye had been swaddled in lambs' wool a' your life, and nursed on your +mother's knee. Get a boat, and let us off to the lugger, and nae mair +about it." + +His orders were obeyed; and, about an hour after sunset, himself, with +Ned Thomson, the merchant, and four others, put off to sea. They had +indeed embarked upon a perilous voyage--before they were a mile from +the shore, the wind blew a perfect hurricane, and the waves chased +each other in circles, like monsters at play. Still Harry guided the +boat with unerring skill. He ordered them to draw back from the +bursting wave--they rose over it--he rendered it subservient to his +purpose. Within two hours he descried the lights of the lugger. He +knew them, for he had given directions for their use, and similar +lights were hoisted from the cobble which he steered. + +"All's well!" said Harry, and in his momentary joy he forgot the +tempestuous sea in which they laboured. They reached the lugger--they +gained the deck. + +"Put back, friend--put back," was the first salutation of Harry to the +skipper; "the camp is blown, and there are sharks along shore." + +"The devil!" replied the captain, who was an Englishman; "and what +shall we do?" + +"Back, back," answered Harry; "that is all in the meantime." + +But the storm now raged with more fierceness--it was impossible for +the boat to return to the shore, and Harry and his comrades were +compelled to put to sea with the lugger. Even she became in danger, +and it required the exertions of all hands to manage her. + +The storm continued until near daybreak, and the vessel had plied many +miles from the shore; but as day began to dawn, and the storm abated, +an enemy that they feared more appeared within a quarter-of-a-mile +from them, in the shape of a cutter-brig. A gun was fired from the +latter, as a signal for the lugger to lie to. Consternation seized the +crew, and they hurried to and fro upon the deck in confusion. + +"Clear the decks!" cried the skipper; "they shan't get all without +paying for it. Look to the guns, my hearties." + +"Avast! Master Skipper," said Harry; "though my property be in danger, +I see no cause why I should put my neck in danger too. It will be time +enough to fight when we canna better dow; and if we can keep them in +play a' day there will be sma' danger in wur gi'en them the slip at +night." + +"As you like, Mr Teasdale," said the skipper; "all's one to me. Helm +about, my lad," added he, addressing the steersman, and away went the +lugger, as an arrow, scudding before the wind. + +The cutter made all sail, and gave chase, firing shot after shot. She +was considered one of the fastest vessels in the service; and though, +on the part of Harry and his friends, every nerve was strained, every +sail hoisted, and every manoeuvre used, they could not keep the +lugger out of harm's way. Every half-hour he looked at his watch, and +wished for night, and his friend, the skipper, followed his example. +There was a hot chase for several hours; and, though tubs of brandy +were thrown overboard by the dozen, still the whizzing bullets from +the cutter passed over the heads of the smugglers. It ought to be +mentioned, also, that the rigging of the lugger had early sustained +damage, and her speed was checked. About sunset a shot injured her +rudder, and she became for a time, as Harry described her, "as +helpless as a child." The cutter instantly bore down upon her. + +"Now for it, my lads!" cried the skipper; "there is nothing for it but +fighting now--I suppose that is what you mean, Master Teasdale?" + +Harry nodded his head, and quietly drew his pistols from the +breast-pocket of his greatcoat; and then added-- + +"Now, lads, this is a bad job, but we must try to make the best on't, +and, as we hae gone thus far" (and he discharged a pistol at the +cutter as he spoke), "ye knaw it is o' nae use to think o' +yielding--it is better to be shot than hanged." + +In a few minutes the firing of the cutter was returned by the lugger, +from two large guns and a number of small-arms. Harry, in the midst of +the smoke and flame of the action, and the havoc of the bullets, was +as cool and collected as if smoking his pipe upon the beach at +Embleton. + +"See to get the helm repaired, lad, as fast as ye can," said he to the +carpenter, while in the act of reloading his pistols. "Let us fight +away, but mind ye your awn wark." + +Harry's was the philosophy of courage, mingled with the calculations +of worldly wisdom. + +The firing had been kept up on both sides for the space of +half-an-hour, and the decks of both were stained with the blood of the +wounded, when a party from the brig, headed by her first mate, +succeeded in boarding the lugger. Harry seized a cutlass which lay +unsheathed by the side of the companion, and was the first who rushed +forward to repel them. + +"Out o' my ship, ye thieves!" cried he, while, with his long arm, he +brandished the deadly weapon, and for a moment forgot his habitual +discretion. + +Others of the crew instantly sprang to the assistance of Harry; and, +after a short but desperate encounter, the invaders were driven from +the deck, leaving their chief mate, insensible from wounds, behind +them. + +The rudder being repaired so as to render her manageable, the lugger +kept up a sort of retreating fight until night set in, when, as Harry +said, "she gave the cutter the slip like a knotless thread." + +But now a disagreeable question arose amongst them, and that was, what +they should do with the wounded officer, who had been left as a prize +in their hands--though a prize that they would much rather have been +without. Some wished that he might die of his wounds, and so they +would get rid of him; for they were puzzled how to dispose of him in +such a way as not to lead to their detection, and place their lives in +jeopardy. Harry was on his knees by the side of the officer, washing +his wounds with Riga balsam, of which they had a store on board, and +binding them up, when one desperate fellow cut short the perplexity +and discussion of the crew, by proposing to fling their _prize_ +overboard. + +On hearing the brutal proposal, Harry sprang to his feet, and hurling +out his long bony arm, he exclaimed, "Ye savage!" and, dashing his +fist in the face of the ruffian, felled him to the deck. + +The man (if we may call one who could entertain so inhuman an idea by +the name of man) rose, bleeding, growling, and muttering threats of +revenge. + +"Ye'll blab, will ye?" said Harry, eyeing him fiercely; "threaten to +dow it again, and there's the portion that's waiting for yur neck!" +and, as he spoke, he pointed with his finger to the cross-tree of +the lugger, and added, "and ye knaw that the same reward awaits ye +if ye set yur weel-faur'd face ashore! Out o' my sight, ye +'scape-the-gallows!" + +For three days and nights, after her encounter with the brig, the +lugger kept out to sea; and on the fourth night, which was thick, +dark, and starless, Harry resolved to risk all; and, desiring the +skipper to stand for the shore, all but run her aground on Embleton +beach. No light was hoisted, no signal given. Harry held up his +finger, and every soul in the lugger was mute as death. A boat was +lowered in silence, and four of the crew being placed under the +command of Ned Thomson, pulled ashore. The boat flew quickly, but the +oars seemed only to kiss the water, and no sound audible at the +distance of five yards proceeded from their stroke. + +"Now, pull back quietly, mates," said Ned, "and I'll be aboard wi' +some o' wur awn folks in a twinkling." + +It was between one and two in the morning, and there was no outward +sign amongst the fishermen of Embleton that they were on the alert for +the arrival of a smuggler. The party who gave information to the +cutter having missed Harry for a few days, justly imagined that he had +obtained notice of what they had done; and also believed that he had +ordered the cargo to be delivered on some other part of the coast, and +they therefore were off their guard. Ned, therefore, proceeded to the +village; and, at the houses of certain friends, merely gave three +distinct and peculiar taps with his fingers upon their shutterless +windows, from none of which, if I may use the expression, proceeded +even the _shadow_ of light; but no sooner was the last tap given upon +each, than it was responded to by a low cough from within. No words +passed; and at one window only was Ned detained for a space exceeding +ten seconds, and that was at the house of his master, Harry Teasdale. +Fanny had slept but little since her father left; when she sought rest +for an hour, it was during the day, and she now sat anxiously watching +every sound. On hearing the understood signal, she sprang to the door. +"Edward!" she whispered, eagerly, "is it you?--where is my +father?--what has detained him?" + +"Don't be asking questions now, Miss Fanny--sure it is very foolish," +replied Ned, in the same tone; "Master will be here by and by; but ye +knaw we have bonny wark to dow afore daylight yet. Gud-nicht, hinny." + +So saying, Ned stole softly along the village; and, within +half-an-hour, half-a-dozen boats were alongside the lugger; and, an +hour before daybreak, every tub and every bale on board was safely +landed and stowed away. + +Yet, after she was a clean ship, there was one awkward business that +still remained to be settled, and that was how they were to dispose of +the wounded officer of the cutter-brig. A consultation was held--many +opinions were given. + +"At ony rate we must act like Christians," said Harry. + +Some proposed that he should be taken over to Holland and landed +there; but this the skipper positively refused to do, swearing that +the sooner he could get rid of such a customer the better. + +"Why, I canna tell," said Ned Thomson; "but what dow ye say, if we +just take him ashore, and lay him at the door o' the awd rascal that +gied information on us?" + +"Capital!" cried two or three of the conclave; "that's just the +ticket, Ned!" + +"Nonsense!" interrupted Harry, "it's nae such thing. Man, Ned, I +wonder that sic a clever chap as ye aye talks like a fool. Why, ye +might as weel go and ask them to tak you and me off to Morpeth before +dinner-time, as to lay him at their door this morning." + +"Well, Master Teasdale," said the skipper, who was becoming impatient, +"what would you have us to do with him?" + +"Why, I see there's naething for it," answered Harry, "but I maun tak +the burden o' him upon my awn shouthers. Get the boat ready." So +saying, and while it was yet dark, he entered the cabin where the +wounded officer lay, but who was now conscious of his situation. + +"I say, my canny lad," said Harry, approaching his bedside, and +addressing him, "ye maun allow me to tie a bit handkerchur owre yur +een for a quarter-of-an-hour or sae.--Ye needna be feared, for there's +naething shall happen ye--but only, in looking after yur gud, I maunna +lose sight o' my awn. You shall be ta'en ashore as gently as we can." + +The wounded man was too feeble to offer any resistance, and Harry, +binding up his eyes, wrapped the clothes on the bed around him, and +carried him in his arms upon deck. In the same manner he placed him in +the boat, supporting him with his arm, and, on reaching the shore, he +bore him on his shoulders to his house. + +"Now, sir," said he, as he set him down from his shoulders on an +arm-chair, "ye needna be under the smallest apprehension, for every +attention shall be paid ye here; and, as soon as ye are better, ye +shall be at liberty to return, safe and sound, to your friends, your +ship, or wherever ye like." Harry then turned to his daughter, and +continued--"Now, my bird, come awa in by wi' me, and I will let ye +knaw what ye have to dow." + +Fanny wondered at the unusual burden which her father had brought +upon his shoulders into the house; and at his request she anxiously +accompanied him into her own apartment. When they had entered, and he +had shut the door behind them, he took her hand affectionately, and, +addressing her in a sort of whisper, said-- + +"Now, Fanny, love, ye maun be very cautious--as I knaw ye will be--and +mind what I am telling ye to dow." He then made her acquainted with +the rank of their inmate, and the manner in which he had fallen into +their hands, and added--"Now, darling, ye see we maun be very +circumspect, and keep his being here a secret frae everybody: he maun +remain ignorant o' his awn situation, nowther knawing where he is, nor +in whose hands he is; for if it were found out, it wad be as much as +your father's life is worth. Now he maun stop in this room, as it +looks into the garden, and he can see naething frae it, nor will +onybody be able to see him. Ye maun sleep wi' the lass in the kitchen, +and yur '_sampler_,' and every book, or onything that has a name on't, +maun be taken out o' the room. It winna dow for onybody but you and me +ever to see him, or to wait on him; and, when we dow, he maunna be +allowed to see either yur face or mine; but I will put my awd mask on, +that I used to wear at night sometimes when there was onything +particular to dow, and I thought there wad be danger in the way; and," +continued he, as the doating parent rose in his bosom, "it wadna be +_chancy_ for him to see my Fanny's face at ony rate; and when ye dow +see him, ye