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WAVERLEY     NOVELS 


ILLUSTRATED    LIBRARY   EDITION, 


GUY    MANNERING 


TWO   VOLUMES    IN    ONE. 


BOSTON: 

TICKNOR    AND    FIELDS. 

1868. 


^     APR  13  7002 


Tfe3/7 

\b(o8 

Vol.  I-  2- 


University   Press: 

Welch,    Bigelow,    and   Company, 

Cambridge, 


%^^- 


/» 


>i 


GUY    MANNERING; 

OR, 

THE     ASTROLOGER 


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

LAY  OF  THE  LAST  MrNSTKtt. 


GUY     MANNERING; 


THE   ASTROLOGER. 


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

LAY   OP  THE  LAST  MDfSTEEL. 


INTRODUCTION (1829.) 

The  Novel  or  Romance  of  Waverley  made  its  way 
to  the  public  slowly,  of  course,  at  first,  but  afterwards 
with  such  accumulating  popularity  as  to  er  courage  the 
Author  to  a  second  attempt.  He  looked  about  for  a 
name  and  a  subject ;  and  the  manner  in  which  the  novels 
were  composed  cannot  be  better  illustrated  than  by  re- 
citing the  simple  narrative  on  which  Guy  Mannering  was 
originally  founded ;  but  to  which,  in  the  progress  of  the 
work,  the  production  ceased  to  bear  any,  even  the  most 
distant  resemblance.  The  tale  was  originally  told  me  by 
an  old  servant  of  my  father's,  an  excellent  old  High- 
lander, without  a  fault,  unless  a  preference  to  mountain- 


b  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

dew  over  less  potent  liquors  be  accounted  one.  He 
believed  as  firmly  in  the  story,  as  in  any  part  of  hia 
creed. 

A  grave  and  elderly  person,  according  to  old  John 
MacKinlay's  account,  while  travelling  in  the  wilder  parts 
of  Galloway,  was  benighted.  With  difficulty  he  found 
]iis  way  to  a  country-seat,  where,  with  the  hospitality  of 
tlie  time  and  country,  he  was  readily  admitted.  The 
owner  of  the  house,  a  gentleman  of  good  fortune,  was 
much  struck  by  the  reverend  appearance  of  his  guest, 
and  apologized  to  him  for  a  certain  degree  of  confusion 
which  must  unavoidably  attend  his  reception,  and  could 
not  escape  his  eye.  The  lady  of  the  house  was,  he  said, 
confined  to  her  apartment,  and  on  the  point  of  making 
her  husband  a  father  for  the  fii'st  time,  though  they  had 
been  ten  years  married.  At  such  an  emergency,  the 
Laird  said,  he  feared  his  guest  might  meet  with  some 
apparent  neglect. 

"  Not  so,  sir,"  said  the  stranger,  "  my  wants  are  few, 
and  easily  suppUed,  and  I  trust  the  present  circumstances 
may  even  afford  an  opportimity  of  showing  my  gratitude 
for  your  hospitality.  Let  me  only  request  that  I  may 
be  informed  of  the  exact  minute  of  the  birth  ;  and  I 
hope  to  be  able  to  put  you  in  possession  of  some  particu- 
lars, which  may  influence,  in  an  important  manner,  the 
future  prospects  of  the  cliild  now  about  to  come  into  this 
busy  and  changeful  world.  I  will  not  conceal  from  you 
that  I  am  skilful  in  understanding  and  interpreting  the 
movements  of  those  planetary  bodies  which  exert  their 
influences  on  the  destiny  of  mortals.  It  is  a  science 
which  I  do  not  practise,  like  others,  who  call  themselves 
astrologers,  for  hire  or  reward ;  for  I  have  a  competent 
estate,  and  only  use  the  knowledge  I  possess  for  the  ben- 


GUY    JIANNERING.  7 

efit  of  those  in  wLom  I  feel  an  interest."  The  Laird 
bowed  in  respect  and  gi-atitude,  and  the  stranger  was 
accommodated  with  an  apartment  which  commanded  an 
ample  view  of  the  astral  regions. 

The  guest  spent  a  part  of  the  night  in  ascertaining  the 
position  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  calculating  their 
probable  influence  ;  until  at  length  the  result  of  his  ob-' 
servations  induced  him  to  send  for  the  father,  and  conjure 
him,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  to  cause  the  assistants 
to  retard  the  birth,  if  practicable,  were  it  but  for  five 
minutes.  The  answer  declared  this  to  be  impossible; 
and  almost  in  the  instant  that  the  message  was  returned, 
the  father  and  his  guest  were  made  acquainted  with  the 
birth  of  a  boy. 

The  Astrologer  on  the  morrow  met  the  party  who 
gathered  around  the  breakfast  table  with  looks  so  grave 
and  ominous,  as  to  alai'm  the  fears  of  the  father,  who  had 
hitherto  exulted  in  the  prospects  held  out  by  the  birth  of 
an  heir  to  his  ancient  property,  failing  which  event  it 
must  have  passed  to  a  distant  branch  of  the  family.  He 
hastened  to  draw  the  stranger  into  a  private  room. 

"  I  fear  from  your  looks,"  said  the  fatlier,  "  that  you 
have  bad  tidings  to  tell  me  of  my  young  stranger  :  per- 
haps God  will  resume  the  blessing  he  has  bestowed  ere 
he  attains  the  age  of  manhood !  or  perhaps  he  is  destined 
to  be  unworthy  of  the  affection  which  we  are  naturally 
disposed  to  devote  to  our  offspring  ?  " 

"  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other,"  answered  the  stranger : 
"unless  my  judgment  greatly  err,  the  infant  will  survive 
the  years  of  minority,  and  in  temper  and  disposition  will 
prove  ail  that  his  parents  can  wish.  But  with  much  in 
his  horoscope  which  promises  many  blessings,  there  is 
one  evil  influence  strongly  predominant,  which  threatens 


8  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

to  subject  him  to  an  unhallowed  and  unhappy  temptatioii 
about  the  time  when  he  shall  attain  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
which  period,  the  constellations  ultimate,  will  be  the  crisis 
of  his  fate.  In  what  shape,  or  with  what  peculiar  ur- 
gency, this  temptation  may  beset  him,  niy  art  cannot  dis- 
cover." 

"Your  knowledge,  then,  can  afford  us  no  defence,** 
said  the  anxious  father,  "  against  the  threatened  evil  ?  " 

"  Pardon  me,"  answered  the  stranger,  "  it  can.  The 
influence  of  the  constellations  is  powerful ;  but  He,  who 
made  the  heavens,  is  more  powerful  than  all,  if  his  aid 
be  invoked  in  sincerity  and  truth.  You  ought  to  dedicate 
this  boy  to  the  immediate  service  of  liis  Maker,  with  as 
much  sincerity  as  Samuel  was  devoted  to  the  worsliip  in 
the  Temple  by  his  parents.  You  must  regard  him  as  a 
being  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  child- 
hood, in  boyhood,  you  must  surround  him  with  the  pious 
and  virtuous,  and  protect  him,  to"  the  utmost  of  your 
power,  from  the  sight  or  hearing  of  any  crime,  in  word 
or  action.  He  must  be  educated  in  religious  and  moral 
principles  of  the  strictest  description.  Let  him  not  enter 
the  world,  lest  he  learn  to  partake  of  its  follies,  or  per- 
haps of  its  vices.  In  short,  preserve  him  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  all  sin,  save  that  of  which  too  great  a  portion 
belongs  to  all  the  fallen  race  of  Adam.  With  the  ap- 
proach of  his  twenty-fii'st  birth-day  comes  the  crisis  of 
his  fate.  If  he  survive  it,  he  will  be  happy  and  prosper- 
ous on  earth,  and  a  chosen  vessel  among  those  elected  for 
heaven.  But  if  it  be  otherwise" — The  Astrologer 
stopped,  and  sighed  deeply. 

"  Sir,"  replied  the  parent,  still  more  alarmed  than  be- 
fore, "  your  words  are  so  kind,  your  advice  so  serious, 
that  I  will  pay  the  deepest  attention  to  your  behests. 


GUT  man:nering.  S 

But  can  jou  not  aid  me  farther  in  tliis  most  important 
concern  ?     Believe  me,  I  will  not  be  ungrateful." 

"  I  require  and  deserve  no  gratitude  for  doing  a  good 
action,"  said  the  stranger,  "  in  especial  for  contributing 
all  that  lies  in  my  power  to  save  from  an  abhorred  fate 
the  harmless  infant  to  whom,  under  a  singular  conjunc- 
tion of  planets,  last  night  gnve  life.  There  is  m  j  address  j 
you  may  write  to  me  from  time  to  time  concerning  the 
progress  of  the  boy  in  religious  knowledge.  If  he  be 
bred  up  as  I  advise,  I  think  it  will  be  best  that  he  come 
to  my  house  at  the  time  when  the  fatal  and  decisive 
period  approaches,  that  is,  before  he  has  attained  his 
twenty-first  year  complete.  If  you  send  him  such  as  I 
desire,  I  humbly  trust  that  God  will  protect  his  own, 
through  whatever  strong  temptation  his  fate  may  subject 
him  to."  He  then  gave  his  host  his  address,  which  was 
a  country-seat  near  a  post-town  in  the  south  of  England, 
and  bid  him  an  affectionate  farewell. 

The  mysterious  stranger  departed,  but  his  words  re- 
mained impressed  upon  the  mind  of  the  anxious  parent. 
He  lost  his  lady  while  his  boy  was  still  in  infancy.  This 
calamity,  I  think,  had  been  predicted  by  the  Astrologer ; 
and  thus  his  confidence,  which,  like  most  people  of  the 
period,  he  had  freely  given  to  the  science,  was  riveted 
and  confirmed.  The  utmost  care,  therefore,  was  taken  to 
carry  into  effect  the  severe  and  almost  ascetic  plan  of 
education  which  the  sage  had  enjoined.  A  tutor  of  the 
strictest  principles  was  employed  to  superintend  the 
youth's  education  ;  he  was  surrounded  by  domestics  of 
the  most  established  character,  and  closely  watched  and 
looked  after  by  the  anxious  father  himself. 

The  years  of  infancy,  childhood,  and  boyhood,  passed 
as  the  father  could  have  wished.     A  young  Nazareno 


10  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

could  not  have  been  bred  up  witli  more  rigour.  All  that 
was  evil  was  withheld  from  Ins  observation ; — he  only 
heai-d  what  was  pure  in  precept — he  only  witnessed  what 
was  ^vorthy  in  practice. 

But  when  the  boy  began  to  be  lost  in  the  youth,  the 
attentive  father  saw  cause  for  alarm.  Shades  of  sadness, 
which  gradually  assumed  a  dai'ker  character,  began  to 
overcloud  the  young  man's  temper.  Tears,  which  seemed 
involuntary,  broken  sleep,  moonhght  wanderings,  and  a 
melancholy  for  wliich,  he  could  assign  no  reason,  seemed 
to  threaten  at  once  his  bodily  health,  and  the  stabihty  of 
his  mind.  The  Astrologer  was  consulted  by  letter,  and 
retui-ned  for  answer,  that  this  fitful  state  of  mind  was  but 
the  commencement  of  his  trial,  and  that  the  poor  youth 
must  undergo  more  and  more  desperate  struggles  with 
the  evil  that  assailed  him.  There  was  no  hope  of  rem- 
edy, save  that  he  showed  steadiness  of  mind  in  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures.  "  He  suffers,"  continued  the  letter  of 
the  sage,  "  from  the  awakening  of  those  harpies,  the  pas- 
sions, which  have  slept  with  him  as  with  others,  till  the 
period  of  life  which  he  has  now  attained.  Better,  far 
better  that  they  torment  him  by  ungrateful  cravings,  than 
that  he  should  have  to  repent  having  satiated  them  by 
criminal  indulgence." 

The  dispositions  of  the  young  man  were  so  excellent, 
that  he  combated,  by  reason  and  rehgion,  the  fits  of  gloom 
which  at  times  overcast  his  mind,  and  it  was  not  till  he 
attained  the  commencement  of  his  twenty-first  year,  that 
they  assumed  a  character  w^hich  made  his  father  tremble 
for  the  consequences.  It  seemed  as  if  the  gloomiest  and 
most  hideous  of  mental  maladies  w^as  taking  the  form  of 
rehgious  despair.  Still  the  }'Outh  was  gentle,  courteous, 
affectionate,  and  submissive  to  his  father's  will,  and  re- 


GUY    MAXNERmG.  1\ 

sisted  with  all  his  power  the  dark  suggestions  which  were 
breathed  into  his  mind,  as  it  seemed,  by  some  emanation 
of  the  Evil  Principle,  exhorting  him,  like'  the  wicked 
wife  of  Job,  to  curse  God  and  die. 

The  time  at  length  arrived  when  he  was  to  perform 
what  was  then  thought  a  long  and  somewhat  perilous 
journey,  to  the  mansion  of  the  early  friend  who  had  cal- 
culated his  nativity.  His  road  lay  through  several  places 
of  interest,  and  he  enjoyed  the  amusement  of  travelling 
more  than  he  himself  thought  would  have  been  possible. 
Thus  he  did  not  reach  the  place  of  his  destination  till 
noon,  on  the  day  preceding  his  birth-day.  It  seemed  as 
if  he  had  been  carried  away  with  an  unwonted  tide  of 
pleasurable  sensation,  so  as  to  forget  in  some  degree,  what 
his  father  had  communicated  concerning  the  purpose  of 
his  journey.  He  halted  at  length  before  a  respectable 
but  solitary  old  mansion,  to  wliich  he  was  directed  as  the 
abode  of  his  father's  friend. 

The  servants  who  came  to  take  his  horse,  told  him 
he  had  been  expected  for  two  days.  He  was  led  into 
a  study,  where  the  stranger,  now  a  venerable  old  man, 
who  had  been  his  father's  guest,  met  him  with  a  shade  of 
displeasure,  as  well  as  gravity,  on  his  brow.  "  Young 
man,"  he  said,  "  wherefore  so  slow  on  a  journey  of  such 
importance  ?  " — "  I  thought,"  repUed  the  guest,  blushing 
and  looking  downward,  "  that  there  was  no  harm  in  trav- 
elling slowly,  and  satisfying  my  curiosity,  providing  I 
could  reach  your  residence  by  this  day  ;  for  such  was  my 
father's  charge." — "  You  were  to  blame,"  rephed  the  sage, 
"  in  lingering,  considering  that  the  avenger  of  blood  was 
pressing  on  your  footsteps.  But  you  are  come  at  last, 
and  we  will  hope  for  the  best,  though  the  conflict  in  wliich 
j^ou  are  to  be  engaged  will  be  found  more  dreadful,  tho 


12  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

longer  it  is  postponed.  But  first  accept  of  sucli  refresh- 
ments as  nature  requires  to  satisfy,  but  not  to  pamper  the 
appetite.'' 

The  old  man  led  the  way  into  a  summer-parlour,  -wliere 
a  frugal  meal  was  placed  on  the  table.  As  they  sat  do^Mi 
to  the  board,  they  were  joined  by  a  young  lady  about 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  so  lovely,  that  the  sight  of  her 
carried  off  the  feelings  of  the  young  stranger  from  the 
peculiarity  and  mystery  of  his  own  lot,  and  riveted  his 
attention  to  every  thing  she  did  or  said.  She  spoke  little, 
and  it  was  on  the  most  serious  subjects.  She  played  on 
the  harpsichord  at  her  father's  command,  but  it  was 
hymns  with  which  she  accompanied  the  instrument.  At 
length,  on  a  sign  from  the  sage,  she  left  the  room,  turnmg 
on  the  young  stranger,  as  she  departed,  a  look  of  inex- 
pressible anxiety  and  interest. 

The  old  man  then  conducted  the  youth  to  his  study, 
and  conversed  \vith  him  upon  the  most  important  points 
of  religion,  to  satisfy  liimself  that  he  could  render  a 
reason  for  the  faith  that  was  in  him.  During  the  exam- 
ination, the  youth,  in  spite  of  hunself,  felt  his  mind  occa- 
sionally wander,  and  his  recollections  go  in  quest  of  the 
beautiful  vision  who  had  shared  their  meal  at  noon.  On 
such  occasions  the  Astrologer  looked  grave,  and  shook  his 
head  at  this  relaxation  of  attention  ;  yet,  on  the  whole,  he 
was  pleased  with  the  youth's  replies. 

At  sunset  the  young  man  was  made  to  take  the  bath ; 
and,  having  done  so,  he  was  directed  to  attire  himself  in 
a  robe,  somewhat  like  that  worn  by  Armenians,  having 
his  long  hair  combed  down  on  his  shoulders,  and  his  neck, 
hands,  and  feet  bare.  In  this  guise  he  was  conducted 
iiitc  a  remote  chamber  totally  devoid  of  furniture,  except- 
ing a  lamp,  a  chair,  and  a  table,  on  which  lay  a  Bible 


GUT    MANNERING.  13 

"  Here,"  said  tlie  Astrologer,  "  I  must  leave  you  alone,  to 
pass  the  most  critical  period  of  your  life.  If  you  can,  by 
recollection  of  the  great  truths  of  which  we  have  spoken, 
repel  the  attacks  which  will  be  made  on  your  courage  and 
your  principles,  you  have  nothing  to  apprehend.  But 
tlie  trial  will  be  severe  and  arduous."  His  features  then 
assumed  a  pathetic  solemnity,  the  tears  stood  in  liis  eyes, 
arid  his  voice  faltered  with  emotion  as  he  said,  "  Dear 
child,  at  whose  coming  into  the  world  I  foresaw  this  fatal 
trial,  may  God  give  thee  grace  to  support  it  with  fii-m- 
ness!" 

The  young  man  was  left  alone ;  and  hardly  did  he  find 
himself  so,  when,  like  a  swarm  of  demons,  the  recollec- 
tion of  all  his  sins  of  omission  and  commission,  rendered 
even  more  terrible  by  the  scrupulousness  with  which  he 
had  been  educated,  rushed  on  his  mind,  and,  like  furies 
armed  with  fiery  scourges,  seemed  determined  to  drive 
liim  to  despair.  As  he  combated  these  horrible  recollec- 
tions with  distracted  feelings,  but  with  a  resolved  mind, 
he  became  aware  that  his  arguments  were  answered  by 
the  sophistry  of  another,  and  that  the  dispute  was  no 
longer  confined  to  his  own  thoughts.  The  Author  of 
Evil  was  present  in  the  room  with  him  in  bodily  shape, 
and,  potent  with  spirits  of  a  melancholy  cast,  was  impress- 
ing upon  him  the  desperation  of  his  state,  and  urging 
suicide  as  the  readiest  mode  to  put  an  end  to  his  sinful 
<)areer.  Amid  his  errors,  the  pleasure  he  had  taken  in  pro- 
longing his  journey  unnecessarily,  and  the  attention  which 
he  had  bestowed  on  the  beauty  of  the  fair  female,  when 
his  thoughts  ought  to  have  been  dedicated  to  the  religious 
discourse  of  her  father,  were  set  before  him  in  the  dark- 
est colours  ;  and  he  was  treated  as  one  who,  having  sinned 
against  light,  was  therefore  deservedly  left  a  prey  to  the 
Prince  of  Darkness. 


14  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

As  tlie  fated  and  influential  hour  rolled  on,  the  terrors 
of  the  hateful  Presence  grew  more  confounding  to  the 
mortal  senses  of  the  victim,  and  the  knot  of  the  accursed 
sophistry  became  more  inextricable  in  appearance,  at 
least  to  the  prey  whom  its  meshes  surrounded.  He  had 
not  power  to  explain  the  assurance  of  pardon  which  he 
continued  to  assert,  or  to  name  the  victorious  name  in 
which  he  trusted.  But  his  faith  did  not  abandon  him, 
though  he  lacked  for  a  time  the  power  of  expressing  it. 
"  Say  what  you  will,"  was  his  answer  to  the  Tempter— 
"I  know  there  is  as  much  betwixt  the  two  boards  of  this 
Book  as  can  insure  me  forgiveness  for  my  transgressions, 
and  safety  for  my  soul."  As  he  spoke,  the  clock,  which 
announced  the  lapse  of  the  fatal  hour,  was  heard  to  strike. 
The  speech  and  intellectual  powers  of  the  youth  were 
instantly  and  fully  restored  ;  he  burst  forth  into  prayer, 
and  expressed,  in  the  most  glowing  terms,  his  reliance  on 
the  truth,  and  on  the  Author  of  the  gospel.  The  demon 
retired,  yelling  and  discomfited,  and  the  old  man,  entering 
the  apartment,  with  tears  congratulated  his  guest  on  his 
victory  in  the  fated  struggle. 

The  young  man  was  afterwards  married  to  the  beauti- 
ful maiden,  the  first  sight  of  whom  had  made  such  an  im- 
pression on  him,  and  they  were  consigned  over  at  the 
close  of  the  story  to  domestic  happiness. — So  ended  Jo]  in 
MacKinlay's  legend. 

The  author  of  Waverley  had  imagined  a  possibility  of 
framing  an  interesting,  and  perhaps  not  an  unedifying 
tale,  out  of  the  incidents  of  the  life  of  a  doomed  individ- 
ual, whose  efforts  at  good  and  virtuous  conduct  were  to 
be  forever  disappointed  by  the  intervention,  as  it  were, 
of  some  malevolent  being,  and  who  was  at  last  to  come 
off  victorious  from  the  fearful  struggle.     In  short,  some- 


GUY    MANNERING.  15 

thing  was  meditated  upon  a  plan  resembling  the  imagina- 
tive tale  of  Sintram  and  his  Companions,  by  Mona  Le 
Bai'on  de  la  Motte  Fouque, — although,  if  it  then  ex- 
isted, the  author  had  not  seen  it. 

'J'he  scheme  projected  may  be  traced  in  the  three  or 
four  first  chapters  of  the  work,  but  farther  consideration 
induced  the  author  to  lay  his  purpose  aside.  It  appeared, 
on  mature  consideration,  that  Astrology,  though  its  in- 
fluence was  once  received  and  admitted  by  Bacon  him- 
self, does  not  now  retain  influence  over  the  general  mind 
suificient  even  to  constitute  the  mainspring  of  a  romance. 
Besides,  it  occurred,  that  to  do  justice  to  such  a  subject 
would  have  required  not  only  more  talent  than  the  author 
could  be  conscious  of  possessing,  but  also  involved  doc- 
trines and  discussions  of  a  nature  too  serious  for  his  pur- 
pose, and  for  the  character  of  the  narrative.  In  changing 
his  plan,  however,  which  was  done  in  the  course  of 
printing,  the  early  sheets  retained  the  vestiges  of  the 
original  tenor  of  the  story,  although  they  now  hang  upon 
it  as  an  unnecessary  and  unnatural  encumbrance.  The 
cause  of  such  vestiges  occurring  is  now  explained,  and 
apologized  for. 

It  is  here  worthy  of  observation,  that  while  the  astro- 
logical doctrines  have  fallen  into  general  contempt,  and 
been  supplanted  by  superstitions  of  a  more  gross  and  far 
less  beautiful  character,  they  have,  even  in  modern  days, 
I  ?tained  some  votaries. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  believers  in  that  forgotten 
and  despised  science,  was  a  late  eminent  professor  of  the 
art  of  legerdemain.  One  would  have  thought  that  a 
person  of  this  description  ought,  from  his  knowledge  of 
the  thousand  ways  in  which  human  eyes  could  be  de- 
ceived, to  hav^e   been   less   than   others   subject  to  the 


16  WAVEELEY    NOVELS. 

fantasies  of  superstition.  Perhaps  the  habitual  use.  of 
those  abstruse  calculations,  by  which,  in  a  manner  sur- 
prising to  the  artist  himself,  many  tricks  upon  cai'ds,  &c., 
are  performed,  induced  this  gentleman  to  study  the  com- 
bination of  the  stars  and  planets,  with  the  expectation  of 
obtaining  prophetic  communications. 

He  constructed  a  scheme  of  his  ovra  nativity,  calculated 
according  to  such  rules  of  art  as  he  could  collect  from 
the  best  astrological  authors.  The  result  of  the  past  he 
found  agreeable  to  what  had  hitherto  befallen  him,  but 
in  the  important  prospect  of  the  future  a  singular  difficulty 
occurred.  There  were  two  years,  during  the  course  of 
which,  he  could  by  no  means  obtain  any  exact  knowledge 
whether  the  subject  of  the  scheme  would  be  dead  or 
aUve.  Anxious  concerning  so  remarkable  a  circumstance, 
he  gave  the  scheme  to  a  brother  Astrologer,  who  was 
also  baffled  in  the  same  manner.  At  one  period  he  found 
the  native,  or  subject,  was  certainly  alive — at  another, 
that  he  was  unquestionably  dead ;  but  a  space  of  two 
years  extended  between  these  two  terms,  during  which 
he  could  find  no  certainty  as  to  his  death  or  existence. 

The  Astrologer  marked  the  remarkable  circumstance 
in  his  Diary,  and  continued  his  exhibitions  in  various 
parts  of  the  empire,  until  the  period  was  about  to  expire, 
during  which  his  existence  had  been  warranted  as  actu- 
ally ascertained.  At  last,  while  he  was  exhibiting  to  a 
numerous  audience  his  usual  tricks  of  legerdemain,  the 
liands,  whose  activity  had  so  often  baffled  the  closest 
observer,  suddenly  lost  their  power,  the  cai'ds  dropped 
from  them,  and  he  sunk  down  a  disabled  paralytic.  In 
this  state  the  artist  languished  for  two  years,  when  he 
was  at  length  removed  by  death.  It  is  said  that  the 
Diary  of  this  modern  Astrologer  will  soon  be  given  to 
the  pubUc. 


GUY    MANNERING  17 

The  fact,  if  truly  reported,  is  one  of  those  singular 
coincidences  which  occasionally  appear,  differing  so  widely 
from  ordinary  calculation,  yet  without  which  irregu- 
larities, human  hfe  would  not  present  to  mortals  looking 
into  futurity,  the  abyss  of  impenetrable  darkness  which 
it  is  the  pleasure  of  the  Creator  it  should  offer  to  them. 
Were  every  thing  to  happen  in  the  ordmary  train  of 
events,  the  future  would  be  subject  to  the  rules  of  arith- 
metic, hke  the  chances  of  gammg.  But  extraordinary 
events,  and  wonderful  runs  of  luck,  defy  the  calculations 
of  mankind,  and  throw  impenetrable  dai'kness  on  future 
contuigencies. 

To  the  above  anecdote,  another,  still  more  recent,  may 
be  here  added.  The  author  was  lately  honoured  with  a 
letter  from  a  .gentleman  deeply  skilled  in  these  mysteries, 
who  kindly  undertook  to  calculate  the  nativity  of  the 
writer  of  Guy  Mannering,  who  might  be  supposed  to  be 
friendly  to  the  divine  art  which  he  professed.  But  it 
.was  impossible  to  supply  data  for  the  construction  of  a 
horoscope,  had  the  native  been  otherwise  desirous  of  it, 
since  all  those  who  could  supply  the  minutia3  of  day, 
hour,  and  minute,  have  been  long  removed  from  the 
mortal  sphere. 

Having  thus  given  some  account  of  the  first  idea  or 
rude  sketch,  of  the  story,  which  was  soon  departed  from, 
the  author,  in  following  out  the  plan  of  the  present  edition, 
lias  to  mention  the  prototypes  of  the  principal  characters 
in  Guy  Mannering. 

Some  circumstances  of  local  situation  gave  the  author, 
h  his  youth,  an  opportunity  of  seeing  a  Httle,  and  hearing 
a  great  deal,  about  that  degraded  class  who  are  called 
gipsies ;  who  are  in  most  cases  a  mixed  race,  between 
the  ancient  Egyptians  who  arrived  in  Europe  about  the 

VOL.   lU.  2 


18  WAVEKLEY    NOVELS. 

beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  vagrants  of  Eu- 
ropean descent. 

The  individual  gipsy  upon  whom  the  character  of 
Meg  Merrilies  was  founded,  was  well  known  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  by  the  name  of  Jean  Gordon, 
an  inhabitant  of  the  village  of  Kirk  Yetholm,  in  the 
Cheviot  hills,  adjoining  to  the  English  Border.  The 
author  gave  the  pubhc  some  account  of  this  remarkable 
person,  in  one  of  the  early  Numbers  of  Blackwood's 
Magazine,  to  the  following  purpose  : — 

"'  My  father  remembered  old  Jean  Gordon  of  Yetholm, 
who  had  great  sway  among  her  tribe.  She  was  quite  a 
Meg  Merrilies,  and  possessed  the  savage  virtue  of  fidehty 
in  the  same  perfection.  Having  been  often  hospitably 
received  at  the  farm-house  of  Lochside,  near  Yetholm, 
she  had  carefully  abstained  from  committing  any  depre- 
dations on  the  farmer's  property.  But  her  sons  (nme  in 
number)  had  not,  it  seems,  the  same  delicacy,  and  stole 
a  brood-sow  from  their  kind  entertainer.  Jean  was 
mortified  at  this  ungrateful  conduct,  and  so  much  ashamed 
of  it,  that  she  absented  herself  from  Lochside  for  several 
years. 

"  It  happened,  in  course  of  time,  that  in  consequence 
of  some  temporary  pecuniary  necessity,  the  Goodman  of 
Lochside  was  obliged  to  go  to  New^castle  to  raise  some 
money  to  lyay  his  rent.  He  succeeded  m  his  purpose, 
but  returning  through  the  mountains  of  Cheviot,  he  waa 
benighted  and  lost  his  way. 

"  A  light  glimmering  through  the  window  of  a  large 
waste  barn,  which  had  survived  the  farm-house  to  which 
it  had  once  belonged,  guided  him  to  a  place  of  shelter ; 
and  when  he  knocked  at  the  door,  it  was  opened  by  Jean 
Gordon.    Her  very  remai'kable  figure,  for  she  was  nearly 


GUY    MANNERING.  19 

six  feet  high,  and  her  equally  remarkable  features  and 
dress,  rendered  it  impossible  to  mistake  her  for  a  moment, 
-though  he  had  not  seen  her  for  years  ;  and  to  meet  with 
such  a  character  in  so  solitary  a  place,  and  probably  at  no 
great  distance  from  her  clan,  was  a  grievous  surprise  to 
tlie  poor  man,  whose  rent  (to  lose  which  would  have  been 
I'uin)  was  about  his  person. 

"  Jean  set  up  a  loud  shout  of  joyful  recognition — '  Eh, 
sirs  !  the  winsome  Gudeman  of  Lochside  !  Light  down, 
light  down ;  for  ye  mauna  gang  farther  the  night,  and  a 
friend's  house  sae  near.'  The  farmer  was  obliged  to 
dismount,  and  accept  of  the  gipsy's  offer  of  supper  and 
a  bed.  There  was  plenty  of  meat  in  the  barn,  however 
it  might  be  come  by,  and  preparations  were  going  on  for 
a  plentiful  repast,  which  the  farmer,  to  the  great  increase 
of  his  anxiety,  observed  was  calculated  for  ten  or  twelve 
guests,  of  the  same  description,  probably,  with  his  land- 
lady. 

"  Jean  left  him  in  no  doubt  on  the  subject.  She 
brought  to  his  recollection  the  story  of  the  stolen  sow, 
and  mentioned  how  much  pain  and  vexation  it  had  given 
her.  Like  other  philosophers,  she  remarked  that  the 
world  grew  worse  daily ;  and,  like  other  parents,  that 
the  bairns  got  out  of  her  guiding,  and  neglected  the  old 
gipsy  regulations,  which  commanded  them  to  respect,  in 
their  depredations,  ihe  T3roperty  of  their  benefactors. 
The  end  of  all  this  was,  an  inquiry  what  money  the 
farmer  had  about  him,  and  an  urgent  request,  or  com- 
mand, that  he  would  make  her  liis  purse-keeper,  since 
the  bairns,  as  she  called  her  sons,  would  be  soon  home. 
The  poor  farmer  made  a  virtue  of  necessity,  told  his 
story,  and  surrendered  his  gold  to  Jean's  custody.  She 
made  him  put  a  few  shillings  in  his  pocket,  observing  it 


20  WA.YERIEY   NOVELS. 

would  excite  suspicion  should  he  be  found  travelling 
altogether  penniless. 

"  This  arrangement  being  made,  the  farmer  lay  down 
on  a  sort  of  shake-down,  as  the  Scotch  call  it,  or  bed- 
cl(  thes  disposed  upon  some  straw,  but,  as  will  easily  be 
believed,  slept  not. 

"About  midnight  the  gang  returned,  with  various 
articles  of  plunder,  and  talked  over  their  exploits  in 
language  which  made  the  farmer  tremble.  They  were 
not  long  in  discovering  they  had  a  guest,  and  demanded 
of  Jean  whom  she  had  got  there. 

"  *  E'en  the  winsome  Gudeman  of  Lochside,  poor  body,' 
replied  Jean ;  '  he's  been  at  Newcastle  seeking  siller  to 
pay  his  rent,  honest  man,  but  deil-be-hckit  he's  been  able 
to  gather  in,  and  sae  he's  gaun  e'en  hame  wi'  a  toom 
purse  and  a  sair  heart.' 

"'That  may  be,  Jean,'  rephed  one  of  the  banditti, 
*  but  we  maun  ripe  his  pouches  a  bit,  and  see  if  the  tale 
be  true  or  no.'  Jean  set  up  her  throat  in  exclamations 
against  this  breach  of  hospitality,  but  without  producing 
any  change  in  their  determination.  The  farmer  soon 
heard  their  stitled  whispers  and  hght  steps  by  his  bedside, 
and  understood  they  were  rummaging  his  clothes.  When 
they  found  the  money  which  the  providence  of  Jean 
Gordon  had  made  him  retain,  they  held  a  consultation  if 
they  should  take  it  or  no  ;  but  the  smallness  of  the  booty, 
and  the  vehemence  of  Jean's  remonstrances,  determined 
them  in  the  negative.  They  caroused  and  went  to  rest 
As  soon  as  day  dawned,  Jean  roused  her  guest,  produced 
his  horse,  which  she  had  accommodated  behind  the  hallan, 
and  guided  him  for  some  miles,  tiU  he  was  on  the  high- 
road to  Lochside.  She  then  restored  his  whole  property 
nor  could  his  earnest  entreaties  prevail  on  her  to  ac  ;ept 
BO  much  as  a  single  guinea. 


GUY   MANNERING.  21 

"  I  have  heard  the  old  people  at  Jedburgh  say,  that  all 
Jean's  sons  were  condemned  to  die  there  on  the  siune 
day.  It  is  said  the  jury  were  equally  divided,  but  that  a 
friend  to  justice,  who  had  slept  during  the  whole  discus- 
sion, waked  suddenly,  and  gave  his  vote  for  condemna- 
tion, in  the  emphatic  words,  *  Ifa7ig  them  a'  /  '  Unanimity 
is  not  required  in  a  Scottish  jury,  so  the  verdict  of  guilty 
was  returned.  Jean  was  present,  and  only  said,  '  The 
Lord  help  the  innocent  in  a  day  hke  this  ! '  Her  own 
death  was  accompanied  with  circumstances  of  brutal  out- 
rage, of  which  poor  Jean  was  in  many  respects  wholly 
undeserving.  She  had,  among  other  demerits,  or  merits, 
as  the  reader  may  choose  to  rank  it,  that  of  being  a 
staunch  Jacobite.  She  chanced  to  be  at  Carlisle  upon  a 
fair  or  market-day,  soon  after  the  year  1746,  where  she 
gave  vent  to  her  political  partiality,  to  the  great  offence 
of  the  rabble  of  that  city.  Being  zealous  in  their  loyalty, 
when  there  was  no  danger,  in  proportion  to  the  tameness 
with  which  they  had  surrendered  to  the  Highlanders  in 
1745,  the  mob  inflicted  upon  poor  Jean  Gordon  no 
slighter  penalty  than  that  of  ducking  her  to  death  in  the 
Eden.  It  was  an  operation  of  some  time,  for  Jean  was  a 
stout  woman,  and,  struggling  with  her  murderers,  often 
got  her  head  above  water  ;  and,  while  she  had  voice  left, 
continued  to  exclaim  at  such  intervals,  *  Charlie  yet! 
Charlie  yet ! '  When  a  child,  and  among  the  scenes 
which  she  frequented,  I  have  often  heard  these  stories, 
and  cried  piteously  for  poor  Jean  Gordon. 

"  Before  quitting  the  Border  gipsies,  I  may  mentionj 
that  my  grandfather,  while  riding  over  Charterhouse 
moor,  then  a  very  extensive  common,  fell  suddenly 
among  a  large  band  of  them,  who  were  carousing  in  a 
hollow  of  the  moor,  surrounded  by  bushes.     They  in- 


22  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

stantly  seized  on  his  horse's  bridle  Avitli  many  shouts  of 
welcome,  exclaiming,  (for  he  was  well  known  to  most  of 
them,)  that  they  had  often  dined  at  his  expense,  and  he 
must  now  stay  and  share  their  good  cheer.  My  ancestor 
was  a  little  alamied,  for,  hke  the  Goodman  of  Lochside, 
he  had  more  money  about  his  person  than  he  cared  to  risk 
in  such  society.  However,  being  naturally  a  bold  hvely- 
spii'ited  man,  he  entered  into  the  humour  of  the  things 
and  sat  down  to  the  feast,  which  consisted  of  all  the  varie- 
ties of  game,  poultry,  pigs,  and  so  forth,  that  could  be 
collected  by  a  wide  and  indiscriminate  system  of  plunder. 
The  dinner  was  a  very  merry  one  ;  but  my  relative  got 
a  hint  from  some  of  the  older  gipsies  to  retire  just  when — 

The  mirtli  and  fun  gi*ew  fast  and  furious ; 

and  mounting  liis  horse,  accordingly,  he  took  a  French 
leave  of  his  entertainers,  but  without  experiencing  the 
least  breach  of  hospitality.  I  believe  Jean  Gordon  was 
at  this  festival." — {^Blackwood's  Magazine,  vol.  i.  p.  54.) 
Notwithstanding  the  failure  of  Jean's  issue,  for  which, 

Weaiy  fa'  the  waefu'  wuddie, 

a  grand-daughter  survived  her  whom  I  remember  to  have 
seen.  That  is,  as  Dr.  Johnson  had  a  shadowy  recollec- 
tion of  Queen  Anne,  as  a  stately  lady  in  black,  adorned 
with  diamonds,  so  my  memory  is  haunted  by  a  solemn 
remembrance  of  a  woman  of  more  than  female  height, 
dressed  in  a  long  red  cloak,  who  commenced  acquaintance 
by  giving  me  an  apple,  but  whom,  nevertheless,  I  looked 
3n  with  as  much  awe,  as  the  future  Doctor,  High  Church 
and  Tory  as  he  was  doomed  to  be,  could  look  upon  the 
Queen.  I  conceive  this  woman  to  have  been  Madge 
G\)rdon,  of  whom  an  impressive  account  is  given  in  the 


GUY    MANNERING.  23 

same  article  in  whicli  her  mother  Jean  is  mentioned,  but 
not  by  the  present  writer  : — 

"  The  late -Madge  Gordon  was  at  this  time  accounted 
the  Queen  of  the  Yetholm  clans.  She  was,  we  believe, 
a  grand -daughter  of  the  celebrated  Jean  Gordon,  and  was 
said  to  have  much  resembled  her  in  appearance.  The 
following  account  of  her  is  extracted  from  the  letter  of  a 
Iriend,  who  for  many  years  enjoyed  frequent  and  favour- 
able opportunities  of  observing  the  characteristic  pecu- 
liarities of  the  Yetholm  tribes  : — '  Madge  Gordon  was 
descended  from  the  Faas  by  the  mother's  side,  and  was 
married  to  a  Young.  She  was  a  remarkable  personage 
— of  a  very  commanding  presence,  and  high  stature, 
being  nearly  six  feet  high.  She  had  a  large  aquiline 
nose, — penetrating  eyes,  even  in  her  old  age, — bushy  hair, 
that  hung  around  her  shoulders  from  beneath  a  gipsy 
bonnet  of  straw, — a  short  cloak  of  a  peculiar  fashion,  and 
a  long  staff  nearly  as  tall  as  herself.  I  remember  her 
well ; — every  week  she  paid  my  father  a  visit  for  her 
awmous,  when  I  w^as  a  little  boy,  and  I  looked  upon 
Madge  with  no  common  degree  of  awe  and  terror.  Wlien 
she  spoke  vehemently,  (for  she  made  loud  complaints,) 
she  used  to  strike  her  staff  upon  the  floor,  and  throw 
herself  into  an  attitude  which  it  was  impossible  to  regard 
with  indifference.  She  used  to  say  that  she  could  bring, 
from  the  remotest  parts  of  the  island,  friends  to  revenge 
hor  quan-el,  while  she  sat  motionless  in  her  cottage  ;  and 
slui  frequently  boasted  that  there  was  a  time  when  she 
was  of  still  more  considerable  importance,  for  there  were 
at  her  wedding  fifty  saddled  asses,  and  unsaddled  asses 
without  number.  If  Jean  Gordon  was  the  prototype  of 
the  character  of  Meg  Merrilies,  I  imagine  Madge  must 
have  sat  to  the  unknown  author  as  the  representative  of 
her  person."' — (Blackwood's  Magazine,  vol.  i.  p.  56.) 


24  WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

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

To  pass  to  a  character  of  a  very  different  description, 
Dominie  Sampson,  the  reader  may  easily  suppose  that  a 
poor,  modest,  humble  scholai',  who  has  won  his  way 
tlii^ough  the  classics,  yet  has  fallen  to  leeward  in  the 
voyage  of  life,  is  no  uncommon  personage  in  a  count ly 
where  a  certain  portion  of  learning  is  easily  attained  by 
those  who  are  willing  to  suffer  hunger  and  thirst  in  ex- 
change for  acquii'ing  Greek  and  Latin.  But  there  is  a 
far  more  exact  prototype  of  the  worthy  Dominie,  upon 
which  is  founded  the  part  which  he  performs  in  the 
romance,  and  which,  for  certain  particular  reasons,  must 
be  expressed  very  generally. 

Such  a  preceptor  as  Mr.  Sampson  is  supposed  to  have 
been,  was  actually  tutor  in  the  family  of  a  gentleman  of 
considerable  property.  The  young  lads,  his  pupils,  grew 
up  and  went  out  in  the  world ;  but  the  tutor  continued  to 
reside  in  the  family,  no  uncommon  circumstance  in  Scot- 
land (in  former  days),  where  food  and  shelter  were 
readily  afforded  to  humble  friends  and  dependents.  The 
Laird's  predecessors  had  been  imprudent ;  he  himself 
was  passive  and  unfortunate.  Death  swept  away  his 
sons,  whose  success  in  hfe  might  have  balanced  his  own 
bad  luck  and  incapacity.  Debts  increased  and  funds 
diminished,  until  ruin  came.  The  estate  was  sold ;  and 
the  old  man  was  about  to  remove  from  the  house  of  his 
fathers,  to  go  he  knew  not  whither,  when,  like  an  old 
piece  of  furniture,  which,  left  alone  in  its  wonted  corner, 
may  hold  together  for  a  long  while,  but  breaks  to  pieces 
on  an  attempt  to  move  it,  he  fell  do^\'n  on  his  own  tliresh- 
old  under  a  paralytic  affection. 


GUY   MANNERING.  25 

The  tutor  awakened  as  from  a  dream.  He  saw  his 
patron  dead,  and  that  his  patron's  only  remaining  child, 
an  elderly  woman,  now  neither  graceful  nor  beautiful,  if 
she  had  ever  been  either  the  one  or  the  other,  had  by 
this  calamity  become  a  homeless  and  penniless  orphan. 
He  addressed  her  nearly  in  the  words  which  Dominie 
Sampson  uses  to  ]\Iiss  Bertram,  and  professed  his  deter- 
mination not  to  leave  her.  Accordingly,  roused  to  the 
exercise  of  talents  which  had  long  slumbered,  he  opened 
a  little'  school,  and  supported  his  patron's  child  for  the 
rest  of  her  life,  treating  her  with  the  same  humble  ob- 
servance and  devoted  attention  which  he  had  used  towards 
her  in  the  days  of  her  prosperity. 

Such  is  the  outline  of  Dominie  Sampson's  real  story, 
in  which  there  is  neither  romantic  incident  nor  senti- 
mental passion ;  but  which,  perhaps,  from  the  rectitude 
and  simplicity  of  character  which  it  displays,  may  interest 
the  heart  and  fill  the  eye  of  the  reader  as  irresistibly,  as 
if  it  respected  distresses  of  a  more  dignified  or  refined 
character. 

These  preliminary  notices  concerning  the  tale  of  Guy 
Mannering,  and  some  of  the  characters  introduced,  may 
save  the  author  and  reader,  in  the  present  instance,  the 
trouble  of  writing  and  perusing  a  long  string  of  detached 
notes. 

I  may  add,  that  the  motto  of  this  Novel  was  takep. 
from  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  to  evade  the  con- 
clusions of  those  who  began  to  think  that,  as  the  author 
of  Waverley  never  quoted  the  works  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  he  must  have  reason  for  doing  so,  and  that  the 
cii'cumstances  might  argue  an  identity  between  them. 
Abbotsford,  August  1,  1829. 


26  VVAVEKLEY    NOVELS. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTE. 

CAL\7EGIAN      LOCALITIES      AND      PERSONAGES      WHICH 
HAVE    BEEN    SUPPOSED    TO    BE    ALLUDED    TO    IN    THE 

NOVEL. 

An  old  English  proverb  sajs,  that  more  know  Tom 
Fool  than  Tom  Fool  knows;  and  the  influence  of  the 
adage  seems  to  extend  to  works  composed  mider  the 
influence  of  an  idle  or  foolish  planet.  Many  correspond- 
ing circumstances  are  detected  by  readers,  of  which  the 
author  did  not  suspect  the  existence.  He  must,  however, 
regard  it  as  a  great  compliment,  that,  in  detaihng  inci- 
dents purely  imaginary,  he  has  been  so  fortunate  in 
approximating  reality,  as  to  remind  his  readers  of  actual 
occurrences.  It  is  therefore  with  pleasure  he  notices 
some  pieces  of  local  history  and  tradition,  which  have 
been  supposed  to  coincide  with  the  fictitious  persons, 
incidents,  and  scenery  of  Guy  Mannering. 

The  prototype  of  Dirk  Hatteraick  is  considered  as 
having  been  a  Dutch  skipper  called  Yawkins.  This  man 
was  well  kno^vn  on  the  coast  of  Galloway  and  Dumfries- 
Bhire,  as  sole  proprietor  and  master  of  a  BuchJcar,  or 
smugghng  lugger,  called  The  Black  Prince.  Being  dis- 
tinguished by  his  nautical  skill  and  intrepidity,  his 
vessel  was  frequently  freighted,  and  his  own  servicua 
employed,  by  French,  Dutch,  Manx,  and  Scottish  smug- 
gling companies. 


GUY    M^NNERING.  ♦      27 

A  person  well  kno^vn  by  the  name  of  Buckkar-Tea, 
from  having  been  a  noted  smuggler  of  that  article,  and 
also  by  that  of  Bogle-Bush,  the  place  of  his  residence, 
assured  my  kind  informant,  Mr.  Train,  that  he  had 
frequently  seen  upwards  of  two  hundred  Lingtowmen 
assemble  at  one  time,  and  go  off  into  the  interior  of  the 
country,  fully  laden  with  contraband  goods. 

In  those  halcyon  days  of  the  free  trade,  the  fixed  price 
for  carrying  a  box  of  tea,  or  bale  of  tobacco,  from  the 
coast  of  Galloway  to  Edinburgh,  was  fifteen  shillings,  and 
a  man  with  two  horses  carried  four  such  packages.  The 
trade  was  entirely  destroyed  by  Mr.  Pitt's  celebrated 
commutation  law,  which,  by  reducing  the  duties  upon 
excisable  articles,  enabled  the  lawful  dealer  to  compete 
with  the  smuggler.  The  statute  was  called  in  Galloway 
and  Dumfries-shire,  by  those  who  had  thriven  upon  the 
contraband  trade,  "  the  burning  and  starving  act." 

Sure  of  such  active  assistance  on  shore,  Yawkins 
demeaned  himself  so  boldly,  that  his  mere  name  was  a 
terror  to  the  ofiicers  of  the  revenue.  He  availed  himself 
of  the  fears  which  his  presence  inspired  on  one  particular 
night,  when,  happening  to  be  ashore  with  a  considerable 
quantity  of  goods  in  his  sole  custody,  a  strong  party  of 
excisemen  came  down  on  him.  Far  from  shunning  the 
attack,  Yawkins  sprung  forward,  shouting,  "  Come  on,  my 
lads  !  Yawkins  is  before  you."  The  revenue  ofiicers 
were  intimidated,  and  relinquished  their  prize,  though 
defended  only  by  the  courage  and  address  of  a  single 
man.  On  his  proper  element, .  Yawkins  was  equally  suc- 
cessful. On  one  occasion,  he  was  landing  his  cargo  at 
the  Manxman's  Lake,  near  Kirkcudbright,  when  two 
revenue  cutters  (the  Pigmy  and  the  Dwarf)  hove  in 
sight  at  once  on  different  tacks,  the  one  coming  round  by 


28     ♦  WAYEELEY   NOVELS. 

the  Isles  of  Fleet,  the  other  between  the  Point  of  Rue- 
berry  and  the  Muckle  Ron.  The  dauntless  free-trader 
instantly  weighed  anchor,  and  bore  down  right  between 
the  luggers,  so  close  that  he  tossed  his  hat  on  the  deck 
of  the  one,  and  his  wig  on  that  of  the  other,  hoisted  a 
cask  to  his  maintop,  to  show  his  occupation,  and  bore 
away  under  an  extraordinary  pressure  of  canvass,  without 
receiving  injury.  To  account  for  these  and  other  hair- 
breadth escapes,  popular  superstition  alleged  that  Yawkins 
insured  his  celebrated  buckkar  by  compounding  Avith  the 
devil  for  one  tenth  of  his  crew  every  voyage.  How  they 
arranged  the  separation  of  the  stock  and  tithes,  is  left  to 
our  conjecture.  The  buckkar  was  perhaps  called  Tho. 
Black  Prince  in  honour  of  the  formidable  insurer. 

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

Meg  Merrihes  is  in  Galloway  considered  as  having 
had  her  origin  in  the  traditions  concerning  the  celebrated 
Flora  Marshal,  one  of  the  royal  consorts  of  Willie 
Marshal,  more  commonly  called  the  Caird  of  BarulKon, 
Kmg  of  the  Gipsies  of  the  Western  Lowlands.  That 
potentate  was  himself  deserving  of  notice,  from  the  fol- 


GUY    MANNERING.  29 

lowing  peculiarities.  He  was  born  in  the  parish  of 
Kirkmichael,  about  the  year  1671  ;  and  as  he  died  al 
Kirkcudbright  23d  November,  1792,  he  must  then  have 
been  in  the  one  hundred  and  twentieth  year  of  his  age. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  this  unusually  long  lease  of  exist- 
ence was  noted  by  any  peculiar  excellence  of  conduct  or 
habits  of  life.  WiUie  had  been  pressed  or  enlisted  seven 
times,  and  had  deserted  as  often  ;  besides  three  times 
running  away  from  the  naval  service.  He  had  been 
seventeen  times  la^^ully  married ;  and  besides  such  a 
reasonably  large  share  of  matrimonial  comforts,  was,  after 
his  hundredth  year,  the  avowed  father  of  four  children, 
by  less  legitimate  affections.  He  subsisted,  in  his  ex- 
treme old  age,  by  a  pension  from  the  present  Earl  of 
Selkirk's  grandfather.  Will  Marshal  is  buried  in  Kirk- 
cudbright church,  where  his  monument  is  still  shown, 
decorated  with  a  scutcheon  suitably  blazoned  with  two 
tups'  horns  and  two  cutty  spoons. 

In  his  youth  he  occasionally  took  an  evening  walk  on 
the  highway,  with  the  purpose  of  assisting  travellers  by 
relieving  them  of  the  weight  of  their  purses.  On  one 
occasion,  the  Caird  of  BaruUion  robbed  the  Laird  of 
Bargally,  at  a  place  between  Carsphairn  and  Dalmelling- 
ton.  His  purpose  was  not  achieved  without  a  severe 
struggle,  in  which  the  Gipsy  lost  his  bonnet,  and  wa3 
obliged  to  escape,  leaving  it  on  the  road.  A  respectable 
farmer  happened  to  be  the  next  passenger,  and  seeing  Ihe 
bonnet,  alighted,  took  it  up,  and  rather  iniprudently  put 
it  on  his  own  head.  At  this  instant,  Bargally  came  up 
with  some  assistants,  and  recognising  the  bonnet,  charged 
the  farmer  of  Bantoberick  with  having  robbed  him,  and 
took  him  into  custody.  There  being  some  hkeness  be- 
tween the  parties,  Bargally  persisted  in  his  charge,  and 


80  WIVEELEY   NOVELS. 

thougli  the  respectability  of  the  farmer's  cliaracier  was 
proved  or  admitted,  his  trial  before  the  Circuit  Court 
came  on  accordingly.  The  fatal  bonnet  lay  on  the  table 
of  the  Court;  Bargally  swore  that  it  was  the  identical 
article  worn  by  the  man  who  robbed  him ;  and  he  and 
others  likewise  deponed  that  they  had  found  the  accused 
on  the  spot  where  the  crime  was  committed,  with  the 
bonnet  on  his  head.  The  case  looked  gloomily  for  the 
prisoner,  and  the  opinion  of  the  judge  seemed  unfavour- 
able. But  there  was  a  person  in  Court  who  knew  well 
both  who  did,  and  who  did  not,  commit  the  crime.  This 
was  the  Caird  of  Barulhon,  who,  thrusting  himself  up  to 
the  bar,  near  the  place  where  Bargally  was  standing,  sud- 
denly seized  on  the  bonnet,  put  it  on  his  head,  and  looking 
the  Laird  full  in  the  face,  asked  him,  with  a  voice  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Court  and  crowded  audi- 
ence,— "  Look  at  me,  sir,  and  tell  me,  by  the  oath  you 
have  sworn — Am  not  /  the  man  who  robbed  you  between 
Carsphairn  and  Dalmellington  ?  "  Bargally  replied,  in 
great  astonishment,  "  By  Heaven  !  you  are  the  very 
man." — "  You  see  what  sort  of  memory  this  gentleman 
has,"  said  the  volunteer  pleader  :  "  he  swears  to  the 
bonnet,  whatever  features  are  under  it.  If  you  yourself, 
my  Lord,  will  put  it  on  your  head,  he  will  be  willing  to 
swear  that  your  Lordship  was  the  party  who  robbed  him 
between  Carsphairn  and  Dalmellington."  The  tenant 
of  Bantoberick  was  unanimously  acquitted,  and  thus 
Wilhe  Marshal  ingeniously  contrived  to  save  an  innocent 
man  from  danger,  without  incurring  any  himself,  since 
Bargally's  evidence  must  have  seemed  to  every  one  too 
fluctuating  to  be  rehed  upon. 

While  the  King  of  the  Gipsies  was  thus  laudably  oc- 
cupied, his  royal  consort,  Flora,  contrived,  it  is  said,  to 


GUT    MANNERING.  31 

steal  the  hood  from  the  Judge's  gown  ;  foi  whith  offence, 
combined  with  her  presumptive  guilt  as  a  gipsy,  she  was 
banished  to  New  England,  whence  she  never  returned. 

Now,  I  cannot  grant  that  the  idea  of  Meg  MerriUes 
was,  in  the  first  concoction  of  the  character,  derived  from 
Flora  Marshal,  seeing  I  have  already  said  she  vas  iden- 
tified with  Jean  Gordon,  au  d  as  I  have  not  the  Laird  of 
Bargall/s  apology  for  chiirging  the  same  fact  on  two 
several  individuals.  Yet  I  am  quite  content  that  Meg 
should  be  considered  as  a  representative  of  her  sect  and 
class  in  general — Flora,  as  weU  as  others. 

The  other  instances  in  which  my  Gallovidian  readers 
have  obHged  me,  by  assigning  to 


airy  nothings 


A  local  habitation  and  a  name, 

shall  also  be  sanctioned  so  far  as  the  Author  may  be  en- 
titled to  do  so.  I  think  the  facetious  Joe  IVIiller,  records 
a  case  pretty  much  in  point ;  where  the  keeper  of  a 
Museum,  while  showing,  as  he  said,  the  very  sword  with 
which  Balaam  was  about  to  kiQ  his  ass,  was  interrupted 
by  one  of  the  visitors,  who  reminded  him  that  Balaam 
was  not  possessed  of  a  sword,  but  only  wished  for  one. 
"  True,  sir,"  replied  the  ready-witted  Cicerone ;  "  but 
this  is  the  very  sword  he  wished  for."  The  Author,  in 
appHcation  of  this  story,  has  only  to  add,  that,  though 
ignorant  of  the  coincidence  between  the  fictions  of  the 
tale  and  some  real  circumstances,  he  is  contented  to 
beheve  he  must  unconsciously  have  thought  or  dreamed 
of  the  last,  whUe  engaged  in  the  composition  of  Guy 
Mannering. 


32  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


GROUNDWORK   OF  GUY  MANNERING. 

1842. 

Since  the  death  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  the  public  have 
received  many  additional  details  concerning  the  commu- 
nications that  passed,  while  the  Waverley  Novels  were  in 
progress,  between  their  Author  and  his  devoted  friend, 
Mi\  Joseph  Train,  Supervisor  of  Excise  at  Castle 
Douglas  in  Galloway.  Not  the  least  curious  of  these 
particulars  connects  itself  with  the  origin  of  Guy  Man- 
nering.  Shortly  after  the  publication  of  Waverley,  as 
stated  in  the  Life  of  Scott,  Mr.  Train  forwarded  to 
Abbotsford  a  MS.  collection  of  anecdotes  relating  to  the 
Galloway  gipsies,  together  with  (in  Mr.  Train's  own 
words)  "  a  local  story  of  an  astrologer,  who,  calling  at  a 
farm-house  at  the  minute  when  the  good-wife  was  in 
travail,  had,  it  was  said,  predicted  the  future  fortunes  of 
the  child  almost  in  the  words  placed  in  the  mouth  of 
John  MacKinlay  in  the  Introduction  to  Guy  Man- 
cering." 

At  a  subsequent  period  JSIr.  Train  found  that  an 
ancient  lady,  j\Irs.  Young  of  Castle  Douglas,  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  repeating  once  every  year  to  her  family, 
in  order  the  better  to  preserve  it  in  her  own  memory,  a 
ballad  called  The  Durham  Garland;  from  which,  or 
some  Scotch  modification  of  it,  he  was  inclined  to  con- 


GUY    MANXERma.  33 

elude  that  both  his  own  "  local  story,"  and  that  told  to 
Scott  by  MacKinlay  must  have  been  derived.  This 
Garland,  as  taken  down  from  Mrs.  Young's  recitation  by 
Train,  shall  now  be  appended  ;  but  it  appears  very  prob- 
able that  the  ballad  itself,  and  the  stories  both  of  Train 
and  MacKinlay,  all  sprung  from  one  and  the  same 
authentic  source— namely,  the  romantic  history  of  James 
Annesley,  claimant  in  1743  of  the  L*ish  peerage  of 
Anglesey ;  of  which  history  Smollett  gave  a  very  strik- 
ing sketch  in  his  Peregrine  Pickle.  An  abstract  of  the 
Annesley  c^se  was  pubHshed  in  the  Gentleman's  Mag- 
azine for  1840  :  and  that  paper  also  is  subjoined. 


THE   DURHAM   GARLAND. 

IN    THREE    PARTS. 

PART    I. 
1. 

A  worthy  lord  of  birth  and  state, 
Who  did  in  Durham  live  of  late — 
But  I  will  not  declare  his  name, 
By  reason  of  his  birth  and  fame — 

2. 
This  Lord  he  did  a  hunting  go; 
If  you  the  truth  of  all  would  know, 
He  had  indeed  a  noble  train, 
Of  Lords  and  Knights  and  Gentlemen. 

3. 

This  noble  Lord  he  left  the  train 
Of  Lords  and  Knights  and  Gentlemen; 
And  hearing  not  the  honi  to  blow, 
He  could  not  tell  which  way  to  go. 
vou  in.  8 


34  "WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

4. 
Bnt  he  did  wander  to  and  fro, 
Being  weary,  likewise  full  of  woe: 
At  last  Dame  Fortune  was  so  kind 
That  he  the  Keeper's  house  did  find. 

5. 
He  went  and  knocked  at  the  door, 
He  thought  it  was  so  late  an  hour. 
The  Forester  did  let  him  in, 
And  kindly  entertamed  him. 


About  the  middle  of  the  night, 
When  as  the  stars  did  shine  most  bri^it, 
The  Lord  was  in  a  sad  surprise, 
Being  wakened  by  a  fearful  noise. 

7. 
Then  he  did  rise  and  call  with  speed. 
To  know  the  reason  then  indeed 
Of  all  that  shrieking  and  those  cries 
Which  did  disturb  his  weary  eyes. 


"  I'm  sorry,  Sir,"  the  Keeper  said, 
"  That  you  should  be  so  much  afraid; 
But  I  do  hope  all  will  be  well. 
For  my  wife  she  is  in  travail." 


The  noble  Lord  was  learned  and  vise 
To  know  the  Planets  in  the  skies ; 
He  saw  one  evU  Planet  reign : 
He  called  the  Forester  again. 

10. 
He  gave  him  then  to  understand. 
He'd  have  the  Midwife  hold  her  hand; 
But  he  was  answered  by  the  maid, 
"  My  mistress  is  delivered." 


GUY   MANNERING.  35 

11. 
At  one  o'clock  that  very  morn, 
A  lovely  infant  there  was  born ; 
It  was  indeed  a  charming  boy, 
Which  brought  the  man  and  wife  much  joy. 

12. 

The  Loi  A  was  generous,  kind,  and  free, 
And  proffered  Godfather  to  be; 
The  Goodman  thanked  him  heartily 
For  his  goodwill  and  courtesy. 

13. 

A  parson  was  sent  for  with  speed, 
For  to  baptize  the  child  indeed ; 
And  after  that,  as  I  heard  say. 
In  mirth  and  joy  they  spent  the  day. 

14. 

This  Lord  did  noble  presents  give, 
Which  all  the  servants  did  receive. 
They  prayed  God  to  enrich  his  store, 
For  they  never  had  so  much  before. 

15. 

And  likewise  to  the  child  he  gave 
A  present  noble,  rich,  and  brave ; 
It  was  a  charming  cabinet. 
That  was  with  pearls  and  jewels  set. 

16. 

And  within  it  was  a  chain  of  gold, 
Would  dazzle  eyes  for  to  behold ; 
A  richer  gift,  as  I  may  say. 
Was  not  beheld  this  many  a  day. 

17. 

He  charged  his  father  faithfully. 
That  he  himself  would  keep  the  key, 
Until  the  child  could  write  and  read; 
And  then  to  give  him  it  indeed: 


36  WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

18. 
"  Pray  do  not  open  it  at  all, 
"Whatever  should  on  you  befall; 
For  it  may  do  my  Godson  good, 
K  it  be  rightly  understood." 

19. 
This  Lord  did  not  declare  his  name, 
Nor  yet  the  place  from  whence  he  came 
But  secretly  he  did  depart, 
And  left  them  grieved  to  the  heart. 


PAET  n. 
1. 
The  second  part  I  now  unfold, 
As  true  a  story  as  e'er  -^vas  told, 
Concerning  of  a  lovely  child, 
Who  was  obedient,  sweet,  and  mild. 

2. 

This  child  did  take  his  learning  so, 
If  you  the  tnith  of  all  would  know, 
At  eleven  years  of  age  indeed 
Both  Greek  and  Latin  he  could  read- 


Then  thinking  of  his  cabinet, 
That  was  with  pearls  and  jewels  set. 
He  asked  his  father  for  the  key, 
Which  he  gave  him  right  speedily; 


And  when  he  did  the  same  unlock. 
He  was  with  great  amazement  struck 
When  he  the  riches  did  behold, 
And  likewise  saw  the  chain  of  gold. 

5. 
But  searching  farther  he  did  find 
A  paper  which  disturbed  his  mind, 
That  was  within  the  cabinet : 
In  Greek  and  Latin  it  was  writ. 


GUY   MANN  ERIN  a.  37 


My  child,  serve  God  that  is  on  high, 
And  pray  to  him  incessantly ; 
Obey  your  parents,  love  your  king, 
Thai  notliaig  may  your  conscience  sting. 

7. 
At  seven  years  hence  your, fate  will  be, 
You  must  be  hanged  upon  a  tree  ; 
Then  pray  to  God  both  night  and  day, 
To  let  that  hour  pass  away. 


When  he  these  woeful  Hues  did  read, 
He  with  a  sigh  did  say  indeed, 
"  If  hanging  be  my  destiny, 
My  parents  shall  not  see  me  die ; 


For  I  will  wander  to  and  fro, 
I'll  go  where  I  no  one  do  know ; 
But  first  I'll  ask  my  parents'  leave, 
In  hopes  their  blessing  to  receive." 

10. 
Then  locking  up  his  cabinet, 
He  went  from  his  own  chamber  straight 
Unto  his  only  parents  dear. 
Beseeching  them  with  many  a  tear 

11. 

That  they  would  grant  what  he  would  have : 
"  But  first  your  blessing  I  do  crave. 
And  beg  you'll  let  me  go  away; 
'TwiU  do  me  good  another  day." 

12. 
*  *  *  *  * 

***** 

"  And  if  I  live  I  will  return. 

When  seven  years  are  past  and  gone." 


38  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

13. 

Both  man  and  wife  did  then  reply, 

"  I  fear,  my  son,  that  we  shall  die ; 

If  we  should  yield  to  let  you  go, 

Our  aged  hearts  wouiw  break  with  woe." 

14. 

But  he  entreated  eagerly, 
While  they  were  forced  to  comply, 
And  give  consent  to  let  him  go, 
But  where,  alas !  they  did  not  know. 

15. 

In  the  third  pait  you  soon  shall  find, 
That  fortune  was  to  him  most  kind, 
And  after  many  dangers  past, 
He  came  to  Durham  at  the  last. 


PART  m. 
1. 

He  went  by  chance  as  I  heard  say, 
To  that  same  house  that  very  day. 
In  which  his  Godfather  did  dwell ; 
But  mind  what  luck  to  him  befell ; — 

2. 
This  child  did  crave  a  service  there, 
On  which  came  out  his  Godfather, 
And  seeing  him  a  pretty  youth, 
He  took  him  for  his  page  in  truth. 


Then  in  this  place  he  pleased  so  well, 
That  'bove  the  rest  he  bore  the  bell ; 
This  child  so  well  the  Lord  did  please, 
He  raised  him  higher  by  degrees. 

4. 
He  made  him  Butler  sure  indood. 
And  then  his  Steward  with  all  speed, 
Which  made  the  other  servants  spite 
And  envy  him  both  day  and  night. 


GUY   MANNEEING.  39 

5. 

He  was  never  false  unto  his  trust, 
But  proved  ever  true  and  just ; 
And  to  the  Lord  did  hourly  pray- 
To  guide  him  stiU  both  uight  and  day. 


In  this  place  plainly  it  appears, 
He  lived  the  space  of  seven  years; 
His  parents  then  he  thought  upon, 
And  of  his  promise  to  return. 

7. 
Then  humbly  of  his  Lord  did  crave, 
That  he  his  free  consent  might  have 
To  go  and  see  his  parents  dear, 
He  had  not  seen  for  many  a  year. 


Then  having  leave,  away  he  went. 
Not  di-eaming  of  the  false  intent 
That  was  contrived  against  him  then, 
By  wicked,  false,  deceitful  men. 


They  had  in  his  portmanteau  put 
This  noble  Lord's  fine  golden  cup ; 
That  when  the  Lord  at  dinner  was. 
The  cup  was  missed  as  come  to  pass. 

10. 
"  Where  can  it  be?  "  this  Lord  did  say; 
"  We  had  it  here  but  yesterday." 
The  Butler  then  replied  with  speed, 
"  If  you  win  hear  the  truth  indeed, 

11. 
"  Your  darling  Steward  which  is  gone. 
With  feathered  nest  away  is  flown ; 
I'll  warrant  you  he  has  that,  and  more 
That  doth  belong  unto  your  store." 


40  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

12. 

"  No,"  says  the  Lord,  "  that  cannot  be, 
For  I  have  tried  his  honesty;  " 
"  Then,"  said  the  Cook,  "  my  Lord,  I  die 
Upon  a  tree  full  ten  feet  high." 

13. 
Then  hearing  what  these  men  did  say 
He  sent  a  messenger  that  day. 
To  take  him  with  a  hue  and  cry, 
And  bring  him  back  immediately. 

14. 

They  searched  his  portmanteau  with  speed. 
In  which  they  found  the  cup  indeed; 
Then  was  he  struck  with  sad  surprise, 
He  could  not  well  believe  his  eyes. 

15. 
The  assizes  then  were  drawing  nigh. 
And  he  was  tried  and  doomed  to  die; 
And  his  injured  innocence 
Could  nothing  say  in  his  defence. 

16. 
But  going  to  the  gallows  tree, 
On  which  he  thought  to  hanged  be, 
He  clapped  his  hands  upon  his  breast, 
And  thus  in  tears  these  words  exprest. 

17. 
"  Blind  Fortune  will  be  Fortime  still, 
I  see,  let  man  do  what  he  will ; 
For  though  this  day  I  needs  must  die, 
I  am  not  guilty — no,  not  I." 

18. 
This  noble  Lord  was  in  amaze, 
He  stood  and  did  with  wonder  gaze ; 
Then  he  spoke  out  with  words  so  mild, — 
"  What  mean  you  by  that  saying,  child?  " 


GUI    MANNERING.  41 

19. 

"  Will  tliat  your  Lordship,"  then  said  he, 
"  Grant  one  day's  full  reprieve  for  me, 
A  dismal  story  I'll  relate, 
Concerning  of  my  wretched  fate." 

20. 

"  Speak  up,  my  child,"  this  Lord  did  say, 
"  I  say  you  shall  not  die  this  day ; 
And  if  I  find  you  innocent, 
I'll  crown  your  days  with  sweet  content." 

21. 

He  told  him  all  his  dangers  past, 
He  had  gone  through  from  first  to  last ; 
He  fetched  the  chain  and  cabinet. 
Likewise  the  paper  that  was  writ. 


When  that  this  Noble  Lord  did  see, 
He  ran  to  him  most  eagerly, 
And  in  his  arms  did  him  embrace. 
Repeating  of  those  words  in  haste : — 

23. 
"  My  child,  my  child,  how  blest  am  I ! 
Thou  art  innocent,  and  shalt  not  die ; 
For  I'm  indeed  thy  Godfather, 
And  thou  wast  bom  in  fair  Yorkshire. 

24. 
"  I  have  indeed  one  daughter  dear, 
Which  is  indeed  my  only  heir; 
And  I  will  give  her  unto  thee, 
And  crown  you  with  felicity." 


So  then  the  Butler  and  the  Cook 
('Twas  them  that  stole  the  golden  cup) 
Confessed  their  faults  immediately, 
And  for  it  died  deservedly. 


42 


WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


This  goodly  youth,  as  I  do  hear, 
Thus  raised,  sent  for  his  parents  deta", 
Who  did  rejoice  their  child  to  see, — 
And  so  I  end  my  Tragedy. 


aUT    MANNEKING.  43 


NARRATIVE     OF    THE    LIFE    OF    JAMES 

ANNESLEY. 

Lord  and  Lady  Altliam,  of  Dunmain,  in  the  county 
of  Wexford,  had  been  for  many  years  married  and  child- 
less, when,  in  the  year  1715,  their  warmest  hopes  and 
wishes  were  realized  by  the  birth  of  an  heir  to  their 
estates  and  title.  On  that  joyful  evening  the  hospitahty 
of  the  house  of  Dunmain  was  claimed  by  a  young  gen- 
tleman travelling  from  Dublin,  named  "  Master  Richard 
Fitzgerald,"  who  joined  Lord  Altham  and  his  household 
in  diinking  the  healths  of  the  "  lady  in  the  straw,"  and 
the  long  expected  heir,  in  the  customary  groaning  drink. 
It  does  not  appear  that  Master  Fitzgerald  was  learned 
in  astrology,  or  practised  any  branch  of  the  "  Black  art," 
or  that  he  used  any  spell  with  reference  to  the  infant 
more  potent  than  these  hearty  libations  and  sincere  good 
wishes  for  his  future  prosperity.  Next  day,  before  leav- 
mg  the  hospitable  mansion,  the  little  hero  of  this  tale  was 
presented  to  the  stranger,  who  "  kissed  him,  and  gave  the 
nurse  half-a-guinea." 

Of  Fitzgerald  we  have  only  to  add,  that  he  entered 
the  army  and  became  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  queen  of  Hungary,  and  that  twenty-eight 
years  afterwards  he  returned  to  Ireland  to  assist  in  re- 
wvering  for  his  former  infantile  friend  the  estates  and 


44  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

titles  of  liis  ancestors,  wliicli  had  been  for  many  years 
iniquitouslj  witliheld  from  him. 

Lord  and  Lady  Altham  lived  unhappily  together,  and 
a  separation  took  place  soon  after  the  birth  of  their  son. 
Her  Ladyship,  shamefully  neglected  by  her  husband, 
resided  in  England  during  the  remainder  of  her  life,  and 
from  disease  and  poverty  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  ex- 
treme imbecility  both  of  body  and  mind. 

James  Annesley,  the  infant  son  of  this  unhappy  mother, 
was  entrusted,  by  Lord  Altham,  to  the  charge  of  a  woman 
of  indifferent  character,  named  Joan  or  Juggy  Landy. 
Juggy  was  a  dependent  of  the  family,  and  lived  in  a 
cabin  on  the  estate,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
house  of  Dunmain.  This  hut  is  described  as  a  "  despi- 
cable place,  without  any  furniture  except  a  pot,  two  or 
three  trenchers,  a  couple  of  straw  beds  on  the  floor,"  and 
**•  with  only  a  bush  to  di-aw  in  and  out  for  a  door."  Thus 
humbly  and  inauspiciously  was  the  boy  reared  under  the 
care  of  a  nurse,  who,  however  unfortunate  or  guilty, 
appears  to  have  lavished  upon  her  young  charge  the 
most  affectionate  attention.  From  some  unexplained 
cause,  however,  Juggy  Landy  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  Lord  Altham,  who  took  the  boy  from  her,  and  ordered 
his  groom  "  to  horsewhip  her,"  and  "  to  set  the  dogs  upon 
her,"  when  she  persisted  in  hovering  about  the  premises 
to  obtain  a  sight  of  her  former  charge. 

Lord  Altham  now  removed  with  his  son  to  Dublin, 
where  he  appears  to  have  entered  upon  a  career  of  the 
most  dissipated  and  profligate  conduct.  We  find  him 
reduced  to  extreme  pecuniary  embarrassment,  and  his 
property  became  a  prey  to  low  and  abandoned  associates ; 
one  of  whom,  a  Miss  Kennedy,  he  ultimately  endeavoured 
to  introduce  to  society  as  his  wife.    This  worthless  woman 


GUY   MANNEEING.  45 

must  have  obtained  great  ascendency  over  his  Lordship, 
as  she  was  enabled  to  drive  James  Annesley  from  his 
father's  protection,  and  the  poor  boy  became  a  houseless 
vagabond,  wandering  about  the  streets  of  DubHn,  and 
procuring  a  scanty  and  precarious  subsistence  "  by  run- 
ning of  errands  and  holding  gentlemen's  horses." 

Meanwhile  Lord  Altham's  pecuniary  difficulties  had  so 
increased  as  to  mduce  him  to  endeavour  to  borrow 
money  on  his  reversionary  interest  in  the  estates  of  the 
Earl  of  Anglesey,  to  whom  he  was  heir-at-law.  Li  this 
scheme  he  was  jomed  by  his  brother.  Captain  Annesley, 
and  they  jointly  succeeded  in  procuring  several  small 
sums  of  money.  But  as  James  Annesley  would  have 
proved  an  important  legal  impediment  to  these  transac- 
tions, he  was  represented  to  some  parties  to  be  dead ;  and 
where  his  existence  could  not  be  denied,  he  was  asserted 
to  be  the  natural  son  of  his  Lordship  and  of  Juggy 
Landy. 

Lord  Altham  died  in  the  year  1727,  "  so  miserably 
poor  that  he  was  actually  buried  at  the  public  expense." 
His  brother.  Captain  Annesley,  attended  the  funeral  as 
chief-mourner,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Baron  Altham ; 
but  when  he  claimed  to  have  this  title  registered,  he  was 
refused  by  the  king-at-arais,  "  on  account  of  his  nephew 
being  reported  still  alive,  and  for  want  of  the  honorary 
fees."  Ultimately,  however,  by  means  which  are  stated 
to  liave  been  "well  known  and  obvious,"  he  succeeded  in 
procuring  his  registration. 

But  there  was  another  and  a  more  sincere  mourner  at 
the  funeral  of  Lord  Altham  than  the  successful  inheritor 
of  his  title : — a  poor  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age,  half 
naked,  bareheaded  and  barefooted,  and  wearing,  as  the 
most  important  part  of  his  dress,  an  old  yellow  livery 


4:6  WAVERLEY    NOV^^.S. 

waistcoat,*  followed  at  a  humble  distance,  and  wept  o\  er 
his  father's  grave.  Young  Annesley  was  speedily  rer>.og- 
nised  by  his  uncle,  who  forcibly  drove  him  from  the  place, 
but  not  before  the  boy  had  made  himself  known  to  several 
old  servants  of  his  father,  who  were  attending  the  corpse 
of  their  late  lord  to  the  tomb. 

The  usurper  now  commenced  a  series  of  attempts  tc 
obtain  possession  of  his  nephew's  person,  for  the  purpose 
of  transporting  him  beyond  seas,  or  otherwise  ridding 
himself  of  so  formidable  a  rival.  For  .  some  time, 
however,  these  endeavours  w^ere  frustrated,  principally 
through  the  gallantry  of  a  brave  and  kind-hearted 
butcher,  named  Purcel,  who,  having  compassion  upon 
the  boy's  destitute  state,  took  him  into  his  house  an(? 
hospitably  maintained  him  for  a  considerable  time ;  an(J 
on  one  occasion,  w^hen  he  was  assailed  by  a  numerous 
party  of  his  uncle's  emissaries,  Purcel  placed  the  boy 
between  his  legs,  and  stoutly  defending  him  with  hir 
cudgel,  resisted  their  utmost  efforts,  and  succeeded  'u> 
rescuing  his  young  charge. 

After  havmg  escaped  from  many  attempts  of  the  same 
kind,  Annesley  was  at  length  kidnapped  in  the  streets  of 
Dublin,  dragged  by  his  uncle  and  a  party  of  hired  ruffians 
to  a  boat,  and  carried  on  board  a  vessel  in  the  river, 
which  immediately  sailed  with  our  hero  for  America, 
where,  on  his  arrival,  he  was  apprenticed  as  a  plantation 
slave,  and  in  this  condition  he  remained  for  the  succeed- 
ing thirteen  years. 

During  his  absence  his  uncle,  on  the  demise  of  the  Earl 
of  Anglesey,  quietly  succeeded  to  that  title  and  immense 
wealth. 

*  Vide  "  Green  Breeks"  in  the  General  Introduction  to  the  Waver- 
ley  Novels.     Surely  Yellow  Waistcoat  was  his  prototype 


GUY    MANN  ERIN  G.  47 

Wliile  forcibly  detained  in  the  plantations,  Annesley 
eufFered  many  severe  hardships  and  privations,  particu- 
arly  in  his  frequent  unsuccessful  attempts  to  escape. 
Among  other  incidents  which  befell  him,  he  incurred  the 
deadly  hatred  of  one  master,  in  consequence  of  a  sus- 
pected intrigue  with  his  wife, — a  charge  from  which  he 
was  afterwards  honourably  acquitted.  The  daughter  of  a 
second  master  became  affectionately  attached  to  him  ;  but 
it  does  not  appear  that  this  regard  was  reciprocal.  And 
finally,  in  effecting  his  escape,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
some  hostile  negroes,  who  stabbed  him  severely  in  various 
places ;  from  the  effects  of  which  cruelty  he  did  not  re- 
cover for  several  months. 

At  the  end  of  thirteen  years,  Annesley,  who  had  now 
attained  the  age  of  twenty-five,  succeeded  in  reaching 
Jamaica  in  a  merchant  vessel,  and  he  immediately  volun- 
teered himself  as  a  private  sailor  on  board  a  man-of-war. 
Here  he  was  at  once  identified  by  several  ofiicers ;  and 
Admiral  Vernon,  who  was  then  in  command  of  the 
British  West  India  fleet,  wrote  home  an  account  of  the 
case  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  (the  Premier,)  and,  "  in 
the  mean  time,  supplied  him  with  clothes  and  money,  and 
treated  him  with  the  respect  and  attention  which  his  rank 
demanded." 

The  Earl  of  Anglesey  no  sooner  heard  of  these  trans- 
actions on  board  the  fleet,. than  he  used  every  effort  to 
keep  possession  of  his  usurped  title  and  property,  and 
"  the  most  eminent  lawyers  within  the  English  and  Irish 
bars  were  retained  to  defend  a  cause,  the  prosecution  of 
which  was  not  as  yet  even  threatened." 

On  Annesley's  arrival  in  Dublin,  "  several  servants 
who  had  lived  with  his  father  came  from  the  country  to 
see  him.     They  knew  him  at  first  sight,  and  some  o- 


48  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

lliem  fell  on  their  knees  to  thank  Heaven  for  his  pres- 
ervation, embraced  his  legs,  and  shed  tears  of  joj  for  his 
return." 

Lord  Anglesey  became  so  much  alarmed  at  the  prob- 
able result  of  the  now  threatened  trial,  that  he  expressed 
his  intention  to  make  a  compromise  with  the  claimant, 
renounce  the  title,  and  retire  into  France ;  and  with  this 
view  he  commenced  learning  the  French  language.  But 
this  resolution  was  given  up,  in  consequence  of  an  occur- 
rence which  encouraged  the  flattering  hope  that  his 
opponent  would  be  speedily  and  most  effectually  dis- 
posed of. 

After  his  arrival  in  England,  Annesley  unfortunately 
occasioned  the  death  of  a  man  by  the  accidental  discharge 
of  a  fowling-piece  which  he  was  in  the  act  of  carrying. 
Though  there  could  not  exist  a  doubt  of  his  innocence 
from  all  intention  of  such  a  deed,  the  circumstance  offered 
toe  good  a  chance  to  be  lost  sight  of  by  his  uncle,  who 
(employed  an  attorney  named  Gifford,  and  with  his  assist- 
ance used  every  effort  at  the  coroner's  inquest  and  the 
subsequent  trial  to  bring  about  a  verdict  of  murder.  In 
this,  however,  he  did  not  succeed,  although  "  he  practised 
all  the  unfair  means  that  could  be  invented  to  procure 
the  removal  of  the  prisoner  to  Newgate  from  the  healthy 
gaol  to  which  he  had  been  at  first  committed  ; "  and  "  the 
Earl  even  appeared  in  person  on  the  bench,  endeavouring 
to  inti!nidate  and  browbeat  the  witnesses,  and  to  inveigle 
the  prisoner  into  destructive  confessions."  Annesley  was 
honourably  acquitted,  after  his  uncle  had  expended  nearly 
one  thousand  pounds  on  the  prosecution. 

The  trial  between  James  Annesley,  Esq.,  and  Richard 
Earl  of  Anglesey,  before  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord 
Chief-Justice  and  other  Barons  of  the  Exchequer,  com- 


GUr   MAKNERING.  49 

toenced  on  the  llth  November  1743,  and  wa3  continued 
for  thirteen  days.  The  defendant's  counsel  examined  an 
immense  number  of  witnesses,  in  an  attempt  to  prove 
that  Annesley  was  the  illegitimate  son  of  the  late  Baron 
Altham.  The  Jury  found  for  the  plaintiff;  but  it  did  not 
prove  sufficient  to  recover  his  title  and  estates ;  for  his 
tinole  "  had  recourse  to  every  device  the  law  allowed,  and 
Lis  powerful  interest  procured  a  writ  of  error  which  set 
aside  the  verdict."  Before  another  trial  could  be  brought 
about,  Annesley  died  without  male  issue,  and  Lord 
Anglesey  consequently  remained  in  undisturbed  pos- 
session. 

It  is  presumed  that  the  points  of  resemblance  between 
the  leading  incidents  in  the  life  of  this  unfortunate  young 
nobleman  and  the  adventures  of  Henry  Bertram  in  "  Guy 
Mannering,"  are  so  evident  as  to  require  neither  com- 
ment nor  enumeration  to  make  them  apparent  to  the 
most  cursory  reader  of  the  NoveL  The  addition  of  a 
very  few  other  circumstances  wUl,  it  is  believed,  amount 
to  a  proof  of  the  identity  of  the  two  stories. 

The  names  of  many  of  the  witnesses  examined  at  the 
trial  have  been  appropriated — generally  with  some  slight 
alteration,  to  characters  in  the  novel.  Among  others, 
one  of  them  is  named  Henry  Brown,  while  Henry  Ber- 
tram, alias  Vanbeest  Brown,  is  the  hero  of  the  story. 
An  Irish  priest  was  examined,  named  Ahel  Butler,  while 
we  find  Abel  Sampson  in  "  Guy  Mannering,"  and 
Reuben  Butler  in  the  "  Heart  of  Mid-Lothian," — all 
three  corresponding  in  profession  as  in  name.  Gifford 
and  Glossin,  although  somewhat  alike  in  patronymic,  re- 
semble each  other  still  more  in  character  and  the  abuse 
of  their  common  profession.     Gifford  had  an  associate  iu 

VOL.  III.  4 


50  A^TAYERLEY    NOA''ELS. 

iniquity  named  "  Jans,"  wliile  "  Jans  Jansen "  is  the 
alias  assumed  by  Glossin's  accomplice  Dirk  Hatteraick. 
Again,  we  find  Aiihur  Lord  Altham  and  Mr.  MacMullan 
in  tlie  history,  and  Arthur  Melville,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  Mac 
Morlan  in  the  fiction.  Kennedy  and  Barnes  appear  unal- 
tered in  each. 

A  remarkable  expression  used  by  one  of  the  witnesses 
in  r(;ference  to  Annesley — "  He  is  the  right  heir  if  right 
might  take  place  " — ^has  probably  served  as  a  hint  for  the 
motto  of  the  Bertram  family — "  Our  right  makes  our 
might." — Gentlemen^ s  Magazine^  July,  1840. 


GUY    MANNERING; 


OR, 


THE  ASTROLOGER. 


CHAPTER  I.  . 

He  could  not  deny,  that  looking  round  upon  the  dreary  region,  and  Beelag 
nothing  but  bleak  fields,  and  naked  trees,  hills  obscured  by  fogs,  and  flats  cov- 
ered with  inundations,  he  did  for  some  time  suffer  melancholy  to  prevail  upon 
him,  and  wished  himself  again  safe  at  home. — Travels  of  Will.  Marvel.  Idler^ 
No.  49. 


It  was  in  tlie  beginning  of  the  month  of  November 
17 — ,  when  a   young  English  gentleman,  who  had  just 


62  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

left  the  university  of  Oxford,  made  use  of  the  liberty 
afforded  him,  to  visit  some  parts  of  the  north  of  England ; 
and  curiosity  extended  his  tour  into  the  adjacent  frontier 
of  the  sister  country.  He  had  visited,  on  the  day  that 
opens  our  history,  some  monastic  ruins  in  the  county  of 
Dumfries,  and  spent  much  of  the  day  in  making  di-aw- 
ings  of  them  from  different  points ;  so  that,  on  mounting 
his  horse  to  resume  his  journey,  the  brief  and  gloomy 
t\^ilight  of  the  season  had  already  commenced.  His  way 
lay  through  a  wide  tract  of  black  moss,  extending  for 
miles  on  each  side  and  before  him.  Little  emuiences 
arose  like  islands  on  its  surface,  beariug  here  and  there 
patches  of  com,  which  even  at  this  season  was  green,  and 
sometimes  a  hut  or  farm-house,  shaded  by  a  willow  or 
two,  and  surrounded  by  large  elder-bushes.  These  hisu- 
lated  dwelliugs  communicated  with  each  other  by  wuidiag 
passages  through  the  moss,  impassable  by  any  but  the 
natives  themselves.  The  public  road,  however,  was  tol- 
erably well  made  and  safe,  so  that  the  prospect  of  being 
benighted  brought  with  it  no  real  danger.  StiQ  it  is  un- 
comfortable to  travel,  alone  and  in  the  dark,  through  an 
unknown  country ;  and  there  are  few  ordinary  occasions 
upon  which  Fancy  frets  herseff  so  much  as  in  a  situation 
like  that  of  Mannering. 