maun have your features so concealed, that, if he met you +again, he wadna knaw ye. Now, hinny, ye'll attend to a' that I've +said--for ye remember your father's life depends on it--and we maun be +as kind to the lad as we can, and try to bring him about as soon as +possible, to get clear on him." + +Fanny promised to obey her father's injunctions; but fears for his +safety, and the danger in which he was placed, banished every other +thought. The books, the "_sampler_," everything that could lead the +stranger to a knowledge of the name of his keepers, or of the place +where he was, was taken out of the room. + +Harry, muffling up his face, returned to the apartment where the +wounded man was, and, supporting him on his arm, he led him to that +which he was to occupy. He then took the bandage from his eyes, and, +placing him on the bed, again desired him to keep himself easy, and +wished him "good-morning," for day was now beginning to dawn. + +The name of our smuggler's wounded prisoner was Augustus Hartley. He +was about twenty-four years of age, and the son of a gentleman of +considerable property in Devonshire; and, at the period we speak of, +he was in expectation of being removed from his situation as second +officer of the brig, and promoted to the command of a revenue-cutter. +The wounds which he had received on the deck of the lugger were +severe, and had reduced him to a state of extreme feebleness; but they +were not dangerous. He knew not where he was, and he marvelled at the +treatment he experienced; for it was kind, yea, even roughly +courteous, and unlike what he might have expected from the hands of +such men as those into whose power he had fallen. Anxiety banished +sleep; and when the risen sun lighted up the chamber where he lay, he +stretched forth his hand and drew aside the curtains, to ascertain +whether the appearance of the apartment would in any way reveal the +mystery which surrounded his situation. But it rather increased it. In +the window were the flowers--around the walls the curious needlework; +the furniture was neatly arranged--there was an elegance over all; +and, to increase his wonder, in a corner by the window was a small +harp, and a few pages of music lay on a table near him. + +"Surely," thought Augustus, "this cannot be the habitation of a +half-uncivilised smuggler; and yet the man who brought me here seemed +such." + +He drew back his head upon his pillow, to seek the explanation in +conjectures which he could not otherwise obtain; and while he lay +conjuring up strange fancies, Harry, with the mask upon his face, his +hair tied up and concealed, and his body wrapped in a greatcoat, +entered the room. + +"Well, how art thou now, lad?" said the smuggler, approaching the bed; +"dost think ye could take breakfast yet?" + +Augustus thanked him; but the appearance of Harry in his strange +disguise increased his curiosity and anxiety. + +Harry withdrew, and again returned with the breakfast; and though an +awkward waiter, he was an attentive one. Few words passed between +them, for the questions which Augustus felt desirous to ask were +checked by the smuggler saying--"Now, my canny lad, while ye are here +I maun lay an embargo on your asking ony questions, either at me or +onybody else. Ye shall be taken gud care on--if ye want onything, just +tak that bit stick at your bedside, and gie a rap on the floor, and +I'll come to ye. Ye shall want for naething; and, as soon as ye are +better, ye shall be at liberty to gang where ye like. But I maun +caution ye again, that ye are to ask nae questions." + +Augustus again thanked him, and was silent. + +At the end of eight days, he was able to rise from his bed, and to sit +up for a few hours. Harry now said to him-- + +"As thou wilt be dull, belike thou wilt have nae objections to a +little music to cheer thee." + +Thus saying, he left the room, and, in a few minutes, returned with +Fanny. He was disguised as before, and her features were concealed by +several folds of black crape, which covered her head and face, after +the fashion of a nun. She curtsied with a modest grace to the +stranger as she entered. + +"That cannot be the daughter of a rude and ignorant smuggler," thought +Augustus; "and how should such a creature be connected with them?" He +noted the elegance of her form, and his imagination again began to +dream. The mystery of his situation deepened around him, and he gazed +anxiously on the thick and folded veil that concealed her features. + +"Wilt thou amuse the poor gentleman with a song, love," said Harry, +"for I fear he has but a dull time on't?" + +Fanny took the harp which stood in the corner--she touched the +trembling cords--she commenced a Scottish melody; and, as Augustus +listened to the music of her clear and silvery voice, blending with +the tones of the instrument, it + + "Came o'er the ear like the sweet south + Breathing upon a bank of violets, + Stealing and giving odour." + +It seemed the sweetest strain to which he had ever listened; and +romance and mystery lent it their magic. His eyes kindled at the +sounds; and when Harry saw the change that was produced on him, he was +well pleased to observe it, and he was proud also of his daughter's +performance, and in the simplicity and fulness of his heart he said-- + +"Thou mayest amuse the gentleman with thy music every day, child, or +thou mayest read to him, to mak him as comfortable as we can; only he +must ask thee no questions, and thou must answer him none. But I can +trust to thee." + +From that moment Augustus no longer wearied for the days of his +captivity to pass away; and he retired to rest, or rather to dream of +the veiled songstress, and to conjure up a thousand faces of youth and +beauty which might be like her face--for he doubted not but her +countenance was lovely as her form was handsome; and he pictured dark +eyes where the soul beamed, and the raven hair waved on the snowy +temples, with the soft blue eyes where affection smiled, and the +flaxen tresses were parted on the brow; but he knew not which might be +like hers on whom his imagination dwelt. + +Many days passed; and, during a part of each, Fanny sat beside him to +beguile his solitude. She read to him; they conversed together; and +the words which fell from her lips surprised and delighted him. She +also taught him the use of the harp, and he was enabled to play a few +tunes. He regarded her as a veiled angel, and his desire to look upon +her features each day became more difficult to control. He argued that +it was impossible to love one whose face he had never seen--yet, when +she was absent from his side, he was unhappy until her return; she had +become the one idea of his thoughts--the spirit of his fancies; he +watched her fair fingers as they glided on the harp--his hand shook +when he touched them, and more than once he half raised it to untie +the thick veil which hid her features from him. + +But, while such feelings passed through his mind, others of a kindred +character had crept into the bosom of Fanny, and she sighed when she +thought that, in a few weeks, she would see him no more, that even her +face he might not see, and that her name he must never know; and fears +for her father's safety mingled with the feelings which the stranger +had awakened in her bosom. She had beheld the anxiety that glowed in +his dark eyes--she had listened to his impassioned words--she felt +their influence: but duty forbade her to acknowledge that she felt it. + +Eight weeks had passed; the wounds of Augustus were nearly healed; his +health was restored, and his strength returned, and Harry said that in +another week he might depart; but the announcement gave no joy to him +to whom it was addressed. His confinement had been robbed of its +solitariness, it had become as a dream in which he delighted, and he +could have asked but permission to gaze upon the face of his +companion, to endure it for ever. About an hour after he received this +intelligence, Fanny entered the apartment. He rose to meet her--he +took her hand, and they sat down together. But her harp lay +untouched--she spoke little--he thought she sighed, and he, too, was +silent. + +"Lady," said he, anxiously, still holding her hand in his, "I know not +where I am, nor by whom I am surrounded--this only I know, that you, +with an angel's care, have watched over me, that you have restored me +to health, and rendered confinement more grateful than liberty; but, +in a few days, we must part--part, perhaps, for ever; then, before I +go, grant me but one request--let me look upon the face of her whose +remembrance will dwell in my heart as its dearest thought, while the +pulse of life throbs within it." + +"I must not, I dare not," said Fanny, and she paused and sighed; "'tis +not worth looking on," she added. + +"Nay, dearest," continued he, "deny me not--it is a small request. +Fear nothing--never shall danger fall upon any connected with you +through me. I will swear to you----" + +"Swear not!" interrupted Fanny--"I dare not!--no!--no!" and she again +sighed. + +He pressed her hand more closely within his. A breathless silence +followed, and a tear glistened in his eyes. Her bosom heaved--her +countenance bespoke the struggle that warred in her breast. + +"Do I look as one who would betray your friends--if they be your +friends?" said he, with emotion. + +"No," she faltered, and her head fell on her bosom. + +He placed his hand across her shoulders--it touched the riband by +which the deep folds of the veil were fastened over her head--it was +the impulse of a moment--he unloosed it, the veil fell upon the floor, +and the flaxen locks and the lovely features of Fanny Teasdale were +revealed. Augustus started in admiration; for weeks he had conjured up +phantoms of ideal beauty, but the fair face before him exceeded them +all. She blushed--her countenance bespoke anxiety rather than +anger--tears fell down her cheeks, and he kissed them away. He sat, +silently gazing on her features, drawing happiness from her eyes. + +Again ten days had passed, and, during each of them, Fanny, in the +absence of her father, sat unveiled by his side. Still he knew not her +name, and, when he entreated her to pronounce it, she wept, and +replied, "I dare not." + +He had told her his. "Call me _your_ Augustus," said he, "and tell me +by what name I shall call _you_, my own. Come, dearest, do you doubt +me still? Do you still think me capable of the part of an informer?" + +But she wept the more, for she knew that to tell her name was to make +known her father's also--to betray him, and to place his life in +jeopardy. He urged her yet more earnestly, and he had sunk upon his +knee, and was pressing her hand to his lips, when Harry, in the +disguise in which he had always seen him, entered the room. The +smuggler started back. + +"What!" cried he, sternly, "what hast thou done, girl?--shown thy face +and betrayed me?--and told thy name, and mine, too, I suppose?" + +"Oh no! no! dear father!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms around him; +"I have not--indeed I have not. Do not be angry with your Fanny." + +"Fanny!" hastily exclaimed Augustus--"Fanny! Bless thee for that +word!" + +"That thou mayest make it the clue to destroy her father!" returned +the smuggler. + +"No, sir," answered Augustus, proudly, "but that I may treasure it up +in my heart, as the name of one who is dearer to me than the life +which thou hast preserved." + +"Ay! ay!" replied Harry, "thou talkest like every hot-headed youth; +but it was an ungrateful return in thee, for preserving thy life, to +destroy my peace. Get thee ben to the other room, Fanny, for thou'st +been a silly girl." + +She rose weeping, and withdrew. + +"Now, sir," continued Harry, "thou must remain nae langer under this +roof. This very hour will I get a horse ready, and conduct thee to +where ye can go to your friends, or wherever ye like; and as ye were +brought blindfolded here, ye maun consent to be taken blindfolded +away." + +"Nay, trust to my honour, sir," said Augustus--"I am incapable of +betraying you." + +"I'm no sae sure about that," returned the smuggler, "and it's best to +be sure. I trusted to your honour that ye wad ask no questions while +here--and how have you kept your honour? Na, lad, na!--what ye dinna +see ye winna be able to swear to. So make ready." Thus saying, Harry +left the apartment, locking the door behind him. + +It was about an hour after nightfall, and within ten minutes the +smuggler again entered the room. He carried a pistol in one hand, and +a silk handkerchief in the other. He placed the pistol upon the table, +and said, "I have no time to argue--allow me to tie thy eyes up, lest +worse follow." + +Augustus requested that he might see Fanny but for a few minutes, and +he would comply without a murmur. + +"No," said Harry, sternly; "wouldst tamper with my child's heart, when +her trusting in thee would place my life in thy power? Say no more--I +won't hear thee," he continued, again raising the pistol in his hand. + +Augustus, finding expostulation vain, submitted to have his eyes bound +up; and as the smuggler was leading him from the house, the bitter +sobs of Fanny reached his ear: he was almost tempted to burst from the +grasp of his conductor, and rush towards her; but, endeavouring to +suppress the tumult of his feelings, he exclaimed aloud-- + +"Forget me not, dear Fanny!--we shall meet again." + +"Never!" whispered Harry in his ear. + +The smuggler's horse stood ready at the door. In a moment he sprang +upon the saddle (if saddle it could be called), and, taking Augustus +by the hand, placed him behind him; and at a word spoken the +well-trained animal started off, as though spurs had been dashed into +its sides. For several hours they galloped on, but in what direction +Augustus knew not, nor wist he from whence he had been brought. At +length the smuggler suddenly drew up his horse, and exclaimed, +"Dismount!" + +Augustus obeyed, but scarce had his feet touched the ground, when +Harry, crying "Farewell!" dashed away as an arrow shot from a bow; and +before the other could unfasten the handkerchief with which his eyes +were bound up, the horse and its rider were invisible. + +It was drawing towards grey dawn, and he knew neither where he was nor +in what direction to proceed. He remembered, also, that he was without +money; but there was something heavy tied in a corner of the +handkerchief, which he yet held in his hand. He examined it, and found +ten guineas, wrapped in a scrap of paper, on which some words seemed +to be written. He longed for day, that he might be enabled to read +them, and, as the light increased, he deciphered, written with a +trembling hand-- + +"You may need money.--Think sometimes of me!" + +"Heaven bless thee, my unknown Fanny!" cried he, "whoever thou art; +never will I think of any but thee." + +I need not tell about his discovering in what part of the country the +smuggler had left him; of his journey to his father's house in +Devonshire, or his relation of what had befallen him; nor how he dwelt +upon the remembrance of Fanny, and vainly endeavoured to trace where +her residence was, or to discover what was her name beyond Fanny. + +He was appointed to the command of a cutter, and four years passed +from the period of the scenes that had been described, when, following +in pursuit of a smuggling vessel, he again arrived upon the coast of +Northumberland. Some of his crew, who had been on shore, brought him +information that the vessel was delivering her cargo near Embleton; +and, ordering two boats to be manned, he instantly proceeded to the +land. They came upon the smuggler; a scuffle ensued, and one of +Captain Hartley's men was stabbed by his side with a clasp-knife, and +fell dead at his feet; and he wrenched the knife from the hand of the +murderer, who with his companions, effected his escape without being +discovered. + +But day had not yet broken when two constables knocked at the door of +Harry Teasdale, and demanded admission. The servant-girl opened the +door--they rushed into the house, and to the side of the bed where he +slept. They grasped him by the shoulder, and exclaimed-- + +"You are our prisoner." + +"Your prisoner!" replied Harry; "for what, neighbours?" + +"Weel dow ye knaw for what," was the answer. + +Harry sprang upon the floor, and, in the excitement of the moment, he +raised his hand to strike the officers of the law. + +"You are only making things worse," said one of them; and he submitted +to have handcuffs placed upon his wrists. + +Fanny sprang into the room, exclaiming-- + +"My father--my father!" and flinging her arms around his neck; "oh, +what is it?--what is it?" she continued, breathless, and her voice +choked with sobbing--"what do they say that you have done?" + +"Nothing, love--nothing," said he endeavouring to be calm; "it is some +mistake, but some one shall answer for it." + +His daughter's arms were forcibly torn from around his neck; and he +was taken before a neighbouring magistrate, by whom the deposition of +Captain Hartley had been received. Harry was that morning committed to +the county prison on a charge of murder. I shall neither attempt to +describe his feelings, nor will I dwell upon the agony which was worse +than death to his poor daughter. She knew her father innocent; but she +knew not his accusers, nor the nature of the evidence which they would +bring forward to prove him guilty of the crime which they imputed to +him. + +But the fearful day of trial came. Harry Teasdale was placed at the +bar. The principal witness against him was Captain Hartley. The colour +came and went upon the prisoner's cheeks, as his eye fell upon the +face of his accuser. He seemed struggling with sudden emotion; and +many who observed it took it as a testimony of guilt. In his evidence +Captain Hartley deposed, that he and a part of his crew came upon the +smugglers on the beach, while in the act of concealing their goods; +that he, and the seaman who was murdered by his side, having attacked +three of the smugglers, the tallest of the three, whom he believed to +be the prisoner, with a knife gave the mortal stab to the deceased; +that he raised the weapon also against him, and that he only escaped +the fate of his companion by striking down the arm of the smuggler, +and wrenching the knife from his hands, who then escaped. He also +stated that, on examining the knife, which was of great length, he +read the words, "HARRY TEASDALE," which were deeply burned into its +bone handle, and which led to the apprehension of the prisoner. The +knife was then produced in court, and a murmur of horror ran through +the multitude. + +Other witnesses were examined, who proved that, on the day of the +murder, they had seen the knife in the hands of the prisoner; and the +counsel for the prosecution, in remarking on the evidence, pronounced +it to be + + "Confirmation strong as holy writ." + +The judge inquired of the prisoner if he had anything to say, or aught +to bring forward in his defence. + +"I have only this to say, my lord," said Harry, firmly, "that I am as +innocent o' the crime laid to my charge as the child unborn. My poor +daughter and my servant can prove that, on the night when the deed was +committed, I never was across my own door. And," added he, firmly, and +in a louder tone, and pointing to Captain Hartley as he spoke, "I can +only say that he whose life I saved at the peril o' my own has, +through some mistake, endeavoured to take away mine; and his +conscience will carry its punishment when he discovers his error." + +Captain Hartley started to his feet, his cheeks became pale; he +inquired, in an eager tone, "Have you seen me before?" The prisoner +returned no answer; and at that moment the officer of the court called +the name of + +"_Fanny Teasdale!_" + +"Ha!" exclaimed the captain, convulsively, and suddenly striking his +hand upon his breast--"is it so?" + +The prisoner bowed his head and wept. The court were stricken with +astonishment. + +Fanny was led towards the witness-box; there was a buzz of admiration +and of pity as she passed along. Captain Hartley beheld her--he +clasped his hands together. "Gracious heavens! my own Fanny!" he +exclaimed aloud. + +He sprang forward--he stood by her side--her head fell on his bosom. +"My lord!--O my lord!" he cried, wildly, addressing the judge, "I +doubt--I disbelieve, my own evidence. There must be some mistake. I +cannot be the murderer of the man who saved me--of my Fanny's father!" + +The most anxious excitement prevailed through the court: every +individual was moved, and, on the bench, faces were turned aside to +conceal a tear. + +The judge endeavoured to restore order. + +The shock of meeting with Augustus, in such a place and in such an +hour, though she knew not that he was her father's accuser, added to +her agony, was too much for Fanny, and, in a state of insensibility, +she was carried out of the court. + +Harry's servant-girl was examined; and, although she swore that, on +the night on which the murder was committed, he had not been out of +his own house, yet, in her cross-examination, she admitted that he +frequently was out during the night without her knowledge, and that he +_might_ have been so on the night in question. Other witnesses were +called, who spoke to the excellent character of the prisoner, and to +his often-proved courage and humanity; but they could not prove that +he had not been engaged in the affray in which the murder had been +committed. + +Captain Hartley strove anxiously to undo the impression which his +evidence had already produced; but it was too late. + +The judge addressed the jury, and began to sum up the evidence. He +remarked upon the knife with which the deed was perpetrated, being +proved and acknowledged to be the property of the prisoner--of its +being seen in his hand on the same day, and of his admitting the +fact--on the resemblance of the figure to that of the individual who +was seen to strike the blow, and on his inability to prove that he was +not that individual. He was proceeding to notice the singular scene +that had occurred, with regard to the principal witness and the +prisoner, when a shout was heard from the court-door, and a gentleman, +dressed as a clergyman, pressed through the crowd, and reaching the +side of the prisoner, he exclaimed, "My lord, and gentlemen of the +jury, _the prisoner, Harry Teasdale, is innocent_!" + +"Thank Heaven!" exclaimed Captain Hartley. + +The spectators burst into a shout, which the judge instantly +suppressed, and desired the clergyman to be sworn, and to produce his +evidence. "We are here to give it," said two others, who had followed +behind them. + +The clergyman briefly stated that he had been sent for on the previous +evening to attend the death-bed of an individual whom he named, and +who had been wounded in the affray with Captain Hartley's crew, and +that, in his presence, and in the presence of the other witnesses who +then stood by his side, a deposition had been taken down from his lips +an hour before his death. The deposition, or confession, was handed +into court; and it set forth that his hand struck the fatal blow, and +with Harry Teasdale's knife, which he had found lying upon the stern +of his boat on the afternoon of the day on which the deed was +committed--and, farther, that Harry was not upon the beach that night. + +The jury looked for a moment at each other--they instantly rose, and +their foreman pronounced the prisoner "_Not Guilty!_" A loud and +spontaneous shout burst from the multitude. Captain Hartley sprang +forward--he grasped his hand. + +"I forgive thee, lad," said Harry. + +Hartley led him from the dock--he conducted him to Fanny, whom he had +taken to an adjoining inn. + +"Here is your father!--he is safe!--he is safe, my love!" cried +Augustus, as he entered the room where she was. + +Fanny wept on her father's bosom, and he kissed her brow, and said, +"Bless thee." + +"And canst thou bless me, too," said Augustus, "after all that I have +done?" + +"Well, well, I see how it is to be," said Harry; and he took their +hands and placed them in each other. I need only add, that Fanny +Teasdale became the happy wife of Augustus Hartley; and Harry, having +acquired a competency, gave up the trade of a smuggler. + + + + +THE SCHOOLFELLOWS. + + +A few years ago, I happened to pass through the main street of +Carlisle, just as the south mail had "pulled up" at the door of "The +Bush." The night was very cold; the horses were tossing their heads, +and pawing the ground, impatient to escape from the restraint of their +harness; and the steam, which rose in clouds from their bodies, gave +evidence that they had just "come off" a rapid and fatiguing stage. At +the coach-door stood a middle-aged, gentlemanly-looking man, whose +blue nose, muffled throat, and frozen body, pointed him out as one of +the new arrivals. As I loitered slowly past, the stranger, who had +just settled the claims of the guard, turned round, and observed me. +His keen eye rested for a moment on my features--he started, looked +again, and then said-- + +"No; I cannot be mistaken. I surely ought to know that face. Is not +your name Lorrimer?" + +"It is," replied I, surprised at being thus accosted by a perfect +stranger. "You seem to be better acquainted with my name, sir, than I +am with yours; for I am not conscious of ever having seen you before." + +"Look at me again, Frank; try if you cannot recollect me," said he, as +we entered the travellers' room, and the gas-light shone full on his +face. + +I looked; but in vain. + +"I am ashamed to say, I do not know who you can be, though I have a +kind of consciousness that your features are those of an old friend." + +"Do you remember Richard Musgrave?" + +"What! Dick Muzzy? To be sure I do--the kindest-hearted fellow that +ever dog's-eared a Latin grammar. What news of my old schoolmate?" + +"He is speaking to you now." + +"Is it possible? You Richard Musgrave? Why, Richard was younger, I +rather think, than myself; and you, begging your pardon, look almost +old enough to be my father." + +"So it is, notwithstanding. I am Richard Musgrave. Time and climate +must have altered me even more sadly than I conceived, since Frank +Lorrimer fails to recognise me." + +He was indeed changed. Some alteration might have been expected, for +several years had elapsed since we had met; but time alone could not +have thus metamorphosed him. We had been schoolfellows and intimate +friends; and, when he left home, ten years before, he was a handsome, +vigorous young fellow, with hair dark as a raven's wing, and a brow +clear as alabaster. Now, his hair was