As  the  light  grew  faint  and  more  faint,  and  the  morass 
appeared  blacker  and  blacker,  our  traveller  questioned 
more  closely  each  chance  passenger  on  his  distance  from 
the  village  of  Kippletringan,  where  he  proposed  to  quar- 
ter for  the  night.  His  queries  were  usually  answered  by 
a  counter-challenge  respecting  the  place  from  whence  he 
came.  While  sufficient  dayhght  remained  to  show  the 
dress  and  appearance  of  a  gentleman,  these  cross  inter- 
rogatories were  usually  put  in  the  form  of  a  case  sup* 


GUT   JIANNERING.  53 

posetl, — as  "  Ye'll  hae  been  at  the  auld  abbey  o*  lIaljcros3, 
sir  ?  there's  mony  EngHsh  gentlemen  gang  to  see  that ; " 
— or,  "  Your  honour  will  be  come  frae  the  house  o'  Pou- 
derloupat?"  But  when  the  voice  of  the  querist  alone 
was  distinguishable,  the  response  usually  was,  "Where 
are  ye  coming  frae  at  sic  a  time  o'  night  as  the  like  o' 
this  ?  " — or,  "  Ye'll  no  be  o'  this  country,  freend  ?  "  Tho 
answers,  when  obtained,  were  neither  very  reconcilablo 
to  each  other,  nor  accurate  in  the  information  which  they 
afforded.  Kippletringan  was  distant  at  first  ''  a  gey  hit ;  " 
then  the  ^^  gey  hiV  was  more  accurately  described,  as 
"  ahlins  three  mile  ; "  then  the  "  three  mile  "  diminished 
into  "  iihe  a  mile  and  a  hittoch  ;  "  then  extended  them- 
selves into  '-^four  mile  or  thereawa  ;  "  and,  lastly,  a  female 
voice,  having  hushed  a  waiHng  infant  which  the  spokes- 
woman carried  in  her  arms,  assured  Guy  Mannering,  "  It 
was  a  weary  lang  gate  yet  to  Kippletringan,  and  unco 
heavy  road  for  foot  passengers."  The  poor  hack  upon 
which  Mannering  was  mounted,  was  probably  of  opinion 
that  it  suited  him  as  ill  as  the  female  respondent ;  for  he 
began  to  flag  very  much,  answered  each  application  of 
the  spur  with  a  groan,  and  stumbled  at  every  stone  (and 
they  were  not  few)  which  lay  in  his  road. 

Mannering  now  grew  impatient.  He  was  occasionally 
betrayed  into  a  deceitful  hope  that  the  end  of  his  journey 
was  near,  by  the  apparition  of  a  twinkling  light  or  two ; 
but,  as  he  came  up,  he  was  disappointed  to  find  that  the 
gleams  proceeded  from  some  of  those  farm-houses  which 
occasionally  ornamented  the  surface  of  the  extensive  bog. 
At  length,  to  complete  his  perplexity,  he  arrived  at  a 
place  where  the  road  divided  into  two.  If  there  had 
b«en  hght  to  consult  the  rehcs  of  a  finger-post  which 
stood  there,  it  would  have  been  of  Httle  avail,  as,  accord- 


54  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

ing  to  the  good  custom  of  North  Britain,  the  inscription 
had  been  defaced  shortly  after  its  erection.  Our  adven- 
turer was  therefore  compelled,  Hke  a  knight-errant  of  old, 
to  trust  to  the  sagacity  of  his  horse,  which,  without  any 
demur,  chose  the  left-hand  path,  and  seemed  to  proceed 
at  a  somewhat  Uveher  pace  than  before,  affording  thereby 
a  hope  that  he  knew  he  was  drawing  near  to  his  quarttTS 
for  the  evening.  This  hope,  however,  was  not  speedily 
accomphshed ;  and  Mannering,  whose  impatience  made 
every  furlong  seem  three,  began  to  think  that  Kipple- 
tringan  was  actually  retreating  before  him  in  proportion 
to  his  advance. 

It  was  now  very  cloudy,  although  the  stars,  from  time 
to  time,  shed  a  twinkling  and  uncertain  hght.  Hitherto 
nothing  had  broken  the  silence  ai-ound  him,  but  the  deep 
cry  of  the  bog-bhtter,  or  bull-of-the-bog,  a  large  species 
of  bittern  ;  and  the  sighs  of  the  wind  as  it  passed  along 
the  dreary  morass.  To  these  was  now  joined  the  distant 
roar  of  the  ocean,  towards  which  the  traveller  seemed 
to  be  fast  approaching.  This  was  no  circumstance  to 
make  his  mind  easy.  Many  of  the  roads  in  that  country 
lay  along  the  sea-beach,  and  some  were  Hable  to  be 
flooded  by  the  tides,  which  rise  to  a  great  height,  and 
advance  with  extreme  rapidity.  Others  were  intersected 
with  creeks  and  small  inlets,  which  it  was  only  safe  to 
pass  at  particular  times  of  the  tide.  Neither  circumstance 
would  have  suited  a  dark  night,  a  fatigued  horse,  and  a 
traveller  ignorant  of  his  road.  Mannering  resolved, 
therefore,  definitively  to  halt  for  the  night  at  the  first 
inhabited  place,  however  poor,  he  might  chance  to  reach, 
unless  he  could  procure  a  guide  to  this  unlucky  village 
of  Kippletringan. 

A  miserable  hut  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  execute 


GUY   MANNERING.  55 

• 

his  purpose.  He  found  out  the  door  with  no  small  diffi- 
culty, and  for  some  time  knocked  without  producing  any 
other  answer  than  a  duet  between  a  female  and  a  cur-dog, 
the  latter  yelping  as  if  he  would  have  barked  his  heart 
out,  the  other  screaming  in  chorus.  By  degi*ees  the 
human  tones  predominated ;  but  the  angry  bark  of  the 
cur  being  at  the  instant  changed  into  a  howl,  it  is  probable 
something  more  than  fair  strength  of  lungs  had  contrib- 
uted to  the  ascendency. 

"  Sorrow  be  in  your  thrapple  then  !  " — these  were  the 
first  articulate  words, — "  will  ye  no  let  me  hear  what  the 
man  wants,  wi'  your  yaffing  ?  " 

"  Am  I  far  from  Kippletringan,  good  dame  ?  " 

"  Frae  Kippletringan  ! ! !  "  in  an  exalted  tone  of  won- 
der, which  we  can  but  faintly  express  by  three  points  of 
admiration ;  "  Ow,  man !  ye  should  hae  hadden  eassel  to 
Kippletringan — ye  maun  gae  back  as  far  as  the  Whaap, 
and  hand  the  Whaap  *  till  ye  come  to  BaUenloan,  and 
then" 

"  This  will  never  do,  good  dame  !  my  horse  is  almost 
quite  knocked  up — can  you  not  give  me  a  night's  lodg- 
ings ?  " 

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

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

"  Troth,  I  kenna,  unless  ye  Hke  to  gae  down  and  speer 
for  quarters  at  the  Place.  I'se  warrant  they'll  tak  ye 
in,  whether  ye  be  gentle  or  semple." 

*  The  Hope,  often  pronounced  Whaap,  is  the  sheltered  part  or  hol- 
low of  the  hill.  Eoff,  hoivff]  haaf,  and  haven,  are  all  naodificatioiis  of 
♦^e  same  word. 


56  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

• 

"  Simple  enougli,  to  be  wandering  here  at  such  a  time 
of  night,"  thought  Mannering,  who  was  ignorant  of  the 
meaning  of  the  phrase.  "  But  how  shall  I  get  to  the 
place,  as  you  call  it  ?  '* 

"  Ye  maun  hand  wessel  by  the  end  o'  the  loan,  antl 
take  tent  o'  the  jaw-hole.'* 

"O,  if  ye  get  to  eassel  and  wessel*  again,  I  am  un- 
done ! — Is  there  nobody  that  could  guide  me  to  thia 
place  ?  I  will  pay  him  handsomely." 

The  word  pa^  operated  like  magic.  "  Jock,  ye  villain," 
exclaimed  the  voice  from  the  interior,  "  are  ye  lying 
routing  there,  and  a  young  gentleman  seeking  the  way 
to  the  Place  ?  Get  up,  ye  fause  loon,  and  show  him  the 
way  down  the  muckle  loaning. — He'll  show  you  the  way, 
sir,  and  Pse  warrant  ye'U  be  weel  put  up ;  for  they  never 
turn  awa  naebody  frae  the  door ;  and  ye'll  be  come  in 
the  canny  moment,  I'm  thinking,  for  the  laird's  servant— 
that's  no  to  say  his  body-servant,  but  the  helper  like — • 
rade  express  by  this  e'en  to  fetch  the  houdie,  and  he 
just  staid  the  drinking  o'  twa  pints  o'  tippeny,  to  tell  U3 
how  my  leddy  was  ta'en  wi'  her  pains." 

"  Perhaps,"  said  Mannering,  "  at  such  a  time  a  stran- 
ger's arrival  might  be  inconvenient  ?  " 

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

By  this  time  Jock  had  found  his  way  into  all  the 
inlricacies  of  a  tattered  doublet,  and  more  tattered  pair 
of  breeches,  and  saUied  forth,  a  great  white-headed,  bare- 
legged, lubberly  boy  of  twelve  years  old,  so  exhibited  by 

*  Provincial  for  eastward  and  westward, 
t  Hatching-time. 


GUr    MANNERING.  57 

the  glimpse  of  a  rushlight,  which  his  half-naked  mother 
held  m  such  a  manner  as  to  get  a  peep  at  the  stranger 
without  greatly  exposing  herself  to  view  in  return.  Jock 
moved  on  westward,  bj  the  end  of  the  house,  leading 
3Iannering's  horse  by  the  bridle,  and  piloting,  with  some 
dexterity,  along  the  Httle  path  which  bordered  the  for- 
midable jaw-hole,  whose  vi  ^inity  the  stranger  was  made 
sensible  of  by  means  of  more  organs  than  one.  His 
guide  then  dragged  the  weary  hack  along  a  broken 
and  stony  cart-track,  next  over  a  ploughed  field,  then 
broke  down  a  slap,  as  he  cahed  it,  in  a  dry-stone  fence, 
and  lugged  the  unresisting  animal  through  the  breach, 
about  a  rood  of  the  simple  masonry  giving  way  m  the 
splutter  with  which  he  passed.  Finally,  he  led  the  way, 
through  a  wicket,  into  something  which  had  still  the  au' 
of  an  avenue,  though  many  of  the  trees  were  felled.  The 
roar  of  the  ocean  was  now  near  and  full,  and  the  moon, 
which  began  to  make  her  appearance,  gleamed  on  a  tur- 
reted,  and  apparently  a  ruined  mansion,  of  considerable 
extent.  Mannering  fixed  his  eyes  upon  it  with  a  discon- 
solate sensation. 

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

"  Ah,  but  the  lairds  lived  there  langsyne — that's  Ellan- 
gowan  Auld  Place  ;  there's  a  hantle  bogles  about  it — but 
ye  needna  be  feared — I  never  saw  ony  mysell,  and  we're 
just  at  the  door  o'  the  New  Place." 

Accordingly,  leavmg  the  ruins  on  the  right,  a  few  steps 
brought  the  traveller  in  front  of  a  modern  house  of 
moderate  size,  at  which  his  guide  rapped  with  great 
importance.  Mannering  told  his  circumstances  to  the 
servant ;  and  the  gentleman  of  the  house,  who  heard  his 
tale  from  the  parlour,  stepped  forward  and  welcomed  the 


58 


WAVERLET   NOVELS. 


stranger  hospitably  to  Ellangowan.  The  boy,  made 
happy  with  half-a-crown,  was  dismissed  to  his  cottage, 
the  weary  horse  was  conducted  to  a  stall,  and  Mannering 
found  himself  in  a  few  minutes  seated  by  a  comfortable 
supper,  for  which  his  cold  ride  gave  him  a  hearty 
appetite. 


GUT   MANNERING.  50 


CHAPTER  n. 

Comes  me  cranking  in, 

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

Henrt  the  Fourth,  Part  1. 

The  company  in  the  parlour  at  Ellangowan  consisted 
of  the  Laird,  and  a  sort  of  person  who  might  be  the  vil- 
lage schoolmaster,  or  perhaps  the  minister's  assistant; 
his  appearance  was  too  shabby  to  indicate  the  minister, 
considering  he  was  on  a  visit  to  the  Laird. 

The  Laird  himself  was  one  of  those  second-rate  sort 
of  persons,  that  are  to  be  fomid  frequently  in  rural  situa- 
tions. Fielding  has  described  one  class  as  feras  con- 
sumere  nati ;  but  the  love  of  field-sports  indicates  a 
certain  activity  of  mind,  which  had  forsaken  Mr.  Ber- 
tram, if  ever  he  possessed  it.  A  good-humoured  listless- 
ness  of  countenance  formed  the  only  remarkable  expres- 
sion of  his  features,  although  they  were  rather  handsome 
than  otherwise.  In  fact,  his  physiognomy  indicated  the 
inanity  of  character  which  pervaded  his  life.  I  will  give 
the  reader  some  insight  into  his  state  and  conversation, 
before  he  has  finished  a  long  lecture  to  Mannering,  upon 
the  propriety  and  comfort  of  wrapping  his  stirrup-irons 
round  "vvith  a  wisp  of  straw  when  he  had  occasion  to  ride 
'n  a  chill  evening. 

Godfrey  Bertram,  of  Ellangowan,  succeeded  to  a  long 


60  WATERLET   NOVELS. 

pedigree  and  a  short  rent-roll,  like  many  lairds  of  that 
period.  His  list  of  forefathers  ascended  so  high,  that 
they  were  lost  in  'the  barbarous  ages  of  Galwegian  inde- 
pendence ;  so  that  his  genealogical  tree,  besides  the 
Chi'istian  and  crusading  names  of  Godfreys,  and  Gilberts, 
and  Dennises,  and  Eolands  without  end,  bore  heathen 
fruit  of  yet  darker  ages, — Arths,  and  Knarths,  and  Dona- 
gilds,  and  Hanlons.  In  truth,  they  had  been  formerly 
the  stormy  chiefs  of  a  desert  but  extensive  domain,  and 
the  heads  of  a  numerous  tribe,  called  Mac-Dingawaie, 
though  they  afterwards  adopted  the  Norman  surname  of 
Bertram.  They  had  made  war,  raised  rebellions,  been 
defeated,  beheaded,  and  hanged,  as  became  a  family  of 
importance,  for  many  centuries.  But  they  had  gradually 
lost  gi'ound  in  the  world,  and,  from  being  themselves  the 
heads  of  treason  and  traitorous  conspiracies,  the  Bertrams, 
or  Mac-Dingawaies,  of  Ellangowan,  had  sunk  into  sub- 
ordinate accomphces.  Their  most  fatal  exhibitions  in 
this  capacity  took  place  in  the  seventeenth  century,  when 
the  foul  fiend  possessed  them  with  a  spirit  of  contradic- 
tion, which  uniformly  involved  them  in  controversy  with 
the  ruling  powers.  They  reversed  the  conduct  of  the 
celebitited  Yicar  of  Bray,  and  adhered  as  tenaciously  to 
the  weaker  side,  as  that  worthy  divine  to  the  stronger. 
And  truly,  like  him,  they  had  their  reward. 

Allan  Bertram  of  Ellangowan,  who  flourished  tem'pore 
Caroli  Primi,  was,  says  my  authority,  Sir  Robert  Doug- 
las, in  his  Scottish  Baronage,  (see  the  title  Ellangowan,) 
"  a  steady  loyalist  and  full  of  zeal  for  the  cause  of  hia 
Sacred  Majesty,  in  which  he  united  with  the  great  Mar- 
quis of  Montrose,  and  other  truly  zealous  and  honourable 
patriots,  and  sustained  great  losses  in  that  behalf.  He 
had  the  honour  of  knighthood  conferred  upon  him  by  hia 


GTJT   MANNEKING.  61 

Most  Sacred  Majesty,  and  was  sequestrated  as  a  malig- 
nant by  tlie  parliament  1 642,  and  afterwards  as  a  resolu- 
tioner  in.  the  year  1648." — These  two  cross-grained 
epithets  of  malignant  and  resolutioner  cost  poor  Sir 
Allan  one  half  of  the  family  estate.  His  son  Dennis 
Bertram  married  a  daughter  of  an  eminent  fanatic,  who 
had  a  seat  in  the  council  of  state,  and  saved  by  that  union 
the  remainder  of  the  family  property.  But,  as  ill  chance 
would  have  it,  he  became  enamoured  of  the  lady's  prin- 
ciples as  well  as  of  her  charms,  and  my  author  gives  him 
this  character :  "  He  was  a  man  of  eminent  parts  and 
resolution,  for  which  reason  he  was  chosen  by  the  west- 
ern counties  one  of  the  committee  of  noblemen  and 
gentlemen,  to  report  their  griefs  to  the  privy  council  of 
Charles  H.  anent  the  coming  in  of  the  Highland  host  in 
1678."  For  undertaking  this  patriotic  task  he  underwent 
a  fine,  to  pay  which  he  was  obliged  to  mortgage  half  of 
the  remaining  moiety  of  his  paternal  property.  This 
loss  he  might  have  recovered  by  dint  of  severe  economy, 
but  on  the  breaking  out  of  Argyle's  rebellion,  Dennis 
Bertram  was  again  suspected  by  Government,  appre- 
hended, sent  to  Dunnotar  Castle,  on  the  coast  of  the 
Mearns,  and  there  broke  his  neck  in  an  attempt  to  escape 
from  a  subterranean  habitation  called  the  Whig's  Vault, 
in  which  he  was  confined  with  some  eighty  of  the  same 
persuasion.  The  apprizer,  therefore,  (as  the  holder  of  a 
mortgage  was  then  called,)  entered  upon  possession,  and, 
in  the  language  of  Hotspur,  "  came  me  cranking  in,"  and 
cut  the  family  out  of  another  monstrous  cantle  of  their 
remaining  property. 

Donohoe  Bertram,  with  somewhat  of  an  Irish  name, 
and  somewhat  of  an  Irish  temper,  succeeded  to  the  dimin- 
ished property  of  EUangowan.     He  turned  out  of  doors 


62  -WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

the  Rev.  j^aron  Maebriar,  his  mother's  chaplain,  (it  is 
said  they  quarrelled  about  the  good  graces  of  a  milkmaid,) 
drank  himself  daily  drunk  with  brimming  healths  to  the 
king,  council,  and  bishops  ;  held  orgies  with  the  Laird  of 
Lagg,  Theophilus  Oglethorpe,  and  Sir  James  Turner; 
and  lastly,  took  his  grey  gelding,  and  joined  Clavers  at 
Killiecrankie.  At  the  skirmish  of  Dunk  eld,  1689,  he 
was  shot  dead  by  a  Cameronian  with  a  silver  button, 
(being  supposed  to  have  proof  from  the  Evil  One  against 
lead  and  steel,)  and  his  grave  is  still  called  the  "  Wi.ked 
Laird's  Lair." 

His  son,  Lewis,  had  more  prudence  than  seems  usually 
to  have  belonged  to  the  family.  He  nursed  what  prop- 
erty was  yet  left  to  him  ;  for  Donohoe's  excesses,  as  well 
as  fines  and  forfeitures,  had  made  another  inroad  upon 
the  estate.  And  although  even  he  did  not  escape  the 
fatality  which  induced  the  Lairds  of  Ellangowan  to  inter- 
fere with  politics,  he  had  yet  the  prudence,  ere  he  went 
out  with  Lord  Kenmore  in  1715,  to  convey  his  estate  to 
trustees,  in  order  to  parry  pains  and  penalties,  in  case 
the  Earl  of  Mar  could  not  put  down  the  Protestant  suc- 
cession. But  Scylla  and  Charybdis — a  word  to  the  wise 
— ^he  only  saved  his  estate  at  the  expense  of  a  lawsuit, 
which  again  subdivided  the  family  property.  He  was, 
however,  a  man  of  resolution.  He  sold  part  of  the  lands, 
evacuated  the  old  castle,  where  the  family  lived  in  their 
decadence,  as  a  mouse  (said  an  old  farmer)  lives  under  a 
firlot.  Pulling  down  part  of  these  venerable  ruins,  he 
built  with  the  stones  a  narrow  house  of  three  stories  high, 
with  a  front  like  a  grenadier's  cap,  having  in  the  very 
centre  a  round  window,  like  the  single  eye  of  a  Cyclops, 
two  windows  on  each  side,  and  a  door  in  the  middle, 
leading  to  a  parlour  and  withdrawing  room,  full  of  all 
manner  of  cross  lights. 


GUY   MANNEEING.  63 

This  was  the  New  Place  of  Ellangowan,  in  wHch  we 
left  our  hero,  better  amused  perhaps  than  our  readers, 
and  to  this  Lewis  Bertram  retreated,  full  of  projects  for 
re-establishing  the  prosperity  of  his  family.  He  took 
tfome  land  into  his  own  hand,  rented  some  from  neigh- 
bouring proprietors,  bought  and  sold  Highland  cattle  and 
Cheviot  sheep,  rode  to  fairs  and  trysts,  fought  hard  bar- 
gains, and  held  necessity  at  the  staff's  end  as  well  as  he 
might.  But  what  he  gained  in  purse  he  lost  in  honour,  for 
such  agricultural  and  commercial  negotiations  were  veiy 
ill  looked  upon  by  his  brother  lairds,  who  minded  nothing 
but  cock-fighting,  hunting,  coursing,  and  horse-racing, 
with  now  and  then  the  alternation  of  a  desperate  duel. 
The  occupations  which  he  followed  encroached,  in  their 
opinion,  upon  the  article  of  Ellangowan's  gentry  ;  and  he 
found  it  necessary  gradually  to  estrange  himself  from 
their  society,  and  sink  into  what  was  then  a  very  am- 
biguous character,  a  gentleman  farmer.  In  the  midst  of 
his  schemes,  death  claimed  his  tribute ;  and  the  scanty 
remains  of  a  large  property  descended  upon  Godfrey 
Bertram,  the  present  possessor,  his  only  son. 

The  danger  of  the  father's  speculations  was  soon  seen. 
Deprived  of  Laird  Lewis's  personal  and  active  superin- 
tendence, all  his  undertakings  miscarried,  and  became 
either  abortive  or  perilous.  Without  a  single  spark  of 
energy  to  meet  or  repel  these  misfortunes,  Godfrey  put 
his  fmth  in  the  activity  of  another.  He  kept  neither 
hunters,  nor  hounds,  nor  any  other  southern  preliminaries 
to  ruin  ;  but,  as  has  been  observed  of  his  countrymen,  he 
kept  a  man  of  business,  who  answered  the  purpose  equally 
well.  Under  this  gentleman's  supervision  small  debts 
grew  into  large,  interests  were  accumulated  upon  capi- 
tals, moveable  bonds   became  heritable,  and  law  charges 


64  WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

were  heaped  upon  all ;  though  EUangowan  possessed  so 
little  the  spirit  of  a  litigant,  that  he  was  on  two  occasiona 
charged  to  make  payment  of  the  expenses  of  a  long  law- 
suit, although  he  had  never  before  heard  that  he  had 
such  cases  in  court.  Meanwhile  his  neighbours  predicted 
his  final  ruin.  Those  of  the  higher  rank,  with  some 
malignity,  accounted  him  already  a  degraded  brother. 
The  lower  classes,  seeing  nothing  enviable  in  his  situa- 
tion, marked  his  embarrassments  with  more  compassion. 
He  was  even  a  kind  of  favourite  with  them,  and  upon 
the  division  of  a  common,  or  the  holding  of  a  black- 
fishing  or  poaching-court,  or  any  similar  occasion,  when 
they  conceived  themselves  oppressed  by  the  gentry,  they 
were  in  the  habit  of  saying  to  each  other,  "  Ah,  if  EUan- 
gowan, honest  man,  had  his  ain  that  his  forbears  had 
afore  him,  he  wadna  see  the  puir  folk  trodden  down  this 
gait."  Meanwhile,  this  general  good  opinion  never  pre- 
vented their  taking  advantage  of  him  on  all  possible 
occasions — turning  their  cattle  into  his  parks,  stealing  his 
wood,  shooting  his  game,  and  so  forth,  "  for  the  Laird, 
honest  man,  he'll  never  find  it, — he  never  minds  what  a 
puir  body  does." — Pedlars,  gipsies,  tinkers,  vagrants  of 
all  descriptions,  roosted  about  his  outhouses,  or  harboured 
in  his  kitchen  ;  and  the  Laird,  who  was  "  nae  nice  body," 
but  a  thorough  gossip,  like  most  weak  men,  found  recom- 
pense for  his  hospitality  in  the  pleasure  of  questioning 
them  on  the  news  of  the  country  side. 

A  circumstance  ai-rested  EUangowan's  progress  on  the 
high  road  to  ruin.  This  was  his  marriage  with  a  lady 
who  had  a  portion  of  about  four  thousand  pounds.  No- 
body in  the  neighbourhood  could  conceive  why  she 
married  him,  and  endowed  him  with  her  wealth,  unless 
because  he  had  a  tall,  handsome  figure,  a  good  set  of 


GUT   MAJfNEKING.  65 

features,  a  genteel  address,  and  a  most  perfect  good 
humour.  It  might  be  some  additional  consideration,  that 
she  was  herself  at  the  reflecting  age  of  twenty-eight,  and 
had  no  near  relations  to  control  her  actions  or  choice. 

It  was  in  this  lady's  behalf  (confined  for  the  first  time 
after  her  marriage)  that  the  speedy  and  active  express, 
mentioned  by  the  old  dame  of  the  cottage,  had  been 
dei'patched  to  Kippletringan  on  the  night  of  Mannering's 
arrival. 

Though  we  have  said  so  much  of  the  Laird  himself,  it 
still  remains  that  we  make  the  reader  in  some  degree 
acquainted  with  his  companion.  This  was  Abel  Samp- 
son, commonly  called,  from  his  occupation  as  a  pedagogue, 
Dominie  Sampson.  He  was  of  low  birth,  but  having 
evinced,  even  from  his  cradle,  an  uncommon  seriousness 
of  disposition,  the  poor  parents  were  encouraged  to  hope 
that  their  hairn,  as  they  expressed  it,  "  might  wag  his 
pow  in  a  pulpit  yet."  With  an  ambitious  view  to  such  a 
consummation,  they  pinched  and  pared,  rose  early  and 
lay  down  late,  ate  dry  bread  and  drank  cold  water,  to 
secure  to  Abel  the  means  of  learning.  Meantime,  his 
tall  ungainly  figure,  his  taciturn  and  grave  manners,  and 
some  grotesque  habits  of  swinging  his  limbs,  and  screw- 
ing his  visage  while  reciting  his  task,  made  poor  Sampson 
the  ridicule  of  all  his  school-companions.  The  same 
qualities  secured  him  at  Glasgow  college  a  plentiful  share 
of  the  same  sort  of  notice.  Half  the  youthful  mob  of 
"  the  yards "  used  to  assemble  regularly  to  see  Dominie 
Sampson  (for  he  had  already  attained  that  honourable 
title)  descend  the  stairs  from  the  Greek  class,  with  his 
Lexicon  under  his  arm,  his  long  misshapen  legs  sprawling 
abroad,  and  keeping  awkward  time  to  the  play  of  his 
immense  shoulder  blades,  as  they  raised  and  depressed 


66  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

tlie  loose  and  threadbare  black  coat  wbicli  was  his  con- 
stant and  only  wear.  When  he  spoke,  the  efforts  of  the 
professor  (professor  of  divinity  though  he  was)  were 
totally  inadequate  to  restrain  the  inextinguishable  laugh- 
ter of  the  students,  and  sometimes  even  to  repress  his 
own.  The  long,  sallow  visage,  the  goggle  eyes,  the  huge 
under-jaw,  whicn  appeared  not  to  open  and  shut  by  an 
act  of  volition,  but  to  be  dropped  and  hoisted  up  again  by 
some  complicated  machinery  within  the  inner  man, — the 
harsh  and  dissonant  voice,  and  the  screech-owl  notes  to 
which  it  was  exalted  when  he  was  exhorted  to  pronounce 
more  distinctly, — all  added  fresh  subject  for  mirth  to  the 
torn  cloak  and  shattered  shoe,  which  have  afforded  legit- 
imate subjects  of  raillery  against  the  poor  scholar,  from 
Juvenal's  time  downward.  It  was  never  known  that 
Sampson  either  exhibited  irritability  at  this  ill  usage,  or 
made  the  least  attempt  to  retort  upon  his  tormentors. 
He  slunk  from  college  by  the  most  secret  paths  he  could 
discover,  and  plunged  himseff  into  his  miserable  lodging, 
where,  for  eighteen-pence  a-week,  he  was  allowed  the 
benefit  of  a  straw  mattress,  and,  if  his  landlady  was  in 
good  humour,  permission  to  study  his  task  by  her  fire. 
Under  all  these  disadvantages,  he  obtained  a  competent 
knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin,  and  some  acquaintance 
with  the  sciences. 

In  progress  of  time,  Abel  Sampson,  probationer  of 
divinity,  was-  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  a  preacher. 
But,  alas !  partly  from  his  own  bashfuhiess,  partly  owing 
to  a  strong  and  obvious  disposition  to  risibility,  which 
pervaded  the  congregation  upon  his  first  attempt,  he 
became  totally  incapable  of  proceeding  in  his  intended 
discourse — gasped,  grinned,  hideously  rolled  his  eyes  till 
the  congregation  thought  them  flying  out  of  his  head— 


GUT   MANNERmG.  67 

shut  llie  Bible — stumbled  down  the  pulpit-stairs,  tramp- 
ling upon  the  old  women  who  generally  take  their  statior 
there, — and  was  ever  after  designated  as  a  "  stickit 
minister."  And  thus  he  wandered  back  to  his  own  coun- 
try, with  blighted  hopes  and  prospects,  to  shai^e  the 
poverty  of  his  parents.  As  he  had  neither  friend  nor 
comidant,  hardly  even  an  acquaintance,  no  one  had  the 
means  of  observing  closely  how  Dominie  Sampson  bore 
a  disappomtment  which  supplied  the  whole  town  with  a 
week's  sport.  It  would  be  endless  even  to  mention  the 
numerous  jokes  to  which  it  gave  birth, — from  a  ballad, 
called  "  Sampson's  Riddle,"  written  upon  the  subject  by 
a  smart  young  student  of  humanity — to  the  sly  hope  of 
the  Principal,  that  the  fugitive  had  not,  in  imitation  of 
his  mighty  namesake,  taken  the  college  gates  along  wdth 
him  in  his  retreat. 

To  all  appearance,  the  equanimity  of  Sampson  was 
unshaken.  He  sought  to  assist  his  parents  by  teaching  a 
school,  and  soon  had  plenty  of  scholars,  but  very  few  fees. 
In  fact,  he  taught  the  sons  of  farmers  for  what  they  chose 
to  give  him,  and  the  poor  for  nothing ;  and,  to  the  shame 
of  the  former  be  it  spoken,  the  pedagogue's  gains  never 
equalled  those  of  a  skilful  ploughman.  He  wrote,  how- 
ever, a  good  hand,  and  added  somethmg  to  his  pittance  by 
copying  accounts  and  writing  letters  for  Ellangowan.  By 
degrees,  the  .Laird,  who  was  much  estranged  from  general 
society,  became  partial  to  that  of  Dominie  Sampson. 
Conversation,  it  is  true,  was  out  of  the  question,  but  the 
Dominie  was  a  good  hstener,  and  stirred  the  fire  with 
some  address.  He  attempted  even  to  snuff  the  candles, 
but  was  unsuccessful,  and  relinquished  that  ambitious  post 
of  courtesy,  after  having  twice  reduced  the  parlour  to 
total  darkness.     So  his  civihties,  thereafter,  were  confined 


68  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

to  taking  off  his  glass  of  ale  in  exactly  the  same  time  and 
measure  with  the  Laird,  and  m  uttering  certain  indistinct 
murmurs  of  acquiescence  at  the  conclusion  of  the  long 
and  winding  stories  of  Ellangowan. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  he  presented  for  the  first 
time  tc  Mannering  his  tall,  gaunt,  awkward,  bony  figure^ 
attired  in  a  threadbare  suit  of  black,  with  a  coloured 
handkerchief,  not  over  clean,  about  his  sinewy,  scraggy 
neck,  and  his  nether  person  arrayed  in  grey  breeches, 
dark-blue  stockings,  clouted  shoes,  and  small  copper 
buckles. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  lives  and  fortunes  of 
those  two  persons,  in  whose  society  Mannering  now  found 
himself  comfortably  seated. 


GUY   MANNERLNG. 


CHAPTER  in. 

Do  not  the  hist'ries  of  all  ages 
Relate  miraculous  presages, 
Of  strange  turns  in  the  world's  affairs, 
Foreseen  by  Astrologers,  Soothsayers, 
Chaldeans,  learned  GenethUacs, 
And  some  that  have  writ  almanacs  ? 

HUDIBRAS. 

The  circumstances  of  tlie  landlady  were  pleaded  to 
M  innering — first  as  an  apology  for  her  not  appearing  to 
wefcome  her  guest,  and  for  those  deficiencies  in  his  enter- 
tainment which  her  attention  might  have  supphed,  and 
then  as  an  excuse  for  pressing  an  extra  bottle  of  good 
wine. 

"  I  cannot  weel  sleep,"  said  the  Laird,  with  the  anxious 
feelings  of  a  father  in  such  a  predicament,  "  till  I  hear 
she's  gotten  ower  with  it — and  if  you,  sir,  are  not  very 
eleepry,  and  would  do  me  and  the  Dominie  the  honour  to 
Bit  up  wi'  us,  I  am  sure  we  shall  not  detain  you  very  late. 
Luckie  Howatson  is  very  expeditious ; — there  was  ance  a 
lass  that  was  in  that  way — she  did  not  live  far  from  here- 
abouts— ye  needna  shake  your  head  and  groan.  Dominie 
— I  am  sure  the  kirk  dues  were  a'  weel  paid,  and  what 
can  man  do  mair  ? — it  was  laid  till  her  ere  she  had  a  sark 
ower  her  head ;  and  the  man  that  she  since  wadded  does 
not  think  her  a  pin  the  waur  for  the  misfortune. — They 


70  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

live,  jMt.  Mannering,  by  the  shore-side,  at  Annan,  and  a 
mail"  decent,  orderly  couple,  with  six  as  fine  bairns  as  ye 
would  wish  to  see  plash  in  a  salt-water  dub  ;  and  httle 
cm-lie  Godfrey — that's  the  eldest,  the  come  o'  will,  as  I 
may  say — he's  on  board  an  excise  yacht ;  I  hae  a  cousin 
at  the  board  of  excise — that's  Commissioner  Bertram; 
he  got  his  commissionership  in  the  great  contest  for  the 
county,  that  ye  must  have  heard  of,  for  it  was  appealed 
to  the  House  of  Commons :  now  I  should  have  voted 
there  for  the  Laird  of  Bakuddery ;  but  ye  see  my  father 
was  a  Jacobite,  and  out  with  Kenmore,  so  he  never  took 
the  oaths ;  and  I  ken  not  weel  how  it  was,  but  all  that  I 
could  do  and  say,  they  keepit  me  off  the  roll,  though  my 
agent,  that  had  a  vote  upon  my  estate,  ranked  as  a  good 
vote  for  auld  Sir  Thomas  Kittlecourt.  But  to  return  to 
what  I  was  saying.  Luckie  Howatson  is  very  expedi- 
tious, for  this  lass  " 

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

Canny  moment,  lucky  fit; 

Is  the  lady  lighter  yet  ? 

Be  it  lad  or  be  it  lass, 

Sign  wi'  cross  and  sain  wi'  mass. 

**  It's  Meg  Merrilies,  the  gipsy,  as  sure  as  I  am  a  sin- 
ner," said  JVIr.  Bertram.  The  Dominie  groaned  deeply, 
uncrossed  his  legs,  di^ew  in  the  huge  splay  foot  which  his 
former  posture  had  extended,  placed  it  perpendicularly, 
and  stretched  the  other  Hmb  over  it  instead,  puffing  out 
between  whiles  huge  volumes  of  tobacco-smoke.     "  What 


GUT    MANNERING.  71 

needs  ye  groan,  Dominie  ?  I  am  sure  Meg's  sangs  do 
nae  ill." 

"  Nor  good  neither,"  answered  Dominie  Sampson,  in  a 
voice  whose  untunable  harshness  corresponded  with  the 
awkwardness  of  his  figure.  They  were  the  first  words 
which  Mannering  had  heard  him  speak  ;  and  as  he  had 
been  watching  with  some  curiosity  when  this  eating, 
drinking,  moving,  and  smoking  automaton  would  perform 
the  part  of  speaking,  he  was  a  good  deal  diverted  with 
the  harsh  timber  tones  which  issued  from  him.  But  at 
this  moment  the  door  opened,  and  Meg  Merrilies  entered. 

Her  appearance  made  Mannering  start.  She  was  full 
six  feet  high,  wore  a  man's  great-coat  over  the  rest  of  her 
dress,  had  in  her  hand  a  goodly  sl'O'e-thorn  cudgel,  and  in 
all  points  of  equipment,  except  her  petticoats,  seemed 
rather  masculine  than  feminine.  Her  dark  elf-locks  shot 
out  like  the  snakes  of  the  gorgon,  between  an  old-fash- 
ioned bonnet  called  a  bongrace,  heightening  the  singular 
efiect  of  her  strong  and  weather-beaten  features,  which 
they  partly  shadowed,  while  her  eye  had  a  wild  roll  that 
indicated  something  like  real  or  affected  insanity. 

"  Aweel,  EUangowan,"  she  said,  "  wad  it  no  hae  been 
a  bonnie  thing  an  the  leddy  had  been  brought  to  bed  and 
me  at  the  fair  o'  Drumshourloch,  no  kenninor,  nor  dream- 
ing a  word  about  it  ?  Wha  was  to  hae  keepit  awa  the 
woiriecows,  I  trow  ? — ay,  and  the  elves  and  gyre-carlingg 
frae  the  bonny  bairn,  grace  be  wi'  it  ?  Ay,  or  i^,aid  Sainl 
Colme's  charm  for  its  sake,  the  dear?"  Artd  without 
waiting  an  answer,  she  began  to  sing — 

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


72  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

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

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

"  That  you  shaU  have,  Meg — Sit  down  yont  there  at 
the  door,  and  tell  us  what  news  ye  have  heard  at  the  fair 
o'  Drumshourloch." 

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

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

"  Troth,  but  three,  Laird,  for  there  were  nae  mair  in 
the  fair,  bye  mysell,  as  I  said  before,  and  I  e'en  gae  them 
leg-bail,  for  there's  nae  ease  in  dealing  wi'  quarrelsome 
fowk.  And  there's  Dunbog  has  warned  the  Red  Rotten 
and  John  Young  aff  his  grunds — ^black  be  his  cast !  he's 
nae  gentleman,  nor  drap's  bluid  o'  gentleman,  wad  gi'udge 
tw^a  gangrel  puir  bodies  the  shelter  o'  a  waste  house,  and 
the  thristles  by  the  road-side  for  a  bit  cuddy,  and  the  bits 
o'  rotten  bkk  to  boil  their  drap  parritch  wi'.  Weel, 
there's  ane  abune  a' — ^but  we'll  see  if  the  red  cock  craw 
Hot  in  his  bonnie  barn-yard  ae  morning  before  day-daw- 
ing." 

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

"  What  does  she  mean  ?  "  said  Mannering  to  Sampson, 
in  an  under  tone. 

"  Fire-raising,"  answered  the  laconic  Dominie. 

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


GUY   MANNERING.  73 

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

"  0  troth,  Laird,"  continued  Meg,  during  this  bj-talk, 
"  it's  but  to  the  hke  o'  you  ane  can  open  tlieir  heart.  Ye 
see,  they  say  Dunbog  is  nae  mair  a  gentleman  than  the 
blunker  that's  biggit  the  bonnie  house  down  in  the  howm. 
But  the  hke  o'  you,  Laird,  that's  a  real  gentleman  for  sae 
iQonj  hundred  years,  and  never  hunds  puir  fowk  aff  your 
grund  as  if  they  were  mad  tykes,  nane  o'  our  fowk  wad 
stir  your  gear  if  ye  had  as  mony  capons  as  there's  leaves 
on  the  trystiug-tree. — And  now  some  o'  ye  maun  lay 
down  your  watch,  and  tell  me  the  very  minute  o'  the  hour 
the  wean's  born,  and  I'll  spae  its  fortune." 

"  Ay,  but,  Meg,  we  shall  not  want  your  assistance,  for 
here's  a  student  from  Oxford  that  kens  much  better  than 
you  how  to  spae  its  fortune — he  does  it  by  the  stars." 

"  Certainly,  sir,"  said  Mannering,  entering  into  the 
simple  humour  of  his  landlord,  "  I  will  calculate  his  na^ 
tivity  according  to  the  rule  of  the  Triphcities,  as  recom- 
mended by  Pythagoras,  Hippocrates,  Diodes,  and  Avi- 
cenna.  Or  I  will  begin  ah  hora  questionis,  as  Haly,  Mes- 
sahala,  Ganwehis,  and  Guido  Bonatus,  have  recom- 
mended." 

One  of  Sampson's  great  recommendations  to  the  favour 
of  Mr.  Bertram  was,  that  he  never  detected  the  most 
gross  attempt  at  imposition,  so  that  the  Laird,  whose 
hunble  efforts  at  jocularity  were  chiefly  confined  to  what 
were  then  called  bites  and  bams,  since  denominated  hoaxes 
and  quizzes,  had  the  fairest  possible  subject  of  wit  in  the 
unsuspecting  Dominie.  It  is  true,  he  never  laughed,  or 
joined  in  the  laugh  which  his  own  simplicity  afforded — 
nay,  it  is  said  he  never  laughed  but  once  in  his  life  ;  and 
on   that   memorable   occasion   his    landlady   miscarried, 


74  AVAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

partly  thi'ougli  surprise  at  the  event  itself,  and  partly 
from  terror  at  the  liideous  grimaces  wliich  attended  this 
unusual  cacliinnation.  The  only  effect  which  the  discovery 
of  such  impositions  produced  upon  this  saturnine  person- 
age was,  to  extort  an  ejaculation  of  "  Prodigious  ! "  or 
"  Very  facetious ! "  pronounced  syllabically,  but  without 
moving  a  muscle  of  his  own  countenance. 

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

"  I  am  afraid,  sir,"  said  Mannering,  turning  towards 
him,  "  you  may  be  one  of  those  unhappy  persons  who, 
their  dim  eyes  being  unable  to  penetrate  the  starry 
spheres,  and  to  discern  therein  the  decrees  of  heaven  at  a 
distance,  have  their  hearts  barred  against  conviction  by 
prejudice  and  misprision." 

"Truly,"  said  Sampson,  "I  opine  with  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  Knight,  and  umwhile  master  of  his  majesty*s 
mint,  that  the  (pretended)  science  of  astrology  is  alto- 
gether vain,  frivolous,  and  unsatisfactory."  And  here  he 
reposed  his  oracular  jaws. 

"  Really,"  resumed  the  traveller,  "  I  am  sorry  to  see  a 
gentleman  of  your  learning  and  gravity  labouring  under 
such  strange  blindness  and  delusion.  Will  you  place  the 
brief,  the  modern,  and  as  I  may  say,  the  vernacular  name 
of  Isaac  Newton,  in  opposition  to  the  grave  and  sonorous 
authorities  of  Dariot,  Bonatus,  Ptolemy,  Haly,  Eztler, 
Dieterick,  Naibob,  Harfurt,  Zael,  Taustettor,  Agrippa, 
Duretus,  Maginus,  Origen,  and  Argol  ?  Do  not  Chris- 
tians and  Heathens,  and  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  poets 
and  philosophers,  unite  in  allowing  the  starry  influences  ?  " 

"  Communis  error — it  is  a  general  mistake,"  answered 
the  inflexible  Dominie  Sampson. 


GUY    MANNERING.  75 

"  Not  SO,"  replied  the  young  Englishman ;  "  it  is  a 
senv^-al  and  well-grounded  behef." 

"  It  is  the  resource  of  cheaters,  knaves,  and  cozeners," 
said  Sampson. 

"  Abusus  non  tollit  usum :  the  abuse  of  any  thing  dolh 
not  abrogate  the  lawful  use  thereof." 

During  this  discussion,  Ellangowan  was  somewhat  like 
a  woodcock  caught  in  his  own  springe.  He  turned  his 
face  alternately  from  the  one  spokesman  to  the  other,  and 
began,  from  the  gravity  with  which  Mannering  pHed  his 
adversary,  and  the  learning  which  he  dis[)layed  in  the 
controversy,  to  give  him  credit  for  being  half  serious.  As 
for  Meg,  she  hxed  her  bewildered  eyes  upon  the  astrologer, 
overpowered  by  a  jargon  more  mysterious  than  her  own. 

Mannering  pressed  his  advantage,  and  ran  over  all  the 
hard  terms  of  art  which  a  tenacious  memory  supplied, 
and  which,  from  circumstances  hereafter  to  be  noticed, 
had  been  familiar  to  him  in  early  youth. 

Signs  and  planets,  in  aspects  sextile,  quartile,  trine, 
conjoined  or  opposite ;  houses  of  heaven,  with  their 
cusps,  hours,  and  minutes  ;  Almuten,  Almochoden,  Ana- 
hibazon,  Catahibazon ;  a  thousand  terms  of  equal  sound 
and  significance,  poured  thick  and  three-fold  upon  the  un- 
shrinking Dominie,  whose  stubborn  incredulity  bore  him 
out  against  the  pelting  of  this  pitiless  storm. 

At  length  the  joyful  annunciation  that  the  lady  had 
presented  her  husband  with  a  fine  boy,  and  was  (of 
course)  as  well  as  could  be  expected,  broke  off  this  inter- 
course. Mr.  Bertram  hastened  to  the  lady's  apartment, 
Meg  Merrilies  descended  to  the  kitchen  to  secure  her 
share  of  the   groaning  malt,*   and  the  "  ken-no ;  "    and 

*  The  groaning  malt  mentioTiea  ia  the  text  was  the  ale  brewed  for 
the  purpose  of  being  di-unk  after  the  lady  or  goodwife's  safe  delivery 


76  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Mannering,  after  looking  at  his  watch,  and  noting  with 
great  exactness  the  hour  and  minute  of  the  birth,  re- 
quested, with  becoming  gravity,  that  the  Dominie  would 
conduct  him  to  some  place  where  he  might  have  a  view 
of  the  heavenly  bodies. 

The  schoolmaster,  without  further  answer,  rose  and 
tlirew  open  a  door  half-sashed  with  glass,  which  led  to  an 
old-fashioned  terrace-walk,  behind  the  modern  house, 
communicating  with  the  platform  on  which  the  ruins  of 
the  ancient  castle  were  situated.  The  wind  had  arisen, 
and  swept  before  it  the  clouds  which  had  formerly 
obscured  the  sky.  The  moon  was  high,  and  at  the  full, 
and  all  the  lesser  satellites  of  heaven  shone  forth  in  cloud- 
less efifulgence.  The  scene  which  their  light  presented 
to  Mannering  was  in  the  highest  degree  unexpected  and 
striking. 

We  have  observed,  that  in  the  latter  part  of  his  journey 
our  traveller  approached  the  sea-shore  without  being 
aware  how  nearly.  He  now  perceived  that  the  rums  of 
Ellangowan  castle  were  situated  upon  a  promontory,  or 
projection  of  rock,  which  formed  one  side  of  a  small  and 

The  Icen-no  has  a  more  ancient  source,  and  perhaps  the  custom  may- 
be derived  from  the  secret  rites  of  the  Bona  Dea.  A  large  and  rich 
cheese  was  made  by  the  women  of  the  family,  with  gi*eat  affectation 
of  secrecy,  for  the  refreshment  of  the  gossips  who  were  to  attend  at 
ths  canny  minute.  This  was  the  ken-no,  so  called  because  its  exist- 
ence was  secret  (that  is,  presumed  to  be  so)  from  all  the  males  of 
the  family,  but  especially  from  the  husband  and  master.  He  was, 
a/sordingly,  expected  to  conduct  himself  as  if  he  knew  of  no  such 
preparation,  to  act  as  if  desirous  to  press  the  female  guests  to  refresh- 
ments, and  to  seem  surprised  at  their  obstinate  refusal.  But  the  in- 
stant his  back  was  turned,  the  ken-no  was  produced;  anl  after  all 
had  eaten  their  fiU,  with  a  proper  accompaniment  of  the  groaning 
malt,  the  remainder  was  divided  among  the  gossips,  each  carrying 
a  large  portion  home  with  the  same  aifectation  of  great  secrecy. 


GUY   MANNERING.  77 

placid  bay  on  the  sea-shore.  The  modern  mansion  was 
placed  lower,  though  closely  adjoining,  and  the  ground 
behind  it  descended  to  the  sea  bj  a  small  swelling  green 
bank,  d'vided  into  levels  by  natural  terraces  on  which 
grew  some  old  trees,  and  terminating  upon  the  white 
sand.  The  other  side  of  the  bay,  opposite  to  the  old 
castle,  was  a  sloping  and  varied  promontory,  covered 
ohiefly  with  copsewood,  which  on  that  favoured  coast 
grows  almost  within  watermark.  A  fisherman's  cottage 
peeped  from  among  the  trees.  Even  at  this  dead  hour 
of  night  there  were  lights  moving  upon  the  shore,  prob- 
ably occasioned  by  the  unloading  a  smuggling  lugger 
from  the  Isle  of  Man,  which  was  lying  in  the  bay.  On 
the  light  from  the  sashed  door  of  the  house  being  ob- 
served, a  halloo  from  the  vessel,  of  "  Ware  hawk !  Douse 
the  glim ! "  alarmed  those  who  were  on  shore,  and  the 
lights  instantly  disappeared. 

It  was  one  hour  after  midnight,  and  the  prospect  around 
was  lovely.  The  grey  old  towers  of  the  ruin,  partly  en- 
tire, partly  broken — here  bearing  the  rusty  weather  stains 
of  ages,  and  there  partially  mantled  with  ivy,  stretched 
along  the  verge  of  the  dark  rock  which  rose  on  Manner- 
lug's  right  hand.  In  his  front  was  the  quiet  bay,  whose 
little  waves  crisping  and  sparkling  to  the  moonbeams, 
rolled  successively  along  its  surface,  and  dashed  with  a 
soft  and  murmuring  ripple  against  the  silvery  b(;ach. 
To  the  left  the  woods  advanced  far  into  the  ocean, 
waving  in  the  moonlight  along  ground  of  an  undulating 
and  varied  form,  and  presenting  those  varieties  of  light 
and  shade,  and  that  interesting  combination  of  glade  and 
thicket,  upon  which  the  eye  delights  to  rest,  charmed 
with  what  it  sees,  yet  curious  to  pierce  still  deeper  into 
the  intricacies  of  the  woodland  scenery.     Above  rolled 


78  WAVEELET   NOVELS. 

the  planet?,  each,  by  its  own  liquid  orbit  of  light,  dis- 
tinguished from  the  inferior  or  more  distant  stars.  So 
strangely  can  imagination  deceive  even  those  bj  whose 
volition  it  has  been  excited,  that  Mannering,  while  gazing 
upon  these  brilliant  bodies,  was  half  inclined  to  believe  in 
the  influence  ascribed  to  them  bj  superstition  over  humaa 
events.  But  Mannering  was  a  youthful  lover,  and  might 
perhaps  be  influenced  by  the  feelings  so  exquisitely  ex- 
pressed by  a  modern  poet : 

For  fable  is  Love's  world,  his  home,  his  birth-place! 

Delightedly  dwells  he  'mong  fays,  and  talismans, 

And  spirits,  and  delightedly  believes 

Divinities,  being  himself  divine. 

The  intelligible  forms  of  ancient  poets, 

The  fair  humanities  of  old  religion. 

The  power,  the  beauty,  and  the  majesty, 

That  had  their  haunts  in  dale,  or  piny  moimtains, 

Or  forest,  by  slow  stream,  or  pebbly  spring, 

Or  chasms  and  wat'iy  depths — all  these  have  vanish'd— 

They  live  no  longer  in  the  faith  of  reason ! 

But  still  the  heart  doth  need  a  langiiage,  still 

Doth  the  old  instinct  bring  back  the  old  names. 

And  to  yon  stany  world  they  now  are  gone, 

Spirits  or  gods,  that  used  to  share  this  earth 

With  man  as  with  their  friend,  and  to  the  lover. 

Yonder  they  move,  from  yonder  visible  sky 

Shoot  influence  down;  and  even  at  this  day 

'Tis  Jupiter  who  brings  whate'er  is  great, 

And  Venus  who  brings  every  thing  that's  fail". 

Such  musings  soon  gave  way  to  others.  "  Alas  ! "  he 
muttered,  "  my  good  old  tutor,  who  used  to  enter  so  deep 
into  the  controversy  between  Heydon  and  Chambers  on 
the  subject  of  Astrology, — he  would  have  looked  upon 
the  scene  with  other  eyes,  and  would  have  seriously  en- 
deavoured to  discover  from  the  respective  positions  of 
chese  luminaries  then*  probable  effects  on  the  destiny  of 


GUY  MANNERING.  /O 

the  new-born  infant,  as  if  the  courses  or  emanations  of 
the  stars  puperseded,  or,  at  least,  were  co-ordinate  with, 
Divine  Providence.  Well,  rest  be  with  him ! — he  in- 
stilled into  me  enough  of  knowledge  for  erecting  a  scheme 
of  nativity,  and  therefore  will  I  presently  go  about  it." 
Sc  saying,  and  having  noted  the  position  of  the  principal 
planetary  bodies,  Guy  Mannering  returned  to  the  house. 
The  Laird  met  him  in  the  parlour,  and  acquainting  him 
with  great  glee,  that  the  boy  was  a  fine  healthy  little 
fellow,  seemed  rather  disposed  to  press  further  con- 
viviahty.  He  admitted,  however,  Mannering's  plea  of 
weariness,  and,  conducting  him  to  his  sleeping  apartment, 
left  him  to  repose  for  the  evening. 


60  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Come  and  see !  trust  thine  ovra  eyes, 

A  fearful  sign  stands  in  the  house  of  life, 
A.n  enemy ;  a  fiend  lurks  close  behind 
The  radiance  of  thy  planet — 0  be  warned ! 

COLEErDGE,//£Wi  SCHILLEB. 

The  belief  in  astrology  was  almost  universal  in  tlie 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  it  began  to  waver 
and  become  doubtful  towai'ds  the  close  of  that  period,  and 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  the  art  fell  into  general 
disrepute,  and  even  under  general  ridicule.  Yet  it  still 
retained  many  partisans,  even  in  the  seats  of  learning. 
Grave  and  studious  men  were  loth  to  relinquish  the  cal- 
culations wliich  had  early  become  the  principal  objects  of 
their  studies,  and  felt  reluctant  to  descend  from  the  pre- 
dominating height  to  which  a  supposed  insight  into 
futurity,  by  the  power  of  consulting  abstract  influences 
and  conjunctions,  had  exalted  them  over  the  rest  of 
mankind. 

Among  those  who  cherished  this  imaginary  privilege 
with  undoubting  faith,  was  an  old  clergyman,  with  wLora 
Mannering  was  placed  during  his  youth.  He  wasted  liis 
eyes  in  observing  the  stars,  and  his  brains  in  calculations 
upon  their  various  combinations.  His  pupil,  in  early 
youth,  naturally  caught  some  portion  of  his  enthusiasm, 
and  laboured  for  a  time  to  make  himself  master  of  the 
technical  process  of  astrological  research  ;  sc  that,  before 


CfUY   MANNERING.  81 

he  became  convinced  of  its  absurdity,  William  Lilly 
himself  would  have  allowed  him  "  a  curious  fancy  and 
piercing  judgment  in  resolving  a  question  of  nativity." 

On  the  present  occasion,  he  arose  as  early  in  the 
morning  as  the  shortness  of  the  day  permitted,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  calculate  the  nativity  of  the  young  heir  of 
Eilangowan.  He  undertook  the  task  secundum  artem,  as 
well  to  keep  up  appearances,  as  from  a  sort  of  curiosity  to 
know  whether  he  yet  remembered,  and  could  practise,  the 
imaginary  science.  He  accordingly  erected  his  scheme, 
or  jSgure  of  heaven,  divided  into  its  twelve  houses,  placed 
the  planets  therein  according  to  the  Ephemeris,  and 
rectified  their  position  to  the  hour  and  moment  of  the 
nativity.  Without  troubling  our  readers  with  the  general 
prognostications  which  judicial  astrology  would  have  in- 
ferred from  these  circumstances,  in  this  diagram  there 
was  one  significator  which  pressed  remarkably  upon  our 
astrologer's  attention.  Mars  having  dignity  in  the  cusp 
of  the  twelfth  house,  threatened  captivity,  or  sudden  and 
violent  death,  to  the  native ;  and  Mannering  having 
recourse  to  those  further  rules  by  which  diviners  pretend 
to  ascertain  the  vehemency  of  this  evil  direction,  observed 
from  the  result,  that  three  periods  would  be  particulai'ly 
hazardous — his  ffth — ^his  tenth — his  twenty-first  year. 

It  was  somewhat  remarkable,  that  Mannering  had  once 
before  tried  a  similar  piece  of  foolery,  at  the  instance  of 
Sophia  Wellwood,  the  young  lady  to  whom  he  was 
attached,  and  that  a  similar  conjunction  of  planetary 
influence  threatened  her  with  death,  or  imprisonment, 
in  her  thirty-ninth  year.  She  was  at  this  time  eighteen ; 
80  that,  according  to  the  result  of  the  scheme  in  both 
cases,  the  same  year  threatened  her  with  the  same  mis- 
fortune that  was  presaged  to  the  native  or  infant,  whom 


82  -WAVERLET   NOYELS. 

that  niglit  Lad  introduced  into  the  world.  Struck  with 
this  coincidence,  Mannering  repeated  his  calculaLons; 
and  the  result  approximated  the  events  predicted,  until, 
at  length,  the  same  morth,  and  day  of  the  month,  seemed 
assigned  as  the  period  of  peril  to  both. 

It  will  be  readily  believed,  that,  in  mentioning  thia 
circumstance,  we  lay  no  weight  whatever  upon  the  pre- 
tended information  thus  conveyed.  But  it  often  happens, 
such  is  our  natural  love  for  the  marvellous,  that  we  will  - 
ingly  contribute  our  own  efforts  to  beguile  our  better 
judgments.  Whether  the  coincidence  which  I  have 
mentioned  was  really  one  of  those  singular  chances, 
which  sometimes  happen  against  all  ordinary  calcula- 
tions ;  or  whether  Mannering,  bewildered  amid  the 
arithmetical  labyrinth  and  technical  jargon  of  astrology, 
had  insensibly  t^'ice  followed  the  same  clew  to  guide  him 
out  of  the  maze  ;  or  whether  his  imagination,  seduced  by 
some  point  of  apparent  resemblance,  lent  its  aid  to  make 
the  similitude  between  the  two  operations  more  exactly 
accurate  than  it  might  otherwise  have  been,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  guess  ;  but  the  impression  upon  his  mind,  that 
the  results  exactly  corresponded,  was  vividly  and  indehbly 
strong. 

He  could  not  help  feeling  surprise  at  a  coincidence  so 
singular  and  unexpected.  "■  Does  the  devil  mingle  in  the 
dance,  to  avenge  himself  for  our  trifling  with  an  art  said 
to  be  of  magical  origin  ?  or  is  it  possible,  as  Bacon  aud 
Sir  Thomas  Browne  admit,  that  there  is  some  truth  in  a 
sober  and  regulated  astrology,  and  that  the  influence  of 
the  stars  is  not  to  be  denied,  though  the  due  application 
of  it,  by  the  knaves  who  pretend  to  practise  the  art,  is 
greatly  to  be  suspected  ?  " — A  moment's  consideration  of 
the  subject  induced  him  to  dismiss  this  opinion  as  fantas* 


GUT   SIANNEKING.  83 

Ileal,  and  only  sanctioned  by  those  learned  men,  either 
because  they  durst  not  at  once  shock  the  universal 
prejudices  of  their  age,  or  because  they  themselves  were 
not  altogether  freed  from  the  contagious  influence  of  a 
prevailing  superstition.  Yet  the  result  of  his  calculations 
in  these  two  instances  left  so  unpleasing  an  impression  on 
his  mind,  that,  like  Prospero,  he  mentally  relinquished 
his  art,  and  resolved,  neither  in  jest  nor  earnest,  ever 
again  to  practise  judicial  astrology. 

He  hesitated  a  good  deal  what  he  should  say  to  the 
Laird  of  Ellangowan  concerning  the  horoscope  of  his 
first-bom ;  and  at  length  resolved  plainly  to  tell  him  the 
judgment  which  he  had  formed,  at  the  same  time  ac- 
quainting him  with  the  futihty  of  the  rules  of  art  on  which 
he  had  proceeded.  With  this  resolution  he  walked  out 
upon  the  terrace. 

If  the  view  of  the  scene  around  Ellangowan  had  been 
pleasing  by  moonlight,  it  lost  none  of  its  beauty  by  the 
light  of  the  morning  sun.  The  land,  even  in  the  month 
of  November,  smiled  under  its  influence.  A  steep,  but 
regular  ascent  led  from  the  terrace  to  the  neighbouring 
eminence,  and  conducted  Mannering  to  the  front  of  the 
old  castle.  It  consisted  of  two  massive  round  towers, 
projecting,  deeply  and  darkly,  at  the  extreme  angles  of  a 
curtain,  or  flat  wall,  which  united  them,  and  thus  protect- 
ing the  main  entrance,  that  opened  through  a  lofty  arch 
in  the  centre  of  the  curtain  into  the  inner  court  of  the 
castle.  The  arms  of  the  family,  carved  in  freestone, 
frowned  over  the  gateway,  and  the  portal  showed  the 
spaces  arranged  by  the  architect  for  lowering  the  port- 
cullis, and  raising  the  draw-bridge.  A  rude  farm-gate, 
made  of  young  fir-trees  nailed  together,  now  formed  the 
only  safeguard  oi'  this  once   formidable  entran'.e.     The 


84  WAYEELET   XOTXLS. 

esplanade   in  front   of  tlie   castle   commanded   a  noble 
prospect. 

The  dreary  scene  of  desolation,  through  which  Man- 
nering's  road  had  lain  on  the  preceding  evening,  was 
excluded  from  the  view  by  some  rising  ground,  and  the 
landscape  showed  a  pleasing  alternation  of  hill  and  dale, 
intersected  by  a  river,  which  was  in  some  places  visible, 
and  hidden  in  others,  where  it  rolled  betwixt  deep  and 
wooded  banks.  The  spire  of  a  chiirch,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  some  houses,  uidicated  the  situation  of  a  village 
at  the  place  where  the  stream  had  its  jimction  with  the 
ocean.  The  vales  seemed  well  cultivated,  the  little  en- 
closures into  which  they  were  divided  skirting  the  bottom 
of  the  hills,  and  sometimes  carrying  their  lines  of  strag- 
gling hedge-rows  a  httle  way  up  the  ascent.  Above  these 
were  green  pastures,  tenanted  chiefly  by  herds  of  black 
cattle,  then  the  staple  commodity  of  the  country,  whose 
distant  low  gave  no  unpleasing  animation  to  the  land- 
scape. The  remoter  hills  were  of  a  sterner  character, 
and,  at  still  gi-eater  distance,  swelled  into  mountains  of 
dark  heath,  bordering  the  horizon  with  a  screen,  which 
gave  a  defined  and  limited  boundary  to  the  cultivated 
country,  and  added,  at  the  same  time,  the  pleasing  idea, 
that  it  was  sequestered  and  sohtary.  The  sea-coast, 
which  Mannering  now  saw  in  its  extent,  corresponded  ia 
variety  and  beauty  with  the  inland  view.  In  some  places 
it  rose  into  taU  rocks,  frequently  crowned  with  the  ruins 
of  old  buildings,  towers,  or  beacons,  which,  according  to 
tradition,  were  placed  within  sight  of  each  other,  that,  in 
times  of  invasion  or  civil  war,  they  might  communicate 
by  signal  for  mutual  defence  and  protection.  Ellangowan 
castle  was  by  far  the  most  extensive  and  important  of 
diese  ruins,  and  asserted,  from  size  alid  situation,  the 


GUT   MANNERING.  85 

superiority  whicli  its  founders  were  said  once  to  have 
possessed  among  the  chiefs  and  nobles  of  the  district.  In 
other  places,  the  shore  was  of  a  more  gentle  description, 
indented  with  small  bays,  where  the  land  sloped  smoothly 
down,  or  sent  into  the  sea  promontories  covered  with 
wood. 

A  scene  so  different  from  what  last  night's  journey  had 
presaged,  produced  a  proportional  effect  upon  Mannering. 
Beneath  his  eye  lay  the  modern  house — an  awkward 
mansion,  indeed,  in  point  of  architecture,  but  well  situated, 
and  with  a  warm  pleasant  exposure. — "  How  happily," 
thought  our  hero,  "  would  life  glide  on  in  such  a  retire- 
ment !  On  the  one  hand,  the  striking  remnants  of  ancient 
grandeur,  with  the  secret  consciousness  of  family  pride 
which  they  inspire  ;  on  the  other,  enough  of  modern 
elegance  and  comfort  to  satisfy  every  moderate  wish 
Here  then,  and  with  thee,  Sophia ! —  " 

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

On  entering  the  gateway,  he  found  that  the  rude  mag- 
nificence of  the  inner  court  amply  corresponded  with  the 
grandeur  of  the  exterior.  On  the  one  side  ran  a  range 
of  windows,  lofty  and  large,  divided  by  carved  muUions 
of  stone,  which  had  once  hghted  the  great  hall  of  the 
castle ;  on  the  other  were  various  buildings  of  different 
hf  ights  and  dates,  yet  so  united  as  to  present  to  the  eye 
a  certain  general  effect  of  uniformity  of  front.  The 
doors  and  windows  were  ornamented  with  projections, 
exlubiting  rude  specimens  of  sculpture  and  tracery,  partly 
entire  and  partly  broken  down,  partly  covered  by  ivy 
and  trailing  plants,  which  grew  luxuriantly  among  the 
ruins.     I'hat  end  of  the  court  which  faced  the  entrance 


86  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

had  also  been  formerly  closed  by  a  range  of  buildings 
but  owing,  it  was  said,  to  its  having  been  battered  by  the 
ships  of  the  Parhament  under  Deane,  during  the  long 
civil  war,  this  part  of  the  castle  was  much  more  ruinous 
than  the  rest,  and  exhibited  a  great  chasm,  through  which 
Mannering  could  observe  the  sea,  and  the  Httle  vessel 
(an  armed  lugger)  which  retained  her  station  in  tlie 
centre  of  the  bay.*  Wliile  Mannering  was  gazing  round 
the  ruins,  he  heard  from  the  interior  of  an  apartment  on 
the  left  hand  the  voice  of  the  gipsy  he  had  seen  on  the 
preceding  evening.  He  soon  found  an  aperture  through 
which  he  could  observe  her  without  being  himself  visible; 
and  could  not  help  feehng  that  her  figure,  her  employ- 
ment, and  her  situation,  conveyed  the  exact  impression 
of  an  ancient  sibyl. 

She  sate  upon  a  broken  corner-stone  in  the  angle  of  a 
paved  apartment,  part  of  which  she  had  swept  clean  to 
afford  a  smooth  space  for  the  evolutions  of  her  spindle. 
A  strong  sunbeam,  through  a  lofty  and  narrow  window, 
fell  upon  her  wild  di'ess  and  features,  and  afforded  her 
light  for  her  occupation ;  the  rest  of  the  apartment  was 
very  gloomy.  Equipt  in  a  habit  which  mingled  the 
national  di-ess  of  the  Scottish  common  people  with  some- 
thing of  an  Eastern  costume,  she  spun  a  thread,  drawn 
from  wool  of  three  different  colours — black,  white,  and 
grey — by  assistance  of  those  ancient  implements  of 
housewifery,  now  almost  banished  from  the  land,  the 
distaff  and  spindle.  As  she  spun,  she  sung  what  seemed 
to  be  a  charm.     Mannering,  after  in  vain   attempting  to 

*  The  outline  of  the  above  description,  as  far  as  the  supposed  niins 
are  concerned,  will  be  found  somewhat  to  resemble  the  noble  remains 
of  Carlaverock-castle,  six  or  seven  miles  from  Dumfries,  and  lear  to 
Lochar-moss- 


GUT   MANNERING.  87 

make  himself  master  of  the   exact  words  of  her  song, 

afterwards  attempted  the  following  paraphrase  of  what, 

from  a  few  intelligible  phrases,  he  concluded  to  be  it3 

purport : — 

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

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

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

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

Ere  our  translator,  or  rather  our  free  imitator,  had 
arranged  these  stanzas  in  his  head,  and  while  he  was  yet 
hammering  out  a  rhyme  for  dwindle,  the  task  of  the 
sibyl  was  accomplished,  or  her  wool  was  expended.  She 
took  the  spindle,  now  charged  with  her  labours,  and 
imdoing  the  thread,  gradually  measured  it,  by  casting  it 
orer  her  elbow,  and  bringing  each  loop  round  between 
her  forefinger  and  thumb.  When  she  had  measured  it 
out,  she  muttered  to  herself, — "  A  hank,  but  not  a  haill 
ane— the  full  years  o'  three  score  and  ten,  but  thi-ice 
broken,  and  thrice  to  oop,  {i.  e.  to  unite ;)  he'll  be  a  lucky 
lad  an  he  win  through  wi't." 

Our  hero  was  about  to  speak  to  the  prophetess,  when 
a  voice,  hoarse  as   the  waves  with  which  it  mingled, 


88  WAYEELEY  NOVELS. 

halloo'd  tvnce,  and  with  increasing  impatience,— Meg, 
Meg  Merrilies  ! — Gipsy — hag — ^tousand  deyvils  ! " 

"I  am  coming,  I  am  coming,  Captain,"  answered 
Meg ;  and  in  a  moment  or  two  the  impatient  commander 
whom  she  addressed  made  his  appearance  from  the 
broken  part  of  the  ruins. 

He  was  apparently  a  seafaring  man,  rather  under  the 
middle  size,  and  mth  a  countenance  bronzed  by  a  thou- 
sand conflicts  with  the  north-east  wind.  His  frame  was 
prodigiously  muscular,  strong,  and  thick-set ;  so  that  it 
seemed  as  if  a  man  of  much  greater  height  would  have 
been  an  inadequate  match  in  any  close,  personal  conflict. 
He  was  hard-favoured,  and,  which  was  worse,  his  face 
bore  nothing  of  the  insouciance,  the  careless  froUcsome 
jollity  and  vacant  curiosity  of  a  sailor  on  shore.  These 
qualities,  perhaps,  as  much  as  any  others,  contribute  to 
the  high  popularity  of  our  seamen,  and  the  general  good 
inclination  which  our  society  expresses  towards  them. 
Their  gallantry,  courage,  and  hardihood,  are  quahties 
which  excite  reverence,  and  perhaps  rather  humble  pacific 
landsmen  in  their  presence ;  and  neither  respect,  nor  a 
sense  of  humiliation,  are  feehngs  easily  combined  with  a 
famiHar  fondness  towards  those  who  inspire  them.  But  the 
boyish  frolics,  the  exulting  high  spirits,  the  unreflecting 
mii'th  of  a  sailor,  when  enjoying  himself  on  shore,  temper 
the  more  formidable  points  of  his  character.  There  was 
nothing  like  these  in  this  man's  face  ;  on  the  contrary, 
a  surly  and  even  savage  scowl  appeared  to  darken  features 
which  Avould  have  been  harsh  and  unpleasant  under  any 
expression  or  modification.  "  Where  are  you.  Mother 
Deyvilson  ?  "  he  said,  with  somewhat  of  a  foreign  accent, 
though  speaking  perfectly  good  English.  "  Donner  and 
bhtzen !   we  have  been  staying  this  half  hour. — Come, 


GUT   MANNEEING.  89 

bless  the  good  ship  and  the  voyage,  and  be  cursed  to  ye 
for  a  hag  of  SiJlan !  " 

At  this  moment  he  noticed  Mannering,  who,  from  the 
position  which  he  had  taken  to  watch  Meg  Merrilies's 
incantations,  had  the  appearance  of  some  one  who  was 
concealing  himself,  being  half  hidden  by  the  buttress 
behind  which  he  stood.  The  Captain,  for  such  he  styled 
himself,  made  a  sudden  and  startled  pause,  and  thrust 
his  right  hand  into  his  bosom,  between  his  jacket  and 
waistcoat,  as  if  to  draw  some  weapon,  "  What  cheer, 
brother  ? — ^you  seem  on  the  outlook — eh  ?  " 

Ere  Mannering,  somewhat  struck  by  the  man's  gesture 
and  insolent  tone  of  voice,  had  made  any  answer,  the 
gipsy  emerged  from  her  vault  and  joined  the  stranger. 
He  questioned  her  in  an  under  tone,  looking  at  Manner- 
ing— "  A  shark  alongside — eh  ?  " 

She  answered  in  the  same  tone  of  under-dialogue, 
using  the  cant  language  of  her  tribe — "  Cut  ben  whids, 
and  stow  them — a  gentry  cove  of  the  ken."* 

The  fellow's  cloudy  visage  cleared  up.  "  The  top  of 
the  morning  to  you,  sir  ;  I  find  you  are  a  visitor  of  my 
friend  JVIr.  Bertram. — I  beg  pardon,  but  I  took  you  for 
another  sort  of  a  person." 

Mannering  replied,  "  And  you,  sir,  I  presume,  are  the 
master  of  that  vessel  in  the  bay  ?  " 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir ;  I  am  Captain  Dirk  Hatteraick,  of  the 
Yungfrauw  Hagenslaapen,  well  known  on  this  coast ;  I 
am  not  ashamed  of  my  name,  nor  of  my  vessel, — ^no,  nor 
of  my  cargo  neither,  for  that  matter." 

"  I  dare  say  you  have  no  reason,  sir." 

"  Tousand  donner — no ;  I'm  all   in   the  way  of  fair 

*  Meaning — Stop  your  uncivil  language — ^that  is  a  gentleman  firom 
the  house  below. 


90  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

trade — Just  loaded  yonder  from  Douglas,  in  the  Isle  of 
Man — neat  cogniac — real  hyson  and  souchong — Mechlin 
lace,  if  you  want  any — Right  cogniac— We  bumped 
ashore  a  hundred  kegs  last  night." 

"  ReaUy,  sir,  I  am  only  a  traveller,  and  have  no  sort 
of  occasion  for  any  thing  of  the  kind  at  present." 

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

There  was  a  mixture  of  impudence,  hardihood,  and 
suspicious  fear  about  this  man,  which  was  inexpressibly 
disgusting.  His  manners  were  those  of  a  ruffian,  con- 
scious of  the  suspicion  attending  his  character,  yet  aiming 
to  bear  it  down  by  the  affectation  of  a  careless  and  hardy 
famiUarity.  Mannering  briefly  rejected  his  proffered 
civilities ;  and  after  a  surly  good  morning,  Hatteraick 
retired  with  the  gipsy  to  that  part  of  the  ruins  from  which 
he  had  first  made  his  appearance.  A  very  narrow  stair- 
case here  went  down  to  the  beach,  intended  probably  for 
the  convenience  of  the  garrison  during  a  siege.  By 
this  stair,  the  couple,  equally  amiable  in  appearance,  and 
respectable  by  profession,  descended  to  the  sea-side.  The 
soi-disant  captain  embarked  in  a  smaU  boat  with  two  men, 
who  appeared  to  wait  for  him,  and  the  gipsy  remained  on 
the  shore,  reciting  or  singing,  and  gesticulatirg  with  great 
vehemenoj. 

*  A  dram  of  liquor 


GUT   MANNERINa.  91 


CHAPTER  V. 

■  Tou  have  fed  upon  my  seignories, 

Disparbed  my  parks,  and  felled  my  forest  woods, 
From  mine  own  windows  torn  my  household  coat, 
Razed  out  my  impress,  leaving  me  no  sign, 
Save  men's  opinions  and  my  living  blood. 
To  show  the  world  I  am  a  gentleman. 

RiCHAED  n. 

When  the  boat  wliicli  carried  the  worthy  capUiin  on 
board  his  vessel  had  accomphshed  that  task,  the  sails 
began  to  ascend,  and  the  ship  was  got  under  way.  She 
fired  three  guns  as  a  salute  to  the  house  of  Ellangowan, 
and  then  shot  away  rapidly  before  the  wind,  which  blew 
off  shore,  under  all  the  sail  she  could  crowd. 

"  Ay,  ay,"  said  the  Laird,  who  had  sought  Mannering 
for  some  time,  and  now  joined  him,  "  there  they  go- 
there  go  the  free-traders — there  go  Captain  Dirk  Hatter- 
aick,  and  the  Yungfrauw  Hagenslaapen,  half  Manks, 
half  Dutchman,  half  devil!  run  out  the  boltsprit,  up 
main-sail,  top  and  top-gallant  sails,  royals,  and  skyscrapers, 
and  away — ^follow  who  can !  That  fellow,  Mr.  Manner- 
ing, is  the  terror  of  all  the  excise  and  custom-house 
cruizers  ;  they  can  make  nothing  of  him ;  he  drubs  them, 
or  he  distances  them  ; — and  speaking  of  excise,  I  come 
to  bring  you  to  breakfast ;  and  you  shall  have  some  tea, 
that " 

Mannering,  by  this  time,  was  aware  that  one  thought 


92  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

linked  strangely  on  to  another  in  the  concatenation  of 
worthy  IMi*.  Bertram's  ideas, 

Like  orient  pearls  at  random  strung; 

and,  therefore,  before  the  current  of  his  associations  had 
drifted  farther  from  the  point  he  had  left,  he  brought  him 
back  by  some  inquiry  about  Dirk  Hatteraick. 

"  O  he's  a — a — gude  sort  of  blackguard  fellow  eneugh 
— ^naebody  cares  to  trouble  him — smuggler,  when  his 
guns  are  in  ballast — ^privateer,  or  pirate,  faith,  when  he 
gets  them  mounted.  He  has  done  more  mischief  to  the 
revenue  folk  than  ony  rogue  that  ever  came  out  of  Ram- 
say." 

"  But,  my  good  sir,  such  being  his  character,  I  wonder 
he  has  any  protection  and  encouragement  on  this  coast." 

"  Why,  ]Mr.  Mannering,  people  must  have  brandy  and 
tea,  and  there's  none  in  the  country  but  what  comes  this 
way — and  then  there's  short  accounts,  and  maybe  a  keg 
or  two,  or  a  dozen  pounds  left  at  your  stable  door,  instead 
of  a  d — d  lang  account  at  Christmas  from  Duncan  Robb, 
the  grocer  at  Kippletringan,  who  has  aye  a  sum  to  make 
up,  and  either  wants  ready  money,  or  a  short-dated  bill. 
Now,  Hatteraick  will  take  wood,  or  he'll  take  bark,  or 
he'll  take  barley,  or  he'll  take  just  what's  convenient  at 
the  time.  I'll  tell  you  a  gude  story  about  that.  There 
was  ance  a  Laird — that's  Macfie  of  Gudgeonford, — he 
had  a  great  number  of  kain  hens — that's  hens  that  the 
tenant  pays  to  the  landlord,  like,  a  sort  of  rent  in  kind — 
they  aye  feed  mine  very  ill ;  Luckie  Finniston  sent  up 
three  that  were  a  shame  to  be  seen  only  last  week,  and 
yet  she  has  twelve  bows  sowing  of  victual ;  indeed  her 
good  man,  Duncan  Finniston — that's  him  that's  gone— 
(for  we  must  all  die,  Mr.  Mannering ;  that's  ower  true)— 


.GUY    MANNERING.  93 

and  speaking  of  that,  let  us  live  in  the  meanwhile,  for 
here's  breakfast  on  the  table,  and  the  Dominie  ready  to 
say  the  grace." 

The  Dominie  did  accordingly  pronounce  a  benediction, 
that  exceeded  in  length  any  speech  which  Mannering  had 
yet  heard  him  utter.  The  tea,  which  of  course  belonged 
to  the  noble  Captain  Hatteraick's  trade,  was  pronounced 
excellent.  Still  Maanering  hinted,  though  with  due  deh- 
cacy,  at  the  risk  of  encouraging  such  desperate  charac- 
ters :  "  Were  it  but  in  justice  to  the  revenue,  I  should 
have  supposed  " 

"  Ah,  the  revenue-lads  " — ^for  Mr.  Bertram  never  em- 
braced a  general  or  abstract  idea,  and  his  notion  of  the 
revenue  was  personified  in  the  commissioners,  surveyors, 
comptrollers,  and  riding  officers,  whom  he  happened  to 
know—"  the  revenue-lads  can  look  sharp  eneugh  out  for 
themselves — no  ane  needs  to  help  them — and  they  have 
a'  the  soldiers  to  assist  them  besides  ; — and  as  to  justice — • 
you'll  be  surprised  to  hear  it,  ]Mr.  Mannering, — ^but  I  am 
not  a  justice  of    eace." 

Mannering  assumed  the  expected  look  of  surprise,  but 
thought  within  himself  that  the  worshipful  bench  suffered 
no  great  deprivation  from  wanting  the  assistance  of  his 
good-humom-ed  landlord.  IVIr.  Bertram  had  now  hit 
upon  one  of  the  few  subjects  on  which  he  felt  sore,  and 
went  on  with  some  energy. 

"  No,  sir, — the  name  of  Godfrey  Bertram  of  Ellango- 
waii  is  not  in  the  last  commission,  though  there's  scarce  a 
carle  in  the  country  that  has  a  ploughgate  of  land,  but 
what  he  must  ride  to  quarter-sessions  and  write  J.  P. 
after  his  name.  I  ken  fii'  weel  whom  I  am  obhged  to — ■ 
Sir  Thomas  Kittlecourt  as  good  as  tell'd  me  he  would  sit 
in  my  skirts  if  he  had  not  my  interest  at  the  last  election  j 


94  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

and  because  I  chose  to  go  with  my  own  blood  and  third 
cousin,  the  Laird  of  Balruddeiy,  they  keepit  me  off  the 
roll  of  freeholders  ;  and  now  there  comes  a  new  nomina- 
tion of  justices,  and  I  am  left  out !  And  whereas  they 
pretend  it  was  because  I  let  Davie  Mac-Guffog,  the  con- 
stable, draw  the  warrants,  and  manage  the  business  his 
ain  gate,  as  if  I  had  been  a  nose  o'  wax,  it's  a  main  un- 
truth ;  for  I  granted  but  seven  warrants  in  my  life,  and 
the  Dominie  wrote  every  one  of  them — and  if  it  had  not 
been  that  unlucky  business  of  Sandy  Mac-Gruthar's,  that 
the  constables  should  have  keepit  twa  or  three  days  up 
yonder  at  the  auld  castle,  just  till  they  could  get  con- 
veniency  to  send  him  to  the  county  jail — and  that  cost 
me  eneugh  o'  siller — But  I  ken  what  Sir  Thomas  wants 
very  weel — ^it  was  just  sic  and  siclike  about  the  seat  in 
the  kirk  o'  Kilmagirdle — was  I  not  entitled  to  have  the 
front  gallery  facing  the  minister,  rather  than  Mac-Crosskie 
of  Creochstone,  the  son  of  Deacon  Mac-Crosskie,  the 
Dumfries  weaver  ?  " 

Mannering  expressed  his  acquiescence  in  the  justice  of 
these  various  complaints. 

"  And  then,  ]Mr.  Mannering,  there  was  the  story  about 
the  road,  and  the  fauld-dike — ^I  ken  Sir  Thomas  was 
behind  there,  and  I  said  plainly  to  the  clerk  to  the  trus- 
tees that  I  saw  the  cloven  foot,  let  them  take  that  as  they 
like. — Would  any  gentleman,  or  set  of  gentlemen,  go  and 
driv(}  a  road  right  through  the  corner  of  a  fauld-dike,  and 
take  away,  as  my  agent  observed  to  them,  like  twa  roods 
of  gude  moorland  pasture  ? — And  there  was  the  story 
about  choosing  the  collector  of  the  cess " 

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


GUT    5IANNERING.  95 

"  Very  true,  Mr.  Mannering. — I  am  a  plain  man,  and 
do  not  dwell  on  these  things ;  and  I  must  needs  say,  1 
have  little  memory  for  them  ;  but  I  wish  ye  could  have 
heard  my  father's  stories  about  the  auld  fights  of  the 
Mac-Dingawaies — that's  the  Bertrams  that  now  is — ^wi* 
the  Irish,  and  wi'  the  Highlanders,  that  came  here  in 
their  berlings  from  Hay  and  Cantire — and  how  they 
went  to  the  Holy  Land — that  is,  to  Jerusalem  and  Jericho, 
wi'  a'  their  clan  at  their  heels — they  had  better  have 
gaen  to  Jamaica,  hke  Sir  Thomas  Kittlecourt's  uncle — 
and  how  they  brought  hame  relics,  like  those  that  Catho- 
lics have,  and  a  flag  that's  up  yonder  in  the  garret — ^if 
they  had  been  casks  of  Muscavado,  and  puncheons  of 
rum,  it  would  have  been  better  for  the  estate  at  this 
day — but  there's  Uttle  comparison  between  the  auld  keep 
at  Kittlecourt  and  the  castle  o'  EUangowan — I  doubt 
if  the  keep's  forty  feet  of  front. — But  ye  make  no  break- 
fast, ]Mi*.  Mannering ;  ye're  no  eating  your  meat ;  allow 
me  to  recommend  some  of  the  kipper — It  was  John  Hay 
that  catcht  it,  Saturday  was  three  weeks,  down  at  the 
stream  below  Hempseed  ford,"  &c.  &c.  &c. 

The  Laird,  whose  indignation  had  for  some  time  kept 
him  pretty  steady  to  one  topic,  now  launched  forth  into 
bis  usual  roving  style  of  conversation,  which  gave  Man- 
nering ample  time  to  reflect  upon  the  disadvantages 
attending  the  situation,  which,  an  hour  before,  he  had 
thought  worthy  of  so  much  envy.  Here  was  a  country 
gentleman,  whose  most  estimable  quality  seemed  his  per- 
fect good  nature,  secretly  fretting  himself  and  murmuring 
against  others,  for  causes  which,  compared  with  any  real 
evil  in  life,  must  weigh  like  dust  in  the  balance.  But 
Buch  is  the  equal  distribution  of  Providence.  To  those 
who  lie  out  of  the  road  of  great  afflictions,  are  assigned 


96  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

petty  vexations,  which  answer  all  the  purpose  of  disturb- 
ing their  serenity  ;  and  every  reader  must  have  observed, 
that  neither  natural  apathy  nor  acquired  philosophy  can 
render  country  gentlemen  insensible  to  the  grievances 
which  occur  at  elections,  quarter-sessions,  and  meetings 
of  trustees. 

Curious  to  investigate  the  manners  of  the  country, 
Mannering  took  the  advantage  of  a  pause  in  good  Mr. 
Bertram's  string  of  stories,  to  inquire  what  Captain  Hat- 
teraick  so  earnestly  wanted  with  the  gipsy  woman. 

"  Oh,  to  bless  his  ship,  I  suppose.  You  must  know, 
Mr.  Mannering,  that  these  free-traders,  whom  the  law 
calls  smugglers,  having  no  religion,  make  it  all  up  in 
superstition ;  and  they  have  as  many  spells,  and  charms, 
and  nonsense ^" 

"  Vanity  and  waur !  "  said  the  Dominie  :  "  it  is  a  traf- 
ficking with  the  Evil  One.  Spells,  periapts,  aod  charms, 
are  of  his  device — choice  arrows  out  of  Apollyon's 
quiver." 

"  Hold  your  peace,  Dominie — ^ye're  speaking  forever  " 
— (by  the  way,  they  were  the  first  words  the  poor  man 
had  uttered  that  morning,  excepting  that  he  said  grace 
and  returned  thanks) — "  Mr.  Mannering  cannot  get  in  a 
word  for  ye  ! — And  so,  Mr.  Mannering,  talking  of  astron- 
omy, and  speUs,  and  these  matters,  have  ye  been  so 
kind  as  to  consider  what  we  were  speaking  about  last 
night?" 