iron-grey, his features were +dark and sunburned, and the scar, of a sabre-wound apparently, +disfigured his forehead. Even with my knowledge of his identity, some +minutes elapsed ere I could persuade myself that the friend of my +early years stood before me; but my recollection slowly revived as I +gazed upon him, and I wondered at my own stupidity in not having +sooner recognised him. + +"Musgrave, my dear fellow," said I, shaking him cordially by the hand, +"I rejoice to see you. Time has altered us both outwardly; but, I +trust, it has left our hearts unchanged. The recollection of youthful +joys and sorrows is the last to leave us. Amid all the changes and +chances of life, our thoughts fondly dwell upon the days of our +innocent and happy childhood; and all the friendships we form in after +years can never efface the remembrance of those who were dear to us in +early youth. I have often thought of you, Musgrave, and often, though +in vain, I have made anxious inquiries after the fate of my old +friend and schoolfellow; and, now that you _have_ returned, I should +have passed you by as a common stranger, had your memory been as +treacherous as my own." + +"You forget, my dear fellow," replied he, "that _you_ are but little +changed; your florid cheek, and smooth, unwrinkled brow, prove that +time has been flowing on in a smooth, unruffled current with _you_; +that you have been leading a life of ease and comfort. But look at me; +on my sunburned features you may read a tale of hardship and exposure. +Look at my brow! these premature wrinkles are mementos of care and +anxiety. But, come, I have much to ask and to tell you; if you have +leisure, let us retire to a private room, and talk over the past. I +cannot, I find, proceed on my journey till the morning, and I could +not employ my time more agreeably than in conversation with an old +friend." + +I willingly complied with his request, and we were soon seated beside +a comfortable fire, with "all appliances and means to boot," for +making the evening pass with _spirit_. + +"Now, Frank," said Musgrave, "before we commence, set my mind at rest +about my family. Do you know anything of them?" + +"It is some time since I saw them; but I heard a few days ago that +they were all well." + +"Thank you, thank you, my dear fellow; you have removed a load of +anxiety from my mind. Fill your glass to 'auld langsyne,' and then we +will talk over old scenes and old friends." + +Long and confidential was our conversation, and varied were the +feelings which it excited. There can be few more interesting events in +a man's life than the unexpected meeting with a long-absent friend. +There is a mournful pleasure in recalling the past, in contrasting the +sad experience of maturer years with the sanguine and glowing +anticipations of our youth. For a few passing moments we forget the +march of time, we look back through the long vista of years, and once +more the warm, and joyous, and fresh feelings of youth seem to gush +forth, and to soften and revive our world-seared and hardened hearts. +So it was with _us_. + +The present was for awhile forgotten by us; we were living in the +past; and loud and joyful were our bursts of merriment when we talked +of old jokes and adventures; and then again the thought came over us, +like a chilling blight, suffusing our eyes with tears, that the +curtain of death had fallen over most of our young and cheerful +fellow-actors on the early stage of life. It was with saddened and +subdued hearts we dwelt upon the brief career of some of our early +companions; and we sat for some minutes in silence, musing upon the +vicissitudes of human life. At last, with a forced attempt at +merriment, Musgrave exclaimed, in the words of an old sea ditty-- + + "'Come, grieving's a folly; + So let us be jolly: + If we've troubles at sea, boys, we've pleasures on shore.'" + +"Replenish your tumbler, Frank," continued he; "we'll talk no more of +the past; that's gone beyond recall; but let us make the most of the +present. We have not many hours before us; and I have heard nothing of +your adventures since we parted, nor you of mine. Set a good example, +and begin." + +"My story is soon told," replied I; "for, as you remarked before, time +has been flowing on, for me, quiet and undisturbed. I have no +adventures to relate--no stirring accidents by field or flood; mine +has been a humdrum, peaceful life, unmarked by variety, except those +common ones which would be uninteresting to a man of travel and +adventure like yourself." + +"Nothing connected with my old friend can prove uninteresting," said +Musgrave; "so pray commence your tale." + +Thus urged, I began as follows:--I continued at school two years after +you so suddenly left it, and was then bound apprentice to a lawyer in +this town. I did not much like the profession which had been chosen +for me; but there was no help for it. I knew that my father had no +interest, and that I must trust entirely to my own exertions for a +provision for my future life. I therefore applied myself diligently to +my duties, and soon had the good fortune to gain the confidence of my +employer. I had been with him about three years, when he sent me to a +neighbouring village to wait upon a client of his. This gentleman was +a retired post-captain, a man who had seen much service, and had been +often and severely wounded. + +He was, as I had been before informed, as smart an officer as ever +trod a ship's deck; his whole heart was in his profession; and his +long residence on shore had not broken him of his habit of +interlarding his conversation with sea-phrases; and he delighted in +talking over the adventures of his past life to all who would listen +to him. Notwithstanding his little peculiarities, he was universally +loved and respected. He was a hospitable, kind-hearted man, and a +"gentleman of Nature's own making;" for, though he was a little +wanting in external polish, his actions proved him worthy of the +title. I had often heard of him before, but had never chanced to meet +him. I was much pleased with him at first sight: there was so much +warmth and frankness in his reception of me; and I felt at home with +him in a minute. He was a man of short stature, upright as a dart, +with iron-grey hair, and a keen, quick eye; and had on, when I met him +in the avenue to his house, an old rusty hat, pinched up in the rims, +and placed transversely on his head, so as to look like a "fore and +after," as he called it, or, as we would say, a cocked hat. + +"Oh," interrupted Musgrave, "you need not take the trouble of +explaining sea terms to _me_; they are as natural to me as my native +tongue almost." + +"I forgot," replied I, "that you are a chip of the same block; so I +will continue my _yarn_--you see I have picked up a little sea-lingo +too. After I had transacted my business with Captain Trimmer, he +pressed me to stay and partake of family fare." + +"We pipe to dinner at six-bells," said he; "three o'clock, I mean. You +will have plain fare and a sailor's welcome; which, you know, is a +warm one either to friend or foe." + +I accepted his frank invitation with pleasure; and, as it still wanted +an hour to dinner-time, he proposed that we should "take a cruise" +through the grounds till "the grub" was ready. During the walk, he +amused me greatly with his tales of the sea; but I was often obliged +to request him to interpret terms which were as unintelligible to me +as Hebrew or Sanscrit. He laughed heartily at my ignorance, but did +all in his power to enlighten me. + +"You have not had the benefit of a sea education, so what can we +expect from you? I'll tell you what, my young friend--I would as soon +come athwart the hawse of a shark as a lawyer (no offence to _you_), +but, somehow or other, I like the cut of your jib, and think we shall +be good friends nevertheless." + +"Oh," said I, laughing, alluding to my professional visit, "I am not +the lawyer, but the lawyer's _avant courier_--the pilot-fish, not the +shark." + +He laughed heartily, and kept bantering me on the sharking +propensities of my tribe in such an amusing manner that I could not +restrain my mirth. At last, the dinner-bell rang. + +"Ah! there's pipe to dinner at last! Come along, youngster; let's see +if you can take your grub as well as you can take a joke." + +We dined alone; for his only daughter, he told me, had gone to visit a +neighbour, and would not return till evening. The dinner was +substantial and good; the wines excellent; but, though the old +gentleman pressed me much to drink, he was very moderate himself. When +the cloth was removed, he said-- + +"Now I will pipe to grog; if you like to join my mess, do so, unless +you prefer your wine." + +"Why, if you have no objection," said I, "I will not desert this +capital claret; you may have all the grog to yourself." + +"Well, tastes differ; of course, as a landsman you prefer wine; but +you know the old song says-- + + 'A sailor's sheet-anchor is grog.'" + +He told me a number of his old adventures; and hours passed away like +minutes in listening to them; but I am free to admit that none of his +yarns were half so pleasant to me as some of the silken thread-ends he +let fall about his daughter Emmeline. There was something in the rough +manner in which he gave vent to the feelings of a father, that +possessed a tenderness which never could have been expressed by the +soft vocables of sentimentality. It is thus (excuse my poetry) that we +often admire the fragrance of a flower the more for the rough petals +from which it emanates. I was captivated, and twitched the old +gentleman on the string which yielded me the best music, till I +thought he suspected some love-larking in my sly attempts to get him +to praise the absent fair one. + +"Come, come," he said, "mind your grog; although _I_ say it, who +shouldn't say it, she's as pretty a little craft as ever sailed the +ocean of life; but we're not to take her in tow throughout all our +voyages--so we'll drop her." + +"Not till I drink to her, with your leave, sir," said I. + +"Oh, as to that, there's no harm," said he. "All I say is, it's a +pity you belong to the land sharks. If you'd been a seaman, I might +have fancied you for a son-in-law." + +The words startled me; and, if he had had the keen perception of a +refined man of the world, he might have augured something from the +sound of my voice, though my words belied my thoughts. + +"Well, here's to her!" said I; "and may her fortune yield her a better +cast up than a limb of the----" Law I would have said, but he roared +out devil, with a laugh, and I joined him. + +But, as I had a long walk before me, I was obliged to take my leave of +the old gentleman rather early in the night. His daughter had not yet +returned; but he was not uneasy on her account, as it was a fine +moonlight night, and she was well acquainted with the road. + +"Let me see you often, my young friend," said the captain; "I should +like to become better acquainted with you. We always pipe to breakfast +at nine o'clock, and to dinner at three. I hate your late shore hours. +Come whenever you are inclined to do so. I shall be happy to see you." + +We shook hands, and parted; and I was really quite sorry to leave my +new and agreeable friend. + +I was walking quietly along the road homewards; the moon was shining +brightly, and the shadow of the high hedge darkened half the road, +when I thought I heard the sound of suppressed voices some short +distance ahead of me. I stopped and listened, and, almost immediately +afterwards, I saw two men creep out from the light side of the road, +and, looking cautiously around, dart over into the shade. The stealthy +motions of the men, and their evident wish for concealment, impressed +me with a conviction that mischief of some kind was intended, and I +was determined to watch their movements. I got through the hedge, and +crept silently along the back of it, till I came to a kind of recess +for holding stones, where I paused and listened. I again heard the +murmur of voices near me, and, crawling quietly on, I came close +behind the speakers, so near to them that I could distinctly hear +every word they said, though I could not see them. + +"She'll be here soon, Jem," said one of them; "we couldn't have had a +better night for such a job." + +"Too much light, for my taste," replied the other; "however, we must +make the best on't. Our own mothers wouldn't know us in this disguise, +and, without it, she would be too frightened to take particular notice +of us. But are you sure she has the swag?" + +"Certain, Smooth-faced Jess told me that her mistress was going to +receive the rent for her father this evening." + +"Oh, that's all right; we'll save her the trouble of carrying it all +the way home. It will be rather awkward, though, if she has any one +with her." + +"No fear of that. I was in the shrubbery when she was leaving the +house; and I heard her refuse to have a servant with her. I took the +short cut across the fields to join you; and I'm surprised she has not +come up yet. She can't be long, however." + +This was a pleasant conversation for me to overhear; it was evident +that robbery, if not murder, was about to be perpetrated, and I was as +evidently destined to be a witness of the act. I might, to be sure, +have sneaked out of the scrape, as the men were quite unconscious of +my vicinity; but I could not bear the thought of deserting a +fellow-creature in the hour of danger, without some attempt for her +rescue--and yet what could I do? I was unarmed, except with a small +walking cane, which would be of little avail against two ruffians, who +were, of course, well provided with the means of offence. I was just +meditating to crawl onwards, and endeavour to warn the expected female +of her danger, when I was arrested by hearing one of the rascals +murmur--"Here she is at last, Jem." A light step was now heard; and, +peeping through a gap in the hedge close beside me, I saw a female +form fast approaching. The lady--for such she seemed by her dress--was +walking along the illuminated part of the road, apparently unconscious +of danger or fear; for she was humming a tune, and every now and then +glancing up at the moon. The critical moment had arrived. I could +almost _hear_ the throbbing of my heart, I felt such a feverish +impatience to put an end to my suspense; my nerves were strung to a +pitch of desperation. I felt as if the strength of a dozen men were in +my arm. I seized a large stone, and, crouching in the gap of the +hedge, I waited with breathless impatience for the expected attack. +The lady was nearly opposite me, when the ruffians rushed out upon +her. There was a faint scream, a momentary struggle, and she lay on +the ground at their feet. Their backs were turned towards me. During +the noise of the scuffle, my footsteps were unheard, and I was close +to them before they were aware. + +"Silence! or I'll settle you!" said one of the robbers to his almost +unconscious victim; whom, with all the coolness of fancied security, +he was beginning to plunder. I dashed the stone I held in my hand into +his face, and he fell senseless to the ground, with a heavy groan, +while I shouted at the same time, as if addressing some one behind me, +"Now, Harry, blow the other rascal's brains out." The other _rascal_, +however, did not wait to see the result. He was over the hedge in a +moment, and running for bare life. I pretended to follow him, shouting +aloud till he disappeared into the next enclosure. I then returned to +the road, where I found the man still lying senseless, though +breathing heavily. I took the handkerchief from his neck and bound his +hands together; and tearing the crape from his face, I took a long and +steady look at his features, that I might be able to swear to his +identity, if necessary. The lady, who was fortunately unhurt, and had +by this time recovered from her alarm, overwhelmed me with +acknowledgments, which I parried as well as I was able; and I +endeavoured to turn her thoughts into another channel, by requesting +her to look at the face of the senseless man. After a little +hesitation, she did so, and immediately recognised him as an old +servant of her father's--a worthless vagabond, who had been discharged +for theft, and had vowed revenge. Hitherto I had had little time to +take any particular notice of the appearance of the lady I had been so +fortunate as to rescue. I had merely remarked the grace of her form, +and the soft, sweet tone of her voice; but now that I had leisure to +look at her features, as the moonbeam rested brightly upon them, I was +struck with their beauty: I felt, as Byron has it, + + "My sinking heart confess + The might, the majesty of loveliness." + +I gladly offered to escort her to her home, which, she said, was only +about half-a-mile distant, and where we could procure assistance to +remove the still insensible footpad. Before we set off, however, I +took the liberty of securing his pistols, which could be of no service +to him in his present state, but might materially benefit us. After a +sharp walk of ten minutes, the lady stopped at a gate, which I +immediately knew to be the one I had so lately left. + +"Now, sir, I am at home. Allow me to welcome to it my brave deliverer, +and to introduce him to my father." + +"I require no introduction," replied I, "if you are, as I surmise, the +daughter of Captain Trimmer." + +"Do you know him?--he is my father." + +"I only left him about an hour ago; and fortunate it was that I did +not yield to his urgent wish for me to remain longer." + +Captain Trimmer listened in breathless anxiety as his daughter told +the tale of her danger and deliverance; and drawing a long breath when +it was ended, he muttered "Heaven be praised!" He then rang the bell +violently, and gave the servants orders, and directions where to find +the wounded footpad. + +"And now, my dear young friend," said he, "what can I say to _you_? I +can't say anything just now, my heart is too full! but there's my +hand, and you shall find me, as long as I live, a firm and warm +friend." + +I could only press _his_ affectionately in reply. He insisted upon my +remaining where I was for the night, and despatched a man on horseback +to explain to my friends the reason of my absence. From this time my +intercourse with the worthy captain became daily more intimate--almost +every spare hour of my time was devoted to his society. As his +character opened out upon me, I saw in his conduct so many proofs of +genuine goodness of heart and rectitude of principle, that I felt as +much affection and respect for him as for a dear and honoured parent. +His daughter Emmeline, too, was one of those gentle, retiring +characters, who may require to be known to be admired, and whose +virtues, like those of the sweet and modest violet, require to be +sought after to be properly appreciated. I was always fond of music. +We all know its influence over the feelings--its power to awaken the +hidden sympathies of the heart--to recall the joys and sorrows of the +past, and to stir up glowing anticipations and high resolves for the +future. Her voice was clear and sweet as a bird's; and when she +warbled over the melodies of her native land, I felt so much absorbed +in the beauty of the strain, as almost to forget the singer. You +smile, and anticipate the result. How could it be otherwise? How could +I live in close and constant communion with one so fascinating, and +escape the fascination? It is not amid the factitious glare and +excitement of society that such characters as hers can be appreciated: +there the tinsel too often glitters more brightly than the pure gold; +but in the calm and peaceful intercourse of domestic life, their pure +and gentle influence is felt and valued. I was becoming daily more and +more an admirer of the gentle Emmeline, when the sudden death of my +father awakened me from my dream of love, and startled me into serious +consideration. He died as he had lived--poor; for it was found, on +examining his affairs, that, though maintaining an appearance of +wealth and comfort, his life must have been a constant struggle with +difficulties; and there was barely sufficient left behind to satisfy +the claims of his creditors. Deeply as I was grieved by his loss, I +must say that feeling was not a little heightened by the +disappointment of finding myself unprovided for. I had always been led +to hope, that, though my father, from a wish to give me a spirit of +independence, had left me, during my early life, to the exertions of +my own energies for support, yet that at his death, he would leave me +a handsome competency. But this hope was now disappointed, and with it +vanished my bright dreams of Emmeline and happiness. I could not bear +the thoughts of exposing the woman of my heart to the risk of poverty +and privation. She knew not of my love, and now she must remain for +ever in ignorance of it; for what had I to offer her?--a heart, and +nothing more; and you know, Musgrave, that though _loving_ hearts are +very pretty things in _poetry_, _smoking_ ones would better furnish +forth a poor man's table. I gradually withdrew myself from the society +of my good old friend, though it cost me many a severe pang to do so; +and whenever I did meet him, I had always some faltering excuse to +make about press of business, ill health, or bad weather. I was +talking to him one day, when Emmeline, whom I had not seen for some +time, unexpectedly joined us. The conscious blood rushed to my face +immediately, and I stammered out some incoherent apology in reply to +her expression of surprise at my long absence. The old man noticed my +embarrassment, and became silent and thoughtful. At last, turning to +his daughter, he said, "Emmeline, my love, see what we are to have +for dinner; Mr. Lorimer will take family fare with us. Not a word, +youngster" (to me, as I was beginning to remonstrate), "I am +commanding officer here." We walked on together for some time in +silence; at last he stopped, and taking my hand, while he looked full +in my face he said--- + +"I am not so blind, Mr. Lorimer, but I can see which way the land +lies. I like to be fair and above-board with every one; and you are +not the man I shall break through the rule with. I like you, Frank +Lorimer; and I would do much to serve you. Emmeline--(ah, there go the +red colours again!)--you love her Frank!--win her and wear her if you +can; you have my free and full consent. I have heard of your father's +death, and its results; and I understand and honour the motives that +have induced you to absent yourself from us. I am not a rich man, but +I have enough to make two young people happy; and I know no one to +whom I would more joyfully confide my daughter's happiness than to +yourself." + +Kind, generous old man! I had not a word to say. I merely pressed his +hand in silence and tears. Yes, tears; for joy can weep as well as +grief. I was soon again a constant visiter at Oak Lodge; and in a few +months I had the happiness of calling Emmeline my own. I have been now +married three years, and have every day greater cause to bless the +happy chance which first led me to Oak Lodge. My excellent +father-in-law lives with us, and delights in spending his day in +nursing his little grandchildren. Long may he be spared to us! + +"What! married and a father! O Frank, what a fortunate fellow you have +been! Here have I been buffeting about the world for years, the +shuttlecock of fate, hunting fortune in every corner of the world, and +I return home, poor and penniless as the day I left it. I, whose early +dreams were all of the happiness of a married life, shall sink into +my grave a solitary bachelor, without one loved hand to tend my +pillow, and to smooth my passage to the tomb." + +"Oh, nonsense. Cheer up, Musgrave," said I; "I shall dance at your +wedding yet. But why need you care now about the scurvy tricks of +fortune abroad, since you have returned to enjoy her favours at home?" + +"Favours! What do you mean, Frank?" + +"Have you not heard of the death of your poor brother George, and that +the lawsuit in which your father was so long engaged has terminated +favourably for him. He is now in possession of a rental of three +thousand per annum, to which, of course, you will be heir?" + +"Heavens! you don't say so!" exclaimed Musgrave; "but I am sure you +would not deceive me. I have not heard from home for upwards of a +twelvemonth. Frank, you are a fine fellow; shake hands with me." + +"Ay, that I will," said I; "and I congratulate you with all my heart. +I am glad I have been the first to communicate such pleasing +intelligence; and now, the least you can do in return is to give me an +account of yourself since we parted." + +"Why, I'm not in the best mood in the world for storytelling," replied +Musgrave; "this unexpected good fortune has rather destroyed my +equilibrium; however, I will brush up my memory for your +gratification, though the retrospect will be anything but agreeable to +myself. You remember, I daresay, the day when I left school; on my +memory, at least, the recollection of it is as vivid as if it were +yesterday. When I drove away in my uncle's carriage, I thought I was +going home on a temporary visit, and little imagined I was never to +return. When I arrived at home, I found in the drawing-room with my +father a little, active, dark-looking man, with a stern, prompt +manner, who was introduced to me as Captain Fleetwood." + +"Richard, my boy," said my father, "you have often expressed a wish to +go to sea, and I have now an opportunity of gratifying you. My friend +Captain Fleetwood has volunteered to take you out with him as +midshipman; and, as I know I could not intrust you to better hands, I +am glad to avail myself of his offer. The warning is rather a short +one, as you must be on board your ship within a fortnight; you have no +time to lose; and I will accompany you to town to prepare your +equipment. We will leave this to-morrow morning at nine o'clock." + +I was rather staggered by this sudden announcement; for, though it had +always been the dearest wish of my heart to go to sea, yet there was +something so unexpected in the accomplishment of it, that I repented +of my choice. My heart sank at the thought of such a sudden parting +from home and all that was dear to me; besides, as I had just left +school, I would have preferred having a few days' holiday, and an +opportunity of strutting in my sailor's dress before the eyes of my +admiring schoolfellows. However, there was no help for it now--my lot +was cast for life; and, in a fortnight's time, I was fairly shipped on +board the Anne, a