"  I  begin  to  think,  Mr.  Bertram,  with  your  worthy 
friend  here,  that  I  have  been  rather  jesting  with  edge- 
tools  ;  and  although  neither  you  nor  I,  nor  any  sensible 
!9ian,  can  put  faith  in  the  predictions  of  astrology,  yet  as 
it  has  sometimes  happened  that  inquiries  into  futurity, 
undertaken  in  jest,  have  in  their  results  produced  serious 


GUT   MANNERING.  97 

and  unpleasant  effects  both  upon  actions  and  cliaraclers, 
I  really  wish  you  would  dispense  with  my  replying  to 
your  question." 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  this  evasive  answer  only  ren- 
dered the  Laird's  curiosity  more  uncontrollable.  Man- 
nering,  however,  was  determined  in  his  own  mind,  not  to 
expose  the  infant  to  the  mconveniences  which  might  have 
arisen  from  his  being  supposed  the  object  of  evil  predic- 
tion. He  therefore  dehvered  the  paper  into  Mr.  Ber- 
tram's hand,  and  requested  him  to  keep  it  for  five  years 
with  the  seal  unbroken,  until  the  month  of  No*^ember  was 
expired.  After  that  date  had  intervened,  he  left  him  at 
liberty  to  examine  the  writing,  trusting  that  the  first 
i'ata]  period  being  then  safely  overpassed,  no  credit  w'ould 
1)6  paid  to  its  farther*  contents. — This  ISlr.  Bertram  was 
content  to  promise,  and  Mannering,  to  insure  his  fidehty, 
hinted  at  misfortunes  w^hich  would  certainly  take  place  if 
his  injunctions  w^ere  neglected.  The  rest  of  the  day, 
which  Mannering,  by  Mr.  Bertram's  invitation,  spent  at 
Ellangowan,  passed  over  without  any  thing  remarkable ; 
and  on  the  mornmg  of  that  w^hich  followed,  the  traveller 
mounted  his  palfrey,  bade  a  courteous  adieu  to  his  hospit- 
able landlord  and  to  his  clerical  attendant,  repeated  his 
good  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  family,  and,  then, 
turning  his  horse's  head  towards  England,  disappeared 
fiom  the  sight  of  the  inmates  of  Ellangowan.  He  must 
also  disappear  from  that  of  our  readers,  for  it  is  to 
another  and  later  period  of  his  hfe  that  the  present  nar- 
rative relates. 

■^^^ 

'TOI*.  lU.  t 


k 


OS  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  VL 


Next,  the  Justice, 


In  fair  round  belly,  with  good  capon  lined, 
With  eyes  severe,  and  beard  of  formal  cut, 
•  ruU  of  wise  saws  and  modern  instances. 
And  so  he  plays  his  part. 

As  You  Like  It. 

"VVjien  Mrs.  Bertram  of  Ellangowan  was  able  to  hear 
the  news  of  what  had  passed  during  her  confinement,  her 
apartment  rung  with  all  manner  of  gossiping  respecting 
the  handsome  young  student  from  Oxford,  who  had  told 
fcuch  a  fortune  by  the  stars  to  the  young  Laird,  "  blessings 
on  his  dainty  face."  The  form,  accent,  and  manners  of 
the  stranger  were  expatiated  upon ;  his  horse,  bridle, 
saddle,  and  stirrups  did  not  remain  unnoticed.  All  this 
made  a  great  impression  upon  the  mind  of  Mrs.  Bertram, 
for  the  good  lady  had  no  small  store  of  superstition. 

Her  first  employment,  when  she  became  capable  of  a 
little  work,  was  to  make  a  small  velvet  bag  for  the  scheme 
of  nativity  which  she  had  obtained  from  her  husband. 
Her  fingers  itched  to  break  the  seal,  but  credulity  proved 
stronger  than  curiosity ;  and  she  had  the  firmness  to  en- 
close it,  in  all  its  integrity,  within  two  slips  of  parchment, 
which  she  sewed  ro'ind  it,  to  prevent  its  being  chafed. 
The  whole  was  then  put  into  the  velvet  bag  aforesaid, 
and  hung  as  a  charm  round  the  neck  of  the  infant,  where 
his  mothei   resolved  it  should  remain   until  the  period 


GUY    MANNERtNG.  99 

for  the  lagitimate  satisfaction  of  her  curiosity  should 
arrive. 

The  father  also  resolved  to  do  his  part  by  the  child,  in 
securing  him  a  good  education ;  and  with  the  view  that 
it  should  commence  with  the  first  dawnings  of  reason, 
Dominie  Sampson  was  easily  induced  to  renounce  his 
public  profession  of  parish  schoolmaster,  make  his  con- 
Btant  residence  at  the  Place,  and,  in  consideration  of  a 
sum  not  quite  equal  to  the  wages  of  a  footman  even  at 
that  time,  to  undertake  to  communicate  to  the  future 
Laird  of  Ellangowan  all  the  erudition  which  he  had,  and 
all  the  graces  and  accomplishments  which — he  had  not 
indeed,  but  which  he  had  never  discovered  that  he 
wanted.  In  this  arrangement  the  Laird  found  also  his 
private  advantage  ;  securing  the  constant  benefit  of  a 
patient  auditor,  to  whom  he  told  his  stories  when  they 
were  alone,  and  at  whose  expense  he  could  break  a  sly 
jest  when  he  had  company. 

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

Those  who  watched  the  signs  of  the  times,  had  long 
been  of  opinion  that  a  change  of  ministry  was  about  to 
take  place ;  and  at  length,  after  a  due  proportion  of  hopes, 
fears,  and  delays,  rumours  from  good  authority  and  bad 
authority,  and  no  authority  at  all ;  after  some  clubs  had 
drank  Up  with  this  statesman,  and  others  Down  with 
liim  ;  after  riding  and  running  and  posting,  and  address- 
ing and  counter-addressing,  and  proffers  of  lives  and  for- 
tunes, the  blow  was  at  length  struck,  the  administration 
of  the  day  was  dissolved,  and  parliament,  as  a  natural 
consequence,  was  dissolved  also. 

Sir  Thomas  Kittlecourt,  like  other  members  in  the 
game  situation,  posted  down  to  his  county,  and  met  but  an 


100  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

indifferent  reception.  He  was  a  partisan  of  ^he  old  ad- 
ministration ;  and  tlie  friends  of  the  new  had  ah^eady  set 
about  an  active  canvass  in  behalf  of  John  Featherhead, 
Esq.,  who  kept  the  best  hounds  and  hunters  in  the  shire. 
Among  others   who  joined  the   standard  of  revolt  was 

Gilbert  Glossin,  writer  in  ,  agent  for  the  Laird  of 

EUangowan.  This  honest  gentleman  had  either  been 
refused  some  favour  by  the  old  member,  or,  what  is  as 
probable,  he  had  got  all  that  he  had  the  most  distant  pre- 
tension to  ask,  and  could  only  look  to  the  other  side  for 
fresh  advancement.  Mr.  Glossin  had  a  vote  upon  Ellan- 
gowan's  property ;  and  he  was  now  determined  that  his 
patron  should  have  one  also,  there  being  no  doubt  which 
side  Mr.  Bertram  would  embrace  in  the  contest.  He 
easily  persuaded  EUangowan,  that  it  would  be  creditable 
to  him  to  take  the  field  at  the  head  of  as  strong  a  party 
as  possible ;  and  immediately  went  to  work,  making  votes, 
as  every  Scotch  lawyer  knows  how,  by  splitting  and  sub- 
dividing the  superiorities  upon  this  ancient  and  once 
powerful  barony.  These  were  so  extensive,  that  by  dint 
of  clipping  and  paring  here,  adding  and  eking  there,  and 
creating  over-lords  upon  all  the  estate  which  Bertram 
held  of  the  crown,  they  advanced,  at  the  day  of  contest, 
at  the  head  of  ten  as  good  men  of  parchment  as  ever 
took  the  oath  of  trust  and  possession.  This  strong  rein- 
forcement turned  the  dubious  day  of  battle.  The  prin- 
cipal and  his  agent,  divided  the  honour ;  the  reward  fell 
to  the  latter  exclusively.  Mr.  Gilbert  Glossin  was  made 
clerk  of  the  peace,  and  Godfrey  Bertram  had  his  name 
inserted  in  a  new  commission  of  justices,  issued  imme- 
diately upon  the  sitting  of  the  parliament. 

This  had  been  the  summit  of  Mr.  Bertram's  ambition ; 
^-not  that  he  liked  either  the  trouble  or  the  responsibility 


GUY    MANNERLNG.  101 

of  tlie  office,  but  lie  thought  it  was  a  dignity  to  whicli  lie 
was  well  entitled,  and  that  it  had  been  withheld  from  him 
by  malice  pi-epense.  But  there  is  an  old  and  true  Scotch 
proverb, — "  Fools  should  not  have  chapping  sticks ; "  that 
is,  weapons  of  offence.  Mr.  Bertram  was  no  sooner  pos- 
sessed of  the  judicial  authority  which  he  had  so  much 
longed  for,  than  he  began  to  exercise  it  with  more  severity 
than  mercy,  and  totally  belied  all  the  opinions  which  had 
hitherto  been  formed  of  his  inert  good  nature.  We  hav^ 
read  somewhere  of  a  justice  of  peace,  w^ho,  on  being 
nominated  in  the  commission,  wrote  a  letter  to  a  book- 
seller for  the  statutes  respecting  his  official  duty,  in  the 
following  orthography, — "  Please  send  the  ax  relating  to 
a  gustus  pease."  No  doubt,  when  this  learned  gentleman 
had  possessed  himself  of  the  axe,  he  hewed  the  laws  with 
it  to  some  purpose.  ]Mi\  Bertram  was  not  quite  so 
ignorant  of  English  grammar  as  his  worshipful  predeces- 
sor ;  but  Augustus  Pease  himself  could  not  have  used 
more  indiscriminately  the  weapon  unwarily  put  into  his 
hand. 

In  good  earnest,  he  considered  the  commission  with 
which  he  had  been  entrusted  as  a  personal  mark  of  favour 
from  his  sovereign  ;  forgetting  that  he  had  formerly 
thought  his  being  deprived  of  a  privilege,  or  honour, 
common  to  those  of  his  rank,  was  the  result  of  mere 
party  cabal.  He  commanded  his  trusty  aide-de-camp, 
Dominie  Sampson,  to  read  aloud  the  commission ;  and  at 
the  first  words,  "  The  king  has  been  pleased  to  appoint  '* 
— "  Pleased ! "  he  exclaimed,  in  a  transport  of  gratitude — 
"  honest  gentleman  !  I'm  sure  he  cannot  be  better  pleased 
than  I  am." 

Accordingly,  unwilling  to  confine  his  gratitude  to  mere 
feelings,  or  verbal  expressions,  he  gave  full  current  to  the 


102  WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

new-bom  zeal  of  office,  and  endeavoured  to  express  hig 
sense  of  the  lioncmr  conferred  upon  him,  by  an  unmitigat- 
ed activity  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  New  brooms, 
it  is  said,  sweep  clean ;  and  I  myself  can  bear  witness, 
that  on  the  arrival  of  a  new  housemaid,  the  ancient, 
hereditary,  and  domestic  spiders,  who  have  spun  their 
webs  over  the  lower  division  of  my  book  shelves  (cor  ^^ist- 
ing  chiefly  of  law  and  divinity)  during  the  peaceful  reign 
of  her  predecessor,  fly  at  full  speed  before  the  probation- 
ary inroads  of  the  new  mercenary.  Even  so  the  Laird  of 
Ellangowan  ruthlessly  commenced  his  magisterial  reform, 
at  the  expense  of  various  established  and  superannuated 
pickers  and  stealers,  who  had  been  his  neighbours  for  half 
a  century.  He  wrought  his  miracles  like  a  second  Duke 
Humphrey;  and  by  the  influence  of  the  beadle's  rod, 
caused  the  lame  to  walk,  the  bhnd  to  see,  and  the  palsied 
to  labour.  He  detected  poachers,  black-fishers,  orchard- 
breakers,  and  pigeon-shooters;  had  the  applause  of  the 
bench  for  his  reward,  and  the  public  credit  of  an  active 
magistrate. 

All  this  good  had  its  ratable  proportion  of  evil.  Even 
an  admitted  nuisance,  of  ancient  standing,  should  not  be 
abated  without  some  caution.  The  zeal  of  our  worthy 
friend  now  involved  in  great  distress  sundry  personages 
whose  idle  and  mendicant  habits  his  own  Idchesse  had 
contributed  to  foster  until  these  habits  had  become  irre- 
claimable, or  whose  real  incapacity  for  exertion  rendered 
them  fit  objects,  in  their  own  phrase,  for  the  charily  of  all 
well-disposed  Christians.  The  "long  remembered  beg- 
gar," who  for  twenty  years  had  made  his  regular  rounds 
within  the  neighbourhood,  received  rather  as  an  humble 
friend  than  as  an  object  of  charity,  was  sent  to  the  neigh- 
bouring workhouse.     The  decrepit  dame,  who  travelled 


GUT   MANNERING.  103 

round  the  parish  upon  a  hand-barrow,  circulating  from 
house  to  house  like  a  bad  shilling,  which  every  one  is  in 
haste  to  pass  to  his  neighbour, — she  who  used  to  call  for 
her  bearers  as  loud,  or  louder,  than  a  traveller  demands 
post-horses, — even  she  shared  the  same  disastrous  fate. 
The  "  daft  Jock,"  who,  half  knave,  half  idiot,  had  been 
the  sport  of  each  succeeding  race  of  village  children  for  a 
good  part  of  a  century,  was  remitted  to  the  county  bride- 
well, where,  secluded  from  free  air  and  sunshine,  the  only 
advantages  he  was  capable  of  enjoying,  he  pined  and  died 
in  the  course  of  six  months.  The  old  sailor,  who  had  so 
long  rejoiced  the  smoky  rafters  of  every  kitchen  in  the 
country  by  singing  Captain  Ward,  and  Bold  Admiral 
Benhow,  was  banished  from  the  county  for  no  better 
reason  than  that  he  was  supposed  to  speak  with  a  strong 
Irish  accent.  Even  the  annual  rounds  of  the  pedlar  were 
abolished  by  the  Justice  in  his  hasty  zeal  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  rural  police. 

These  things  did  not  pass  without  notice  and  censure. 
We  are  not  made  of  wood  or  stone,  and  the  tilings  which 
connect  themselves  with  our  hearts  and  habits  cannot,  hke 
bark  or  lichen,  be  rent  away  without  our  missing  them. 
The  farmer's  dame  lacked  her  usual  share  of  intelligence, 
— perhaps  also  the  self-applause,  which  she  had  felt  while 
distributing  the  awmous  (alms)  in  shape  of  a  gowpen 
(handful)  of  oatmeal,  to  the  mendicant  who  brought  the 
news.  The  cottage  felt  inconvenience  from  interruption 
of  tlie  petty  trade  carried  on  by  the  itinerant  dealers. 
The  children  lacked  their  supply  of  sugar-plums  and 
toys  ;  the  young  women  wanted  pins,  ribbons,  combs,  and 
ballads ;  and  the  old  could  no  longer  barter  their  eggs  for 
salt,  snuff,  and  tobacco.  All  these  circumstances  brought 
the  busy  Laird  of  EUangowan  into  discredit,  which  was 


104  WAYEELET   NOVELS. 

the  more  general  on  account  of  his  former  popularity. 
Even  his  hneage  was  brought  up  in  judgment  against 
liim.  They  thought  "naething  of  what  the  like  of 
Greenside,  or  BurnviUe,  or  Viewforth,  might  do,  that 
were  strangers  in  the  country ;  but  Ellangowan  !  that 
had  l)een  a  name  amang  them  since  the  mirk  Monanday, 
and  lang  before — him  to  be  grinding  the  puir  at  that 
rate  ! — They  ca'd  his  grandfather  the  Wicked  Laird ;  but 
though  he  was  whiles  fractious  aneuch,  when  he  got  into 
roving  company,  and  had  ta'en  the  drap  drink,  he  would 
have  scorned  to  gang  on  at  this  gate.  Na,  na — the 
muckle  chumlay  in  the  Auld  Place  reeked  hke  a  killogie 
in  his  time,  and  there  were  as  mony  puir  folk  riving  at 
the  banes  in  the  court,  and  about  the  door,  as  there  were 
gentles  in  the  ha'.  And  the  leddy,  on  ilka  Christmas 
night  as  it  came  round,  gae  twelve  siller  pennies  to  ilka 
puir  body  about,  in  honour  of  the  twelve  apostles  like. 
They  were  fond  to  ca'  it  papistrie ;  but  I  think  our  great 
folk  might  take  a  lesson  frae  the  papists  whiles.  They 
gie  another  sort  o'  help  to  puir  folk  than  just  dinging 
down  a  saxpence  in  the  brod  on  the  Sabbath,  and  kilting, 
and  scourging,  and  drumming  them  a'  the  sax  days  o'  the 
week  besides." 

Such  was  the  gossip  over  the  good  twopenny  in  every 
ale-house  within  three  or  four  miles  of  Ellangowan,  that 
being  about  the  diameter  of  the  orbit  in  which  our  friend 
Godfrey  Bertram,  Esq.  J.  P.  must  be  considered  as  the 
principal  luminary.  Still  greater  scope  was  given  to  evil 
tongues  by  the  removal  of  a  colony  of  gipsies,  with  one 
of  whom  our  reader  is  somewhat  acquainted,  and  whc 
had,  for  a  great  many  years,  enjoyed  their  chief  settle 
ment  upon  the  estate  of  Ellangowan. 


GUY   MANNEKING.  105 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

Come,  princes  of  the  ragged  regiment, 
You  of  the  blood !  Prigg,  my  most  upright  lord, 
And  these,  what  name  or  title  e'er  they  bear, 
Jarkman,  or  Patrico,  Cranke  or  Clapper-dudgeon^ 
Frater  or  Abram-man—I  speak  of  all. — 

Beggar's  Bush. 

Although  the  character  of  those  gipsy  tribes,  wl  ich 
formerly  inundated  most  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  and 
M'hich  in  some  degree  still  subsist  among  them  as  a  dis- 
tinct people,  is  generally  understood,  the  reader  will 
pardon  my  saying  a  few  words  respecting  their  situation 
in  Scotland. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  gipsies  were,  at  an  early 
period,  acknowledged  as  a  separate  and  independent  race 
by  one  of  the  Scottish  monarchs,  and  that  they  were  less 
favourably  distinguished  by  a  subsequent  law,  wliich 
rendered  the  character  of  gipsy  equal,  in  the  judicial 
balance,  to  that  of  common  and  habitual  thief,  and  pre- 
scribed his  punishment  accordingly.  Notwithstanding 
tl  e  severity  of  this  and  other  statutes,  the  fraternity  pros- 
pered amid  the  distresses  of  the  country,  and  received 
large  accessions  from  among  those  whom  famine,  oppres- 
sion, or  the  sword  of  war,  had  deprived  of  the  ordinary 
means  of  subsistence.  They  lost,  in  a  great  measure,  by 
this  intermixture,  the  national  character  of  Egyptians, 
and  became  a  mingled  race,  having  all  the  idleness  and 


106  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

predatory  habits  of  their  Eastern  ancestors,  with  a 
ferocity  which  they  probably  borrowed  from  the  men  of 
the  north  who  joined  their  society.  They  travelled  in 
different  bands,  and  had  rules  among  themselves,  by 
which  each  tribe  was  confined  to  its  own  district.  The 
slightest  invasion  of  the  precincts  which  had  been  as- 
signed to  another  tribe  produced  desperate  skirmishes,  in 
which  there  was  often  much  blood  shed. 

The  patriotic  Fletcher  of  Saltoun  drew  a  picture  of 
these  banditti  about  a  century  ago,  which  my  readers  will 
peruse  with  astonishment : — 

"  There  are  at  this  day  in  Scotland  (besides  a  great 
many  poor  families  very  meanly  provided  for  by  the 
church  boxes,  with  others,  who,  by  hving  on  bad  food, 
fall  into  various  diseases)  two  hundred  thousand  people 
begging  from  door  to  door.  These  are  not  only  no  way 
advantageous,  but  a  very  grievous  burden  to  so  poor  a 
country.  And  though  the  number  of  them  be  perhaps 
double  to  what  it  was  formerly,  by  reason  of  this  present 
gi-eat  distress,  yet  in  all  times  there  have  been  about  one 
hundred  thousand  of  those  vagabonds,  who  have  hved 
without  any  regard  or  subjection  either  to  the  laws  of 
the  land,  or  even  those  of  God  and  nature  ;***** 
No  magistrate  could  ever  discover,  or  be  informed,  which 
way  one  in  a  hundred  of  these  wretches  died,  or  that 
ever  they  were  baptized. — Many  murders  have  be^n 
discovered  among  them;  and  they  are  not  only  a  most 
unspeakable  oppression  to  poor  tenants,  (who,  if  they 
give  not  bread,  or  some  kind  of  provision  to  perhaps 
forty  such  villains  in  one  day,  are  sure  to  be  insulted  by 
them,)  but  they  rob  many  poor  people  who  live  in  houses 
distant  from  any  neighbourhood.  In  years  of  plenty 
many  thousands  of  them  meet  together  in  the  mountains, 


GUY    MANNEEIXG.  107 

where  they  feast  and  riot  for  many  days;  and  at  country 
weddmgs,  markets,  burials,  and  other  the  Hke  pubhc 
occasions,  they  are  to  be  seen,  both  man  and  woman, 
perpetually  drunk,  cursmg,  blaspheming,  and  fighting 
together." 

Not^withstanding  the  deplorable  picture  presented  in 
this  extract,  and  which  Fletcher  himself,  though  the 
energetic  and  eloquent  friend  of  freedom,  saw  no  better 
mode  of  correcting  than  by  introducing  a  system  of 
domestic  slavery,  the  pro^^ress  of  time,  and  the  increase 
both  of  the  means  of  life,  and  of  the  power  of  the  laws, 
gradually  reduced  this  dreadful  evil  within  more  narrow 
bounds.  The  tribes  of  gipsies,  jockeys,  or  cau'ds, — for 
by  all  these  denominations  such  banditti  were  known, — 
became  few  in  number,  and  many  were  entirely  rooted 
out.  Still,  however,  a  sufficient  number  remained  to  give 
occasional  alarm  and  constant  vexation.  Some  rude 
handicrafts  were  entirely  resigned  to  these  itinerants, 
particularly  the  art  of  trencher-making,  of  manufacturing 
horn-spoons,  and  the  whole  mystery  of  the  tinker.  To 
these  they  added  a  petty  trade  in  the  coarse  sorts  of 
earthenware.  Such  were  their  ostensible  means  of  live- 
lihood. Each  tribe  had  usually  some  fixed  place  of 
-rendezvous,  which  they  occasionally  occupied  and  consid- 
ered as  their  standing  camp,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  wliich 
they  generally  abstained  from  depredation.  They  had 
even  talents  and  accomplishments,  which  made  them 
occasionally  useful  and  entertaining.  Many  cultivated 
music  with  success ;  and  the  favourite  fiddler  or  piper  of 
a  district  was  often  to  be  found  in  a  gipsy  town.  They 
understood  all  out-of-door  sports,  especially  otter-hunting, 
fishing,  or  finding  game.  They  bred  the  best  and  boldest 
terriers,  and  sometimes  had  good  pointers  for  sale.     In 


108  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

winter,  the  women  told  fortunes,  the  men  showed  tricks 
of  legerdemain  ;  and  these  accomplishments  often  helped 
to  while  awaj  a  wearj  or  stormy  evening  in  the  circle 
of  the  "  farmer's  ha'."  The  wildness  of  their  character, 
and  the  indomitable  pride  with  which  they  despised  all 
regular  labour,  commanded  a  certain  awe,  which  was  not 
diminished  by  the  consideration  that  these  strollers  were 
a  vindictive  race,  and  were  restrained  by  no  check,  either 
of  fear  or  conscience,  from  taking  desperate  vengeance 
upon  those  who  had  offended  them.  These  tribes  were, 
in  short,  the  Parias  of  Scotland,  hving  like  wild  Indians 
among  European  settlers,  and,  like  them,  judged  of 
rather  by  their  own  customs,  habits,  and  opinions,  than  as 
if  they  had  been  members  of  the  civilized  part  of  the 
community.  Some  hordes  of  them  yet  remain,  chiefly  in 
such  situations  as  afford  a  ready  escape  either  into  a  waste 
countiy,  or  into  another  jurisdiction.  Nor  are  the  features 
of  their  character  much  softened.  Their  numbers,  how- 
ever, are  so  greatly  diminished,  that,  mstead  of  one 
hundred  thousand,  as  calculated  by  Fletcher,  it  would 
now  perhaps  be  impossible  to  collect  above  five  hundred 
throughout  all  Scotland. 

A  tribe  of  these  itinerants,  to  whom  Meg  Merrilies  ap- 
pertained, had  long  been  as  stationary  as  their  habits  per- 
mitted, in  a  glen  upon  the  estate  of  Ellangowan.  They 
had  there  erected  a  few  huts,  which  they  denominated 
their  "  city  of  refuge,"  and  where  when  not  absent  on  ex- 
cursions, they  harboured  unmolested,  as  the  crows  that 
roosted  in  the  old  ash-trees  around  them.  They  had  been 
such  long  occupants,  that  they  were  considered  in  some 
degree  as  proprietors  of  the  wretched  shealings  wliich 
they  inhabited.  This  protection  they  were  said  anciently 
to  have  repaid,  by  service  to  the  Laird  in  war,  or,  more 


GUY    MANNERING.  109 

frequently,  by  infesting  or  plundering  the  lands  of  tliose 
neighbouring  barons  with  whom  he  chanced  to  be  at  feud. 
Latterly  their  services  were  of  a  more  pacific  nature. 
The  women  spun  mittens  for  the  lady,  and  knitted  boot- 
hose  for  the  Laird,  which  were  annually  presented  at 
Clu'istmas  with  great  form.  The  aged  sibyls  blessed  the 
lu'itial  bed  of  the  laird  when  he  married,  and  the  cradle 
of  the  heir  when  born.  The  men  repaired  her  ladyship's 
cracked  china,  and  assisted  the  laird  in  his  sporting  par- 
ties, wormed  his  dogs,  and  cut  the  ears  of  his  terrier  pup- 
pies. The  children  gathered  nuts  in  the  woods,  and 
cranberries  in  the  moss,  and  mushrooms  on  the  pastures, 
for  tribute  to  the  Place.  These  acts  of  voluntary  service 
and  acknowledgments  of  dependence,  were  rewarded  by 
protection  on  some  occasions,  connivance  on  others,  and 
broken  victuals,  ale  and  brandy,  when  circumstances 
called  for  a  display  of  generosity ;  and  this  mutual  inter- 
course of  good  offices,  which  had  been  carried  on  for  at 
least  two  centuries,  rendered  the  inhabitants  of  Dern- 
cleugh  a  kind  of  privileged  retainers  upon  the  estate  of 
EUangowan.  "  The  knaves  "  were  the  Laird's  "  exceed- 
ing good  friends ; "  and  he  would  have  deemed  himself 
very  ill-used,  if  his  countenance  could  not  now  and  then 
have  borne  them  out  against  the  law  of  the  country  and 
the  local  magistrate.  But  this  friendly  union  was  soon 
to  be  dissolved. 

Tlie  community  of  Derncleugh,  who  cared  for  no 
rogues  but  their  owti,  were  wholly  without  alarm  at  the 
severity  of  the  justice's  proceedings  towards  other  itiner- 
ants. They  had  no  doubt  that  he  determined  to  suffer  no 
mendicants  or  strollers  in  the  country  but  what  resided 
on  his  own  property,  and  practised  their  trade  by  his  im- 
mediate permission,  implied  or  expressed.     Nor  was  Mr, 


110  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

Bertram  in  a  huny  to  exert  his  uewly-acquired  authority 
at  the  expense  of  these  old  settlers.  But  he  was  driven 
on  by  circumstances. 

At  the  quarter-sessions,  our  new  justice  was  pubUcly 
upbraided  by  a  gentleman  of  the  opposite  party  in  county 
politics,  that,  while  he  affected  a  great  zeal  for  the  public 
poli(;e,  and  seemed  ambitious  of  the  fame  of  an  active 
magistrate,  he  fostered  a  tribe  of  the  greatest  rogues  in 
the  country,  and  permitted  them  to  hai'bour  within  a  mile 
of  the  house  of  EUangowan.  To  this  there  was  no  reply, 
for  the  fact  was  too  evident  and  weU  known.  The  Laird 
digested  the  taunt  as  he  best  could,  and  in  his  way  home 
amused  himself  mth  speculations  on  the  easiest  method 
of  ridding  himself  of  these  vagrants  who  brought  a  stain 
upon  his  fair  fame  as  a  magistrate.  Just  as  he  had  re- 
solved to  take  the  first  opportunity  of  quarrelling  with 
the  Parias  of  Derncleugh,  a  cause  of  provocation  pre- 
sented itself. 

Since  our  friend's  advancement  to  be  a  conservator  of 
the  peace,  he  had  caused  the  gate  at  the  head  of  his  av- 
enue, which  formerly,  having  only  one  hinge,  remained 
at  aU  times  hospitably  open — he  had  caused  this  gate,  I 
say,  to  be  newly  hung  and  handsomely  painted.  He  had 
also  shut  up  with  paling,  curiously  twisted  with  furze, 
certain  holes  in  the  fences  adjoining,  through  which  the 
gipsy  boys  used  to  scramble  into  the  plantations  to  gather 
])uds'  nests,  the  seniors  of  the  village  to  make  a  short 
cut  from  one  point  to  another,  and  the  lads  and  lasses  for 
evening  rendezvous, — all  without  offence  taken  or  leave 
asked.  But  these  halcyon  days  were  now  to  have  an 
end,  and  a  minatory  inscription  on  one  side  of  the  gate 
intimated  "prosecution  according  to  law,"  (the  painter 
had  spelt  it  persecution — I'un  vaut  bien  I'autre)    to  all 


GUY    MANNERING.  Ill 

who  should  be  found  trespassing  on  these  enclosures.  On 
the  other  side,  for  uniformity's  sake,  was  a  precautionary 
annunciation  of  spring-guns  and  man-traps  of  such  for- 
midable power,  that,  said  the  rubric,  with  an  emphatic 
nota  bene — "  if  a  man  goes  in,  they  will  break  a  horse's 
leg." 

In  defiance  of  these  threats,  six  well-grown  gipsy  boys 
and  girls  were  riding  cock-horse  upon  the  new  gate^  and 
plaiting  May-flowers,  which  it  was  but  too  evident  had 
been  gathered  within  the  forbidden  precincts.  With  as 
much  anger  as  he  was  capable  of  feeling,  or  perhaps  of 
assuming,  the  Laird  commanded  them  to  descend ;  they 
paid  no  attention  to  his  mandate  :  he  then  began  to  pull 
them  down  one  after  another  ;  they  resisted,  passively  at 
least,  each  sturdy  bronzed  varlet  making  himself  as  heavy 
as  he  could,  or  climbing  up  as  fast  as  he  was  dismounted. 

The  Laird  then  called  in  the  assistance  of  his  servant, 
a  surly  fellow,  who  had  immediate  recourse  to  his  horse- 
whip. A  few  lashes  sent  the  party  a-scampering ;  and 
thus  commenced  the  first  breach  of  the  peace  between 
the  house  of  EUangowan  and  the  gipsies  of  Derncleugh. 

The  latter  could  not  for  some  time  imagine  that  the 
war  was  real ; — until  they  found  that  their  children  were 
horse-whipped  by  the  grieve  when  found  trespassing ; 
and  their  asses  were  poinded  by  the  ground-officer  when 
left  in  the  plantations  or  even  when  turned  to  graze  by 
the  road-side,  against  the  provision  of  the  turnpike  acts ; 
that  the  constable  began  to  make  curious  inquiries  into 
their  mode  of  gaining  a  livehhood,  and  expressed  his  sur- 
prise that  the  men  should  sleep  in  the  hovels  all  day,  and 
be  abroad  the  greater  part  of  the  night. 

When  matters  came  to  this  point,  the  gipsies,  without 
Bcruple,  entered  upon  measures  of  retaliation.     Ellango- 


112  AYAYERLEr    X0YEL3. 

wan's  hen-roo.?ts  were  plundered,  his  linen  stolen  from 
the  lines  or  bleaching-ground,  his  fishings  poached,  his 
dogs  kidnapped,  his  gi-owing  trees  cut  or  barked.  Much 
petty  mischief  was  done,  and  some  evidently  for  the  mis- 
chiefs sake.  On  the  other  hand,  warrants  went  forth, 
without  mercy,  to  pursue,  seai'ch  for,  take,  and  appre- 
hend ;  and.  notwithstanding  thek  dexterity,  one  or  two 
of  the  depredators  were  unable  to  avoid  conviction.  One, 
a  si  out  young  fellow,  who  sometimes  had  gone  to  sea 
a-tishing,  was  handed  over  to  the  captain  of  the  impress 

serWce  at   D ;  two   children   were  soundly  flogged, 

and  one  Egyptian  matron  sent  to  the  house  of  correction. 
Still,  however,  the  gipsies  made  no  motion  to  leave  the 
spot  which  they  had  so  long  inhabited,  and  Mr.  Bertram 
felt  an  unwilHngness  to  deprive  them  of  their  ancient 
"  city  of  refuge  ; "  so  that  the  petty  warfare  we  have  no- 
ticed continued  for  several  months,  without  increase  or 
abatement  of  hostihties  on  either  side. 


GUY   MANNERINS.  113 


CHAPTER  Vni. 

So  the  red  Indian,  by  Ontario's  side, 

Nursed  hardy  on  the  brindled  panther's  hide, 

As  fades  his  swarthy  race,  with  anguish  sees 

The  white  man's  cottage  rise  beneath  the  trees : 

He  leaves  the  shelter  of  his  native  wood, 

He  leaves  the  murmur  of  Ohio's  flood. 

And  forward  rushing  in  indignant  grief, 

Where  never  foot  has  trod  the  fallen  leaf. 

He  bends  his  course  where  twilight  reigns  sublime, 

O'er  forests  silent  since  the  birih  of  time. 

Scenes  of  Infancy. 

In  tracing  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Scottish  Maroon 
war,  we  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  years  had  rolled 
on,  and  that  little  Harry  Bertram,  one  of  the  hardiest  and 
most  Hvely  children  that  ever  made  a  sword  and  grena- 
dier's cap  of  rushes,  now  approached  his  fifth  revolving 
birth-day.  A  hardihood  of  disposition,  which  early 
developed  itself,  made  him  already  a  little  wanderer; 
he  was  well  acquainted  with  everj  patch  of  lea  ground 
and  dingle  around  EUangowan,  and  could  tell  in  his 
broken  language  upon  what  baulks  grew  the  bonniest 
flowers,  and  what  copse  had  the  ripest  nuts.  He  re- 
peatedly terrified  his  attendants  by  clambering  about  the 
ruins  of  the  old  castle,  and  had  more  than  once  made  a 
Uolen  excursion  as  far  as  the  gipsy  hamlet. 

On  these  occasions  he  was  generally  brought  back  by 
Meg  Merrihes,  who,  though  she  could  not  be  prevailed 


J  14  WAVEELEY   XOVELS. 

upon  to  enter  the  Place  of  Ellangowan  after  her  nephew 
had  been  given  up  to  the  pressgang,  did  not  apparently 
extend  her  resentment  to  the  child.  On  the  contrary, 
she  often  contrived  to  waylay  him  in  his  walks,  sing  him 
a  gipsy  song,  give  him  a  ride  upon  her  jackass,  and  thrust 
into  his  pocket  a  piece  of  gingerbread  or  a  red-cheeked 
apple.  This  woman's  ancient  attachment  to  the  family, 
repelled  and  checked  in  every  other  direction,  seemed  to 
rejoice  in  havmg  some  object  on  which  it  could  yet  repose 
and  expand  itself.  She  prophesied  a  hundi-ed  times,  "  that 
young  Mr.  Harry  would  be  the  pride  o'  the  family,  and 
there  hadna  been  sic  a  sprout  frae  the  auld  aik  since  the 
death  of  Arthur  Mac-Dingawaie,  that  was  killed  in  the 
battle  o'  the  Bloody  Bay ;  as  for  the  present  stick,  it  was 
good  for  naething  but  fii-ewood."  On  one  occasion,  when 
the  child  was  ill,  she  lay  all  night  below  the  window, 
chanting  a  rhyme  which  she  believed  sovereign  as  a  febri- 
fuge, and  could  neither  be  prevailed  upon  to  enter  the 
house,  nor  to  leave  the  station  she  had  chosen,  till  she  was 
informed  that  the  crisis  was  over. 

The  affection  of  this  woman  became  matter  of  suspicion, 
not  indeed  to  the  Laird,  who  was  never  hasty  in  suspect- 
ing evil,  but  to  his  wife,  who  had  indifferent  health  and 
poor  spirits.  She  was  now  far  advanced  in  a  second 
pregnancy,  and,  as  she  could  not  walk  abroad  herself, 
and  the  woman  who  attended  upon  Harry  was  young  and 
thoughtless,  she  prayed  Dominie  Sampson  to  undertake 
the  task  of  watching  the  boy  in  his  rambles,  when  he 
should  not  be  otherwise  accompanied.  The  Dominie 
loved  his  young  charge,  and  was  enraptured  with  his  own 
success,  in  having  already  brought  him  so  far  in  his 
learning  as  to  spell  words  of  three  syllables.  The  idea 
of  this  early  prodigy  of  erudition  being  carried  off  by  the 


GUY   MANNERING.  115 

gipsies,  like  a  second  Adam  Smith,*  was  not  to  l>e  toler- 
ated ;  and  accordingly,  though  the  charge  was  contrary  to 
all  his  habits  of  hfe,  he  readily  undertook  it,  and  might 
be  seen  stalking  about  with  a  mathematical  problem  in 
his  head,  and  his  eye  upon  a  child  of  five  years  old, 
whose  rambles  led  him  into  a  hundred  awkward  situa- 
tions. Twice  was  the  Dominie  chased  by  a  cross-grained 
cow,  once  he  fell  into  the  brook  crossing  at  the  stepping- 
stones,  and  another  time  was  bogged  up  to  the  middle  in 
the  slough  of  Lochend,  in  attempting  to  gather  a  water- 
hly  for  the  young  Laird.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  village 
matrons  who  relieved  Sampson  upon  the  latter  occasion, 
"  that  the  Laii'd  might  as  weel  trust  the  care  o'  his  bairn 
to  a  potato  bogle ; "  but  the  good  Dominie  bore  aU  his 
disasters  with  gravity  and  serenity  equally  imperturbable, 
"  Pro-di-gi-ous  ! "  was  the  only  ejaculation  they  ever  ex- 
torted from  the  much-enduring  man. 

The  Laird  had  by  this  time  determined  to  make  root- 
and-branch  work  with  the  Maroons  of  Derncleugh.  The 
old  servants  shook  their  heads  at  his  proposal,  and  even 
Dominie  Sampson  ventured  upon  an  indirect  remon- 
strance. As,  however,  it  was  couched  in  the  oracular 
phrase,  "iVe  moveas  Camerinam,^^  neither  the  aUusion, 
nor  the  language  in  which  it  was  expressed,  were  cal- 
culated for  ]Mr.  Bertram's  edification,  and  matters  pro- 
ceeded against  the  gipsies  in  form  of  law.  Every  door 
in  the  hamlet  was  chalked  by  the  ground-officer,  in  token 
of  a  formal  warning  to  remove  at  next  term.  Still,  how- 
ever, they  showed  no  symptoms  either  of  submission  or 
of  comphance.     At  length  the  term-day,  the  fatal  Mar- 

*  The  father  of  Economical  Philosophy,  was,  when  a  child, 
actually  carried  off  by  gipsies,  and  remained  some  hours  in  their 
Dossession, 


116  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

tinmas,  arrived,  and  violent  measures  of  ejection  were  re- 
sorted to.  A  strong  posse  of  peace-officers,  sufficient  to 
render  aU  resistance  vain,  charged  the  inhabitants  to  de- 
part by  noon  ;  and,  as  they  did  not  obey,  the  officers,  in 
terms  of  their  warrant,  proceeded  to  unroof  the  cottages, 
and  pull  down  the  wretched  doors  and  windows, — a  sum- 
mary and  effectual  mode  of  ejection,  still  practised  in 
some  remote  parts  of  Scotland,  Avhen  a  tenant  proves  re- 
fractory. The  gipsies,  for  a  time,  beheld  the  work  cf 
destruction  in  sullen  silence  and  inactivity ;  then  set 
about  saddling  and  loading  their  asses,  and  making  prep- 
arations for  their  departure.  These  were  soon  accom- 
plished, where  all  had  the  habits  of  wandering  Tartars ; 
and  they  set  forth  on  their  journey  to  seek  new  settle- 
ments, where  theii*  patrons  should  neither  be  of  the 
quorum,  nor  custos  rotulorum. 

Certain  qualms  of  feeling  had  deterred  EUangowan 
from  attending  in  person  to  see  his  tenants  expelled.  He 
left  the  executive  part  of  the  business  to  the  officers  of 
the  law,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Frank  Kennedy, 
a  supervisor,  or  riding-officer,  belonging  to  the  excise, 
who  had  of  late  become  intimate  at  the  Place,  and  of 
whom  we  shall  have  more  to  say  in  the  next  chapter. 
!Mr.  Bertram  himself  chose  that  day  to  make  a  visit  to  a 
friend  at  some  distance.  But  it  so  happened,  notwith- 
standing his  precautions,  that  he  could  not  avoid  mciet- 
ing  his  late  tenants  during  their  retreat  from  hid 
property. 

It  was  in  a  hoUow  way,  near  the  top  of  a  steep  ascent, 
upon  the  verge  of  the  EUangowan  estate,  that  Mr.  Ber- 
tram met  the  gipsy  procession.  Four  or  five  men  formed 
the  idvanced  guard,  wi'apped  in  long  loose  great-coats 
that  hid  their  tall  slender  figures,  as  the  large  slouched 


GUY   MANNERING.  117 

hats,  drawn  over  their  brows,  concealed  their  wild 
features,  dark  eyes,  and  swarthy  faces.  Two  of  them 
carried  lou^  fowhng-pieces,  one  wore  a  broadsword  with- 
out a  sheath,  and  all  had  the  Highland  dirk,  though  they 
did  not  wear  that  weapon  openly  or  ostentatiously. 
Behind  them  followed  the  train  of  laden  asses,  and  smaU 
carts,  or  tumblers  SiS  they  were  called  in  that  country,  on 
vvhich  were  laid  the  decrepit  and  the  helpless,  the  aged 
and  infant  part  of  the  exiled  conununity.  The  women  in 
their  red  cloaks  and  straw  hats,  the  elder  children  with 
bare  heads  and  bai'e  feet,  and  almost  naked  bodies,  had 
the  immediate  care  of  the  little  caravan.  The  road  was 
narrow,  rumiing  between  two  broken  banks  of  sand,  and 
Mr.  Bertram's  servant  rode  forward,  smacking  his  whip 
with  an  aii*  of  authority,  and  motioning  to  the  drivers  to 
allow  free  passage  to  their  betters.  His  signal  was  un- 
attended to.  He  then  called  to  the  men  who  lounged 
idly  on  before,  "  Stand  to  your  beasts'  heads,  and  make 
room  for  the  Laird  to  pass.'* 

"  He  shall  have  his  share  of  the  road,"  answered  a 
male  gipsy  from  under  his  slouched  and  large  brimmed 
hat,  and  without  raising  his  face,  "  and  he  shall  have  nae 
mair ;  the  highway  is  as  free  to  our  cuddies  as  to  his 
gelding." 

The  tone  of  the  man  being  sulky,  and  even  menacing, 
JMr.  Bertram  thought  it  best  to  put  his  dignity  in  his 
pocket,  and  pass  by  the  procession  quietly,  on  such  space 
as  they  chose  to  leave  for  his  accommodation,  which  was 
narrow  enough.  To  cover  with  an  appearance  of  in- 
difference his  feeling  of  the  want  of  respect  with  which 
he  was  treated,  he  addressed  one  of  the  men,  as  he 
passed  without  any  show  of  greeting,  salute,  or  recogni- 
tion,— "  Giles  Baillie,"  he  said,   "  have  you   heard    that 


118  WAVERLEy    NOVELS. 

your  son  Gabriel  is  weU  ?  "  (The  question  respected  the 
young  man  who  had  been  pressed.) 

"  If  I  had  heard  otherwise,"  said  the  old  man,  looking 
up  w^ith  a  stern  and  menacing  countenance,  "  you  should 
have  heard  of  it  too."  And  he  plodded  on  his  way, 
tarrying  no  farther  questions.*  When  the  Laird  had 
pressed  on  with  difficulty  among  a  crowd  of  familiar  faces, 
which  had  on  all  former  occasions  marked  his  approa€h 
with  the  reverence  due  to  that  of  a  superior  being,  but  in 
which  he  now  only  read  hatred  and  contempt,  and  had 
got  clear  of  the  throng,  he  could  not  help  turning  liis 
horse,  and  looking  back  to  mark  the  progress  of  their 
march.  The  group  would  have  been  an  excellent  subject 
for  the  pencil  of  Calotte.  The  van  had  already  reached 
a  small  and  stunted  thicket,  which  was  at  the  bottom  of 
the  hill,  and  which  gradually  hid  the  Une  of  march  until 
the  last  stragglers  disappeared. 

His  sensations  were  bitter  enough.  The  race,  it  is 
true,  which  he  had  thus  summarily  dismissed  from  their 
ancient  place  of  refuge,  was  idle  and  vicious  ;  but  had  he 
endeavoured  to  render  them  otherwise  ?  They  were  not 
more  irregular  characters  now  than  they  had  been  while 
they  were  admitted  to  consider  themselves  as  a  sort  of 
subordinate  dependents  of  his  family ;  and  ought  the  mere 
circumstance  of  his  becoming  a  magistrate  to  have  made 
SiX  once  such  a  change  in  his  conduct  towards  them  ? 
Some  means  of  reformation  ought  at  least  to  have  been 
tried,  before  sending  seven  famiUes  at  once  upon  the  wide 
world,  and  depriving  them  of  a  degree  of  countenance, 
which  withheld  them  at  least  from  atrocious  guilt.  There 
was  al?o  a  natural  yearning  of  heart  on  parting  witl   so 

*  This  anecdote  is  a  literal  fact. 


GUY    MANNERLNG.  119 

many  known  and  familiar  faces ;  and  to  this  feeling  God- 
frey Bertram  was  peculiarly  accessible,  from  the  Hmited 
quaUties  of  his  mind,  which  sought  its  principal  amuse- 
ments among  the  petty  objects  around  him.  As  he  was 
about  to  turn  his  horse's  head  to  pursue  his  journey,  Meg 
Merrilies,  who  had  lagged  behind  the  troop,  unexpe':'tedly 
presented  herself. 

She  was  standing  upon  one  of  those  high,  precipitous 
banks,  which,  as  we  before  noticed,  overhung  the  road  ;  so 
that  she  was  placed  considerably  liiglier  than  EUangowan, 
even  though  he  was  on  horseback ;  and  her  tall  figure, 
relieved  against  the  clear  blue  sky,  seemed  almost  of 
supernatural  stature.  We  have  noticed  that  there  was  in 
her  general  attire,  or  rather  in  her  mode  of  adjusting  it, 
somewhat  of  a  foreign  costume,  artfuUy  adopted  perhaps 
for  the  purpose  of  adding  to  the  effect  of  her  spells  and 
predictions,  or  perhaps  from  some  traditional  notions 
respecting  the  dress  of  her  ancestors.  On  this  occasion, 
she  had  a  large  piece  of  red  cotton  cloth  roUed  about  her 
head  in  the  form  of  a  turban,  from  beneath  which  her 
dark  eyes  flashed  with  uncommon  lustre.  Her  long  and 
tangled  black  hair  fell  in  elf-locks  from  the  folds  of  this 
singular  head-gear.  Her  attitude  was  that  of  a  sibyl  in 
frenzy,  and  she  stretched  out  in  her  right  hand  a  sapling 
bough,  which  seemed  just  pulled. 

"  I'll  be  d — d,"  said  the  groom,  "  if  she  has  not  been 

cutting  the  young  ashes  in  the  Dukit  park  " — The 
Laird  made  no  answer,  but  continued  to  look  at  the  figure 
which  was  thus  perched  above  his  path. 

"  Ride  your  ways,"  said  the  gipsy,  "  ride  your  ways, 
Laird  of  EUangowan — ride  your  ways,  Godfrey  Ber- 
tram ! — This  day  have  ye  quenched  seven  smoking 
hearths — see  if  the  fire  in  your  ain  parlour  burn  the 


120  WAVERLEY    ^'OVELS. 

blither  for  that.  Ye  have  riven  the  thack  off  seven 
cottar  houses — look  if  jour  ain  roof-tree  stand  the  faster. 
— Ye  may  stable  your  stirks  in  the  shealings  at  Dern- 
cleugh — see  that  the  hare  does  not  couch  on  the  hearth- 
stane  at  EUangowan. — Ride  your  ways,  Godfrey  Bertram 
— what  do  ye  glower  after  our  folk  for  ? — There's  tliirty 
heai'ts  there  that  wad  hae  wanted  bread  ere  ye  had 
wanted  sunkets,*  and  spent  their  life-blood  ere  ye  had 
scratched  youi-  finger.  Yes — there's  thirty  yonder,  from 
the  auld  wife  of  an  hundred  to  the  babe  that  was  born 
last  week,  that  ye  have  turned  out  o'  their  bits  o'  bields, 
to  sleep  with  the  tod  and  the  blackcock  in  the  muirs  ! — 
Ride  your  ways,  EUangowan. — Our  baims  aie  hinging 
at  oui-  weary  backs — look  that  your  braw  cradle  at  hame 
be  the  fairer  spread  up ;  not  that  I'm  wishing  ill  to  little 
Harry,  or  to  the  babe  that's  yet  to  be  bom — God  forbid 
— and  make  them  kind  to  the  poor,  and  better  folk  than 
their  father  I — And  now,  ride  e'en  your  ways  ;  for  these 
are  the  last  words  ye'll  ever  hear  Meg  Merrihes  speak, 
and  this  is  the  last  reise  that  I'll  ever  cut  in  the  bonny 
woods  of  EUangowan." 

So  saying,  she  broke  the  sapKng  she  held  in  her  hand, 
and  flung  it  into  the  road.  Margaret  of  Anjou,  bestowing 
on  her  triumphant  foes  her  keen-edged  malediction,  could 
not  have  turned  from  them  vdih  a  gesture  more  proudly 
contemptuous.  The  Laird  was  clearing  his  voice  to  speak, 
and  thi-usting  his  hand  in  his  pocket  to  find  a  half-crown ; 
the  gipsy  waited  neither  for  his  reply  nor  his  donation, 
but  strode  down  the  hiU  to  overtake  the  caravan. 

EUangowan  rode  pensively  home  ;  and  it  was  remai-k- 
able  that  he  did  not  mention  this  interview  to  any  of  his 

*  Delicacies. 


OUT   MAJiNERING. 


1^- 


family.  The  groom  was  not  so  reserved;  he  told  tL^t 
story  at  great  length  to  a  full  audience  in  the  kitchen, 
and  concluded  by  sweai'ing,  that  "  if  ever  the  devil  spoke 
by  the  mouth  of  a  woman,  he  had  spoken  by  that  of  Meg 
Meri-ihes  that  blessed  day." 


1^'2  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Paint  Scotland  greeting  ower  her  thrissie 
Her  mutchkin  stoup  a6  toom's  a  -whistle, 
And  d n'd  excisemen  in  a  bustle, 

Seizing  a  st«ll ; 
Triumphant  crushin't  like  a  mussell, 

Or  lampit  sheU. 

Burns. 

DuRmG  the  period  of  ]Mr.  Bertram's  active  magistracy 
he  did  not  forget  the  affairs  of  the  revenue.  Smugghng, 
for  which  the  Isle  of  Man  then  afforded  pecuhar  facihties, 
was  general,  or  rather  universal,  all  along  the  south- 
western coast  of  Scotland.  Almost  aU  the  common 
people  were  engaged  in  these  practices  ;  the  gentry  con- 
nived at  them,  and  the  of&cers  of  the  revenue  were  fre- 
quently discountenanced  in  the  exercise  of  their  duty  by 
those  who  should  have  protected  them. 

There  was,  at  this  period,  employed  as  a  riding  officer 
or  supervisor,  in  that  part  of  the  country,  a  certain 
Francis  Kennedy,  ah-eady  named  in  our  naiTative ;  a 
stout,  resolute,  and  active  man,  who  had  made  seizui*es  to 
a  great  amo^mt,  and  was  proportionally  hated  by  those 
who  had  an  interest  in  the  fair  trade,  as  they  called  the 
pursuit  of  these  contraband  adventurers.  This  person 
was  natural  son  to  a  gentleman  of  good  family,  owing  to 
which  cii'cumstance,  and  to  his  being  of  a  jolly  convivial 
disposition,  and  singing  a  good  song,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  occasional  society  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  country, 


GUY   MANNEKING.  123 

and  was  a  member  of  several  of  their  clubs  for  practising 
athletic  games,  at  which  he  was  particularly  expert. 

At  EUangowan,  Kennedy  was  a  frequent  and  always 
an  acceptable  guest.  His  vivacity  relieved  Mr.  Bertram 
of  the  trouble  of  thought,  and  the  labour  which  it  cost 
him  to  support  a  detailed  communication  of  ideas  ;  while 
the  daring  and  dangerous  exploits  w^hich  he  had  under- 
taken in  the  discharge  of  his  office,  formed  excellent  con- 
versation. To  all  these  revenue  adventures  did  the 
Laird  of  EUangowan  seriously  incline,  and  the  amuse- 
ment which  he  derived  from  Kennedy's  society,  formed 
an  excellent  reason  for  countenancing  and  assisting  the 
narrator  in  the  execution  of  his  invidious  and  hazardous 
duty. 

"  Frank  Kennedy,"  he  said,  "  was  a  gentleman,  though 
on  the  wrang  side  of  the  blanket — he  was  connected  with 
the  family  of  EUangowan  through  the  house  of  Glen- 
gubble.  The  last  Laird  of  Glengubble  would  have 
brought  the  estate  into  the  EUangowan  line ;  but  hap- 
pening to  go  to  Harrigate,  he  there  met  with  Miss  Jean 
Hadaway — ^by  the  by,  the  Green  Dragon  at  Harrigate  is 
the  best  house  of  the  twa ; — but  for  Frank  Kennedy,  he's 
in  one  sense  a  gentleman  born,  and  it's  a  shame  not  to 
support  him  against  these  blackguard  smugglers." 

After  this  league  had  taken  place  between  judgment 
and  execution,  it  chanced  that  Captain  Dirk  Hatteraick 
had  landed  a  cargo  of  spirits,  and  other  contraband  goods 
upon  the  beach  not  far  from  EUangowan,  and,  confiding 
in  the  indifference  with  which  the  Laird  had  formerly 
regarded  similar  infractions  of  the  law,  he  was  neither 
very  anxious  to  conceal  nor  to  expedite  the  transaction. 
The  consequence  was,  that  ]Mi\  Frank  Kennedy,  armed 
with  a  warrant  from  EUangowan,  and  supported  by  some 


124  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

of  the  Laird's  people  who  knew  the  country,  and  by  a 
party  of  military,  poured  down  upon  the  kegs,  bales,  and 
bags,  and  after  a  desperate  affray,  in  wliich  severe  wounds 
were  given  and  received,  succeeded  in  clapping  the  broad 
arrow  upon  the  articles,  and  bearing  them  off  in  triumph 
to  the  next  custom-house.  Dirk  Hatteraick  vowed,  in 
Dutch,  German,  and  English,  a  deep  and  full  revenge, 
both  against  the  ganger  and  his  abettors;  and  all  who 
knew  him  thought  it  hkely  he  would  keep  his  word. 

A  few  days  after  the  departure  of  the  gipsy  tribe,  Mr, 
Bertram  asked  his  lady  one  morning  at  breakfast,  whether 
this  was  not  little  Harry's  birth-day  ? 

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

Mr.  Bertram  liked  to  show  his  authority  in  trifles. 
"  No,  my  dear,  not  till  to-mori'ow.  The  last  time  I  was 
at  quarter-sessions,  the  sheriff  told  us  that  dies — that  dies 
inceptus — in  short — you  don't  understand  Latin — but  it 
means  that  a  term  day  is  not  begun  tiU  it's  ended." 

"  That  sounds  like  nonsense,  my  dear." 

"  May  be  so,  my  dear ;  but  it  may  be  very  good  law 
for  all  that.  I  am  sure,  speaking  of  term-days,  I  wish,  as 
Frank  Kennedy  says,  that  Whitsunday  would  kill  Mar- 
tinmas, and  be  hanged  for  the  murder — for  there  I  have 
got  a  letter  about  that  interest  of  Jenny  Cairns's,  and 
deil  a  tenant's  been  at  the  Place  yet  wi'  a  boddle  of  rent, 
— ^nor  will  not  till  Candlemas — but,  speaking  of  Frank 
Kennedy,  I  dare  say  he'll  be  here  the  day,  for  he  was 
way  round  to  Wigton  to  warn  a  king's  ship  that's  lying 
in  the  bay  about  Dirk  Hatteraick's  lugger  being  on  the 
coast  again,  and  he'll  be  back  this  day ;  so  we'll  have  a 
bottle  of  claret,  and  drink  little  Harry's  health." 


GUY    MANNERING.  125 

"  I  wish,"  replied  the  ladj,  "  Frank  Kennedy  would 
let  Dirk  Hatteiaick  alane.  What  needs  he  make  himself 
mair  busy  than  other  folk  ?  Cannot  he  smg  his'  sang,  and 
take  his  di"ink,  and  draw  his  salary,  like  Collector  Snail, 
honest  man,  that  never  fashes  onybody  ?  And  I  wonder 
at  you.  Laird,  for  meddling  and  making — Did  we  ever 
want  to  send  for  tea  or  brandy  frae  the  Borough-town, 
when  Dirk  Hatteraick  used  to  come  quietly  into  the 
bay?'' 

"  Mrs.  Bertram,  you  know  nothing  of  these  matters. 
Do  you  think  it  becomes  a  magistrate  to  let  his  own 
house  be  made  a  receptacle  for  smuggled  goods  ?  Frank 
Kennedy  will  show  you  the  penalties  in  the  act,  and  ye 
ken  yoursell  they  used  to  put  their  run  goods  into  the 
Auld  Place  of  EUangowan  up  by  there." 

"  Oh,  dear,  Mr.  Bertram,  and  what  the  waur  were  the 
wa's  and  the  vault  o'  the  auld  castle  for  having  a  whin 
kegs  o'  brandy  in  them  at  an  orra  time  ?  I  am  sure  ye 
were  not  obliged  to  ken  onything  about  it ; — and  what  the 
waur  was  the  King  that  the  lairds  here  got  a  soup  o' 
drink,  and  the  ladies  their  drap  o'  tea,  at  a  reasonable 
rate  ? — it's  a  shame  to  them  to  pit  such  taxes  on  them ! — 
and  was  na  I  much  the  better  of  these  Flanders  head  and 
pinners,  that  Dirk  Hatteraick  sent  me  a'  the  way  from 
Antwerp?  It  will  be  lang  or  the  King  sends  me  onything, 
or  Frank  Kennedy  either. — And  then  ye  would  quarrel 
with  these  gipsies  too  !  I  expect  every  day  to  hear  the 
barn-yard's  in  a  low." 

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

'"  Aweel,  i.iveel,  EUangowan,"  said  the  lady,  raising  her 
voice  as  the  Laird  left  the  room,  "  I  wish  ye  may  under- 
stand them  yoursell,  that's  a' !  " 


126  WAVEKLEY    NOVELS. 

From  tliis  nuptial  dialogue  the  Laird  joyfully  escaped 
to  meet  his  faithful  friend,  jMi*.  Kennedy,  who  arrived  in 
high  spirits.  "  For  the  love  of  life,  EUangowan,"  he 
said,  "  get  up  to  the  castle  !  you'll  see  that  old  fox  Dirk 
Ilatteraick,  and  his  Majestj-'s  hounds  in  full  cry  aftei 
him.  So  saymg,  he  flung  his  horse's  bridle  to  a  boy,  and 
r.'m  up  the  ascent  to  the  old  castle,  followed  by  the  Laird, 
and  mdeed  by  several  others  of  the  family,  alarmed  by 
the  sound  of  guns  from  the  sea,  now  distmctly  heard." 

On  gaining  that  part  of  the  ruins  which  commanded 
the  most  extensive  outlook,  they  saw  a  lugger,  with  all 
her  canvass  crowded,  standing  across  the  bay,  closely 
pursued  by  a  sloop  of  war,  that  kept  firing  upon  the 
chase  from  her  bows,  which  the  lugger  retm'ned  with  her 
stem-chasers.  "  They're  but  at  long  bowls  yet,"  cried 
Kennedy,  in  great  exultation,  "  but  they  will  be  closer 

by  and  by. D — n  him,  he's  starting  his  cargo  !     I  see 

the  good  Nantz  pitching  overboard,  keg  after  keg  ! — that's 

a  d d  unwnteel  thing  of  Mr.  Hatteraick,  as  I  shall 

let  him  know  by  and  by. — Xow,  now  !  they've  got  the 
wind  of  him  ! — that's  it,  that's  it ! — Hark  to  him  !  hark  to 
him  !  Now,  my  dogs  !  now,  my  dogs  ! — hark  to  Ranger, 
hark  !  " 

"  I  thmk,"  said  the  old  gardener  to  one  of  the  maids, 
"  the  gauger's  Jie  ;  "  by  which  word  the  common  people 
express  those  violent  spmts  which  they  think  a  presage 
of  death. 

Meantime  the  chase  continued.  The  lugger,  being 
piloted  with  great  abihty,  and  using  eveiy  nautical  shift 
to  make  her  escape,  had  now  reached,  and  was  about  to 
double  the  headland  which  formed  the  extreme  point  of 
land  on  the  left  side  of  the  bay,  when  a  ball  having  hit 
the  yard  in  the  slmgs,  the  mainsail  fell  upon  the  deck. 


GUY    MANNERING.  127 

The  consequence  of  tliis  accident  appeared  inevitable,  but 
could  not  be  seen  by  the  spectators  ;  for  the  vessel,  which 
had  just  doubled  the  headland,  lost  steerage,  and  fell  out 
of  their  sight  behind  the  promontory.  The  sloop  of  war 
crowded  all  sail  to  pursue,  but  she  had  stood  too  close 
upon  the  cape,  so  that  they  were  obliged  to  weai'  the 
VRSsel  for  fear  of  going  ashore,  and  to  make  a  lai'ge  tack 
back  into  the  bay,  in  order  to  recover  sea-room  enough  to 
double  the  headland. 

"  They'll  lose  her,  by ! — cargo  and  lugger,  one  or 

both,"  said  Kennedy.  "  I  must  gallop  away  to  the  Point 
of  Warroch,  (this  was  the  headland  so  often  mentioned,) 
and  make  them  a  signal  where  she  has  drifted  to  on  the 
other  side.  Good-by  for  an  hour,  EUangowan — get  out 
the  gallon  punch-bowl,  and  plenty  of  lemons.  I'll  stand 
for  the  French  article  by  the  time  I  come  back,  and  we'll 
drink  the  young  Laird's  health  in  a  bowl  that  would  swim 
the  Collector's  yawl."  So  saying,  he  mounted  his  horse 
and  galloped  ojQT. 

About  a  mile  from  the  house,  and  upon  the  verge  of 
the  woods,  which,  as  we  have  said,  covered  a  promontory 
terminating  in  the  cape  called  the  Point  of  Warroch, 
Kennedy  met  young  Harry  Bertram,  attended  by  his 
tutor.  Dominie  Sampson.  He  had  often  promised  the 
child  a  ride  upon  his  galloway ;  and,  from  singing,  danc- 
ing, and  playing  Punch  for  his  amusement,  was  a  partic- 
ular favourite.  He  no  sooner  came  scampering  up  the 
path,  than  the  boy  loudly  claimed  his  promise  ;  and  Ken- 
nedy, who  saw  no  risk  in  indulging  him,  and  wished  to 
lease  the  Dominie,  in  whose  visage  he  read  a  remon- 
strance, caught  up  HaiTy  from  the  ground,  placed  him 
before  him,  and  contmued  his  route  ;  Sampson's  "  Perad- 
venture,  Master  Kennedy  " being  lost  in  the  -ilatter 


128  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

of  his  horse's  feet.  The  pedagogue  hesitated  a  moment 
whether  he  should  go  after  them ;  but  Kennedy  being  a 
person  in  full  confidence  of  the  family,  and  with  whom  he 
liimself  had  no  delight  in  associating,  "  being  that  he  was 
addicted  unto  profane  and  scurrilous  jests,"  he  continued 
his  own  walk  at  his  own  pace,  till  he  reached  the  Place 
of  EUangowan. 

The  spectators  from  the  ruined  walls  of  the  castle  were 
Btili  watching  the  sloop  of  war,  which  at  length,  but  not 
without  the  loss  of  considerable  time,  recovered  sea-room 
enough  to  weather  the  Point  of  Warroch,  and  was  lost  to 
their  sight  behind  that  wooded  promontory.  Some  time 
afterwards  the  discharges  of  several  cannon  were  heard  at 
a  distance,  and,  after  an  interval,  a  still  louder  explosion, 
as  of  a  vessel  blown  up,  and  a  cloud  of  smoke  rose  above 
the  trees,  and  mingled  wdth  the  blue  sky.  All  then  sepa- 
rated on  their  different  occasions,  auguring  variously  upon 
the  fate  of  the  smuggler,  but  the  majority  insisting  that 
her  capture  was  inevitable,  if  she  had  not  already  gone 
to  the  bottom. 

"  It  is  near  our  dinner-time,  my  dear,"  said  JVIrs. 
Bertram  to  her  husband ;  "  will  it  be  lang  before  JVIr. 
Kennedy  comes  back  ?  " 

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

"  My  stars,  ]VIr.  Bertram !  why  did  not  ye  tell  me  this 
Ijkcfore,  that  we  might  have  had  the  large  round  table  ? 
and  then,  they're  a'  tired  o'  saut  meat,  and,  to  tell  you  the 
plain  truth,  a  rump  o'  beef  is  the  best  part  of  your 
dinner — and  then  I  wad  have  put  on  another  go\\Ta,  and 
ye  wadna  have  been  the  waur  o'  a  clean  neckcloth  your- 
sell — But  ye  dehght  in  surprising  and  hurrying  one — I 


GUT    MANNEKING.  129 

ani  sure  I  am  no  to  haud  out  for  ever  against  this  sort 
of  going  on. — But  when  folk's  missed,  then  they  are 
moaned." 

"  Pshaw !  pshaw !  deuce  take  the  beef,  and  the  gown, 
and  table,  and  the  neckcloth ! — we  shall  do  all  very  well. — 
"Where's  the  Dominie,  Jolm  ? — (to  a  servant  who  was 
busy  about  the  table) — wbere's  the  Dominie  and  little 
Harry  ?  " 

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

^'  Not  come  hame  wi'  him  ? "  said  the  lady ;  "  desire 
Mr.  Sampson  to  step  this  way  directly." 

"  Mr.  Sampson,"  said  she,  upon  his  entrance,  "  is  it  not 
the  most  extraordinary  thing  in  this  world  wide,  that  you, 
that  have  free  up-putting — bed,  board,  and  washing — and 
twelve  pounds  sterling  a-year,  just  to  look  after  that 
boy,  should  let  him  out  of  your  sight  for  twa  or  three 
hours?" 

Sampson  made  a  bow  of  humble  acknowledgment  at 
each  pause  which  the  angry  lady  made  in  her  enumera- 
tion of  the  advantages  of  his  situation,  in  order  to  give 
more  weight  to  her  remonstrance,  and  then,  in  words 
which  we  will  not  do  him  the  injustice  to  imitate,  told 
how  Mr.  Francis  Kennedy  "  had  assumed  spontaneously 
the  charge  of  Master  Harry,  in  despite  of  his  remon- 
strances in  the  contrary." 

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


suppose  

"  Or  suppose,  my  dear,"  said   Ellangowan,  "  what  is 
much  more  likely  than  any  thing  else,  that  they  have 

VOL.  III.  9 


130  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

gone  aboard  the  sloop  or  the  prize,  and  are  to  come  round 
the  Point  with  the  tide  ?  " 

"  And  then  they  may  be  dro^Yned,"  said  the  lady. 

"Verily,"  said  Sampson,  "I  thought  i\Ir.  Kennedy  had 
returned  an  hour  since — Of  a  surety,  I  deemed  I  heard 
his  horse's  feet." 

"  That,"  said  John,  with  a  broad  grin,  "  was  Grizzel 
chasing  the  humble-cow  *  out  of  the  close." 

Sampson  coloured  up  to  the  eyes — not  at  the  implied 
taunt,  which  he  would  never  have  discovered,  or  resented 
if  he  had,  but  at  some  idea  which  crossed  his  own  mind. 
"  I  have  been  in  an  error,"  he  said,  "  of  a  surety  I  should 
have  tarried  for  the  babe."  So  saying,  he  snatched  his 
bone-headed  cane  and  hat,  and  hurried  away  towards 
Warroch  wood,  fatter  than  he  was  ever  known  to  walk 
before,  or  after. 

The  Laird  hngered  some  time,  debating  the  point  with 
the  lady.  At  length  he  saw  the  sloop  of  war  again  make 
her  appearance  ;  but,  without  approaching  the  shore,  she 
stood  away  to  the  westward,  with  all  her  sails  set,  and 
was  soon  out  of  sight.  The  lady's  state  of  timorous  and 
fretful  apprehension  was  so  habitual,  that  her  fears  went 
for  nothing  with  her  lord  and  master ;  but  an  appearance 
of  disturbance  and  anxiety  among  the  seiwants  now  ex- 
cited his  alarm,  especially  when  he  was  called  out  of  the 
room,  and  told  in  private  that  ]Mr.  Kennedy's  horse  had 
come  to  the  stable  door  alone,  with  the  saddle  turned 
round  below  its  belly,  and  the  reins  of  the  bridle  broken ; 
and  that  a  farmer  had  informed  them  in  passing,  that 
there  was  a  smuggling  lugger  burning  like  a  furnace  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Point  of  Warroch,  and  that,  though 

*  A  cow  without  horns. 


GTJT    MANXERING.  131 

he  had  come  tlirougli  the  wood,  he  had  seen  or  heard 
notliing  of  Kennedy  or  the  young  Laird,  "  only  there  was 
Dominie  Sampson,  gaun  rampauging  about,  like  mad, 
seeking  for  them." 

All  was  now  bustle  at  Ellangowan.  The  Laird  and 
his  servants,  male  and  female,  hastened  to  the  wood  of 
Warroch.  The  tenants  and  cottagers  in  the  neighbour- 
hood lenl  their  assistance,  partly  out  of  zeal,  partly  from 
curiosity.  Boats  were  manned  to  search  the  sea-shore, 
which,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Point,  rose  into  high  and 
indented  rocks.  A  vague  suspicion  was  entertained, 
though  too  horrible  to  be  expressed,  that  the  child  might 
have  fallen  from  one  of  these  cliffs. 

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

At  length,  after  a  minute  and  fruitless  investigation 
through  the  wood,  the  searchers  began  to  draw  together 
into  one  body  and  to  compare  notes.  The  agony  of  the 
father  grew  beyond  concealment,  yet  it  scarcely  equalled 
the  anguish  of  the  tutor.  "  Would  to  God  I  had  died  for 
him  ! "  the  affectionate  creature  repeated,  in  tones  of  the 
deepest  distress.  Those  who  were  less  interested,  rushed 
into  a  tumultuary  discussion  of  chances  and  possibilities. 
Each  gave  his  opinion,  and  each  was  alternately  swayed 
by  that  of  the  others.  Some  thought  the  objects  of  their 
Bearch  had  gone  aboard  the  sloop ;  some,  that  they  had 


132  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

gone  to  a  village  at  three  miles  distance ;  some  whispered 
they  might  have  been  on  board  the  lugger,  a  few  planks 
and  beams  of  which  the  tide  now  di'ifted  ashore. 

At  this  instant,  a  shout  was  heard  from  the  beach,  so 
loud,  so  shrill,  so  piercing,  so  different  from  every  sound 
which  the  woods  that  day  had  rung  to,  that  nobody  hesi- 
tated a  moment  to  beheve  that  it  conveyed  tidings,  and 
tidings  of  di'eadful  import.  All  hurried  to  the  place,  and, 
venturing  without  scruple  upon  paths  which  at  another 
time  they  would  have  shuddered  to  look  at,  descended 
towards  a  cleft  of  the  rock,  where  one  boat's  crew  was 
already  landed.  "  Here,  sirs  ! — ^here  ! — this  way,  for  God's 
sake  ! — this  way !  this  way  !  "  was  the  reiterated  cry. — 
Ellangowan  broke  through  the  throng  which  had  abeady 
assembled  at  the  fatal  spot,  and  beheld  the  object  of  their 
terror.  It  was  the  dead  body  of  Kennedy.  At  first  sight 
he  seemed  to  have  perished  by  a  fall  from  the  rocks, 
which  rose  above  the  spot  on  which  he  lay,  in  a  perpen- 
dicular precipice  of  a  hundred  feet  above  the  beach.  The 
corpse  was  lying  half  in,  half  out  of  the  water ;  the  ad- 
vancing tide,  raising  the  arm  and  stirring  the  clothes,  had 
given  it  at  some  distance  the  appearance  of  motion,  so 
that  those  who  first  discovered  the  body  thought  that  life 
remained.     But  every  spark  had  been  long  extinguislied. 

"  My  bairn  !  my  bairn  ! "  cried  the  distracted  fathei', 
"  where  can  he  be  ?  " — A  dozen  mouths  were  open  to 
communicate  hopes  which  no  one  felt.  Some  one  at 
length  mentioned the  gipsies !  In  a  moment  Ellan- 
gowan had  reascended  the  cliffs,  flung  himseff  upon  the 
first  horse  he  met,  and  rode  furiously  to  the  huts  at 
Derncleugh.  All  was  there  dark  and  desolate  ;  and,  as 
he  dismounted  to  make  more  minute  search,  he  stumbled 
over  fragments  of  furniture  which  had  been  thrown  out 


GUY   JIANNERLNG.  133 

of  the  cottages,  and  the  broken  wood  and  thatch  which 
had  been  pulled  down  by  his  orders.  At  that  moment 
the  prophecy  or  anathema  of  Meg  Merrilies  fell  heavy  on 
his  mind.  "  You  have  stripped  the  thatch  from  seven 
cottages, — see  that  the  roof-tree  of  yom*  own  house  stand 
ths  surer ! " 

"  Eestore,"  he  cried,  "  restore  my  bairn  !  bring  me 
back  my  son,  and  all  shall  be  forgot  and  forgiven  !  "  As 
he  uttered  these  words  in  a  sort  of  frenzy,  his  eye  caught 
a  glimmering  of  light  in  one  of  the  dismantled  cottages — ■ 
it  was  that  in  which  Meg  Merrilies  formerly  resided. 
The  light,  which  seemed  to  proceed  from  fire,  glimmered 
not  only  through  the  window,  but  also  through  the  rafters 
of  the  hut  where  the  roofing  had  been  torn  off". 

He  flew  to  the  place ;  the  entrance  was  bolted ;  despair 
gave  the  miserable  father  the  strength  of  ten  men :  he 
rushed  against  the  door  with  such  violence,  that  it  gave 
way  before  the  momentum  of  his  weight  and  force.  The 
cottage  was  empty,  but  bore  marks  of  recent  habitation : 
there  was  fire  on  the  hearth,  a  kettle,  and  some  prepara- 
tion for  food.  As  he  eagerly  gazed  round  for  something 
that  might  confirm  his  hope  that  his  child  yet  hved, 
although  in  the  power  of  those  strange  people,  a  man 
entered  the  hut. 

It  was  his  old  gardener.  "  Oh  sir ! "  said  the  old  man, 
"  such  a  night  as  this  I  trusted  never  to  Hve  to  see  ! — ye 
maun  come  to  the  Place  directly  ! " 

"  Is  my  boy  found  ? — is  he  alive  ? — have  ye  found 
Harry  Bertram  ? — Andrew,  have  ye  found  Harry  Ber- 
tram?" 

"No,  sir;  but" 

"  Then  he  is  kidnapped  !  I  am  sure  of  it,  Andrew — ■ 
as  sure  as  that  I  tread  upon  earth  !     She  has  stolen  him 


134  ^ATERLET   XOVELS. 

•^and  I  mil  never  stir  from  tMs  jDlace  till  I  have  tidings 
of  mj  bairn  ! " 

"  0,  but  ye  maim  come  hame,  sir !  ye  maun  come 
Lame  !  we  have  sent  for  the  Sheriff,  and  we'll  set  a 
watch  here  a'  night,  in  case  the  gipsies  return  ;  but  you-^ 

ye  maun  come  hame,  sii', for  my  lady's  in  the  dead- 

thraw."* 

Bertram  turned  a  stupefied  and  unmeaning  eye  on  the 
messenger  who  uttered  this  calamitous  news ;  and,  re- 
peating the  words  "  in  the  dead-thi*aw  !  "  as  if  he  could 
not  comprehend  their  meaning,  suffered  the  old  man  to 
drag  him  towards  his  horse.  Duiiug  the  ride  home,  he 
only  said,  "  Wife  and  bairn,  baith — mother  and  son, 
baith — Sair,  sair  to  abide  !  " 

It  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  the  new  scene  of  agony 
which  awaited  him.  The  news  of  Kennedy's  fate  had 
been  eagerly  and  incautiously  communicated  at  Ellan- 
gowan,  with  the  gratuitous  addition,  that,  doubtless,  "  he 
had  di'awn  the  young  Lau'd  over  the  craig  with  him, 
though  the  tide  had  swept  away  the  child's  body — ^he 
was  hght,  puir  thmg !  and  would  flee  fai'ther  into  the 
surf." 

Mrs.  Bertram  heard  the  tidings  ;  she  was  far  advanced 
in  her  pregnancy ;  she  fell  into  the  pains  of  premature 
labour,  and  ere  Ellangowan  had  recovered  his  agita:ed 
faculties,  so  as  to  comprehend  the  full  distress  of  his 
situation,  he  was  the  father  of  a  female  infant,  and  a 
widower. 

*  Death-agony. 


GUY   MANNERING.  135 


CHAPTER  X. 

But  see,  his  face  is  black,  and  full  of  blood; 

His  eye-balls  farther  out  than  when  he  lived, 

Staring  full  ghastly  like  a  strangled  man ; 

His  hair  upreared,  his  nostrils  stretched  with  struggling, 

His  hands  abroad  displayed,  as  one  that  gasped 

And  lugged  for  life,  and  was  by  strength  subdued. 

Henbt  IV.  Part  First. 

The  Sheriff-depute  of  the  county  arrived  at  Ellan- 
gowan  next  morning  by  daybreak.  To  this  provincial 
magistrate  the  law  of  Scotland  assigns  judicial  powers 
of  considerable  extent,  and  the  task  of  inquiring  into  all 
crimes  committed  within  his  jurisdiction,  the  apprehension 
and  commitment  of  suspected  persons,  and  so  forth.* 

The  gentleman  who  held  the  office  in  the  shire  of ■ 

at  the  time  of  this  catastrophe,  was  well  born  and  well 
educated ;  and,  though  somewhat  pedantic  and  profes- 
sional in  his  habits,  he  enjoyed  general  respect  as  an 
active  and  intelligent  magistrate.  His  first  employment 
was  to  examine  all  witnesses  whose  evidence  could  throw 
light  upon  this  mysterious  event,  and  make  up  the  written 
report,  proces  verbal,  or  precognition,  as  it  is  technically 
called,  which  the  practice  of  Scotland  has  substituted  for 
a  coroner's  inquest.  Under  the  Sheriff's  minute  and 
skilful    inquiry,    many    circumstances    appeared    which 

*  The  Scottish  Sheriff  discharges,  on  such  occasions  as  that  now 
mentioned,  pretty  much  the  same  duty  as  a  Coroner. 


136  WAYERLET    NOVELS. 

seemed  incompatible  with  the  original  opinion  that  Ken 
nedj  had  accidentally  fallen  from  the  cliff.  We  shall 
briefly  detail  some  of  these. 

The  body  had  been  deposited  in  a  neighbouring  fisher- 
hut,  but  without  altering  the  condition  in  which  it  was 
found.  This  was  the  first  object  of  the  Sherijff's  exam- 
ination. Though  fearfully  crushed  and  mangled  by  tha 
fall  from  such  a  height,  the  corpse  was  found  to  exhibit  a 
deep  cut  in  the  head,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  a  skilful 
surgeon,  must  have  been  inflicted  by  a  broadsword,  or 
cutlass.  The  experience  of  this  gentleman  discovered 
other  suspicious  indications.  The  face  M^as  much  black- 
ened, the  eyes  distorted,  and  the  veins  of  the  neck  swelled. 
A  coloured  handkerchief,  which  the  unfortunate  man 
wore  round  his  neck,  did  not  present  the  usual  appear- 
ance, but  was  much  loosened,  and  the  knot  displaced  and 
dragged  extremely  tight :  the  folds  were  also  compressed, 
as  if  it  had  been  used  as  a  means  of  grappling  the  de- 
ceased, and  dragging  him  perhaps  to  the  precipice. 

On  the  other  hand,  poor  Kennedy's  purse  was  found 
untouched ;  and  what  seemed  yet  more  extraordinary, 
the  pistols  wliich  he  usually  carried  when  about  to 
encounter  any  hazardous  adventure,  were  found  in  his 
pockets  loaded.  This  appeared  particularly  strange,  for 
he  was  known  and  dreaded  by  the  contraband  traders  as 
a  man  equally  fearless  and  dexterous  in  the  use  of  his 
weapons,  of  which  he  had  given  many  signal  proofs. 
The  Sheriff  inquired,  whether  Kennedy  was  not  in  the 
practice  of  carrying  any  other  arms.  Most  of  Mr. 
Bertram's  servants  recollected  that  he  generally  had  a 
coufeau  de  chasse,  or  short  hanger,  but  none  such  was 
fouijd  upon  the  dead  body ;  nor  could  those  who  had 
Been   him   on   the   morning   of    the   fatal   day,   take   it 


GUY    MANNERING.  137 

upon  them  to  assert  whether  he  then  carried  that  weapon 
or  not. 

The  corpse  afforded  no  other  indicia  respecting  the 
fate  of  Kennedy  ;  for,  though  the  clothes  were  much 
displaced,  and  the  hmbs  dreadfully  fractured,  the  one 
seemed  the  probable,  the  other  the  certain,  consequences  of 
such  a  fall.  The  hands  of  the  deceased  were  clenched  fast, 
and  fuH  of  turf  and  earth  ;  but  this  also  seemed  equivocal. 

The  magistrate  then  proceeded  to  the  place  where  the 
coqDse  was  first  discovered,  and  made  those  who  had 
found  it  give,  upon  the  spot,  a  particular  and  detailed 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  it  was  lying.  A  large 
fragment  of  the  rock  appeared  to  have  accompanied,  or 
followed  the  fall  of  the  victim  from  the  cHff  above.  It 
was  of  so  sohd  and  compact  a  substance,  that  it  had 
fallen,  without  any  great  dimunition  by  splintering,  so  that 
the  Sherifl  was  enabled,  first  to  estimate  the  weight  by 
measurement,  and  then  to  calculate,  from  the  appearance 
of  the  fragment,  what  portion  of  it  had  been  bedded  into 
the  cliff  from  which  it  had  descended.  This  was  easily 
detected  by  the  raw  appearance  of  the  stone  where  it  had 
not  been  exposed  to  the  atmosphere  ;  they  then  ascended 
the  cHff  and  surveyed  the  place  from  whence  the  stony 
fragment  had  fallen.  It  seemed  plain,  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  bed,  that  the  mere  weight  of  one  man  stand- 
ing upon  the  projecting  part  of  the  fragment,  supposing 
it  in  its  original  situation,  could  not  have  destroyed  its 
balance,  and  precipitated  it,  with  himself,  from  the  cliff. 
At  the  same  time,  it  appeared  to  have  lain  so  loose,  that 
the  use  of  a  lever,  or  the  combined  strength  of  thi-ee  or 
four  men,  might  easily  have  hurled  it  from  its  position. 
The  short  turf  about  the  brink  of  the  precipice  was  much 
trampled,  as  if  stamped  by  the  heels  of  men  in  a  mortal 


138  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

Struggle,  or  in  the  act  of  some  violent  exertion.  Traces 
of  the  same  kind,  less  visibly  marked,  guided  the  sagacious 
investigator  to  the  verge  of  the  copsewood,  which  in  that 
place  crept  high  up  the  bank  towards  the  top  of  the 
precipice. 

Witli  patience  and  perseverance,  they  traced  tlieso 
marks  into  the  thickest  part  of  the  copse,  a  route  wliich 
no  person  would  have  voluntarily  adopted,  unless  for  the 
purpose  of  concealment.  Here  they  found  plain  vestiges 
of  violence  and  struggling,  from  space  to  space.  Small 
boughs  were  torn  down,  as  if  grasped  by  some  resisting 
wretch,  who  was  dragged  forcibly  along ;  the  gTound, 
wdiere  in  the  least  degree  soft  or  marshy,  showed  the 
print  of  many  feet ;  there  were  vestiges  also,  which 
might  be  those  of  human  blood.  At  any  rate,  it  was 
certain  that  several  persons  must  have  forced  their  pas- 
sage among  the  oaks,  hazels,  and  underwood,  with  which 
they  were  mingled  ;  and  in  some  places  appeared  traces 
as  if  a  sack  full  of  grain,  a  dead  body,  or  something  of 
that  heavy  and  solid  description,  had  been  dragged  along 
the  ground.  In  one  part  of  the  thicket  there  .was  a  small 
swamp,  the  clay  of  which  was  whitish,  being  probably 
mixed  with  marl.  The  back  of  Kennedy's  coat  appeared 
besmeared  with  stains  of  the  same  colour. 

At  length,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  brink  of 
the  fatal  precipice,  the  traces  conducted  them  to  a  small 
open  space  of  ground,  very  much  trampled,  and  plainly 
stained  with  blood,  although  withered  leaves  had  been 
strewed  upon  the  spot,  and  other  means  hastily  taken  to 
efface  the  marks,  which  seemed  obviously  to  have  been 
derived  from  a  desperate  affray.  On  one  side  of  this 
patch  of  open  ground,  was  found  the  sufferer's  naked 
hanger,  which  seemed  to  have   been   thrown   into   ;he 


GUY   MANNERING.  139 

thicket ;  ou  the  other,  the  belt  and  sheath,  wliich  appeared 
to  have  been  hidden  with  more  leisurely  care  and  precau- 
tion. 

The  magistrate  caused  the  foot-prints  which  marked 
this  spot  to  be  carefully  measured  and  examined.  Some 
corresponded  to  the  foot  of  the  unhappy  victim ;  some 
were  larger,  some  less ;  indicating  that  at  least  four  or 
five  men  had  been  busy  around  him.  Above  all,  here, 
and  here  only,  were  observed  the  vestiges  of  a  child's 
foot ;  and  as  it  could  be  seen  nowhere  else,  and  the  hard 
horse-track  which  traversed  the  wood  of  Warroch  was 
contiguous  to  the  spot,  it  was  natural  to  think  that  the 
boy  might  have  escaped  in  that  direction  during  the  con- 
fusion. But  as  he  was  never  heard  of,  the  Sheriff,  who 
made  a  careful  entry  of  all  these  memoranda,  did  not 
suppress  his  opmion  that  the  deceased  had  met  with  foul 
play,  and  that  the  murderers,  whoever  they  were,  had 
possessed  themselves  of  the  person  of  the  cliild  Harry 
Bertram. 