snug free-trader, bound to the East Indies. I pass +over the various details of my early career; you may find an accurate +description of my first feelings and impressions, and those of five +hundred others, on first joining a ship, in any circulating library in +the kingdom. I encountered the usual hardships, and was exposed to the +usual privations, incidental to the life of a sailor; but, as there +was nothing particularly worthy of notice in the first seven or eight +years of my sailor's life, I shall pass at once to the most +interesting event in a career of no trifling variety. It is now +upwards of two years since I went out chief mate of my old ship, under +the command of my first friend, Captain Fleetwood, who was a clever, +active seaman himself, and well qualified to make those under him the +same. We had a crew of twenty-five young and able fellows, with, as +usual, a sprinkling of black sheep among them. Our passengers were +four in number--a gentleman and his wife, and two young ladies, going +out to Bombay under their protection; all agreeable and well-informed +people, and the young ladies blessed with a tolerable share of beauty. +Time passed very pleasantly with us, for we were uncommonly favoured +in wind and weather; and our captain, who was as kind and benevolent +as a man, as he was strict and unflinching as an officer, delighted in +promoting to the utmost every plan for the comfort and amusement of +the crew. + +"Och, isn't he a broth of a boy, now, that captain of ours?" I heard +one of our men say to another, on one of the quiet tropical evenings, +when the crew were enjoying themselves in the "waist," and the captain +was whirling one of the ladies round in a waltz on the quarterdeck. +"He's as full of fun as a monkey." + +"Take care you don't shave the monkey too close, though, Mike, or +perhaps the _cat_ will shave _you_." + +"Is it the cat you mane?" replied Mike; "then, by the powers, it's +myself that's not afeered for the 'cat,' for she never wags her tail +here but when a man's either an ass or a skulk, and no man can say +black's the white of the eye of Mike Delaney. But I say, Tom, hasn't +this been an out-and-out passage? Why, we've never had nothing to do +but to spin yarns and knot them; we might have stowed away the +reef-points in the hold, we've never had no 'casion for them, and as +for salt water, we haven't had a breeze to wash our faces for us since +we left home. Blowed if we shan't get too fine for our work by and +by--reg'lar gentlemen afloat. I think I'll sport a pair of them +overalls that the long-shore beggars call gloves, to keep my flippers +white," said Mike--at the same time spreading out a pair as dirty as +the back of a chimney and as broad as the back of a skate. + +"Gloves and delicate flippers like that!" answered his companion; "no, +no, Mike--'twould be a sin and a shame to _hide_ it; that's a regular +dare-devil hand--it cares neither for soap nor water. But, Mike, the +voyage is not half over yet. We've had a fair weather passage so far; +but I'm always afeerd of those unkimmon fine beginnings; ev'rything +goes by contraries in this here world, and a good beginning often +brings in its wake a bad ending. It's not in the coorse of nature to +see such a long spell of fine weather; it's quite unnatural; it'll +break out, by and by, in a fresh place--see if it don't. That 'ere +butcher, the sea, lies there a-smiling at us as if we were so many +hinnocent lambs; but he'll maybe have his hand on our throats yet." + +"Well, Tom, it's never no use smelling mischief afore it comes; time +enough when it does show its ugly mug, to grin in its face. I'm not +the man to turn my back on it--nor you neither, for that matter, I'll +be bound." + +We had run nearly thirty-four degrees to the south of the equator, +when the weather became very variable, and the wind at last settled +into a strong breeze from the northward. One evening, we were spanking +along with the wind in that quarter, with a heavy confused sea, when a +thick gloom gradually overspread the sky, and the mercury, falling in +the barometer, gave warning of approaching bad weather. All our small +sails were taken in, and every necessary precaution adopted to prepare +for a change. Our topsails were reefed, and the mainsail was hauled up +and handled. About 6 P.M. Captain Fleetwood came on deck, and asked +what I thought of the weather. + +"Bad enough, sir; it does not seem to have made up its mind what to +do; however, we are tolerably well prepared for a change, whichever +way it may be." + +"You must keep a sharp look-out, Musgrave; if it should begin to rain, +depend upon it, the wind will chop suddenly round to southward. You +must not let it take you unawares." + +"I'll look for it in time, sir." + +He had scarcely left the deck, when a light, drizzling rain came on, a +partial lull succeeded, and the wind veered suddenly round to the +south-westward. We were prepared for it, however, and our yards were +soon trimmed to the wind; but our troubles were only beginning. The +breeze freshened up so rapidly, that we had barely time to take in +sail fast enough; no sooner was one reef in, than it became necessary +to take in another. The sea was running, as landsmen say, mountains +high; the winds howled through our rigging; and the giant albatrosses +hovered round us, seen indistinctly for a moment through the gloom, +and then soaring away on the gale, as if they were floating down a +stream--their enormous wings extended, but motionless. + +But men were aloft, close-reefing, and preparing to furl the +foretopsail, when a heavy sea struck the ship, and a sudden squall +laid her over on her beam-ends almost. The sudden jerk carried away +the topmast backstays. There was no rolling tackle on the topsailyard, +which jerked violently as the ship fell over, and the mast snapped +just above the parrell. Five of the poor fellows were thrown off the +topsailyard to leeward; we heard their cries dying away on the breeze; +we could not see them, the weather was so thick, and darkness was +coming on; and as for saving them, the attempt to do so would have +been madness, although several men sprung forward to volunteer. It was +with heavy hearts the men set to work to clear away the wreck; the +cries of their poor shipmates were still ringing in their ears, and an +hour or two elapsed before it was accomplished. All night long we were +hard at work, furling sails, and sending down yards and masts; and +when the morning appeared, the ship was hove to, with her head to the +south-eastward, under a storm staysail. The decks were lumbered with +wet sails, the main and mizen-topgallantmast and yards, and the +remnants of canvas and rigging saved from the wreck of the topmast. +We spliced the mainbrace, or, as you would say, served out drams; and +the helm being lashed a-lee, the ship's company were sent below, to +obtain the rest they stood so much in need of. Poor fellows! they were +not allowed to enjoy it long. + +"Where is the captain?" said the carpenter, rushing up the +quarter-hatch with a face like a ghost--"where is the captain?" + +"Well, Soundings," said Captain Fleetwood, "what do you want with me?" + +"It's just about the soundings, sir, I want to speak to you." Then, +drawing close to his side, he muttered, "There are four feet water in +the well, sir." + +The captain started, but recovered himself immediately. + +"Very well. Rig the pumps directly. Mr. Musgrave, call the hands out; +the ship has taken a little too much water in, over all. Heaven grant +it's nothing worse!" murmured he. + +The scene around us was now dreary and desolate in the extreme: the +sky was dark, gloomy, and threatening; light, angry-looking, +discoloured clouds flitted over it, like spirits disturbed, while +overhead the scud careered with lightning-like rapidity; the sea was +covered, as far as the eye could reach, with white foam, and the spray +was blown over the ship in a constant heavy shower; the little "Mother +Carey's chickens" were dipping their tiny wings in the waves under our +stern, and the stormy petrel and albatross swept in wide circles round +our storm-tossed vessel. The gale howled mournfully through our +rigging, and every now and then a giant sea dashed against our side, +and threw torrents of water over our decks. The hatches were battened +down fore and aft, and the monotonous clanking of the pumps was heard, +mingled with the loud cheers of the men, as they spirited each other +up to renewed exertions, and the loud "spell oh!" when the different +gangs relieved each other at the pump brakes. The whole of that day +was one of incessant labour; for, when, after some hours of hard work, +we had gained considerably upon the water, and relaxed a little from +our exertions, we found that renewed efforts were required to keep the +enemy at bay. Next morning the wind had greatly decreased, and was +gradually dying away; but a high sea was still running, and the ship +laboured tremendously. More sail was made to steady her; but, in spite +of all our efforts, the leak increased; and at last it became evident, +after everything had been done which seamanship could propose, or +perseverance carry into effect, that the ship was in a foundering +state. The captain, who had shewn himself active and energetic during +the excitement of the storm, now proved that he possessed that true +courage which can face unflinchingly the slow but sure approach of +danger and of death. Calm and collected, nay, even cheerful, at least +in appearance, his example encouraged and animated the crew, now +almost exhausted with their constant exertions. He ordered one watch +below to their hammocks, while the other was busied in fitting out the +boats, and preparing provisions to put into them, and in keeping the +pumps steadily but slowly at work. At last the hands were called +out--"Out boats!" and when they were all assembled, Captain Fleetwood +addressed them as follows:-- + +"My lads, the ship is sinking under us, and we must take to the boats. +You have been active, patient, and obedient hitherto--be so still, and +you may yet all be saved. Remember, that, as long as _one_ of your +officers is above the water with you, to that officer you owe +obedience. For my part, I am determined--and you know I am no +flincher--to maintain my authority with my life; but I hope you will +not put me to the proof. My intention is to steer for the Island of +Tristan d'Acunha, which, if Providence favours us, we may reach in a +week or ten days; but much depends upon your own exertions. Now, go +below, and take the last meal you will ever eat on board your old +ship. Heaven grant that we may all meet once more on shore!" + +The men listened in silence, and uncovered while he spoke; and when he +ended, they burst into a loud cheer, and one of them shouted out-- + +"We will stand by you to the last, sir!" + +"Ay, that we will," was responded by all. + +The captain took off his hat, and bowed, evidently much affected, and +dismissed them. + +In about twenty minutes they were again called up, and the boats were +hoisted out. We had two quarter-boats, a launch, and a jolly-boat, +which were amply sufficient to hold our whole number, reduced as it +was by the loss of the five poor fellows in the gale; one of the +quarter-boats, however, proved to be so leaky when lowered into the +water, that we were obliged to abandon her. The other boats were +furnished with masts, sails, a fortnight's short provision and water, +arms--everything, in fact, that could be thought of as likely to be +necessary. The captain took charge of the launch, and the second mate +and I cast lots for the cutter; the chance was against me, and I took +command of the jolly-boat. We were eight-and-twenty in number: twelve +men, the captain, and two of the passengers, in the launch; myself, +one of the ladies, and four men, in the jolly-boat; and the remainder +in the cutter. When we had shoved off from the ship, we lay on our +oars at some little distance, as if by mutual consent, to see the last +of her; but the captain shouted out-- + +"Come, my lads, we have no time to spare; give the old craft one +parting cheer, and let us make the best of our way." + +The men stood up, and, taking off their hats, gave three loud and +lengthened cheers. The deserted ship seemed as if she heard and wished +to acknowledge the compliment; her head turned gradually towards us; +she rose slowly and heavily before the swell, then dipped her bows +deep into the water, gave a heavy roll, and sank to rise no more. A +stifled groan broke from the men at this sad sight, which cast an +evident damp over their spirits. + +"Come, cheer up, my lads," said the captain; "we've seen the last of +as good a craft as ever floated; but it's of no use being downhearted. +Let us have a cheer for good success!" + +The men caught his tone immediately, and their spirits rose when they +saw how cheerfully he bore his loss. Tristan d'Acunha bore about S. +10 deg. W., about 200 miles distant; and, as the wind had again drawn to +the northward, we had every prospect of reaching it in the course of +five or six days. For the first two days we went along merrily enough +with a fine steady breeze, and tolerably smooth water, but, on the +afternoon of the third, the sky again became overcast, and there was +every appearance