Every  exertion  was  now  made  to  discover  the  crimi- 
nals. Suspicion  hesitated  between  the  smugglers  and 
the  gipsies.  The  fate  of  Dirk  Hatteraick's  vessel  was 
certain.  Two  men  from  the  opposite  side  of  Warroch 
Bay  (so  the  inlet  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Point  of 
Warroch  is  called)  had  seen,  though  at  a  gi-eat  distance, 
the  lugger  drive  eastward,  after  doubhng  the  headland, 
and,  as  they  judged  from  her  manoeuvres,  in  a  disabled 
state.  Shortly  after,  they  perceived  that  she  grounded, 
smoked,  and  finally  took  fire.  She  was,  as  one  of  them 
expressed  himself,  in  a  light  low  (bright  flame)  when  they 
observed  a  king's  ship,  with  her  colours  up,  heave  in  sight 
from  behind  the  cape.  The  guns  of  the  burning  vessel 
discharged  themselves  as  the  fii-e  reached  them ;  and  they 


140  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

saw  her  at  length  blow  up  with  a  great  explosion.  The 
sloop  of  war  kept  aloof  for  her  own  safety  ;  and  after 
hovering  till  the  other  exploded,  stood  away  southward 
under  a  press  of  sail.  The  Sheriff  anxiously  interro- 
gated these  men  whether  any  boats  had  left  the  vesseh 
They  could  not  say — they  had  seen  none — but  they  might 
have  put  off  in  such  a  direction  as  placed  the  burning 
vessel,  and  the  thick  smoke  which  floated  landward  from 
it,  between  their  course  and  the  witnesses'  observation. 

That  the  ship  destroyed  was  Du'k  Hatteraick's,  no  one 
doubted.  His  lugger. was  well  known  on  the  coast,  and 
had  been  expected  just  at  this  time.  A  letter  from  the 
commander  of  the  king's  sloop,  to  whom  the  Sheriff  made 
apphcation,  put  the  matter  beyond  doubt ;  he  sent  also 
an  extract  from  his  log-book  of  the  transactions  of  the 
day,  which  intimated  their  being  on  the  outlook  for  a 
smuggling  lugger,  Du*k  Hatteraick  master,  upon  the  in- 
formation and  requisition  of  Francis  Kennedy,  of  liis 
Majesty's  excise  service ;  and  that  Kennedy  was  to  be 
upon  the  outlook  on  the  shore,  in  case  Hatteraick,  who 
was  known  to  be  a  desperate  fellow,  and  had  been  re- 
peatedly outlawed,  should  attempt  to  run  his  sloop  aground. 
About  nine  o'clock,  a.m.  they  discovered  a  sail,  which 
answered  the  description  of  Hatteraick's  vessel,  chased 
her,  and  after  repeated  signals  to  her  to  show  colours  and 
bring  to,  fired  upon  her.  The  chase  then  showed  Ham- 
burgh colours,  and  returned  the  fire ;  and  a  running  fight 
was  maintained  for  three  hours,  when,  just  as  the  lugger 
was  doubling  the  Point  of  Warroch,  they  observed  that 
the  main-yard  was  shot  in  the  slings,  and  that  the  vessel 
was  disabled.  It  was  not  in  the  power  of  the  man-of 
war's  men  for  some  time  to  profit  by  the  circumstance, 
owing  to  their  having  kept  too  much  in  shore  for  doubling 


GUT   MANNERING.  141 

the  headland.  After  two  tacks,  they  accomplished  this^ 
and  observed  the  chase  on  fii-e,  and  apparently  deserted. 
The  fire  having  reached  some  casks  of  spirits,  which  were 
placed  on  the  deck,  with  other  combustibles,  probably  on 
purpose,  burnt  with  such  fury,  that  no  boats  durst  approach 
the  vessel,  especially  as  her  shotted  guns  were  discharg- 
ing, one  after  another,  by  the  heat.  The  captain  had  no 
doubt  whatever  that  the  crew  had  set  the  vessel  on  fire, 
and  escaped  in  their  boats.  After  watching  the  confla- 
gration till  the  ship  blew  up,  his  Majesty's  sloop,  the 
Shark,  stood  towards  the  Isle  of  Man,  with  the  purpose 
of  intercepting  the  retreat  of  the  smugglers,  who,  though 
they  might  conceal  themselves  in  the  Avoods  for  a  day  or 
two,  would  probably  take  the  first  opportunity  of  endeav- 
ouring to  make  for  this  asylum.  But  they  never  saw 
more  of  them  than  is  above  narrated. 

Such  was  the  account  given  by  "William  Pritchard, 
master  and  commander  of  his  Majesty's  sloop  of  war 
Shark,  who  concluded  by  regretting  deeply  that  he  had 
not  had  the  happiness  to  fall  in  with  the  scoundrels,  who 
had  had  the  impudence  to  fire  on  his  Majesty's  flag,  and 
with  an  assurance,  that,  should  he  meet  Mr.  Dirk  Hatter- 
aick  in  any  future  cruise,  he  would  not  fail  to  bring  him 
into  port  under  his  stern,  to  answer  whatever  might  be 
alleged  against  him. 

As,  therefore,  it  seemed  tolerably  certain  that  the  men 
on  board  the  lugger  had  escaped,  the  death  of  Kennedy, 
if  he  fell  in  with  them  in  the  woods,  when  irritated  by 
the  loss  of  their  vessel,  and  by  the  share  he  had  in  it,  was 
easily  to  be  accounted  for.  And  it  was  not  improbable, 
that  to  such  brutal  tempers,  rendered  desperate  by  their 
own  circumstances,  even  the  murder  of  the  child,  against 
whose  father,  as  having  become  suddenly  active  in  the 


142  WAYEELET   NOVELS. 

prosecution  of  smugglers,  Hatteraick  was  known  to  have 
uttered  deep  tlu^eats,  would  not  appear  a  very  heinous 
crime. 

Against  this  hypothesis  it  was  urged,  that  a  crew  of 
fifteen  or  twenty  men  could  not  have  lain  hidden  upon 
the  coast  when  so  close  a  search  took  place  immediately 
after  the  destruction  of  their  vessel ;  or,  at  least,  that  if 
they  had  hid  themselves  in  the  woods,  their  boats  must 
have  been  seen  on  the  beach ; — that  in  such  precarious 
circumstances,  and  when  all  retreat  must  have  seemed 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  it  was  not  to  be  thought  that 
they  would  have  all  united  to  commit  a  useless  murder, 
for  the  mere  sake  of  revenge.  Those  who  held  this 
opinion  supposed,  either  that  the  boats  of  the  lugger  had 
stood  out  to  sea  without  being  observed  by  those  who 
were  intent  upon  gazing  at  the  burning  vessel,  and  so 
gained  safe  distance  before  the  sloop  got  round  the  head- 
land ;  or  else,  that,  the  boats  being  staved  or  destroyed 
by  the  fire  of  the  shot  during  the  chase,  the  crew  had 
obstinately  determined  to  perish  with  the  vessel.  What 
gave  some  countenance  to  this  supposed  act  of  despera- 
tion was,  that  neither  Dirk  Hatteraick  nor  any  of  his 
sailors,  all  well-known  men  in  the  fah-trade,  were  again 
seen  upon  that  coast,  or  heard  of  in  the  Isle  of  Man, 
where  strict  inquiry  was  made.  On  the  other  hand,  only 
one  dead  body,  apparently  that  of  a  seaman  killed  by  a 
cannon-shot,  drifted  ashore.  So  all  that  could  be  done 
was  to  register  the  names,  description,  and  appearance  of 
the  individuals  belonging  to  the  ship's  company,  and 
offer  a  reward  for  the  apprehension  of  them,  or  any  one 
of  them  ;  extending  also  to  any  person,  not  the  actual 
murderer,  who  should  give  evidence  tending  to  convict 
those  who  had  murthered  Francis  Kennedy. 


GUT   MANNERING.  143 

Another  opinion,  which  was  also  plausibly  supported, 
went  to  charge  this  horrid  crime  upon  the  late  tenants 
of  Derncleugh.  They  were  known  to  have  resented 
highly  the  conduct  of  the  Laird  of  Ellangowan  towards 
them,  and  to  have  used  threatenmg  expressions,  which 
eveiy  one  supposed  them  capable  of  carrying  mto  effect. 
The  kidnapping  the  child  was  a  crime  much  more  con- 
sistent with  theu'  habits  than  with  those  of  smugglers,  and 
his  temporary  guardian  might  have  fallen  in  an  attempt 
to  protect  him.  Besides,  it  was  remembered  that  Ken- 
nedy had  been  an  active  agent,  two  or  three  days  before, 
in  the  forcible  expulsion  of  these  people  from  Derncleugh, 
and  that  harsh  and  menacing  language  had  been  ex- 
changed between  him  and  some  of  the  Egyptian  patri- 
archs on  that  memorable  occasion. 

The  Sheriff  received  also  the  depositions  of  the  unfor- 
tunate father  and  his  servant,  concerning  what  had  passed 
at  their  meeting  the  caravan  of  gipsies,  as  they  left  the 
estate  of  Ellangowan.  The  speech  of  Meg  Merrilies 
seemed  particularly  suspicious.  There  was,  as  the  magis- 
trate observed  in  his  law  language,  damnum  minatum — 
a  damage,  or  evil  turn,  threatened,  and  malum  secutum — 
an  evil  of  the  very  kind  predicted,  shortly  afterwards 
following.  A  young  woman,  who  had  been  gathering 
nuts  in  Warroch  wood  upon  the  fatal  day,  was  also 
strongly  of  opinion,  though  she  declined  to  make  positive 
oath,  that  she  had  seen  Meg  Merrilies,  at  least  a  woman 
of  her  remarkable  size  and  appearance,  start  suddenly  out 
of  a  thicket — she  said  she  had  called  to  her  by  name,  but, 
as  the  figure  turned  from  her,  and  made  no  answer,  she 
was  uncertain  if  it  were  the  gipsy  or  her  wraith,  and  was 
afraid  to  go  nearer  to  one  who  was  always  reckoned,  in 
the  vulgar  phrase,  no  canny.     This  vague  story  received 


144  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

some  corroboration  from  the  circumstance  of  a  fire  being 
that  evening  found  in  the  gips}^s  deserted  cottage.  To 
this  fact  EUangowan  and  his  gardener  bore  evidence. 
Yet  it  seemed  extravagant  to  suppose,  that,  had  this 
woman  been  accessory  to  such  a  dreadful  crime,  she 
would  have  returned  that  very  evening  on  which  it  was 
committed,  to  the  place  of  all  others,  where  she  was  most 
likely  to  be  sought  after. 

Meg  Merrilies  was,  however,  apprehended  and  ex- 
amined. She  denied  strongly  having  been  either  at 
Derncleugh  or  in  the  wood  of  Warroch  upon  the  day 
of  Kennedy's  death;  and  several  of  her  tribe  made  oath 
in  her  behalf,  that  she  had  never  quitted  their  encamp- 
ment, which  was  in  a  glen,  about  ten  miles  distant  from 
Ellangowan.  Their  oaths  were  indeed  little  to  be  trusted 
to ; — ^but  what  other  evidence  could  be  had  in  the  circum- 
stances ?  There  was  one  remarkable  fact,  and  only  one, 
which  arose  from  her  examination.  Her  arm  appeared 
to  be  sHghtly  wounded  by  the  cut  of  a  sharp  weapon,  and 
was  tied  up  with  a  handkercliief  of  Harry  Bertram's. 
But  the  chief  of  the  horde  acknowledged  he  had  "  cor- 
rected her  "  that  day  with  his  whinger — she  herself,  and 
others,  gave  the  same  account  of  her  hurt ;  and  for  the 
handkerchief,  the  quantity  of  linen  stolen  from  Ellan- 
gowan during  the  last  months  of  their  residence  on  the 
estate,  easily  accounted  for  it,  without  charging  Meg  with 
a  more  heinous  crime. 

It  was  observed,  upon  her  examination,  that  she  treated 
tlie  questions  respecting  the  death  of  Kennedy,  or  "  the 
ganger,"  as  she  called  him,  with  indifference ;  but  ex- 
pressed gi'eat  and  emphatic  scorn  and  indignation  at 
being  supposed  capable  of  injuring  little  Haiiy  Beitram. 
She  was  long  confined  in  gaol  under  the  hope  that  some- 


GUT   MANNERING. 


145 


tiling  might  yet  be  discovered  to  throw  light  upon  this 
dark  and  bloody  transaction.  Nothing,  however,  oc- 
curred ;  and  Meg  was  at  length  liberated,  but  under  sen- 
tence of  banishment  from  the  county  as  a  vagrant, 
common  thief,  and  disorderly  person.  No  traces  of  the 
boy  could  ever  be  discovered ;  and,  at  length,  the  story, 
after  making  much  noise,  was  gradually  given  up  as 
altogether  inexplicable,  and  only  perpetuated  by  the 
name  of  "The  Gauger's  Loup,"  which  was  generally 
bestowed  on  the  cliff  from  which  the  unfortunate  man 
had  fallen  or  been  precipitated. 


10 


146  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

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

"Wlnt:eb's  Tale. 

Our  narration  is  now  about  to  make  a  large  stride, 
and  omit  a  space  of  nearly  seventeen  years ;  during  which 
nothing  occurred  of  any  particular  consequence  with  re- 
spect to  the  story  we  have  undertaken  to  tell.  The  gap 
is  a  wide  one;  yet  if  the  reader's  experience  in  life 
enables  him  to  look  back  on  so  many  years,  the  space 
will  scarce  appear  longer  in  his  recollection  than  the  time 
consumed  in  turning  these  pages. 

It  was,  then,  in  the  month  of  November,  about  seven- 
teen years  after  the  catastrophe  related  in  the  last  chap- 
ter, that,  during  a  cold  and  stormy  night,  a  social  group 
had  closed  round  the  kitchen  fire  of  the  Gordon  Arras  at 
Kippletringan,  a  small  but  comfortable  inn,  kept  by  Mrs. 
]VIac-Candlish  in  that  village.  The  conversation  which 
passed  among  them  will  save  me  the  trouble  of  telling 
the  few  events  occurring  during  this  chasm  in  our  history, 
with  which  it  u  necessary  that  the  reader  should  be 
acquainted. 


GUY   MANNERING.  147 

Mrs.  Mao-Catidlisli,  throned'  in  a  comfortable  easy 
chair  lined  with  black  leather,  was  regaling  herself,  and 
a  neighbouring  gossip  or  two,  with  a  cup  of  genuine  tea, 
and  at  the  same  time  keeping  a  sharp  eye  upon  her 
domestics,  as  they  went  and  came  in  prosecution  of  their 
various  duties  and  commissions.  The  clerk  and  precentor 
of  the  parish  enjoyed  at  a  little  distance  his  Saturday 
night's  pipe,  and  aided  its  bland  fumigation  by  an  occa- 
sional sip  of  brandy  and  water.  Deacon  Bearcliff,  a  man 
of  great  importance  in  the  village,  combined  the  in- 
dulgence of  both  parties — he  had  his  pipe  and  his  tea- 
cup, the  latter  being  laced  with  a  little  spirits.  One 
or  two  clowns  sat  at  some  distance,  drinking  their  two- 
penny ale. 

"  Are  ye  sure  the  parlour's  ready  for  them,  and  the  fire 
burning  clear,  and  the  chimney  no  smoking  ?  "  said  the 
hostess  to  a  chambermaid. 

She  was  answered  in  the  affirmative. — "Ane  wadna 
be  uncivil  to  them,  especially  in  their  distress,"  said  she, 
turning  to  the  Deacon. 

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

"  I  dare  say  no,"  said  the  precentor ;  "  for  Miss  Ber- 
tram comes  on  the  white  powny  ill^a  day  to  the  kirk— • 
and  a  constant  kirk -keeper  she  is — and  it's  a  pleasure  to 
hear  her  singing  the  psalms,  winsome  young  thing." 

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


148  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  I  kenna  how  he  may  hke  it  now,"  answered  anothel 
of  the  tea-drinkers ;  "  but  the  day  has  been  when  Ellan- 
gowan  wad  hae  hked  as  Httle  to  see  liis  daughter  taking 
up  with  their  son." 

"Ay,  has  5eew,"  answered  the  first,  with  somewhat  of 
emphasis. 

"  I  am  sure,  neighbour  Ovens,"  said  the  hostess,  "  the 

Hazlewoods  of  Hazlewood,  though  they  are  a  very  gudo 

auld  family  in  the  county,  never  thought,  till  witliin  these 

twa  score  o'  years,  of  evening  themselves  till  the  EUan- 

gowans. — Wow,  woman,  the  Bertrams  of  Ellangowan  are 

the  auld  Dingawaies  lang  syne — there  is  a  sang  about 

ane  o'  them  marrying  a  daughter  of  the  King  of  Man ; 

it  begins, 

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

I  daur  say  IMr.  Skreigh  can  sing  us  the  ballant." 

"  Gudewife,"  said  Ski-eigh,  gathering  up  his  mouth, 
and  sipping  his  tiff  of  brandy  punch  with  great  solemnity, 
"  our  talents  were  gien  us  to  other  use  than  to  sing  daft 
auld  sangs  sae  near  the  Sabbath-day." 

"  Hout  fie,  JSIr.  Skreigh  ;  I'se  warrant  I  hae  heard  you 
sing  a  blythe  sang  on  Saturday  at  e'en  before  now. — But 
as  for  the  chaise,  Deacon,  it  hasna  been  out  of  the  coach- 
house since  INlrs.  Bertram  died,  that's  sixteen  or  seventeen 
years  sin  syne. — Jock  Jabos  is  away  wi'  a  chaise  of  mine 
for  them  ; — I  wonder  he's  no  come  back.  It's  pit  mirk — 
but  there's  no  an  ill  turn  on  the  road  but  twa,  and  the 
brigg  ower  Warroch  burn  is  safe  eneugh,  if  he  haud  to 
the  right  side.  But  then  there's  Heavieside-brae,  that's 
just  a  murder  for  post-cattle — but  Jock  kens  the  road 
brawly." 

A  loud  rapping  was  heard  at  the  door. 


GUr    MANNERING.  149 

"  That's  no  them.  I  didna  hear  the  wheels. — Grizzel, 
yo  hmmer,  gang  to  the  door." 

"  It's  a  smgle  gentleman,"  whined  out  Grizzel ;  "  maun 
I  take  him  into  the  parlour  ?  " 

"  Foul  be  in  your  feet,  then ;  it'll  be  some  English 
rider.  Coming  without  a  servant  at  this  time  o'  night ! — 
Has  the  ostler  ta'en  the  horse  ? — Ye  may  Hght  a  spunk  o* 
fir3  in  the  red  room." 

"  I  wish,  ma'am,"  said  the  traveller,  entering  the 
kitchen,  "  you  would  give  me  leave  to  warm  myself  here, 
for  the  night  is  very  cold." 

His  appearance,  voice,  and  manner,  produced  an  in- 
stantaneous effect  in  his  favour.  He  was  a  handsome, 
tall,  thin  figure,  dressed  in  black,  as  appeared  when  he 
laid  aside  his  riding-coat ;  his  age  might  be  between  forty 
and  fifty  ;  his  cast  of  features  grave  and  interesting,  and 
his  air  somewhat  military.  Every  point  of  his  appear- 
ance and  address  bespoke  the  gentleman.  Long  habit 
had  given  Mrs.  Mac-Candhsh  an  acute  tact  in  ascertain- 
ing the  quality  of  her  visitors,  and  proportioning  her 
reception  accordingly : — 

To  every  guest  the  appropriate  speech  was  made, 

And  every  duty  with  distinction  paid ; 

Respectful,  easy,  pleasant,  or  polite — 

"Your  honour's  servant! — Mister  Smith,  good  night." 

On  the  present  occasion,  she  was  low  in  her  curtsey, 
and  profuse  in  her  apologies.  The  stranger  begged  his 
horse  might  be  attended  to — she  went  out  herself  to 
school  the  ostler. 

"  There  was  never  a  prettier  bit  o'  horse-flesh  in  the 
stable  o'  the  Gordon  Arms,"  said  the  man  ;  which  infor- 
mation increased  the  landlady's  respect  for  the  rider. 
Finding,  on  her  return,  that  the  stranger  decKned  to  go 


150     .  A7AYERLEY    NOVELS. 

into  another  apartment,  (which  indeed,  she  allowed,  would 
be  but  cold  and  smoky  till  the  fii'e  bleezed  up,)  she  in- 
stiilled  her  guest  hospitably  by  the  fii-e-side,  and  offered 
what  refreshment  her  house  afforded. 

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

]Mrs.  Mac-Candlish  bustled  about,  reinforced  her  teapot 
with  hyson,  and  proceeded  in  her  duties  with  her  best 
grace.  "  We  have  a  very  nice  pai'lour,  sir,  and  t  very 
thing  very  agreeable  for  gentlefolks  ;  but  it's  bespoke  the- 
night  for  a  gentleman  and  liis  daughter,  that  are  going  to 
leave  this  part  of  the  country — ane  of  my  chaises  is  gane 
for  them,  and  will  be  back  forthwith.  They're  no  sae 
weel  in  the  warld  as  they  have  been  ;  but  we're  a'  subject 
to  ups  and  downs  in  this  Hfe,  as  your  honour  must  needs 
ken — but  is  not  the  tobacco-reek  disagreeable  to  your 
honour  ?  " 

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

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

''  But  God  help  them  !  "  said  the  landlady,  "  the  morn's 
the  term — the  very  last  day  they  can  bide  in  the  house — ' 
a'  thing's  to  be  roupit." 

"  Weel,  but  they  can  come  at  no  rate,  I  tell  ye — IMr. 
Bertram  canna  be  moved." 

"  What  Mr.  Bertram  ?  "  said  the  stranger ;  "  not  JSIr. 
Bertram  of  Ellangowan,  I  hope  ?  " 

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

"  I  have  been  abroad  for  many  years  ; — is  his  healtk 
so  much  deranged  ?  " 


GUY    MANNEKING.  151 

*'  A  J,  and  his  affairs  an  a',"  said  the  Deacon ;  "  the 
creditors  have  entered  into  possession  o'  the  estate,  and 
it's  for  sale ;  and  some  that  made  the  maist  hj  him — I 
name  uae  names,  but  Mrs.  Mac-Candhsh  kens  wha  I 
mean" — (the  landlady  shook  her  head  significantly) — ■ 
"  they're  sairest  on  him  e'en  now.  I  have  a  sma'  matter 
due  mysell,  but  I  would  rather  have  lost  it  than  gane  to 
tu]"n  the  iiuld  man  out  of  his  house,  and  him  just  dying." 

"  Ay,  but,"  said  the  parish  clerk,  "  Factor  Glossin 
wants  to  get  rid  of  the  auld  Laird,  and  drive  on  the  sale, 
for  fear  the  heir-male  should  cast  up  upon  them ;  for  I 
have  heard  say,  if  there  was  an  heir-male,  they 
couldna  sell  the  estate  for  auld  EUangowan's  debt." 

"  He  had  a  son  born  a  good  many  years  ago,"  said  the 
stranger ;  "  he  is  dead,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Nae  man  can  say  for  that,"  answered  the  clerk,  mys- 
teriously. 

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

"  I  wot  weel  it's  no  twenty  years,"  said  the  landlady  ; 
"  it's  no  abune  seventeen  at  the  outside  in  this  very 
month  ;  it  made  an  unco  noise  ower  a'  this  country — the 
bairn  disappeared  the  very  day  that  Supervisor  Kennedy 
cam  by  his  end. — If  ye  kenn'd  this  country  lang  syne, 
ycur  honour  wad  maybe  ken  Frank  Kennedy  the  Super- 
visor. He  was  a  heartsome  pleasant  man,  and  company 
for  the  best  gentlemen  in  the  county,  and  muckle  mirth 
he's  n:ade  in  this  house.  I  was  young  then,  sh,  and 
newly  married  to  Bailie  Mac-Candlish,  that's  dead  and 
gone — (a  sigh) — and  muckle  fun  I've  had  wi'  the  Super- 
/isor.  He  was  a  daft  dog. — 0,  an  he  could  hae  hauden 
aff  the  smugglers  a  bit !  but  he  was  aye  venturesome.— 


152  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

And  so  ye  see,  sir,  there  was  a  king's  sloop  do^vn  in 
Wigton  bay,  and  Frank  Kennedy,  he  behoved  to  have 
her  up  to  chase  Du-k  Hatteraick's  lugger — ^ye'U  mind 
Dirk  Hatteraick,  Deacon  ?  I  dare  say  ye  may  have  dealt 
wi'  him — (the  Deacon  gave  a  sort  of  acquiescent  nod  and 
humph.)  He  was  a  daring  chield,  and  he  fought  hia 
ship  till  she  blew  up  like  peeHngs  of  ingans ;  and  Frank 
Kennedy  he  had  been  the  first  man  to  board,  and  he  was 
flung  like  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  and  fell  into  the  water 
below  the  rock  at  Warroch  Point,  that  they  ca'  the 
Ganger's  Loup  to  this  day." 

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

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

"  No,  no,"  said  the  Deacon,  "  ye're  clean  out  there, 
Luckie — ^for  the  young  Laird  was  stown  away  by  a  randy 
gipsy  woman  they  ca'd  Meg  Merrilies, — I  mind  her  looks 
weel, — in  revenge  for  EUangowan  having  gar'd  her  be 
drumm'd  through  Kippletringan  for  steaUng  a  silver 
spoon." 

"  If  ye'U  forgie  me.  Deacon,"  said  the  precentor,  "  ye're 
e'en  as  far  wrang  as  the  gudewife." 

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

"  That's  maybe  no  sae  canny  to  tell,"  said  the  precen- 
tor, with  solemnity. 

Upon  being  urged,  however,  to  speak  out,  he  preluded 
with  two  or  three  large  puffs  of  tobacco-smoke,  and  out 
of  the  cloudy  sanctuary  which  these  whiffs  formed  around 
him,  deUvered  the  following  legend,  having  cleared  his 


GUT   MANNERING.  153 

voice  with  one  or  two  hems,  and  imitating,  as  near  as  he 
could,  the  eloquence  which  weekly  thundered  over  his 
head  from  the  pulpit. 

"  What  we  are  now  to  deliver,  my  brethren, — hem — 
hem, — I  mean,  mj  good  friends, — was  not  done  in  a 
corner,  and  may  serve  as  an  answer  to  witch-advocates, 
atheists,  and  misbehevers  of  all  kinds.  Ye  must  know 
that  the  worshipful  Laird  of  Ellangowan  was  not  so 
preceese  as  he  might  have  been  in  clearing  his  land  of 
witches,  (concerning  whom  it  is  said  '  Thou  shalt  not 
suffer  a  witch  to  live,')  nor  of  those  who  had  familiar 
spirits,  and  consulted  with  divination,  and  sorcery,  and 
lots,  which  is  the  fashion  with  the  Egyptians,  as  they  ca' 
themsells,  and  other  unhappy  bodies,  in  this  our  country. 
And  the  Laird  was  three  years  married  without  having  a 
family — and  he  was  sae  left  to  himsell,  that  it  was 
thought  he  held  ower  muckle  troking  and  communing  wi' 
that  Meg  Merrilies,  wha  was  the  maist  notorious  witch 
in  a'  Galloway  and  Dumfries-shire  baith." 

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

"  Aweel,  gudewife,  then  the  less  I  lee. — Sae  the  lady 
was  wi'  bairn  at  last,  and  in  the  night  when  she  should 
have  been  delivered,  there  comes  to  the  door  of  the  ha' 
house — the  Place  of  Ellangowan  as  they  ca'd — an  an- 
cient man,  strangely  habited,  and  asked  for  quarters 
His  head,  and  his  legs,  and  his  arms  were  bare,  although 
it  was  winter  time  o'  the  year,  and  he  had  a  grey  beard 
three  quarters  lang.  Weel,  he  was  admitted  ;  and  when 
the  lady  was  delivered,  he  craved  to  know  the  very  mo- 
ment of  the  hour  of  the  birth,  and  he  went  out  and  con- 
sulted the  stars.     And  when  he  came  back,  he  tell'd  the 


154  -WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Laird,  that  the  Evil  One  would  have  power  over  the  knavo 
bairn  that  was  that  night  born,  and  he  charged  him  that 
the  babe  should  be  bred  up  in  the  ways  of  piety,  and  that 
he  should  aye  hae  a  godly  minister  at  his  elbow,  to  pray 
wi'  the  bairn  and  for  him.  And  the  aged  man  vanished 
away,  and  no  man  of  this  country  ever  saw  mair  o'  him." 

"  Now,  that  will  not  pass,"  said  the  postilion,  who,  at  a 
respectful  distance,  was  listening  to  the  conversation, 
"  begging  ]Mr.  Skreigh's  and  the  company's  pardon, — 
there  was  no  sae  mony  hairs  on  the  warlock's  face  as 
there's  on  Letter-Gae's*  ain  at  this  moment ;  and  he  had 
as  gude  a  pair  o'  boots  as  a  man  need  streik  on  his  legs, 
and  gloves  too  ; — and  I  should  understand  boots  by  this 
time,  I  think." 

«  Whisht,  Jock,"  said  the  landlady. 

"  Ay  ?  and  what  do  ye  ken  o'  the  matter,  friend  Jabos  ?  " 
said  the  precentor,  contemptuously. 

"  No  muckle,  to  be  sure,  ]Mr.  Skreigh — only  that  I 
lived  within  a  penny-stane  cast  o'  the  head  o'  the  avenue 
at  Ellangowan,  when  a  man  cam  jinghng  to  our  door 
that  night  the  young  Laird  was  born,  and  my  mother 
sent  me,  that  was  a  hafilin  callant,  to  show  the  stranger 
the  gate  to  the  Place,  Avhich,  if  he  had  been  sic  a  war- 
lock, he  might  hae  kenn'd  himsell,  ane  wad  think — and 
he  was  a  young,  weel-faured,  weel-dressed  lad,  like  an 
EngUshman.  And  I  tell  ye  he  had  as  gude  a  hat,  and 
boots,  and  gloves,  as  ony  gentleman  need  to  have.  To 
be  sure  he  did  gie  an  awsome  glance  up  at  the  auld  castle 
—and  tliere  ivas  some  spae-wark  gaed  on — I  aye  heard 
that ;  but  as  for  his  vanishing,  I  held  the  stirrup  mysell 
when  he  gaed  away,  and  he  gied  me  a  round  half-crown 

*  The  precentor  is  called  by  Allan  Ramsay, — "  The  Letter-Gae  of 
haly  rhyme." 


GUr   MANNERING.  155 

— ^he  was  riding  on  a  haick  they  ca'd  Souple  Sam — ^it 
belanged  to  the  George  at  Dumfries — it  was  a  blood-bay 
beast,  very  ill  o'  the  spavin — I  hae  seen  the  beast  baith 
before  and  since." 

"  Aweel,  aweel,  Jock,"  answered  Mr.  Sla-eigh,  with  a 
tone  of  mild  solemnity,  "  our  accounts  differ  in  no  material 
particulars  ;  but  I  had  no  knowledge  that  ye  had  seen 
the  man. — So  ye  see,  my  friends,  that  this  soothsayer 
having  prognosticated  evil  to  the  boy,  his  father  engaged 
a  godly  minister  to  be  with  him  morn  and  night." 

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

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

"  Weel,  but,"  said  the  precentor,  waving  his  hand,  as 
if  eager  to  retrieve  the  command  of  the  discourse,  "  he 
waited  on  the  young  Laird  by  night  and  day.  Now  it 
chanced,  when  the  bairn  was  near  five  years  auld,  that 
the  Laird  had  a  sight  of  his  errors,  and  determined  to 
put  these  Egyptians  aff  his  ground ;  and  he  caused  them 
to  remove ;  and  that  Frank  Kennedy,  that  was  a  rough 
swearing  fellow,  he  was  sent  to  turn  them  off.  And  he 
cursed  and  damned  at  them,  and  they  swure  at  him  ;  and 
that  Meg  MerriUes,  that  was  the  maist  powerfu'  with  tho 
Enemy  of  Mankind,  she  as  gude  as  said  she  would  have 
him,  body  and  soul,  before  three  days  were  ower  his 
head.  And  I  have  it  from  a  sure  hand,  and  that's  ane 
wha  saw  it,  and  that's  John  Wilson  that  was  the  Laird's 
gi'oom,  that  Meg  appeared  to  the  Laird  as  he  was  riding 
hame  from  Singleside,  over  Gibbie's-know,  and  threatened 
him  wi'  what  she  wad  do  to  his  family ;  but  whether  it 


156  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

was  Meg,  or  something  waur  in  her  Hkeness,  for  it 
seemed  bigger  than  ony  mortal  creature,  John  could  not 
say." 

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

"  And  what  was  the  end  of  all  this  ?  "  said  the  stranger, 
with  some  impatience. 

"  Ou,  the  event  and  upshot  of  it  was,  sir,"  said  the 
precentor,  "  that  while  they  were  all  looking  on,  behold- 
ing a  king's  ship  chase  a  smuggler,  this  Kennedy  sud- 
denly brake  away  frae  them,  without  ony  reason  that 
could  be  descried — ropes  nor  tows  wad  not  hae  held 
him— and  made  for  the  wood  of  Warroch  as  fast  as  his 
beast  could  carry  him  ;  and  by  the  way  he  met  the  young 
Laird  and  his  governor,  and  he  snatched  up  the  bairn, 
and  swure,  if  he  was  bewitched,  the  baim  should  have 
the  same  luck  as  him ;  and  the  minister  followed  as  fast 
as  he  could,  and  almaist  as  fast  as  them,  for  he  was  won- 
derfully swift  of  foot — and  he  saw  Meg  the  witch,  or  her 
master  in  her  similitude,  rise  suddenly  out  of  the  ground, 
and  claught  the  baim  suddenly  out  of  the  ganger's  arms 
— and  then  he  rampauged  and  drew  his  sword — for  ye 
ken  a  fie  man  and  a  cusser  fearsna  the  deil." 

"  I  beheve  that's  very  true,"  said  the  postihon. 

"  So,  sir,  she  grippit  him,  and  clodded  him  hke  a  stane 
from  the  shng  ower  the  craigs  of  Warroch-head,  where 
he  was  found  that  evening — but  what  became  of  the 
babe,  frankly  I  cannot  say.  But  he  that  was  minister 
here  then,  that's  now  in  a  better  place,  had  an  opinion 
that  the  bairn  was  only  conveyed  to  Fairy -land  for  a 
Beason  " 


GUT    MANNERING.  157 

The  stranger  had  smiled  slightly  at  some  parts  of  this 
recital,  but  ere  he  could  answer,  the  clatter  of  a  horse's 
hoofs  was  heard,  and  a  smart  servant,  handsomely  dressed, 
with  a  cockade  in  his  hat,  bustled  into  the  kitchen,  with 
"  Make  a  little  room,  good  people  ; "  when,  observing  the 
stranger,  he  descended  at  once  into  the  modest  and  c\\  il 
domestic,  his  hat  sunk  down  by  his  side,  and  he  put  a 
letter  into  his  master's  hands.  "  The  family  at  Ellango- 
wan,  sir,  are  in  great  distress,  and  unable  to  receive  any 
visits." 

"  I  know  it,"  replied  his  master. — "  And  now,  madam, 
if  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  allow  me  to  occupy  the 
parlour^you  mentioned,  as  you  are  disappointed  of  your 
guests  " 

"  Certainly,  sir,"  said  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish,  and  hastened 
to  light  the  way  with  all  the  imperative  bustle  which  an 
active  landlady  loves  to  display  on  such  occasions. 

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

"  Not  a  feather,  sir, — thank  ye — your  very  good  health, 
sir." 

"  And  wha  may  your  master  be,  friend  ?  " 

"  What,  the  gentleman  that  was  here  ? — ^that's  the 
famous  Colonel  Mannering,  sir,  from  the  East  Indies." 

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

"  Ay,  ay,  just  the  same.  It  was  he  reheved  Cuddie- 
burn,  and  defended  Chingalore,  and  defeated  the  greao 
Mahratta  Chief,  Ram  Jolli  Bundleman — I  was  with  him 
in  most  of  his  campaigns." 

"  Lord  safe  us,"  said  the  landlady,  "  I  must  go  see 
what  he  would  have  for  supper — that  I  should  set  him 
down  here  ! " 

"  0,  he  likes  that  all  the  better,  mother  ; — ^you  never 


158 


WAYERLEY    NOVELS. 


saw  a  plainei*  creature  in  your  life  than  our  old  Colonel } 
and  yet  he  has  a  spice  of  the  devil  in  him  too." 

The  rest  of  the  evening's  conven'^.tion  below  stairs 
tending  httle  to  edification,  we  shaU  'vitt  *^e  reader's 
leave,  step  up  to  the  pai-lour. 


GUT   MANNERING.  159 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

■ Reputation? that's  man's  idol 

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

Is  valour  too. 

Ben  Jonson. 

The  Colonel  was  walking  pensively  up  and  down  the 
parlour,  when  the  officious  landlady  re-entered  to  take 
his  commands.  Having  given  them  in  the  manner  he 
thought  would  be  most  acceptable  "  for  the  good  of  the 
house,"  he  begged  to  detain  her  a  moment. 

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

"  O  ay,  sir,  there's  nae  doubt  o'  that,  though  there  ai'e 
mony  idle  clashes  about  the  way  and  manner ;  for  it's 
an  auld  story  now,  and  everybody  tells  it,  as  we  were 
doing,  their  ain  way  by  the  ingleside.  But  lost  the  bairn 
was  in  his  fifth  year,  as  your  honour  says.  Colonel ;  and 
the  news  being  rashly  tell'd  to  the  leddy,  then  great  with 
child,  cost  her  her  life  that  samyn  night — and  the  Laird 
never  throve  after  that  day,  but  was  just  careless  of  every 
thing — though,  when  his  daughter  Miss  Lucy  grew  up, 
she  tried  to  keep  order  within  doors — but  what  could 


160  TVAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

she  do,  poor  thing  ? — so  now  they're  out  of  house  and 
hauld." 

"  Can  you  recollect,  madam,  about  what  time  of  the 
year  the  child  was  lost  ?  "  The  landlady,  after  a  pause, 
and  some  recollection,  answered,  "  she  was  positive  it  was 
about  this  season  ;  "  and  added  some  local  recollections 
that  fixed  the  date  in  her  memory,  as  occurring  about  the 
beginning  of  November,  17 — . 

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

"  Did  I  rightly  apprehend,"  he  said,  "  that  the  estate 
of  EUangowan  is  in  the  market  ?  " 

"  In  the  market  ? — ^it  will  be  sell'd  the  morn  to  the 
highest  bidder — that's  no  the  morn,  Lord  help  me  !  which 
is  the  Sabbath,  but  on  Monday,  the  first  free  day  ;  and 
the  furniture  and  stocking  is  to  be  roupit  at  the  same 
time  on  the  ground.  It's  the  oj^inion  of  the  haill  country, 
that  the  sale  has  been  shamefully  forced  on  at  this  time, 
when  there's  sae  Uttle  money  stirring  in  Scotland  wi'  this 
weary  American  war,  that  somebody  may  get  the  land  a 
bargain — Deil  be  in  them,  that  I  should  say  sae !  " — the 
good  lady's  wrath  rising  at  the  supposed  injustice. 

"  And  where  will  the  sale  take  place  ?  " 

"  On  the  premises,  as  the  advertisement  says — that's  at 
the  house  of  EUangowan,  your  honour,  as  I  understand 
it." 

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

"  A  very  decent  man,  sir ;  the  Sherifi'-substitute  of  the 
county,  who  has  authority  from  the  Court  of  Session. 
He's  in  the  town  just  now,  if  your  honour  would  like  to 
see  him ;  and  he  can  tell  you  mair  about  the  loss  of  the 
bairn  than   onybody,   for  the  Sheriff-depute   (that's    his 


GUY   MANNERING.  161 

principal,  like)  took  mucli  pains  to  come  at  the  truth  o' 
that  matter,  as  I  have  heard." 

"  And  this  gentleman's  name  is  " 

"  Mac-Morlan,  sir, — he's  a  man  o'  character,  and  weel 
Bpoken  o'." 

"  Send  my  comphments — Colonel  Mannering's  com- 
pliments to  him,  and  I  would  be  glad  he  would  do  me  the 
pleasure  of  supping  with  me,  and  bring  these  papers  with 
him — and  I  beg,  good  madam,  you  will  say  nothing  of 
this  to  any  one  else." 

"Me,  sir?  ne'er  a  word  shall  I  say — I  wish  your 
honour  (a  curtsey),  or  ony  honourable  gentleman  that's 
fought  for  his  country  (another  curtsey),  had  the  land, 
since  the  auld  family  maun  quit  (a  sigh),  rather  than  that 
wily  scoundrel,  Glossin,  that's  risen  on  the  ruin  of  the 
best  friend  he  ever  had — and  now  I  think  on't,  I'll  shp 
on  my  hood  and  pattens,  and  gang  to  Mr.  Mac-Morlan 
mysell — he's  at  hame  e'en  now — its  hardly  a  step." 

"  Do  so,  my  good  landlady,  and  many  thanks — and 
bid  my  servant  step  here  with  my  portfoHo  in  the  mean- 
time." 

In  a  minute  or  two,  Colonel  Mannering  was  quietly 
seated  with  his  writing  materials  before  him.  We  have 
the  privilege  of  looking  over  his  shoulder  as  he  wiites, 
and  we  willingly  communicate  its  substance  to  our  readers. 
The  letter  was  addressed  to  Arthur  Mervyn,  Esq.  of 
Mervyn-Hall,  Llanbraithwaite,  Westmoreland.  It  con- 
tained some  account  of  the  writer's  previous  journey  since 
parting  with  him,  and  then  proceeded  as  follows  : — 

"  And  now,  why  will  you  still  upbraid  me  with  my 
melancholy,  Mervyn  ? — Do  you  think,  after  the  lapse  of 
twenty-five  years,  battles,  wounds,  imprisonment,  misfor- 
times  of  every  description,  I  can  be  still  the  same  Hvely, 

VOL.  in.  11 


162  "VVAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

unbroken  Guy  Mannering,  who  climbed  Skiddaw  with 
you,  or  shot  grouse  upon  Crossfell  ?  That  you,  who  have 
remained  in  the  bosom  of  domestic  happiness,  experience 
little  change,  that  your  step  is  as  light,  and  youi*  fancy  as 
full  of  sunshine,  is  a  blessed  effect  of  health  and  temper- 
ament, co-operating  with  content,  and  a  smooth  current 
down  the  course  of  life.  But  my  cai^eer  has  been  one  of 
difficulties,  and  doubts,  and  errors.  From  my  infancy  I 
ha^  e  been  the  sport  of  accident,  and  though  the  wind  has 
often  borne  me  into  harbour,  it  has  seldom  been  into  that 
which  the  pilot  destined.  Let  me  recall  to  you — but  the 
task  must  be  brief — the  odd  and  wayward  fates  of  my 
youth,  and  the  misfortunes  of  my  manhood. 

"  The  former,  you  will  say,  had  nothing  very  appalling. 
All  was  not  for  the  best;  but  all  was  tolerable.  My 
father,  the  eldest  son  of  an  ancient  but  reduced  family, 
left  me  with  httle,  save  the  name  of  the  head  of  the 
house,  to  the  protection  of  his  more  fortunate  brothers. 
They  were  so  fond  of  me  that  they  almost  quarrelled 
about  me.  My  uncle,  the  bishop,  would  have  had  me  la 
orders,  and  offered  me  a  living — my  uncle,  the  merchant, 
would  have  put  me  into  a  counting-house,  and  proposed 
to  give  me  a  share  in  the  thriving  concern  of  Mannering 
and  Marshall,  in  Lombard  Street.  So  between  these  two 
stools,  or  rather  these  two  soft,  easy,  well-stuffed  chairs 
of  divinity  and  commerce,  my  unfortunate  person  slipped 
down,  and  pitched  upon  a  dragoon  saddle.  Again,  the 
bishop  wished  me  to  marry  the  niece  and  heiress  of  the 
Dean  of  Lincoln  ;  and  my  uncle,  the  alderman,  proposed 
to  me  the  only  daughter  of  old  Sloethorn,  the  great  wine- 
merchant,  rich  enough  to  play  at  span-counter  with  moi- 
dores,  and  make  tlu-ead-papers  of  bank  notes — and  some- 
how I  shpped  my  neck  out  of  both  nooses,  and  married- 
poor — ^poor  Sophia  Wellwood. 


GUY   MANNEBING.  163 

"  You  will  saj,  my  military  career  in  India,  wlien  I 
followed  my  regiment  there,  should  have  given  me  some 
satisfaction  ;  and  so  it  assuredly  has.  You  will  remind 
me  also,  that  if  I  disappointed  the  hopes  of  my  guardians^ 
I  did  not  incur  their  displeasure  ;  that  the  bishop,  at  his 
death,  bequeathed  me  his  blessing,  his  manuscript  ser- 
mons, and  a  curious  portfolio,  containing  the  heads  of 
emhient  divines  of  the  church  of  England  ;  and  that  my 
uncle,  Sir  Paul  Mannering,  left  me  sole  heir  and  executor 
to  his  large  fortune.  Yet  this  availeth  me  nothing:  I 
told  you  I  had  that  upon  my  mind  which  I  should  carry 
to  my  grave  with  me — a  perpetual  aloes  in  the  draught 
of  existence.  I  will  tell  you  the  cause  more  in  detail 
than  I  had  the  heart  to  do  while  under  your  hospitable 
roof  You  will  often  hear  it  mentioned,  and  perhaps  with 
different  and  unfounded  circumstances.  I  will  therefore 
speak  it  out ;  and  then  let  the  event  itself,  and  the  senti- 
ments of  melancholy  with  which  it  has  impressed  me, 
never  again  be  subject  of  discussion  between  us. 

"  Sophia,  as  you  well  know,  followed  me  to  India. 
She  was  as  innocent  as  gay ;  but,  unfortunately  for  us 
both,  as  gay  as  innocent.  My  own  manners  were  partly 
formed  by  studies  I  had  forsaken,  and  habits  of  seclusion, 
not  quite  consistent  with  my  situation  as  commandant  of 
a  regiment  in  a  country  where  universal  hospitality  is 
ofiered  and  expected  by  every  settler  claiming  the  rank 
of  a  gentleman.  In  a  moment  of  peculiar  pressure,  (you 
know  how  hard  we  were  sometimes  run  to  obtain  white 
faces  to  countenance  our  line-of-battle,)  a  young  man, 
named  Brown,  joined  our  regiment  as  a  volunteer, — and 
finding  the  military  duty  more  to  his  fancy  than  com- 
merce, in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  remained  with  us 
as  a  cadet.      Let  me  do  my  unhappy  victim  justice — 


164  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

he  behaved  with  such  gallantry  on  every  occasion  that 
offered,  that  the  first  vacant  commission  was  considered 
as  his  due.  I  was  absent  for  some  weeks  upon  a  distant 
expedition ;  when  I  returned,  I  found  this  young  fellow 
estabhshed  quite  as  the  friend  of  the  house,  and  habitual 
attendant  of  my  wife  and  daughter.  It  was  an  arrange- 
ment which  displeased  me  in  many  particulars,  though  no 
objection  could  be  made  to  his  manners  or  character.  Yet 
I  might  have  been  reconciled  to  his  familiarity  in  my 
family,  but  for  the  suggestions  of  another.  If  you  read 
over — what  I  never  dare  open — the  play  of  Othello,  you 
will  have  some  idea  of  what  followed — I  mean,  of  my 
motives :  my  actions,  thank  God !  were  less  reprehensible. 
There  was  another  cadet  ambitious  of  the  vacant  situa- 
tion. He  called  my  attention  to  what  he  led  me  to  term 
coquetry  between  my  wife  and  this  young  man.  Sophia 
was  virtuous,  but  proud  of  her  virtue ;  and,  irritated  by 
my  jealousy,  she  was  so  imprudent  as  to  press  and  en- 
courage an  intimacy  which  she  saw  I  disapproved  and 
regarded  with  suspicion.  Between  Brown  and  me  there 
existed  a  sort  of  internal  dislike.  He  made  an  effort  or 
two  to  overcome  my  prejudice ;  but,  prepossessed  as  I 
was,  I  placed  them  to  a  wrong  motive.  Feeling  himself 
repulsed,  and  with  scorn,  he  desisted ;  and  as  he  was 
without  family  and  friends,  he  was  naturally  more  watch- 
ful of  the  deportment  of  one  who  had  both. 

"  It  is  odd  with  what  torture  I  write  this  letter.  I  feel 
inclined,  nevertheless,  to  protract  the  operai^ion,  just  as 
if  my  doing  so  could  put  off  the  catastrophe  which  lias  so 

long  embittered  my  life.     But it  must  be  told,  and  it 

shall  be  told  briefly. 

"  My  wife,  though  no  longer  young,  was  still  eminently 
handsome,  and — let  me  say  thus  far  in  my  own  justifica- 


GUY   MANNERING.  165 

taon — she  was  fond  of  being  thought  so — ^I  am  repeating 
what  I  said  before. — In  a  word,  of  her  virtue  I  never 
entertained  a  doubt ;  but,  pushed  by  the  artful  suggestions 
of  Archer,  I  thought  she  cared  httle  for  my  peace  of 
mind,  and  that  the  young  fellow,  Brown,  paid  his  atten- 
tions in  my  despite,  and  in  defiance  of  me.  He  perhaps 
considered  me,  on  his  part,  as  an  oppressive  aristocratic 
man,  \^ho  made  my  rank  in  society,  and  in  the  army,  the 
means  of  galling  those  whom  circumstances  placed  be- 
neath me.  And  if  he  discovered  my  silly  jealousy,  he 
probably  considered  the  fretting  me  in  that  sore  point  of 
my  character,  as  one  means  of  avenging  the  petty  indig- 
nities to  which  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  subject  him.  Yet 
an  acute  friend  of  mine  gave  a  more  harmless,  or  at  least 
a  less  offensive,  construction  to  his  attentions,  which  he 
conceived  to  be  meant  for  my  daughter  Julia,  though 
immediately  addressed  to  propitiate  the  influence  of  her 
mother.  This  could  have  been  no  very  flattering  or 
pleasing  enterprise  on  the  part  of  an  obscure  and  name- 
less young  man ;  but  I  should  not  have  been  offended  at 
this  folly,  as  I  was  at  the  higher  degree  of  presumption  I 
suspected.  Offended,  however,  I  was,  and  in  a  mortal 
degree. 

"  A  very  slight  spark  will  kindle  a  flame  where  every 
thing  lies  open  to  catch  it.  I  have  absolutely  forgot  the 
proximate  cause  of  quarrel,  but  it  was  some  trifle  which 
occurred  at  the  card-table,  which  occasioned  high  words 
and  a  challenge.  We  met  in  the  morning  beyond  the 
walls  and  esplanade  of  the  fortress  which  I  then  com- 
manded, on  the  frontiers  of  the  settlement.  This  was 
arranged  for  Brown's  safety,  had  he  escaped.  I  almost 
wish  he  had,  though  at  my  own  expense ;  but  he  fell  by 
the  first  fire.    We  strove  to  assist  him ;  but  some  of  these 


166  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Looties,  a  species  of  native  banditti  who  were  always  on 
the  watch  for  prey,  poured  in  upon  us.  Archer  and  I 
gained  our  horses  with  difficulty,  and  cut  our  way  througli 
them  after  a  hard  conflict,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
received  some  desperate  wounds.  To  complete  the  mis- 
fortunes of  this  miserable  day,  my  wife,  who  suspected 
the  design  with  which  I  left  the  fortress,  had  ordered  her 
palanquin  to  follow  me,  and  was  alarmed  and  almost  made 
prisoner  by  another  troop  of  these  plunderers.  She  was 
quickly  released  by  a  party  of  our  cavalry ;  but  I  cannot 
disguise  from  myself,  that  the  incidents  of  this  fatal  morn- 
ing gave  a  severe  shock  to  health  already  delicate.  The 
confession  of  Ai'cher,  who  thought  himself  dying,  that  he 
had  invented  some  circumstances,  and,  for  his  purposes, 
put  the  worst  construction  upon  others,  and  the  full 
explanation  and  exchange  of  forgiveness  with  me  which 
this  produced,  could  not  check  the  progress  of  her  dis- 
order. She  died  within  about  eight  months  after  this 
incident,  bequeathing  me  only  the  girl,  of  whom  Mrs. 
Mervyn  is  so  good  as  to  undertake  the  temporary  charge. 
Julia  was  also  extremely  ill ;  so  much  so,  that  I  was  in- 
duced to  throw  up  my  command  and  return  to  Europe, 
where  her  native  air,  time,  and  the  novelty  of  the  scenes 
around  her,  have  contributed  to  dissipate  her  dejection, 
and  restore  her  health. 

"  Now  that  you  know  my  story,  you  will  no  longer  ask 
me  the  reason  of  my  melancholy,  but  permit  me  to  brood 
upon  it  as  I  may.  There  is,  surely,  in  the  above  narra- 
tive, enough  to  embitter,  though  not  to  poison,  the  chalice, 
which  the  fortune  and  fame  you  so  often  mention  had 
prepared  to  regale  my  years  of  retirement. 

"  I  could  add  circumstances  which  our  old  tutor  would 
have  quoted  as   instances  of  day  fatality, — you  would 


GUY   MANNERING.  167 

laugh  were  I  to  mention  such  particulars,  especially  as 
you  know  I  put  no  faith  in  them.  Yet,  since  I  have 
come  to  the  very  house  from  which  I  now  write,  I  have 
learned  a  singular  coincidence,  which,  if  I  find  it  truly 
established  by  tolerable  evidence,  will  serve  us  hereafter 
for  subject  of  curious  discussion.  But  I  will  spare  you  at 
present,  as  I  expect  a  person  to  speak  about  a  purchase 
of  property  now  open  in  this  part  of  the  country.  It  is  a 
place  to  which  I  have  a  foolish  partiality,  and  I  hope  my 
purchasing  may  be  convenient  to  those  who  are  parting 
with  it,  as  there  is  a  plan  for  buying  it  under  the  value. 
My  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs.  Mervyn,  and  I  will 
trust  you,  though  you  boast  to  be  so  lively  a  young 
gentleman,  to  kiss  Julia  for  me. — Adieu,  dear  Mervyn. — 
Thine  ever,  .  "  Gut  Mannering." 

Mr.  Mac-Morlan  now  entered  the  room.  The  well- 
known  character  of  Colonel  Mannering  at  once  disposed 
this  gentleman,  who  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and  probity, 
to  be  open  and  confidential.  He  explained  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  the  property.  "  It  was  settled,"  he 
said,  "  the  greater  part  of  it  at  least,  upon  heirs-male,  and 
the  purchaser  would  have  the  privilege  of  retaining  in  his 
hands  a  large  proportion  of  the  price,  in  case  of  the  re- 
appearance, within  a  certain  Hmited  term,  of  the  cliild 
who  had  disappeared." 

"■'  To  what  purpose,  then,  force  forward  a  sale  ?  "  said 
Mannering. 

Mac-Morlan  smiled.  "  Ostensibly,"  he  answered,  "to 
substitute  the  interest  of  money,  instead  of  the  ill-paid 
and  precarious  rents  of  an  unimproved  estate  ;  but  chiefly. 
It  was  believed,  to  suit  the  wishes  and  views  of  a  certain 
intended  purchaser,  who  had  become  a  principal  creditor. 


168  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

and  forced  himself  into  the  management  of  the  affairs  by 
means  best  known  to  himself,  and  who,  it  was  thought, 
would  find  it  verj  convenient  to  purchase  the  estate 
without  paying  down  the  price." 

Mannering  consulted  with  Mr.  Mac-Morlan  upon  the 
steps  for  thwarting  this  unprincipled  attempt.  They  theo 
conversed  long  on  the  singular  disappeai'ance  of  Harry 
Bertram  upon  his  fifth  birth-day,  verifying  thus  the 
random  prediction  of  Mannering,  of  which,  however,  it 
will  readily  be  supposed  he  made  no  boast.  Mr.  Mac- 
Morlan  was  not  himself  in  office  when  that  incident 
took  place;  but  he  was  well  acquainted  with  all  the 
circumstances,  and  promised  that  our  hero  should  have 
them  detailed  by  the  sheriff-depute  himself,  if,  as  he 
proposed,  he  should  become  a  settler  in  that  part  of 
Scotland.  With  this  assurance  they  parted,  well  satis- 
fied with  each  other,  and  with  the  evening's  conference. 

On  the  Sunday  following.  Colonel  Mannering  attended 
the  parish  church  with  great  decorum.  None  of  the 
Ellangowan  family  were  present ;  and  it  was  understood 
that  the  old  Laird  was  rather  worse  than  better.  Jock 
Jabos,  once  more  dispatched  for  him,  returned  once  more 
without  his  errand;  but,  on  the  following  day,  Miss 
Bertram  hoped  he  might  be  removed. 


GUY   MANNERING.  169 


CHAPTER  Xm. 

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

Otwat. 

Early  next  morning,  Mannering  mounted  his  horse, 
and  accompanied  by  his  servant,  took  the  road  to  Ellan- 
gowan.  He  had  no  need  to  inquire  the  way.  A  sale 
in  the  country  is  a  place  of  public  resort  and  amusement, 
and  people  of  various  descriptions  streamed  to  it  from  all 
quarters. 

After  a  pleasant  ride  of  about  an  hour,  the  old  towers 
of  the  ruin  presented  themselves  in  the  landscape.  The 
thoughts,  with  what  different  feelings  he  had  lost  sight  of 
them  so  many  years  before,  thronged  upon  the  mind  of 
the  traveller.  The  landscape  was  the  same;  but  how 
changed  the  feelings,  hopes,  and  views,  of  the  spectator  I 
Then,  Ufe  and  love  were  new,  and  all  the  prospect  waa 
gilded  by  their  rays.  And  now,  disappointed  in  affection, 
sated  with  fame,  and  what  the  world  calls  success,  his 
mind  goaded  by  'bitter  and  repentant  recollection,  his  best 
hope  was  to  find  a  retirement  in  which  he  might  nurso 
the  melancholy  that  was  to  accompany  him  to  his  grave. 


170  WA^EKLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Yet  why  should  an  individual  mourn  over  the  instability 
of  his  hopes,  and  the  vanity  of  his  prospects?  The 
ancient  chiefs,  who  erected  these  enormous  and  massive 
towers  to  be  the  fortress  of  their  race,  and  the  seat  of 
their  power, — could  they  have  dreamed  the  day  was  to 
come,  when  the  last  of  their  descendants  should  be  ex- 
pelled, a  ruined  wanderer,  from  his  possessions!  But 
Nature's  bounties  are  unaltered.  The  sun  will  shine"  as 
fair  on  these  ruins,  whether  the  property  of  a  stranger,  or 
of  a  sordid  and  obscure  trickster  of  the  abused  law,  as 
when  the  banners  of  the  founder  fii*st  waved  upon  their 
battlements." 

These  reflections  brought  Mannering  to  the  door  of  the 
house,  which  was  that  day  open  to  all.  He  entered 
among  others,  who  traversed  the  apartments — some  to 
select  articles  for  purchase,  others  to  gratify  theii'  curi- 
osity. There  is  somethmg  melancholy  in  such  a  scene, 
even  under  the  most  favourable  cii'cumstances.  The  con- 
fused state  of  the  furniture,  displaced  for  the  convenience 
of  being  easily  viewed  and  carried  off  by  the  purchasers, 
is  disagreeable  to  the  eye.  Those  articles  which,  prop- 
erly and  decently  arranged,  look  creditable  and  handsome, 
have  then  a  paltry  and  wretched  appearance ;  and  the 
apartments,  stripped  of  all  that  render  them  commodious 
and  comfortable,  have  an  aspect  of  ruin  and  dilapidation. 
It  is  disgusting,  also,  to  see  the  scenes  of  domestic  society 
and  seclusion  thrown  open  to  the  gaze  of  the  curious  and 
the  vulgar ;  to  hear  their  coarse  speculations  and  brutal 
jests  upon  the  fashions  and  furniture  to  which  they  are 
unaccustomed, — a  froHcsome  humour,  much  cherished  by 
the  whisky  which  in  Scotland  is  always  put  in  circulation 
on  such  occasions.  All  these  are  ordinary  effects  of  such 
a  scene  as  EUangowan   now  presented;  but  the  moral 


GUY   MANNEKINa.  171 

feeling,  that,  in  this  case,  thej  indicated  the  total  ruin  ot 
an  ancient  and  honourable  family,  gave  them  treble  weight 
and  poignancy. 

It  was  some  time  before  Colonel  Mannering  could  find 
any  one  disposed  to  answer  his  reitei-ated  questions  con- 
cerning Ellangowan  himself.  At  length,  an  old  maid- 
Bervant,  who  held  her  apron  to  her  eyes  as  she  spoke, 
told  him,  "the  Laird  was  something  better,  and  they 
hoped  he  would  be  able  to  leave  the  house  thai  day. 
Miss  Lucy  expected  the  chaise  every  moment,  and,  as 
the  day  was  fine  for  the  time  o'  year,  they  had  carried 
him  in  his  easy  chair  up  to  the  green  before  the  auld 
castle,  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  this  unco  spectacle." 
Thither  Colonel  Mannering  went  in  quest  of  him,  and 
soon  came  in  sight  of  the  little  group,  which  consisted  of 
four  persons.  The  ascent  was  steep,  so  that  he  had  time 
to  reconnoitre  them  as  he  advanced,  and  to  consider  in 
what  mode  he  should  make  his  address. 

Mr.  Bertram,  paralytic,  and  almost  incapable  of 
moving,  occupied  his  easy  chair,  attired  m  his  night- 
cap, and  a  loose  camlet  coat,  his  feet  wrapped  in  blan- 
kets. Behind  him,  with  his  hands  crossed  on  the  cane 
upon  which  he  rested,  stood  Dominie  Sampson,  whom 
Mannering  recognised  at  once.  Time  had  made  no 
change  upon  him,  unless  that  his  black  coat  seemed  more 
brown,  and  his  gaunt  cheeks  more  lank,  than  when  Dilan- 
nering  last  saw  him.  On  one  side  of  the  old  man  was  a 
sylph  hke  form — a  young  woman  of  about  seventeen, 
whom  the  Colonel  accounted  to  be  his  daughter.  She 
was  looking,  from  time  to  time,  anxiously  towards  the 
avenue,  as  if  expecting  a  post-chaise ;  and  between  whiles 
busied  herself  in  adjusting  the  blankets,  so  as  to  protect 
her  father  from  the   cold,  and  in  answering   inquiries, 


172  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

which  he  seemed  to  make  with  a  captious  and  querulous 
manner.  She  did  not  trust  herself  to  look  towards  tlio 
Place,  although  the  hum  of  the  assembled  crowd  must 
have  drawn  her  attention  in  that  direction.  The  fourth 
person  of  the  group  was  a  handsome  and  genteel  joung 
man,  who  seemed  to  share  Miss  Bertram's  anxiety,  and 
her  solicitude  to  soothe  and  accommodate  her  parent. 

This  young  man  was  the  first  who  observed  Colonel 
Mannering,  and  immediately  stepped  forward  to  meet 
him,  as  if  politely  to  prevent  his  drawing  nearer  to  the 
distressed  group.  Mannering  instantly  paused,  and  ex- 
plained. "  He  was,"  he  said,  "  a  stranger,  to  whom  Mr. 
Bertram  had  formerly  sho^\Ti  kindness  and  hospitahty ; 
he  would  not  have  intruded  himself  upon  him  at  a  period 
of  distress,  did  it  not  seem  to  be  in  some  degree  a  moment 
also  of  desertion ;  he  wished  merely  to  offer  such  services 
as  might  be  in  his  power  to  Mr.  Bertram  and  the  young 
lady." 

He  then  paused  at  a  little  distance  from  the  chair. 
His  old  acquaintance  gazed  at  him  with  lack-lustre  eye, 
that  intimated  no  tokens  of  recognition — the  Dominie 
seemed  too  deeply  sunk  in  distress  even  to  observe  his 
presence.  The  young  man  spoke  aside  with  IVIiss  Ber- 
tram, who  advanced  timidly,  and  thanked  Colonel  Man- 
nering for  his  goodness;  "but,"  she  said,  the  tejirs 
gushing  fast  into  her  eyes ;  "  her  father,  she  feared,  was 
n()t  so  much  himself  as  to  be  able  to  remember  him." 

She  then  retreated  towards  the  chair,  accompanied  by 
the  Colonel. — "  Father,"  she  said,  "  this  is  Mr.  Manner- 
ing, an  old  friend,  come  to  inquire  after  you." 

"  He's  very  heartily  welcome,"  said  the  old  man,  rais- 
ing himself  in  his  chair,  and  attempting  a  gesture  of 
courtesy,  wliile  a  gleam  of  hospitable  satisfaction  seemed 


GUY   MANNERING.  173 

to  pass  o\  er  his  faded  features. — "  But,  Lucy,  my  dear, 
let  us  go  down  to  the  house  ;  you  should  not  keep  the 
gentleman  here  in  the  cold, — Dominie,  take  the  key  of 
the  wine  cooler.  Mr.  a — a — the  gentleman  wiE.  surely 
take  something  after  his  ride." 

Mannering  was  unspeakably  affected  by  the  contrast 
w  liich  his  recollection  made  between  this  reception  and 
that  with  which  he  had  been  greeted  by  the  same  indi- 
Tidual  when  they  last  met.  He  could  not  restraui  his 
tears,  and  his  evident  emotion  at  once  attained  him  the 
confidence  of  the  friendless  young  lady. 

"  Alas  !  "  she  said,  "  this  is  distressing  even  to  a  stran- 
ger ;  but  it  may  be  better  for  my  poor  father  to  be  in  this 
way,  than  if  he  knew  and  could  feel  ail." 

A  servant  in  livery  now  came  up  the  path,  and  spoke 
in  an  under  tone  to  the  young  gentleman  : — "  Mr.  Charles, 
my  lady's  wanting  you  yonder  sadly,  to  bid  for  her  for 
the  black  ebony  cabinet ;  and  Lady  Jean  Devorgoil  is 
wi'  her  an'  a' — ^ye  maun  come  away  directly." 

"  Tell  them  you  could  not  find  me,  Tom ; — or  stay, — 
say  I  am  looking  at  the  horses." 

"  No,  no,  no,"  said  Lucy  Bertram,  earnestly  ; — "  if  you 
would  not  add  to  the  misery  of  this  miserable  moment, 
go  to  the  company  directly.  This  gentleman,  I  am  sure, 
will  see  us  to  the  carriage." 

"  Unquestionably,  madam,"  said  Mannering  ;  "  your 
young  friend  may  rely  on  my  attention." 

"  Farewell,  then,"  said  young  Hazlewood,  and  whis- 
pered a  word  in  her  ear — then  ran  down  the  steep  hastily, 
as  if  not  trusting  his  resolution  at  a  slower  pace. 

"Where's  Charles  Hazlewood  running?"  said  the  in- 
valid, who  apparently  was  accustomed  to  his  presence 
and  attentions ;  "  Where's  Charles  Hazlewood  running  ? 
•—what  takes  him  away  now  ?  " 


174  WAVEitl^EY   NOVELy. 

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

The  sound  of  voices  was  now  heard  from  the  ruius. 
(The  reader  may  remember  there  was  a  communication 
between*  the  castle  and  the  beach,  up  which  the  speakers 
had  ascended.) 

"  Yes,  there's  plenty  of  shells  and  sea- ware  for  manure, 
sui  you  observe — and  if  one  inclined  to  build  a  new  house, 
which  might  indeed  be  necessary,  there's  a  great  deal 
of  good  hewn  stone  about  this  old  dungeon  for  the  devil 
here  " — 

"  Good  God ! "  said  Miss  Bertram  hastily  to  Sampson, 
*'  'tis  that  wretch  Glossin's  voice  ! — if  my  father  sees  him, 
it  will  kill  him  outright !  " 

Sampson  wheeled  perpendicularly  round,  and  moved 
with  long  strides  to  confront  the  attorney,  as  he  issued 
from  beneath  the  portal  arch  of  the  ruin.  "  Avoid  ye !  " 
he  said — "  Avoid  ye  !  wouldst  thou  kill  and  take  posses- 
sion?" 

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

The  very  mention  of  this  man's  name  had  been  of  late 
a  subject  of  the  most  violent  irritation  to  the  unfortunate 
patient.  The  sound  of  his  voice  now  produced  an  instan- 
taneous effect.  Mr.  Bertram  started  up  without  assist- 
ance, and  turned  round  towai'ds  him ;  the  ghasthness  of 
liis  features  forming  a  strange  contrast  with  the  violence 
of  his  exclamations. — "  Out  of  my  sight,  ye  viper !  ye 
frozen  viper,  that  I  warmed  till  ye  stung  me ! — art  thou 
not  af]-aid  that  the  walls  of  my  father's  dwelling  should 
fall  and  crush  thee  limb  and  bone  ? — are  ye  not  afraid  the 
very  lintels   of  the  door  of  Ellangowan   castle   should 


GUY    MANNEEING.  175 

break  open  and  swallow  jou  up  ? — Were  ye  not  friend- 
less,— houseless, — penniless, — when  I  took  ye  by  the 
hand — and  are  ye  not  expelling  me — me,  and  that  inno- 
cent girl — friendless,  houseless,  and  penniless,  from  the 
house  that  has  sheltered  us  and  ours  for  a  thousand 
}  ears  ?  " 

Had  Glossin  been  alone,  he  would  probably  have  slunk 
fjlF;  but  the  consciousness  that  a  stranger  was  present, 
besides  the  person  who  came  with  him,  (a  sort  of  land- 
surveyor,)  determined  him  to  resort  to  impudence.  The 
task,  however,  was  almost  too  hard,  even  for  his  effront- 
eiy. — "  Sii' — Sir — Mr.  Bertram — Sir,  you  should  not 
blame  me,  but  your  own  imprudence,  sir  "  — 

The  indignation  of  Mannering  was  mounting  very 
high.  "  Sir,"  he  said  to  Glossin,  "  without  entering  into 
the  merits  of  tins  controversy,  I  must  inform  you,  that 
you  have  chosen  a  very  improper  place,  time,  and  pres- 
ence for  it.  And  you  wiU  oblige  me  by  withdrawing 
without  more  words." 

Glossin,  being  a  tall,  strong,  muscular  man,  was  not 
unwdlling  rather  to  turn  upon  a  stranger  whom  he  hoped 
to  bully,  than  maintain  his  wretched  cause  against  his  in- 
jured patron : — "  I  do  not  know  who  you  are,  sh',"  he 
said,  "  and  I  shall  permit  no  man  to  use  such  d — d  fiee- 
dom  with  me." 

Mannering  was  naturally  hot-tempered — his  eyes 
flashed  a  dark  light — he  compressed  his  nether  lip  so 
closely  that  the  blood  sprung,  and  approaching  Glossin — 
"  Look  you,  sir,"  he  said,  "  that  you  do  not  know  me,  ir 
of  httle  consequence.  /  know  you  ;  and,  if  you  do  not 
instantly  descend  that  bank,  without  utteriag  a  single  syl- 
lable, by  the  Heaven  that  is  above  us,  you  shall  make 
but  one  step  from  the  top  to  the  bottom ! " 


176  ■WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

The  commanding  tone  of  riglitfiil  anger  silenced  at 
once  the  ferocity  of  the  bullj.  He  hesitated,  turned  on 
his  heel,  and,  muttering  something  between  his  teeth 
about  unwillingness  to  alarm  the  lady,  relieved  them  of 
his  hateful  company. 

]\Irs.  Mac-Candhsh's  postihon,  who  had  come  up  in 
time  to  hear  what  passed,  said  aloud,  "  If  he  had  stuck 
by  the  way,  I  would  have  lent  him  a  heezie,  the  duty 
scoundrel,  as  willingly  as  ever  I  pitched  a  boddle." 

He  then  stepped  forward  to  announce  that  his  horses 
were  in  readiness  for  the  invalid  and  his  daughter. 

But  they  were  no  longer  necessary.  The  debilitated 
frame  of  Mr.  Bertram  was  exhausted  by  this  last  effort 
of  indignant  anger,  and  when  he  sunk  again  upon  his 
chair,  he  expired  almost  without  a  struggle  or  groan.  So 
little  alteration  did  the  extinction  of  the  vital  spark  make 
upon  his  external  appearance,  that  the  screams  of  his 
daughter,  when  she  saw  his  eye  fix  and  felt  his  pulse  stop, 
first  announced  his  death  to  the  spectators. 


GUY   MANNEKING.  177 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

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

I  feel  the  solemn  sound. 

YouNa. 

The  moral  which  the  poet  has  rather  quaintly  deduced 
from  the  necessary  mode  of  measuring  time,  may  be  well 
applied  to  our  feelings  respecting  that  portion  of  it  which 
constitutes  human  life.  We  observe  the  aged,  the  infirm, 
and  those  engaged  in  occupations  of  immediate  hazard, 
trembhng  as  it  were  upon  the  very  brink  of  non-exist- 
ence, but  we  derive  no  lesson  from  the  precariousness  of 
their  tenure  until  it  has  altogether  failed.  Then,  for  a 
moment  at  least, 

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

The  crowd  of  assembled  gazers  and  idlers  at  Ellan- 
gowan  had  followed  the  views  of  amusement,  or  what 
they  called  business,  which  brought  them  there,  with  Httle 
regard  to  the  feelings  of  those  who  were  suffering  upon 
that  occasion.  Few,  indeed,  knew  any  thing  of  the 
family.  The  father,  betwixt  seclusion,-  misfortune,  and 
imbecility,  had  drifted,  as  it  were,  for  many  years,  out  of 
the  notice  of  liis  contemporaries — the  daughter  had  never 

VOL.  III.  12 


178  WAYEELET    NOVELS. 

been  known  to  them.  But  when  the  general  murmur  an^ 
nounced  tliat  the  unfortunate  JMr.  Bertram  had  broken 
his  heart  in  the  effort  to  leave  the  mansion  of  his  fore- 
fathers, there  poured  forth  a  torrent  of  sympathy,  like  the 
waters  from  the  rock  when  stricken  by  the  wand  of  the 
prophet.  The  ancient  descent  and  unblemished  integrity 
of  the  family  were  respectfully  remembered  ; — abo";e  all 
the  sacred  veneration  due  to  misfortune,  which  in  Scot- 
land seldom  demands  its  tribute  in  vain,  then  claimed  and 
received  it. 

Mr.  Mac-Morlan  hastily  announced  that  he  would  sus- 
pend all  farther  proceedings  in  the  sale  of  the  estate  and 
other  property,  and  relinquish  the  possession  of  the 
premises  to  the  young  lady,  until  she  could  consult  with 
her  friends,  and  provide  for  the  burial  of  her  father. 

Glossin  had  cowered  for  a  few  minutes  under  the 
general  expression  of  sympathy,  till,  hardened  by  observ- 
ing that  no  appearance  of  popular  indignation  was 
directed  his  way,  he  had  the  audacity  to  require  that  the 
sale  should  proceed. 

"  I  will  take  it  upon  my  own  authority  to  adjourn  it," 
said  the  sheriff-substitute,  "  and  will  be  responsible  for 
the  consequences.  I  will  also  give  due  notice  when  it  is 
again  to  go  forward.  It  is  for  the  benefit  of  all  concerned 
that  the  lands  should  bring  the  highest  price  the  state  of 
the  market  will  admit,  and  this  is  surely  no  time  to  ex- 
pect it — I  ^ill  take  the  responsibility  upon  myself." 

Glossin  left  the  room,  and  the  house  too,  with  secre(3y 
and  dispatch  ;  and  it  was  probably  well  for  him  that  he 
did  so,  since  our  friend  Jock  Jabos  was  already  harangu- 
ing a  immerous  tribe  of  bare-legged  boys  on  the  propriety 
of  pelting  him  off  the  estate. 

Some  of  the  rooms  were  hastily  put  in  order  for  the 


GUT   MANNEEING.  179 

reception  of  the  young  ladj,  and  of  her  father's  dead 
body.  Mannering  now  found  his  farther  interference 
would  be  unnecessary,  and  might  be  misconstrued.  He 
observed,  too,  that  several  families  connected  with  that 
of  Ellangowan,  and  who  indeed  derived  their  principal 
claim  of  gentihty  from  the  aUiance,  were  now  disposed 
to  pay  to  their  trees  of  genealogy  a  tribute,  which  the 
adversity  of  their  supposed  relatives  had  been  inadequate 
to  call  forth ;  and  that  the  honour  of  superintending  the 
funeral  rites  of  the  dead  Godfrey  Bertram  (as  in  the 
memorable  case  of  Homer's  birth-place)  was  hkely  to  be 
debated  by  seven  gentlemen  of  rank  and  fortune,  none 
of  whom  had  offered  him  an  asylum  while  living.  He 
therefore  resolved,  as  his  presence  was  altogether  useless, 
to  make  a  short  tour  of  a  fortnight,  at  the  end  of  which 
period  the  adjourned  sale  of  the  estate  of  Ellangowan 
was  to  proceed. 

But  before  he  departed,  he  solicited  an  interview  with 
the  Dominie.  The  poor  man  appeared,  on  being  in- 
formed a  gentleman  wanted  to  speak  to  him,  with  some 
expression  of  surprise  in  his  gaunt  features,  to  which 
"^ecent  sorrow  had  given  an  expression  yet  more  grisly. 
He  made  two  or  three  profound  reverences  to  Mannering, 
and  then,  standing  erect,  patiently  waited  an  explanation 
of  his  commands. 

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

"  Unless  it  were  to  request  that  I  would  undertake  to 
train  up  some  youth  in  polite  letters,  and  humane  learn- 
ing— But  I  cannot — I  cannot — I  have  yet  a  task  to 
perform." 

"  No,  Mr.  Sampson,  my  wishes  are  not  so  ambitious. 


180  "WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

I  have  no  son,  and  my  only  daughter,  I  presume,  joa 
would  not  consider  as  a  fit  pupil." 

"  Of  a  surety,  no,"  replied  the  simple-minded  Samp- 
son. "  Natheless,  it  was  I  who  did  educate  Miss  Lucy 
in  all  useful  learning, — albeit  it  was  the  housekeeper  who 
did  teach  her  those  unprofitable  exercises  of  hemming 
and  shaping." 

"  Well,  sir,"  rephed  Mannering,  "  it  is  of  Miss  Lucy  I 
meant  to  speak — you  have,  I  presume,  no  recollection  of 
me?" 

Sampson,  always  sufficiently  absent  in  mind,  neither 
•••emembered  the  astrologer  of  past  years,  nor  even  the 
stranger  who  had  taken  his  patron's  part  against  Glossin, 
so  much  had  his  friend's  sudden  death  embroiled  his  ideas. 

"  Well,  that  does  not  signify,"  pursued  the  Colonel ; 
"  I  am  an  old  acquaintance  of  the  late  Mr.  Bertram,  able 
and  willing  to  assist  his  daughter  in  her  present  circum- 
stances. Besides,  I  have  thoughts  of  making  this  pur- 
chase, and  I  should  wish  things  kept  in  order  about  the 
place :  will  you  have  the  goodness  to  apply  this  small 
sum  in  the  usual  family  expenses  ?  " — He  put  into  the 
Dominie's  hand  a  pui'se  containing  some  gold. 

"  Pro-di-gi-ous  !  "  exclaimed  Dominie  Sampson.  "  But 
if  your  honour  would  tarry  " 

"  Impossible,  sir — impossible,"  said  Mannering,  making 
his  escape  from  him. 

"  Pro-di-gi-ous  ! "  again  exclaimed  Sampson,  follo-Aiug 
to  the  head  of  the  stairs,  still  holding  out  the  purse. 
"  But  as  toucliing  this  coined  money  " 

Mannering  escaped  down  stairs  as  fast  as  possible. 

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


GUT   MANNERING.  181 

But  Mannering  was  now  on  horseback,  and  out  of 
hearing.  The  Dominie,  who  had  never,  either  in  his 
own  right,  or  as  trustee  for  another,  been  possessed  of  a 
quarter  part  of  this  sum,  though  it  was  not  above  twenty- 
guineas,  "  took  counsel,"  as  he  expressed  himself,  "  how 
he  should  demean  himself  with  respect  unto  the  fine 
gold  "  thus  left  in  his  charge.  Fortunately  he  found  a 
disinterested  adviser  in  Mac-Morlan,  who  pointed  out  the 
most  proper  means  of  disposing  of  it  for  contributing  to 
Miss  Bertram's  convenience,  being  no  doubt  the  purpose 
to  which  it  was  destined  by  the  bestower. 

Many  of  the  neighbouring  gentry  were  now  sincerely 
eager  in  pressing  offers  of  hospitality  and  kindness  upon 
Miss  Bertram.  But  she  felt  a  natural  reluctance  to  enter 
any  family,  for  the  first  time,  as  an  object  rather  of 
benevolence  than  hospitality,  and  determined  to  wait  the 
opinion  and  advice  of  her  father's  nearest  female  relation, 
Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram  of  Singleside,  an  old  unmarried 
lady,  to  whom  she  wrote  an  account  of  her  present 
distressful  situation. 

The  funeral  of  the  late  Mr.  Bertram  was  performed 
with  decent  privacy,  and  the  unfortunate  young  ladj  was 
now  to  consider  herself  as  but  the  temporary  tenant  of 
the  house  in  which  she  had  been  born,  and  where  her 
patience  and  soothing  attentions  had  so  long  "  rocked  the 
cradle  of  dechning  age."  Her  communication  with  Mr. 
JNTac-Morlan  encouraged  her  to  hope  that  she  would  not 
be  suddenly  or  unkindly  deprived  of  this  asylum — But 
fortune  had  ordered  otherwise. 

For  two  days  before  the  appointed  day  for  the  sale  of 
the  lands  and  estate  of  EUangowan,  Mac-Morlan  daily 
expected  the  appearance  of  Colonel  Mannering,  or  at 
least  a  letter  containing  powers  to  act  for  him.     But  none 


182  WAVERLET   NOYELS. 

such  aiTived.  !RIr.  Mac-Morlan  waked  early  In  the 
morning, — walked  over  to  the  Post-office, — there  were  no 
letters  for  him.  He  endeavoured  to  persuade  himself 
that  he  should  see  Colonel  Mannering  to  breakfast,  and 
ordered  his  wife  to  place  her  best  china,  and  prepare 
herself  accordingly.  But  the  preparations  were  in  vain. 
"  Could  I  have  foreseen  this,"  he  said,  "  I  would  have 
travelled  Scotland  over,  but  I  would  have  found  some 
one  to  bid  against  Glossin." — Alas !  such  reflections  were 
all  too  late.  The  appointed  horn-  arrived ;  and  the  parties 
met  in  the  Mason's  Lodge  at  Kippletrmgan,  being  the 
place  fixed  for  the  adjourned  sale.  Mac-Morlan  spent  as 
much  time  in  preliminaries  as  decency  would  permit,  and 
read  over  the  articles  of  sale  as  slowly  as  if  he  had  been 
reading  his  own  death-warrant.  He  turned  his  eye  every 
time  the  door  of  the  room  opened,  with  hopes  wliich  grew 
fainter  and  fainter.  He  hstened  to  every  noise  in  the 
street  of  the  village,  and  endeavoured  to  distinguish  in  it 
the  sound  of  hoofs  or  wheels.  It  was  all  in  vain.  A 
bright  idea  then  occurred,  that  Colonel  Mannering  might 
have  employed  some  other  person  in  the  transaction :  he 
would  not  have  wasted  a  moment's  thought  upon  the 
want  of  confidence  in  himself  which  such  a  manoeuvre 
would  have  evinced.  But  this  hope  also  was  groundless. 
After  a  solemn  pause,  ]VIi\  Glossin  ofiered  the  upset  price 
for  the  lands  and  barony  of  Ellangowan.  No  reply  was 
made,  and  no  competitor  appeared ;  so,  after  a  lapse  of 
the  usual  interval  by  the  running  of  a  sand-glass,  upon 
the  intended  purchaser  entering  the  projDer  sureties,  Mr. 
Mac-Morlan  was  obHged,  in  technical  terms,  to  "  find  and 
declare  the  sale  lawfully  completed,  and  to  prefer  the  said 
Gilbert  Glossin  as  the  purchaser  of  the  said  lands  and 
estate.     The    honest    writer    refused   to   pai'take   of   a 


GUT   MANNERING.  183 

splendid  entertainment  with  which  Gilbert  Glossin,  Es- 
quire, now  of  Ellangowan,  treated  the  rest  of  the  com- 
pany, and  retui'ned  home  in  huge  bitterness  of  spirit, 
which  he  vented  in  complaints  against  the  fickleness  and 
caprice  of  these  Indian  nabobs,  who  never  knew  what  they 
would  be  at  for  ten  days  together.  Fortune  generously 
determined  to  take  the  blame  upon  herself,  and  cut  off 
even  this  vent  of  Mac-Morlan's  resentment. 

An  express  arrived  about  six  o'clock  at  night,  "  very 
particularly  drunk,"  the  maid-servant  said,  with  a  packet 
from  Colonel  Mannering,  dated  four  days  back,  at  a  town 
about  a  hundi-ed  miles'  distance  from  Kippletringan,  con- 
taining full  powers  to  ]Mr.  Mac-Morlan,  or  any  one  whom 
he  might  employ,  to  make  the  intended  purchase,  and 
stating,  that  some  family  business  of  consequence  called 
the  Colonel  himself  to  Westmoreland,  where  a  letter 
would  find  him,  addressed  to  the  cai*e  of  Ai'thur  Mervyn, 
Esq.  of  Mervyn  Hall. 

Mac-Morlan,  in  the  transports  of  his  ^vrath,  flung  the 
power  of  attorney  at  the  head  of  the  innocent  maid- 
servant, and  was  only  forcibly  withheld  from  horse- 
whipping the  rascally  messenger,  by  whose  sloth  and 
drunkenness  the  disappointment  had  taken  place. 


184  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

My  gold  is  gone,  my  money  is  spent, 

My  laud  now  take  it  unto  thee. 
Give  me  thy  gold,  good  John  o'  the  Scales, 

And  thine  for  aye  my  land  shall  be. 

Then  John  he  did  him  to  record  draw, 
And  John  he  caste  him  a  god's-pennie ; 

But  for  every  pounde  that  John  agreed, 
The  land,  I  wis,  was  well  worth  three. 

Heir  of  Lixne. 

The  Galwegian  John  o'  the  Scales  was  a  more  clever 
fellow  than  his  prototype.  He  contrived  to  make  himself 
heir  of  Linne  without  the  disagreeable  ceremony  of 
"  telling  down  the  good  red  gold."  Miss  Bertram  no 
sooner  heard  this  painful,  and  of  late  unexpected  intelli- 
gence, than  she  proceeded  in  the  preparations  she  had 
already  made  for  leaving  the  mansion-house  immediately. 
Mr.  Mac-Morlan  assisted  her  in  these  arrangements,  and 
pressed  upon  her  so  kindly  the  hospitaUty  and  protection 
of  his  roof,  until  she  should  receive  an  answer  from  her 
cousin,  or  be  enabled  to  adopt  some  settled  plan  of  life, 
that  she  felt  there  would  be  unkindness  in  refusing  an 
invitation  urged  with  such  earnestness.  Mrs.  Mac-Morlan 
was  a  ladylike  person,  and  well  qualified  by  birth  and 
manners  to  receive  the  visit,  and  to  make  her  house 
agreeable  to  Miss  Bertram.  A  home,  thei-efore,  and  an 
hospitable  reception,  were  secured  to  her,  and  she  went 


GUY   MANNEKING.  185 

on,  with  better  heart,  to  pay  the  wages  and  receive  th'j 
adieus  of  the  few  domestics  of  her  father's  family. 

Where  there  are  estimable  qualities  on  either  side,  this 
task  is  always  affecting — the  present  circumstances  ren- 
dered it  doubly  so.  All  received  their  due,  and  even  a 
trifle  more,  and  with  thanks  and  good  wishes,  to  which 
some  added  teai'S,  took  farewell  of  their  young  mistress. 
There  remained  in  the  parlour  only  Mr.  Mac-Morlan, 
who  came  to  attend  his  guest  to  his  house.  Dominie 
Sampson,  and  Miss  Bertram.  "  And  now,"  said  the  poor 
girl,  "  I  must  bid  farewell  to  one  of  my  oldest  and  kindest 
friends — God  bless  you,  Mr.  Sampson !  and  requite  to 
you  all  the  kindness  of  your  instructions  to  your  poor 
pupil,  and  your  friendship  to  him  that  is  gone  !  I  hope  I 
shall  often  hear  from  you."  She  shd  into  his  hand  a 
paper  containing  some  pieces  of  gold,  and  rose,  as  if  to 
leave  the  room. 

Dominie  Sampson  also  rose ;  but  it  was  to  stand  aghast 
with  utter  astonishment.  The  idea  of  parting  from  Miss 
Lucy,  go  where  she  might,  had  never  once  occurred  to 
the  simpHcity  of  his  understanding.  He  laid  the  money 
on  the  table.  "It  is  certainly  inadequate,"  said  Mac- 
Morlan,  mistaking  his  meaning,  "  but  the  circum- 
stances " 

Mr.  Sampson  waved  his  hand  impatiently — "  It  is  not 
the  lucre — it  is  not  the  lucre — but  that  I,  that  have  ate 
of  her  father's  loaf,  and  drank  of  his  cup,  for  twenty- 
years  and  more — to  think  that  I  am  going  to  leave  her— 
and  to  leave  her  in  distress  and  dolour  !  No,  Miss  Lucy, 
you  need  never  think  it !  You  would  not  consent  to  put 
forth  your  father's  poor  dog,  and  would  you  use  me  waur 
than  a  messan  ?  No,  Miss  Lucy  Bertram — while  I  live, 
I  will  not  separate  from  you.     I'll  be  no  burden — I  have 


186  WAVEHLEY   NOVELS. 

thought  lio\v  to  prevent  that.  But,  as  Ruth  said  unto 
!Naomi,  '  Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  nor  to  depart  from 
thee  ;  for  whither  thou  goest  I  will  go,  and  where  thou 
dwelie.^t  I  will  dwell ;  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and 
thy  God  shall  be  my  God.  AYhere  thou  diest  will  I  die, 
and  there  will  I  be  buried.  The  Lord  do  so  to  me,  and 
D'ore  also,  if  aught  but  death  do  part  thee  and  me.'  " 

During  this  speech,  the  longest  ever  Dominie  Sampson 
was  known  to  utter,  the  affectionate  creature's  eyes 
streamed  with  tears,  and  neither  Lucy  nor  Mac-Morlan 
could  refrain  from  sympathiziiig  with  this  unexpected 
burst  of  feeling  and  attachment.  "  1NL-.  Sampson,"  said 
Mac-Morlan,  after  having  had  recourse  to  his  snuff-box 
and  handkerchief  alternately,  "  my  house  is  large  enough, 
and  if  you  will  accept  of  a  bed  there,  while  Miss  Bertram 
honours  us  with  her  residence,  I  shall  think  myself  very 
happy,  and  my  roof  much  favoured  by  receiving  a  man 
of  your  worth  and  fidelity."  And  then,  with  a  delicacy 
which  was  meant  to  remove  any  objection  on  Miss  Ber- 
tram's pai't  to  bringing  with  her  this  unexpected  satelhte, 
he  added,  "  My  business  requires  my  frequently  having 
occasion  for  a  better  accountant  than  any  of  my  present 
clerks,  and  I  should  be  glad  to  have  recourse  to  your 
assistance  in  that  way  now  and  then." 

"  Of  a  surety,  of  a  sm-ety,"  said  Sampson  eagerly  ;  "  I 
understand  book-keeping  by  double  entry  and  the  Itahan 
method." 

Our  postilion  had  thrust  himself  into  the  room  to  an- 
nounce his  chaise  and  horses;  he  tarried,  unobserved, 
during  this  extraordinary  scene,  and  assured  2\1ts.  Mac- 
Candlish  it  was  the  most  moving  thing  he  ever  saw  ;  "  the 
death  of  the  grey  mare,  puir  hizzie,  was  naetliing  till't." 
This  trifling  circumstance  afterwards  had  consequences 
of  greater  moment  to  the  Dominie. 


GUY   MANNERING.  1S7 

The  visitors  were  hospitably  welcomed  by  Mrs.  Mac- 
Morlan,  to  whom,  as  well  as  to  others,  her  husband  inti- 
mated that  he  had  engaged  Dominie  Sampson's  assistance 
to  disentangle  some  perplexed  accounts  ;  during  which 
occupation  he  would,  for  convenience  sake,  reside  with 
the  family.  JSIr.  Mac-Morhm's  knowledge  of  the  world 
induced  him  to  put  this  colour  upon  the  matter,  aware, 
that  however  honourable  the  fidelity  of  the  Dominie's 
attachment  might  Le,  both  to  his  own  heart  and  to  the 
family  of  Ellangowan,  his  exterior  ill  qiialitied  him  to  be 
a  "  squire  of  dames,"  and  rendered  him  upon  the  whole, 
rather  a  ridiculous  appendage  to  a  beautiful  young  woman 
of  seventeen. 

Domuiie  Sampson  achieved  with  great  zeal  such  tasks 
as  Mr.  Mac-Morlan  chose  to  intrust  him  with  ;  but  it  was 
speedily  observed  that  at  a  certain  hour  after  breakfast 
he  regularly  disappeared,  and  returned  again  about  dinner 
time.  The  evening  he  occupied  in  the  labour  of  the  office. 
On  Saturday,  he  appeared  before  Mr.  Mac-Morlan  with 
a  look  of  great  triumph,  and  laid  on  the  table  two  pieces 
of  gold. 

"  What  is  this  for.  Dominie  ?  "  said  Mac-Morlan. 

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

"  But,  Mr.  Sampson,  your  labour  in  the  office  much 
more  than  recompenses  me — I  am  your  debtor,  my  good 
friend." 

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

"  Well,  but.  Dominie,  this  money  " 

"  It  is  honestly  come  by,  Mr.  Mac-Morlan ;  it  is  the 
bountiful  reward  of  a  young  gentleman,  to  whom  I  am 


188  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

teaching  the  tongues ;  reading  with  him  three  hours 
daily." 

A  few  more  questions  extracted  from  the  Dominie, 
that  this  Hberal  pupil  was  young  Hazlewood,  and  that  he 
met  his  preceptor  daily  at  the  house  of  INIrs.  Mac-Can- 
dUsh,  whose  proclamation  of  Sampson's  disinterested 
attachment  to  the  young  lady  had  procured  him  this  inde- 
fatigable and  bounteous  scholar. 

Mac-Morlan  was  much  struck  with  what  he  heard. 
Dominie  Sampson  was  doubtless  a  very  good  scholar,  and 
an  excellent  man,  and  the  classics  were  unquestionably 
very  well  worth  reading  ;  yet  that  a  young  man  of  twenty 
should  ride  seven  miles  and  back  again  each  day  in  the 
week,  to  hold  this  sort  of  tete-d-tete  of  three  hours,  was 
a  zeal  for  hterature  to  which  he  was  not  prepared  to  give 
entire  credit.  Little  art  was  necessary  to  sift  the  Domi- 
nie, for  the  honest  man's  head  never  admitted  any  but 
the  most  direct  and  simple  ideas.  "  Does  IMiss  Bertram 
know  how  your  time  is  engaged,  my  good  friend  ?  " 

"  Surely  not  as  yet — IVIr.  Charles  recommended"  it 
should  be  concealed  from  her,  lest  she  should  scruple  to 
accept  of  the  small  assistance  arising  from  it ;  but,"  he 
added,  "  it  would  not  be  possible  to  conceal  it  long,  since 
]VIr.  Charles  proposed  taking  his  lessons  occasionally  in 
this  house." 

"  O,  he  does  ! "  said  Mac-Morlan :  "  Yes,  yes,  I  can 
imderstand  that  better. — And  pray,  Mr.  Sampson,  are 
these  three  hours  entirely  spent  in  construing  and  trans- 
latmg  ?  " 

"  Doubtless,  no — we  have  also  colloquial  intercourse  to 
sweeten  study — neque  semper  arcum  tendit  Apollo" 

The  querist  proceeded  to  ehcit  from  this  Galloway 
Phoebus  what  their  discourse  chiefly  turned  upon. 


GCY   MANNERING.  189 

**  Upon  our  past  meetings  at  Ellangowan — and  truly, 
1  think  very  often  we  discourse  concerning  Miss  Lucy — 
for  Mr.  Charles  Hazlewood,  in  that  particular,  resembleth 
me,  JVIr.  Mac-Morlan.  When  I  begin  to  speak  of  her  I 
never  know  when  to  stop — and,  as  I  say  (jocularly),  she 
cheats  us  out  of  half  our  lessons." 

"  0  ho  ! "  thought  Mac-Morlan  ;  "  sits  the  wind  in  that 
quarter  ?  I've  heard  something  like  this  before." 

He  then  began  to  consider  what  conduct  was  safest  for 
his  protegee,  and  even  for  himself,  for  the  senior  Mr. 
Hazlewood  was  powerful,  wealthy,  ambitious,  and  vindic- 
tive, and  looked  for  both  fortune  and  title  in  any  connex- 
ion which  his  son  might  form.  At  length,  having  the 
highest  opinion  of  his  guest's  good  sense  and  penetration, 
he  determined  to  take  an  opportunity,  when  they  should 
happen  to  be  alone,  to  communicate  the  matter  to  her  as 
a  simple  piece  of  intelligence.  He  did  so  in  as  natural  a 
manner  as  he  could  : — "  I  wish  you  joy  of  your  friend 
Mr.  Sampson's  good  fortune.  Miss  Bertram ;  he  has  got 
a  pupil  who  pays  him  two  guineas  for  twelve  lessons  of 
Greek  and  Latin." 

"  Indeed ! — I  am  equally  happy  and  surprised.  Who 
can  be  so  hberal  ? — is  Colonel  Mannering  returned  ?  " 

"  No,  no,  not  Colonel  Mannering ;  but  what  do  you 
think  of  your  acquaintance,  Mr.  Charles  Hazlewood? 
He  talks  of  taking  his  lessons  here  ;  I  wish  we  may  have 
accommodation  for  him." 

Lucy  blushed  deeply.  "  For  Heaven's  sake,  no,  Mr. 
Mac-Morlan — do  not  let  that  be  ; — Charles  Hazlewood 
has  had  enough  of  mischief  about  that  already." 

"  About  the  classics,  my  dear  young  lady ! "  wilfully 
seeming  to  misunderstand  her  ; — "  most  young  gentlemen 
have  so  at  one  period  or  another,  sure  enough  ;  but  hia 
present  studies  are  voluntary." 


190  WAYERLEY  NOVELS. 

Miss  Bertram  let  the  conversation  drop,  and  her  host 
made  no  effort  to  renew  it,  as  she  seemed  to  pause  upon 
the  intelligence,  in  order  to  form  some  internal  resolution. 

The  next  day  Miss  Bertram  took  an  opportunity  of 
conversing  with  ]Mr.  Sampson.  Expressing  in  the  kindest 
manner  her  grateful  thanks  for  his  disinterested  attach- 
ment, and  her  joy  that  he  had  got  such  a  provision,  she 
hinted  to  him  that  his  present  mode  of  superintending 
Cliarles  Hazle wood's  studies  must  be  so  inconvenient  to 
his  pupil,  that,  while  that  engagement  lasted,  he  had  better 
consent  to  a  temporary  separation,  and  reside  either  with 
his  scholar,  or  as  near  him  as  might  be.  Sampson  re- 
fused, as  indeed  she  had  expected,  to  Hsten  for  a  moment 
to  this  proposition — he  would  not  quit  her  to  be  made 
preceptor  to  the  Prince  of  Wales.  "  But  I  see,"  he  added, 
"  you  are  too  proud  to  share  my  pittance ;  and  peradven- 
ture  I  grow  wearisome  unto  you." 

"  No,  indeed — you  were  my  father's  ancient,  almost 
his  only  friend  ; — I  am  not  proud — God  knows,  I  have 
no  reason  to  be  so.  You  shall  do  what  you  judge  best 
in  other  matters ;  but  oblige  me  by  teUing  ]Mr.  Charles 
Hazlewood,  that  you  had  some  conversation  with  me  con- 
cerning his  studies,  and  that  I  was  of  opinion  that  his 
carrying  them  on  in  this  house  was  altogether  impracti- 
cable, and  not  to  be  thought  of." 

Dominie  Sampson  left  her  presence  altogether  crest* 
fallen,  and,  as  he  shut  the  door,  could  not  help  muttering 
the  "  varium  et  mutabile  "  of  Virgil.  Next  day  he  ap- 
peared with  a  very  rueful  visage,  and  tendered  Miss 
Bertram  a  letter.  "  ^Mr.  Hazlewood,"  he  said,  "  was  to 
discontinue  his  lessons,  though  he  had  generously  made 
up  the  pecuniary  loss.  But  how  will  he  make  up  the 
loss  to  himself  of  the  knowledge  he  might  have  acquired 


GUT   MAOTfERING.  191 

under  my  instruction  ?  Even  in  that  one  article  of  writ- 
ing, he  was  an  hour  before  he  could  write  that  brief  note, 
and  destroyed  many  scrolls,  four  quills,  and  some  good 
white  paper :  I  would  have  taught  him  in  three  weeks  a 
firm,  current,  clear,  and  legible  hand — he  should  hare 
been  a  caligrapher ;  but  God's  will  be  done." 

The  letter  contained  but  a  fp-w  lines,  deeply  regretting 
and  murmuring  against  IVIiss  BcTtram's  cruelty,  who  not 
only  refused  to  see  him,  but  to  permit  him  in  the  most 
indirect  manner  to  hear  of  her  health  and  contribute  to 
her  service.  But  it  concluded  with  assurances  that  her 
severity  was  vain,  and  that  nothing  could  shake  the  attach- 
ment of  Charles  Hazlewood. 

Under  the  active  patronage  of  IVIrs.  Mac-Cfuiciflish, 
Sampson  picked  up  some  other  scholars — very  different 
indeed  from  Charles  Hazlewood  in  rank — and  whose  les- 
sons were  proportionally  unproductive.  Still,  howerer, 
he  gained  something,  and  it  was  the  glory  of  his  heart  to 
carry  it  to  Mr.  Mac-Morlan  weekly,  a  slight  peculi^>m 
only  subtracted,  to  supply  his  snuff-box  and  tobacro- 
pouch. 

And  here  we  must  leave  Kippletringan  to  look  af^'^^r 
our  hero,  lest  our  readers  should  fear  they  are  to  lo£<% 
sight  of  him  for  another  quarter  of  a  century. 


192  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Our  Polly  is  a  sad  slut,  nor  heeds  what  we  have  taught  her; 

I  wonder  any  man  alive  will  ever  rear  a  daughter ; 

For  when  she's  drest  with  care  and  cost,  all  tempting,  fine,  and  gay, 

As  men  should  serve  a  cucumber,  she  flings  herself  away. 

Beggar's  Opera. 

Aeter  the  death  of  ]Mr.  Bertram,  Mannering  bad  set 
out  upon  a  short  tour,  proposmg  to  return  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  EHangowan  before  the  sale  of  that  property 
should  take  place.  He  went,  accordingly,  to  Edinburgh, 
and  elsewhere,  and  it  was  in  his  return  towards  the  south- 
western district  of  Scotland,  in  which  our  scene  lies,  that, 
at  a  post-town  about  a  hundred  miles  from  Kippletringan, 
to  which  he  had  requested  his  friend,  Mr.  Mervyn,  to 
addi-ess  his  letters,  he  received  one  from  that  gentleman, 
which  contained  rather  unpleasing  intelligence.  We  have 
assumed  abeady  the  privilege  of  acting  a  secretis  to  this 
gentleman,  and  therefore  shall  present  the  reader  with  an 
extract  from  this  epistle. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  my  dearest  friend,  for  the  pain  I 
have  given  you,  in  forcing  you  to  open  wounds  so  fester- 
ing as  those  your  letter  referred  to.  I  have  always  heard, 
though  erroneously  perhaps,  that  the  attentions  of  J\lr. 
Br6wn  were  intended  for  Miss  Mannering.  But,  how- 
ever that  were,  it  could  not  be  supposed  that  in  your 
situation  his  boldness  should  escape  notice  and  chastise- 


GUY    MANNERING.  193 

ment.  Wise  men  say,  that  we  resign  to  civil  society  our 
natural  rights  of  self-defence,  only  on  condition  that  the 
ordinances  of  law  should  protect  us.  Where  the  price 
cannot  be  paid,  the  resignation  becomes  void.  For  in- 
stance, no  one  supposes  that  I  am  not  entitled  to  defend 
my  purse  and  person  against  a  highwayman,  as  much  as 
if  I  were  a  wild  Indian,  who  owns  neither  law  nor  magis- 
tracy. The  question  of  resistance,  or  submission,  must 
be  determined  by  my  means  and  situation.  But,  if, 
armed  and  equal  in  force,  I  submit  to  injustice  and  vio- 
lence from  any  man,  high  or  low,  I  presume  it  will  hardly 
be  attributed  to  religious  or  moral  feehng  in  me,  or  in  any 
one  but  a  quaker.  An  aggression  on  my  honour  seems 
to  me  much  the  same.  The  insult,  however  trifling  in 
itself,  is  one  of  much  deeper  consequence  to  all  views  in 
life  than  any  wrong  which  can  be  inflicted  by  a  depre- 
dator on  the  highway,  and  to  redress  the  injured  party  is 
much  less  in  the  power  of  public  jurisprudence,  or  rather 
it  is  entirely  beyond  its  reach.  If  any  man  chooses  to 
rob  Arthur  Mervyn  of  the  contents  of  his  purse,  sup- 
posing the  said  Arthur  has  not  means  of  defence,  or  the 
skill  and  courage  to  use  them,  the  assizes  at  Lancaster  or 
CarHsle  will  do  him  justice  by  tucking  up  the  robber.: — 
Yet  who  will  say  I  am  bound  to  wait  for  this  justice,  and 
submit  to  being  plundered  in  the  first  instance,  if  I  have 
myself  the  means  and  spirit  to  protect  my  own  property  ? 
3^ut  if  an  affront  is  offered  to  me,  submission  under  which 
is  to  tarnish  my  character  for  ever  with  men  of  honour, 
and  for  which  the  twelve  Judges  of  England,  with  the 
Chancellor  to  boot,  can  afford  me  no  redress,  by  what  rule 
of  law  or  reason  am  I  to  be  deterred  from  protecting  what 
ought  to  be,  and  is,  so  infinitely  dearer  to  every  man  of 
honour  than  his  whole  fortune  ?     Of  the  religious  views 

VOL.  lU.  13 


194  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

of  the  matter  I  shall  say  nothing,  until  I  find  a  reverond 
divine  who  shall  condemn  self-defence  in  the  article  of  life 
and  property.  If  its  propriety  in  that  case  be  generall;^ 
admitted,  I  suppose  little  distinction  can  be  drawn  be- 
tween defence  of  person  and  goods,  and  protection  of 
reputation.  That  the  latter  is  liable  to  be  assailed  by 
persons  of  a  different  rank  in  hfe,  untainted  perhaps  in 
morals,  and  fair  in  character,  cannot  affect  my  legal  right 
of  self-defence.  I  may  be  sorry  that  circumstances  ha^e 
engaged  me  in  personal  strife  with  such  an  individual : 
but  I  should  feel  the  same  sorrow  for  a  generous  enemy 
who  fell  under  my  sword  in  a  national  quarrel.  I  shall 
leave  the  question  with  the  casuists,  however ;  only  ob- 
serving, that  what  I  have  written  will  not  avail  either  the 
professed  duellist,  or  him  who  is  the  aggressor  in  a  dis- 
pute of  honour.  I  only  presume  to  exculpate  him  who 
is  dragged  into  the  field  by  such  an  offence,  as,  sub- 
mitted to  in  patience,  would  forfeit  for  ever  his  rank  and 
estimation  in  society. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  have  thoughts  of  settling  in  Scotland, 
and  yet  glad  that  you  will  still  be  at  no  immeasurable 
distance,  and  that  the  latitude  is  all  in  our  favour.  To 
move  to  Westmoreland  from  Devonshire  might  make  an 
East  Indian  shudder ;  but  to  come  to  us  from  Galloway 
or  Dumfriesshire,  is  a  step,  though  a  short  one,  nearer 
the  sun.  Besides,  if,  as  I  suspect,  the  estate  in  view  be 
connected  with  the  old  haunted  castle  in  which  you  played 
the  astrologer  in  your  northern  tour  some  twenty  years 
since,  I  have  heard  you  too  often  describe  the  scene  with 
comic  unction,  to  hope  you  will  be  deterred  from  making 
the  purchase.  I  trust,  however,  the  hospitable  gossiping 
Laird  has  not  run  himself  upon  the  shallows,  and  that  his 
chaplain,  whom  you  so  often  made  us  laugh  at,  is  still  in 
rerum  natura. 


GUY    MANNERING.  195 

*'  And  here,  dear  Mannering,  I  wish  I  could  stop,  for  I 
have  incredible  pain  in  telling  the  rest  of  my  story ; 
although  I  am  sure  I  can  warn  you  against  any  inten- 
tional impropriety  on  the  part  of  my  temporary  ward, 
Julia  Mannering.  But  I  must  still  earn  my  college  nick- 
name of  Downright  Dunstable.  In  one  word,  then,  here 
is  the  matter. 

"  Your  daughter  has  much  of  the  romantic  turn  of  your 
disposition,  with  a  little  of  that  love  of  admiration  which 
all  pretty  women  share  less  or  more.  She  will  besides, 
apparently,  be  your  heiress  ;  a  trifling  circumstance  to 
those  who  view  Julia  with  my  eyes,  but  a  prevailing  bait 
to  the  specious,  artful,  and  worthless.  You  know  how  I 
have  jested  with  her  about  her  soft  melancholy,  and 
lonely  walks  at  morning  before  any  one  is  up,  and  in  the 
moonlight  when  all  should  be  gone  to  bed,  or  set  down  to 
cai'ds,  which  is  the  same  thing.  The  incident  which  fol- 
lows may  not  be  beyond  the  bounds  of  a  joke,  but  I  had 
rather  the  jest  upon  it  came  from  you  than  me. 

"  Two  or  three  times  during  the  last  fortnight,  I  heard, 
at  a  late  hour  in  the  night,  or  very  early  in  the  morning, 
a  flageolet  play  the  httle  Hindu  tune  to  which  your 
daughter  is  so  partial.  I  thought  for  some  time  that 
some  tuneful  domestic,  whose  taste  for  music  was  laid 
under  constraint  during  the  day,  chose  that  silent  hour  to 
imitate  the  strains  which  he  had  caught  up  by  the  ear 
during  his  attendance  in  the  drawing-room.  But  last 
night  I  sat  late  in  my  study,  which  is  immediately  under 
INIiss  Mannering's  apartment,  and,  to  my  surprise,  I  not 
only  heard  the  flageolet  distinctly,  but  satisfied  myself 
that  it  came  from  the  lake  under  the  window.  Curious 
to  know  who  serenaded  us  at  that  unusual  hour,  I  stole 
softly  to  the  window  of  my  apartment.     But  there  were 


196  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

other  watcliers  than  me.  You  may  remember,  Alisa 
Mannermg  preferred  that  apartment  on  account  of  a  bal- 
cony which  opened  from  her  window  upon  the  lake. — 
"Well,  sir,  I  heai'd  the  sash  of  her  window  throwTi  up,  the 
shutters  opened,  and  her  own  voice  in  conversation  with 
some  person  who  answered  from  below.  This  is  not, 
*Much  ado  about  nothing;'  I  could  not  be  mistaken  in 
her  voice,  and  such  tones,  so  soft,  so  insinuating — and,  to 
say  the  truth,  the  accents  from  below  were  in  passion's 
tenderest  cadence  too — but  of  the  sense  I  can  say  nothing. 
I  raised  the  sash  of  my  own  window  that  I  might  hear 
something  more  than  the  mere  murmur  of  this  Spanish 
rendezvous ;  but,  though  I  used  every  precaution,  the 
noise  alai^med  the  speakers ;  down  shd  the  young  lady's 
casement,  and  the  shutters  were  barred  in  an  instant. 
The  dash  of  a  pair  of  oars  in  the  water  announced  the 
retreat  of  the  male  person  of  the  dialogue.  Indeed,  I 
saw  his  boat,  which  he  rowed  with  great  swiftness  and 
dexterity,  fly  across  the  lake  like  a  twelve-oared  barge. 
Next  morning  I  examined  some  of  my  domestics,  as  if  by 
accident,  and  I  found  the  game-keeper,  when  making  his 
rounds,  had  twice  seen  that  boat  beneath  the  house,  with 
a  single  person,  and  had  heard  the  flageolet.  I  did  not 
care  to  press  any  farther  questions,  for  fear  of  implicating 
Julia  in  the  opinions  of  those  of  whom  they  might  be 
asked.  Next  morning,  at  breakfast,  I  dropped  a  casual 
hint  about  the  serenade  of  the  evening  before,  and  I 
promise  you  IMiss  Mannering  looked  red  and  pale  alter- 
nately. I  immediately  gave  the  circumstance  such  a  turn 
as  might  lead  her  to  suppose  that  my  observation  was 
merely  casual.  I  have  since  caused  a  watch-light  to  be 
burnt  in  my  hbrary,  and  have  left  the  shutters  open,  to 
deter  the  approach  of  our  nocturnal  guest ;  and  I  have 


GUY   MINNERING..  197 

stated  tlie  severity  of  approaching  winter,  and  the  raw- 
ness of  the  fogs,  as  an  objection  to  soKtary  walks.  Miss 
Mannering  acquiesced  with  a  passiveness  which  is  no 
part  of  her  character,  and  which,  to  tell  you  the  plain 
truth,  is  a  feature  about  the  business  which  I  Hke  least 
of  all.  Julia  has  too  much  of  her  own  dear  papa's  dis- 
position to  be  curbed  in  any  of  her  humours,  were  there 
not  some  little  lurking  consciousness  that  it  may  be  as 
prudent  to  avoid  debate. 

"  Now  my  story  is  told,  and  you  wiU  judge  what  you 
ought  to  do.  I  have  not  mentioned  the  matter  to  my 
good  woman,  who,  a  faithful  secretary  to  her  sex's  foibles, 
would  certainly  remonstrate  against  your  being  made 
acquainted  with  these  particulars,  and  might,  instead, 
take  it  into  her  head  to  exercise  her  own  eloquence  on 
Miss  Mannering, — a  faculty,  which,  however  powerful 
when  directed  against  me,  its  legitimate  object,  might,  I 
fear,  do  more  harm  than  good  in  the  case  supposed. 
Perhaps  even  you  yourself  will  find  it  most  prudent  tc 
act  without  remonstrating,  or  appearing  to  be  aware  of 
this  little  anecdote.  Julia  is  very  like  a  certain  friend  of 
mine  ;  she  has  a  quick  and  lively  imagination,  and  keen 
feelings,  which  are  apt  to  exaggerate  both  the  good  and 
evil  they  find  in  life.  She  is  a  charming  girl,  however, 
as  generous  and  spirited  as  she  is  lovely.  I  paid  her  the 
kiss  you  sent  her  with  all  my  heart,  and  she  rapped  my 
fingers  for  my  reward  with  all  hers.  Pray  return  as 
Boon  as  you  can.  Meantime,  rely  upon  the  care  of, 
yours  faithfully,  Arthur  Mervyn. 

"  P.  S. — You  will  naturally  wish  to  know  if  I  have  the 
least  guess  concerning  the  person  of  the  serenader.  In 
truth,  I  have  none.     There  is  no  young  gentleman  of 


198  WAYEELET   NOVELS. 

these  parts,  who  might  be  in  rank  or  fortune  a  match  for 
Miss  Julia,  that  I  think  at  all  likely  to  play  such  a 
character.  But  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake,  nearly 
opposite  to  Mervyn-hall,  is  a  d — d  cake-house,  the  resort 
of  walking  gentlemen  of  all  descriptions, — poets,  players, 
painters,  musicians,  who  come  to  rave,  and  recite,  and 
madden,  about  this  picturesque  land  of  ours.  It  is 
paying  some  penalty  for  its  beauties,  that  they  are  the 
means  of  di-awing  this  swarm  of  coxcombs,  together. 
But  were  JuHa  my  daughter,  it  is  one  of  those  sort  of 
fellows  that  I  should  fear  on  her  account.  She  is  gener- 
ous and  romantic,  and  writes  six  sheets  a-week  to  a 
female  correspondent ;  and  it's  a  sad  thing  to  lack  a  sub- 
ject in  such  a  case,  either  for  exercise  of  the  feelings  or 
of  the  pen.  Adieu,  once  more.  Were  I  to  treat  this  mat- 
ter more  seriously  than  I  have  done,  I  should  do  injustice 
to  your  feehngs  ;  were  I  altogether  to  overlook  it,  I 
should  discredit  my  own." 

The  consequence  of  this  letter  was,  that  having  first 
despatched  the  faithless  messenger  with  the  necessary 
powers  to  IVIr.  Mac-Morlan  for  purchasing  the  estate  of 
Ellangowan,  Colonel  Mannering  turned  his  horse's  head 
in  a  more  southerly  direction,  and  neither  *'  stinted  nor 
staid,"  until  he  arrived  at  the  mansion  of  his  friend  IMr. 
Mervyn,  upon  the  banks  of  one  of  the  lakes  of  West- 
moreland. 


<JCY   MANNERING.  199 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

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

Pope,  imitated. 

When  Mannering  returned  to  England,  his  first  object 
had  been  to  place  his  daughter  in  a  seminary  for  female 
education,  of  established  character.  Not,  however,  find- 
iilg  her  progress  ui  the  accompHshments  which  he  wished 
her  to  acquire  so  rapid  as  his  impatience  expected,  he 
had  withdrawn  INIiss  Mannering  from  the  school  at  the 
end  of  the  first  quarter.  So  she  had  only  time  to  form 
an  eternal  friendship  with  IVIiss  Matilda  Marchmont,  a 
young  lady  about  her  own  age,  which  was  nearly  eigh- 
teen. To  her  faithful  eye  were  addi-essed  those  for- 
midable quires  which  issued  forth  from  Mervyn-hall,  on 
the  wings  of  the  post,  while  JVIiss  Mannering  was  a  guest 
there.  The  perusal  of  a  few  short  extracts  from  these 
may  be  necessary  to  render  our  story  intelligible : 

First  Extract. 

"  Alas !  my  dearest  Matilda,  what  a  tale  is  mine  to  tell ! 
Misfortune  from  the  cradle  has  set  her  seal  upon  your  un- 
happy friend.  That  we  should  be  severed  for  so  slight  a 
cause — an  ungrammatical  phrase  in  my  Italian  exercise, 
«vnd  tlu-ee  false  notes  in  one  of  Paesiello's  sonatas  !     But 


200  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

it  is  a  part  of  my  father's  character,  of  whom  it  is  im 
possible  to  say  whether  I  love,  admire,  or  fear  him  the 
most.  His  success  in  life  and  in  war — his  habit  of 
making  every  obstacle  yield  before  the  energy  of  his 
exertions,  even  where  they  seemed  insunnountable — all 
these  have  given  a  hasty  and  peremptory  cast  to  his 
character,  which  can  neither  endure  contradiction,  nor 
make  allowance  for  deficiencies.  Then  he  is  himself  so 
very  accomplished.  Do  you  know  there  was  a  murmur 
half  confirmed  too  by  some  mysterious  words  which 
dropped  from  my  poor  mother,  that  he  possesses  other 
sciences,  now  lost  to  the  world,  which  enable  the  pos- 
sessor to  summon  up  before  him  the  dark  and  shadowy 
forms  of  future  events  !  Does  not  the  very  idea  of  such 
a  power,  or  even  of  the  high  talent  and  commanding 
intellect  which  the  world  may  mistake  for  it, — doesjt 
not,  dear  Matilda,  throw  a  mysterious  grandeur  about; 
its  possessor  ?  You  will  call  this  romantic  :  but  consider 
I  was  born  in  the  land  of  talisman  and  spell,  and  my 
jhildhood  lulled  by  tales  which  you  can  only  enjoy 
through  the  gauzy  frippery  of  a  French  translation.  O 
Matilda,  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  dusky  visages 
of  my  Indian  attendants,  bending  in  earnest  devotion 
round  the  magic  narrative,  that  flowed,  half  poetry,  half 
prose,  from  the  hps  of  the  tale-teller !  No  wonder  that 
European  fiction  sounds  cold  and  meagre,  after  the  won- 
derful effects  which  I  have  seen  the  romances  of  the  East 
produce  upon  their  hearers." 

Second  Extract. 

"  You  are  possessed,  my  dear  Matilda,  of  my  bosom- 
secret,  in  those  sentiments  with  which  I  regard  Brown. 
I  will  not  say  his  memory — I  am  convinced  he  lives,  and 


GUY    BIANNERmG.  201 

is  faithful.  His  addresses  to  me  were  countenanced  by 
my  deceased  parent ;  imprudently  countenanced  perhaps, 
considering  the  prejudices  of  my  father  in  favour  of  birth 
and  rank.  But  I,  then  almost  a  girl,  could  not  be  ex- 
pected surely  to  be  wiser  than  she,  under  whose  chaige 
nature  had  placed  me.  My  father,  constantly  engaged 
in  militaiy  duty,  I  saw  bufc  at  rare  intervals,  and  was 
taaght  to  look  up  to  him  with  more  awe  than  confidence. 
Would  to  Heaven  it  had  btien  otherwise  !  It  might  have 
been  better  for  us  all  at  this  day  !  " 

Third  Extract. 

"  You  ask  me  why  I  do  not  make  known  to  my  father 
that  Brown  yet  lives,  at  least  that  he  survived  the  wound 
he  received  in  that  unhappy  duel ;  and  had  written 
to  my  mother,  expressing  his  entire  convalescence,  and 
his  hope  of  speedily  escaping  from  captivity.  A  soldier, 
that '  in  the  trade  of  war  has  oft  slain  men,'  feels  probably 
no  uneasiness  at  reflecting  upon  the  supposed  catastrophe, 
which  almost  turned  me  into  stone.  And  should  I  show 
him  that  letter,  does  it  not  follow,  that  Brown,  alive  and 
maintaining  with  peitinacity  the  pretensions  to  the  affec- 
tions of  your  poor  friend,  for  which  my  father  formerly 
sought  his  life,  would  be  a  more  formidable  disturber  of 
Colonel  Mannering's  peace  of  mind  than  his  supposed 
grav  },  ?  If  he  escapes  from  the  hands  of  these  marauders, 
I  am  convinced  he  will  soon  be  in  England,  and  it  will  be 
then  time  to  consider  how  his  existence  is  to  be  disclosed 
to  my  father. — But  if,  alas  !  my  earnest  and  confident 
hopes  should  betray  me,  what  would  it  avail  to  tear  open 
a  mystery  fraught  with  so  many  painful  recollections  ? — 
My  dear  mother  had  such  dread  of  its  being  known,  that 
I   think   she   even   suffered  my  father   to  suspect   that 


202  TTAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Brown's  attentions  were  directed  towards  herself,  rather 
than  peiTQit  him  to  discover  their  real  object ; — and  O, 
Matilda,  whatever  respect  I  owe  to  the  memory  of  a 
deceased  parent,  let  me  do  justice  to  a  Hving  one.  I 
cannot  but  condemn  the  dubious  pohcj  which  she 
adopted,  as  unjust  to  my  father,  and  highly  perilous  to 
herself  and  me.  But  peace  be  with  her  ashes ! — her 
actions  were  guided  by  the  heart  rather  than  the  head  ; 
and  shaU  her  daughter,  who  inherits  all  her  weakness,  be 
the  first  to  withdraw  the  veil  from  her  defects  ?  " 

FouKTH  Extract. 

"  ;Meratx  Hall. 
"  If  India  be  the  land  of  magic,  this,  my  dearest  Ma- 
tilda, is  the  country  of  romance.  The  scenery  is  such  as 
nature  brings  together  in  her  sublimest  moods  ; — sounding 
cataracts — hiUs  which  rear  their  scathed  heads  to  the  sky 
— lakes,  that,  winding  ujd  the  shadowy  valleys,  lead  at 
every  turn  to  yet  raore  romantic  recesses — rocks  which 
catch  the  clouds  of  heaven.  AH  the  wildness  of  Salvator 
here — and  there,  the  faiiy  scenes  of  Claude.  I  am  happy, 
too,  in  finding  at  least  one  object  upon  which  my  father 
can  share  my  enthusiasm.  An  admirer  of  nature,  both 
as  an  artist  and  a  poet,  I  have  experienced  the  utmost 
pleasure  from  the  observations  by  which  he  explains  the 
character  and  the  effect  of  these  brilliant  specimens  of 
her  power.  I  wish  he  would  settle  in  this  enchanting 
land.  But  his  views  He  still  farther  north,  and  he  is  at 
present  absent  on  a  tour  in  Scotland,  looking,  I  believe, 
for  some  purchase  of  land  which  may  suit  him  as  a  resi- 
dence. He  is  partial,  from  early  recollections,  to  that 
country.  So,  my  dearest  Matilda,  I  must  be  yet  farther 
removed  from  you  before  I  am  established  hi  a  liome.— 


GUY   MANNERrNG.  203 

And  0  how  delighted  shall  I  be  when  I  can  say,  Come, 
Matilda,  and  be  the  guest  of  your  faithful  Julia  ! 

"  I  am  at  present  the  inmate  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mervyn, 
old  friends  of  my  father.  The  latter  is  precisely  a  good 
sort  of  woman ; — lady-hke  and  housewifely,  but,  for  ac- 
complishments or  fancy — good  lack,  my  dearest  Matilda, 
your  friend  might  as  well  seek  sympathy  from  Mrs. 
Teach' em, — you  see  I  have  not  forgot  school  nicknames., 
Mervyn  is  a  different — quite  a  different  being  from  my 
father ;  yet  he  amuses  and  endures  me.  He  is  fat  and 
good-natured,  gifted  with  strong  shrewd  sense,  and  some 
powers  of  humour ;  but  having  been  handsome,  I  suppose, 
in  his  youth,  has  still  some  pretension  to  be  a  heau  g argon, 
as  well  as  an  enthusiastic  agriculturist.  I  delight  to 
make  him  scramble  to  the  tops  of  eminences  and  to  the 
foot  of  waterfalls,  and  am  obliged  in  turn  to  admire  his 
turnips,  his  lucem,  and  his  timothy-grass.  He  thinks  me, 
I  fancy,  a  simple  romantic  Miss,  with  some — (the  word 
will  be  out)  beauty,  and  some  good-nature  ;  and  I  hold 
that  the  gentleman  has  good  taste  for  the  female  outside, 
and  do  not  expect  he  should  comprehend  my  sentiments 
farther.  So  he  rallies,  hands,  and  hobbles,  (for  the  dear 
creature  has  got  the  gout  too,)  and  tells  old  stories  of  high 
life,  of  which  he  has  seen  a  great  deal ;  and  I  listen,  and 
smile,  and  look  as  pretty,  as  pleasant,  and  as  simple  as  I 
can, — and  we  do  very  well. 

"  But,  alas !  my  dearest  Matilda,  how  would  time  pass 
awa}',  even  in  this  paradise  of  romance,  tenanted  as  it  is 
by  a  pair  assorting  so  ill  with  the  scenes  around  them, 
were  it  not  for  your  fideHty  in  replying  to  my  uninterest- 
ing details  ?  Pray  do  not  fail  to  write  three  times  a- we  ek 
at  least, — ^you  can  be  at  no  loss  what  to  say." 


204         waverley  novels. 

Fifth  Extract. 

"  How  shall  I  communicate  what  I  have  now  to  tell ! 
My  hand  and  heart  still  flutter  so  much,  that  the  task 
of  writing  is  almost  impossible  !  Did  I  not  say  that  he 
li^ed?  did  I  not  say  I  would  not  despair?  How  could 
you  suggest,  my  dear  Matilda,  that  my  feelings,  consider- 
ing I  had  parted  from  him  so  young,  rather  arose  from 
tlie  warmth  of  my  imagmation  than  of  my  heart?  O  !  I 
was  sure  that  they  were  genuine,  deceitful  as  the  dictates 
of  our  bosom  so  frequently  are.  But  to  my  tale — let  it 
be,  my  friend,  the  most  sacred,  as  it  is  the  most  sincere 
pledge  of  our  friendship. 

"  Our  hours  here  are  early — earlier  than  my  heart, 
with  its  load  of  care,  can  compose  itself  to  rest.  I,  there- 
fore, usually  take  a  book  for  an  hour  or  two  after  retirmg 
to  my  own  room,  which  I  think  I  have  told  you  opens  to 
a  small  balcony,  looking  down  upon  that  beautiful  lake, 
of  which  I  attempted  to  give  you  a  slight  sketch.  Mervyn- 
hall,  being  partly  an  ancient  building,  and  constructed  with 
a  view  to  defence,  is  situated  on  the  verge  of  the  lake.  A 
stone  dropped  from  the  projecting  balcony  plunges  into 
water  deep  enough  to  float  a  skiff.  I  had  left  my  window 
partly  unbarred,  that,  before  I  went  to  bed,  I  might, 
according  to  my  custom,  look  out  and  see  the  moonhght 
shining  upon  the  lake.  I  was  deeply  engaged  with  that 
beautiful  scene  in  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  where  two 
lo\'ers,  describing  the  stillness  of  a  summer  night,  enhance 
on  each  other  its  charms,  and  was  lost  in  the  associations 
of  story  and  of  feeling  which  it  awakens,  when  I  heard 
upon  the  lake  the  sound  of  a  flageolet.  I  have  told  you 
it  was  Brown's  favourite  instrument.  Who  could  touch 
it  in  a  night  which,  though  still  and  serene,  was  too  cold, 
and  too  late  in  the  year,  to  invite  forth  any  wanderer 


GUT   MANNERING.  205 

for  mere  pleasure  ?  I  drew  jet  nearer  the  window,  aud 
hearkened  with  breatldess  attention  ; — the  sounds  paused 
a  space,  were  then  resumed — paused  again — and  again 
reached  my  ear,  ever  coining  nearer  and  nearer.  At 
length,  I  distinguished  plainly  that  httle  Hindu  air  which 
you  called  my  favourite — I  have  told  you  by  whom  it 
was  taught  me'; — the  instrument,  the  tones,  were  his  own ! 
Was  it  earthly  music,  or  notes  passing  on  the  wind,  to 
warn  me  of  his  death  ? 

"  It  was  some  time  ere  I  could  summon  courage  to  step 
on  the  balcony — nothing  could  have  emboldened  me  to  do 
so  but  the  strong  conviction  of  my  mind  that  he  was  still 
ahve,  and  that  we  should  again  meet ;  but  that  conviction 
did  embolden  me,  and  I  ventured,  though  with  a  throbbing 
heart.  There  was  a  small  skiff,  with  a  single  person — 
0,  Matilda,  it  was  himself! — I  knew  his  appearance  after 
so  long  an  absence,  and  through  the  shadow  of  the  night, 
as  perfectly  as  if  we  had  parted  yesterday,  and  met  again 
in  the  broad  sunshine !  He  guided  his  boat  under  the 
balcony,  and  spoke  to  me.  I  hardly  knew  what  he  said, 
or  what  I  replied.  Indeed,  I  could  scarcely  speak  for 
weeping, — ^but  they  were  joyful  tears.  We  were  dis- 
turbed by  the  barking  of  a  dog  at  some  distance,  and 
parted,  but  not  before  he  had  conjured  me  to  prepare  to 
meet  him  at  the  same  place  and  hour  this  evening. 

"  But  where  and  to  what  is  all  this  tending  ?  Can  I 
answer  this  question  ?  I  cannot.  Heaven,  that  saved  him 
from  death,  and  delivered  him  from  captivity — that  saved 
my  father,  too,  from  shedding  the  blood  of  one  who  would 
not  have  blemished  a  hair  of  his  head, — that  Heaven 
must  guide  me  out  of  this  labyrinth.  Enough  for  me  the 
firm  resolution,  that  Matilda  shall  not  blush  for  her  friend, 
my  father  for  his  daughter,  nor  my  lover  for  her  on  whoiQ 
he  has  fixed  his  affection." 


206  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XVni. 

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

Much  Ado  about  NoTHma. 

"We  must  proceed  with  our  extracts  from  Miss  Man- 
nering's  letters,  which  throw  light  upon  natural  good 
sense,  principle,  and  feelings,  blemished  by  an  imperfect 
education,  and  the  folly  of  a  misjudging  mother,  who 
called  her  husband  in  her  heart  a  tyrant  until  she  feared 
him  as  such,  and  read  romances  until  she  became  so  en- 
amoured of  the  complicated  intrigues  which  they  contain, 
as  to  assume  the  management  of  a  little  family  novel  of 
her  own,  and  constitute  her  daughter,  a  girl  of  sixteen, 
the  principal  heroine.  She  delighted  in  petty  mystery, 
and  intrigue,  and  secrets,  and  yet  trembled  at  the  indig- 
nation which  these  paltry  manoeuvres  excited  in  her  hus- 
band's mind.  Thus  she  frequently  entered  upon  a  scheme 
merely  for  pleasure,  or  perhaps  for  the  love  of  contradic- 
tion— plunged  deeper  into  it  than  she  was  aware — en- 
deavoured to  extricate  herself  by  new  arts,  or  to  cover 
her  error  by  dissimulation — became  involved  in  meshes 
of  her  own  weaving,  and  was  forced  to  carry  on,  for  fear 
of  iliicovery,  machinations  which  she  had  at  first  resorted 
to  in  mere  wantonness. 

Fortunately  the  young  man  whom  she  so  imprudently 
introduced  into  her  intimate  society,  and  encouraged  to 
look  up  to  her  daughter,  had  a  fund  of  principle  and 


GUr   MANNEEING.  207 

honest  pride,  which  rendered  him  a  safer  intimate  than 
Mrs.  Mannering  ought  to  have  dared  to  hope  or  expect. 
The  obscurity  of  his  birth  could  alone  be  objected  to 
liim ;  in  everj  other  respect, 

With  prospects  bright  upon  the  world  he  came, 
Pure  love  of  virtue,  strong  desire  of  fame ; 
Men  watched  the  way  his  lofty  mind  would  take, 
And  aU  foretold  the  progress  he  would  make. 

But  it  (!ould  not  be  expected  that  he  should  resist  the 
snare  which  Mrs.  Mannering's  imprudence  threw  in  his 
way,  or  avoid  becoming  attached  to  a  young  lady,  whose 
beauty  and  manners  might  have  justified  his  passion,  even 
in  scenes  where  these  are  more  generally  met  with,  than 
in  a  remote  fortress  in  our  Indian  settlements.  The 
scenes  which  followed  have  been  partly  detailed  in  Man- 
nering's letter  to  Mr.  Mervyn ;  and  to  expand  what  is  there 
stated  mto  further  explanation,  would  be  to  abuse  the 
patience  of  our  readers. 

We  shall,  therefore,  proceed  with  our  promised  extracts 
from  Miss  Mannering's  letters  to  her  friend : — 

Sixth  Extract. 
"  I  have  seen  him  again,  Matilda — seen  him  twice.  I 
nave  used  every  argument  to  convince  him  that  this  secret 
intercourse  is  dangerous  to  us  both.  I  even  pressed  hira 
to  pursue  his  views  of  fortune  without  farther  regard  to 
me,  and  to  consider  my  peace  of  mind  as  sufficiently 
secured  by  the  knowledge  that  he  had  not  fallen  under 
my  father's  sword.  He  answers — but  how  can  I  detail 
all  he  has  to  answer  ?  He  claims  those  hopes  as  liis  due 
which  my  mother  permitted  him  to  entertain,  and  would 
persuade  me  to  the  madness  of  a  union  without  my  father's 
sanction.     But  to  this,  Matilda,  I  will  not  be  persuaded. 


208  WAYERLEY   NOYELS. 

I  have  resisted,  I  have  subdued,  the  rebellious  feelings 
which  ai'0::^e  to  aid  his  plea  ; — jet  how  to  extricate  myself 
from  this  unhappy  labyrhith,  in  wliich  fate  and  folly  have 
entangled  us  both ! 

"  I  have  thought  upon  it,  Matilda,  till  my  head  is  almost 
gidd} — nor  can  I  conceive  a  better  plan  than  to  make 
a  full  confession  to  my  father.  He  deserves  it,  for  his 
kindness  is  unceasing ;  and  I  think  I  have  observed  in 
his  character,  since  I  have  studied  it  more  nearly,  that 
his  harsher  feehngs  are  chiefly  excited  where  he  suspects 
deceit  or  imposition ;  and  in  that  respect,  perhaps,  his 
character  was  formerly  misunderstood  by  one  who  was 
dear  to  him.  He  has,  too,  a  tinge  of  romance  in  his  dis- 
position ;  and  I  have  seen  the  narrative  of  a  generous 
action,  a  trait  of  heroism,  or  vu'tuous  self-denial,  extract 
tears  from  him,  which  refused  to  flow  at  a  tale  of  mere 
distress.  But  then,  Brown  urges,  that  he  is  personally 
hostile  to  him.  And  the  obscurity  of  his  birth — that 
would  be  indeed  a  stumbhng-block.  O  Matilda,  I  hope 
none  of  your  ancestors  ever  fought  at  Poictiers  or  Agui- 
court !  If  it  were  not  for  the  veneration  which  my  father 
attaches  to  the  memory  of  old  Sii'  Miles  Mannering,  I 
should  make  out  my  explanation  with  half  the  tremor 
which  must  now  attend  it." 

Seventh  Extract. 

"  I  have  this  instant  received  your  letter — your  moit 
welcome  letter !  Thanks,  my  dearest  friend,  for  your 
BjTiipathy  and  your  counsels — I  can  only  repay  them  Avith 
unbounded  confidence. 

"  You  ask  me,  what  Brown  is  by  origin,  that  his  descent 
should  be  so  unpleasing  to  my  father.  His  story  is  shortly 
told.     He  is  of  Scottish  extraction;  but,  being  left  an 


GUY   MAKNERING.  209 

orphan,  Lis  education  was  undertaken  by  a  family  of  rela- 
tions, settled  in  Holland.  He  was  bred  to  commerce, 
and  sent  very  early  to  one  of  our  settlements  in  the  East, 
where  his  guardian  had  a  correspondent.  But  this  cor- 
respondent was  dead  when  he  arrived  in  India,  and  he 
had  no  other  resource  than  to  offer  himself  as  a  clerk  to 
a  counting-house.  The  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  tie 
straits  to  which  we  were  at  first  reduced,  threw  the  army 
open  to  all  young  men  who  were  disposed  to  embrace 
that  mode  of  hfe ;  and  Brown,  whose  genius  had  a  strong 
mihtary  tendency,  was  the  first  to  leave  what  might  have 
been  the  road  to  wealth,  and  to  choose  that  of  fame.  The 
rest  of  his  history  is  well  known  to  you  ; — ^but  conceive 
the  irritation  of  my  father,  who  despises  conamerce, 
(though,  by  the  way,  the  best  part  of  his  property  was 
made  in  that  honourable  profession  by  my  great  uncle,) 
and  has  a  particular  antipathy  to  the  Dutch — think  with 
what  ear  he  would  be  likely  to  receive  proposals  for  his 
only  child  from  Yanbeest  Brown,  educated  for  charity  by 
the  house  of  Vanbeest  and  Vanbruggen  !  O  Matilda,  it 
will  never  do — nay,  so  childish  am  I,  I  hardly  can  help 
sympathizing  with  his  aristocratic  feelings.  Mrs.  Yan- 
beest Brown !  The  name  has  little  to  recommend  it  to  be 
sure.     What  children  we  are  !  " 

Eighth  Extract. 

"It  is  all  over  now,  Matilda!  I  shall  never  have 
courage  to  tell  my  father — nay,  most  deeply  do  I  fear  he 
has  already  learned  my  secret  from  another  quarter, 
which  will  entirely  remove  the  grace  of  my  communica- 
tion, and  ruin  whatever  gleam  of  hope  I  had  ventured  to 
connect  with  it.  Yesternight,  Brown  came  as  usual,  and 
his  flageolet  on  the  lake  announced  his  approach.     We 

VOL.  m.  14 


210  WATERLEY   XOTELS. 

had  agreed  that  he  should  continue  to  use  this  signaL 
These  romantic  lakes  attract  numerous  visitors,  who  in- 
dulge their  enthusiasm  in  visiting  the  scenery  at  all  hours, 
and  we  hoped,  that  if  Brown  were  noticed  from  the  house, 
he  might  pass  for  one  of  those  admirers  of  nature,  wlio 
was  giving  vent  to  his  feelings  through  the  medium  of 
music.  The  sounds  might  also  be  my  apology,  should  1 
be  obsei-ved  on  the  balcony.  But  last  night,  while  I  waa 
eagerly  enforcing  my  plan  of  a  full  confession  to  my 
father,  which  he  as  earnestly  deprecated,  we  heai'd  the 
window  of  Mr.  Mervyn's  library,  which  is  under  my 
room,  open  softly.  1  signed  to  Brown  to  make  his  re- 
treat, and  immediately  re-entered,  with  some  faint  hopes 
that  our  interview  had  not  been  observed. 

"  But,  alas  !  Matilda,  these  hopes  vanished  the  instant 
1  beheld  Mr.  Mervyn's  countenance  at  breakfast  the  next 
morning.  He  looked  so  provokingly  intelligent  and  con- 
fidential, that,  had  I  dared,  I  could  have  been  more  angry 
than  ever  I  was  in  my  life.  But  I  must  be  on  good  be- 
haviour, and  my  walks  are  now  limited  within  his  farm 
precincts,  where  the  good  gentleman  can  amble  along  by 
my  side  without  inconvenience.  I  have  detected  him 
once  or  twice  attempting  to  sound  my  thoughts,  and 
watch  the  expression  of  my  countenance.  He  has  talked 
of  the  flageolet  more  than  once  ;  and  has  at  different 
times  made  eulogiums  upon  the  watchfulness  and  ferocity 
of  his  dogs,  and  the  regularity  with  which  the  keeper 
makes  his  rounds  with  a  loaded  fowling-piece.  He  jnen- 
tioned  even  man-traps  and  sprmg-guns.  I  should  be  loath 
to  affront  my  father's  old  friend  in  his  own  house ;  but  I 
do  long  to  show  him  that  I  am  my  father's  daughter,  a 
fact  of  which  Mr.  ]Mervyn  will  certainly  be  convinced,  if 
ever  T  tru^t  my  voice  and  temper  with  a  reply  to  these 


GUY  MANNERING.  211 

indirect  Ixints.  Of  one  thing  I  am  certain — ^I  am  grateful 
to  him  on  that  account — he  has  not  told  Mrs.  Mervyn, 
Lord  help  me,  I  should  have  had  such  lectures  about  the 
dangers  of  love  and  the  night  air  on  the  lake,  the  risk 
arising  from  colds  and  fortune-hunters,  the  comfort  and 
convenience  of  sack-whej  and  closed  windows  !  I  cannot 
help  trifling,  Matilda,  though  my  heart  is  sad  enough. 
What  Brown  will  do  I  cannot  guess.  I  presume,  how- 
ever, the  fear  of  detection  prevents  his  resuming  his 
nocturnal  visits.  He  lodges  at  an  inn  on  the  opposite 
shore  of  the  lake,  under  the  name,  he  tells  me,  of  Dawson 
— he  has  a  bad  choice  in  names,  that  must  be  allowed. 
He  has  not  left  the  army,  I  beUeve,  but  he  says  nothing 
of  his  present  views. 

"  To  complete  my  anxiety,  my  father  is  returned  sud- 
denly, and  in  high  displeasure.  Our  good  hostess,  as  I 
learned  from  a  bustling  conversation  between  her  house- 
keeper and  her,  had  no  expectation  of  seeing  him  for  a 
week ;  but  I  rather  suspect  his  arrival  was  no  surprise  to 
his  friend  Mr.  Merv^nn.  His  manner  to  me  was  singu- 
larly cold  and  constrained — sufficiently  so  to  have  damped 
all  the  courage  with  which  I  once  resolved  to  throw  my- 
self on  his  generosity.  He  lays  the  blame  of  his  being 
discomposed  and  out  of  humour  to  the  loss  of  a  purchase 
in  the  south-west  of  Scotland,  on  which  he  had  set  his 
heart;  but  I  do  not  suspect  his  equanimity  of  being  so 
easily  thrown  off  its  balance.  His  first  excursion  was 
with  Mr.  Mervyn's  barge  across  the  lake,  to  the  inn  I  have 
mentioned.  You  may  imagine  the  agony  with  which  I 
waited  his  return.  Had  he  recognised  Brown,  who  can 
guess  the  consequence  ?  He  returned,  however,  appar- 
ently without  having  made  any  discovery.  I  understand, 
that  in  consequence  of  his  late  disappointment,  he  means 


212  WAVERLET   N0YEL3. 

now  to  hire  a  house  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this  same 
Ellangowan,  of  which  I  am  doomed  to  hear  so  much — he 
seems  to  think  it  probable  that  the  estate  for  which  he 
wishes  may  soon  be  again  in  the  market.  I  will  not  send 
away  this  letter  until  I  hear  more  distinctly  what  are  his 
intentions." 


'^  I  have  now  had  an  interview  with  my  father,  as  con- 
fidential as,  I  presume,  he  means  to  allow  me.  He  re- 
quested me  to-day,  after  breakfast,  to  walk  with  him  into 
the  library :  my  knees,  Matilda,  shook  under  me,  and  it 
is  no  exaggeration  to  say  I  could  scarce  follow  him  into 
the  room.  I  feared  I  knew  not  what :  from  my  child- 
hood I  had  seen  all  around  him  tremble  at  his  frown. 
He  motioned  me  to  seat  myself,  and  I  never  obeyed  a 
command  so  readily,  for,  in  truth,  I  could  hardly  stand. 
He  himself  continued  to  walk  up  and  down  the  room. 
You  have  seen  my  father,  and  noticed  I  recollect,  the 
remarkably  expressive  cast  of  his  features.  His  eyes  are 
naturally  rather  light  in  colour,  but  agitation  or  anger 
gives  them  a  darker  and  more  fiery  glance ;  he  has  a 
custom  also  of  drawing  in  his  lips,  when  much  moved, 
which  implies  a  combat  between  native  ardour  of  temper 
and  the  habitual  power  of  self-command.  This  was  the 
first  time  we  had  been  alone  since  his  return  from  Scot- 
land, and,  as  he  betrayed  these  tokens  of  agitation,  I  had 
little  doubt  that  he  was  about  to  enter  upon  the  subject  I 
most  dreaded. 

"  To  my  unutterable  relief,  I  found  I  was  mistaken, 
and  that  whatever  he  knew  of  Mr.  Mervyn's  suspicions 
or  discoveries,  he  did  not  intend  to  converse  with  me  on 
the  topic.  Coward  as  I  was,  I  was  inexpressibly  re- 
lieved, though  if  he  had  really  investigated  the  reports 


GUY   MANNERING.  213 

which  may  have  come  to  his  ear,  the  reahty  could  have 
been  notliing  to  what  his  suspicions  might  have  conceived. 
But  though  my  spirits  rose  high  at  my  unexpected  escape, 
I  had  not  courage  myself  to  provoke  the  discussion,  and 
remained  silent  to  receive  his  commands. 

" '  Juha,'  he  said,  '  my  agent  writes  me  from  Scotland, 
that  he  has  been  able  to  hire  a  house  for  me,  decently 
furnished,  and  with  the  necessary  accommodation  for  my 
family — it  is  within  three  miles  of  that  I  had  designed  to 
purchase.' Then  he  made  a  pause,  and  seemed  to  ex- 
pect an  answer. 

"  *  Whatever  place  of  residence  suits  you,  sir,  must  be 
perfectly  agreeable  to  me.' 

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

"Mr.  and  IMrs.  Mervyn,  thought  I  to  myself. — 
*  Whatever  company  is  agreeable  to  you,  sir,'  I  answered 
aloud 

"  '  0,  there  is  a  httle  too  much  of  this  universal  spirit 
of  submission ;  an  excellent  disposition  in  action,  but 
your  constantly  repeating  the  jai'gon  of  it,  puts  me  in 
mind  of  the  eternal  salaams  of  our  black  dependents  in 
the  East.  In  short,  Julia,  I  know  you  have  a  relish 
for  society,  and  I  intend  to  invite  a  young  person,  the 
daughter  of  a  deceased  friend,  to  spend  a  few  months 
ynih  us.' 

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

" '  No,  not  a  governess,  IMiss  Maunering,'  rephed  the 
Colonel  somewhat  sternly,  '  but  a  young  lady  from  whose 
excellent  example,  bred  as  she  has  been  in  the  school 
of  adversity,  I  trust  you  may  learn  the  art  to  govern 
yourself.' 


214  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"To  answer  this  was  trencliing  upon  too  dangerous 
ground ;  so  there  was  a  pause. 

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

"  '  Yes ' — dryly  enough. 

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

"  '  Much  of  the  devil ! '  answered  my  father  hastily  : 
'  do  you  think  I  care  about  a's  and  aa's,  and  ^''s  and  ee's  ? 
— -I  tell  you,  Julia,  I  am  serious  in  the  matter.  You 
have  a  genius  for  friendship,  that  is,  for  running  up  inti- 
macies which  you  call  such ' — (was  not  this  very  harshly 
said,  Matilda  ?)  '  Now  I  wish  to  give  you  an  opportunity 
at  least  to  make  one  deserving  friend ;  and  therefore  I 
have  resolved  that  this  young  lady  shall  be  a  member  of 
my  family  for  some  months,  and  I  expect  you  will  pay 
to  her  that  attention  which  is  due  to  misfortune  and 
virtue.' 

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

"  He  gave  me  one  of  his  stern  glances ;  you  will  say, 
perhaps,  I  deserved  it ;  but  I  think  the  deuce  prompts  me 
with  teasing  questions  on  some  occasions. 

"  '  She  is  as  superior  to  you,  my  love,  in  personal  ap- 
pearance, as  in  prudence  and  affection  for  her  friends.' 

"  '  Lord,  papa,  do  you  think  that  superiority  a  recom- 
mendation ? — Well,  sir,  but  I  see  you  are  going  to  take 
aU  tliis  too  seriously :  whatever  the  young  lady  may  be, 
I  am  sure,  being  recommended  by  you,  she  shall  have  no 
reason  to  complain  of  my  want  of  attention.' — (After  a 
pause) — '  Has  she  any  attendant  ?  because  you  know  I 
must  provide  for  her  proper  accommodation  if  she  is 
without  one.' 

"'N — no — no — not  properly  an  attendant — the  chap- 
lain who  lived  with  her  father  is  a  very  good  sort  of  man, 
and  I  believe  I  shaU  make  room  for  him  in  the  house.' 


GUY    MANNERING.  215 

" '  Chaplain,  papa  ?     Lord  bless  us  ! ' 

"  '  Yes,  Miss  Mannering,  chaplain ;  is  there  any  thing 
very  new  in  that  word  ?  Had  we  not  a  chaplain  at  the 
Residence,  when  we  were  in  India  ? ' 

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

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

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

"  The  apparent  simplicity  with  which  I  asked  this  ques- 
tion got  the  better  of  his  gravity.  '  Come,  Julia,'  he  said, 
'  you  are  a  sad  girl,  but  I  gain  nothing  by  scolding  you. 
Of  these  two  strangers,  the  young  lady  is  one  whom  you 
cannot  fail,  I  think,  to  love; — ^the  person  whom,  for 
want  of  a  better  term,  I  called  chaplain,  is  a  very  worthy, 
and  somewhat  ridiculous,  personage,  who  will  never 
find  out  you  laugh  at  him,  if  you  don't  laugh  very  loud 
indeed.' 

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

"  '  Not,  perhaps,  as  much  to  your  taste — there  is  no 
lake  under  the  windows,  and  you  will  be  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  having  all  your  music  within  doors.' 

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

"  Yet  my  spirits,  as  perhaps  will  appear  too  manifest 
from  this  dialogue,  have  risen  insensibly,  and,  as  it  were, 
in  spite  of  myself  Brown  alive,  and  free,  and  in  Eng- 
land! Embarrassment  and  anxiety  I  can  and  must 
endure.  We  leave  this  in  two  days  for  our  new  resi- 
dence.    I  shall  not  fail  to  let  you  know  what  I  think  of 


216  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

these  Scotch  inmates,  whom  I  have  but  too  much  reason 
to  beheve  my  father  means  to  quarter  in  his  house  as  a 
brace  of  honourable  spies ;  a  sort  of  female  Rozen- 
crantz  and  reverend  Guildenstern,  one  in  tartan  petticoats, 
the  other  in  a  cassock.  What  a  contrast  to  the  society  I 
would  willingly  have  secured  to  myself!  I  shall  write 
instantly  on  my  arriving  at  our  new  place  of  abode, 
and  acquaint  my  dearest  Matilda  with  the  farther  fates 
of — her 

"  Julia  IMannering.** 


GUY   MANNERING.  217 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Wliich  sloping  hills  around  enclose, 
Where  many  a  beech  and  brown  oak  grows. 
Beneath  whose  dark  and  branching  bowers, 
Its  tides  a  far-famed  river  pours, 
By  nature's  beauties  taught  to  please, 
Sweet  Tusculane  of  rural  ease ! — 

Waeton. 

WooDBOHRNE,  the  habitation  which  Mannering,  by 
Mr.  Mac-Morlan's  mediation,  had  hired  for  a  season,  was 
a  large  comfortable  mansion,  snugly  situated  beneath  a 
hill  covered  with  wood,  which  shrouded  the  house  upon 
the  north  and  east ;  the  front  looked  upon  a  little  lawn 
bordered  by  a  grove  of  old  trees ;  beyond  were  some 
arable  fields,  extending  down  to  the  river,  which  was  seen 
from  the  windows  of  the  house.  A  tolerable,  though  old- 
fashioned  garden,  a  well-stocked  dove-cot,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  any  quantity  of  ground  which  the  convenience  of 
the  family  might  require,  rendered  the  place  in  every 
respect  suitable,  as  the  advertisements  have  it,  "  for  the 
accommodation  of  a  genteel  family." 

Here,  then,  Mannering  resolved,  for  some  time  at 
least,  to  set  up  the  staff  of  his  rest.  Though  an  East- 
Indian,  he  was  not  partial  to  an  ostentatious  display  of 
wealth.  In  fact,  he  was  too  proud  a  man  to  be  a  vain 
one.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  place  himself  upon  the 
footing  of  a  country  gentleman  of  easy  fortune,  tvithout 


218  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

assuming,  or  permittirig  his  household  to  assume,  any  of 
che  faste  which  then  was  considered  as  characteristic  of 
a  nabob. 

He  had  still  his  eye  upon  the  purchase  of  Ellangowan, 
which  Mac-Morlan  conceived  Mr.  Glossin  would  be  com- 
pelled to  part  with,  as  some  of  the  creditors  disputed  his 
tille  to  retain  so  large  a  part  of  the  purchase-money  in 
Lis  own  hands,  and  his  power  to  pay  it  was  much  ques- 
tioned. In  that  case  Mac-Morlan  was  assured  he  would 
readily  give  up  his  bargain,  if  tempted  with  something 
above  the  price  which  he  had  stipulated  to  pay.  It  may 
seem  strange  that  Mannering  was  so  much  attached  to  a 
spot  which  he  had  only  seen  once,  and  that  for  a  short 
time  in  early  hfe.  But  the  circumstances  which  passed 
there  had  laid  a  strong  hold  on  his  imagination.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  fate  which  conjoined  the  remarkable  pas- 
sages of  his  own  family  history  with  those  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  Ellangowan,  and  he  felt  a  mysterious  desire  to 
call  the  terrace  his  own,  from  which  he  had  read  in  the 
book  of  heaven  a  fortune  strangely  accomplished  in  the 
person  of  the  infant  heir  of  that  family,  and  correspond- 
ing so  closely  with  one  wliich  had  been  strikingly  fulfilled 
in  his  own.  Besides,  when  once  this  thought  had  got 
possession  of  his  imagination,  he  could  not  without  great 
reluctance  brook  the  idea  of  his  plan  being  defeated,  and 
by  a  fellow  like  Glossin.  So  pride  came  to  the  aid  of 
fancy,  and  both  combined  to  fortify  his  resolution  to  buy 
the  estate  if  possible. 

Let  us  do  Mannering  justice.  A  desire  to  serve  the 
distressed  had  also  its  share  in  determining  him.  He  had 
considered  the  advantage  which  Julia  might  receive  from 
the  company  of  Lucy  Bertram,  whose  genuine  prudence 
and  good  sense  could  so  surely  be  rehed  upon.     This  idea 


GUY   MANNER! JsG.  219 

had  become  much  stronger  since  Mac-Morlau  had  con- 
fided to  him,  under  the  solemn  seal  of  secrecy,  the  whole 
of  her  conduct  towards  young  Hazlewood.  To  propose 
to  her  to  become  an  inmate  in  his  family,  if  distant  from 
the  scenes  of  her  youth  and  the  few  whom  she  called 
friends,  would  have  been  less  delicate;  but  at  Wood- 
bourne  she  might  without  difficulty  be  induced  to  become 
the  visitor  of  a  season,  without  being  depressed  into  th«^ 
situation  of  an  humble  companion.  Lucy  Bertram,  with 
some  hesitation,  accepted  the  invitation  to  reside  a  few 
weeks  with  Miss  Mannering.  She  felt  too  well,  that, 
however  the  Colonel's  delicacy  might  disguise  the  truth, 
his  principal  motive  was  a  generous  desu-e  to  afford  her 
his  countenance  and  protection,  which  his  high  connex- 
ions, and  higher  character,  were  likely  to  render  influen- 
tial in  the  neighbourhood. 

About  the  same  time  the  orphan  girl  received  a  letter 
from  Mrs.  Bertram,  the  relation  to  whom  she  had  written, 
as  cold  and  comfortless  as  could  well  be  imagined.  It 
enclosed,  indeed,  a  small  sum  of  money,  but  strongly 
recommended  economy,  and  that  Miss  Bertram  should 
board  herself  in  some  quiet  family,  either  at  Kippletrin- 
gan,  or  in  the  neighbourhood,  assuring  her,  that  though 
her  own  income  was  very  scanty,  she  would  not  see  her 
kinswoman  want.  Miss  Bertram  shed  some  natural  tears 
over  this  cold-hearted  epistle ;  for  in  her  mother's  time, 
this  good  lady  had  been  a  guest  at  Ellangowan  for  nearly 
three  years,  and  it  was  only  upon  succeeding  to  a  prop- 
erty of  about  £400  a-year  that  she  had  taken  farewell 
of  that  hospitable  mansion,  which  otherwise  might  have 
had  the  honour  of  sheltering  her  until  the  death  of  its 
owner.  Lucy  was  strongly  inclined  to  return  the  paltry 
donation,  which,  after  some  struggles  with  avarice,  pride 


220  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

had  extorted  from  the  old  lady.  But,  on  consideration, 
slie  contented  herself  with  writing,  that  she  accepted  it  as 
a  loan,  which  she  hoped  in  a  short  time  to  repay,  and 
consulted  her  relative  upon  the  invitation  she  had  re- 
ceived from  Colonel  and  Miss  Mannering.  This  time 
the  answer  came  in  course  of  post,  so  fearful  was  Mrs. 
Bertram  that  some  frivolous  dehcacy,  or  nonsense,  as  she 
termed  it,  might  induce  her  cousin  to  reject  such  a  prom- 
ising offer,  and  thereby  at  the  same  time  to  leave  herself 
still  a  burden  upon  her  relations.  Lucy,  therefore,  had  no 
alternative,  unless  she  preferred  continuing  a  burden  upon 
the  worthy  Mac-Morlans,  who  were  too  Hberal  to  be  rich. 
Those  kinsfolk,  who  formerly  requested  the  favour  of  her 
company,  had  of  late,  either  silently,  or  with  expressions 
of  resentment  that  she  should  have  preferred  Mac-Mor- 
lan's  invitation  to  theirs,  gradually  withdrawn  their  notice. 
The  fate  of  Dominie  Sampson  would  have  been  de- 
plorable had  it  depended  upon  any  one  except  Manner- 
ing, who  was  an  admirer  of  originaHty ;  for  a  separation 
from  Lucy  Bertram  would  have  certainly  broken  his 
heart.  Mac-Morlan  had  given  a  full  account  of  his  pro- 
ceedings towai'ds  the  daughter  of  his  patron.  The  answer 
was  a  request  from  Mannering  to  know,  whether  the 
Dominie  still  possessed  that  admirable  virtue  of  tacitur- 
nity by  which  he  was  so  notably  distinguished  at  Ellan- 
gowan. — Mac-Morlan  repUed  in  the  affirmative. — "  Let 
Mr  Sampson  know,"  said  the  Colonel's  next  letter,  "that 
I  shall  want  liis  assistance  to  catalogue  and  put  in  order 
the  library  of  my  uncle,  the  bishop,  which  I  have  ordered 
to  be  sent  down  by  sea.  I  shall  also  want  him  to  copy 
and  arrange  some  papers.  Fix  his  salary  at  what  you 
thmk  befitting.  Let  the  poor  man  be  properly  dressed, 
and  accompany  his  young  lady  to  Woodbourne." 


GUY   MANNElilNG.  221 

-  ILonest  Mac-Morlan  received  this  mandate  witli  great 
joy,  but  pondered  much  upon  executing  that  part  of  it 
which  related  to  nev.dy  attiring  the  worthy  Dominie.  He 
looked  at  him  with  a  scrutinizing  eye,  and  it  was  but  too 
plain  that  his  present  garments  were  daily  waxuig  more 
deplorable.  To  give  him  money,  and  bid  him  go  and 
furnish  himself,  would  be  only  giving  him  the  means  of 
making  himself  ridiculous ;  for  when  such  a  rare  event 
arrived  to  Mr.  Sampson  as  the  purchase  of  new  gaiments, 
the  additions  which  he  made  to  his  wardrobe  by  the 
guidance  of  his  own  taste,  usually  brought  all  the  boys 
of  the  village  after  him  for  many  days.  On  the  other 
hand,  to  bring  a  tailor  to  measure  him,  and  send  home 
his  clothes  as  for  a  schoolboy,  would  probably  give  offence. 
At  length  Mac-Morlan  resolved  to  consult  Miss  Bertram 
and  request  her  interference.  She  assured  him,  that 
though  she  could  not  pretend  to  superintend  a  gentle- 
man's wardrobe,  nothing  was  more  easy  than  to  arrange 
the  Dominie's. 

"  At  EUangowan,"  she  said,  "  whenever  my  poor  father 
thought  any  part  of  the  Dominie's  dress  wanted  renewal, 
a  servant  was  directed  to  enter  his  room  by  night,  for  he 
sleeps  as  fast  as  a  dormouse,  carry  off  the  old  vestment, 
and  leave  the  new  one  ; — nor  could  any  one  observe  tliat 
the  Dominie  exhibited  the  least  consciousness  of  the 
change  put  upon  him  on  such  occasions." 

Mac-Morlan,  in  conformity  with  Miss  Bertram's  advice, 
procured  a  skilful  artist,  who,  on  looking  at  the  Dominie 
attentively,  undertook  to  make  for  him  two  suits  of 
clothes,  one  black,  and  one  raven-grey,  and  even  engaged 
that  they  should  fit  him — as  well  at  least  (so  the  tailor 
qualified  his  entei-prise)  as  a  man  of  such  an  out-of-the- 
way  li  uild  could  be  fitted  by  merely  human  needles  and 


222  ^AVEKLEY    NOVELS. 

shears.  TVTien  this  fashioner  had  accomphshed  his  task, 
and  the  dresses  were  brought  home,  Mac-Morlan,  judi- 
ciously resolving  to  accomplish  his  purpose  by  degrees, 
w4thdj*ew  that  evening  an  important  part  of  his  di*ess, 
and  substituted  the  new  article  of  raiment  in  its  stead. 
Perceiving  that  this  passed  totally  without  notice,  he  next 
ventured  on  the  waistcoat,  and  lastly  on  the  coat.  When 
fully  metamorphosed,  and  ai-rayed  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life  in  a  decent  dress,  they  did  observe,  that  the  Dominie 
seemed  to  have  some  indistinct  and  embaiTassing  con- 
sciousness that  a  change  had  taken  place  on  his  outwai'd 
man.  Whenever  they  observed  this  dubious  expression 
gather  upon  his  countenance,  accompanied  with  a  glance, 
that  fixed  now  upon  the  sleeve  of  his  coat,  now  upon  the 
knees  of  his  breeches,  where  he  probably  missed  some 
antique  patching  and  darning,  w^hich,  being  executed  with 
blue  tlu'ead  upon  a  black  ground,  had  somewhat  the  effect 
of  embroidery,  they  always  took  care  to  turn  his  attention 
into  some  other  channel,  until  his  garments,  "  by  the  aid 
of  use,  cleaved  to  their  mould."  The  only  remark  he 
was  ever  known  to  make  on  the  subject  was,  that  the 
"  air  of  a  town  Hke  Kippletringan  seemed  favourable 
unto  weai-ing  apparel,  for  he  thought  his  coat  looked 
ahnost  as  new  as  the  fii'st  day  he  put  it  on,  which  was 
when  he  went  to  stand  trial  for  his  Hcense  as  a  preacher." 
When  the  Dominie  first  heard  the  liberal  proposal  of 
Colonel  Mannering,  he  turned  a  jealous  and  doubtful 
glance  towards  ]\Ess  Bertram,  as  if  he  suspected  that  the 
project  involved  their  separation ;  but  when  Mr.  Mac- 
Morlan  hastened  to  explain  that  she  would  be  a  guest  at 
Woodbourne  for  some  time,  he  rubbed  his  hu^e  hands 
together,  and  burst  into  a  portentous  sort  of  chuckle,  like 
that  of  the  Afrite  in  the  tale  of  the  Cahph  Vathek 


GUY   MANN  ERIN  G. 


223 


After  this  unusual  explosion  of  satisfaction,  lie  remained 
quite  passive  in  all  the  rest  of  the  transaction. 

It  had  been  settled  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mac-Morlan 
should  take  possession  of  the  house  a  few  days  before 
Maniiering's  arrival,  both  to  put  everything  in  perfect 
oi'der,  and  to  make  the  transference  of  Miss  Btrtram  3 
r(3sidence  from  their  family  to  his  as  easy  and  delicato  as 
possible.  Accordingly,  in  the  beginning  of  the  month  of 
December  the  party  were  settled  at  Woodboume. 


224  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A  gigantic  genius,  fit  to  grapple  with  whole  libraries. 

Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson. 

The  appointed  day  arrived,  when  the  Colonel  and 
Miss  Mamiering  were  expected  at  Woodboume.  The 
hour  was  fast  approaching,  and  the  little  circle  within 
doors  had  each  theii*  sepai-ate  subjects  of  anxiety.  Mac- 
Morlan  naturally  desired  to  attach  to  himself  the  pat- 
ronage and  countenance  of  a  person  of  Mannering's 
wealth  and  consequence.  He  was  aware,  from  his 
knowledge  of  mankind,  that  Mannering,  though  generous 
and  benevolent,  had  the  foible  of  expecting  and  exacting 
a  minute  comphance  with  his  directions.  He  was  there- 
fore racking  his  recollection  to  discover  if  everything 
had  been  arranged  to  meet  the  Colonel's  wishes  and 
instructions,  and,  under  this  uncertainty  of  mind,  he 
traversed  the  house  more  than  once  from  the  garret  to 
the  stables.  Mrs.  Mac-Morlan  revolved  in  a  lesser  orbit, 
comprehending  the  dining  parlour,  housekeeper's  room, 
and  kitchen.  She  was  only  afraid  that  the  dinner  might 
be  spoiled,  to  the  discredit  of  her  housewifery  accom- 
plishments. Even  the  usual  passiveness  of  the  Dominie 
was  so  far  disturbed,  that  he  twice  went  to  the  window, 
which  looked  out  upon  the  avenue,  and  twice  exclaimed, 
**  Why  tarry  the  wheels  of  their  chariot  ?  "  Lucy,  the 
most  quiet  of  the  expectants,  had  her  own  melancholy 


GUY    MANNEKING.  225 

thoughts.  She  Was  now  about  to  be  consigned  to  the 
charge,  almost  to  the  benevolence,  of  strangers,  with 
whose  character,  though  hitherto  very  amiably  displayed, 
she  was  but  imperfectly  acquainted.  The  moments, 
therefore,  of  suspense  passed  anxiously  and  heavily. 

At  length  the  tramphng  of  horses  and  the  sound  of 
wheels  were  heard.  The  servants,  who  had  already 
arrived,  drew  up  in  the  h&ll  to  receive  their  master  and 
mistress,  with  an  importance  and  empressement^  which,  to 
Lucy,  who  had  never  been  accustomed  to  society,  or 
witnessed  what  is  called  the  manners  of  the  great,  had 
something  alarming.  Mac-Morlan  went  to  the  door  to 
receive  the  master  and  mistress  of  the  family,  and  in  a 
few  moments  they  were  in  the  drawing-room. 

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

Miss  INIannering  was  furred  and  mantled  up  to  the 
throat  against  the  severity  of  the  weather ;  the  Colonel 
in  his  military  great-coat.  He  bowed  to  Mrs.  Mac- 
Morlan,  whom  his  daughter  also  acknowledged  with  a 
fashionable  courtesy,  not  dropped  so  low  as  at  all  to 
incommode  her  person.  The  Colonel  then  led  his 
daughter  up  to  Miss  Bertram,  and,  taking  the  hand  of 
the   latter,  with  an  air  of  great  kindness,  and  almost 

VOL.  III.  16 


!26  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

paternal  affection,  he  said,  "  Julia,  this  is  the  young  lady 
whom  I  hope  our  good  friends  have  prevailed  on  to 
honour  our  house  with  a  long  visit.  I  shall  be  much 
gratified  indeed  if  you  can  render  Woodbourne  as  pleasant 
to  Miss  Bertram,  as  EUangowan  was  to  me  when  I  first 
came  as  a  wanderer  into  this  country." 

The  young  lady  courtesied  acquiescence,  and  took  her 
new  friend's  hand.  Mannering  now  turned  his  eye  upon 
the  Dominie,  who  had  made  bows  since  his  entrance  into 
the  room,  sprawling  out  his  leg,  and  bending  his  back 
like  an  automaton,  which  continues  to  repeat  the  same 
movement,  until  the  motion  is  stopt  by  the  artist.  "  My 
good  friend,  Mr.  Sampson," — said  Mannering,  introducing 
him  to  his  daughter,  and  darting  at  the  same  time  a 
reproving  glance  at  the  damsel,  notwithstanding  he  had 
himself  some  disposition  to  join  her  too  obvious  inclina- 
tion to  risibility — "  This  gentleman,  Julia,  is  to  put  my 
books  in  order  when  they  arrive,  and  I  expect  to  derive 
great  advantage  from  his  extensive  learning." 

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

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


GUT   MANNERING.  227 

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

"  How  do  you  like  your  guests,  Julia  ?  " 

"  O,  Miss  Bertram  of  all  things. — But  this  is  a  most 
original  parson — why,  dear  sir,  no  human  being  will  be 
able  to  look  at  him  without  laughing." 

"  While  he  is  under  my  roof,  Juha,  every  one  must 
learn  to  do  so." 

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

"  Then  let  them  strip  off  my  livery,"  said  the  Colonel, 
"and  laugh  at  their  leisure.  Mr.  Sampson  is  a  man 
whom  I  esteem  for  his  simplicity  and  benevolence  of 
character." 

"  0,  I  am  convinced  of  his  generosity  too,"  said  this 
lively  lady  ;  "  he  cannot  lift  a  spoonful  of  soup  to  his 
mouth  without  bestowing  a  share  on  every  thing  round.'* 

"  Julia,  you  are  incorrigible  ; — but  remember,  I  expect 
your  mirth  on  this  subject  to  be  under  such  restraint,  that 
it  shall  neither  offend  this  worthy  man's  feehngs  nor  those 
of  Miss  Bertram,  who  may  be  more  apt  to  feel  upon  his 
account  than  he  on  his  own.  And  so,  good-night,  my 
dear ;  and  recollect  that,  though  Mr.  Sampson  has  cer- 
tainly not  sacrificed  to  the  graces,  there  are  many  things 
in  this  world  more  truly  deserving  of  ridicule  than  either 
awkwardness  of  manners  or  simplicity  of  character." 

In  a  day  or  two  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mac-Morlan  left  Wood- 
l»oume,  after  taking  an  affectionate  farewell  of  their  late 
guest.  The  household  were  now  settled  in  their  new 
quarters.  The  young  ladies  followed  their  studies  and 
amusements  together.  Colonel  Mannering  was  agreeably 
surprised  to  find  that  Miss  Bertram  was  well  skilled  in 


228  WAYEELET   NOVELS. 

French  and  Italian — thanks  to  the  assiduity  of  Dominie 
Sampson,  whose  labour  had  silently  made  him  acquainted 
with  most  modern  as  well  as  ancient  languages.  Of 
music  she  knew  httle  or  nothing,  but  her  new  friend 
undertook  to  give  her  lessons  ;  in  exchange  for  which, 
she  was  tc  learn  from  Lucy  the  habit  of  walking,  and  the 
art  of  riding,  and  the  courage  necessary  to  defy  the 
season.  Mannering  was  careful  to  substitute  for  their 
amusement  in  the  evening  such  books  as  might  convey 
some  solid  instruction  with  entertainment,  and  as  he  read 
aloud  with  great  skill  and  taste,  the  winter  nights  passed 
pleasantly  away. 

Society  was  quickly  formed  where  there  were  so  many 
inducements.  Most  of  the  families  of  the  neighbourhood 
visited  Colonel  Mannering,  and  he  was  soon  able  to  select 
from  among  them  such  as  best  suited  his  taste  and  habits. 
Charles  Hazlewood  held  a  distinguished  place  in  his 
favour,  and  was  a  frequent  visitor,  not  without  the  consent 
and  approbation  of  his  parents ;  for  there  was  no  know- 
ing, they  thought,  what  assiduous  attention  might  produce, 
and  the  beautiful  Miss  Mannering,  of  high  family,  with 
an  Indian  fortune,  was  a  prize  worth  looldng  after.  Daz- 
zled with  such  a  prospect,  they  never  considered  the  risk 
which  had  once  been  some  object  of  their  apprehension, 
that  his  boyish  and  inconsiderate  fancy  might  form  an 
attachment  to  the  penniless  Lucy  Bertram,  who  had  noth- 
ing on  earth  to  recommend  her,  but  a  pretty  face,  good 
bu'th,  and  a  most  amiable  disposition.  Mannering  was 
more  prudent.  He  considered  himself  acting  as  Miss 
Bertram's  guardian,  and  while  he  did  not  think  it  incum 
bent  upon  him  altogether  to  check  her  intercourse  with  a 
young  gentleman  for  whom,  excepting  in  wealth,  she  was 
a  match  in  every  respect,  he  laid  it  under  such  insensible 


GUT   MAKNERING.  229 

restraints  as  might  prevent  any  engagement  or  eclaircisse' 
ment  taking  place  until  the  young  man  should  have  seen 
a  little  more  of  life  and  of  the  world,  and  have  attained 
that  age  when  he  might  be  considered  as  entitled  to  judge 
for  himself  in  the  matter  in  which  his  happiness  was 
chiefly  interested. 

While  these  matters  engaged  the  attention  of  the  other 
members  of  the  Woodboume  family,  Dominie  Sampson 
was  occupied,  body  and  soul,  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
late  bishop's  Hbrary,  which  had  been  sent  from  Liverpool 
by  sea,  and  conveyed  by  thirty  or  forty  carts  from  the 
seaport  at  which  it  was  landed.  Sampson's  joy  at  be- 
holding the  ponderous  contents  of  these  chests  arranged 
upon  the  floor  of  the  large  apartment,  from  whence  he 
was  to  transfer  them  to  the  shelves,  baflles  all  description. 
He  grinned  like  an  ogre,  swung  his  arms  like  the  sails  of 
a  wind-mill,  shouted  "  Prodigious  "  till  the  roof  rung  to 
his  raptures.  "  He  had  never,"  he  said,  "  seen  so  many 
books  together,  except  in  the  College  Library ; "  and  now 
his  dignity  and  delight  in  being  superintendent  of  the 
collection,  raised  him,  in  his  own  opinion,  almost  to  the 
rank  of  the  academical  librarian,  whom  he  had  always 
regarded  as  the  greatest  and  happiest  man  on  earth. 
Neither  were  his  transports  diminished  upon  a  hasty 
examination  of  the  contents  of  these  volumes.  Some  in- 
deed, of  belles  lettres,  poems,  plays,  or  memoirs,  he  tossed 
indignantly  aside,  with  the  implied  censure  of  "  psha,"  or 
"frivolous;"  but  the  greater  and  bulkier  part  of  the 
collection  bore  a  very  different  character.  The  deceased 
prelate,  a  divine  of  the  old  and  deeply-learned  cast,  had 
loaded  his  shelves  with  volumes  which  displayed  the 
antique  and  venerable  attributes  so  happily  described  by 
a  modern  poet ; 


280  WAYERLEY    NOVELS. 

That  weight  of  wood,  with  leathern  coat  o'erlaid, 
Those  ample  clasps  of  solid  metal  made, 
The  close-pi'essed  leaves  unoped  for  many  an  age, 
The  duU  red  edging  of  the  well-filled  page. 
On  the  broad  back  the  stubborn  ridges  rolled, 
Where  yet  the  title  stands  in  tarnished  gold. 