of another "round turn" in the wind. As night closed +in around us, the captain hailed us from the launch, and desired us to +keep as near together as possible, for fear of separation. This order +was obeyed as long as we were able; but, in the darkness, we soon lost +sight of each other, and the sound of our voices was drowned in the +increasing noise of wind and sea. About ten o'clock, the wind suddenly +shifted in a sharp squall; the sail was taken aback, and the little +boat lay over for a moment as if never to rise again. Fortunately the +haulyards gave way, and the sail went overboard, or she must have been +capsized; as it was, she was nearly half-full of water. I immediately +jumped forward to drag the sail in again, when, to my horror, I heard +the sound of voices crying for help, to leeward: the sail had knocked +two of the men overboard, and it was their dying cry we heard. We +pulled round the boat, and shouted out to them; there was no +answer--they were gone; they must have been half-drowned before they +could get clear of the sail, which had fallen on the top of them. Our +grief for their loss was soon absorbed by our fears for our own +safety. There were now only three of us remaining--for the lady could +be of no assistance--in a small boat, half-full of water; the wind and +sea rising, darkness all around, and the nearest land upwards of one +hundred miles distant; our prospects were dismal indeed. Fortunately +for us, however, we had no time to brood over our misfortunes; the +necessity for active exertion drove all thoughts but those of present +danger from our minds. We baled the boat out as fast as possible, got +the broken mast in-board, and made all as snug as we could. The wind +had shifted, as I said before, to the southward, and came on to blow +fresh; and the sea was again rapidly rising. We had nothing for it but +to keep the boat right before the wind, although it carried us almost +in a contrary direction to the course we wished to steer. + +At daylight, we looked anxiously around for the other boats; but in +vain did we strain our eyes--nothing was visible. Sad were our +forebodings as to the fate of our shipmates, and gloomy our +anticipations of the future for ourselves. The wind had moderated +considerably, but we were still obliged to run before it; and it was +not till late in the afternoon that we considered it safe to turn the +boat's head again to the southward. By this time it was almost calm, +but our two oars could do little against the head sea; and after +tugging away at them for some time, we were obliged to lay them in +from sheer exhaustion, merely keeping the boat's head to the sea. A +light breeze springing up at last from the northward, we got the stump +of the mast up, and set the reefed sail upon it, and began slowly to +make headway in the wished-for direction. + +During the whole of our perilous voyage, the young lady, who had been +committed to my charge, behaved with the greatest courage and +resignation; not a complaint escaped her lips, though she was drenched +to the skin by the spray and rain; not a scream did she utter when the +dark sea rose under our stern, threatening to engulf our little bark. +We did all we could to make her as comfortable as circumstances would +allow; for rough indeed must be the nature that does not feel kindly +towards youth and beauty in distress. She received all our attentions +with such heartfelt expressions of gratitude, and bore her discomforts +with such cheerful resignation, that the men could not help audibly +expressing their admiration, and vowing to spend their life's-blood in +her service. + +The sun was again smiling over our heads, and the water rippled under +the bows of the boat, as she danced before the breeze; and our spirits +were revived by the change. On examining our stock of provisions, we +found that most of our biscuit was completely saturated with salt +water, and that, with the most sparing economy, we had barely +sufficient rum and meat left to last us for a week longer. We +immediately spread the wet bread on the boat's thwarts to dry, and cut +the meat into small equal portions. + +"Now, Miss Neville," said I, laughing--though, Heaven knows, there was +little joy in my heart--"I, as commander of this vessel, constitute +you acting-purser; you shall serve out our rations to us equally and +fairly, and, if any one of my ship's company shall dare to question +the justness of your division, or to attempt to help himself without +your permission, he shall feel the weight of my anger." + +There was _faint_ laugh at this _faint_ attempt at pleasantry on my +part; and Miss Neville replied-- + +"I think, _Captain_ Musgrave, you might have appointed a more +sufficient purser than myself; however, I will do my best to justify +your choice." + +Another day, and another, we kept crawling slowly on; there was little +or no wind, and our two oars made but little way. I said before that +the boat's crew was reduced to two men and myself. One of these men, a +Scotchman, named M'Farlane, had only lately recovered from a severe +attack of illness, before we left the ship. The fatigue incurred +during the gale, and the danger and excitement of our situation since, +had a fatal effect upon the poor fellow's already shattered +constitution; he suffered in silence, never uttering a word of +complaint; but it was evident to us all that he was sinking fast. On +this day he had been taking his turn at the oar, in spite of my +remonstrances. + +"You will kill yourself, M'Farlane," said I. "You are not strong +enough to pull; take the helm, and give Riley the oar again." + +"No, sir," replied he; "Riley has had his spell, and I will take mine, +though I die for it. I feel that I am going; but let me die in +harness. No man shall have it to say that Tom M'Farlane was not game +to the last." + +Miss Neville joined her entreaties to mine, that he would give over +rowing; but in vain. + +"Heaven bless you, ma'am," said he--"and it will bless you, and bring +you in safety out of your dangers. You are just beginning the voyage +of life--and a rough beginning it has been; but never fear. You'll +make a happy port at last. As for me, my voyage is just over. I have +had both rough and smooth in my time. I've had no cause to complain; +and I shall die happy, if I die doing my duty." + +The words were scarcely uttered, when he ceased rowing. I turned +round, and saw him, with his face deadly pale, bending over the oar, +which he was in vain endeavouring to dip in the water. He made two or +three convulsive movements, as if in the act of rowing, muttered +"Hurrah, my lads!" and, with a heavy groan, fell backward. Riley and I +raised him immediately, blood was gushing from his nose and mouth, +which we in vain attempted to staunch. He opened his eyes once, +shuddered, and expired. I will not attempt to describe the feelings +with which we gazed upon the body of our unfortunate shipmate, and +thought how soon a still more dreadful doom might be ours. Death, with +all its horrid accompaniments of starvation, drowning, &c., came +before us. All the horrible stories we had heard of deaths at sea, of +misery, hunger, and cannibalism, came crowding upon our memories. At +last the silence was broken by Riley, who growled out-- + +"Well, there's one more going to feed the fishes! It'll be our turn +soon. However, its some comfort he has left his share of the grub +behind: there'll be more for those who remain." + +I could hardly restrain my anger at this cold-blooded speech; but a +look from Emily Neville checked me. Riley, however, observed the +impression his words had made upon me, and, with a diabolical sneer, +said-- + +"You need not look so black about it. I don't care a button about your +looks or your anger either. One man's as good as another now, and I +won't obey you any longer." + +"Riley," said I, starting forward, and seizing him by the collar, +while my voice trembled with suppressed passion, "mark my words! As +long as one plank of this boat hangs to another, I am your officer; +and while I have life in my body, you _shall_ obey me." + +The scoundrel was staggered by my firmness, and sat gloomily down upon +the "thwart." Riley had been one of our _black sheep_ on board the +Anne. I never liked the fellow. He was always a skulking, +discontented, vagabond; ever foremost in mischief, and striving to +make his shipmates as mutinous as himself. I saw, by his louring +looks, and his sullen, dogged manner, that we must, before long, come +into collision again, and I determined to prepare for the worst. I +threw all the fire-arms overboard, except a single musket and a brace +of pistols, the latter of which I loaded deliberately before his +eyes. + +"Come," said I, "the sun is long past the meridian, we must pipe to +dinner. Miss Neville, serve out our allowance, if you please." + +While Riley received his modicum of spirits, he growled out, "Here's a +pretty allowance for a hard-working man. Not a stroke more will I put +till I get more rum." + +"Not a drop more shall you have till the regular time; you must be +contented with just enough to keep soul and body together, like your +neighbours; we must not all be sacrificed to gratify your greediness." + +"Better die at once," said he, "than starve by inches; a short life +and a merry one for me!--so hand out the stuff at once, for have it I +_will_." And he made a rush to snatch the spirits from Miss Neville. + +"Back, scoundrel!" said I, cocking one of my pistols, "or I'll blow +your brains out." + +The words were scarcely out of my mouth, when the rascal stooped, and +snatching up a cutlass which he had concealed in the bottom of the +boat, made a cut at me with it, which, but for the tough rim of my +leather hat, would have laid my skull open. As it was, I shall carry +the scar to my grave. One touch of my trigger, and Miss Neville and I +were left in the boat alone. The ball went through his head; he +staggered against the gunwale, toppled overboard, and sank at once, +tinging the water with his blood. Miss Neville was now obliged to act +as doctor as well as purser. She washed my wound, and bound it up as +well as she was able. We neither of us spoke; but fearful were the +thoughts that passed through my mind. The boat lay becalmed upon the +water; my strength, wounded as it was, could do little towards forcing +her onwards. Unless a breeze sprung up, we must lie in utter +helplessness, and die a lingering death by starvation! Miss Neville +read my thoughts, and, stifling her own fears, exerted herself to +inspire me with confidence. + +"Fear not, Mr. Musgrave," said she; "the merciful Providence which +has watched over us hitherto, will protect us till the end. Utterly +helpless and hopeless as our situation appears at present, He _can_ +save us, and He _will_." + +Her words inspired me with renewed energy; and, with a good deal of +difficulty, I stepped the mast, which we had unshipped for greater +convenience in rowing. Next day we made the land, and, before evening, +after a little danger in passing the surf, I landed my precious charge +in safety. + +But I must hurry to the conclusion of my tale, for I see Lorrimer, you +are beginning to yawn, and I am tired of it myself. + +My first care was to seek a snug shelter among the rocks where I +quickly lighted a fire, and shared with my fair fellow prisoner the +last remains of our slender sea stock. For the next day's subsistence +we were obliged to rely upon my skill as a fowler. I spread the +remainder of the powder to dry, and contrived to make up a rude bed +for Miss Neville, on which, worn out with fatigue and excitement, she +soon enjoyed that rest which she so much required. I retired to a +little distance to watch her slumbers; but very soon followed her +example. In the morning, invigorated and refreshed, I sallied out with +my gun, and soon succeeded in procuring some birds for our morning +meal; I then climbed the highest part of the island, and set up the +boat's mast with a handkerchief flying from it, in hopes of attracting +the attention of some passing South Sea whaler. Weeks passed in dreary +monotony; we wanted for none of the absolute necessaries of life; but +we were prisoners, and that consciousness alone was enough to make +_me_ discontented and restless. My fair companion bore all her +inconveniences unrepiningly, and did all in her power to soothe and +comfort me; her sweet disposition, and gentle, silent attentions, +insensibly withdrew my thoughts from the discomforts of the present, +and hope pictured a bright future of happiness with her whom fate had +thrown upon my protection. One morning at daybreak, I climbed as +usual to my signal-post, and there, about three miles to windward of +the island, a ship was standing under easy sail to the westward. The +ship was hove to, and a boat lowered. I rushed down to apprise Miss +Neville of the joyful event, and we both hurried to the beach, to +receive our welcome visiters. After considerable difficulty, on +account of the surf, they effected a landing, and were greeted by us +with the warmest gratitude. The vessel, we were told, was the Medusa, +South Seaman, and had been out from England nearly two years; they had +observed my flag some time before they hove to, and at first thought +it had been left there by some former ship, as there