Books  of  theology  and  controversial  divinity,  commen* 
taries,  and  polyglots,  sets  of  the  fathers,  and  sermons, 
which  might  each  furnish  forth  ten  brief  discourses  of 
modem  date,  books  of  science,  ancient  and  modern, 
classical  authors  in  their  best  and  rarest  forms ;  such 
formed  the  late  bishop's  venerable  library,  and  over  such 
the  eye  of  Dominie  Sampson  gloated  with  rapture.  He 
entered  them  in  the  catalogue  in  his  best  running  hand, 
forming  each  letter  with  the  accuracy  of  a  lover  writing 
a  valentine,  and  placed  each  individually  on  the  destined 
shelf  with  all  the  reverence  which  I  have  seen  a  lady  pay 
to  a  jar  of  old  china.  With  all  this  zeal  his  labours 
advanced  slowly.  He  often  opened  a  volume  when  half- 
way up  the  hbrary-steps,  fell  upon  some  interesting  pas- 
sage, and,  without  shifting  his  inconvenient  posture, 
continued  immersed  in  the  fascinating  perusal  until  the 
servant  pulled  him  by  the  skirts  to  assure  liim  that  dinner 
waited.  He  then  repaired  to  the  parlour,  bolted  his  food 
down  his  capacious  throat  in  squares  of  three  inches, 
answered  ay  or  no  at  random  to  whatever  question  was 
asked  at  him,  and  again  hurried  back  to  the  library  as 
soon  as  his  napkin  was  removed,  and  sometimes  with  it 
hanging  round  his  neck  hke  a  pinafore — 

How  happily  the  days 
Of  Thalaba  went  by ! 

.  And,  having  thus  left  the  principal  characters  of  our 
tale  in  a  situation  which,  being  sutficiently  comforta]»le 


GUT   MANNERING. 


231- 


to  themselves,  is  of  course  utterly  uninteresting  to  the 
reader,  we  take  up  the  history  of  a  person  who  has  as 
yet  only  been  named,  and  who  has  all  the  interest  that 
uucertainty  and  misfortune  can  give. 


202  WAYEBLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

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

Grabbs. 

V.  Brown — I  will  not  give  at  full  length  his  thiioe 
unhappy  name — had  been  from  infancy  a  ball  for  fortune 
to  spurn  at ;  but  nature  had  given  him  that  elasticity  of 
mind  which  rises  higher  from  the  rebound.  His  form 
was  tall,  manly,  and  active,  and  his  features  corresponded 
with  his  person ;  for,  although  far  from  regular,  they  had 
an  expression  of  intelligence  and  good  humour,  and  when 
he  spoke,  or  was  particularly  animated,  might  be  decid- 
edly pronounced  interesting.  His  manner  indicated  the 
military  profession,  which  had  been  his  choice,  and  in 
which  he  had  now  attained  the  rank  of  Captain,  the 
person  who  succeeded  Colonel  Mannering  in  his  com- 
mand having  laboured  to  repair  the  injustice  which 
Brown  had  sustained  by  that  gentleman's  prejudice 
against  him.  But  this,  as  well  as  his  liberation  frcm 
captivity,  had  taken  place  after  Mannering  left  India. 
Brown  followed  at  no  distant  period,  his  regiment  being 
recalled  home.  His  first  inquiry  was  after  the  family 
of  Mannering,  and,  easily  learning  their  route  northward, 
he  followed  it,  with  the  purpose  of  resuming  his  addresses 
to  Julia.    With  her  father  he  deemed  he  had  no  measures 


GUY   MANNEKING.  233 

to  keep ;  for,  ignorant  of  the  more  venomous  belief  which 
fiad  been  instilled  into  the  Colonel's  mind,  he  regarded 
him  as  an  oppressive  aristocrat,  who  had  used  his  power 
as  a  commanding  officer  to  deprive  him  of  the  preferment 
due  to  his  behaviour,  and  who  had  forced  upon  him  a 
personal  quarrel,  without  any  better  reason  than  his  at- 
tentions to  a  pretty  young  woman,  agreeable  to  herself, 
and  permitted  and  countenanced  by  her  mother.  He 
was  determined,  therefore,  to  take  no  rejection  unless 
from  the  young  lady  herself,  believing  that  the  heavy 
misfortunes  of  his  painful  wound  and  imprisonment  were 
direct  injuries  received  from  the  father,  which  might  dis- 
pense with  his  using  much  ceremony  towards  him. 
How  far  his  scheme  had  succeeded  when  his  nocturnal 
visit  was  discovered  by  Mr.  Mervyn,  our  readers  are 
already  informed. 

Upon  this  unpleasant  occurrence,  Captain  Brown  ab- 
sented himself  from  the  inn  in  which  he  had  resided 
under  the  name  of  Dawson,  so  that  Colonel  Mannering's 
attempts  to  discover  and  trace  him  were  unavailing.  He 
resolved,  however,  that  no  difficulties  should  prevent  his 
continuing  his  enterj^rise,  while  Julia  left  liim  a  ray  of 
hope.  The  interest  he  had  secured  in  her  bosom  was 
such  as  she  had  been  unable  to  conceal  from  him,  and 
with  all  the  courage  of  romantic  gallantry  he  determined 
upon  perseverance.  But  we  believe  the  reader  will  be 
as  well  pleased  to  learn  his  mode  of  thinking  and  inten- 
tions from  his  ow^n  communication  to  his  special  friend 
and  confidant.  Captain  Delaserre,  a  Swiss  gentleman,  who 
had  a  company  in  his  regiment. 

Extract. 
"Let  me  hear  from  you  soon,  dear  Delaserre. — Re- 


2S4  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

member,  I  can  learn  nothing  about  regimental  affairs  but 
tlii'OLigh  your  friendly  medium,  and  I  long  to  know  what 
has  become  of'  Ayre's  court-martial,  and  whether  Elliot 
gets  the  majority  ;  also  how  recruiting  comes  on,  and  how 
the  young  officers  Hke  the  mess.  Of  om'  kind  friend, 
the  Lieutenant-Colonel,  I  need  ask  nothing ;  I  saw  him 
as  I  passed  through  Nottingham,  happy  in  the  bosom  of 
Jus  family.  What  a  happiness  it  is,  Philip,  for  us  poor 
devils,  that  we  have  a  little  resting-place  between  the 
camp  and  the  grave,  if  we  can  manage  to  escape  disease, 
and  steel,  and  lead,  and  the  effects  of  hard  hving.  A  re- 
tired old  soldier  is  always  a  graceful  and  respected  charac- 
ter. He  grumbles  a  httle  now  and  then,  but  then  his  is 
licensed  murmuring.  Were  a  lawyer,  or  a  physician,  or  a 
clergyman,  to  breathe  a  complaint  of  hai'd  luck  or  want 
of  preferment,  a  hundred  tongues  would  blame  his  own 
incapacity  as  the  cause ;  but  the  most  stupid  veteran 
that  ever  faltered  out  the  thricetold  tale  of  a  siege  and  a 
battle,  and  a  cock  and  a  bottle,  is  listened  to  with  sym- 
pathy and  reverence,  when  he  shakes  his  thin  locks,  and 
talks  with  indignation  of  the  boys  that  are  put  over  his 
head.  And  you,  and  I,  Delaserre,  foreigners  both, — 
for  what  am  I  the  better  that  I  was  originally  a  Scotch- 
man, since,  could  I  prove  my  descent,  the  English  would 
hai'dly  acknowledge  me  a  countryman  ? — we  may  boast 
that  we  have  fought  out  our  preferment,  and  gained  that 
by  the  sword  which  we  had  not  money  to  compass 
otherwise.  The  English  are  a  wise  people.  While  they 
praise  themselves,  and  affect  to  undervalue  all  other 
nations,  they  leave  us,  luckily,  trap-doors  and  back- 
doors  open,  by  which  we  strangers,  less  favoured  by 
nature,  may  arrive  at  a  share  of  their  advantages.  And 
thus  they  are,  in  some  respects,  hke  a  boastful  landlord, 


GUY   MANNERING.  235 

who  exalts  the  value  and  flavour  of  his  six-years-old 
mutton,  while  he  is  dehghted  to  dispense  a  share  of  it 
to  all  the  company.  In  short,  you,  whose  proud  family, 
and  I,  whose  hard  fate,  made  us  soldiers  of  fortune,  have 
the  pleasant  recollection,  that  in  the  British  service,  stop 
where  we  may  upon  our  career,  it  is  only  for  want  of 
money  to  pay  the  turnpike,  and  not  from  our  being  pro- 
hibited to  travel  the  road.  If,  therefore,  you  can  persuade 
little  Weischel  to  come  in  to  ours,  for  God's  sake  let  him 
buy  the  eusigncy,  live  prudently,  mind  his  duty,  and  trust 
to  the  Fates  for  promotion. 

"  And  now,  I  hope  you  are  expiring  with  curiosity  to 
learn  the  end  of  my  romance.  I  told  you  I  had  deemed 
it  convenient  to  make  a  few  days'  tour  on  foot  among  the 
mountains  of  Westmoreland  with  Dudley,  a  young  Eng- 
lish artist,  with  whom  I  have  formed  some  acquaintance. 
A  fine  fellow  this,  you  must  know,  Delaserre — he  paints 
tolerably,  draws  beautifully,  converses  well,  and  plays 
charmingly  on  the  flute ;  and  though  thus  weU  entitled 
to  be  a  coxcomb  of  talent,  is,  in  fact,  a  modest  unpretend- 
ing young  man.  On  our  return  from  our  Httle  tour,  I 
learned  that  the  enemy  had  been  reconnoitring.  j\Ir. 
Mervyn's  barge  had  crossed  the  lake,  I  was  informed  by 
my  landlord,  with  the  squire  himself  and  a  visitor. 

" '  "What  sort  of  person,  landlord  ? ' 

"'Why,  he  was  a  dark  officer-looking  mon,  at  they 
called  Colonel — Squoire  Mervyn  questioned  me  as  close 
as  I  had  been  at  sizes — I  had  guess,  Mr.  Dawson'  (I  told 
you  that  was  my  feigned  name) — '  But  I  tould  him 
nought  of  your  vagaries,  and  going  out  a-laking  in  the 
mere  a-noights — not  I — an  I  can  make  no  sport,  I'se 
spoil  none — and  Squoire  Mervyn's  as  cross  as  poy-crust 
too,  mon— he's  aye  maundering  an  my  guests  but  land 


236  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

beneath  his  house,  though  it  be  marked  for  the  fourth 
station  in  the  Survey.  Noa,  noa,  e'en  let  un  smell  things 
out  o'  themselves  for  Joe  Hodges.' 

"  You  will  allow  there  was  nothing  for  it  after  this,  but 
paying  honest  Joe  Hodges'  bill,  and  departing,  unless  I 
had  preferred  making  him  my  confidant,  for  which  I  felt 
ia  no  way  inchned.  Besides,  I  learned  that  our  ci-devant 
Colonel  was  on  full  retreat  for  Scotland,  carrying  off  poor 
JuHa  along  with  him.  I  understand  from  those  who 
conduct  the  heavy  baggage,  that  he  takes  his  winter- 
quarters  at  a  place  called  Woodbourne,  in shire  in 

Scotland.  He  will  be  all  on  the  alert  just  now,  so  I  must 
let  him  enter  his  entrenchments  without  any  new  alarm. 
And  then,  my  good  Colonel,  to  whom  I  owe  so  many 
grateful  thanks,  pray  look  to  your  defence. 

"  I  protest  to  you,  Delaserre,  I  often  think  there  is  a 
little  contradiction  enters  into  the  ardour  of  my  pursuit. 
I  think  I  would  rather  bring  this  haughty  insulting  man 
to  the  necessity  of  calling  his  daughter  Mrs.  Brown,  than 
I  would  wed  her  with  his  full  consent,  and  with  the 
king's  permission  to  change  my  name  for  the  style  and 
arms  of  Mannering,  though  his  whole  fortune  went  with 
them.  There  is  only  one  circumstance  that  chills  me  a 
little — Julia  is  young  and  romantic.  I  would  not  willingly 
hurry  her  into  a  step  which  her  riper  years  might  disap- 
prove.— No ; — ^nor  would  I  hke  to  have  her  jpbraid  me, 
were  it  but  with  a  glance  of  her  eye,  with  having  ruined 
her  fortunes — far  less  give  her  reason  to  say,  as  some 
have  not  been  slow  to  tell  their  lords,  that,  had  I  left  her 
time  for  consideration,  shft  would  have  been  wiser  and 
done  better.  No,  Delaserie — this  must  not  be.  The 
picture  presses  close  upon  me,  because  I  am  aware  a  girl 
in  Juha's  situation  has  no  distinct  and  precise  idea  of  the 


GUT   MANNERING.   .  237 

value  of  tlie  sacrifice  she  makes.  She  knows  difiicuhies 
only  by  name  ;  and,  if  she  thinks  of  love  and  a  farm,  it  is 
a  ferme  ornee,  such  as  is  only  to  be  found  in  poetic 
description,  or  in  the  park  of  a  gentleman  of  twelve 
thousand  a-year.  She  would  be  ill  prepared  for  the 
privations  of  that  real  Swiss  cottage  we  have  so  often 
talked  of,  and  for  the  difficulties  which  must  necessarily 
surround  us  even  before  we  attained  that  haven.  This 
must  be  a  point  clearly  ascertained.  Although  JuHa's 
beauty  and  playful  tenderness  have  made  an  impression 
on  my  heart  never  to  be  erased,  I  must  be  satisfied  that 
she  perfectly  understands  the  advantages  she  foregoes, 
before  she  sacrifices  them  for  my  sake. 

"  Am  I  too  proud,  Delaserre,  when  I  trust  that  even 
this  trial  may  terminate  favourably  to  my  wishes  ? — Am 
I  too  vain,  when  I  suppose  that  the  few  personal  qualities 
which  I  possess,  with  means  of  competence,  however 
moderate,  and  the  determination  of  consecrating  my  life 
to  her  happiness,  may  make  amends  for  all  I  must  call 
upon  her  to  forego  ?  Or  will  a  difference  of  dress,  of 
attendance,  of  style,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  power  of  shift- 
ing at  pleasure  the  scenes  in  which  she  seeks  amusement, 
— ^will  these  outweigh,  in  her  estimation,  the  prospect  of 
domestic  happiness,  and  the  interchange  of  unabating 
affection  ?  I  say  nothing  of  her  father  ; — his  good  and 
evil  qualities  are  so  strangely  mingled,  that  the  former 
are  neutralized  by  the  latter ;  and  that  which  she  must 
regret  as  a  daughter  is  so  much  blended  with  what  she 
would  gladly  escape  from,  that  I  place  the  separation  of 
the  father  and  child  as  a  circumstance  which  weighs  little 
in  her  remarkable  case.  Meantime,  I  keep  up  my  spirits 
as  I  may.  I  have  incurred  too  many  hardships  and  diffi- 
culties to  be  presumptuous  or  confident  in  success,  and  I 


WAVERI.ET  NOVELS. 

have  been  too  often  and  too  wonderfully  extricated  Irom 
them  to  be  despondent. 

"  I  wish  you  saw  this  country.  I  think  the  scenery 
would  delight  you.  At  least  it  often  brings  to  my  recol- 
lection your  glowing  descriptions  of  your  native  country 
To  me  it  has  in  a  great  measure  the  charm  of  novelty. 
Of  the  Scottish  hills,  though  born  among  them,  as  I  have 
always  been  assured,  I  have  but  an  indistinct  recollection. 
Indeed,  my  memory  rather  dwells  upon  the  blank  which 
my  youthful  mind  experienced  in  gazing  on  the  levels  of 
the  isle  of  Zealand,  than  on  any  thing  which  preceded 
that  feeling ;  but  I  am  confident,  from  that  sensation,  as 
well  as  from  the  recollections  which  preceded  it,  that  hills 
and  rocks  have  been  famihar  to  me  at  an  early  period, 
and  that  though  now  only  remembered  by  contrast,  and 
by  the  blank  which  I  felt  while  gazing  around  for  them 
in  vain,  they  must  have  made  an  indelible  impression 
on  my  infant  imagination.  I  remember,  when  we  first 
mounted  that  celebrated  pass  in  the  Mysore  country, 
while  most  of  the  others  felt  only  awe  and  astonishment 
at  the  height  and  grandeur  of  the  scenery,  I  rather  shared 
your  feelings  and  those  of  Cameron,  whose  admii'ation  of 
such  wild  rocks  was  blended  with  familiar  love,  derived 
from  early  association.  Despite  my  Dutch  education,  a 
blue  hill  to  me  is  as  a  friend,  and  a  roaring  torrent  like 
the  sound  of  a  domestic  song  that  hath  soothed  my  infancy. 
I  never  felt  the  impulse  so  strongly  as  in  this  land  of  lakes 
and  mountains,  and  nothing  grieves  me  so  much  as  that 
duty  prevents  your  being  with  me  in  my  numerous  ex- 
cursions among  its  recesses.  Some  drawings  I  have 
attempted,  but  I  succeed  vilely. — Dudley,  on  the  contrary, 
draws  delightfully,  with  that  rapid  touch  which  seems 
like  magic,  while  I  labour  and  botch,  and  make  this  too 


GUY   MANNEEING.  239 

heavy,  and  that  too  light,  and  produce  at  last  a  base 
caricature.  I  must  stick  to  the  flageolet,  for  music  is  the 
only  one  of  the  fine  arts  which  deigns  to  acknowledge 
me. 

"  Did  jou  know  that  Colonel  Mannering  was  a  draughts*-^ 
man? — I  believe  not,  for  he  scorned  to  display  his  ac- 
complishments to  the  view  of  a  subaltern.  He  draws 
beautifully,  however.  Since  he  and  Julia  left  Mer^yn- 
hall,  Dudley  was  sent  for  there.  The  squire,  it  seems, 
wanted  a  set  of  drawings  made  up,  of  which  Mannering 
had  done  the  first  four,  but  was  interrupted,  by  his  hasty 
departure,  in  his  purpose  of  completing  them.  Dudley 
says  he  has  seldom  seen  any  thing  so  masterly,  though 
shght  ;  and  each  had  attached  to  it  a  short  poetical 
description.  Is  Saul,  you  will  say,  among  the  prophets  ? 
— Colonel  Mannering  write  poetry ! — Why,  surely  this 
man  must  have  taken  all  the  pains  to  conceal  his  accom- 
plishments, that  others  do  to  display  theirs.  How  reserved 
and  unsociable  he  appeared  among  us  ! — ^how  Httle  dis- 
posed to  enter  into  any  conversation  wliich  could  become 
generally  interesting  ! — And  then  his  attachment  to  that 
unworthy  Archer,  so  much  below  him  in  every  respect ; 
and  all  this,  because  he  was  the  brother  of  Viscount 
Archerfield,  a  poor  Scottish  peer  !  I  think,  if  Ai'cher 
had  long  survived  the  wounds  in  the  affair  of  Cuddy- 
boram,  he  would  have  told  something  that  might  have 
thrown  hght  upon  the  inconsistencies  of  this  singular 
man's  character.  He  repeated  to  me  more  than  once,  *  1 
have  that  to  say,  which  will  alter*  your  hard  opinion  of 
our  late  Colonel.'  But  death  pressed  him  too  hard  ;  and 
if  he  owed  me  any  atonement,  which  some  of  his  expres- 
sions seemed  to  imply,  he  died  before  it  could  be  made 

*'  I  propose  to  make  a  further  excursion  through  this 


240  WAYEKLET   NOVELS. 

country  while  this  fine  frosty  weather  serves,  and  Dudley 
almost  as  good  a  walker  as  myself,  goes  with  me  for  some 
part  of  the  way.  We  part  on  the  borders  of  Cumberland 
when  he  must  return  to  his  lodgings  in  Marybone,  up 
three  pair  of  stairs,  and  labour  at  what  he  calls  the  com- 
mercial part  of  his  profession.  There  cannot,  he  says,  be 
such  a  difference  betwixt  any  two  portions  of  existence  as 
between  that  in  which  the  artist,  if  an  enthusiast,  collects 
the  subjects  of  his  drawings,  and  that  which  must  neces- 
sarily be  dedicated  to  turning  over  his  portfoho,  and 
exhibiting  them  to  the  provoking  indifference,  or  more 
provoking  criticism,  of  fashionable  amateurs.  '  During 
the  summer  of  my  year,'  says  Dudley,  '  I  am  as  free  as 
a  wild  Indian,  enjoying  myself  at  hberty  amid  the  grand- 
est scenes  of  nature  ;  while,  during  my  winters  and 
springs,  I  am  not  only  cabined,  cribbed,  and  confined  in  a 
miserable  garret,  but  condemned  to  as  intolerable  sub- 
servience to  the  humour  of  others,  and  to  as  indifferent 
company,  as  if  I  were  a  literal  galley-slave.'  I  have 
promised  him  your  acquaintance,  Delaserre  ; — you  will 
be  dehghted  with  his  specimens  of  art,  and  he  with  your 
Swiss  fanaticism  for  mountains  and  torrents. 

"  When  I  lose  Dudley's  company,  I  am  informed  that 
I  can  easily  enter  Scotland,  by  stretching  across  a  wild 
country  in  the  upper  part  of  Cumberland  ;  and  that  route 
I  shall  follow,  to  give  the  Colonel  time  to  pitch  his  camp 
ere  I  reconnoitre  his  position. — Adieu  !  Delaserre — • 
I  shall  hardly  find  another  opportunity  of  -v^riting  till  I 
reach  Scotland." 


GUT   MANNERLNG.  241 


CHAPTER  XXn. 


Jog  on,  jog  on,  the  footpath  way, 

And  merrily  bend  the  stile-a ; 
A  merry  heart  goes  all  the  day, 

A  sad  one  tires  in  a  mile-a. 

Winteb's  Taib. 


Let  the  reader  conceive  to  himself  a  clear  frosty  No- 
vember morning,  the  scene  an  open  heath,  having  for  tho 
back-ground  that  huge  chain  of  mountains  in  which 
Skiddaw  and  Saddleback  are  pre-eminent ;  let  him  look 
along  that  hlind  road,  by  which  I  mean  the  track  so 
shghtly  marked  by  the  passengers'  footsteps,  that  it  can 
but  be  traced  by  a  slight  shade  of  verdure  from  the  darker 
heath  around  it,  and,  being  only  visible  to  the  eye  when 
at  some  distance,  ceases  to  be  distinguished  while  the 
foot  is  actually  treading  it  :  along  this  faintly-traced 
path  advances  the  object  of  our  present  narrative.  His 
firm  step,  his  erect  and  free  carriage,  have  a  miHtary  air, 
which  corresponds  well  with  his  well-proportioned  limbs, 
and  stature  of  six  feet  high.  His  dress  is  so  plain  and 
simple,  that  it  indicates  nothing  as  to  rank  :  it  may  be 
that  of  a  gentleman  who  travels  in  this  manner  for  his 
pleasure — or  of  an  inferior  person,  of  whom  it  is  the 
proper  and  usual  garb.  Nothing  can  be  on  a  more 
reduced  scale  than  his  travelUng  equipment.  A  volume 
of  Shakspeare  in  each  pocket,  a  small  bundle  with  a 

VOL.  ui.  16 


242  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

change  of  linen  slung  across  his  shoulders,  an  oaken 
cudgel  in  his  hand,  complete  our  pedestrian's  accom- 
modations ;  and  in  this  equipage  we  present  him  to  our 
readers. 

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

The  first  two  or  three  miles  were  rather  melancholy, 
from  want  of  the  society  to  which  he  had  of  late  been 
accustomed.  But  this  unusual  mood  of  mind  soon  gave 
way  to  the  influence  of  his  natural  good  spirits,  excited 
by  the  exercise  and  the  bracing  effects  of  the  frosty  air. 
He  whistled  as  he  went  along, — not  "from  want  of 
thought,"  but  to  give  vent  to  those  buoyant  feelings  which 
he  had  no  other  mode  of  expressing.  For  each  peasant 
whom  he  chanced  to  meet,  he  had  a  kind  greeting  or  a 
good-humoured  jest :  the  hardy  Cumbrians  grinned  as 
they  passed,  and  said,  "  That's  a  kind  heart,  God  bless 
un ! "  and  the  market-girl  looked  more  than  once  over 
her  shoulder  at  the  athletic  form,  which  corresponded  so 
well  with  the  frank  and  blithe  address  of  the  stranger. 
A  rough  terrier  dog,  his  constant  companion,  who  rivalled 
his  master  in  glee,  scampered  at  large  in  a  thousand 
wheels  round  the  heath,  and  came  back  to  jump  up  on 
him,  and  assure  him  that  he  participated  in  the  pleasure 
of  the  journey.  Dr.  Johnson  thought  life  had  few  things 
better  than  the  excitation  produced  by  being  whirled 
rapidly  along  in  a  post-chaise ;  but  he  who  has  in  youth 
experienced  the  confident  and  independent  feeling  of  a 
stout  pedestrian  in  an  interesting  country,  and  during  fine 
weather,  will  hold  the  taste  of  the  great  morahst  cheap 
in  comparison. 

Part  of  Brown's  view  in  choosing  that  unusual  tract 
which  leads  through   the  eastern  wilds  of  Cumberland 


GUT   MANNERING.  243 

into  Scotland,  had  been  a  desire  to  view  tlie  remains  of 
the  celebrated  Roman  Wall,  which  are  more  visible  in 
that  direction  than  in  any  other  part  of  its  extent.  His 
education  had  been  imperfect  and  desultory  ;  but  neither 
the  busy  scenes  in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  nor  the 
pleasures  of  youth,  nor  the  precarious  state  of  his  own 
circumstances,  had  diverted  him  from  the  task  of  mental 
improvement. — "  And  this,  then,  is  the  Roman  Wall."  he 
said,  scrambling  up  to  a  height  which  commanded  the 
course  of  that  celebrated  work  of  antiquity :  "  What  a 
people !  whose  labours,  even  at  this  extremity  of  their 
empire,  comprehended  such  space,  and  were  executed 
upon  a  scale  of  such  grandeur!  In  future  ages,  when 
the  science  of  war  shall  have  changed,  how  few  traces 
will  exist  of  the  labours  of  Yauban  and  Coehorn,  while 
this  wonderful  people's  remains  will  even  then  continue 
to  interest  and  astonish  posterity !  Their  fortifications, 
their  aqueducts,  their  theatres,  their  fountains,  all  their 
public  works,  bear  the  grave,  solid,  and  majestic  charactei 
of  their  language ;  while  our  modern  labours,  like  our 
modern  tongues,  seem  but  constructed  out  of  their  frag- 
ments." Having  thus  morahzed,  he  remembered  that  he 
was  hungry,  and  pursued  his  walk  to  a  small  pubhc-house 
at  which  he  proposed  to  get  some  refreshment. 

The  alehouse,  for  it  was  no  better,  was  situated  in  the 
bottom  of  a  Httle  dell,  through  which  trilled  a  small  riv- 
ulet. It  was  shaded  by  a  large  ash  tree,  against  which 
the  clay-built  shed,  that  served  the  purpose  of  a  stable, 
was  erected,  and  upon  which  it  seemed  partly  to  rechne. 
In  this  shed  stood  a  saddled  horse,  employed  in  eating  his 
corn.  The  cottages  in  this  part  of  Cumberland  partake 
of  the  rudeness  which  characterizes  those  of  Scotland 
The  outside  of  the  house  promised  Uttle  for  the  interior, 


244  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

notwithstanding  the  vaunt  of  a  sign,  where  a  tankard  of 
ale  voluntarily  decanted  itself  into  a  tumbler,  and  a  hiero- 
glyphical  scrawl  below  attempted  to  express  a  promise  of 
"good  entertainment  for  man  and  horse."  Bro^vn  was 
no  fastidious  traveller — he  stopped  and  entered  the  cal>- 
aret.* 

*  It  is  fitting  to  explain  to  the  reader  the  locality  described  in  this 
chapter.  There  is,  or  rather  I  should  say  there  was,  a  little  inn,  called 
Mump's  Hall, — that  is,  being  interpreted,  Beggai-'s  Hotel — ^near  to  GUs- 
land,  which  had  not  then  attained  its  present  fame  as  a  Spa.  It  was 
a  hedge  alehouse,  where  the  Border  farmers  of  either  country  often 
stopped  to  refresh  themselves  and  their  nags,  in  their  way  to  and  from 
the  fairs  and  trysts  in  Cumberland,  and  especially  those  who  came 
from,  or  went  to  Scotland,  through  a  baiTcn  and  lonely  district,  with- 
out either  road  or  pathway,  emphatically  called  the  Waste  of  Bew- 
castle.  At  the  period  when  the  adventures  described  in  the  novel  are 
supposed  to  have  taken  place,  there  were  many  instances  of  attacks 
by  freebooters  on  those  who  travelled  through  this  Avild  district;  and 
Mump's  Ha'  had  a  bad  reputation  for  harbouring  the  banditti  who 
committed  such  depredations. 

An  old  and  sturdy  yeoman  belonging  to  the  Scottish  side,  by  sur- 
name an  Armstrong  or  Elliott,  but  well  known  by  his  sobriquet  of 
Fighting  Charlie  of  Liddesdale,  and  still  remembered  for  the  courage 
he  displayed  in  the  frequent  frays  which  took  place  on  the  Border  fifty 
or  sixty  years  since,  had  the  followhig  adventure  in  the  Waste,  which 
suggested  the  idea  of  the  scene  in  the  text : — 

Charlie  had  been  at  Stagshaw-bank  Fair,  had  sold  his  sheep  or  cattle, 
or  whatever  he  had  brought  to  market,  and  was  on  his  return  to  Lid- 
desdale. There  were  then  no  country  banks  where  cash  could  be 
deposited,  and  bills  received  instead,  which  greatly  encourf  i^ed  rob- 
bery in  that  wild  country,  as  the  objects  of  plunder  weit  ascaUy 
fraught  with  gold.  The  robbers  had  spies  in  the  fair,  by  n  eans  of 
whom  they  generally  knew  Avhose  purse  was  best  stocked,  t-nd  who 
took  a  lonely  and  desolate  road  homeward, — those,  in  short,  who  were 
best  worth  robbing,  and  likely  to  be  most  easily  robbed. 

All  this  Charlie  knew  full  well; — but  he  had  a  pair  of  excellent  pis- 
tols, and  a  dauntless  heart.  He  stopped  at  Mump's  Ha',  notwithstand- 
uig  the  evil  character  of  the  place.  His  horse  was  accommodated 
where  it  might  have  the  necessary  rest  and  feed  of  corn ;  and  Charlie 
himself,  a  dashing  fellow,  grew  gracious  with  the  landlady,  a  buxom 


GUY    MANNEKING.  245 

The  first  object  which  caught  his  eje  in  the  kitchen, 
was  a  tall,  stout,  country-looking  man,  in  a  large  jockej' 

quean,  who  used  all  the  influence  in  her  power  to  induce  him  to  stop 
all  night.  The  landlord  was  from  home,  she  said,  and  it  was  ill  pass- 
ing the  Waste,  as  twilight  must  needs  descend  on  him  before  he  gained 
tlie  Scottish  side,  which  was  reckoned  the  safest.  But  Fighting  Char- 
lie, though  he  suffered  himself  to  be  detained  later  than  was  pnident, 
(lid  not  account  Mump's  Ha'  a  safe  place  to  quarter  in  during  the 
night.  He  tore  himself  away,  therefore,  from  Meg's  good  fare  and 
kind  words,  and  mounted  his  nag,  having  first  examined  his  pistols, 
and  tried  by  the  rami'od  whether  the  charge  remained  in  them. 

He  proceeded  a  mile  or  two,  at  a  round  trot,  when,  as  the  Waste 
stretched  black  before  him,  apprehensions  began  to  awaken  in  his 
mind,  pai-tly  arising  out  of  JMeg's  unusual  kindness,  which  he  could 
not  help  thinking  had  rather  a  suspicious  appearance.  He  therefoi-e 
resolved  to  reload  his  pistols,  lest  the  powder  had  become  damp ;  but 
what  was  his  surprise,  when  he  drew  the  charge,  to  find  neither  powder 
nor  ball,  while  each  ban-el  had  been  carefully  filled  with  tow,  up  to  the 
space  which  the  loading  had  occupied !  and,  the  priming  of  the  weap- 
ons being  left  untouched,  nothing  but  actually  drawing  and  examining 
the  charge  could  have  discovered  the  inefficiency  of  his  arms  till  the 
fatal  minute  arrived  when  their  services  were  required.  Charlie  be- 
stowed a  hearty  Liddesdale  curse  on  his  landlady,  and  reloaded  his 
pistols  with  care  and  accuracy,  having  now  no  doubt  that  he  was  to  be 
waylaid  and  assaulted.  He  was  not  far  engaged  in  the  Waste,  which 
was  then,  and  is  now,  traversed  only  by  such  routes  as  are  described 
in  the  text,  when  two  or  three  fellows,  disguised  and  varioiisly  armed, 
started  from  a  ftioss-hag,  while,  by  a  glance  behind  him,  (for,  march- 
ing, as  the  Spaniard  says,  with  his  beard  on  his  shoulder,  he  i-econnoi- 
tred  in  every  direction,)  Charlie  instantly  saw  retreat  was  impossible, 
as  other  two  stout  men  appeared  behind  him  at  some  distance.  The 
Borderer  lost  not  a  moment  in  taking  his  resolution,  and  boldly  trotted 
against  his  enemies  in  front,  who  called  loudly  on  him  to  stand  and 
deliver.  Charlie  spurred  on,  and  presented  his  pistol.  "  D — u  your 
pistol!  "  said  the  foremost  robber,  whom  Charlie  to  his  dying  day  pro- 
tested he  believed  to  have  been  the  landlord  of  Mump's  Ha' — "  D — n 
your  pistol!  I  care  not  a  curse  for  it." — "Ay,  lad,"  "said  the  deep 
voice  of  Fighting  Charlie,  "  but  the  tow's  out  now.''''  He  had  no  occa- 
sion to  utter  another  word :  the  rogues,  sm-prised  at  finding  a  man  of 
redoubted  corn-age  well  armed,  instead  of  being  defenceless,  took  to 
the  mobs  in  every  direction,  and  he  passed  on  his  way  without  farther 
molestation- 


246  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

great-coat  J  the  owner  of  the  horse  which  stood  m  the  she  J; 
who  was  bus}^  discussing  huge  shces  of  cold  boiled  beef, 
and  casting  from  time  to  time  an  eye  through  the  window, 
to  see  how  his  steed  sped  with  his  provender.  A  large 
tankard  of  ale  flanked  his  plate  of  victuals,  to  which  he 
appHed  himself  by  intervals.  The  good  woman  of  the 
house  was  employed  in  baking.  The  fire,  as  is  usual  in 
that  country,  was  on  a  stone  hearth,  in  the  midst  of  an 
immensely  large  chimney,  which  had  two  seats  extended 
beneath  the  vent.  On  one  of  these  sat  a  remarkably  tall 
woman,  in  a  red  cloak  and  slouched  bonnet,  having  the 
appearance  of  a  tinker  or  beggar.  She  was  busily  en- 
gaged with  a  short  black  tobacco-pipe. 

At  the  request  of  Brown  for  some  food,  the  landlady 
wiped  with  her  mealy  apron  one  corner  of  the  deal  table, 
placed  a  wooden  trencher  and  knife  and  fork  before  the 
traveller,  pointed  to  the  round  of  beef,  recommended 
Mr.  Dinmont's  good  example,  and,  finally,  filled  a  brown 
pitcher  with  her  home-brewed.  Brown  lost  no  time  in 
doing  ample  credit  to  both.  For  a  while,  his  opposite 
neighbour  and  he  were  too  busy  to  take  much  notice  of 
each  other,  except  by  a  good-humoured  nod  as  each  in 
turn  raised  the  tankard  to  his  head.  At  length,  when  our 
pedestrian  began  to  supply  the  w^ants  of  little  Wa.sp,  the 
Scotch  store-farmer,  for  such  was  Mr.  Dinmont,  found 
himself  at  leisure  to  enter  into  conversation. 

"A  bonny  terrier  that,  sir — and  a  fell  chield  at  the 
vermin,  I  warrant  him — that  is,  if  he's  been  weel  entered, 
for  it  a'  hes  in  that." 

The  author  has  heard  this  story  told  by  persons  who  received  it 
from  Fighting  Charlie  himself;  he  has  also  heard  that  Slump's  Ha' 
was  afterwards  the  scene  of  some  other  ati'ocious  villany,  for  which 
the  people  of  the  house  suffered.  But  these  are  all  tales  of  at  least 
half  a  century  old,  and  the  Waste  has  been  for  many  years  as  safe  as 
any  place  in  the  kingdom. 


GUT    MANNERING.  247 

«  Really,  sir,"  said  Brown,  "  his  education  has  been 
somewhat  neglected,  and  his  chief  property  is  being  a 
pleasant  con  panion." 

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

"  I  have  no  doubt,  sir,  they  are  thorough-bred — ^but,  to 
have  so  many  dogs,  you  seem  to  have  a  very  limited 
variety  of  names  for  them  ?  " 

"  O,  that's  a  fancy  of  my  ain  to  mark  the  breed,  sir — 
The  Deuke  him  sell  has  sent  as  far  as  Charlies-hope  to 
get  ane  o'  Dandie  Dinmont's  Pepper  and  Mustai'd  ter- 
riers— Lord,  man,  he  sent  Tarn  Hudson*  the  keeper, 
and  sicken  a  day  as  we  had  wi'  the  fumarts  and  the  tods, 
and  sicken  a  blythe  gaedown  as  we  had  again  e'en ! 
Faith,  that  was  a  night !  " 

"  I  suppose  game  is  very  plenty  with  you  ?  " 

"  Plenty,  man ! — I  believe  there's  mair  hares  than 
sheep  on  my  farm  ;  and  for  the  moor-fowl,  or  the  grey- 
fowl,  they  lie  as  thick  as  doos  in  a  dooket. — Did  ye  ever 
shoot  a  black-cock,  man  ?  " 

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

"  There  now — I  could  guess  that  by  your  Southland 

*  The  real  namft  Df  tliis  veteran  sportsman  is  now  restored. 


248  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

tongue.  It's  very  odd  of  these  English  folk  that  come 
here,  how  few  of  them  has  seen  a  black-cock  !  I'll  tell 
you  what — ye  seem  to  be  an  honest  lad,  and  if  you'll  call 
on  me — on  Dandie  Dinmont — at  CharHes-hope — ye  shall 
see  a  black-cock,  and  shoot  a  black-cock,  and  eat  a  black- 
cock too,  man." 

"  Why,  the  proof  of  the  matter  ig  the  eating,  to  be 
sure,  sir  ;  and  I  shall  be  happy,  if  I  can  find  time,  to 
accept  your  invitation." 

"  Time,  man  ?  what  ails  ye  tc  gae  hame  wi'  me  the 
now  ?     How  d'ye  travel  ?  " 

"  On  foot,  sir  ;  and  if  that  handsome  pony  be  yours,  1 
should  find  it  impossible  to  keep  up  with  you." 

"  No,  unless  ye  can  walk  up  to  fourteen  mile  an  hour. 
But  ye  can  come  ower  the  night  as  far  as  Kiccarton, 
where  there  is  a  pubhc — or  if  ye  hke  to  stop  at  Jockey 
Grieve's  at  the  Heuch,  they  would  be  blythe  to  see  ye, 
and  I  am  just  gaun  to  stop  and  drink  a  dram  at  the  door 
wi'  him,  and  I  would  tell  him  you're  coming  up ; — or 
stay — Gudewife,  could  ye  lend  this  gentleman  the  gude- 
man's  galloway,  and  I'll  send  it  ower  the  Waste  in  the 
morning  wi'  the  callant  ?  '* 

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

"  Hout  fie,  Mr.  Dinmont,  that's  no  Hke  you,  to  gie  the 
country  an  ill  name. — I  wot,  there  has  been  nane  stirred 
in  the  Waste  since  Sawney  CuUoch,  the  travelling- 
merchant,  that  Rowley  Overdees  and  Jock  Penny 
suffered  for  at  Carlisle  twa  years  since.  There's  no  ane 
in  Bewcastle  would  do  the  hke  o'  that  now — we  be  a* 
true  folk  now." 


GUY   MANNERING.  249 

**  Ay,  Tib,  that  will  be  when  the  deil's  blind, — and  his 
een's  no  sair  yet.  But  hear  ye,  gudewife,  I  have  been 
through  raaist  feck  o'  Galloway  and  Dumfries-shire,  and 
I  have  been  round  by  Carlisle,  and  I  was  at  the  Stane- 
ishiebank  fair  the  day,  and  I  would  like  ill  to  be  rubbit 
sae  near  hame — so  I'll  take  the  gate." 

"  Hae  ye  Deen  in  Dumfiies  and  Gallowaj  ? "  said  the 
old  dame,  who  sate  smoking  by  the  fire-side,  and  who  had 
not  yet  spoken  a  word. 

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

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

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

"  Died  !  " — said  the  old  woman,  dropping  her  pipe,  and 
rising  and  coming  forward  upon  the  floor — "  died  ! — are 
you  sure  of  that  ?  " 

"  Troth,  am  I,"  said  Dinmont,  "  for  it  made  nae  sma* 
noise  in  the  country-side.  He  died  just  at  the  roup  of 
the  stocking  and  furniture  ;  it  stoppit  the  roup,  and  mony 
folk  were  disappointed.  They  said  he  was  the  last  of  ap 
auld  family  too,  and  mony  were  sorry — for  gude  blude'> 
scarcer  in  Scotland  than  it  has  been." 

"  Dead !  "  replied  the  old  woman,  whom  our  reader" 
liave  already  recognised  as  their  acquaintance,  Meg  Mer* 
rilies — "  dead  !  that  quits  a'  scores.  And  did  ye  say  he 
died  without  an  heir  ?  " 

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

"  Sell'd ! "  echoed  the  gipsy,  with  something  like  a 
icream ;  "  and  wha  durst  buy  Ellangowan  that  was  not 


250  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

of  Bertram's  blude  ? — and  wha  could  tell  whether  the 
bonnj  knave-bairn  may  not  come  back  to  claim  his  ain  ? 
— wha  durst  buy  the  estate  and  the  castle  of  EllangCK 
wan?" 

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

"  Glossin  ! — Gibbie  Glossin  ! — that  I  have  carried  in 
my  creels  a  hundred  times,  for  his  mother  wasna  muckle 
better  than  mysell — he  to  presume  to  buy  the  barony  of 
Ellangowan  ! — Gude  be  wi'  us — it  is  an  awfu'  warld  !  I 
wished  him  ill — but  no  sic  a  downfa'  as  a'  that  neither : 
wae's  me  !  wae's  me  to  think  o't ! " — She  remained  a 
moment  silent,  but  still  opposing  with  her  hand  the 
farmer's  retreat,  who,  betwixt  every  question,  was  about 
to  turn  his  back,  but  good-humouredly  stopped  on  observ- 
ing the  deep  interest  his  answers  appeared  to  excite. 

"  It  will  be  seen  and  heard  of — earth  and  sea  will  not 
hold  their  peace  langer ! — Can  ye  say  if  the  same  man 
be  now  the  Sheriff  of  the  county  that  has  been  sae  for 
some  years  past  ?  " 

"Na,  he's  got  some  other  berth  in  Edinburgh,  they 
say — but  gude  day,  gudewife,  I  maun  ride." — She  fol- 
lowed him  to  his  horse,  and,  while  he  drew  the  girths  of 
his  saddle,  adjusted  the  walise,  and  put  on  the  bridle,  still 
phed  him  with  questions  concerning  Mr.  Bertram's  death, 
and  the  fate  of  his  daughter ;  on  which,  however,  she 
could  obtain  little  information  from  the  honest  farmer. 

"  Did  ye  ever  see  a  place  they  ca'  Demcleugh,  about 
a  mile  frae  the  place  of  Ellangowan  ?  " 

"  I  wot  weel  have  I,  gudewife, — a  wild-looking  den  it 
is.  wi'  a  whin  auld  wa's  o'  shealings  yonder.  I  saw  it 
when  I  gaed  ower  the  ground  wi'  ane  that  wanted  to  take 
the  farm." 


GTJY   MAOT^EEmG.  251 

"  It  was  a  blyth  bit  ance  !  "  said  Meg,  speaking  to  her- 
self. "  Did  ye  notice  if  there  was  an  auld  saugh  tree 
that's  maist  blawn  down,  but  yet  its  roots  are  in  the 
earth,  and  it  hangs  ower  the  bit  burn  ? — mony  a  day  hae 
I  wrought  my  stocking,  and  sat  on  my  sunkie  under  that 
saugh." 

"  Hout,  deil's  i'  the  wife,  wi'  her  saughs,  and  her  sun- 
kies,  and  Ellangowans. — Godsake,  woman,  let  me  away  : 
— there's  saxpence  t'ye  to  buy  half  a  mutchkin,  instead 
o'  clavering  about  thae  auld  warld  stories." 

"  Thanks  to  ye,  gudeman — and  now  ye  hae  answered 
a'  my  questions  and  never  speired  wherefore  I  asked 
them,  I'll  gie  you  a  bit  canny  advice,  and  ye  maunna 
speir  what  for  neither.  Tib  Mumps  will  be  out  wi'  the 
stirrup-dram  in  a  gliffing ;  she'll  ask  ye  whether  ye  gang 
ower  Willie's  brae,  or  through  Conscowthart-moss  ; — tell 
her  ony  ane  ye  like,  but  be  sure  "  (speaking  low  and 
emphatically)  "  to  tak  the  ane  ye  dinna  tell  her."  The 
farmer  laughed  and  promised,  and  the  gipsy  retreated. 

"  Will  you  take  her  advice  ?  "  said  Brown,  who  had 
been  an  attentive  hstener  to  this  conversation. 

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

In  a  moment  after,  Tib,  the  landlady,  appeared  with 
her  stirrup-cup,  which  was  taken  off.  She  then,  as  ]Meg 
had  predicted,  inquired  whether  he  went  the  hill  or  the 
moss  road.  He  answered  the  latter ;  and,  having  bid 
Brown  good-bye,  and  again  told  him,  "  he  depended  on 
seeing  him  at  Charlies-hope,  the  morn  at  latest,"  he  rode 
off  at  a  round  pace. 


252  "WAVERLET   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XXm. 

Gallows  and  knock  are  too  powerful  on  the  highway. 

WrxTER's  Tale. 

The  hint  of  the  hospitable  farmer  was  not  lost  on 
Brown.  But,  while  he  paid  his  reckoning,  he  could  not 
avoid  repeatedly  fixing  his  eyes  on  Meg  Merrilies.  She 
was,  in  all  respects,  the  same  witch-like  figure  as  when 
we  first  introduced  her  at  EUangowim-Place.  Time  had 
grizzled  her  raven  locks,  and  added  wrinkles  to  her  wild 
features,  but  her  height  remained  erect,  and  her  activity 
was  unimpaired.  It  was  remarked  of  this  woman,  as  of 
others  of  the  same  description,  that  a  Hfe  of  action,  though 
not  of  labour,  gave  her  the  perfect  command  of  her  limbs 
and  figure,  so  that  the  attitudes  into  which  she  most 
naturally  threw  herself,  were  free,  unconstrained,  and 
picturesque.  At  present,  she  stood  by  the  window  of  the 
cottage,  her  person  drawn  up  so  as  to  show  to  fuU 
advantage  her  mascuhne  stature,  and  her  head  somewhat 
thrown  back,  that  the  large  bonnet,  with  which  her  face 
was  shrouded,  might  not  interrupt  her  steady  gaze  at 
Brown.  At  every  gesture  he  made,  and  every  tone  he 
uttered,  she  seemed  to  give  an  almost  imperceptible  start. 
On  his  part,  he  was  surprised  to  find  that  he  could  not 
look  upon  this  singular  figure  without  some  emotion. 
"  Have  I  dreamed  of  such  a  figure  ?  "  he  said  to  himself, 
*'  or  does  this  wild  and  singular-looking  womitu  recall  to 


GUY   MANNERING.  25^ 

toy  recollection  some  of  the  strange  figures  I  have  seen 
in  our  Indian  pagodas  ?  " 

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

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

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

"  From  the  East  Indies ! "  dropping  his  hand  with  a 
sigh ;  "  it  cannot  be,  then — I  am  such  an  auld  fool,  that 
every  thing  I  look  on  seems  the  thing  I  want  maist  to 
see.  But  the  East  Indies  !  that  cannot  be.— Weel,  be 
what  ye  wiU,  ye  hae  a  face  and  a  tongue  that  puts  me 
in  mind  of  auld  times.  Good-day — make  haste  on  your 
road,  and  if  ye  see  ony  of  our  folk,  meddle  not  and  make 
not,  and  they'll  do  you  nae  harm." 

Brown,  who  had  by  this  time  received  his  change,  put 
a  shilling  into  her  hand,  bade  his  hostess  farewell,  and 
taking  the  route  which  the  farmer  had  gone  before, 
walked  briskly  on,  with  the  advantage  of  being  guided 
by  the  fresh  hoof-prints  of  his  horse.  Meg  Merrilies 
looked  after  him  for  some  time,  and  then  muttered  to 
herself,  "  I  maun  see  that  lad  again — and  I  maun  gang 
back  to  Ellangowan  too.  The  Laird's  dead — Aweel, 
death  pays  a'  scores — he  was  a  kind  man  ance. — The 
Sheriff's  flitted,  and  I  can  keep  canny  in  the  bush — so 
there's  no  muckle  hazard  o'  scouring  the  cramp-ring.*—- 
I  would  hke  to  see  bonny  Ellangowan  again  or  I  die." 

*  To  scour  the  cramp-ring,  is  said  metaphorically  for  being  tnrown 
into  fetters,  or,  generally,  into  prison. 


254  "WATEPvLET    XOTELS. 

Brown,  meanwhile,  proceeded  northward  at  a  rounj 
pace  along  the  moorish  tract  called  the  Waste  of  Cum- 
berland. He  passed  a  sohtary  house,  towards  which  the 
horseman  who  preceded  him  had  apparently  tm-ned  up, 
for  his  horse's  tread  was  evident  in  that  direction.  A 
Httle  farther,  he  seemed  to  have  returned  again  into  the 
road.  INIr.  Dinmont  had  probably  made  a  visit  there 
either  of  business  or  pleasure. — I  wish,  thought  Brown, 
the  good  farmer  had  staid  till  I  came  up  ;  I  should  not 
have  been  sorry  to  ask  him  a  few  questions  about  the 
road,  which  seems  to  gi'ow  ^rtdlder  and  wilder. 

In  truth,  nature,  as  if  she  had  designed  this  tract  of 
country  to  be  the  baiTier  between  two  hostile  nations,  has 
stamped  upon  it  a  character  of  wildness  and  desolation. 
The  hills  are  neither  high  nor  rocky,  but  the  land  is  all 
heath  and  morass  ;  the  huts  poor  and  mean,  and  at  a 
great  distance  from  each  other.  Immediately  around 
them  there  is  generally  some  little  attempt  at  cultivation ; 
but  a  hah-bred  foal  or  two,  straggling  about  with  shackles 
on  their  hind  legs,  to  save  the  trouble  of  enclosures, 
intimate  the  fai-mer's  chief  resource  to  be  the  breeding 
of  horses.  The  people,  too,  are  of  a  ruder  and  more 
inhospitable  class  than  elsewhere  to  be  found  in  Cumber- 
land, arising  partly  from  their  own  habits,  partly  from 
their  intermixture  with  vagrants  and  criminals,  who  make 
this  wild  country  a  refuge  from  justice.  So  much  were 
the  men  of  these  districts  in  early  times  the  objects  of 
Buspicion  and  dislike  to  their  more  poHshed  neighbour?, 
that  there  was,  and  perhaps  still  exists,  a  by-law  of  the 
corporation  of  Newcastle,  prohibiting  any  freeman  of  that 
city  to  take  for  apprentice  a  native  of  certain  of  these 
dales.  It  is  pithily  said,  "  Give  a  dog  an  ill  name  and 
hang  him  ; "  and  it  may  be  added,  if  you  give  a  man,  or 


GUY   MANNERING.  255 

race  of  men,  an  ill  name,  they  are  very  likely  to  do  some- 
thing that  deserves  hanging.  Of  this  Brown  had  heai'd 
something,  and  suspected  more,  from  the  discourse  between 
the  landlady,  Dinmont,  and  the  gipsy ;  but  he  was  nat- 
urally of  a  fearless  disposition,  had  nothing  about  liim 
that  could  tempt  the  spoiler,  and  trusted  to  get  through 
the  Waste  with  day-light.  In  this  last  particular,  how- 
ever, he  was  likely  to  be  disappointed.  The  way  proved 
longer  than  he  had  anticipated,  and  the  horizon  began 
to  grow  gloomy,  just  as  he  entered  upon  an  extensive 
morass. 

Choosing  his  steps  with  care  and  dehberation,  the  young 
officer  proceeded  along  a  path  that  sometimes  sunk  between 
two  broken  black  banks  of  moss  earth,  sometimes  crossed 
narrow  but  deep  ravines  filled  with  a  consi  stence  between 
mud  and  water,  and  sometimes  along  heaps  of  gravel  and 
stones,  which  had  been  swept  together  when  some  torrent 
or  water-spout  from  the  neighbouring  hills  overflowed  the 
marshy  ground  below.  He  began  to  ponder  how  a  horse- 
man could  make  his  way  through  such  broken  gi'ound ; 
the  traces  of  hoofs,  however,  were  still  visible ;  he  even 
thought  he  heard  their  sound  at  some  distance,  and,  con- 
vinced that  Mr.  Dinmont's  progress  through  the  morass 
must  be  still  slower  than  his  own,  he  resolved  to  push 
on,  in  hopes  to  overtake  him,  and  have  the  benefit  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  country.  At  this  moment  his  little 
terrier  sprung  forwai^d,  barking  most  furiously. 

Brown  quickened  his  pace,  and,  attaining  the  summit 
of  &  small  rising  ground,  saw  the  subject  of  the  dog's 
alarm.  In  a  hollow,  about  a  gunshot  below  him,  a  man, 
whom  he  easily  recognised  to  be  Dinmont,  was  engaged 
with  two  others  in  a  desperate  struggle.  He  was  dis- 
taounted,  and  defending  himself  as  he  best  could  with  the 


256  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

butt  of  his  heavy  whip.  Our  traveller  hastened  on  to 
his  assistance  ;  but,  ere  he  could  get  up,  a  stroke  had 
levelled  the  fiirmer  with  the  earth,  and  one  of  the  robbers, 
improving  his  victory,  struck  him  some  merciless  blows 
on  the  head.  The  other  villain,  hastening  to  meet  Brown, 
called  to  his  companion  to  come  along,  "  for  that  one's 
content,'' — meaning,  probably,  past  resistance  or  complaint. 
One  ruffian  was  armed  with  a  cutlass,  the  other  with  a 
bludgeon ;  but  as  the  road  was  pretty  narrow,  "  bar  fire- 
arms," thought  Brown,  "  and  I  may  manage  them  well 
enough." — They  met  accordingly,  with  the  most  murder- 
ous threats  on  the  part  of  the  ruffians.  They  soon  found, 
however,  that  their  new  opponent  was  equally  stout  and 
resolute ;  and,  aft^r  exchanging  two  or  three  blows,  one 
of  them  told  him  to  "  follow  his  nose  over  the  heath,  in 
the  devil's  name,  for  they  had  nothing  to  say  to  him." 

Brown  rejected  this  composition,  as  leaving  to  their 
mercy  the  unfortunate  man  whom  they  were  about  to 
pillage,  if  not  to  murder  outright ;  and  the  skirmish  had 
just  recommenced,  when  Dinmont  unexpectedly  recov- 
ered his  senses,  his  feet,  and  his  weapon,  and  hasted  to 
the  scene  of  action.  As  he  had  been  no  easy  antagonist, 
even  when  surprised  and  alone,  the  villains  did  not  choose 
to  wait  his  joining  forces  with  a  man  who  had  singly 
proved  a  match  for  them  both,  but  fled  across  the  bog  as 
fast  as  their  feet  could  carry  them,  pursued  by  Wasp, 
who  had  acted  gloriously  during  the  skirmish,  annoying 
the  heels  of  the  enemy,  and  repeatedly  effecting  a 
moment's  diversion  in  his  master's  favour. 

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


GUY   MANNERINa.  257 

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

"  0,  deil  a  bit — my  head  can  stand  a  gay  clour — nae 
thanks  to  them,  though,  and  mony  to  you.  But  now, 
liinney,  ye  maun  help  me  to  catch  the  beast,  and  ye  maun 
get  on  behind  me,  for  we  maun  off  hke  whittrets  before 
the  whole  clanjamfray  be  doun  upon  us — the  rest  o'  them 
will  no  be  far  off."  The  galloway  was,  by  good  fortune, 
easily  caught,  and  Brown  made  some  apology  for  over- 
loading the  animal. 

"  Deil  a  fear,  man,"  answered  the  proprietor  ;  "  Dum- 
pie  could  carry  six  folk,  if  his  back  was  lang  eneugh. 
But  God's  sake,  haste  ye,  get  on,  for  I  see  some  folk 
coming  through  the  slack  yonder,  that  it  may  be  just  as 
weel  no  to  wait  for." 

Brown  was  of  opinion  that  this  apparition  of  five  or 
six  men,  with  whom  the  other  villains  seemed  to  join 
company,  coming  across  the  moss  towards  them,  should 
abridge  ceremony;  he  therefore  mounted  Dumple  en 
croupe,  and  the  Httle  spirited  nag  cantered  away  with 
two  men  of  great  size  and  strength,  as  if  they  had  been 
children  of  six  years  old.  The  rider,  to  whom  the  paths 
of  these  wilds  seemed  intimately  known,  pushed  on  at  a 
rapid  pace,  managing,  with  much  dexterity,  to  choose  the 
safest  route,  in  which  he  was  aided  by  the  sagacity  of  the 
galloway,  who  never  failed  to  take  the  difficult  passes 
exactly  at  the  particular  spot,  and  in  the  special  manner, 
by  which  they  could  be  most  safely  crossed.  Yet,  even 
with  these  advantages,  the  road  was  so  broken,  and  they 
were  so  often  thrown  out  of  the  direct  course  by  various 
impediments,  that  they  did  not  gain  much  upon  their 
pursuers.  "Never  mmd,"  said  the  undaunted  Scotch- 
man to  his  companion,  "  if  ye  were  ance  by  Withershin's 

VOL.  in.  17 


25lS  waverley  novels. 

Latch,  the  road's  no  near  sae  saft,  and  we'll  show  them 
fair  play  for't." 

They  soon  came  to  the  place  he  named,  a  narrow  chan. 
nel,  through  which  soaked,  rather  than  flowed,  a  small 
stagnant  stream,  mantled  over  with  bright  green  mosses. 
Dinmont  directed  his  steed  towards  a  pass  where  the 
water  appeared  to  flow  with  more  freedom  over  a  harder 
bottom  ;  but  Dumple  backed  from  the  proposed  crossing- 
place,  put  his  head  down  as  if  to  reconnoitre  the  swamp 
more  nearly,  stretching  forwai'd  his  fore-feet,  and  slood 
as  fast  as  if  he  had  been  cut  out  of  stone. 

"  Had  we  not  better,"  said  Brown,  "  dismount,  and 
leave  him  to  his  fate  ? — or  can  you  not  urge  him  through 
the  SA\'amp  ?  " 

"  Na,  na,"  said  his  pilot,  "  we  maun  cross  Dumple  at 
no  rate — he  has  mair  sense  than  mony  a  Christian."  So 
saying,  he  relaxed  the  reins,  and  shook  them  loosely. 
"  Come  now,  lad,  take  your  ain  way  o't — let's  see  where 
ye'U  take  us  through." 

Dumple,  left  to  the  freedom  of  his  own  will,  trotted 
briskly  to  another  pai't  of  the  latch,  less  promising,  as 
BroT\Ti  thought,  in  appearance,  but  which  the  animal's 
sagacity  or  experience  recommended  as  the  safer  of  the 
two,  and  where,  plunging  in,  he  attained  the  other  side 
with  little  difficulty. 

"I'm  glad  we're  out  o'  that  moss,"  said  Dinmont, 
"  where  there's  mair  stables  for  horses  than  change- 
houses  for  men — we  have  the  Maiden-way  to  help  us 
now,  at  ony  rate."  Accordingly,  they  speedily  gained  a 
sort  of  rugged  causeway  so  called,  being  the  remains  of 
an  old  Roman  road,  which  traverses  these  wild  regions  in 
a  due  northerly  direction.  Here  they  got  on  at  the  rate 
of  nine  or  ten  miles  an  hour,  Dumple  seeking  no  otliei 


GUY   MANNEKING.  259 

respite  tiian  what  arose  from  changing  his  pace  from 
canter  to  trot.  "  I  could  gar  him  show  mair  action,"  said 
his  master,  "  but  we  ai^e  twa  lang-legged  chields  after  a', 
and  it  would  be  a  pity  to  distress  Dumple — there  wasna 
the  like  o'  him  at  Staneshiebank  fair  the  day." 

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

"  What  would  I  do  that  for  ? "  answered  the  hardy 
farmer ;  "  the  best  way's  to  let  the  blood  bai^ken  upon 
the  cut— that  saves  plasters,  hinney." 

Brown,  who  in  his  military  profession  had  seen  a  great 
many  hard  blows  pass,  could  not  help  remarking,  "  he 
^ad  never  known  such  severe  strokes  received  with  so 
much  apparent  indifference." 

"  Hout  tout,  man — I  would  never  be  making  a  hum- 
dudgeon  about  a  scart  on  the  pow — but  we'll  be  in  Scot- 
land in  five  minutes  now,  and  ye  maun  gang  up  to 
Charlies-hope  wi'  me,  that's  a  clear  case." 

Brown  readily  accepted  the  offered  hospitality.  Night 
was  now  falHng,  when  they  came  in  sight  of  a  pretty 
river  winding  its  way  through  a  pastoral  country.  The 
hills  were  greener  and  more  abrupt  than  those  which 
Brown  had  lately  passed,  sinking  their  grassy  sides  at 
cnce  upon  the  river.  They  had  no  pretensions  to  mag- 
nificence of  height,  or  to  romantic  shapes,  nor  did  their 
•ynooth  swelling  slopes  exhibit  either  rocks  or  woods. 
Yet  the  view  was  wild,  solitary,  and  pleasingly  rural. 
No  enclosures,  no  roads,  almost  no  tillage — it  seemed  a 
land  which  a  patriarch  would  have  chosen  to  feed  his 
flocks   and   herds.     The   remains  of   here  and  there  a 


260  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

dismantled  and  ruined  tower  showed  that  it  had  onco 
harboured  beings  of  a  very  different  description  from  its 
present  inhabitants  ;  namely,  those  freebooters  to  who£e 
exploits  the  wars  between  England  and  Scotland  bear 
witness. 

Descending  by  a  path  towards  a  well-known  ford, 
Dumple  crossed  the  small  river,  and  then  quickening  his 
pace,  trotted  about  a  mile  briskly  up  its  banks,  and  ap- 
proached two  or  three  low  thatched  houses,  placed  with 
their  angles  to  each  other,  with  a  great  contempt  of  regu- 
larity. This  was  the  farm-steading  of  Chai'Hes-hope,  or, 
in  the  language  of  the  country,  "  the  Towti."  A  most 
furious  barking  was  set  up  at  their  approach,  by  the 
whole  thret  generations  of  Mustard  and  Pepper,  and  a 
number  of  allies,  names  unknown.  The  farmer  made  his 
well-known  voice  lustily  heard  to  restore  order ;  the  doo^ 
opened,  and  a  half-dressed  ewe-milker,  who  had  done  that 
good  oflSice,  shut  it  in  their  faces,  in  order  that  she  might 
run  len  the  house,  to  cry  "Mistress,  mistress,  it's  the 
master,  and  another  man  wi'  him."  Dumple,  turned 
loose,  walked  to  his  own  stable-door,  and  there  pawed 
and  whinnied  for  admission,  in  strains  which  were  an- 
swered by  his  acquaintances  from  the  interior.  Amid  this 
bustle.  Brown  was  fain  to  secure  Wasp  from  the  other 
dogs,  who,  with  ardour  corresponding  more  to  their  own 
names  than  to  the  hospitable  temper  of  their  owner,  vere 
much  disposed  to  use  the  intruder  roughly. 

In  about  a  minute  a  stout  labourer  was  patting  Dumple, 
and  introducing  him  into  the  stable,  while  Mrs.  Dinmont, 
a  weU-favoured  buxom  dame,  welcomed  her  husband  witli 
unfeigned  rapture.  "  Eh,  sirs !  gudeman,  ye  hae  been  a 
weary  while  away."  * 

*  The  author  may  here  remark,  that  the  character  of  Dandie  Dio- 


GUT   MANNERING.  261 

mont  was  drawn  from  no  individual.  A  dozen,  at  least,  of  stout 
Liddesdale  yeomen  with  whom  he  has  been  acquainted,  and  whose 
hospitality  he  has  shared  in  his  rambles  through  that  wild  countiy,  at 
a  time  when  it  was  totally  inaccessible,  save  in  the  manner  described 
in  tt»e  text,  might  lay  claim  to  be  the  prototype  of  the  rough,  but 
faithful,  hospitable,  and  generous  farmer.  But  one  circumstance 
occasioned  the  name  to  be  fixed  upon  a  most  respectable  individual 
of  this  class,  now  no  more.  JVIr.  James  Davidson  of  Hiadlee,  a  tenant 
of  Lord  Douglas,  besides  the  points  of  blunt  honesty,  personal  strength, 
aad  hardihood,  designed  to  be  expressed  in  the  character  of  Dandie 
Dinmont,  had  the  humour  of  naming  a  celebrated  race  of  teiTiers 
which  he  possessed,  by  the  generic  names  of  Mustard  and  Pepper, 
(according  as  their  colour  Avas  yellow  or  greyish-black,)  without  any 
other  individual  distinction,  except  as  according  to  the  nomenclature 
in  the  text.  Mr.  Davidson  resided  at  Hindlee,  a  wild  farm  on  the 
very  edge  of  the  Teviotdale  moixntains,  and  bordering  close  on  Liddes- 
dale, where  the  rivers  and  brooks  divide  as  they  take  their  course  to 
the  Eastern  or  Western  seas.  His  passion  for  the  chase,  in  all  ifci 
forms,  but  especially  for  fox-hunting,  as  followed  in  the  fashion  de- 
scribed in  the  next  chapter,  in  conducting  which  he  was  skilful  beyond 
most  men  in  the  South  Highlands,  was  the  distinguishing  point  in  his 
character. 

When  the  tale  on  which  these  comments  are  written  became  rather 
popular,  the  name  of  Dandie  Dinmont  was  generally  given  to  him, 
which  ^Ir.  Davidson  received  with  great  good  humour, — only  saying, 
while  he  distmguished  the  author  by  the  name  applied  to  him  in  the 
country,  where  his  own  is  so  common — "  that  the  Sheriff  had  not 
written  about  him  mair  than  about  other  folk,  but  only  about  his 
dogs."  An  English  lady  of  high  rank  and  fashion,  being  deskous  to 
possess  a  brace  of  the  celebrated  Mustard  and  Pepper  terriers,  ex- 
pressed her  wishes  in  a  letter,  which  was  literally  addressed  to  Dandie 
Dinmont,  under  which  very  general  direction  it  reached  Mr.  David- 
son, who  was  justly  proud  of  the  application,  and  failed  not  to  comply 
with  a  request  which  did  him  and  his  favourite  attendants  so  much 
honour. 

I  trust  I  shall  not  be  considered  as  offending  the  memory  of  a  kind 
and  worthy  man,  if  I  mention  a  little  trait  of  character  which  oc- 
curred in  Mr.  Davidson's  last  illness.  I  use  the  words  of  the  excellent 
clergyman  who  attended  him,  who  gave  the  account  to  a  reverend 
gentleman  of  the  same  persuasion: — 

"  I  read  to  Mr.  Davidson  the  very  suitable  and  interesting  truths 
fou  addressed  to  him.  He  listened  to  them  with  great  seriousness, 
and  has  uniformly  displayed  a  deep  conceirri  about  his  soul's  salvation. 


262  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

He  died  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  the  year  (1820);  an  apoplectic  stroke 
deprived'  him  in  an  instant  of  all  sensation,  but  happily  his  brother 
was  at  his  bed-side,  for  he  had  detained  him  from  the  meeting-house 
that  day  to  be  near  him,  although  he  felt  himself  not  much  worse  than 
usual. — So  you  have  got  the  last  little  LIustard  that  the  hand  of 
Dandie  Dinmont  bestowed. 

"  His  niling  passion  was  strong  even  on  the  eve  of  death.  Iklr. 
BaiUie's  fox-hounds  had  started  a  fox  opposite  to  his  window  a  few 
•weeks  ago,  and  as  soon  as  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  dogs  his  eyes 
glistened;  he  insisted  on  getting  out  of  bed,  and  with  much  difficulty 
got  to  the  window,  and  there  enjoyed  the  fun,  as  he  called  it.  When 
I  came  down  to  ask  for  him,  he  said,  '  he  had  seen  Kejniard,  but 
had  not  seen  his  death.  If  it  had  been  the  will  of  Providence,'  he 
added, '  I  would  have  liked  to  have  been  after  him ; — ^but  I  am  glad 
that  I  got  to  the  window,  and  am  thankful  for  what  I  saw,  for  it  has 
done  me  a  great  deal  of  good.'  Notwithstanding  these  eccentricities," 
ad  Js  the  sensible  and  liberal  clergjonan,  "  I  sincerely  hope  and  believe 
he  has  gone  to  a  better  world,  and  better  company  and  enjoyments." 

If  some  part  of  this  little  narrative  may  excite  a  smile,  it  is  one 
which  is  consistent  with  the  most  perfect  respect  for  the  simple- 
minded  invalid,  and  his  kind  and  judicious  religious  instructor,  who, 
we  hope,  will  not  be  displeased  with  our  giving,  we  trust,  a  correct 
edition  of  an  anecdote  which  has  been  pretty  generally  circulated. 
The  race  of  Pepper  and  Mustard  are  in  the  highest  estimation  at  this 
day,  not  only  for  vermin-killing,  but  for  intelligence  and  fidelity. 
Those  who,  like  the  author,  possess  a  brace  of  them,  consider  them  tis 
very  desirable  compamons. 


riTTT    MANNF.UTNO.  263 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

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

Art  op  PRESERVTNa  Health. 

The  present  store-farmers  of  the  south  of  Scotland  ar 
a  much  more  refined  race  than  their  fathers,  and  th» 
manners  I  am  now  to  describe  have  either  altogethei 
disappeared,  or  are  greatly  modified.  Without  losing 
the  rural  simplicity  of  manners,  they  now  cultivate  arts 
unknown  to  the  former  generation,  not  only  in  the  pro- 
gressive improvement  of  their  possessions,  but  in  aU  the 
comforts  of  life.  Their  houses  are  more  commodious, 
their  habits  of  life  regulated  so  as  better  to  keep  pace 
with  those  of  the  civilized  world ;  and  the  best  of  luxuries, 
the  luxury  of  knowledge,  has  gained  much  ground  among 
their  hills  during  the  last  thii'ty  years.  Deep  drinking, 
formerly  their  greatest  failing,  is  now  fast  losing  ground ; 
and,  while  the  frankness  of  their  extensive  hospitality 
continues  the  same,  it  is,  generally  speaking,  refined  in  its 
character,  aild  restrained  in  its  excesses. 

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

AiHe  turned  to  make  her  apology — "  Troth,  I  was  sae 


264  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

weel  pleased   to  see   the  gudeman,  that But,  gnde 

gracious  !  what's  the  matter  wi'  ye  baith  ?  " — for  they 
were  now  in  her  little  parlour,  and  the  candle  showed  the 
streaks  of  blood  which  Dinmont's  wounded  head  had 
plentifully  imparted  to  the  clothes  of  his  companion  as 
well  as  to  his  own.  "  YeVe  been  fighting  again.  Dandy, 
wi'  some  o'  the  Bewcastle  horse-coupers  !  Wow,  man,  a 
married  man,  wi'  a  bonny  family  like  yours,  should  ken 
better  what  a  father's  life's  worth  in  the  warld." — The 
tears  stood  in  the  good  woman's  eyes  as  she  spoke. 

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

"  God  bless  the  gentleman,  and  e'en  God  bless  him  wi' 
a'  my  heart !  But  what  can  we  do  for  hinr,  but  to  gie 
him  the  meat  and  quarters  we  wadna  refuse  to  the  poor- 
est body  on  earth — unless "  (her  eye  directed  to  the 
pocket-book,  but  with  a  feeling  of  natural  propriety  which 
made  the  inference  the  most  delicate  possible)  "  unless 
there  was  ony  other  way  " Brown  saw,  and  estimated 


GUT   MANNERING.  265 

at  its  due  rate,  the  mixture  of  simplicity  and  grateful 
generosity  which  took  the  downright  way  of  expressing 
itself,  yet  qualified  with  so  much  delicacy.  He  was  aware 
his  own  appearance,  plain  at  best,  and  now  torn  and  spat- 
tered with  blood,  made  him  an  object  of  pity  at  least,  and 
perhaps  of  charity.  He  hastened  to  say  his  name  was 
Brf>wn,  a  captain  in  the regiment  of  cavalry,  travel- 
ing for  pleasure,  and  on  foot,  both  from  motives  of  inde- 
pendence and  economy ;  and  he  begged  his  kind  landlady 
would  look  at  her  husband's  wounds,  the  state  of  which 
be  had  refused  to  permit  him  to  examine.  Mrs.  Dinmont 
was  used  to  her  husband's  broken  heads  more  than  to  the 
presence  of  a  captain  of  dragoons.  She  therefore  glanced 
at  a  table-cloth,  not  quite  clean,  and  conned  over  her  pro- 
posed supper  a  minute  or  two,  before,  patting  her  husband 
on  the  shoulder,  she  bade  him  sit  down  for  "a  hard- 
headed  loon,  that  was  aye  bringing  hhnsell  and  other  folk 
into  collie-shangies." 

When  Dandie  Dinmont,  after  executing  two  or  three 
caprioles,  and  cutting  the  Highland-fling,  by  way  of 
ridicule  of  his  wife's  anxiety,  at  last  deigned  to  sit  down, 
and  commit  his  round,  black,  shaggy  bullet  of  a  head  to 
her  inspection.  Brown  thought  he  had  seen  the  regi- 
mcjntal  surgeon  look  grave  upon  a  more  trifling  case. 
The  gudewife,  however,  showed  some  knowledge  of  chi- 
rurgcry — she  cut  away  with  her  scissors  the  gory  locks, 
whose  stiilened  and  coagulated  clusters  interfered  with 
her  operations,  and  clapped  on  the  wound  some  lint  be- 
smeared with  a  vulnerary  salve,  esteemed  sovereign  by 
the  whole  dale  (which  afforded  upon  Fair  nights  con- 
siderable experience  of  such  cases) — she  then  fixed  her 
plaster  with  a  bandage,  and,  spite  of  her  patient's  resist- 
ance, pulled  over  all  a  night-cap,  to  keep   every  thing 


266  AVAVERLEY   NOYELS. 

in  its  right  place.  Some  contusions  on  the  brow  and 
shoulders  she  fomented  with  brandj,  which  the  patient 
did  not  permit  till  the  medicine  had  paid  a  heavy  toll  to 
his  mouth.  Mrs.  Dinmont  then  simply,  but  kindly 
offered  her  assistance  to  Brown. 

He  assured  her  he  had  no  occasion  for  any  thing  bi>* 
the  accommodation  of  a  basin  and  towel. 

"And  that's  what  I  should  have  thought  of  sooner/' 
slie  said;  "and  I  did  think  o't,  but  I  durst  na  open  th.* 
door,  for  there's  a'  the  bairns,  poor  things,  sae  keen  U" 
see  their  father." 

This  explained  a  great  drumming  and  whining  at  the 
door  of  the  little  parlour,  which  had  somewhat  surprisec* 
Bro^^ii,  though  his  kind  landlady  had  only  noticed  it  by 
fastening  the  bolt  as  soon  as  she  heard  it  begin.  But  or 
her  opening  the  door  to  seek  the  basin  and  towel,  (for 
she  never  thought  of  shoAving  the  guest  to  a  separate 
room,)  a  whole  tide  of  white-headed  urchins  streamed 
in,  some  from  the  stable,  where  they  had  been  seeing 
Dumple,  and  giving  him  a  welcome  home  with  part  of 
their  four-hours  scones ;  others  from  the  kitchen,  whero 
they  had  been  hstening  to  old  Elspeth's  tales  and  ballads . 
and  the  youngest,  half-naked,  out  of  bed, — all  roaidng  tc 
see  daddy,  and  to  inquire  what  he  had  brought  home  for 
them  from  the  various  fairs  he  had  visited  in  his  pere- 
grinations. Our  knight  of  the  broken  head  first  kissed 
and  hugged  them  all  round,  then  distributed  whistles 
penny-trumpets,  and  gingerbrea(^  ;  and  lastly,  when  the 
tumult  of  their  joy  and  welcome  got  beyond  bearings 
exclaimed  to  his  guest — "  This  is  a'  the  gudewife's  fault, 
Captain — she  will  gie  the  bairns  a'  their  ain  way." 

"  Me !  Lord  help  me ! "  said  AiHe,  who  at  that  instam 
entered  with  the  basin  and  ewer,  "  how  can  I  help  it  ?-^ 
I  have  naething  else  to  gie  them,  poor  things ! " 


GUY   MANNERING.  267 

Dinmont  then  exerted  liimself,  and,  between  coaxing, 
threats,  and  shoving,  cleared  the  room  of  all  the  intruders, 
excepting  a  boy  and  girl,  the  two  eldest  of  the  family, 
who  could,  as  he  observed,  behave  themselves  "  dis- 
tinctly." For  the  same  reason,  but  with  less  ceremonyj, 
all  the  dogs  were  kicked  out,  excepting  the  venerable 
patriarchs,  old  Pepper  and  Mustard,  whom  frequent 
castigation  and  the  advance  of  years  had  inspired  with 
such  a  share  of  passive  hospitality,  that,  after  mutual 
explanation  and  remonstrance  in  the  shape  of  some 
growUng,  they  admitted  Wasp,  w^ho  had  hitherto  judged 
it  safe  to  keep  beneath  his  master's  chair,  to  a  share 
of  a  dried  wedder's  skin,  which,  with  the  wool  upper- 
most and  unshorn,  served  all  the  purposes  of  a  Bristol 
hearth-rug. 

The  active  bustle  of  the  mistress  (so  she  was  called  in 
the  kitchen,  and  the  gudewife  in  the  parlour)  had  all*eady 
signed  the  fate  of  a  couple  of  fowls,  which,  for  want  of 
time  to  dress  them  otherwise,  soon  appeared  reeking  from 
the  gridu'on — or  brander,  as  Mrs.  Dinmont  denominated 
it.  A  huge  piece  of  cold  beef-ham,  eggs,  butter,  cakes, 
and  barley-meal  bannocks  in  plenty,  made  up  the  enter- 
tainment, which  was  to  be  diluted  with  home-brewed  ale 
of  excellent  quality,  and  a  case-bottle  of  brandy.  Few 
soldiers  would  find  fault  with  such  cheer  after  a  day's 
hard  exercise,  and  a  skirmish  to  boot ;  accordingly  Brown 
did  great  honour  to  the  eatables.  While  the  gudewife 
partly  aided,  partly  instructed,  a  great  stout  servant  girl, 
with  cheeks  as  red  as  her  top-knot,  to  remove  the  supper 
matters,  and  supply  sugar  and  hot  water,  (which,  in  the 
damsel's  anxiety  to  gaze  upon  an  actual  live  captain,  she 
was  in  some  danger  of  forgetting,)  Brown  took  an  oppor- 
tunity to  ask  his  host  whether  he  did  not  repent  of  having 
neglected  the  gipsy's  hint. 


268  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Wha  kens  ?  "  answered  he  ;  "  they're  queer  deevils ; 
■ — may  be  I  might  just  have  'scaped  ae  gang  to  meet  the 
other.  And  yet  I'll  no  say  that  neither ;  for  if  that 
randy  wife  was  coming  to  Charlies-hope,  she  should  have 
a  pint  bottle  o'  brandy  and  a  pound  o'  tobacco  to  wear 
l:3r  through  the  winter.  They're  queer  deevils ;  as  my 
auld  father  used  to  say — they're  warst  where  they're 
warst  guided.  After  a',  there's  baith  gude  and  ill  about 
the  gipsies." 

This,  and  some  other  desultory  conversation,  served  as 
a  "  shoeing-horn  "  to  draw  on  another  cup  of  ale,  and 
another  cheerer,  as  Dinmont  termed  it  in  his  country 
phrase,  of  brandy  and  water.  Brown  then  resolutely 
declined  all  further  conviviality  for  that  evening,  pleading 
his  own  weariness  and  the  effects  of  the  skirmish, — > 
being  well  aware  that  it  would  have  availed  nothing  to 
have  remonstrated  with  his  host  on  the  danger  that 
excess  might  have  occasioned  to  his  own  raw  wound 
and  bloody  coxcomb.  A  very  small  bed-room,  but  a 
very  clean  bed,  received  the  traveller,  and  the  sheets 
made  good  the  courteous  vaunt  of  the  hostess,  "  that  they 
would  be  as  pleasant  as  he  could  find  ony  gate,  for  they 
were  washed  wi'  the  fairy-well  water,  and  bleached  on 
the  bonny  white  gowans,  and  bittled  by  Nelly  and  her- 
sell ;  and  what  could  woman,  if  she  was  a  queen,  do  mair 
for  them?" 

They  indeed  rivalled  snow  in  whiteness,  and  had,  be- 
sides, a  pleasant  fragrance  from  the  manner  in  which  they 
had  been  bleached.  Little  Wasp,  after  Hcking  his  mas- 
ter's hand  to  ask  leave,  couched  himself  on  the  coverlet  at 
his  feet ;  and  the  traveller's  senses  were  soon  lost  in 
grateful  oblivion. 


GUY   MANNERING.  269 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Give,  ye  Britons,  then, 

Ycur  sportive  fury,  pitiless,  to  pour 

Loose  on  the  nightly  robber  of  the  fold. 

Him,  from  his  craggy  winding  haunts  unearthed, 

Let  all  the  thunder  of  the  chase  pursue. 

Thomson's  Seasons. 

Brown  rose  early  in  the  morning,  and  walked  out  to 
look  at  the  establishment  of  his  new  friend.  All  was 
rough  and  neglected  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  house ; 
a  paltry  garden,  no  pains  taken  to  make  the  vicinity  dry 
or  comfortable,  and  a  total  absence  of  all  those  little  neat- 
nesses which  give  the  eye  so  much  pleasure  in  looking  at 
an  English  farm-house.  There  were,  notwithstanding, 
evident  signs  that  this  arose  only  from  want  of  taste,  or 
ignorance,  not  from  poverty,  or  the  negligence  which  at- 
tends it.  On  the  contrary,  a  noble  cow-house,  well  filled 
with  good  milk-cows,  a  feeding  house,  with  ten  bullocks 
of  the  most  approved  breed,  a  stable  with  two  good  teams 
of  horses,  the  appearance  of  domestics,  active,  industrious, 
and  apparently  contented  with  their  lot ;  in  a  word,  an 
air  of  hberal  though  sluttish  plenty  indicated  the  wealthy 
farmer.  The  situation  of  the  house  above  the  river 
formed  a  gentle  declivity,  which  relieved  the  inhabitants 
of  the  nuisances  that  might  otherwise  have  stagnated 
around  it.  At  a  Httle  distance  was  the  whole  band  of 
children,  playing  and  building  houses  with  peats  around 


270  WAVEKLET   NOYELS. 

a  huge  doddered  oak-tree,  which  was  called  CharlieV 
Bush,  from  some  tradition  respecting  an  old  freebooter 
who  had  once  inhabited  the  spot.  Between  the  farm- 
house and  the  hiU-pasture  was  a  deep  morass,  termed  in 
that  country  a  slack :  it  had  once  been  the  defence  of  a 
fortahce,  of  which  no  vestiges  now  remained,  but  which 
was  said  to  have  been  inhabited  by  the  same  doughty 
hero  we  have  now  alluded  to.  Brown  endeavoured  to 
make  some  acquaintance  with  the  children ;  but  "  tlie 
rogues  fled  from  him  like  quicksilver,"  though  the  two 
eldest  stood  peeping  when  they  had  got  to  some  distance. 
The  traveller  then  turned  his  coui'se  towards  the  hiU 
crossing  the  foresaid  swamp  by  a  range  of  stepping- 
stones,  neither  the  broadest  nor  steadiest  that  could  be 
imagined.  He  had  not  cUmbed  far  up  the  hill  when  he 
met  a  man  descending. 

He  soon  recognised  his  worthy  host,  though  a  maud, 
as  it  is  called,  or  a  grey  shepherd's-plaid,  supplied  his 
travelling  jockey-coat,  and  a  cap,  faced  with  wild-cat's 
fur,  more  commodiously  covered  his  bandaged  head  than 
a  hat  would  have  done.  As  he  appeared  through  the 
morning  mist,  Brown,  accustomed  to  judge  of  men  by 
their  thews  and  sinews,  could  not  help  admiring  his 
height,  the  breadth  of  his  shoulders,  and  the  steady 
firmness  of  his  step.  Dinmont  internally  paid  the  same 
comphment  to  Brown,  whose  athletic  form  he  now 
perused  somewhat  more  at  leisure  than  he  had  done 
formerly.  After  the  usual  greetings  of  the  morning,  the 
guest  inquired  whether  his  host  found  any  inconvenient 
consequences  from  the  last  night's  affray. 

"I  had  maist  forgotten't,"  said  the  hardy  Borderer  i 
"but  I  think  this  morning,  now  that  I  am  fresh  and 
sober,  if  you  and  I  were  at  the  Withershin's  Latch,  wi' 


GUY    MANNERING.  271 

iSkv  ane  a  gude  oak  souple  in  his  hand,  we  wadna  turn 
bac\^  no  /or  half  a  dizzen  o'  yon  scaff-raif." 

"  }^ixi  are  you  prudent,  my  good  sir,"  said  Brown,  "  not 
to  tak«  an  hour  or  two's  repose  after  receiving  such 
severe  c<intasions :  " 

"Confusions!"  replied  the  farmer,  laughmg  in  deri- 
sion ; — "  Lord,  Captain,  naething  confuses  my  head. — I 
ance  jumped  up  and  laid  the  dogs  on  the  fox  after  I  had 
tumbled  from  the  tap  o'  Chi'istenbury  Craig,  and  that 
might  have  confused  me  to  purpose.  Na — naething  con- 
fuses me,  unless  it  be  a  screed  o'  drink  at  an  orra  time. 
Besides,  I  behooved  to  be  round  the  hirsel  this  morning, 
.and  see  how  the  herds  were  coming  on — they're  apt  to 
be  negligent  wi'  their  foot-balls,  and  fau-s,  and  trysts, 
when  ane's  away.  And  there  I  met  wi'  Tam  o'  Todshaw, 
and  a  wheen  o'  the  rest  o'  the  billies  on  the  water  side ; 
they're  a'  for  a  fox-hunt  this  morning — ye'U  gang  ?  I'll 
gie  ye  Dumple,  and  take  the  brood  mare  mysell." 

"  But  I  fear  I  must  leave  you  this  morning,  ]Mr.  Din- 
mont,"  replied  Brown. 

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

Brown  had  not  designed  his  journey  should  be  a  speedy 
one  ;  he  therefore  readily  compounded  with  this  hearty 
invitation,  by  agreeing  to  pass  a  week  at  Charlies-hope. 

On  their  return  to  the  house,  where  the  good-wife  pre- 
sided over  an  ample  breakfast,  she  heard  news  of  the 
proposed  fox-hunt,  not  indeed  with  approbation,  but  with- 
out alarm  or  surprise.  "  Dand  !  ye're  the  auld  man  yet ; 
naething  will  make  ye  take  warning  till  ye're  bro  aght 
hame  some  day  wi'  your  feet  foremost." 


273  WAVEBLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Tut,  lass  !  **  answered  Dandie,  "  ye  ken  yourscll  1 
am  never  a  prin  the  waur  o'  my  rambles." 

So  saying,  he  exhoiled  Brown  to  be  hasty  in  despatch- 
ing his  breakfast,  as,  "•  the  frost  having  given  way,  tho 
scent  would  lie  this  morning  primely." 

Out  they  sallied  accordingly  for  Otterscopes^aurs,  the 
farmer  leading  the  way.  They  soon  quitted  the  little 
valley,  and  involved  themselves  among  hills  as  steep  as 
they  could  be  without  being  precipitous.  The  sides  often 
presented  guUies,  down  which,  in  the  winter  season,  or 
after  heavy  rain,  the  torrents  descended  with  great  fury. 
Some  dappled  mists  still  floated  along  the  peaks  of  the 
hills,  the  remains  of  the  morning  clouds,  for  the  frost  had 
broken  up  with  a  smart  shower.  Through  these  fleecy 
screens  were  seen  a  hundred  httle  temporary  streamlets 
or  rills,  descending  the  sides  of  the  mountains  like  silver 
threads.  By  small  sheep-tracks  along  these  steeps,  over 
which  Dinmont  trotted  with  the  most  fearless  confidence, 
they  at  length  drew  near  the  scene  of  sport,  and  began  to 
see  other  men,  both  on  horse  and  foot,  making  toward 
the  place  of  rendezvous.  Brown  was  puzzhng  himself  to 
conceive  how  a  fox-chase  could  take  place  among  hills 
where  it  was  barely  possible  for  a  pony,  accustomed  to 
the  ground,  to  trot  along,  but  where,  quitting  the  track 
for  half  a  yard's  breadth,  the  rider  might  be  either  bogged, 
or  precipitated  down  the  bank.  This  wonder  was  not 
diminished  when  he  came  to  the  place  of  action. 

They  had  gradually  ascended  very  high,  and  now  found 
themselves  on  a  mountain  ridge  overhanging  a  glen  of 
great  depth,  but  extremely  narrow.  Here  the  sportsmen 
had  collected,  with  an  apparatus  which  would  have  shocked 
a  member  of  the  Pychely  Hunt ;  for,  the  object  being 
the  removal  of  a  noxious  and  destructive  animal,  as  well 


GUT    MANNERINa.      .  273 

as  the  pleasures  of  the  chase,  poor  Reynard  was  allowed 
much  less  fair  play  than  when  pursued  in  form  through 
an  open  country.  The  strength  of  his  habitation,  how- 
ever, and  the  nature  of  the  ground  by  which  it  was  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides,  supplied  what  was  wanting  in  the 
courtesy  of  his  pursuers.  The  sides  of  the  glen  were 
broken  banks  of  earth,  and  rocks  of  rotten  stone,  which 
sunk  sheer  down  to  the  little  winding  stream  below, 
affording  here  and  there  a  tuft  of  scathed  brush-wood,  or 
a  patch  of  furze.  Along  the  edges  of  this  ravine,  which, 
as  we  have  said,  was  very  narrow,  but  of  profound  depth, 
the  hunters  on  horse  and  foot  ranged  themselves ;  almost 
every  farmer  had  with  him  at  least  a  brace  of  large  and 
fierce  greyhounds,  of  the  race  of  those  deer-dogs  which 
were  formerly  used  in  that  country,  but  greatly  lessened 
in  size  from  being  crossed  with  the  common  breed.  The 
huntsman,  a  sort  of  provincial  ofiicer  of  the  district,  who 
receives  a  certain  supply  of  meal,  and  a  reward  for  every 
fox  he  destroys,  was  already  at  the  bottom  of  the  dell, 
whose  echoes  thundered  to  the  chiding  of  two  or  three 
brace  of  fox-hounds.  Terriers,  including  the  whole  gen- 
eration of  Pepper  and  Mustard,  were  also  in  attendance, 
having  been  sent  forward  under  the  care  of  a  shepherd. 
Mongrel,  whelp,  and  cur  of  low  degree,  filled  up  th^ 
burden  of  the  chorus.  The  spectators  on  the  brink  of 
\he  ra'v  Lie,  or  glen,  held  their  greyhounds  in  leash,  w 
readiness  to  slip  them  at  the  fox,  as  soon  as  the  activity 
of  the  party  below  should  force  him  to  abandon  his 
cover. 

The  scene,  though  uncouth  to  the  eye  of  a  professed 
sportsman,  had  something  in  it  wildly  captivating.  The 
shifting  figures  on  the  mountain  ridge,  having  the  sky  for 
their  background,  appeared  to  move  in  the  air.      The 

VOL.   III.  18 


274  TVAYERLEY    NOVELS. 

dogs,  impatient  of  their  restraint,  and  maddened  witli  *'Ae 
baying  beneath,  sprung  here  and  there,  and  strained  at 
the  slips  which  prevented  them  from  joining  their  com- 
panions. Looking  down,  the  view  was  equally  striking 
The  thin  mists  were  not  totally  dispersed  in  the  glen,  sc 
that  it  was  often  through  their  gauzy  medium  that  the 
eye  strove  to  discover  the  motions  of  the  hunters  below. 
Sometimes  a  breath  of  wind  made  the  scene  visilrle,  the 
blue  rill  ghttering  as  it  twined  itself  through  its  rude  and 
solitary  dell.  They  then  could  see  the  shepherds  spring- 
ing with  fearless  activity  from  one  dangerous  point  to 
another,  and  cheering  the  dogs  on  the  scent — the  whole 
60  diminished  by  depth  and  distance,  that  they  looked 
like  pigmies.  Again  the  mists  close  over  them,  and  the 
only  signs  of  their  continued  exertions  are  the  halloos  of 
the  men,  and  the  clamours  of  the  hounds,  ascending  as  it 
were  out  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  When  the  fox, 
thus  persecuted  from  one  stronghold  to  another,  was  at 
length  obliged  to  abandon  his  valley,  and  to  break  away 
for  a  more  distant  retreat,  those  who  watched  his  motions 
from  the  top  slipped  their  greyhounds,  which,  2xcelling 
the  fox  in  swiftness,  and  equalling  him  in  ferocity  and 
spirit,  soon  brought  the  plunderer  to  his  life's  end. 

In  this  way,  without  any  attention  to  the  ordinary  rules 
and  decorums  of  sport,  but  apparently  as  much  to  the 
gratification  both  of  bipeds  and  quadrupeds  as  if  all  due 
ritual  had  been  followed,  four  foxes  were  killed  on  this 
active  morning ;  and  even  Brown  himself,  though  he  had 
seen  the  princely  sports  of  India,  and  ridden  a-tiger-hunt- 
ing  upon  an  elephant  with  the  Nabob  of  Ai'cot,  professed 
to  have  received  an  excellent  morning's  amusement. 
When  the  sport  was  given  up  for  the  day,  most  of  the 
sportsm(m,  according  to  the  estabhshed  hospitahty  of  the 
country,  went  to  dine  at  Chai'hes-hope. 


GUT   MANNERING.  275 

During  their  return  homeward,  Brown  rode  for  a  short 
time  beside  the  huntsman,  and  asked  him  some  quet-tions 
concerning  the  mode  in  which  he  exercised  his  profes- 
sion. The  man  showed  an  unwilUngness  to  meet  his  eye, 
and  a  disposition  to  be  rid  of  his  company  and  conversa- 
tion, for  which  Brown  could  not  easily  account.  He  was 
a  thin,  dark,  active  fellow,  well  framed  for  the  hardy  pro- 
fession which  he  exercised.  But  his  face  had  not  the 
frankness  of  the  jolly  hunter ;  he  was  downlooked,  em- 
barrassed, and  avoided  the  eyes  of  those  who  looked  hard 
at  him.  After  some  unimportant  observations  on  the 
success  of  the  day.  Brown  gave  him  a  trifling  gratuity, 
and  rode  on  with  his  landlord.  They  found  the  gudewife 
prepared  for  their  reception ;  the  fold  and  the  poultry- 
yard  furnished  the  entertainment,  and  the  kind  and  hearty 
welcome  made  amends  for  all  deficiencies  in  elegance  and 
fashion. 


276  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


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

Ballad  of  Johnnie  Armstkono. 

Without  noticing  the  occupations  of  an  intervening 
day  or  two,  which,  as  they  consisted  of  the  ordinary  sylvan 
amusements  of  shooting  and  coursing,  have  nothing  suf- 
ficiently interesting  to  detain  the  reader,  we  pass  to  one 
in  some  degree  peculiar  to  Scotland,  which  may  be  called 
a  sort  of  salmon-hunting.  This  chase,  in  which  the  fish 
is  pursued  and  struck  with  barbed  spears,  or  a  sort  of 
long  shafted  trident,  called  a  waster,*  is  much  practised 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Esk,  and  in  the  other  salmon  rivers 
of  Scotland.  The  sport  is  followed  by  day  and  night, 
but  most  commonly  in  the  latter,  when  the  fish  are  dis- 
covered by  means  of  torches,  or  fire-grates,  filled  with 
blazing  fragments  of  tar-barrels,  which  shed  a  strong 
though  partial  light  upon  the  water.  On  the  present 
occasion,  the  principal  party  were  embarked  in  a  crary 
boat  upon  a  part  of  the  river  which  was  .enlarged  and 
deepened  by  the  restraint  of  a  mill-wear,  while  others, 
like  the  ancient  Bacchanals  in  their  gambols,  ran  along 
the    banks,  brandishing  their   torches    and    spearss    and 

*  Or  leister.  The  long  spear  is  used  for  striking;  but  there  is  a 
shorter,  which  is  cast  from  the  hand,  and  with  which  an  e?i  pe.  ienced 
sportsman  hits  the  fish  with  singular  dexterity. 


GUY    MANNERING.  277 

pursuing  the  salmon,  some  of  which  endeavoured  to 
escape  up  the  stream,  while  others,  shrouding  themselves 
under  roots  of  trees,  fragments  of  stones,  and  large  rocks, 
attempted  to  conceal  themselves  from  the  researches  of 
the  fishermen.  These  the  party  in  the  boat  detected  by 
the  slightest  indications  ;  the  twinkling  of  a  fin,  the  rising 
of  an  air-bell,  was  sufficient  to  point  out  to  these  adroit 
sportsmen  in  what  direction  to  use  their  weapon. 

The  scene  was  inexpressibly  animating  to  these  ac- 
customed to  it ;  but  as  Brown  was  not  practised  to  use 
the  spear,  he  soon  tired  of  making  efforts  which  were 
attended  with  no  other  consequences  than  jarring  his 
arms  against  the  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  river,  upon 
which,  instead  of  the  devoted  salmon,  he  often  bestowed 
his  blow.  Nor  did  he  relish,  though  he  concealed  feel- 
ings which  would  not  have  been  understood,  being  quite 
so  near  the  agonies  of  the  expiring  salmon,  as  they  lay 
flapping  about  in  the  boat,  which  they  moistened  with 
their  blood.  He  therefore  requested  to  be  put  ashore, 
and,  from  the  top  of  a  heugh,  or  broken  bank,  enjoyed 
the  scene  much  more  to  his  satisfaction.  Often  he 
thought  of  his  friend  Dudley,  the  artist,  when  he  ob- 
served the  effect  produced  by  the  strong  red  glare  on  the 
romantic  banks  under  which  the  boat  glided.  Now  the 
light  diminished  to  a  distant  star  that  seemed  to  twinkle 
on  the  waters,  like  those  which,  according  to  the  legends 
of  the  country,  the  water-kelpy  sends  for  the  purpose  of 
indicating  the  watery  grave  of  his  victims.  Then  it 
advanced  nearer,  brightening  and  enlarging  as  it  again 
approached,  till  the  broad  flickering  flame  rendered  bank, 
and  rock,  and  tree,  visible  as  it  passed,  tinging  them  with 
its  own  red  glare  of  dusky  light,  and  resigning  them 
gradually  to  darkness,  or  to  pale  moonlight,  as  it  receded. 


278  WAVEELEY   NOVELS. 

By  this  light  also  were  seen  the  figures  in  the  boat,  no"W 
holding  high  their  Aveapons,  now  stooping  to  strike,  now 
standing  upright,  bronzed,  by  the  same  red  glai-e,  into  a 
colour  which  might  have  befitted  the  regions  of  Pande* 
monium. 

Having  amused  himself  for  some  time  with  these  effects 
of  light  and  shadow,  Brown  strolled  homewards  towai^ds 
the  farmhouse,  gazing  in  his  way  at  the  persons  engaged 
in  the  sport,  two  or  three  of  whom  are  generally  kept 
together,  one  holding  the  torch,  the  others  with  their 
spears,  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  the  light  it  affords  to 
strike  their  prey.  As  he  observed  one  man  struggling 
with  a  very  weighty  salmon  which  he  had  speared,  but 
was  unable  completely  to  raise  from  the  water,  Brown 
advanced  close  to  the  bank  to  see  the  issue  of  his  exer- 
tions. The  man  who  held  the  torch  in  this  instance  was 
the  huntsman,  whose  sulky  demeanour  Brown  had  already 
noticed  with  surprise. 

"  Come  here,  sir !  come  here,  sir  !  look  at  this  ane ! 
He  tm-ns  up  a  side  hke  a  sow."  Such  was  the  cry  from 
the  assistants  when  some  of  them  observed  Brown  ad- 
vancing. 

"  Ground  the  waster  weel,  man  !  ground  the  waster 
weel ! — hand  him  down — ye  haena  the  pith  o'  a  cat !  "— 
were  the  cries  of  advice,  encouragement,  and  expostula- 
tion, from  those  who  were  on  the  bank,  to  the  sportsman 
engaged  with  the  salmon,  who  stood  up  to  his  middle  in 
water,  jinghng  among  broken  ice,  struggling  against  the 
force  of  the  fish  and  the  strength  of  the  current,  and 
dubious  in  what  manner  he  should  attempt  to  secure  his 
booty.  As  BroAvn  came  to  the  edge  of  the  bank,  he 
called  out — "  Hold  up  your  torch,  friend  huntsman !  "  for 
he  had  ah-eady  distinguished  his  dusky  features  by  the 


GUT   MANNEEING.  270 

strong  light  cast  upon  them  by  the  blaze.  But  the  fellow 
no  sooner  heard  his  voice,  and  saw,  or  rather  concluded, 
it  was  Brown  who  approached  him,  than,  instead  of  ad- 
vancing his  light,  he  let  it  drop,  as  if  accidentally,  into 
the  water. 

"  The  deil's  in  Gabriel ! "  said  the  spearman,  as  the 
fragments  of  glowing  wood  floated  half-blazing,  half- 
sparkling,  but  soon  extinguished,  down  the  stream — "  the 
deil's  in  the  man  ! — I'll  never  master  him  without  the 
light — and  a  braver  kipper,  could  I  but  land  him,  never 
reisted  abune  a  pair  o'  cleeks."  *  Some  dashed  into  the 
water  to  lend  their  assistance,  and  the  fish,  which  was 
afterwards  found  to  weigh  nearly  thirty  pounds,  was 
landed  in  safety. 

The  behaviour  of  the  huntsman  struck  BroAvn,  although 
he  had  no  recollection  of  his  face,  nor  could  conceive  why 
he  should,  as  it  appeared  he  evidently  did,  shun  his 
observation.  Could  it  be  one  of  the  footpads  he  had 
encountered  a  few  days  before  ?  The  supposition  was 
not  altogether  improbable,  although  unwarranted  by  any 
observation  he  was  able  to  make  upon  the  man's  figure 
and  face.  To  be  sure,  the  villains  wore  their  hats  much 
slouched,  and  had  loose  coats,  and  their  size  wa»  not  in 
any  way  so  pecuUarly  discriminated  as  to  enable  him  to 
resort  to  that  criterion.     He  resolved  to  speak  to  his  host 

*  The  cleek  here  intimated  is  the  iron  hook,  or  hooks,  depending 
from  the  cliimney  of  a  Scottish  cottage,  on  which  the  pot  is  suspended 
frhen  boiling.  The  same  appendage  is  often  called  the  crook.  The 
ealmon  is  usually  dried  by  hanging  it  up,  after  being  split  and  nibbed 
with  salt,  in  the  smoke  of  the  turf  fire  above  the  cleeks,  where  it  is 
«aid  to  reist^  that  preparation  being  so  teraied.  The  salmon,  thus  pre- 
served, is  eaten  as  a  delicacy,  under  the  name  of  kipper,  a  luxury  to 
which  Dr.  Redgill  has  given  his  sanction  as  an  ingredient  of  the  Scot- 
Ish  breakfast.     See  the  excellent  novel  entitled  "  Marriage." 


280  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

Dinmout  on  the  subject,  but  for  obvious  reasons  concluded 
it  were  best  to  defer  the  explanation  until  a  cool  hour  in 
the  morning. 

.  The  sportsmen  returned  loaded  with  fish,  upwards  of 
one  hundred  salmon  having  been  killed  within  the  range 
of  their  sport.  The  best  were  selected  for  the  use  of  th€ 
principal  farmers,  the  others  divided  among  their  sliep- 
herds,  cottars,  dependents,  and  others  of  inferior  rank 
who  attended.  These  fish,  dried  in  the  turf  smoke  of 
their  cabins,  or  shealings,  formed  a  savoury  addition  to  the 
mess  of  potatoes,  mixed  with  onions,  which  was  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  their  winter  food.  In  the  meanwhile,  a 
hberal  distribution  of  ale  and  whisky  was  made  among 
them,  besides  what  was  called  a"  kettle  of  fish, — two  or 
three  salmon,  namely,  plunged  into  a  cauldron,  and  boiled 
for  their  supper.  Brown  accompanied  his  jolly  landlord 
and  the  rest  of  his  friends  into  the  large  and  smoky 
kitchen,  where  this  savoury  mess  reeked  on  an  oaken 
table,  massive  enough  to  have  dined  Johnnie  Armstrong 
and  his  merry-men.  All  was  hearty  cheer  and  huzza, 
and  jest  and  clamorous  laughter,  and  bragging  alter- 
nately, and  raillery  between  whiles.  Our  traveller  looked 
earnestly  around  for  the  dark  countenance  of  the  fox- 
hunter  ;  but  it  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

At  length  he  hazarded  a  question  concerning  him. 
"  That  was  an  awkward  accident,  my  lads,  of  one  of  you, 
who  di'opped  his  torch  in  the  water  when  his  companion 
was  struo^o-lino-  with  the  larg-e  fish." 

"  Awkward !  "  returned  a   shepherd,  looking  up,  (th^ 

same  stout  young  fellow  who  had  speared  the  salmon,) 

*'  he  deserved  his  paiks  for't — to  put  out  the  light  when 

the  fish  was  on   ane's   witters  !  * — I'm  weel  convinced 

*  The  barbs  of  the  spear. 


GUY   MANNEKING.  281 

Gabriel  drapped  the  roughies  *  in  the  water  on  purpose 
■ — he  docsna  like  to  see  onjbodj  do  a  thing  better  than 
himsell." 

"  Ay,"  said  another,  "  he's  sair  shamed  o'  himsell,  else 
he  would  have  been  up  here  the  night — Gabriel  lik(is  a 
little  o'  the  gude  thing  as  weel  as  ony  o'  us." 

"  Is  he  of  this  country  ?  "  said  Brown. 

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

"  And  what's  his  name,  pray  ?  " 

«  Gabriel." 

"But  Gabriel  what?" 

"  Oh,  Lord  kens  that ;  we  dinna  mind  folks  after-names 
muckle  here,  they  run  sae  muckle  into  clans." 

"  Ye  see,  sir,"  said  an  old  shepherd,  rising  and  speak- 
ing very  slow,  "  the  folks  hereabout  are  a'  Armstrongs 
and  ElliotSjt  and  sic  like — twa  or  three  given  names — ■ 

*  When  diy  splinters,  or  branches,  are  used  as  fuel  to  supply  the 
light  for  burning  the  water,  as  it  is  called,  they  are  termed,  as  in  the 
text,  Koughies.  When  rags,  dipped  in  tar,  are  employed,  they  are 
called  Hards,  probably  from  the  French. 

t  The  distinction  of  individuals  by  nicknames,  when  they  possess 
no  property,  is  still  common  on  the  Border,  and  indeed  necessary,  from 
the  number  of  persons  having  the  same  name.  In  the  small  village  of 
Lustruther,  in  Roxburghshire,  there  dwelt,  in  the  memory  of  man,  four 
inhabitants,  called  Andrew,  or  Dan  die  Oliver.  They  were  distin- 
guished as  Dandie  Eassil-gate,  Dandie  Wassil-gate,  Dandie  Thumbie, 
and  Dandie  Durable.  The  first  two  had  their  names  from  living  east- 
ward and  westward  in  the  street  of  the  village ;  the  third  from  some- 
thing peculiar  in  the  conformation  of  his  thumb ;  the  fourth  from  his 
taciturn  habits. 

It  is  told  as  a  well-known  jest,  that  a  beggar  woman  repulsed  from 
door  to  door  as  she  solicited  quarters  through  a  village  of  Annandale, 
asked  in  her  despair,  if  there  were  no  Christians  in  the  place.  To 
which  the  hearers,  concluding  that  she  inquired  for  some  persons  so 
sumamed,  answered,  "  Na,  na,  there  are  nae  Christians  here ;  we  are 
»'  Johnstones  and  Jardines." 


282  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

and  so,  for  dis  taction's  sake,  the  lairds  and  farmers  have 
the  names  of  their  places  that  they  hve  at — as  for  exam- 
ple. Tarn  o'  Todshaw,  Will  o'  the  Flat,  Hobbie  o'  Sorbie- 
trees,  and  our  good  master  here,  o'  the  Charlies-hope.— 
Aweel,  sir,  and  then  the  inferior  soi't  o'  people,  ye'll  ob- 
serve, are  kend  by  sorts  o'  by-names  some  o'  then ,  as 
Glaiket  Christie,  and  the  Deuke's  Davie,  or  maybe,  like 
this  lad  Gabriel,  by  his  employment ;  as  for  example, 
Tod  Gabbie,  or  Hunter  Gabble.  He's  no  been  lang  here, 
sir,  and  I  dinna  think  onybody  kens  him  by  ony  other 
name.  But  it's  no  right  to  rin  him  doun  ahint  his  back, 
for  he's  a  fell  fox-hunter,  though  he's  maybe  no  just  sae 
clever  as  some  o'  the  folk  hereawa  wi'  the  waster." 

After  some  further  desultory  conversation,  the  superior 
sportsmen  retked  to  conclude  the  evening  after  their  own 
manner,  leaving  the  others  to  enjoy  themselves,  unawed 
by  then'  presence.  That  evening,  like  all  those  which 
Brown  had  passed  at  Charlies-hope,  was  spent  in  much 
innocent  mirth  and  conviviality.  The  latter  might  have 
approached  to  the  verge  of  riot,  but  for  the  good  women  ; 
for  several  of  the  neighbouring  mistresses  (a  phrase  of  a 
signification  how  different  from  what  it  bears  in  more 
fashionable  life  !)  had  assembled  at  Charhes-hope  to  wit- 
ness the  event  of  this  memorable  evening.  Finding  the 
punch-bowl  was  so  often  replenished,  that  there  was  some 
danger  of  theu'  gracious  presence  being  forgotten,  they 
rushed  in  valorously  upon  the  recreant  revellers,  headed 
by  our  good  mistress  Ailie,  so  that  Yenus  speedily  routed 
Bacchus.  The  fiddler  and  piper  next  made  their  appear- 
ance, and  the  best  part  of  the  night  was  gallantly  con- 
sumed in  dancing  to  their  music. 

An  otter-hunt  the  next  day,  and  a  badger-baiting  the 
day  after,  consumed  the  time  merrily. — ^I  hope  our  trav- 


GUT   MANNERING.  283 

eller  will  not  sink  in  the  reader's  estimation,  sportsman 
though  he  may  be,  when  I  inform  him,  that  on  this  last 
occasion,  after  young  Pepper  had  lost  a  fore-foot,  and 
Mustard  the  second  had  been  nearly  throttled,  he  begged 
as  a  particular  and  personal  favour  of  Mr.  Dinmont,  that 
the  poor  badger,  who  had  made  so  gallant  a  deence, 
should  be  permitted  to  retire  to  his  earth  without  farther 
molestation. 

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

After  a  week  spent  in  rural  sport,  and  distinguished  by 
the  most  frank  attentions  on  the  part  of  his  honest  land- 
lord, Brown  bade  adieu  to  the  banks  of  the  Liddel,  and 
the  hospitality  of  Charhes-hope.  The  children,  with  all 
of  whom  he  had  now  become  an  intimate  and  a  favourite, 
roared  manfully  in  full  chorus  at  his  departure,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  promise  twenty  times,  that  he  would  soon 
return  and  play  over  all  their  favourite  tunes  upon  the 
flageolet  till  they  had  got  them  by  heart.  "  Come  back 
again.  Captain,"  said  one  httle  sturdy  fellow,  "  and  Jenny 
will  be  your  wife."  Jenny  was  about  eleven  years  old : 
she  ran  and  hid  herself  behind  her  mammy. 

"  Captain,  come  back,"  said  a  Httle  fat  roll-about  girl 
of  six,  holding  her  mouth  up  to  be  kissed,  "  and  I'll  be 
four  wife  my  ainseU." 

"  They  must   be  of  harder  mould   than  I,"   thought 


284  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Brown,  "  who  could  part  from  so  many  kind  hearts  with 
indilFerence."  The  good  dame  too,  with  matron  modesty, 
and  an  affectionate  simphcitj  that  marked  the  olden  time, 
offered  her  cheek  to  the  depai'ting  guest — "  It's  little  the 
like  of  us  can  do,"  she  said,  "  little  indeed — but  yet — if 
there  were  but  ony  thing  " 

"  Now,  my  dear  Mrs.  Dinmont,  you  embolden  me  to 
make  a  request — would  you  but  have  the  kindness  to 
weave  me,  or  work  me,  just  such  a  gi-ey  plaid  as  the 
goodman  wears  ? "  He  had  learned  the  language  and 
feelings  of  the  country  even  during  the  short  time  of  his 
residence,  and  was  aware  of  the  pleasure  the  request 
would  confer. 

"A  tait  o'  woo'  would  be  scarce  amang  us,"  said  the 
gudewife,  brightening,  "  if  ye  shouldna  hae  that,  and  as 
gude  a  tweel  as  ever  cam  aff  a  pirn.  I'll  speak  to  John- 
nie Goodsire,  the  weaver  at  the  Castletown,  the  morn. 
Fare  ye  weel,  sir  ! — and  may  ye  be  just  as  happy  yoursell 
as  ye  like  to  see  a'  body  else — and  that  would  be  a  sair 
wish  to  some  folk." 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention,  that  our  traveller  left  his 
trusty  attendant  Wasp  to  be  a  guest  at  Charhes-hope  for 
a  season.  He  foresaw  that  he  might  prove  a  troublesome 
attendant  in  the  event  of  his  being  in  any  situation  where 
secrecy  and  concealment  might  be  necessary.  He  was 
therefore  consigned  to  the  care  of  the  eldest  boy,  who 
promised,  in  the  words  of  the  old  song,  that  he  should  hava 

A  bit  of  his  supper,  a  bit  of  his  bed, 

and  that  he  should  be  engaged  in  none  of  those  perilous 
pastimes  in  w^hich  the  race  of  Mustard  and  Pepper  had 
suffered  frequent  mutilation.  Brown  now  prepared  for 
his  journey,  having  taken  a  temporary  farewell  of  hia 
trusty  Httle  -companion. 


GUY    MANNERING.  285 

There  is  an  odd  prejudice  in  these  hills  in  favour  of 
riding.  Every  farmer  rides  well,  and  rides  the  whole 
day.  Probably  the  extent  of  their  large  pasture  larms, 
and  the  necessity  of  surveying  them  rapidly,  first  intio- 
duced  this  custom;  or  a  very  zealous  antiquary  might 
derive  it  from  the  times  of  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minslrel, 
when  twenty  thousand  horsemen  assembled  at  the  Ught 
of  the  beacon-fires.*  But  the  truth  is  undeniable  ;  they 
like  to  be  on  horseback,  and  can  be  with  diliiculty  con- 
vinced that  any  one  chooses  walking  from  other  motives 
than  those  of  convenience  or  necessity.  Accordingly  Din- 
mont  insisted  upon  mounting  his  guest,  and  accompanying 
him  on  horseback  as  fiir  as  the  nearest  town  in  Dumfries- 
shire, where  he  had  du-ected  his  baggage  to  be  sent,  and 
from  which  he  proposed  to  pursue  his  intended  journey 
towards  Woodbourne,  the  residence  of  Juha  Mannering. 

Upon  the  way  he  questioned  his  companion  concerning 
the  character  of  the  fox-hunter ;  but  gained  little  infor- 
mation, as  he  had  been  called  to  that  ofiace  while  Dinmont 
was  makmg  the  round  of  the  Highland  fairs.  "  He  was 
a  shake-rag  like  fellow,"  he  said,  "  and,  he  dared  to  say, 
had  gipsy  blood  in  his  veins ;  but  at  ony  rate,  he  was 
nane  o'  the  smacks  that  had  been  on  their  quarters  in  the 
moss — he  would  ken  them  weel  if  he  saw  them  again. 
There  are  some  no  bad  folk  amang  the  gipsies  too,  to  be 
sic  a  gang,"  added  Dandie  ;  "  if  ever  I  see  that  auld  randle- 
tree  of  a  wife  again,  I'll  gie  her  something  to  buy  tobacco 
— I  have  a  great  notion  she  meant  me  very  fair  after  a'." 

*  It  woul  1  be  affectation  to  alter  this  reference.  But  the  reader  will 
understand,  that  it  was  inserted  to  keep  up  the  author's  incognito,  as 
he  was  not  likely  to  be  suspected  of  quoting  his  own  works.  This  ex- 
planation is  also  applicable  to  one  or  two  similar  passages,  in  this  and 
^he  other  novels,  introduced  for  the  same  reason. 


286  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

When  they  were  about  finally  to  part,  the  good  farmer 
held  Brown  long  by  the  hand,  and  at  length  said,  "  Cap- 
tain, the  woo's  sae  weel  up  the  year,  that  it's  paid  a'  the 
rent,  and  we  have  naething  to  do  wi'  the  rest  o'  the  siller 
wlien  Ailie  has  had  her  new  gown,  and  the  bairns  their 
bits  o'  duds — now  I  was  thmking  of  some  safe  hand  to 
put  it  into,  for  it's  ower  muckle  to  ware  on  brandy  and 
sugar — now  I  have  heard  that  you  army  gentlemen  can 
sometimes  buy  yoursells  up  a  step  ;  and  if  a  hundred  or 
twa  would  help  ye  on  such  an  occasion,  the  bit  scrape  o' 
your  pen  would  be  as  good  to  me  as  the  siller,  and  ye 
might  just  take  yere  ain  time  o'  settling  it — it  wad  be  a 
great  convenience  to  me."  Brown,  who  felt  the  full  deh- 
cacy  that  wished  to  disguise  the  conferring  an  obhgation 
under  the  show  of  asking  a  favour,  thanked  his  grateful 
friend  most  heartily,  and  assured  him  he  would  have  re- 
course to  his  purse,  without  scruple,  should  circumstances 
ever  render  it  convenient  for  him.  And  thus  they  parted 
with  many  expressions  of  mutual  regard. 


GUY    MANNERING.  2S? 


CHAPTER  XXVn. 


If  thou  hast  any  lore  of  mercy  in  thee, 

Turn  me  upon  my  face,  that  I  may  die. 

Joanna  B. 


Our  traveller  hired  a  post-chaise  at  the  place  where  he 
separated  from  Dinmont,  with  the  purpose  of  proceeding 
to  Kippletringan,  there  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the 
family  at  Woodbourne,  before  he  should  venture  to  make 
his  presence  in  the  country  known  to  Miss  Mannering. 
The  stage  was  a  long  one  of  eighteen  or  twenty  miles, 
and  the  road  lay  across  the  country.  To  add  to  the 
inconveniences  of  the  journey,  the  snow  began  to  fall 
pretty  quickly.  The  postilion,  however,  proceeded  on 
his  journey  for  a  good  many  miles,  without  expressing 
doubt  or  hesitation.  It  was  not  until  the  night  was 
completely  set  in,  that  he  intimated  his  apprehensions 
whether  he  was  in  the  right  road.  The  increasing  snow 
rendered  this  intimation  rather  alarming,  for  as  it  drove 
full  in  the  lad's  face,  and  lay  whitening  all  around  him, 
it  served  in  two  different  ways  to  confuse  his  knowledge 
of  the  country,  and  to  diminish  the  chance  of  his  recov- 
ering the  right  track.  Brown  then  himself  got  out  and 
looked  round,  not,  it  may  well  be  imagined,  from  any 
better  hope  than  that  of  seeing  some  house  at  which  he 
might  make  inquiry.  But  none  appeared — he  could 
therefore  only  tell  the  lad  to  drive  steadily  on.     The 


288  WAVERLEY   KOTELS. 

road  on  wHcli  tliej  were  ran  through  plantations  of  con- 
siderable extent  and  depth.,  and  the  traveller  therefore 
conjectured  that  there  must  be  a  gentleman's  house  at  no 
great  distance.  At  length,  after  struggling  wearilj  on 
for  about  a  mile,  the  post-boy  stopped,  and  protested  his 
horses  would  not  budge  a  foot  farther  ;  "  but  he  saw,"  he 
said,  "  a  hght  among  the  trees,  which  must  proceed  fi'om 
a  house ;  the  only  way  was  to  inquii-e  the  road  there." 
Accordingly,  he  dismounted,  heavily  encumbered  with  a 
long  great-coat  and  a  pair  of  boots  which  might  have 
rivalled  in  thickness  the  seven-fold  shield  of  Ajax.  As 
in  this  guise  he  was  plodding  forth  upon  his  voyage  of 
discovery.  Brown's  impatience  prevailed,  and,  jumping 
out  of  the  cai'riage,  he  desired  the  lad  to  stop  where  he 
was,  by  the  horses,  and  he  would  himself  go  to  the  house 
— a  command  which  the  di'iver  most  joyfully  obeyed. 

Our  traveller  groped  along  the  side  of  the  enclosure 
from  which  the  light  glimmered,  in  order  to  find  some 
mode  of  approaching  in  that  direction,  and  after  proceed- 
ing for  some  space,  at  length  found  a  stile  in  the  hedge, 
and  a  pathway  leading  into  the  plantation,  which  in  that 
place  was  of  great  extent.  This  promised  to  lead  to  the 
light  which  was  the  object  of  his  search,  and  accordingly 
Brown  proceeded  in  that  direction,  but  soon  totally  lost 
sight  of  it  among  the  trees.  The  path,  which  at  fii^t 
seemed  broad  and  well  marked  by  the  opening  of  the 
wood  thi'ough  which  it  winded,  was  now  less  easily  dis- 
tinguishable, although  the  whiteness  of  the  snow  afforded 
some  reflected  hght  to  assist  his  search.  Directing  him- 
self as  much  as  possible  through  the  more  open  parts  of 
the  wood,  he  proceeded  almost  a  mile  without  either 
recovering  a  view  of  the  hght,  or  seeing  any  thing  re- 
sembling a  habitation.     Still,  however,  he  thought  it  best 


GUT   MANNEKING.  289 

to  persevere  in  that  direction.  It  must  surely  have  been 
a  light  in  the  hut  of  a  forester,  for  it  shone  too  steadily  to 
be  the  glimmer  of  an  ignis  fatuus.  The  ground  at  length 
became  broken,  and  dechned  rapidly ;  and  although  Brown 
conceived  he  still  moved  along  what  had  once  at  least 
been  a  pathway,  it  was  now  very  unequal,  and  the  snow 
concealing  those  breaches  and  inequalities,  the  traveller 
had  one  or  two  falls  in  consequence.  He  began  now  to 
tlunk  of  turning  back,  especially  as  the  falling  snow, 
"whicl  his  impatience  had  hitherto  prevented  his  attending 
to,  was  coming  on  thicker  and  faster. 

Wilhng,  however,  to  make  a  last  effort,  he  still  advanced 
a  Httle  way,  when,  to  his  great  delight,  he  beheld  the  light 
opposite  at  no  great  distance,  and  apparently  upon  a  level 
with  him.  He  quickly  found  that  this  last  appearance 
was  deception,  for  the  ground  continued  so  rapidly  to  sink, 
as  made  it  obvious  there  was  a  deep  dell,  or  ravine  of 
some  kind,  between  him  and  the  object  of  his  search. 
Taking  every  precaution  to  preserve  his  footing,  he  con- 
tinued to  descend  until  he  reached  the  bottom  of  a  very 
steep  and  narrow  glen,  through  which  winded  a  small 
rivulet,  whose  course  was  then  almost  choked  with  snow. 
He  now  found  himself  embarrassed  among  the  ruins  of 
cottages,  whose  black  gables,  rendered  more  distinguish- 
able by  the  contrast  with  the  whitened  surface  from  which 
they  rose,  were  still  standing ;  the  side-walls  had  long 
since  given  way  to  time,  and,  piled  in  shapeless  heaps, 
and  covered  with  snow,  offered  frequent  and  embarrassing 
obstacles  to  our  traveller's  progress.  Still,  however,  he 
persevered — crossed  the  rivulet,  not  without  some  trouble, 
and  at  length,  by  exertions  which  became  both  painful 
and   perilous,   ascended   its   opposite   and   very   rugged 

VOL.  III.  19 


290  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

bank,  until  he  came  on  a  level  with  the  building  from 
which  the  gleam  proceeded. 

It  was  difficult,  especially  by  so  imperfect  a  light,  to 
discover  the  nature  of  this  edifice  ;  but  it  seemed  a  square 
building  of  small  size,  the  upper  part  of  which  was  totally 
ruinous.  It  had,  perhaps,  been  the  abode,  in  former  times, 
of  some  lesser  proprietor,  or  a  place  of  strength  and  con* 
cealment  in  case  of  need  for  one  of  gi-eater  importance. 
But  only  the  lower  vault  remained,  the  arch  of  which 
formed  the  roof  in  the  present  state  of  the  building. 
Brown  first  approached  the  place  from  whence  the  Hght 
proceeded,  which  was  a  long  naiTow  sht  or  loophole,  such 
as  usually  are  to  be  found  in  old  castles.  Impelled  by 
curiosity  to  reconnoitre  the  interior  of  this  strange  place 
before  he  entered,  BroTNTi  gazed  in  at  this  aperture.  A 
scene  of  gi^eater  desolation  could  not  well  be  imagined. 
There  was  a  fire  upon  the  floor,  the  smoke  of  which,  after 
circhng  through  the  apartment,  escaped  by  a  hole  broken 
in  the  ai'ch  above.  The  walls,  seen  by  this  smoky  hght, 
had  the  rude  and  waste  appearance  of  a  ruin  of  three 
centuries  old  at  least.  A  cask  or  two,  with  some  broken 
boxes  and  packages,  lay  about  the  place  in  confusion. 
But  the  inmates  chiefly  occupied  Brown's  attention. 
Upon  a  lair  composed  of  straw,  with  a  blanket  stretched 
over  it  lay  a  figure,  so  still,  that,  except  it  was  not  dressed 
in  the  ordinary  habiliments  of  the  grave,  Brown  would 
have  concluded  it  to  be  a  corpse.  On  a  steadier  view  he 
perceived  it  was  only  on  the  point  of  becoming  so,  for  he 
heard  one  or  two  of  those  low,  deep,  and  hard-drawn 
sighs,  that  precede  dissolution  when  the  frame  is  tenacious 
of  life,  A  female  figure,  dressed  in  a  long  cloak,  sate  on 
a  stone  by  this  miserable  couch  :  her  elbows  rested  upon 
her  knees,  and  her  face,  averted  from  the  hght  of  an  iroa 


GUY   MANNERINGc  291 

lamp  beiide  her,  was  bent  upon  that  of  the  dying  person. 
She  moistened  his  mouth  from  time  to  time  with  some 
liquid,  and  between  whiles  sung,  in  a  low,  monotonous 
cadence,  one  of  those  prayers,  or  rather  spells,  which,  in 
some  parts  of  Scotland,  and  the  north  of  England,  are 
used  by  the  vulgar  and  ignorant  to  speed  the  passage  of  a 
parting  spirit,  like  the  tolling  of  the  bell  in  cathoHc  days. 
She  accompanied  this  dismal  sound  with  a  slow  rocldng 
motion  of  her  body  to  and  fro,  as  if  to  keep  time  with  her 
song.     The  words  ran  nearly  thus  ; — 

Wasted,  weaiy,  wherefore  stay, 
Wrestling  thus  with  earth  and  clay? 
From  the  body  pass  away ; — 

Hark !  the  mass  is  singing. 

From  thee  doff  thy  mortal  weed, 
Mary  Mother  be  thy  speed, 
Saints  to  help  thee  at  thy  need ; — 

Hark !  the  knell  is  ringing. 

Fear  not  snow-drift  driving  fast, 
Sleet  or  hail,  or  levin  blast; 
Soon  the  shi'oud  shall  lap  thee  fast, 
And  the  sleep  be  on  thee  cast 

That  shall  ne'er  know  waking. 

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

The  songstress  paused,  and  was  answered  by  one  or 
two  deep  and  hollow  groans,  that  seemed  to  proceed  from 
the  very  agony  of  the  mortal  strife.  *'  It  will  not  be," 
she  muttered  to  herself;  "  he  cannot  pass  away  with  that 
on  his  mind — it  tethers  him  here — 

Heaven  cannot  abide  it, 
Earth  refuses  to  hide  it.* 

*  The  mysteri;us  ntes  in  which  Meg  Merrilies  is  described  as  en* 


292    '  WAVERLEY   NOVE1.S. 

I  must  open  the  door ; "  and  rising,  she  faced  towards  the 
door  of  the  apartment,  observing  heedfullj  not  to  turn 
back  her  head,  and,  withdrawing  a  bolt  or  two,  (for,  not- 
withstanding the  miserable  appearance  of  the  place,  the 
door  was  cautiously  secured,)  she  lifted  the  latch,  saying, 

gaging,  belong  to  her  character  as  a  queen  of  her  race.  All  know  that 
gipsies  in  every  countiy  claim  acquaintance  -with  the  gift  of  fortune* 
telling;  but,  as  is  often  the  case,  they  are  liable  to  the  superstitions  of 
which  they  avail  themselves  in  others.  The  con-espondent  of  Black- 
wood, quoted  in  the  Introduction  to  this  Tale,  gives  us  some  informa- 
tion on  the  subject  of  their  credulity. 

"I  have  ever  understood,"  he  says,  speaking  of  the  Yetholm  gipsies, 
"  that  they  are  extremely  superstitious — carefully  noticing  the  forma- 
tion of  the  clouds,  the  flight  of  particular  birds,  and  the  soughing  of  the 
winds,  before  attempting  any  enterprise.  They  have  been  known  for 
several  successive  days  to  turn  back  with  their  loaded  carts,  asses,  and 
children,  on  meeting  with  persons  whom  they  considered  of  unlucky 
aspect ;  nor  do  they  ever  proceed  on  then*  summer  peregi'inations  with- 
out some  propitious  omen  of  their  fortunate  return.  They  also  bum 
the  clothes  of  their  dead,  not  so  much  from  any  apprehension  of  infec- 
tion being  communicated  by  them,  as  the  conviction  that  the  very 
circumstance  of  wearing  them  w^ould  shorten  the  days  of  their  living. 
They  likewise  carefully  watch  the  corpse  by  night  and  day  till  the 
time  of  intennent,  and  conceive  that  'the  deil  tinkles  at  the  lyke- 
wake '  of  those  who  felt  in  their  dead-ihraw  the  agonies  and  terrors  of 
remorse." 

These  notions  are  not  peculiar  to  the  gipsies ;  but  having  been  once 
generally  entertained  among  the  Scottish  common  people,  are  now  only 
found  among  those  who  are  the  most  rude  in  their  habits,  and  most 
devoid  of  instruction.  The  popular  idea,  that  the  protracted  struggle 
between  life  and  death  is  painfully  prolonged  by  keeping  the  door  of  the 
apartment  shut,  was  received  as  certain  by  the  superstitious  eld  of  Scot- 
land. But  neither  was  it  to  be  thrown  wide  open.  To  leave  the  door 
ajar,  was  the  plan  adopted  by  the  old  crones  who  understood  the  mys- 
teries of  deathbeds  and  lykewakes.  In  that  case,  there  was  room  for  the 
imprisoned  spirit  to  escape ;  and  yet  an  obstacle,  we  have  been  assured, 
was  oflfei'ed  to  the  enti-ance  of  any  frightful  form  which  might  other- 
wise intrude  itself.  The  threshold  of  a  habitation  was  in  some  sort  a 
Bacred  limit,  and  the  subject  of  much  superstition.  A  bride,  even  tc 
this  day,  's  always  lifted  ovei  it — a  rule  derived  apparently  from  the 
Romans. 


GUT   MANNERING.  293 

Open  lock — end  strife, 
Come  death,  and  pass  life. 

Brown,  who  had  by  this  time  moved  from  his  post,  stood 
before  her  as  she  opened  the  door.  She  stepped  back  a 
pace,  and  he  entered,  instantly  recognising,  but  with  no 
comfortable  sensation,  the  same  gipsy  woman  whom  he 
had  met  in  Bewcastle.  She  also  knew  him  at  once,  and 
her  attitude,  figure,  and  the  anxiety  of  her  countenance, 
assumed  the  appearance  of  the  well-disposed  ogress  of  a 
fairy  tale,  warning  a  stranger  not  to  enter  the  dangerous 
castle  of  her  husband.  The  first  words  she  spoke  (hold- 
ing up  her  hands  in  a  reproving  manner)  were,  "  Said  I 
not  to  ye.  Make  not,  meddle  not  ? — Beware  of  the  redding 
straik !  *  you  are  come  to  no  house  o'  fair-strae  death." 
So  saying,  she  raised  the  lamp,  and  turned  its  light  on  the 
dying  man,  whose  rude  and  harsh  features  were  now  con- 
vulsed with  the  last  agony.  A  roll  of  linen  about  his 
head  was  stained  with  blood,  which  had  soaked  also 
through  the  blankets  and  the  straw.  It  was,  indeed, 
under  no  natural  disease,  that  the  wretch  was  suffering. 
Brown  started  back  from  this  horrible  object,  and,  turn- 
ing to  the  gipsy,  exclaimed,  "  Wretched  woman,  who  has 
done  this  ?  " 

"  They  that  were  permitted,"  answered  Meg  Merrilies, 
while  she  scanned  with  a  close  and  keen  glance  the  fea- 
tures of  the  expiring  man. — "  He  has  had  a  sair  struggle 
—but  it's  passing :  I  kenn'd  he  would  pass  when  you 
came  in. — That  was  the  death-ruckle — ^lie's  dead." 

Sounds  were  now  heard  at  a  distance,  as  of  voices. 
"  They  are  coming,"  said  she  to   Brown  ;    "  you  are  a 

*  The  redding  straik,  namely,  a  blow  received  by  a  peace-maker 
who  interferes  betwixt  two  combatants,  to  red  or  separate  them,  is 
proverbially  said  to  be  the  most  dangerous  blow  a  man  can  receive. 


294  WAYEPwLEY   NOYELS. 

dead  man,  if  je  liad  as  mony  lives  as  hairs."  Browii 
eagerly  looked  round  for  some  weapon  of  defence.  There 
was  none  near.  He  then  rushed  to  the  door  with  the 
intention  of  plunging  among  the  trees,  and  making  hia 
escape  by  flight,  from  what  he  now  esteemed  a  den  of 
murderers,  but  Merrihes  held  him  with  a  mascuhne 
grasp.  "  Here,"  she  said,  "  here — be  still,  and  you  are 
safe — stir  not,  whatever  you  see  or  hear,  and  nothing 
shall  befall  you." 

Bro^Ti,  in  these  desperate  circumstances,  remembered 
this  woman's  intimation  formerly,  and  thought  he  had  no 
chance  of  safety  but  in  obeying  her.  She  caused  him  to 
couch  down  among  a  parcel  of  straw  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  apartment  from  the  corpse,  covered  him  carefuUy, 
and  flung  over  him  two  or  three  old  sacks  which  lay  about 
the  place.  Anxious  to  observe  what  was  to  happen, 
Bro^^'n  arranged,  as  softly  as  he  could,  the  means  of  peep- 
ing from  under  the  coverings  by  which  he  was  hidden, 
and  awaited  with  a  throbbing  heart  the  issue  of  this 
strange  and  most  unpleasant  adventm*e.  The  old  gipsy, 
in  the  mean  time,  set  about  arranging  the  dead  body,  com- 
posing its  limbs,  and  straightening  the  arms  by  its  side. 
"  Best  to  do  this,"  she  muttered,  "  ere  he  stiffen."  She 
placed  on  the  dead  man's  breast  a  trencher,  with  salt 
sprinkled  upon  it,  set  one  candle  at  the  head,  and  another 
at  the  feet  of  the  body,  and  lighted  both.  Then  she 
resumed  her  song,  and  awaited  the  approach  of  those 
whose  voices  had  been  heard  without. 

Brown  was  a  soldier,  and  a  brave  one  ;  but  he  was  also 
a  man,  and  at  this  moment  his  fears  mastered  his  courage 
so  completely,  that  the  cold  drops  burst  out  from  every 
pore.  The  idea  of  being  dragged  out  of  his  miserable 
concealment  by  wretches  whose  trade  was  that  of  mid 


GUY   MANNEKIKG.  295 

night  murder,  without  weapons  or  the  slightest  means  of 
defence,  except  entreaties  which  would  be  only  their 
sport,  and  cries  for  help  which  could  never  reach  other 
ear  than  their  own — his  safety  entrusted  to  the  precarious 
compassion  of  a  being  associated  with  these  felons,  and 
whose  trade  of  rapine  and  imposture  must  have  hardened 
her  against  every  human  feeling — the  bitterness  of  his 
emotions  almost  choked  him.  He  endeavoured  to  read  in 
her  withered  and  dark  countenance,  as  the  lamp  threw  its 
light  upon  her  features,  something  that  promised  those  feel- 
ings of  compassion,  which  females,  even  in  their  most  de- 
graded state,  can  seldom  altogether  smother.  There  was  no 
such  touch  of  humanity  about  this  woman.  The  interest, 
whatever  it  was,  that  determined  her  in  his  favour,  arose 
not  from  the  impulse  of  compassion,  but  from  some  internal, 
and  probably  capricious,  association  of  feelings,  to  which 
he  had  no  clew.  It  rested,  perhaps,  on  a  fancied  likeness, 
such  as  Lady  Macbeth  found  to  her  father  in  the  sleeping 
monarch.  Such  were  the  reflections  that  passed  in  rapid 
succession  through  Brown's  mind  as  he  gazed  from  liis 
hiding-place  upon  this  extraordinary  personage.  Mean- 
time the  gang  did  not  yet  approach,  and  he  was  almost 
prompted  to  resume  his  original  intention  of  attempting 
an  escape  from  the  hut,  and  cursed  internally  his  own 
irresolution,  which  had  consented  to  his  being  cooped  up 
where  he  had  neither  room  for  resistance  nor  flight. 

Meg  Merrilies  seemed  equally  on  the  watch.  She 
bent  her  ear  to  every  sound  that  whistled  round  the  old 
walls.  Then  she  turned  again  to  the  dead  body,  and 
found  something  new  to  aiTange  or  alter  in  its  position. 
"  He's  a  bonny  corpse,"  she  muttered  to  herself,  "  and 
weel  worth  the  streaking." — And  in  this  dismal  occupa- 
tion she  appeared  to  feel  a  sort  of  professional  pleasure, 


296  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

entering  slowly  into  all  the  minutiae,  as  if  with  the  skilj 
and  feelings  of  a  connoisseur.  A  long  dark-coloured  sea- 
cloak,  which  she  dragged  out  of  a  corner,  was  disposed 
for  a  pall.  The  face  she  left  bare,  after  closing  the  mouth 
and  eyes,  and  arranged  the  capes  of  the  cloak  so  as  to 
hide  the  bloody  bandages,  and  give  the  body,  as  she  mut- 
tered, "  a  mair  decent  appearance." 

At  once  three  or  four  men,  equally  ruffians  in  appear- 
ance and  dress,  rushed  into  the  hut.  "  Meg,  ye  limb  of 
Satan,  how  dare  you  leave  the  door  open?  "  was  the  first 
salutation  of  the  party. 

"  And  wha  ever  heard  of  a  door  being  barred  when  a 
man  was  in  the  dead-thi-aw  ? — how  d'ye  think  the  spirit 
was  to  get  awa  through  bolts  and  bars  like  thae  ?  " 

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

"  Ay,  ay — dead  enough," — said  another — "  but  here's 
what  shall  give  him  a  rousing  lykewake."  So  saying,  he 
fetched  a  keg  of  spirits  from  a  corner,  while  Meg  has- 
tened to  display  pipes  and  tobacco.  From  the  activity 
with  which  she  undertook  the  task,  Brown  conceived  good 
hope  of  her  fidelity  towards  her  guest.  It  was  obvious 
that  she  wished  to  engage  the  ruffians  in  their  debauch,  to 
prevent  the  discovery  which  might  take  place,  if,  by  acci- 
dent, any  of  them  should  approach  too  nearly  the  place 
of  Brown's  concealment. 


GUY   MANNERING.  297 


CHAPTER  XXVni. 


Nor  board  nor  garner  own  we  now, 

Nor  roof  nor  latched  door, 
Nor  kind  mate,  bound,  by  holy  tow, 

To  bless  a  good  man's  store. 
Noon  liills  us  in  a  gloomy  den, 

And  night  is  grown  our  day ; 
Uprouse  ye,  then,  my  merry  men! 

And  use  it  as  ye  may. 

Joanna  Baillie. 


Brown  could  now  reckon  his  foes ; — ^they  weni  five  in 
number;  two  of  them  were  very  powerful  men,  who 
appeared  to  be  either  real  seamen,  or  strollers  who  as- 
sumed that  character ;  the  other  three,  an  old  man  and 
two  lads,  were  slighter  made,  and  from  their  black  hair 
and  dark  complexion,  seemed  to  belong  to  Meg's  tribe. 
They  passed  from  one  to  another  the  cup  out  of  which 
they  drank  their  spmts.  "  Here's  to  his  good  voyage  ! " 
said  one  of  the  seamen,  drinking ;  "  a  squally  night  he's 
got,  however,  to  drift  thi'ough  the  sky  in." 

We  omit  here  various  execrations  with  which  these 
honest  gentlemen  garnished  their  discourse,  retaining  only 
such  of  their  expletives  as  are  least  offensive. 

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

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


298  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  I'll  pray  for  nane  o'  him,"  said  Meg,  "  nor  for  you 
neither,  you  randy  dog.  The  times  are  sair  altered  since 
I  was  a  kitchen-mort.*  Men  were  men  then,  and  fought 
other  in  the  open  field,  and  there  was  nae  milling  in  the 
darkmans.t  And  the  gentry  had  kind  hearts,  and  would 
have  given  baith  lap  and  pannel  J  to  ony  puir  gipsy ;  and 
thf-re  was  not  one,  from  Johnnie  Faa,  the  upright  man,§ 
to  little  Christie  that  was  in  the  panniers,  would  cloyed  a 
dud  II  from  them.  But  ye  are  a'  altered  from  the  gude 
auld  rules,  and  no  wonder  that  you  scour  the  crampring, 
and  trine  to  the  cheat  %  sae  often.  Yes,  ye  are  a'  altered 
— you'll  eat  the  goodman's  meat,  drink  his  di-ink,  sleep 
on  the  strammel  **  in  his  barn,  and  break  his  house  and 
cut  his  throat  for  his  pains !  There's  blood  on  your 
hands,  too,  ye  dogs — mair  than  ever  came  there  by  fair 
fighting.  See  how  ye'll  die  then — lang  it  was  ere  he 
died — he  strove,  and  strove  sair,  and  could  neither  die 
nor  live ; — but  you — half  the  country  will  see  how  ye'll 
grace  the  woodie." 

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

"  What  made  you  come  back  here,  ye  auld  beldam  ?  " 
said  one  of  the  gipsies  ;  "  could  ye  not  have  staid  where 
you  were,  and  spaed  fortunes  to  the  Cumberland  flats  ? — ■ 
Bing  out  and  tour,tt  ye  auld  devil,  and  see  that  nobody 
has  scented ;  that's  a'  you're  good  for  now." 

"  Is  that  a'  I  am  good  for  now  ?  "  said  the  indignant 
matron.  "  I  was  good  for  mair  than  that  in  the  great 
fight  between  our  folk  and  Patrico  Salmon's  ;  if  I  had 
not  helped  you  with  these  very  fambles  (holding  up  her 

*  A  girl.  t  Murder  by  night. 

J  Liquor  and  food.  §  The  leader  (and  gi-eatest  rogue)  of  the  gang 

II  Stolen  a  rag.  T[  Get  imprisoned  and  hanged. 

**  Straw.  ft  Go  out  and  watch. 


GT7Y   MAXNEKLNG.  299 

hands,)  Jean   Baillie  would  have  franimagem'd  youj*  ye 
feckless  do-Uttle  ! " 

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

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

Meg  drank  the  spii'its,  and,  withdi'awing  herself  fi"om 
farther  conversation,  sat  down  before  the  spot  u'here 
Brown  lay  hid,  in  such  a  j[)OSture  that  it  would  have  been 
difficult  for  any  one  to  have  approached  it  without  her 
risuig.  The  men,  however,  showed  no  disposition  to  dis- 
tui'b  her. 

They  closed  around  the  fire,  and  held  deep  consulta- 
tion together  ;  but  the  low  tone  in  which  they  spoke,  and 
the  cant  language  which  they  used,  prevented  Brown 
from  understanding  much  of  their  conversation.  He 
gathered  in  general,  that  they  expressed*  gi'eat  indigna- 
tion against  some  individual.  "  He  shall  have  his  gruel," 
said  one,  and  then  whispered  something  very  low  hito  the 
ear  of  his  comrade. 

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

"  Are  you  turned  hen-hearted,  Jack  ?  " 

"  No,  by  G — d,  no  more  than  yourself, — but  I  won't ; 
— ^it  was  something  like  that  stopped  all  the  trade  fifteen 
or  twenty  years  ago — you  have  heard  of  the  Loup  ?  " 

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

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

"  How  should  that  be  ?  "  asked  the  surly  villain. 
*  Throttled  you. 


300  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  "Why,"  replied  Jack,  "  the  people  got  rustj  about  it, 
and  would  not  deal,  and  they  had  bought  so  many  brooms  * 
that" 

"  Well,  for  all  that,"  said  the  other,  "  I  think  we  should 
be  dowTi  upon  the  fellow  one  of  these  darkmans,  and  let 
hiia  get  it  well." 

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

"  Never  feai',"  said  the  old  gipsy  man  ;  "  Meg's  true- 
bred  ;  she's  the  last  in  the  gang  that  wiU  start — ^but  she 
has  some  queer  ways,  and  often  cuts  queer  words." 

With  more  of  this  gibberish,  they  continued  the  con- 
versation, rendering  it  thus,  even  to  each  other,  a  dark 
obscure  dialect,  eked  out  by  significant  nods  and  signs, 
but  never  expressing  distinctly,  or  in  plain  language,  the 
subject  on  which  it  turned.  At  length  one  of  them,  ob- 
serving Meg  was  still  fast  asleep,  or  appeared  to  be  so, 
desired  one  of  the  lads  "  to  hand  in  the  black  Peter,  that 
they  might  flick  it  open."  The  boy  stepped  to  the  door 
and  brought  in  a  portmanteau,  which  Brown  instantly 
recognised  as  his  own.  His  thoughts  immediately  turned 
to  the  unfortunate  lad  he  had  left  with  the  carriage.  Had 
the  ruffians  murdered  him  ?  was  the  horrible  doubt  that 
crossed  his  mind.  The  agony  of  his  attention  grew  yet 
keener,  and  while  the  villains  pulled  out  and  admired  the 
different  articles  of  his  clothes  and  linen,  he  eagerly  lis- 
tened for  some  indication  that  might  intimate  the  fate  of 
the  postilion.     But  the  ruffians  were  too  much  delighted 

*  Got  so  many  warrants  out. 

I  To  sing  out,  or  Avhistle  in  the  cage,  is  when  a  rogue,  being  appre- 
hended, peaches  against  his  conu-ades. 


GUT    MANNERLNG.  301 

with  their  prize,  and  too  much  busied  in  examining  ita 
contents,  to  enter  into  any  detail  concerning  the  manner 
in  Avhich  they  had  acquired  it.  The  portmanteau  con- 
tained various  articles  of  apparel,  a  pair  of  pistols,  a 
leathern  case  with  a  few  papers,  and  some  money,  &c. 
&c.  At  any  other  time  it  would  have  provoked  Brown 
excessively  to  see  the  unceremonious  manner  in  which 
the  thieves  shared  his  property,  and  made  themselves 
merry  at  the  expense  of  the  owner.  But  the  moment 
was  too  perilous  to  admit  any  thoughts  but  what  had  im- 
mediate reference  to  self-preservation. 

After  a  sufficient  scrutiny  into  the  portmanteau,  and  an 
ejpitable  division  of  its  contents,  the  ruffians  applied 
themselves  more  closely  to  the  serious  occupation  of 
drinking,  in  which  they  spent  the  greater  part  of  the 
night.  Brown  was  for  some  time  in  great  hopes  that 
they  would  drink  so  deep  as  to  render  themselves  insen- 
sible, when  his  escape  would  have  been  an  easy  matter. 
But  their  dangerous  trade  required  precautions  incon- 
sistent with  such  unlimited  indulgence,  and  they  stopped 
short  on  this  side  of  absolute  intoxication.  Three  of 
them  at  length  composed  themselves  to  rest,  while  the 
fourth  watched.  He  was  reheved  in  this  duty  by  one  of 
the  others,  after  a  vigil  of  two  hours.  When  the  second 
watch  had  elapsed,  the  sentinel  awakened  the  whole,  who, 
to  Brown's  inexpressible  relief,  began  to  make  some  prejj- 
arations  as  if  for  departure,  bundUng  up  the  various 
articles  which  each  had  appropriated.  Still,  however, 
there  remained  something  to  be  done.  Two  of  them, 
after  some  rummaging,  which  not  a  little  alarmed  Brown, 
produced  a  mattock  and  shovel ;  another  took  a  pick-axe 
from  behind  the  straw  on  which  the  dead  body  was  ex- 
;"*^nded.     With  these  implements  two  of  them  left  the  hut, 


302  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

and  the  re  maining  three,  two  of  whom  were  the  seamen, 
very  strong  men,  still  remained  in  garrison. 

After  the  space  of  about  half  an  hour,  one  of  those  who 
had  departed  again  returned,  and  whispered  the  others. 
They  wrapped  up  the  dead  body  in  the  sea-cloak  which 
had  served  as  a  pall,  and  went  out  bearing  it  along  with 
them.  The  aged  sibyl  then  rose  from  her  real  or  feigned 
slumbers.  She  first  went  to  the  door,  as  if  for  the  pur- 
pose of  watching  the  departure  of  her  late  inmates,  then 
returned,  and  commanded  Brown,  in  a  low  and  stifled 
voice,  to  follow  her  instantly.  He  obeyed ;  but,  on  leav- 
ing the  hut  he  would  willingly  have  repossessed  himself 
of  his  money,  or  papers  at  least ;  but  this  she  prohibited 
in  the  most  peremptory  manner.  It  immediately  occurred 
to  him  that  the  suspicion  of  having  removed  any  thing, 
of  which  he  might  repossess  himself,  would  fall  upon  this 
woman,  by  whom,  in  all  probability,  his  hfe  had  been 
saved.  He  therefore  immediately  desisted  from  his  at- 
tempt, contenting  himself  with  seizing  a  cutlass,  which 
one  of  the  ruffians  had  flung  aside  among  the  straw.  On 
his  feet,  and  possessed  of  this  weapon,  he  already  found 
himself  half  delivered  from  the  dangers  which  beset  him. 
Still,  however,  he  felt  stiffened  and  cramped,  both  with 
the  cold,  and  by  the  constrained  and  unaltered  position 
which  he  had  occupied  all  night.  But  as  he  followed  the 
gipsy  from  the  door  of  the  hut,  the  fresh  air  of  the  morn- 
ing, and  the  action  of  walking,  restored  circulation  and 
activity  to  his  benumbed  limbs. 

The  pale  light  of  a  winter's  morning  was  rendered 
mor3  clear  by  tlie  snow,  which  was  lying  all  around, 
crisped  by  the  influence  of  a  severe  frost.  Brown  cast  a 
hasty  glance  at  the  landscape  around  him,  that  he  might 
be  able  again  to  know  the  spot.    The  little  tower,  of  which 


GUT   MANNERING.  303 

only  a  single  vault  remained,  forming  the  dismal  apart- 
ment in  whicli  he  had  spent  this  remarkable  night,  was 
perched  on  the  very  point  of  a  projecting  rock  over- 
hanging the  rivulet.  It  was  accessible  only  on  one  side, 
and  that  from  the  ravine  or  glen  below.  On  the  other 
three  sides  the  bank  was  precipitous,  so  that  Brown  had 
on  the  preceding  evening  escaped  more  dangers  than  one  ; 
for,  if  he  had  attempted  to  go  round  the  building,  which 
was  once  his  purpose,  he  must  have  been  dashed  to  pieces. 
The  deU  was  so  narrow,  that  the  trees  met  in  some  places 
from  the  opposite  sides.  They  were  now  loaded  with 
snow  instead  of  leaves,  and  thus  formed  a  sort  of  frozen 
canopy  over  the  rivulet  beneath,  which  was  marked  by 
its  darker  colour,  as  it  soaked  its  way  obscurely  through 
wreaths  of  snow.  In  one  place,  where  the  glen  was  a 
little  wider,  leaving  a  small  piece  of  flat  ground  between 
the  rivulet  and  the  bank,  were  situated  the  ruins  of  the 
hamlet  in  which  Brown  had  been  involved  on  the  preced- 
ing evening.  The  ruined  gables,  the  insides  of  which 
were  japanned  with  turf-smoke,  looked  yet  blacker,  con- 
trasted with  the  patches  of  snow  which  had  been  driven 
against  them  by  the  wind,  and  with  the  drifts  which  lay 
around  them. 

Upon  this  wintry  and  dismal  scene.  Brown  could  only 
at  present  cast  a  very  hasty  glance  ;  for  his  guide,  after 
pausing  an  instant,  as  if  to  permit  him  to  indulge  his 
curiosity,  strode  hastily  before  him  down  the  path  which 
led  into  the  glen.  He  observed,  with  some  feelmgs  of 
suspicion,  that  she  chose  a  track  already  marked  by 
seveial  feet,  which  he  could  only  suppose  were  those  of 
the  depredators  who  had  spent  the  night  in  the  vault.  A 
moment's  recollection,  however,  put  his  suspicions  to  rest. 
It  was  not  to  be  thought  that  the  woman,  who  might 


804  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

have  delivered  him  up  to  her  gang  when  in  a  state 
totally  defenceless,  would  have  suspended  her  supposed 
treachery  until  he  was  armed,  and  in  the  open  air,  and 
had  so  many  better  chances  of  defence  or  escape.  lie 
therefore  followed  his  guide  in  confidence  and  silenco. 
They  crossed  the  small  brook  at  the  same  place  wliei'e  it 
previously  had  been  passed  by  those  who  had  gone  be- 
fore. The  foot-marks  then  proceeded  through  the  ruined 
village,  and  from  thence  down  the  glen,  which  again 
narrowed  to  a  ravine,  after  the  small  opening  in  which 
they  were  situated.  But  the  gipsy  no  longer  followed  the 
same  track ; — she  turned  aside,  and  led  the  way,  by  a 
very  rugged  and  uneven  path,  up  the  bank  which  over- 
hung the  village.  Although  the  snow  in  many  places  hid 
the  path -way,  and  rendered  the  footing  uncertain  and  un- 
safe, Meg  proceeded  with  a  firm  and  determined  step, 
wliich  indicated  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  ground  she 
traversed.  At  length  they  gained  the  top  of  the  bank, 
though  by  a  passage  so  steep  and  intricate  that  Brown, 
though  convinced  it  was  the  same  by  which  he  had 
descended  on  the  night  before,  was  not  a  little  surprised 
how  he  had  accomplished  the  task  without  breaking  his 
neck.  Above,  the  country  opened  wide  and  unenclosed 
for  about  a  mile  or  two  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  othei 
were  thick  plantations  of  considerable  extent. 

Meg,  however,  still  led  the  way  along  the  bank  of  the 
ravine  out  of  which  they  had  ascended,  until  she  heard 
beneath  the  murmur  of  voices.  She  then  pointed  tj  a 
deep  plantation  of  trees  at  some  distance. — "  The  road  to 
Kippletringan,"  she  said,  "  is  on  the  other  side  of  these 
en(^losures. — Make  the  speed  ye  can ;  there's  mair  rests 
on  your  life  than  other  folk's. — But  you  have  lost  all — • 
stay."     She  fumbled  in  an  immense  pocket,  from  which 


GUY   MANNERING.  S05 

she  produced  a  greasy  purse. — "  Many's  the  awmous  your 
house  has  gi'en  Meg  and  hers — and  she  has  lived  to  pay 
it  back  in  a  small  degree  ; " — and  she  placed  the  purse  in 
his  hand. 

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

"  I  hae  twa  boons  to  crave,"  answered  the  sibyl,  speak- 
ing low  and  hastily  :  "  one,  that  you  will  never  speak  of 
what  you  have  seen  this  night ;  the  other,  that  you  will 
not  leave  this  country  till  you  see  me  again, — and  that 
you  leave  word  at  the  Gordon- Arms  where  you  are  to  be 
heard  of;  and  when  I  next  call  for  you, — be  it  in  church 
or  market,  at  wedding  or  at  burial,  Sunday  or  Saturday, 
meal-time  or  fasting, — that  ye  leave  everything  else  and 
come  with  me." 

"  Why,  that  will  do  you  httle  good,  mother." 

"But  'twill  do  yoursell  muckle,  and  that's  what  I'm 
thinking  o'.  I  am  not  mad,  although  I  have  had  eneugh 
to  make  me  sae — I  am  not  mad,  nor  doating,  nor  drunken 
— I  know  what  I  am  asking,  and  I  know  it  has  been  the 
will  of  God  to  preserve  you  m  strange  dangers,  and  that 
I  shall  be  the  iustrument  to  set  you  in  your  father's  seat 
again. — Sae  give  me  your  promise,  and  miud  that  you 
owe  your  life  to  me  this  blessed  night." 

"  There's  wildness  in  her  manner,  certainly,"  thought 
Brown, — "  and  yet  it  is  more  like  the  wildness  of  enerojy 

than  of  madness. Well,  mother,  since  you  do  ask  so 

useless  and  trifling  a  favour,  you  have  my  promise.  It 
will  at  least  give  me  an  opportunity  to  repay  your  money 

VOL.  ui.  20 


so 6  WAYEHLEY   NOVELS. 

with  additions.  You  are  an  uncommon  kind  of  creditor, 
no  doubt,  but " — 

"  Away,  away,  tlien  ! "  said  she,  waving  her  hand. 
"  Think  not  about  the  goud — it's  a'  jour  ain ;  but  remem- 
ber jour  promise,  and  do  not  dare  to  follow  me  or  look 
after  me."  So  sajing,  she  plunged  again  into  the  dell, 
and  descended  it  with  great  agililj,  the  icicles  and  snow- 
wreaths  showering  down  after  her  as  she  disappeared. 

Notwithstanding  her  prohibition,  Brown  endeavoured 
to  gain  some  point  of  the  bank  from  which  he  might, 
unseen,  gaze  down  into  the  glen  ;  and  with  some  difficulty 
(for  it  must  be  conceived  that  the  utmost  caution  was 
necessarj)  he  succeeded.  The  spot  which  he  attained 
for  this  purpose  was  the  point  of  a  projecting  rock,  which 
rose  precipitouslj  from  among  the  trees.  Bj  kneeUng 
down  among  the  snow,  and  stretching  his  head  cautiously 
forward,  he  could  observe  what  was  going  on  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  dell.  He  saw,  as  he  expected,  his  companions 
of  the  last  night,  now  joined  bj  two  or  three  others.  Thej 
had  cleared  awaj  the  snow  from  the  foot  of  the  rock,  and 
dug  a  deep  pit,  which  was  designed  to  serve  the  purpose 
of  a  grave.  Around  this  thej  now  stood,  and  lowered 
into  it  something  wrapped  in  a  naval  cloak,  wliich  Brown 
instantlj  concluded  to  be  the  dead  bodj  of  the  man  he 
had  seen  expire.  Thej  then  stood  silent  for  half  a  min- 
ute, as  if  under  some  touch  of  feeling  for  the  loss  of  their 
companion.  But  if  thej  experienced  such,  thej  did  not 
long  remain  under  its  influence,  for  all  hands  went  pres- 
entlj  to  work  to  fill  up  the  grave  ;  and  Brown,  perceiving 
that  the  task  would  be  soon  ended,  thought  it  best  to  take 
the  gip3j-woman's  hint,  and  walk  as  fast  as  possible  until 
he  should  gain  the  shelter  of  the  plantation. 

Havuig   arrived   under   cover   of  the   trees,  his   first 


GUT   MANNERING.  307 

thouglit  was  of  the  gipsy's  purse.  He  had  accepted  it 
without  hesitation,  though  with  something  hke  a  feeUng 
of  degradation,  ai'ising  from  the  character  of  the  person 
by  whom  he  was  thus  accommodated.  But  it  reheved 
him  from  a  serious,  though  temporary,  embarrassment. 
His  money,  excepting  a  very  few  shillings,  was  in  his  port- 
man  teau,  and  that  was  in  possession  of  Meg's  friends. 
Some  time  was  necessary  to  write  to  his  agent,  or  even  to 
apply  to  his  good  host,  at  CharUes-hope,  who  would  gladly 
have  supplied  him.  In  the  mean  time,  he  resolved  to 
avail  himself  of  Meg's  subsidy,  confident  that  he  should 
have  a  speedy  opportunity  of  replacing  it  with  a  hand- 
some gratuity.  "  It  can  be  but  a  trifling  sum,"  he  said  to 
himself,  "  and  I  dare  say  the  good  lady  may  have  a  share 
of  my  bank-notes  to  make  amends." 

With  these  reflections  he  opened  the  leathern  purse, 
expecting  to  find  at  most  three  or  four  guineas.  But 
how  much  was  he  surprised  to  discover  that  it  contained 
besides  a  considerable  quantity  of  gold  pieces,  of  different 
coinages  and  various  counti'ies,  the  joint  amount  of  which 
could  not  be  short  of  a  hundred  pounds,  several  valuable 
rings  and  ornaments  set  with  jewels,  and,  as  appeared 
from  the  slight  inspection  he  had  time  to  give  them,  of 
very  considerable  value. 

Brown  was  equally  astonished  and  embarrassed  by  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  found  himself,  possessed,  as  he 
now  appeared  to  be,  of  property  to  a  much  greater  amount 
than  liis  own,  but  which  had  been  obtained  in  all  prob- 
ability by  the  same  nefarious  means  tlu-ough  which  he  had 
himself  been  plundered.  His  first  thought  was  to  inquire 
after  the  nearest  justice  of  peace,  and  to  place  in  his  hands 
the  treasure  of  which  he  had  thus  unexpectedly  become 
die  depositary,  telling,  at  the  same  time,  his  own  remark- 


308  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

able  story.  But  a  moment's  consideration  brought  several 
objections  to  this  mode  of  procedure.  In  the  first  place, 
bj  observing  this  course,  he  should  break  his  promise  of 
silence,  and  might  probably  by  that  means  involve  the 
safety,  perhaps  the  life,  of  this  woman,  who  had  risked 
her  own  to  preserve  his,  and  who  had  voluntarily  endowed 
liim  with  this  treasure, — a  generosity  which  might  thus 
become  the  means  of  her  ruin.  This  was  not  to  be  thought 
of.  Besides,  he  was  a  stranger,  and,  for  a  time  at  least, 
unprovided  with  means  of  establishing  his  ovm  character 
and  credit  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  stupid  or  obstinate 
country  magistrate.  "  I  will  think  over  the  matter  more 
maturely,"  he  said :  "  perhaps  there  may  be  a  regiment 
quartered  at  the  country-town,  in  which  case  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  service,  and  acquaintance  with  many  officers 
of  the  army,  cannot  fail  to  establish  my  situation  and 
character  by  evidence  which  a  civil  judge  could  not  suffi- 
ciently estimate.  And  then  I  shall  iiave  the  commanding- 
officer's  assistance  in  manapjinoj  matters  so  as  to  screen 
this  unhappy  mad  woman,  whose  mistake  or  prejudice 
has  been  so  fortunate  for  me.  A  civil  magistrate  might 
think  himself  obliged  to  send  out  warrants  for  her  at 
once,  and  the  consequence,  in  case  of  her  being  taken,  is 
pretty  evident.  No,  she  has  been  upon  honour  with  mo 
if  she  were  the  devil,  and  I  will  be  equally  upon  honour 
with  her — she  shall  have  the  privilege  of  a  court-martial, 
where  the  point  of  honour  can  qualify  strict  law.  Be- 
sides, I  may  see  her  at  this  place,  Kipple — Couple — • 
what  did  she  call  it !  and  then  I  can  make  restitution  to 
her,  and  e'en  let  the  law  claim  its  own  when  it  can  secure 
her.  In  the  meanwhile,  however,  I  cut  rather  an  awk- 
ward figure  for  one  who  has  the  honour  to  bear  his 
Majesty's  commission,  being  little  better  than  the  receiver 
of  stolen  goods." 


(iUY   MANNERING.  309 

With  these  reflections,  Brown  took  from  the  gipsy's 
treasure  three  or  four  guineas,  for  the  purpose  of  his 
immediate  expenses,  and  tying  up  the  rest  in  the  purse 
which  contained  them,  resolved  not  again  to  open  it,  until 
he  could  either  restore  it  to  her  by  whom  it  was  given,  or 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  some  public  functionary.  He 
next  thought  of  the  cutlass,  and  his  first  impulse  was  to 
leave  it  in  the  plantation.  But  when  he  considered  the 
risk  of  meeting  with  these  ruffians,  he  could  not  resolve 
on  parting  with  his  arms.  His  walking-di'ess,  though 
plain,  had  so  much  of  a  military  character  as  suited  not 
amiss  with  his  having  such  a  weapon.  Besides,  though 
the  custom  of  wearing  swords  by  persons  out  of  uniform 
had  been  gradually  becoming  antiquated,  it  was  not  yet 
so  totally  forgotten  as  to  occasion  any  particular  remark 
towards  those  who  chose  to  adhere  to  it.  Retaining, 
therefore,  his  weapon  of  defence,  and  placmg  the  purse 
01  the  gipsy  in  a  private  pocket,  our  traveller  strode 
gallantly  on  through  the  wood  in  search  of  the  promised 
high  road. 


310  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 


All  school-days'  friendship,  childhood  innocence, 
We,  Hermia,  like  two  artificial  gods, 
Have  with  our  needles  created  both  one  flower; 
Both  on  one  sampler,  sitting  on  one  cushion, 
Both  warbling  of  one  song,  both  in  one  key, 
As  if  our  hands,  our  sides,  voices,  and  minds. 
Had  been  incorporate. 

A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 


JULIA  MANNERING  TO  MATILDA  MARCHMONT.   - 

"  How  can  you  upbraid  me,  my  dearest  Matilda,  with 
abatement  in  friendship,  or  fluctuation  in  affection  ?  I3 
it  possible  for  me  to  forget  that  you  are  the  chosen  of  my 
lieai^t,  in  whose  faithful  bosom  I  have  deposited  every 
feehng  which  your  poor  Julia  dares  to  acknowledge  to 
herself?  And  you  do  me  equal  injustice  in  upbraiding 
me  with  exchanging  your  friendship  for  that  of  Lucy 
Bertram.  I  assure  you  she  has  not  the  materials  I  must 
seek  for  in  a  bosom  confidante.  She  is  a  charming  girl, 
to  be  sure,  and  I  hke  her  very  much,  and  I  confess  our 
forenoon  and  evening  engagements  have  left  me  less  time 
for  the  exercise  of  my  pen  than  our  proposed  regularity 
of  correspondence  demands.  But  she  is  totally  devoid 
of  elegant  accompHshments,  excepting  the  knowledge  of 
French  and  Italian,  which  she  acquii-ed  from  the  most 
grotesque  monster  you  ever  beheld,  whom  my  fathor  has 


GUT    MANNERING.  311 

engaged  as  a  kind  of  librarian,  and  whom  he  patronizes, 
I  believe,  to  show  his  defiance  of  the  world's  opinion. 
Colonel  Mannering  seems  to  have  formed  a  determina- 
tion, that  nothing  shall  be  considered  as  ridiculous,  so 
long  as  it  appertains  to  or  is  connected  with  him.  I 
remember  in  India  he  had  picked  up  somewhere  a  Httle 
mongrel  cur,  with  bandy  legs,  a  long  back,  and  huge 
flapping  ears.  Of  this  uncouth  creature  he  chose  to 
make  a  favourite,  in  despite  of  all  taste  and  opinion  ;  and 
I  remember  one  instance  which  he  alleged,  of  what  he 
called  Brown's  petulance,  was,  that  he  had  criticised 
severely  the  crooked  legs  and  drooping  ears  of  Bingo. 
On  my  word,  Matilda,  I  believe  he  nurses  his  high  opin- 
ion of  this  most  awkward  of  all  pedants  upon  a  similar 
principle.  He  seats  the  creature  at  table,  where  he  pro- 
nounces a  grace  that  sounds  hke  the  scream  of  the  man 
in  the  square  that  used  to  cry  mackerel, — flings  his  meat 
down  his  throat  by  shovelfuls,  hke  a  dustman  loading  his 
cart,  and  apparently  without  the  most  distant  perception 
of  what  he  is  swallowing, — ^then  bleats  forth  another 
unnatural  set  of  tones,  by  way  of  returning  thanks,  stalks 
out  of  the  room,  and  immerses  himself  among  a  parcel 
of  huge  worm-eaten  folios  that  are  as  uncouth  as  himself! 
I  could  endure  the  creature  well  enough,  had  I  any  body 
to  laugh  at  him  along  with  me ;  but  Lucy  Bertram,  if  I 
but.  verge  on  the  border  of  a  jest  affecting  this  same  Mr. 
Sampson,  (such  is  the  horrid  man's  horrid  name,)  looks 
so  piteous,  that  it  deprives  me  of  all  spirit  to  proceed, 
anil  my  father  knits  his  brow,  flashes  fire  from  his  eye, 
bites  his  lip,  and  says  something  that  is  extremely  i  ude, 
and  uncomfortable  to  my  feelings. 

"  It  was  not  of  this  creature,  however,  that  I  measat  to 
speak  to  you — only  that,  being  a  good  scholar  ii    tW 


312  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

modern,  as  well  as  the  ancient  languages,  he  has  contrived 
to  make  Lucy  Bertram  mistress  of  the  former,  and  she 
has  only,  I  believe,  to  thank  her  own  good  sense  or 
obstinacy,  that  the  Gre^k,  Latin,  (and  Hebrew,  for  aught 
I  know,)  were  not  added  to  her  acquisitions.  And  thus 
she  really  has  a  great  fund  of  information,  and  I  assure 
you  I  am  daily  surprised  at  the  power  which  she  seems 
to  possess  of  amusing  herself  by  recalling  and  arranging 
the  subjects  of  her  former  reading.  We  read  together 
every  morning,  and  I  begin  to  hke  Itahan  much  better 
than  when  we  were  teased  by  that  conceited  animal 
Cicipici ; — this  is  the  way  to  spell  his  name,  and  not 
Chichipichi — you  see  I  grow  a  connoisseur. 

"  But  perhaps  I  like  Bliss  Bertram  more  for  the 
accomphshments  she  wants,  than  for  the  knowledge  she 
possesses.  She  knows  nothing  of  music  whatever,  and 
no  more  of  dancing  than  is  here  common  to  the  meanest 
peasants, — who,  by  the  way,  dance  with  great  zeal  and 
spuit.  So  that  I  am  instructor  in  my  turn,  and  she 
takes  with  great  gratitude  lessons  from  me  upon  the 
harpsichord,  and  I  have  even  taught  her  some  of  La 
Pique's  steps,  and  you  know  he  thought  me  a  promising 
scholar. 

"  Li  the  evening,  papa  often  reads,  and  I  assure  you 
he  is  the  best  reader  of  poetry  you  ever  heard — not  hke 
that  actor,  who  made  a  kind  of  jumble  between  reading 
and  acting,  staring,  and  bending  his  brow,  and  twisting 
liis  face,  and  gesticulating  as  if  he  were  on  the  stage,  and 
dressed  out  in  all  his  costume.  My  father's  manner  is 
quite  different — it  is  the  reading  of  a  gentleman,  who 
produces  effect  by  feeling,  taste,  and  inflection  of  voice, 
not  by  action  or  mummery.  Lucy  Bertram  rides  remark- 
ably well,  and  I  can  now  accompany  her  on  horseback, 


GUY   MANNERING.  313 

having  become  emboldened  by  example.  We  walk  also 
a  good  deal  in  spite  of  the  cold.  So,  upon  the  whole,  I 
Lave  not  quite  so  much  time  for  writing  as  I  used  to 
liave. 

"  Besides,  my  love,  I  must  really  use  the  apology  of 
all  stupid  correspondents,  that  I  have  nothing  to  say. 
IMy  hopes,  my  fears,  my  anxieties  about  Brown,  are  of  a 
less  interesting  cast,  since  I  know  that  he  is  at  hberly, 
and  in  health.  Besides,  I  must  own,  I  think  that  by  this 
time  the  gentleman  might  have  given  me  some  intimation 
what  he  was  doing.  Our  intercourse  may  be  an  impru- 
dent one,  but  it  is  not  very  comphmentary  to  me,  that 
]Mr.  Yanbeest  Brown  should  be  the  first  to  discover  that 
such  is  the  case,  and  to  break  off  in  consequence.  I  can 
promise  him  that  we  might  not  differ  much  in  opinion 
should  that  happen  to  be  his,  for  I  have  sometimes 
thought  I  have  behaved  extremely  foohshly  in  that 
matter.  Yet  I  have  so  good  an  opinion  of  poor  Brown, 
that  I  cannot  but  think  there  is  something  extraordinary 
in  his  silence. 

"  To  return  to  Lucy  Bertram. — No,  my  dearest  Ma- 
tilda, she  can  never,  never  rival  you  in  my  regard,  so 
that  all  your  affectionate  jealousy  on  that  account  is 
without  foundation.  She  is,  to  be  sure,  a  very  pretty,  a 
very  sensible,  a  very  affectionate  girl,  and  I  think  there 
are  few  persons  to  whose  consolatory  friendship  I  could 
have  recourse  more  freely  in  what  ai^e  called  the  real  evils 
of  Ufe.  But  then  these  so  seldom  come  in  one's  way, 
and  one  wants  a  friend  who  will  sympathize  with  dis- 
tresses of  sentiment,  as  well  as  with  actual  misfortune. 
Heaven  knows,  and  you  know,  my  dearest  Matilda,  that 
these  diseases  of  the  heart  require  the  balm  of  sympathy 
and  affection,  as  much  as  the  evils  of  a  more  obvious  and 


314  WAVEliLEY    NOVELS. 

determinate  cliai'acter.  Now  Lucy  Bertram  has  nothing 
of  this  kmdly  sympathy — nothuig  at  all,  my  deai'est 
Matilda.  Were  I  sick  of  a  fever,  she  would  sit  up  night 
after  night  to  nurse  me  with  the  most  unrepining  patience ; 
but  with  the  fever  of  the  heai-t,  which  my  Matilda  has 
soothed  so  often,  she  has  no  more  sympathy  than  her  old 
tutor.  And  yet  what  provokes  me  is,  that  the  demure 
monkey  actually  has  a  lover  of  her  own,  and  that  their 
mutual  affection  (for  mutual  I  take  it  to  be)  has  a  great 
deal  of  compHcated  and  romantic  interest.  She  was 
once,  you  must  know,  a  gTcat  heiress,  but  was  ruined  by 
the  prodigality  of  her  father,  and  the  villany  of  a  horrid 
man  in  whom  he  confided.  And  one  of  the  handsomest 
young  gentlemen  in  the  country  is  attached  to  her ;  but 
as  he  is  heir  to  a  great  estate,  she  discourages  his  ad- 
dresses on  account  of  the  disproportion  of  their  fortune. 
"  But  with  all  this  moderation,  and  self-denial,  and 
modesty,  and  so  forth,  Lucy  is  a  sly  girl — I  am  sure  she 
loves  young  Hazlewood,  and  I  am  sure  he  has  some  guess 
of  that,  and  would  probably  bring  her  to  acknowledge  it 
too,  if  my  father  or  she  would  allow  him  an  opportunity 
But  you  must  know  the  Colonel  is  always  himself  in  the 
way  to  pay  Miss  Bertram  those  attentions  which  afford 
the  best  indirect  opportunities  for  a  young  gentleman  in 
Hazlewood's  situation.  I  would  have  my  good  papa  tak(» 
care  that  he  does  not  himself  pay  the  usual  penalty  of 
meddling  folks.  I  assure  you,  if  I  were  Hazlewood,  I 
should  look  on  his  compliments,  his  bowings,  his  cloak- 
mgs,  his  shawlings,  and  his  handings,  with  some  little 
suspicion — and  truly  I  think  Hazlewood  does  so  too  at 
some  odd  times.  Then  imagine  what  a  silly  figure  your 
poor  Julia  makes  on  such  occasions  !  Here  is  my  father 
making   the   agreeable   to   my  friend;   there   is   young 


GUY    MANNERING.  315 

Hazlewood  watching  every  word  of  her  lips,  and  every 
motion  of  her  eye ;  and  I  have  not  the  poor  satisfaction 
of  interesting  a  human  being — not  even  the  exotic  mon- 
ster of  a  parson,  for  even  he  sits  with  his  mouth  open, 
and  his  huge  round  goggling  eyes  fixed  like  thc3e  of  a 
statue,  admiring  Mess  Baartram  ! 