were no settlers +on the island at the time; but they fortunately saw me through their +glasses, and determined upon landing. + +The evening was closing in cloudy and threatening, the surf was +beginning to run high, and everything indicated bad weather. + +"Come, be quick!" said the captain of the Medusa, who was in the boat; +"jump in, we've no time to lose; there's a gale coming on, and I +wouldn't wait two minutes longer for the world." + +As we were struggling through the heavy surf, a sudden roll of the +boat threw me overboard, and in a moment I was swept some distance +towards the beach. I swam for the shore immediately, as I knew it was +in vain to attempt reaching the boat again, or to hope that they would +risk their own lives, or the safety of the ship, by longer delay. I +was an excellent swimmer, and reached shore in safety, where I had the +mortification of seeing the Medusa make sail, and haul off the land. I +comforted myself, however, with the reflection, that Emily Neville was +in safety, and that, if the captain of the Medusa was a _Christian_, +he would return to take me off the island. That night a heavy gale of +wind came on from the north-west and a constant succession of stormy +changes of wind and calm followed for some time. In about a month, a +sail hove in sight; it was the Medusa! Oh, how delighted I was, once +more to feel a solid plank under my foot! I felt myself at home once +more when I touched her deck, and asked for Emily Neville. She was +gone! The Medusa had fallen in with a Cape trader, and Miss Neville +had taken a passage on board of her to the Cape, from whence she meant +to proceed to England. Imagine my disappointment! For two months +longer we beat about in these latitudes in the Medusa, and then, our +cargo being completed, we shaped our course homewards. On my arrival +in England, I went to my old friend, Darcy, who provided me with the +needful, and I am now so far on my way home. You tell me I have gained +a fortune; but I have lost the only girl I ever loved, and without her +fortune is valueless. + +I did what I could to comfort Musgrave, but he would not be comforted. + +Next morning he proceeded on his journey. A short time afterwards, +there appeared in the papers the following announcement--"Arrival in +the river, the Proserpine, from the Cape. The vessel has on board one +of the survivors of the wreck of the ship Anne, which foundered at sea +some months since, the lady was saved in one of the ship's boat, and +taken off the island of Tristan d'Acunha by the Medusa whaler." + +I immediately wrote to Musgrave, congratulating him on this happy +event; and received an answer in the course of a few weeks, telling me +that he was now amply repaid for his past dangers and disappointment; +for Emily Neville had consented to become his wife, and to share with +him the bounties, as she had before partaken with him of the harsher +dispensations, of Providence. + + + + +THE RED HALL; OR, BERWICK IN 1296. + + +Somewhat more than five hundred years ago, and Berwick-upon-Tweed was +the most wealthy and flourishing city in Great Britain. Its commerce +was the most extensive, its merchants the most enterprising and +successful. London in some measure strove to be its rival, but it +possessed not a tenth of the natural advantages, and Berwick continued +to bear the palm alone--being styled the Alexandria of the nations, +the emporium of commerce, and one of the first commercial cities of +the world. This state of prosperity it owed almost solely to Alexander +III., who did more for Berwick than any sovereign that has since +claimed its allegiance. He brought over a colony of wealthy Flemings, +for whom he erected an immense building, called the Red Hall (situated +where the wool market now stands), and which at once served as +dwelling-houses, factories, and a fortress. The terms upon which he +granted a charter to this company of merchants were, that they should +defend, even unto death, their Red Hall against every attack of an +enemy, and of the English in particular. Wool was the staple commodity +of their commerce, but they also traded extensively in silks and in +foreign manufactures. The people of Berwick understood FREE TRADE in +those days. In this state of peace and enviable prosperity it +continued till the spring of 1296. The bold, the crafty, and +revengeful Edward I. meditated an invasion of Scotland; and Berwick, +from its wealth, situation, and importance, was naturally anticipated +to be the first object of his attack. To defeat this, Baliol--whom we +can sometimes almost admire, though generally we despise and pity +him--sent the chief men of Fife and their retainers to the assistance +of the town. Easter week arrived, but no tidings were heard of +Edward's movements, and business went on with its wonted bustle. +Amongst the merchants of the Red Hall was one known by the appellation +of William the Fleming, and he had a daughter, an heiress and an only +child, whose beauty was the theme of Berwick's minstrels, when rhyme +was beginning to begin. Many a knee was bent to the rich and beautiful +Isabella; but she preferred the humble and half-told passion of +Francis Scott, who was one of the clerks in the Red Hall, to all the +chivalrous declarations of prouder lovers. Francis possessed industry +and perseverance; and these, in the eyes of her father, were +qualifications precious as rubies. These, with love for his daughter, +overcome other mercenary objections, and the day for their marriage +had arrived. Francis and Isabella were kneeling before the altar, and +the priest was pronouncing the service, the merchant was gazing fondly +over his child, when a sudden and hurried peal from the Bell Tower +broke upon the ceremony, and cries of "The English! to arms!" were +heard from the street. The voice of the priest faltered--he stopped; +William the Fleming placed his hand upon his sword; the bridegroom +started to his feet, and the fair Isabella clung to his side. "Come, +children," said the merchant, "let us to the Hall--a happier hour may +bless your nuptials--this is no moment for bridal ceremony." And in +silence, each man grasping his sword, they departed from the chapel, +where the performance of the marriage rites was broken by the sounds +of invasion. The ramparts were crowded with armed citizens, and a +large English fleet was seen bearing round Lindisfarne. In a few hours +the hostile vessels entered the river, and commenced a furious attack +upon the town. Their assault was returned by the inhabitants as men +who were resolved to die for liberty. For hours the battle raged, and +the Tweed became as a sheet of blood. But while the conflict rose +fiercest, again the Bell Tower sent forth its sounds of death. Edward, +at the head of thirty-five thousand chosen troops, had crossed the +river at Coldstream, and was now seen encamping at the foot of Halidon +Hill. Part of his army immediately descended upon the town, to the +assistance of his fleet. They commenced a resolute attack from the +north, while the greater part of the garrison held bloody combat with +the ships in the river. Though thus attacked upon both sides, the +besieged fought with the courage of surrounded lions, and the proud +fleet was defeated and driven from the river. The attacks of the army +were desperate, but without success, for desperate were the men who +opposed them. Treachery, however, that to this day remains +undiscovered, existed in the town; and, at an hour when the garrison +thought not, the gates were deceitfully opened, and the English army +rushed like a torrent upon the streets. Wildly the work of slaughter +began. With the sword and with the knife, the inhabitants defended +every house, every foot of ground. Mild mothers and gentle maidens +fought for their thresholds with the fury of hungry wolves--and +delicate hands did deeds of carnage. The war of blood raged from +street to street, while the English army poured on like a ceaseless +stream. Shouts, groans, the clang of swords, and the shrieks of women +mingled together. Fiercer grew the close and the deadly warfare; but +the numbers of the besieged became few. Heaps of dead men lay at every +door, each with his sword glued to his hands by the blood of an enemy. +Of the warriors from Fife, every man perished; but their price was a +costly sacrifice of the boldest lives in England. The streets ran deep +with blood; and, independent of slaughtered enemies, the mangled and +lifeless bodies of seventeen thousand of the inhabitants paved the +streets. The war of death ceased only from lack of lives to prey upon. +With the exception of the Red Hall, the town was an awful and a +silent charnel-house. Within it were the thirty brave Flemings, +pouring their arrows upon the triumphant besiegers, and resolved to +defend it to death. Amongst them was the father of Isabella, and by +his side his intended son-in-law, his hands, which lately held a +bride's dripping with blood. The entire strength of the English army +pressed around the Hall; and fearful were the doings which the band of +devoted merchants, like death's own marksmen, made in the midst of +them. What the besiegers, however, failed to effect by force, they +effected by fire; and the Red Hall became enveloped in flames--its +wool, its silk, and rich merchandise blazing together, and causing the +fierce element to ascend like a pyramid. Still the brave men stood in +the midst of the conflagration, unquailed, hurling death upon their +enemies; and, as the fire raged from room to room, they rushed to the +roof of their hall, discharging their last arrow on their besiegers, +and waving their swords around their heads, with a shout of triumph. +There also stood the father, his daughter, and her lover, smiling and +embracing each other in death. Crash succeeded crash--the flames +ascended higher and higher--and the proud building was falling to +pieces. A louder crash followed, the fierce element surrounded the +brave victims--the gentle Isabella, leaning on her bridegroom, was +seen waving her slender hand in triumph round her head--the hardy band +waved their swords, and shouted, "_Liberty!_" and in one moment more +the building fell to the earth; and the heroes, the bridegroom, and +his bride, were buried in the ruins of their fortress and their +factory. + +Thus fell the Red Hall, and with it the commercial glory of Berwick. + + + END OF VOL. XI. + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] This tale was written by Mr Wilson from the circumstance of "The +Tales of the Borders" having been adopted as a lesson-book in several +schools--ED. + +[B] The contrast here shown may be extended by a reference to "The +Henpecked Man," and thus three specimens of the _uxori emancipatus_ +will be brought into comparison.--ED. + +[C] The same anecdote is related of Dr Thomas Brown, the philosopher. + +[D] A phrase signifying that a smuggling vessel had delivered her +cargo. + + + + Transcriber's note: + + Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. + + The following printers errors were addressed. + + Page 13 'new' to 'knew' + (He scarce knew what he did) + + Page 13 'is' to 'his' + (took her hand in his) + + Page 16 'fund' to 'found' + (who found him owre heavy for them) + + Page 20 'mannner' to 'manner' + (and the manner in which) + + Page 21 'certainly' to certainty' + (a liking for the certainty of the science) + + Page 21 ''ve' to 'ye' + (the rest of ye wad hae been selling) + + Page 24 'duplicate 'as' removed. + (people as ye could, meet) + + Page 38 'uparalleled' to 'unparalleled' + (condescension and unparalleled favour) + + Page 120 'indentity' to 'identity' + (evidence of his identity) + + Page 125 'secresy' to 'secrecy' + (this mysterious secrecy and suspicion) + + Page 129 'father' to 'faither' + (to the comforts o' a faither) + Changed to maintain consistency of dialect. + + Page 151 'bridemaid' to 'bridesmaid' + (her bridesmaid was beside her) + + Page 152 'succeded' to 'succeeded' + (I succeeded at last) + + Page 171 'she' to She' + (She also allowed him) + + Page 177 'pike' to 'pick' + (to pick your banes ahint) + + Page 210 'thse' to 'these' + (While these important events) + + Page 217 'Frith' to 'Firth' + (the Firth of Forth to the Tyne) + + Page 218 'secresy' to 'secrecy' + (there was the secrecy of midnight) + + Page 257 'though' to 'thought' + (when I thought I heard) + + Page 266 'uncomonly' to 'uncommonly' + (we were uncommonly favoured) + + Page 280 'of' to 'off' + (and taken off the island) + + Page 282 'buisness' to 'business' + (and business went on) + + Page 282 'Lindisferne' to 'Lindisfarne' + (was seen bearing round Lindisfarne) + + visiter/visiters + These words are spelt thus throughout the book with + the exception of two places which have been standardised with the + above. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of +Scotland, by John Mackay Wilson and Thomas Gillespie and Alexander Campbell and Alexander Bethune and Oliver Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILSON'S TALES OF BORDERS, VOL 11 *** + +***** This file should be named 31761.txt or 31761.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/7/6/31761/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Woodie4 and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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