"  All  this  makes  me  sometimes  a  little  nervous,  and 
gcmetimes  a  little  mischievous.  I  was  so  provoked  at 
my  father  and  the  lovers  the  other  day  for  turning  me 
completely  out  of  their  thoughts  and  society,  that  I  began 
an  attack  upon  Hazlewood,  from  w^hich  it  was  impossible 
for  him,  in  common  civility,  to  escape.  He  insensibly 
became  warm  in  his  defence. — I  assure  you,  Matilda,  he 
is  a  very  clever,  as  well  as  a  very  handsome  young  man, 
and  I  don't  think  I  ever  remember  having  seen  him  to 
the  same  advantage — when,  behold,  in  the  midst  of  our 
lively  conversation,  a  very  soft  sigh  from  JMiss  Lucy 
reached  my  not  ungratified  ears.  I  was  greatly  too  gen- 
erous to  prosecute  my  victory  any  farther,  even  if  I  had 
not  been  afraid  of  papa.  Luckily  for  me,  he  had  at  that 
moment  got  into  a  long  description  of  the  pecuHar  notions 
and  manners  of  a  certain  tribe  of  Lidians,  who  live  far 
up  the  country,  and  was  illustrating  them  by  making 
drawings  on  Miss  Bertram's  work-patterns,  three  of 
which  he  utterly  damaged,  by  introducing  among  the 
intricacies  of  the  pattern  his  specimens  of  Oriental  cos- 
tume. But  I  believe  she  thought  as  little  of  her  own 
gown  at  the  moment  as  of  the  India  turbands  and  cum- 
merbands.  However,  it  was  quite  as  well  for  me  that  he 
did  not  see  all  the  merit  of  my  httle  manoeuvre,  for  he  is 
as  sharp-sighted  as  a  hawk,  and  a  sworn  enemy  to  the 
slightest  shade  of  coquetry. 

"Well,  Matilda, — Hazlewood   heard  this   same  half* 


316  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

audible  sigh,  and  instantly  repented  his  temporary  atten- 
tions to  such  an  unworthy  object  as  your  Julia,  and,  with 
a  very  comical  expression  of  consciousness,  di'ew  near  to 
Lucy's  work-table.  He  made  some  trifling  observation, 
and  her  reply  was  one  in  which  nothing  but  an  ear  as 
acute  as  that  of  a  lover,  or  a  curious  observer  like  myself, 
could  have  distinguished  anything  more  cold  and  dry  than 
usual.  But  it  conveyed  reproof  to  the  self-accusing  hero, 
and  he  stood  abashed  accordingly.  You  will  admit  that 
I  was  called  upon  in  generosity  to  act  as  mediator.  So  I 
mingled  in  the  conversation,  in  the  quiet  tone  of  an  un- 
observing  and  uninterested  third  party,  led  them  into 
their  former  habits  of  easy  chat,  and,  after  having  served 
awhile  as  the  channel  of  communication  thi'ough  which 
they  chose  to  address  each  other,  set  them  down  to  a 
pensive  game  of  chess,  and  very  dutiftilly  went  to  tease 
papa,  who  was  stUl  busied  with  his  drawings.  The  chess- 
players, you  must  observe,  were  placed  near  the  chimney, 
beside  a  Httle  work-table,  which  held  the  board  and  men 
—the  Colonel  at  some  distance,  with  lights  upon  a  library 
table, — for  it  is  a  large  old-fashioned  room,  with  several 
recesses,  and  hung  with  grim  tapestry,  representing  what 
it  might  have  puzzled  the  artist  himself  to  explain. 

"  *  Is  chess  a  very  interesting  game,  papa  ?  ' 

"  *  I  am  told  so,'  without  honouring  me  with  much  of 
his  notice. 

" '  I  should  think  so,  from  the  attention  JVIr.  Ilazlc- 
wood  and  Lucy  are  bestowing  on  it.' 

"  He  r/^ised  his  head  hastily,  and  held  his  pencil  sus- 
pended for  an  instant.  Apparently  he  saw  nothing  that 
excited  his  suspicions,  for  he  Avas  resuming  the  folds  of  a 
Mahratta's  turban  in  tranquillity,  when  I  interrupted  him 
With^-*  How  old  is  Miss  Bertram,  sir  ?  ' 


GUT   MANNEEING.  ht7 

" '  How  should  I  know,  Miss  ?  about  your  own  age,  I 
suppose.' 

"  '  Older,  I  should  think,  sir.  You  are  always  telling 
me  how  much  more  decorously  she  goes  through  all  the 
honours  of  the  tea-table. — Lord,  papa,  what  if  you  should 
give  her  a  right  to  preside  once  and  forever ! ' 

"  *  Juha,  my  dear,'  returned  papa,  '  you  are  either  si 
fool  outright,  or  you  are  more  disposed  to  make  mischief 
than  I  have  yet  believed  you.' 

"  '  O,  my  dear  sir !  put  your  best  construction  upon  it 
— 1  would  not  be  thought  a  fool  for  all  the  world.' 

"  '  Then  why  do  you  talk  hke  one  ? '  said  my  father. 

" '  Lord,  sir,  I  am  sure  there  is  nothing  so  foohsh  in 
what  I  said  just  now.  Everybody  knows  you  are  a  very 
liandsome  man,'  (a  smile  was  just  visible,)  *  that  is,  for 
your  time  of  life,'  (the  dawn  was  overcast,)  '  which  is  far 
from  being  advanced,  and  I  am  sure  I  don't  know  why 
you  should  not  please  yourself,  if  you  have  a  mind.  I 
am  sensible  I  am  but  a  thoughtless  girl,  and  if  a  graver 
companion  could  render  you  more  happy ' 

"  There  was  a  mixture  of  displeasure  and  grave  affec- 
tion in  the  manner  in  which  my  father  took  my  hand, 
that  was  a  severe  reproof  to  me  for  trifling  with  his  feel- 
ings. *  Julia,'  he  said,  '  I  bear  with  much  of  your  petu- 
lance, because  I  think  I  have  in  some  degree  deserved  it, 
by  neglecting  to  superintend  your  education  sufficiently 
closely.  Yet  I  would  not  have  you  give  it  the  rein  upon 
a  subject  so  dehcate.  If  you  do  not  respect  the  feelings 
of  your  surviving  parent  towards  the  memory  of  her 
whom  you  have  lost,  attend  at  least  to  the  sacred  claims 
of  misfortune ;  and  observe,  that  the  slightest  hint  of  such 
a  jest  reacliing  Miss  Bertram's  ears,  would  at  once  induce 
her  to  renounce  her  present  asylum,  and  go  forth  without 


318  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 

a  protector,  into  a  world  she  has  abeady  felt  so  un- 
friendly.' 

"  What  could  I  saj  to  this,  Matilda  ? — I  only  cried 
heartily,  begged  pardon,  and  promised  to  be  a  good  girl 
in  future-  And  so  here  am  I  neutralized  again ;  for  I 
cannot,  in  honour,  or  common  good  nature,  tease  poor 
Lucy  by  interfering  with  Hazlewood,  although  she  has 
60  little  confidence  in  me ;  and  neither  can  I,  after  this 
grave  appeal,  venture  again  upon  such  delicate  ground 
with  papa.  So  I  burn  little  rolls  of  paper,  and  sketch 
Turks'  heads  upon  visiting  cards  with  the  blackened  end, 
—I  assure  you,  1  succeeded  in  making  a  superb  Hyder- 
Ally  last  night — and  I  jingle  on  my  unfortunate  harp- 
sichord, and  begin  at  the  end  of  a  grave  book  and  read  it 
backward. — After  all,  I  begin  to  be  very  much  vexed 
about  Brown's  silence.  Had  he  been  obliged  to  leave 
the  country,  I  am  sure  he  would  at  least  have  written  to 
me. — Is  it  possible  that  my  father  can  have  intercepted 
his  letters  ?  But  no — that  is  contrary  to  all  his  prin- 
ciples— I  don't  think  he  would  open  a  letter  addressed  to 
me  to-night,  to  prevent  my  jumping  out  of  window  to- 
morrow.— What  an  expression  I  have  sufi'ered  to  escape 
my  pen !  T  should  be  ashamed  of  it,  even  to  you,  Ma- 
tilda, and  used  in  jest  But  I  need  not  take  much  merit 
for  acting  as  I  ought  to  do.  This  same  ISIr.  Vanbeest 
Brown  is  by  no  means  so  very  ardent  a  lover  as  to  hurry 
the  object  of  his  attachment  into  such  inconsiderate 
steps.  He  gives  one  fnll  time  to  reflect,  that  must  be 
admitted.  However,  I  will  not  blame  him  unheard,  nor 
permit  myself  to  doubt  the  manly  firmness  of  a  character 
which  I  have  so  often  extolled  to  you.  Were  he  capable 
of  doubt,  of  fear,  of  the  shadow  of  change,  I  should  have 
little  to  regret. 


GUT   MANNERING.  319 

"  And  why,  you  will  say,  wlien  I  expect  such  steady 
and  unalterable  constancy  from  a  lover,  why  should  I  be 
anxious  about  what  HazleM'ood  does,  or  to  whom  he 
offers  his  attentions  ? — I  ask  myself  the  question  a  hun- 
dred times  a-day,  and  it  only  receives  the  very  silly 
answer, — that  one  does  not  hke  to  be  neglected,  though 
one  would  not  encourage  a  serious  infidelity. 

"I  write  all  these  trifles,  because  you  say  that  they 
amuse  you,  and  yet  I  wonder  how  they  should.  I  re- 
member, in  our  stolen  voyages  to  the  world  of  fiction, 
you  always  admired  the  grand  and  the  romantic — tales 
of  knights,  dwarfs,  giants,  and  distressed  damsels,  sooth- 
sayers, visions,  beckoning  ghosts,  and  bloody  hands, — 
whereas  I  was  partial  to  the  involved  intrigues  of  private 
life,  or  at  farthest,  to  so  much  only  of  the  supernatural  as 
is  conferred  by  the  agency  of  an  Eastern  genie  or  a  benefi- 
cent fairy.  You  would  have  loved  to  shape  your  course 
of  life  over  the  broad  ocean,  with  its  dead  calms  and 
howling  tempests,  its  tornadoes,  and  its  billows  mountain- 
high, — whereas  I  should  like  to  trim  my  little  pinnace  to 
a  brisk  breeze  in  some  inland  lake  or  tranquil  bay,  where 
there  was  just  difl[iculty  of  navigation  sufficient  to  give 
interest  and  to  require  skill,  without  any  sensible  degree 
of  danger.  So  that,  upon  the  whole,  Matilda,  I  think 
you  should  have  had  my  father,  with  his  pride  of  arms 
and  of  ancestry,  his  chivalrous  point  of  honour,  his  high 
talents,  and  his  abstruse  and  mystic  studies  ; — you  should 
have  had  Lucy  Bertram,  too,  for  your  friend,  whose 
fathers,  with  names  which  alike  defy  memory  and  orthog- 
raphy, ruled  over  this  romantic  country,  and  whose 
birth  took  place,  as  I  have  been  indistinctly  informed, 
under  circumstances  of  deep  and  peculiar  interest ; — you 
should  have  had,  too,  our  Scottish  residence,  surrounded 


S20  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

by  mountains,  and  our  lonely  walks  to  haunted  ruins 
And  I  should  have  had,  in  exchange,  the  lawns  and 
shrubs,  and  green-houses,  and  conservatories,  of  Pine- 
park,  with  your  good,  quiet,  indulgent  aunt,  her  chapel 
in  the  morning,  her  nap  after  dinner,  her  hand  at  whist 
in  the  evening,  not  forgetting  her  fat  coach-horses  and 
fatter  coachman.  Take  notice,  however,  that  Brown  is 
not  included  in  this  proposed  barter  of  mine  ; — ^his  good- 
humour,  lively  conversation,  and  open  gallantry,  suit  my 
plan  of  life,  as  well  as  his  athletic  form,  handsome  fea- 
tures, and  high  spirit,  would  accord  with  a  character  of 
chivalry.  So,  as  we  cannot  change  altogether  out  and 
out,  I  think  we  must  e'en  abide  as  we  are." 


GUY    MANNERING 


VOL.  II. 


^f  W  Y      IM  A  M  M  E  M  E  If  e- 


^-M^'^yu 


^i^:^?7?^'9Z/^  QJOyT/YuhPTl/ 


iub3iah.eaiDy  lidtnox  and  Fields, Boston.  1857. 


GUY    MANNERING; 

OR, 

THE     ASTROLOGER. 


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

LA.T  07  IHS  LAST  MIKSTUb 


GUY    MANNERING; 

OR. 

THE  ASTROLOGER. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


B«nounce  your  defiance;  if  you  parley  so  roughly,  I'll  barricade  my  gatui 
against  you.— Do  you  see  yon  bay  window?  Storm, — ^I  care  not,  serving  th« 
good  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

MsBET  Dsyn.  of  Edmonton. 


JULIA   MANNERING   TO    MATILDA   MARCHMONT. 

"  I  RISE  from  a  sick-bed,  my  dearest  Matilda,  to  com- 
municate the  strange  and  frightful  scenes  which  have  just 
passed.  Alas,  how  little  we  ought  to  jest  with  friturity! 
I  closed  my  letter  to  you  in  high  spirits,  with  some  flip- 
pant remarks  on  your  taste  for  the  romantic  and  extraor- 
dinary in  fictitious  narrative.  How  little  I  expected  to 
have  had  such  events  to  record  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days  !  And  to  witness  scenes  of  terror,  or  to  contemplate 
them  in  description,  is  as  different,  my  dearest  Matilda,  as 
to  bend  over  the  brink  of  a  precipice  holding  by  the  frail 
tenure  of  a  half-rooted  shrub,  or  to  admire  the   same 


6  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

precipice  as  represented  in  the  landscape  of  Sahator. 
But  I  will  not  anticipate  my  narrative. 

"  The  first  part  of  my  story  is  frightful  enough,  though 
it  had  nothing  to  interest  my  feelings.  You  must  know 
that  this  country  is  particularly  favourable  to  the  com- 
merce of  a  set  of  desperate  men  from  the  Isle  of  Man, 
which  is  nearly  opposite.  These  smugglers  are  numer- 
ous, resolute,  and  formidable,  and  have  at  different  times 
become  the  di-ead  of  the  neighbourhood  when  any  one  has 
interfered  with  their  contraband  trade.  The  local  magis- 
trates, from  timidity  or  worse  motives,  have  become  shy 
of  acting  against  them,  and  impunity  has  rendered  them 
equally  daring  and  desperate.  With  all  this,  my  father, 
a  stranger  in  the  land,  and  invested  with  no  official  au- 
thority, had,  one  would  think,  nothing  to  do.  But  it  must 
be  owned,  that,  as  he  himself  expresses  it,  he  was  born 
when  Mars  was  lord  of  his  ascendant,  and  that  strife  and 
bloodshed  find  him  out  in  circumstances  and  situations  the 
most  retired  and  pacific. 

"  About  eleven  o'clock  on  last  Tuesday  morning,  while 
Hazlewood  and  my  father  were  proposing  to  walk  to  a 
little  lake  about  three  miles'  distance,  for  the  purpose  of 
shooting  wild  ducks,  and  while  Lucy  and  I  were  busied 
with  arranging  our  plan  of  work  and  study  for  the  day, 
we  were  alarmed  by  the  sound  of  horses'  feet,  advancing 
very  fast  up  the  avenue.  The  ground  was  hardened  by 
a  severe  frost,  which  made  the  clatter  of  the  hoofs  sound 
yet  louder  and  sharper.  In  a  moment  two  or  three  men, 
armed,  mounted,  and  each  leading  a  spare  horse  loaded 
with  packages,  appeared  on  the  lawn,  and,  without  keep- 
ing upon  the  road,  which  makes  a  small  sweep,  pushed 
right  across  for  the  door  of  the  house.  Their  appearance 
was  in  the  utmost  degree  hurried  and  disordered,  and  they 


GUT   MANNERING.  7 

frequently  looked  back  like  men  who  apprehended  a  close 
and  deadly  pursuit.  My  father  and  Hazlewood  hurried 
to  the  front  door  to  demand  who  they  were,  and  what  was 
their  business.  They  were  revenue  officers,  they  stated, 
who  had  seized  these  horses,  loaded  with  contraband  arti- 
cles, at  a  place  about  three  miles  off.  But  the  smugglers 
had  been  reinforced,  and  were  now  pursuing  them  with 
the  avowed  purpose  of  recovering  the  goods,  and  putting 
to  death  the  officers  who  had  presumed  to  do  their  duty. 
The  men  said,  that  their  horses  being  loaded,  and  the 
pursuers  gaining  ground  upon  them,  they  had  fled  to 
Woodbourne,  conceiving,  that  as  my  father  had  served 
the  king,  he  would  not  refuse  to  protect  the  servants  of 
Government,  when  thi-eatened  to  be  murdered  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duty. 

"  My  father,  to  whom,  in  his  enthusiastic  feehngs  of 
mihtary  loyalty,  even  a  dog  would  be  of  importance  if  he 
came  in  the  king's  name,  gave  prompt  orders  for  securing 
the  goods  in  the  hall,  arming  the  servants,  and  defending 
the  house  in  case  it  should  be  necessary.  Hazlewood 
seconded  him  with  great  spirit,  and  even  the  strange  an- 
imal they  call  Sampson  stalked  out  of  his  den,  and  seized 
upon  a  fowhng-piece,  which  my  father  had  laid  aside,  to 
take  what  they  call  a  rifle-gun,  with  which  they  shoot 
tigers,  &c.  in  the  East.  The  piece  went  off  in  the  awk- 
ward hands  of  the  poor  parson,  and  very  nearly  shot  one 
of  the  excisemen.  At  this  unexpected  and  involuntary 
explosion  of  his  weapon,  the  Dominie  (such  is  his  nick- 
name) exclaimed,  *  Prodigious  ! '  which  is  his  usual  ejacu^ 
lation  when  astonished.  But  no  power  could  force  the 
man  lo  part  with  his  discharged  piece,  so  they  were  con- 
tent to  let  him  retain  it,  with  the  precaution  of  trusting 
him  with  no  ammunition.     This  (excepting  the  alarm 


8  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

occasioned  by  the  report)  escaped  my  notice  at  the  time, 
you  may  easily  beHeve ;  but  in  talking  over  the  scene 
afterwards,  Hazlewood  made  us  very  merry  with  the 
Dominie's  ignorant  but  zealous  valour. 

"  When  my  father  had  got  everything  into  proper 
order  for  defence,  and  his  people  stationed  at  the  windows 
with  their  fire-arms,  he  wanted  to  order  us  out  of  danger 
— ^into  the  cellar,  I  beHeve — but  we  could  not  be  pre- 
\ailed  upon  to  stir.  Though  terrified  to  death,  I  have  so 
much  of  his  own  spirit,  that  I  would  look  upon  the  peril 
which  tlu'eatens  us,  rather  than  hear  it  rage  around  me 
without  knowing  its  nature  or  its  progress.  Lucy,  look- 
ing as  pale  as  a  marble  statue,  and  keeping  her  eyes  fixed 
on  Hazlewood,  seemed  not  even  to  hear  the  prayers  with 
which  he  conjured  her  to  leave  the  front  of  the  house. 
But,  in  truth,  unless  the  hall-door  should  be  forced,  we 
were  in  little  danger — the  windows  being  almost  blocked 
up  with  cusliions  and  pillows,  and,  what  the  Dominie 
most  lamented,  with  folio  volumes,  brought  hastily  from 
the  hbrary,  leaving  only  spaces  through  which  the  defend- 
ers might  fire  upon  the  assailants. 

"  My  father  had  now  made  his  dispositions,  and  we  sat 
in  breathless  expectation  in  the  darkened  apartment,  the 
men  remaining  all  silent  upon  their  posts,  in  anxious  con- 
templation probably  of  the  approaching  danger.  My 
father,  who  was  quite  at  home  in  such  a  scene,  walked 
from  one  to  another,  and  reiterated  his  orders,  that  no  one 
should  presume  to  fire  until  he  gave  the  word.  Hazle- 
wood, who  seemed  to  catch  courage  from  his  eye,  acted 
as  Ms  aide-de-camp,  and  displayed  the  utmost  alertness  in 
bearing  his  directions  from  one  place  to  another,  and 
seeing  them  properly  carried  into  execution.  Our  force, 
with  the  strangers  include  i,  might  amount  to  about  twelve 
men. 


GUT   MANNERING.  S 

**  At  length  tlie  silence  of  this  awful  period  of  expecta- 
tion was  broken  by  a  sound,  which,  at  a  distance,  was  like 
the  rushing  of  a  stream  of  water,  but,  as  it  approached, 
we  distinguished  the  thick-beating  clang  of  a  number  of 
horses  advancing  very  fast.  I  had  arranged  a  loop-hole 
for  myself,  from  which  I  could  see  the  approach  of  the 
enemy.  The  noise  increased  and  came  nearer,  and  at 
length  thirty  horsemen  and  more  rushed  at  once  upon  the 
lawn.  You  never  saw  such  horrid  wretches  !  Notwith- 
standing the  severity  of  the  season,  they  were  most  of 
them  stripped  to  their  shirts  and  trowsers,  with  silk  hand- 
kerchiefs knotted  about  their  heads,  and  all  well  armed 
with  carbines,  pistols,  and  cutlasses.  I,  who  am  a  sol- 
dier's daughter,  and  accustomed  to  see  war  jfrom  my  in- 
fancy, was  never  so  terrified  in  my  life  as  by  the  savage 
appearance  of  these  rufl&ans,  their  horses  reeking  with  the 
speed  at  which  they  had  ridden,  and  their  furious  excla- 
mations of  rage  and  disappointment  when  they  saw"  them- 
selves baulked  of  their  prey.  They  paused,  however, 
when  they  saw  the  preparations  made  to  receive  them, 
and  appeared  to  hold  a  moment's  consultation  among 
themselves.  At  length,  one  of  the  party,  his  face  black- 
ened with  gunpowder  by  way  of  disguise,  came  forward 
with  a  white  handkerchief  on  the  end  of  his  carbine,  and 
asked  to  speak  with  Colonel  Mannering.  My  father,  to 
my  infinite  terror,  threw  open  a  window  near  which  he 
was  posted,  and  demanded  what  he  wanted.  *  We  want 
our  goods,  which  we  have  been  robbed  of  by  these 
sharks,'  said  the  fellow ;  *  and  our  lieutenant  bids  me  say, 
that  if  they  are  delivered,  we'll  go  off"  for  this  bout  with- 
out clearing  scores  with  the  rascals  who  took  them ;  bui 
if  not,  we'll  bum  the  house,  and  have  the  heart's  blood 
Off  every  one  in  it ; ' — a  threat  which  he  repeated  more 


10  "WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

than  once,  graced  by  a  fresh  variety  of  imprecations,  and 
the  most  horrid  denunciations  tliat  cruelty  could  suggest. 

" '  And  which  is  your  Heutenant  ?  '  said  my  father  in 
reply. 

"  '  That  gentleman  on  the  grey  horse,'  said  the  miscre*' 
ant,  *  with  the  red  handkerchief  bound  about  his  brow.' 

" '  Then  be  pleased  to  tell  that  gentleman,  that  if  he, 
and  the  scoundrels  who  are  with  him,  do  not  ride  off  the 
lawn  this  instant,  I  will  fire  upon  them  without  ceremony.' 
So  saying,  my  father  shut  the  window,  and  broke  short 
the  conference. 

"  The  fellow  no  sooner  regained  his  troop,  than,  with  a 
loud  hurra,  or  rather  a  savage  yell,  they  fired  a  volley 
against  our  garrison.  The  glass  of  the  windows  was 
shattered  in  every  direction,  but  the  precautions  already 
noticed  saved  the  party  within  from  suffering.  Three 
such  volleys  were  fired  without  a  shot  being  returned 
from  within.  My  father  then  observed  them  getting 
hatchets  and  crows,  probably  to  assail  the  hall  door,  and 
called  aloud,  *  Let  none  fire  but  Hazlewood  and  me — 
Hazlewood,  mark  the  ambassador  ! '  He  himself  aimed 
at  the  man  on  the  grey  horse,  who  fell  on  receiving  his 
shot.  Hazlewood  was  equally  successful.  He  shot  the 
spokesman,  who  had  dismounted,  and  was  advancing  with 
an  axe  in  his  hand.  Their  fall  discouraged  the  rest,  who 
began  to  turn  round  their  horses  :  and  a  few  shots  fired 
at  them  soon  sent  them  off,  bearing  along  with  them  their 
slain  or  wounded  companions.  We  could  not  observe 
that  they  suffered  any  farther  loss.  Shortly  after  their 
retreat,  a  party  of  soldiers  niade  their  appearance,  to  my 
infinite  rehef.  These  men  were  quartered  at  a  village 
some  miles  distant,  and  had  marched  on  the  first  rumour 
of  the  skirmish.     A  part  of  them  escorte  1  the  terrified 


GUY   MANNERING.  11 

revenue  officers  and  their  seizure  to  a  neiglibouring  sua- 
port  as  a  place  of  safety,  and  at  my  earnest  request  two 
or  three  files  remained  with  us  for  that  and  the  following 
day,  for  the  security  of  the  house  from  the  vengeance  of 
these  banditti. 

"  Such,  dearest  Matilda,  was  my  first  alarm.  I  must 
not  forget  to  add,  that  the  ruffians  left,  at  a  cottage  on 
the  road-side,  the  man  whose  face  was  blackened  with 
powder,  apparently  because  he  was  unable  to  bear  trans- 
portation. He  died  in  about  half  an  hour  after.  On  ex- 
amining the  corpse,  it  proved  to  be  that  of  a  profligate 
boor  in  the  neighbom-hood,  a  person  notorious  as  a  poacher 
and  smuggler.  We  received  many  messages  of  congrat- 
ulation from  the  neighbouring  families,  and  it  was  gener- 
ally allowed  that  a  few  such  instances  of  spirited  resistance 
would  greatly  check  the  presumption  of  these  lawless 
men.  My  father  distributed  rewards  among  his  servants, 
and  praised  Hazlewood's  courage  and  coolness  to  the 
skies.  Lucy  and  I  came  in  for  a  share  of  his  applause, 
because  we  had  stood  fire  with  firmness,  and  had  not  dis- 
turbed him  with  screams  or  expostulations.  As  for  the 
Dominie,  my  father  took  an  opportunity  of  begging  to 
exchange  snuff-boxes  with  him.  The  honest  gentleman 
was  much  flattered  with  the  proposal,  and  extolled  the 
beauty  of  his  new  snuff-box  excessively.  *  It  looked,'  he 
said  '  as  well  as  if  it  were  real  gold  from  Ophir.'  Indeed 
it  would  be  odd  if  it  should  not,  being  formed  in  fact  of 
thai  very  metal ;  but,  to  do  this  honest  creature  justice,  I 
believe  the  knowledge  of  its  real  value  would  not  enhance 
his  sense  of  my  father's  kindness,  supposing  it,  as  he  does, 
♦o  be  pinchbeck  gilded.  He  has  had  a  hard  task  re- 
placing the  folios  which  were  used  in  the  barricade, 
imootbing  out  the  creases  and  dogs-ears,  and  repairing 


12  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

the  other  disasters  they  have  sustained  during  their  sei- 
vice  in  the  fortification.  He  brought  us  some  pieces  of 
lead  and  bullets,  which  these  ponderous  tomes  had  inter- 
cepted during  the  action,  and  which  he  had  extracted 
with  great  care  ;  and,  were  I  in  spirits,  I  could  give  you 
a  comic  account  of  his  astonishment  at  the  apathy  -with 
which  we  heard  of  the  wounds  and  mutilation  suffered  by 
Thomas  Aquinas,  or  the  venerable  Chiysostom.  But  I 
am  not  in  spirits,  and  I  have  yet  another  and  a  more  in- 
teresting incident  to  communicate.  I  feel,  however,  so 
much  fatigued  with  my  present  exertion,  that  I  cannot 
resume  the  pen  till  to-morrow.  I  will  detain  this  letter, 
notwithstanding,  that  you  may  not  feel  any  anxiety  upon 
account  of  your  own 

"Julia  Mannering.'* 


GUY    MANNEKLNG.  18 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Here's  a  good  world  I 

Knew  you  of  this  faJr  work? 

King  John. 


JULIA    MANNERING    TO    MATILDA   MARCHMONT. 

"  I  MUST  take  up  the  thread  of  my  story,  my  dearest 
Matilda,  where  I  broke  off  yesterday. 

*'  For  two  or  three  days  we  talked  of  nothing  but  our 
siege  and  its  probable  consequences,  and  dinned  into  my 
father's  unwiUing  ears  a  proposal  to  go  to  Edinburgh,  or 
at  least  to  Dumfries,  where  there  is  remarkably  good 
society,  until  the  resentment  of  these  outlaws  should  blow 
over.  He  answered,  with  great  composure,  that  he  had 
no  mind  to  have  his  landlord's  house  and  his  own  prop- 
erty at  Woodbourne  destroyed ;  that,  with  our  good  leave, 
he  had  usually  been  esteemed  competent  to  taking  mea- 
sures for  the  safety  or  protection  of  his  family ;  that  if 
he  remained  quiet  at  home,  he  conceived  the  welcome  the 
villains  had  received  was  not  of  a  nature  to  invite  a  second 
visit,  but  should  he  shew  any  signs  of  alarm,  it  would  be 
the  sure  way  to  incur  the  very  risk  which  we  were  afraid 
of.  Heartened  by  his  arguments,  and  by  the  extreme 
indifference  with  which  he  treated  the  supposed  danger, 
we  began  to  gi'ow  a  little  bolder,  and  to  walk  about  as 
usual.     Only  the  gentlemen  were  sometimes  invited  to 


M  fVxlVERLEY   NOVELS. 

take  their  guiii^  when  they  attended  us ;  and  I  observed 
that  my  father  for  several  nights  paid  particular  attention 
to  having  the  house  properly  secured,  and  required  his 
domestics  to  keep  then-  ai-ms  in  readiness  in  case  of  ne- 
cessity. 

"  But  three  days  ago  chanced  an  occurrence,  of  a 
nature  which  alarmed  me  more  by  far  than  the  attack  of 
the  smuojojlers. 

"  I  told  you  there  was  a  small  lake  at  some  distance 
from  Woodbourne,  where  the  gentlemen  sometimes  go  to 
shoot  wild-fowL  I  happened  at  breakfast  to  say  I  should 
like  to  see  this  place  in  its  present  frozen  state,  occupied 
by  skaters  and  curlers,  as  they  call  those  who  play  a  par- 
ticular sort  of  game  upon  the  ice.  There  is  snow  on  the 
gi'ound,  but  frozen  so  hard  that  I  thought  Lucy  and  I 
might  venture  to  that  distance,  as  the  footpath  leading 
there  was  well  beaten  by  the  repair  of  those  who  fre- 
quented it  for  pastime.  Hazlewood  instantly  offered  to 
attend  us,  and  we  stipulated  that  he  should  take  his  fowl- 
ing piece.  He  laughed  a  good  deal  at  the  idea  of  going 
a-shooting  in  the  snow ;  but,  to  reheve  our  tremors, 
desired  that  a  groom,  who  acts  as  gamekeeper  occasion- 
ally, should  follow  us  with  his  gun.  As  for  Colonel  Man- 
nering,  he  does  not  Mke  crowds  or  sights  of  any  kind 
where  human  figures  make  up  the  show,  unless  indeed  it 
were  a  military  review — so  he  declined  the  party. 

"  We  set  out  unusually  early,  on  a  fine  frosty,  exhila- 
rating morning,  and  we  felt  our  minds,  as  well  as  our 
nerves,  braced  by  the  elasticity  of  the  pure  air.  Our 
wallt  to  the  lake  was  delightful,  or  at  least  the  difiiculties 
were  only  such  as  diverted  us, — a  slippery  descent,  for 
instance,  or  a  frozen  ditch  to  cross, — which  made  Hazle- 
wood's   assistance   absolutely   necessary.     I  don't   think 


GUY    MANNER  LNG.  15 

Lucy  liked  her  walk  the  less  for  these  occasional   embar 
rassments. 

"  The  scene  upon  the  lake  was  beautiful.  One  side  of 
it  is  bordered  by  a  steep  crag,  from  which  hung  a  thou- 
sand enormous  icicles,  all  glittering  in  the  sun ;  on  the 
other  side  was  a  httle  wood,  now  exhibiting  that  fantastic 
appearance  which  the  pine  trees  present  when  their 
branches  are  loaded  with  snow.  On  the  frozen  bosom 
of  the  lake  itself  were  a  multitude  of  moving  Ggures, 
some  flitting  along  with  the  velocity  of  swallows,  some 
sweeping  in  the  most  graceful  circles,  and  others  deeply 
interested  in  a  less  active  pastime,  crowding  round  the 
spot  where  the  inhabitants  of  two  rival  parishes  contended 
for  the  prize  at  curling, — an  honour  of  no  small  importance, 
if  we  were  to  judge  from  the  anxiety  expressed  both  by 
the  players  and  bystanders.  We  walked  round  the  httle 
lake,  supported  by  Hazlewood,  who  lent  us  each  an  arm. 
He  spoke,  poor  fellow,  with  great  kindness,  to  old  and 
young,  and  seemed  deservedly  popular  among  the  assem- 
bled crowd.     At  length  we  thought  of  retu-ing. 

"  Why  do  I  mention  these  trivial  occurrences  ? — not, 
Heaven  knows,  from  the  interest  I  can  now  attach  to 
them — but  because,  like  a  drowning  man  who  catches  at 
a  brittle  twig,  I  seize  every  apology  for  delaying  the 
subsequent  and  dreadful  part  of  my  narrative.  But  it 
nmst  be  communicated — I  must  have  the  sympathy  of  at 
least  one  friend  under  this  heart-rending  calamity. 

"  We  were  returning  home  by  a  footpath  which  led 
through  a  plantation  of  firs.  Lucy  had  quitted  Hazle- 
wood's  arm — it  is  only  the  plea  of  absolute  necessity 
which  reconciles  her  to  accept  his  assistance.  I  still 
leaned  upon  his  other  arm.  Lucy  followed  us  close,  and 
the  servant  was  two  or  three  paces  behind  us.     Such  was 


16  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

our  position,  wJien  at  once,  and  as  if  he  had  started  out  of 
the  earth,  Brown  stood  before  us  at  a  short  turn  of  the 
road!  He  was  very  plainly,  I  might  say  coarsely, 
dressed,  and  his  whole  appearance  had  in  it  something 
wild  and  agitated.  I  screamed  between  surprise  and 
terror — Hazlewood  mistook  the  nature  of  my  alarm,  and, 
when  Brown  advanced  towards  me  as  if  to  speak,  com- 
manded him  haughtily  to  stand  back,  and  not  to  alarm 
the  lady.  Brown  repUed,  with  equal  asperity,  he  had  no 
occasion  to  take  lessons  from  him  how  to  behave  to  that 
or  any  other  lady.  I  rather  believe  that  Hazlewood,  im- 
pressed with  the  idea  that  he  belonged  to  the  band  of 
smugglers,  and  had  some  bad  purpose  in  view,  heard  and 
understood  him  imperfectly.  He  snatched  the  gun  from 
the  servant,  who  had  come  up  on  a  line  with  us,  and, 
pointing  the  muzzle  at  Brown,  commanded  him  to  stand 
off  at  his  peril.  My  screams,  for  my  terror  prevented 
my  finding  articulate  language,  only  hastened  the  catas- 
trophe. Brown,  thus  menaced,  sprung  upon  Hazlewood, 
grappled  with  him,  and  had  nearly  succeeded  in  WTcnch- 
ing  the  fowling-piece  from  his  grasp,  when  the  gun  went 
off  in  the  struggle,  and  the  contents  were  lodged  in 
Hazlewood's  shoulder,  who  instantly  fell.  I  saw  no 
more,  for  the  whole  scene  reeled  before  my  eyes,  and  I 
fainted  away ;  but,  by  Lucy's  report,  the  unhappy  perpe- 
trator of  this  action  gazed  a  moment  on  the  scene  before 
him,  until  her  screams  began  to  alarm  the  people  upon 
the  lake,  several  of  whom  now  came  in  sight.  He  then 
bounded  over  a  hedge  which  divided  the  footpath  from 
the  plantation,  and  has  not  since  been  heard  of.  The 
servant  made  no  attempt  to  stop  or  secure  him,  and  the 
report  he  made  of  the  matter  to  those  who  came  up  to  us, 
induced  them  rather  to  exercise  their  humanity  in  recall- 


GUY   MANNERING.  17 

ing  me  to  life,  than  show  their  courage  by  p  irsuiug  a 
desperado,  described  by  the  groom  as  a  man  of  tremendous 
personal  strength,  and  completely  armed. 

"  Hazlewood  was  conveyed  home, — that  is,  to  TVood- 
bourne,  in  safety ;  I  trust  his  wound  will  prove  in  no 
respect  dangerous,  though  he  suffers  much.  But  to 
BroAvn  the  consequences  must  be  most  disastrous.  He 
is  already  the  object  of  my  father's  resentment,  and  he 
has  now  incurred  danger  from  the  law  of  the  country,  as 
well  as  from  the  clamorous  vengeance  of  the  father  of 
Hazlewood,  who  threatens  to  move  heaven  and  earth 
against  the  author  of  his  son's  wound.  How  will  he  be 
able  to  shroud  himself  from  the  vindictive  activity  of  the 
pursuit  ? — how  to  defend  himself,  if  taken,  against  the 
severity  of  laws  which  I  am  told  may  even  affect  his  life  ? 
and  how  can  I  find  means  to  warn  him  of  his  danger  ? 
Then  poor  Lucy's  ill-concealed  grief,  occasioned  by  her 
lover's  wound,  is  another  source  of  distress  to  me,  and 
everything  round  me  appears  to  bear  witness  against  that 
indiscretion  which  has  occasioned  this  calamity. 

"  For  two  days  I  was  very  ill  indeed.  The  news  that 
Hazlewood  was  recovering,  and  that  the  person  who  had 
shot  him  was  nowhere  to  be  traced,  only  that  for  certain 
he  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  gang  of  smugglers,  gave 
me  fiome  comfort.  The  suspicion  and  pursuit  being 
directed  towards  those  people,  must  naturally  facilitate 
Brown's  escape,  and,  I  trust,  has  ere  this  insured  it. 
But  patrols  of  horse  and  foot  traverse  the  country  in 
all  directions,  and  I  am  tortured  by  a  thousand  con- 
fused and  unauthenticated  rumours  of  arrests  and  dis- 
coveries. 

*'  Meanwhile,  my  greatest  source  of  comfort  is  the 
generous  candour  of  Hazlewood,  who  persists  in  declar- 


18  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

ing,  that  with  whatever  intentions  the  person  by  whom 
he  was  wounded  approached  our  party,  he  is  convinced 
the  gun  went  off  in  the  struggle  by  accident,  and  that  the 
injury  he  received  was  undesigned.  The  groom,  on  the 
other  hand,  maintains  that  the  piece  was  wrenched  (mt  of 
Hazlewood's  hands,  and  dehberately  pointed  at  his  body, 
— and  Lucy  inchnes  to  the  same  opinion.  I  do  not 
suspect  them  of  wih^'ul  exaggeration;  yet  such  is  the 
fallacy  of  human  testimony,  for  the  unhappy  shot  was 
most  unquestionably  discharged  unintentionally.  Per- 
haps it  would  be  the  best  way  to  confide  the  whole 
secret  to  Hazlewood — but  he  is  very  young,  and  I  feel 
the  utmost  repugnance  to  communicate  to  him  my  folly. 
I  once  thought  of  disclosing  the  mystery  to  Lucy,  and 
began  by  asking  what  she  recollected  of  the  person  and 
features  of  the  man  whom  we  had  so  unfortunately  met ; 
— ^but  she  ran  out  into  such  a  horrid  description  of  a 
hedge-ruffian,  that  I  was  deprived  of  all  courage  and  dis- 
position to  own  my  attachment  to  one  of  such  appearance 
as  she  attributed  to  him.  I  must  say  Miss  Bertram  is 
strangely  biassed  by  her  prepossessions,  for  there  are  few 
handsomer  men  than  poor  Brown.  I  had  not  seen  him 
for  a  long  time ;  and  even  in  his  strange  and  sudden 
Apparition  on  this  unhappy  occasion,  and  under  every 
disadvantage,  his  form  seems  to  me,  on  reflection,  im- 
proved in  grace,  and  his  features  in  expressive  dignity. — • 
Shall  we  ever  meet  again  ?  Who  can  answer  that  ques- 
tion?— Write  to  me  kindly,  my  dearest  Matilda — But 
when  did  you  otherwise  ? — Yet,  again,  write  to  me  soon, 
and  write  to  me  kindly.  I  am  not  in  a  situation  to  profit 
by  advice  or  reproof,  nor  have  I  my  usual  spirits  to  parry 
them  by  raillery.  I  feel  the  terrors  of  a  child  who  has, 
in  heedless  sport,  put  in  motion  some  powerful  piece  of 


GUY   MANNEKING.  19 

machinery ;  and,  while  he  beholds  wheels  revolving^ 
chains  clashing,  cylinders  rolling  around  him,  is  equally 
astonished  at  the  tremendous  powers  which  his  weak 
agency  has  called  into  action,  and  terrified  for  the  conse- 
quences which  he  is  compelled  to  await,  without  the 
possibility  of  averting  them. 

•'  I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  my  father  is  very  kind 
and  affectionate.  The  alarm  which  I  have  received  forma 
a  sufficient  apology  for  my  nervous  complaints.  My 
hopes  are,  that  Brown  has  made  his  escape  into  the  sister 
kingdom  of  England,  or  perhaps  to  Ireland,  or  the  Isle 
of  Man.  In  either  case,  he  may  wait  the  issue  of  Hazle- 
wood's  wound  with  safety  and  with  patience,  for  the  com- 
munication of  these  countries  with  Scotland  for  the 
purpose  of  justice,  is  not  (thank  Heaven)  of  an  intimate 
nature.  The  consequences  of  his  being  apprehended 
would  be  terrible  at  this  moment. — I  endeavour  to 
strengthen  my  mind  by  arguing  against  the  possibility 
of  such  a  calamity.  Alas !  how  soon  have  sorrows  and 
fears,  real  as  well  as  severe,  followed  the  uniform  and 
tranquil  state  of  existence  at  which  so  lately  I  was  dis- 
posed to  repine  !  But  I  will  not  oppress  you  any  longer 
with  my  complaints.     Adieu,  my  dearest  Matilda  I 

"  JULTA  MaNNERING." 


WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XXXn. 

A  man  may  see  how  this  world  goes  with  no  eyes. — Look  with  thine  earsi 
See  how  yon  justice  rails  upon  yon  simple  thief.  Hark  in  thine  ear — Change 
places ;  and,  handy-dandy,  which  is  the  justice,  which  is  the  thief? 

King  Leae. 

Among  those  who  took  the  most  Hvelj  interest  in 
endeavouring  to  discover  the  person  by  whom  young 
Charles  Hazlewood  had  been  waylaid  and  wounded,  was 

Gilbert  Glossin,  Esquire,  late  writer  in ,  now  Laii-d 

of  EUangowan,  and  one  of  the  worshipful  commission  of 
justices  of  the  peace  for  the  county  of .  His  mo- 
tives for  exertion  on  this  occasion  were  manifold  ;  but  we 
presume  that  our  readers,  from  what  they  already  know 
of  this  gentleman,  will  acquit  him  of  being  actuated  by 
any  zealous  or  intemperate  love  of  abstract  justice. 

The  truth  was,  that  this  respectable  personage  fel( 
himself  less  at  ease  than  he  had  expected,  after  his 
machinations  put  him  in  possession  of  his  benefactor's 
estate.  His  reflections  within  doors,  where  so  much 
occurred  to  remind  Mm  of  former  times,  were  not  always 
the  self-congratulations  of  successful  stratagem.  And 
when  he  looked  abroad,  he  could  not  but  be  sensible  that 
he  was  excluded  from  the  society  of  the  gentry  of  the 
comity,  to  whose  rank  he  conceived  he  had  raised  him- 
self. He  was  not  admitted  to  their  clubs ;  and  at  meet- 
ings of  a  public  nature,  from  which  he  could  not  be 


GUY   MANNERING.  21 

dltogetlier  excluded,  lie  found  himself  thwarted  and 
looked  upon  with  coldness  and  contempt.  Both  princijDle 
and  prejudice  co-operated  in  creatmg  this  dislike  ;  for 
the  gentlemen  of  the  county  despised  him  for  the  lowness 
of  his  birth,  while  they  hated  him  for  the  means  by  which 
he  had  raised  his  fortune.  With  the  common  people  his 
reputation  stood  still  worse.  They  would  neither  yield 
him  the  territorial  appellation  of  Ellangowan,  nor  the 
usual  comphment  of  Mr.  Giossin ; — with  them  he  was 
bare  Giossin ;  and  so  incredibly  was  his  vanity  interested 
by  this  trifling  circumstance,  that  he  was  known  to  give 
half-a-crown  to  a  beggar  because  he  had  thrice  calleci 
him  Ellangowan,  in  beseeching  him  for  a  penny.  He 
therefore  felt  acutely  the  general  want  of  respect,  and 
particularly  when  he  contrasted  his  own  character  and 
reception  in  society  with  those  of  JVIr.  Mac-Morlan,  who, 
in  far  inferior  worldly  cu'cumstances,  was  beloved  and 
respected  both  by  rich  and  poor,  and  was  slowly  but 
securely  laying  the  foundation  of  a  moderate  fortune, 
with  the  general  good-will  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew 
him. 

Giossin,  while  he  repined  internally  at  what  he  would 
fain  have  called  the  prejudices  and  prepossessions  of  the 
country,  was  too  wise  to  make  any  open  complaint.  He 
was  sensible  his  elevation  was  too  recent  to  be  imme- 
diately forgotten,  and  the  means  by  which  he  had  attained 
it  too  odious  to  be  soon  forgiven.  But  time  (thought  he) 
diminishes  wonder  and  paUiates  misconduct.  With  the 
dexterity,  therefore,  of  one  who  made  his  fortune  by  study- 
ing the  weak  points  of  human  nature,  he  determined  to 
lie  by  for  opportunities  to  make  himself  useful  even  to 
those  wlio  most  dishked  him ;  trusting  that  his  own 
abilities,  the  disposition  of  country  gentlemen  to  get  into 


22  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

quaiTels,  when  a  lawyer's  advice  becomes  precious,  and 
a  thousand  other  contingencies,  of  which,  with  patience 
and  address,  he  doubted  not  to  be  able  to  avail  himself, 
would  soon  place  him  in  a  more  important  and  respectable 
light  to  his  neighbours,  and  perhaps  raise  him  to  the  emi- 
nence sometimes  attained  by  a  shrewd,  worldly,  busthng 
man  of  business,  when,  settled  among  a  generation  of 
country  gentlemen,  he  becomes,  in  Burns's  language, 

The  tongue  of  the  trump  to  them  a'.* 

The  attack  on  Colonel  Mannering's  house,  followed  by 
the  accident  of  Hazlewood's  wound,  appeared  to  Glossin 
a  proper  opportunity  to  impress  upon  the  country  at  large 
the  service  which  could  be  rendered  by  an  active  magis- 
trate (for  he  had  been  in  the  commission  for  some 
time),  well  acquainted  with  the  law,  and  no  less  so  with 
the  haunts  and  habits  of  the  illicit  traders.  He  had 
acquired  the  latter  kind  of  experience  by  a  former  close 
alliance  with  some  of  the  most  desperate  smugglers,  in 
consequence  of  which  he  had  occasionally  acted,  some- 
times as  paitner,  sometimes  as  legal  adviser,  with  these 
persons.  But  the  connexion  had  been  dropped  many 
years ;  nor,  considering  how  short  the  race  of  eminent 
characters  of  this  description,  and  the  frequent  circum- 
stances which  occur  to  make  them  retire  from  particular 
scenes  of  action,  had  he  the  least  reason  to  think  that  his 
present  researches  could  possibly  compromise  any  old 
friend  who  might  possess  means  of  retahation.  The 
having  been  concerned  in  these  practices  abstractedly, 
was  a  circumstance  which,  according  to  his  ojjinion, 
ought  in  no  respect  to  interfere  with  his  now  using  his 

*   The  tongue  of  the  trump  is   the  wire   of  the  Jew's  harp,  that 
which  gives  sound  to  the  whole  instrument. 


GUY   MANNERING.  23 

experience  in  behalf  of  the  public, — or  rather  to  further 
his  own  private  views.  To  acquire  the  good  opinion  and 
countenance  of  Colonel  Mannering,  would  be  no  small 
object  to  a  gentleman  who  was  much  disposed  to  escape 
from  Coventry  ;  and  to  gain  the  favour  of  old  Hazlewood, 
who  was  a  leading  man  in  the  county,  was  of  more  im- 
portance still.  Lastly,  if  he  should  succeed  in  discovering, 
apprehending,  and  convicting  the  culprits,  he  would  have 
the  satisfaction  of  mortifying,  and  in  some  degree  dis- 
paraging Mac-Morlan,  to  whom,  as  Sheriff-substitute  of 
the  county,  this  sort  of  investigation  properly  belonged, 
and  who  would  certainly  suffer  in  pubhc  opinion,  should 
the  voluntary  exertions  of  Glossiu  be  more  successful 
than  his  own. 

Actuated  by  motives  so  stimulating,  and  well  acquainted 
with  the  lower  retainers  of  the  law,  Glossin  set  every 
spring  in  motion  to  detect  and  apprehend,  if  possible, 
some  of  the  gang  who  had  attacked  Woodbourne,  and 
more  particularly  the  individual  who  had  wounded 
Charles  Hazlewood.  He  promised  high  rewards,  he 
suggested  various  schemes,  and  used  his  personal  interest 
among  his  old  acquaintances  who  favoured  the  trade, 
urging  that  they  had  better  make  sacrifice  of  an  under- 
strapper or  two,  than  incur  the  odium  of  having  favoured 
such  atrocious  proceedings.  But  for  some  time  all  these 
exertions  were  in  vain.  The  common  people  of  the 
country  either  favoured  or  feared  the  smugglers  too  much 
to  afford  any  evidence  against  them.  At  length,  this 
busy  magistrate  obtained  information,  that  a  man,  having 
the  dress  and  appearance  of  the  person  who  had  wounded 
Hazlewood,  had  lodged  on  the  evening  before  the  ren- 
contre at  the  Gordon-Arms  in  Kippletrmgan.  Thither 
Mr.  Glossin  immediately  went,  for  the  purpose  of  inter* 
Wgating  our  old  acquaintance,  Mrs.  Mac-CandHsh. 


24  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

The  reader  may  remember  that  Mr.  Glossin  did  not, 
according  to  this  good  woman's  phrase,  stand  liigh  in  her 
books.  She  therefore  attended  his  summons  to  the  par- 
lour slowly  and  reluctantly,  and,  on  entering  the  room, 
paid  her  respects  in  the  coldest  possible  manner.  The 
dialogue  then  proceeded  as  follows  : — 

"  A  fine  frosty  morning,  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish." 

"  Ay,  sir ;  the  morning's  weel  eneugh,"  answered  the 
landlady,  drily. 

"  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish,  I  wish  to  know  if  the  justices  are 
to  dine  here  as  usual  after  the  business  of  the  court  on 
Tuesday?" 

"I  believe — I  fancy  sae,  sir — as  usual" — (about  to 
leave  the  room.) 

"  Stay  a  moment,  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish — why,  you  are 
in  a  prodigious  hurry,  my  good  friend !  I  have  been 
thinking  a  club  dining  here  once  a  month  would  be  a 
very  pleasant  thing." 

"  Certainly,  sir  ;  a  club  of  respectable  gentlemen." 

"  True,  true,"  said  Glossin,  "  I  mean  landed  proprie- 
tors and  gentlemen  of  weight  in  the  county ;  and  I  should 
like  to  set  such  a  thing  a-going." 

The  short  diy  cough  with  which  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish 
received  this  proposal,  by  no  means  indicated  any  dishke 
to  the  overture  abstractedly  considered,  but  inferred  much 
doubt  how  far  it  would  succeed  under  the  auspices  of  the 
gentleman  by  whom  it  was  proposed.  It  was  not  a  cough 
negative,  but  a  cough  dubious,  and  as  such  Glossin  felt  it ; 
but  it  was  not  his  cue  to  take  offence. 

"  Have  there  been  brisk  doings  on  the  road,  Mrs.  Mac- 
Candlish  ?  plenty  of  company,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Pretty  weel,  sir, — but  I  believe  I  am  wanted  at  the 
bar." 


GUT   MANNERING.  25 

"  No,  no, — stop  one  moment,  cannot  you,  to  oblige  an 
old  customer?  Praj,  do  you  remember  a  remarkably 
tall  young  man,  who  lodged  one  night  in  your  house  last 
week?" 

"Troth,  sir,  I  canna  weel  say — I  never  take  heed 
wliether  my  company  be  lang  or  short,  if  tliey  make  a 
lang  bill." 

'"  And  if  they  do  not,  you  can  do  that  for  them,  eh, 
IMrs.  Mac-Candlish  ? — ha  !  ha !  ha  1 — But  this  young  man 
that  I  inquire  after  was  upwards  of  six  feet  high,  had  a 
dark  frock,  with  metal  buttons,  light-brown  hair  unpow- 
dered,  blue  eyes,  and  a  straight  nose,  travelled  oti  foot, 
had  no  servant  or  baggage — you  surely  can  remember 
having  seen  such  a  traveller  ?  " 

"Indeed,  sir,"  answered  Mrs.  Mac-Candhsh,  bent  on 
baffling  his  inquiries,  "  I  canna  charge  my  memory  about 
the  matter — there's  mair  to  do  in  a  house  hke  this,  I  trow, 
than  to  look  after  passengers'  hair,  or  their  een,  or  noses 
either." 

"  Then,  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish,  I  must  tell  you  in  plain 
terms,  that  this  person  is  suspected  of  having  been  guilty 
of  a  crime ;  and  it  is  in  consequence  of  these  suspicions 
that  I,  as  a  magistrate,  require  this  information  from  you 
— and  if  you  refuse  to  answer  my  questions,  I  must  put 
you  upon  your  oath." 

"  Troth,  sir,  I  am  no  free  to  swear* — we  ay  gaed  to 
the  Antiburgher  meeting — it's  very  true,  in  Bailie  Mae- 
Candlish's  time  (honest  man)  we  keepit  the  kirk,  whilk 
was  most  seemingly  in  his  station,  as  having  office — but 
afi  er  his  being  called  to  a  better  place  than  Kippletringan, 
I  hae  gaen  back  to  worthy  Maister  Mac-Grainer.     And 

*  Some  of  the  strict  dissenters  decline  taking  an  oath  before  a  civil 
magistrate. 


26  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

SO  ye  see,  sir,  I  am  no  clear  to  swear  without  speaking  to 
the  minister — especiallj  against  ony  sackless  puir  young 
fhing  that's  gaun  through  the  countiy,  stranger  and 
freendless  like." 

"  I  shall  relieve  your  scruples,  perhaps,  without  troub- 
ling Mr.  Mac-Grainer,  when  I  tell  you  that  this  fellow 
whom  I  inquire  after  is  the  man  who  shot  your  young 
fi'iend  Charles  Hazlewood." 

'•  Gudeness !  wha  could  hae  thought  the  like  o'  that  o' 
him  ? — Xa,  if  it  had  been  for  debt,  or  e'en  for  a  bit  tuilzie 
wi'  the  gauger,  the  deil  o'  Xelly  Mac-Candlish's  tongue 
should  ever  hae  wranged  him.  But  if  he  really  shot 
young  Hazlewood — But  I  canna  think  it,  i\Ir.  Glossin ; 
this  will  be  some  o'  your  skits  *  now — I  canna  think  it  o' 
sae  douce  a  lad ; — na,  na,  this  is  just  some  o'  your  auld 
skits — ye'll  be  for  having  a  horning  or  a  caption  after 
him." 

"I  see  you  have  no  confidence  in  me,  Mrs.  Mac- 
Candhsh ;  but  look  at  these  declarations,  signed  by  the 
persons  who  saw  the  crime  committed,  and  judge  your- 
self if  the  description  of  the  ruffian  be  not  that  of  your 
guest." 

He  put  the  papers  into  her  hand,  which  she  perused 
very  carefully,  often  takiug  off  her  spectacles  to  cast  her 
eyes  up  to  heaven,  or  perhaps  to  Avipe  a  tear  from  them, 
for  young  Hazlewood  was  an  especial  favourite  with  the 
good  dame.  "  Aweel,  aweel,"  she  said,  when  she  had 
concluded  her  examination,  "  since  it's  e'en  sae,  I  gie  him 
up,  the  villain — But  O,  we  are  erring  mortals ! — I  neve? 
saw  a  face  I  liked  better,  or  a  lad  that  was  mair  douce 
and  canny — I  thought  he  had  been  some  gentleman  under 
trouble. — But  I  gie  him  up,  the  villain ! — to  shoot  Chaidea 
*  Tricks. 


GUY   MANNERING.  27 

Hazlewood  —and  before  the  young  ladies, — ^poor  Innocent 
things  ! — I  gie  him  up." 

"  So  you  admit,  then,  that  such  a  person  lodged  here 
the  night  before  this  vile  business  ?  " 

"  Troth  did  he,  sir,  and  a'  the  house  were  taen  wi'  him, 
he  was  sic  a  frank,  pleasant  young  man.  It  wasna  for 
his  spending,  I'm  sure,  for  he  just  had  a  mutton-chop, 
and  a  mug  of  ale,  and  maybe  a  glass  or  twa  o'  wine — - 
and  I  asked  him  to  drink  tea  wi'  mysell,  and  didna  put 
that  into  the  bill ;  and  he  took  nae  supper,  for  he  said  he 
was  defeat  wi'  travel  a'  the  night  afore — I  dare  sae  now 
it  liad  been  on  some  helHcat  errand  or  other." 

"  Did  you  by  any  chance  learn  his  name  ?  " 

"  I  wot  weel  did  I,"  said  the  landlady,  now  as  eager  to 
communicate  her  evidence  as  formerly  desirous  to  sup- 
press it.  "  He  tell'd  me  his  name  was  Brown,  and  he 
said  it  was  likely  that  an  auld  woman  like  a  gipsy  wife 
might  be  asking  for  him.  Ay,  ay !  tell  me  your  company, 
and  I'll  tell  you  wha  ye  are  !  O  the  villain ! — Aweel,  sir, 
when  he  gaed  away  in  the  morning,  he  paid  his  bill  very 
honestly  and  gae  something  to  the  chambermaid,  nae 
doubt,  for  Grizy  has  naething  frae  me,  by  twa  pair  o'  new 
shoon,  ilka  year,  and  maybe  a  bit  compliment  at  Hansel 
Monanday  " Here  Glossin  found  it  necessary  to  inter- 
fere, and  bring  the  good  woman  back  to  the  point. 

"  Ou  then,  he  just  said,  if  there  comes  such  a  person 
to  inquire  after  Mr.  Brown,  you  will  say  I  am  gone  to 
look  at  the  skaters  on  Loch  Creeran,  as  you  call  it,  and  1 
will  be  back  here  to  dinner — But  he  never  came  back — ■ 
though  I  expected  him  sae  faithfully,  that  I  gae  a  look  to 
making  the  friar's  chicken  myseli,  and  to  the  crappit-heads 
too,  and  that's  what  I  dinna  do  for  ordinary,  Mr.  Glossin 
. — But  little  did  I  think  what  skating  wark  he  was  gauu 
about — to  shoot  JMi*.  Charles,  the  innocent  lamb  I  " 


28  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Mr.  Glossin,  having,  like  a  prudent  examinator,  suffered 
his  witness  to  give  vent  to  all  her  surprise  and  indignation, 
now  began  to  inquire  whether  the  suspected  person  had 
left  any  property  or  papers  about  the  inn. 

"Troth,  he  put  a  parcel — a  sma'  parcel,  under  my 
charge,  and  he  gave  me  some  siller,  and  desired  me  to  get 
him  half-a-dozen  ruffled  sarks,  and  Peg  Pasley's  in  hands 
wi'  them  e'en  now — they  may  serve  him  to  gang  up  the 
Lawn-market*  in,  the  scoundi-el!"  Mr.  Glossin  then 
demanded  to  see  the  packet,  but  here  mine  hostess 
demurred. 

"  She  didna  ken — she  wad  not  say  but  justice  should 
take  its  course — but  when  a  thing  was  trusted  to  ane  in 
her  way,  doubtless  they  were  responsible — but  she  suld 
cry  in  Deacon  Bearcliff,  and  if  Mr.  Glossin  liked  to  tak 
an  inventar  o'  the  property,  and  gie  her  a  receipt  before 
the  Deacon — or,  what  she  wad  hke  muckle  better,  an  it 
could  be  sealed  up  and  left  in  Deacon  Bearcliff 's  hands, 
it  wad  mak  her  mind  easy — she  was  for  naething  but 
justice  on  a'  sides." 

Mrs.  Mac-Candlish's  natural  sagacity  and  acquired 
suspicion  being  inflexible,  Glossin  sent  for  Deacon  Bear- 
cliff, to  speak  "  anent  the  villain  that  had  shot  Mr.  Charles 
Hazlewood."  The  Deacon  accordingly  made  his  appear- 
ance, with  his  wig  awry,  owing  to  the  hurry  with  which, 
at  this  summons  of  the  Justice,  he  had  exchanged  it  for 
the  Kilmarnock-cap  in  which  he  usually  attended  liis 
customers.     Mrs.  Mac-Candlish  then  produced  the  parcel 

*  The  procession  of  the  crimhials  to  the  gallows  of  old  took  that 
direction,  moving,  as  the  schoolboy  rhyme  had  it — 
Up  the  Lawnmarket, 
Down  the  West  Bow, 
Up  the  lang  ladder, 
And  down  the  little  tow. 


GUT   MANNEEING.  29 

deposited  witli  her  by  Brown,  in  wliicli  was  found  the 
gipsy's  purse.  On  perceiving  the  value  of  the  miscella- 
neous contents,  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish  internally  congrat- 
ulated herself  upon  the  precautions  she  had  taken  before 
delivering  them  up  to  Glossin,  while  he,  with  an  appear- 
ance of  disinterested  candour,  was  the  first  to  propose 
they  should  be  properly  inventoried,  and  deposited  with 
Deacon  Bearcliff,  until  they  should  be  sent  to  the  Crown- 
office.  "  He  did  not,"  he  observed,  "  like  to  be  personally 
responsible  for  articles  which  seemed  of  considerable 
value,  and  had  doubtless  been  acquired  by  the  most 
nefarious  practices." 

He  then  examined  the  paper  in  which  the  purse  had 
been  wrapt  up.  It  was  the  back  of  a  letter  addressed  to 
V.  Brown,  Esquire,  but  the  rest  of  the  address  was  torn 
away.  The  landlady, — now  as  eager  to  throw  hght  upon 
the  criminal's  escape  as  she  had  formerly  been  desirous 
of  withholding  it,  for  the  miscellaneous  contents  of  the 
purse  argued  strongly  to  her  mind  that  all  was  not  right, 
— Mrs.  Mac-Candlish,  I  say,  now  gave  Glossin  to  under- 
stand, that  her  postilion  and  hostler  had  both  seen  the 
stranger  upon  the  ice  that  day  when  young  Hazlewood 
was  wounded. 

Our  reader's  old  acquaintance,  Jock  Jabos,  was  first 
summoned,  and  admitted  frankly  that  he  had  seen  and 
conversed  upon  the  ice  that  morning  with  a  stranger,  who, 
he  understood,  had  lodged  at  the  Gordon- Arms  the  night 
before. 

"  What  turn  did  your  conversation  take  ?  "  said  Glossin. 

"  Tuin  ? — ou,  we  turned  nae  gate  at  a',  but  just  keepit 
straight  forward  upon  the  ice  like." 

"  Well,  but  what  did  ye  speak  about  ?  " 

"  Ou,  he  just  asked  questions  like  ony  ither  stranger," 


30  WAVEELEY   NOVELS. 

answered  the  postilion,  possessed,  as  it  seemed,  with  the 
refractory  and  uncommunicative  spirit  Avhich  had  left  his 
mistress. 

"  But  about  what  ?  "  said  Glossin. 

"  Ou,  just  about  the  folk  that  was  playing  at  the  curl- 
ing, and  about  auld  Jock  Stevenson  that  was  at  the  cock, 
and  about  the  leddies,  and  sic  like." 

"What  ladies  ?  and  what  did  he  ask  about  them, 
Joi,'k  ?  "  said  the  interrogator. 

"  What  leddies  ?  ou,  it  was  Miss  Jowha  Mannering 
and  Miss  Lucy  Bertram,  that  ye  ken  fu'  weel  yoursell, 
Mr.  Glossin — they  were  walking  wi'  the  young  Laird  of 
Hazlewood  upon  the  ice." 

"  And  what  did  you  teU  him  about  them  ?  "  demanded 
Glossin. 

"  Tut,  we  just  said  that  was  ]\Iiss  Lucy  Bertram  of 
EUangowan,  that  should  ance  have  had  a  great  estate  in 
the  country, — and  that  was  Miss  Jowlia  Mannering,  that 
was  to  be  married  to  young  Hazlewood — See  as  she  was 
hinging  on  his  arm.  We  just  spoke  about  our  country 
clashes  like — he  was  a  very  frank  man." 

"  Well,  and  what  did  he  say  in  answer  ?" 

"  Oil,  he  just  stared  at  the  young  leddies  very  keen 
like,  and  asked  if  it  was  for  certain  that  the  marriage  was 
to  be  between  oMiss  Mannering  and  young  Hazlewood— 
and  I  answered  him  that  it  was  for  positive  and  absolute 
certain,  as  I  liad  an  undoubted  right  to  say  sae — for  my 
lljird  cousin  Jean  Clavers  (she's  a  relation  o'  your  ain, 
ISIr.  Glossin — ye  wad  ken  Jean  lang  syne  ?)  she's  sib  to 
the  housekeeper  at  Woodbourne,  and  she's  tell'd  me  mair 
than  ance  that  there  was  naething  could  be  mair  likely." 

"  And  what  did  the  stranger  say  when  you  told  him  all 
Uiis  .'*  "  said  Glossin. 


GUY   MANNERING.  31 

"  Say  ?  "  echoed  the  postilion,  "  he  said  naething  at  a*— ■ 
he  just  stared  at  them  as  they  walked  round  the  loch  upon 
the  ice,  as  if  he  could  have  eaten  them,  and  he  never  took 
his  ee  aff  them,  or  said  another  word,  or  gave  another 
glance  at  the  Bonspiel,  though  there  was  the  finest  fim 
amang  the  curlers  ever  was  seen — and  he  turned  round 
and  gaed  aiF  the  loch  by  the  kirk-stile  tiTough  Wood- 
bourne  fir-plantings,  and  we  saw  nae  mair  o'  him." 

"  Only  think,"  said  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish,  "  what  a  hard 
heart  he  maun  hae  had,  to  think  o'  hurting  the  poor  young 
gentleman  m  the  very  presence  of  the  leddy  he  was  to  be 
married  to ! " 

"  O,  JNIrs.  Mac-Candlish,"  said  Glossin,  "  there's  been 
many  cases  such  as  that  on  the  record :  doubtless  he  was 
seeking  revenge  where  it  would  be  deepest  and  sweetest." 

"God  pity  us!"  said  Deacon  Bearcliff;  "we're  puir 
frail  creatures  when  left  to  ours  ells  ! — ay,  he  forgot  wha 
said, '  Vengeance  is  mine,  and  I  will  repay  it.' " 

"  Weel,  aweel,  sirs,"  said  Jabos,  whose  hard-headed  and 
uncultivated  shrewdness  seemed  sometimes  to  start  the 
game  when  others  beat  the  bush — "  weel,  weel,  ye  may 
be  a'  mista'en  yet — I'll  never  believe  that  a  man  would 
lay  a  plan  to  shoot  another  wi'  his  ain  gun.  Lord  help 
ye,  I  was  the  keeper's  assistant  down  at  the  Isle  mysell, 
and  I'll  uphaud  it,  the  biggest  man  in  Scotland  shouldna 
take  a  gun  frae  me  or  I  had  weized  the  slugs  through 
him,  though  I'm  but  sic  a  little  feckless  body,  fit  for 
naething  but  the  outside  o'  a  saddle  and  the  fore-end  o'  a 
poschay — na,  na,  nae  living  man  wad  venture  on  that, 
ril  wad  my  best  buckskins,  and  they  were  new  coft  at 
Kirkcudbright  fair,  it's  been  a  chance  job  after  a'.  But 
if  ye  hae  naething  mair  to  say  to  me,  I  am  thinking  I 

maun  gang  and  see  my  beasts  fed  " and  he  departed 

accordingly. 


32  •WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

The  hostler,  who  had  accompanied  him,  gave  evidence 
to  the  same  purpose.  He  and  Mrs.  Mac-Candhsh  were 
then  re-interrogated,  whether  Brown  had  no  arms  with 
him  on  that  unhappy  morning.  "  None,"  they  said,  "  but 
an  ordinary  bit  cutlass  or  hanger  by  his  side." 

"  Now,"  said  the  Deacon,  taking  Glossin  by  the  button, 
(for,  in  considering  this  intricate  subject,  he  had  forgot 
Glossin's  new  accession  of  rank) — "  this  is  but  doubtfu' 
after  a',  Maister  Gilbert — for  it  was  not  sae  dooms  likely 
that  he  would  go  down  into  battle  wi'  sic  sma'  means." 

Glossin  extricated  himself  from  the  Deacon's  grasp, 
and  from  the  discussion,  though  not  with  rudeness ;  for  it 
was  his  present  interest  to  buy  golden  opinions  from  all 
sorts  of  people.  He  inquired  the  price  of  tea  and  sugar, 
and  spoke  of  providing  himself  for  the  year ;  he  gave 
Mrs.  Mac-Candlish  directions  to  have  a  handsome  enter- 
tainment in  readiness  for  a  party  of  five  friends,  whom  he 
intended  to  invite  to  dine  with  him  at  the  Gordon- Arms 
next  Saturday  week ;  and,  lastly,  he  gave  a  half-crown  to 
Jock  Jabos,  whom  the  hostler  had  deputed  to  hold  his 
steed. 

"  Weel,"  said  the  Deacon  to  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish,  as  he 
accepted  her  offer  of  a  glass  of  bitters  at  the  bar,  "  the 
deil's  no  sae  ill  as  he's  ca'd.  It's  pleasant  to  see  a  gentle- 
man pay  the  regard  to  the  business  o'  the  county  that 
Mr.  Glossin  does." 

"  Ay,  'deed  is't.  Deacon,"  answered  the  landlady ;  "  and 
yel  I  wonder  our  gentry  leave  their  ain  wark  to  the  like 
o'  him. — But  as  lang  as  siller's  current.  Deacon,  folk 
mauna  look  ower  nicely  at  what  king's  head's  on't." 

"  I  doubt  Glossin  will  prove  but  shand*  after  a',  mis- 
tress,''^ said  Jabos,  as  he  passed  through  the  little  lobby 
beside  the  bar ;  "  but  this  is  a  gude  half-crown  ony  way.'* 
*  Cant  expression  for  base  coin. 


GUT  IVIANNERING.  33 


CHAPTER  XXXin. 

A  man  that  apprehends  death  to  be  no  more  dreadful  but  as  a  drunken 
Bleep;  careless,  reckless,  and  fearless  of  what's  past,  present,  or  to  oome, 
insensible  of  mortality,  and  desperately  mortal. 

Measuee  for  Measure. 

Glossik  had  made  careful  minutes  of  the  information 
deriv-ed  from  these  examinations.  They  threw  little  light 
upon  the  stoiy,  so  far  as  he  understood  its  purport ;  but 
the  better  informed  reader  has  received,  through  means 
of  this  investigation,  an  account  of  Brown's  proceedings, 
between  the  moment  when  we  left  him  upon  his  walk  to 
Kippletringan,  and  the  time  when,  stung  by  jealousy,  h« 
so  rashly  and  unhappily  presented  himself  before  Julia 
Mannering,  and  well-nigh  brought  to  a  fatal  termination 
the  quarrel  which  his  appearance  occasioned. 

Glossin  rode  slowly  back  to  EUangowan,  pondering  on 
what  he  had  heard,  and  more  and  more  convinced  that 
the  active  and  successful  prosecution  of  this  mysterious 
business  was  an  opportunity  of  ingratiating  himself  with 
Ilazlewood  and  Mannering,  to  be  on  no  account  neglected. 
Perhaps,  also,  he  felt  his  professional  acuteness  interested 
in  bringing  it  to  a  successful  close.  It  was,  therefore, 
with  great  pleasure  that  on  his  return  to  his  house  from 
Kippletringan,  he  heard  his  servants  announce  hastily, 
*'  that  Mac-Guffog,  the  thief-taker,  and  twa  or  three  3on- 
currenls,  had  a  man  in  hands  in  the  kitchen  waiting  for 
his  honour." 


34  "SVAYEELET   XOYELS. 

He  instantly  jumped  from  horseback,  and  hastened  into 
the  house.  "  Send  my  clerk  here  directly ;  ye'll  find  him 
copying  the  survey  of  the  estate  in  the  little  green  jDarlour. 
Set  things  to  rights  in  my  study,  and  wheel  the  great 
leathern  chair  up  to  the  writing-table — set  a  stool  for  ]\Ir. 
Scrow. — Scrow,"  (to  the  clerk  as  he  entered  the  presence- 
chamber,)  "  hand  down  Sir  George  Mackenzie  on  Crimes  ; 
open  it  at  the  section  Vis  Puhlica  et  Privata,  and  fold 
down  a  leaf  at  the  passage  'anent  the  bearing  of  unlaAvful 
weapons.'  Now  lend  me  a  hand  off  with  my  muckle- 
coat,  and  hang  it  up  in  the  lobby,  and  bid  them  bring  up 
the  prisoner — I  trow  I'll  sort  him ; — but  stay — ^first  send 
up  Mac-Guffog. — Now,  Mac-Guffog,  where  did  ye  find 
this  chield  ?  " 

Mac-Guffog,  a  stout  bandy-legged  fellow,  with  a  neck 
like  a  bull,  a  face  like  a  fire-brand,  and  a  most  portentous 
gquint  of  the  left  eye,  began,  after  various  contortions  by 
way  of  courtesy  to  the  Justice,  to  tell  his  story,  eking  it 
out  by  sundiy  sly  nods  and  knowing  winks,  which  ap- 
peared to  bespeak  an  intimate  correspondence  of  ideas 
between  the  narrator  and  his  principal  auditor.  "  Your 
honour  sees  I  went  down  to  yon  place  that  your  honour 
spoke  o',  that's  kept  by  her  that  your  honour  kens  o'  by 
the  sea-side. — So  says  she,  what  are  you  wanting  here  ? 
ye'll  be  come  wi'  a  broom  in  your  pocket  frae  Ellan- 
gowan  ? — So  says  I,  deil  a  broom  will  come  frae  the  re 
awa,  for  ye  ken,  says  I,  his  honour  Ellangowan  hiiasell 
in  former  times  " 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Glossin,  "  no  occasion  to  be  par- 
ticular— tell  the  essentials." 

"  Weel,  so  we  sat  niffering  about  some  brandy  that  I 
said  I  wanted,  till  he  came  in." 

"Who?" 


GUT  MANNERING.  35 

"  He,"  pointing  with  his  thumb  inverted  to  the  kitchen, 
where  the  prisoner  was  in  custody.  "  So  he  had  his 
griego  wrapped  close  round  him,  and  I  judged  he  was  not 
dry-handed* — so  I  thought  it  was  best  to  speak  proper, 
and  so  he  beheved  I  was  a  Manks  man,  and  I  kept  aj 
between  him  and  her,  for  fear  she  had  whistled.f  And 
then  we  began  to  drink  about,  and  then  I  betted  he  would 
not  drink  out  a  quartern  of  Hollands,  without  drawing 
breath — and  then  he  tried  it— and  just  then  Slounging 
Jock  and  Dick  Spur'em  came  in,  and  we  clinked  the 
darbies  I  on  him,  took  him  as  quiet  as  a  lamb — and  now 
he's  had  his  bit  sleep  out,  and  is  as  fresh  as  a  May  gowan, 
to  answer  what  your  honour  Hkes  to  speir."  This  nar- 
rative, delivered  with  a  wonderful  quantity  of  gesture 
and  grimace,  received  at  the  conclusion  the  thanks  and 
praises  which  the  narrator  expected. 

"  Had  he  no  arms  ?  "  asked  the  Justice. 

"  Ay,  ay,  they  are  never  without  barkers  and  slashers." 

"  Any  papers  ?  " 

"  This  bundle,"  dehvering  a  dirty  pocket-book. 

"  Go  down  stairs,  then,  Mac-Guifog,  and  be  in  wait- 
ing."    The  officer  left  the  room. 

The  clink  of  irons  was  immediately  afterwards  heard 
upon  the  stair,  and  in  two  or  three  minutes  a  man  was 
introduced,  handcuffed  and  fettered.  He  was  thick, 
brawny,  and  muscular,  and  although  his  shagged  and 
grizzled  hair  marked  an  age  somewhat  advanced,  and  his 
Btature  was  rather  low,  he  appeared,  nevertheless,  a 
person  whom  few  would  have  chosen  to  cope  with  in 
personal  conflict.  His  coarse  and  savage  features  were 
etill  flushed,  and  his  eye  still  reeled  under  the  influence 

*  Unarmed.  +  Given  information  to  the  party  concerned. 

X  Handcuffs. 


36  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

of  the  strong  potation  which  had  proved  the  immediate 
cause  of  his  seizure.  But  the  sleep,  though  short,  which 
Mac-Guffog  had  allowed  him,  and  still  more  a  sense  of 
the  peril  of  his  situation,  had  restored  to  him  the  full  use 
of  his  faculties.  The  worthy  judge,  and  the  no  less 
estimable  captive,  looked  at  each  other  steadily  for  a  long 
time  without  speaking.  Glossin  apparently  recognised 
his  prisoner,  but  seemed  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed  with 
his  investigation.  At  length  he  broke  silence.  "  Soh, 
Captain,  this  is  you  ? — you  have  been  a  stranger  on  this 
coast  for  some  years." 

"  Stranger  ! "  replied  the  other ;  "  strange  enough,  I 
think — for  hold  me  der  deyvil,  if  I  been  ever  here 
before." 

"  That  won't  pass,  Mr.  Captain." 

"  That  must  pass,  Mr.  Justice — sapperment !  " 

"  And  who  will  you  be  pleased  to  call  yourself,  then, 
for  the  present,"  said  Glossin,  "just  until  I  shall  bring 
some  other  folks  to  refresh  your  memory  concerning  who 
you  are,  or  at  least  who  you  have  been  ?  " 

"  What  bin  I  ? — donner  and  bhtzen !  I  bin  Jans 
Janson,  from  Cuxhaven — what  sail  Ich  bin  ?  " 

Glossin  took  from  a  case  wliich  was  in  the  apartment 
a  pair  of  small  pocket  pistols,  which  he  loaded  with 
ostentatious  care.  "  You  may  retire,"  said  he  to  his  clerk, 
"  and  carry  the  people  with  you,  Scrow — but  wait  in  the 
lobby  within  call. 

The  clerk  would  have  offered  some  remonstrances  to 
his  patron  on  the  danger  of  remaining  alone  with  such  a 
desperate  character,  although  ironed  beyond  the  possibihty 
of  active  exertion,  but  Glossin  waved  him  off  impatiently. 
When  he  had  left  the  room,  the  Justice  took  two  short 
turns  through  the  apartment,  then  drew  his  chair  opposite 


GUY   MANNERING.  87 

to  the  prisoner,  so  as  to  confront  him  fully,  placed  the 
pistols  before  him  in  readiness,  and  said  in  a  steady  voice, 
"  You  are  Dkk  Hatteraick  of  Flushing,  ar-e  jou  not  ?  " 

The  prisoner  turned  his  eye  instinctively  to  the  door, 
as  if  he  apprehended  some  one  was  hstening.  Glo-rsin 
rose,  opened  the  door,  so  that  from  the  chair  in  which  his 
prisoner  sate  he  might  satisfy  himself  there  was  no 
eavesdropper  within  hearing,  then  shut  it,  resumed  his 
seat,  and  repeated  his  question — "You  are  Dirk  Hat- 
teraick, formerly  of  the  Yungfrauw  Haagenslaapen,  are 
you  not  ?  " 

"  Tousand  deyvils ! — and  if  you  know  that,  why  ask 
me  ?  "  said  the  prisoner. 

"  Because  I  am  surprised  to  see  you  in  the  very  last 
place  where  you  ought  to  be,  if  you  regard  your  safety," 
observed  Glossiri,  coolly. 

"  Der  deyvil ! — no  man  regards  his  own  safety  that 
speaks  so  to  me  ! " 

"  What  ?  unarmed,  and  in  irons ! — well  said.  Captain ! " 
replied  Glossin,  ironically.  "  But,  Captain,  buUying 
woii't  do — you'll  hardly  get  out  of  this  country  without 
accounting  for  a  little  accident  that  happened  at  Warroch 
Point  a  few  years  ago." 

Hatteraick's  looks  grew  black  as  midnight. 

"  For  my  part,"  continued  Glossin,  "  I  have  no  par- 
ticular wish  to  be  hard  upon  an  old  acquaintance — but  I 
must  do  my  duty — I  shall  send  you  off  to  Edinburgh  in 
a  post-chaise  and  four  this  very  day." 

"  Poz  donner !  you  would  not  do  that  ? "  said  Hat- 
teraick, in  a  lower  and  more  humbled  tone  ;  "  why,  you 
had  the  matter  of  half  a  cargo  in  bills  on  Vanbeest  and 
Vanbruggen." 

"  It  is   so  long  since,  Captain  Hatteraick,"  answered 


38  WAVEELEY   NOVELS. 

Glossin,  superciliously,  "  that  I  really  forget  how  I  was 
recompensed  for  my  trouble." 

"  Your  trouble  ?  your  silence,  you  mean." 

"  It  was  an  affair  in  the  course  of  business/'  said 
Glossin,  "and  I  have  retired  from  business  for  some 
time." 

"  Ay,  but  I  have  a  notion  that  I  could  make  you  go 
steady  about,  and  try  the  old  course  again,"  answered 
Dirk  Hatteraick.  "  Why,  man,  hold  me  der  deyvil,  but 
I  meant  to  visit  you,  and  tell  you  something  that  concerns 
you." 

"  Of  the  boy  ?  "  said  Glossin,  eagerly. 

"  Yaw,  Mynheer,"  rephed  the  Captain,  coolly. 

"  He  does  not  live,  does  he  ?  " 

"  As  lifelich  as  you  or  I,"  said  Hatteraick. 

"  Good  God  ! — But  in  India  ?  "  exclaimed  Glossin. 

"  No — tousand  deyvils  !  here — on  this  dirty  coast  of 
yours,"  rejoined  the  prisoner. 

"  But,  Hatteraick,  this, — that  is,  if  it  be  true,  which  I 
do  not  beheve, — this  wiU  ruin  us  both,  for  he  cannot  but 
remember  your  neat  job ;  and  for  me — it  will  be  pro- 
ductive of  the  worst  consequences  !  It  will  ruin  us  both, 
I  teU  you." 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  the  seaman,  "  it  will  ruin  none  but 
you — for  I  am  done  up  already,  and  if  I  must  strap  for 
it,  all  shall  out." 

"  Zounds  ! "  said  the  Justice,  impatiently,  "  what 
brought  you  back  to  this  coast  like  a  madman  ?  " 

"  Why,  all  the  gelt  was  gone,  and  the  house  was  shak- 
ing, and  I  thought  the  job  was  clayed  over  and  forgotten," 
answered  the  worthy  skipper. 

"  Stay — what  can  be  done  ?  "  said  Glossin  anxiously. 
"  I  dare  not  discharge  you — but  might  you  not  be  rescued 


GUT   MANNERING.  39 

in  the  way — ay  sure  ?  a  word  to  Lieutenant  Brown, — • 
and  I  would  send  the  people  with  you  by  the  coast-road." 

"  No,  no  !  that  won't  do — Brown's  dead — shot — laid 
in  the  locker,  man — the  devil  has  the  picking  of  him." 

"  Dead  ? — shot  ? — at  Woodbourne,  I  suppose  ?  "  replied 
Glossin. 

"  Yaw,  Mynheer." 

Glossin  paused — ^the  sweat  broke  upon  his  brow  with 
the  agony-  of  his  feehngs,  while  the  hard-featured  mis- 
creant who  sat  x)pposite,  coolly  rolled  his  tobacco  in  his 
cheek,  and  squirted  the  juice  into  the  fire-grate.  "  It 
would  be  ruin,"  said  Glossin  to  himself,  "  absolute  ruin, 
if  the  heir  should  re-appear — and  then  what  might  be  the 
consequence  of  conniving  with  these  men  ? — yet  there  is 
so  little  time  to  take  measures. — Hark  you,  Hatteraick  ; 
I  can't  tet  you  at  liberty — but  I  can  put  you  where  you 
may  set  yourself  at  liberty — I  always  like  to  assist  an  old 
friend.  I  shall  confine  you  in  the  old  castle  for  to-night, 
and  give  these  people  double  allowance  of  grog.  Mac- 
Gufibg  will  fall  in  the  trap  in  which  he  caught  you.  The 
stancheons  on  the  window  of  the  strong  room,  as  they 
call  it,  are  wasted  to  pieces,  and  it  is  not  above  twelve 
feet  from  the  level  of  the  ground  without,  and  the  snow 
lies  thick." 

"  But  the  darbies,"  said  Hatteraick,  looking  upon  his 
fetters. 

"  Hark  ye,"  said  Glossin,  going  to  a  tool  chest,  and 
taking  out  a  small  file,  "  there's  a  friend  for  you,  and  you 
know  the  road  to  the  sea  by  the  stairs." 

Hatteraick  shook  his  chains  in  ecstasy,  as  if  he  were 
already  at  hberty,  and  strove  to  extend  his  fettered  hand 
towards  his  protector.  Glossin  laid  his  finger  upon  his 
lips  with  a  cautious  glance  at  the  door,  and  then  proceeded 


40  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

in  his  instructions.     "  When  you  escape,  jou  had  bftter 
go  to  the  Kaim  of  Derncleugh." 
"  Donner  1  that  how^  is  blown." 

"  The  devil ! — well,  thein,  you  may  steal  my  skiff  that 
Lies  on  the  beach  there,  and  away.  But  you  must  remain 
snug  at  the  Point  of  Warroch  till  I  come  to  see  you." 

"  The  Point  of  Warroch  ?  "  said  Hatteraick,  his  coun- 
tenance again  falHng — "  what,  in  the  cave,  I  suppose  ? — I 
would  rather  it  were  anywhere  else  ; — es  spuckt  da ! — 
they  say  for  certain  that  he  walks. — But,  donner  and 
blitzen !  I  never  shunned  him  alive,  and  I  won't  shun 
him  dead. — Strafe  mich  helle !  it  shall  never  be  said 
Dirk  Hatteraick  feared  either  dog  or  devil ! — So  I  am  to 
wait  there  till  I  see  you  ?  " 

"Ay,  ay,"  answered  Glossin,  "and  now  I  must  call  in 
the  men."     He  did  so  accordingly. 

"  I  can  make  nothing  of  Captain  Janson,  as  he  calls 
himself,  Mac-Guffog,  and  it's  now  too  late  to  bundle  him 
off  to  the  county  jail.  Is  there  not  a  strong  room  up 
yonder  in  the  old  castle  ?  " 

"  Ay  is  there,  sir ;  my  uncle  the  constable  ance  kept  a 
man  there  for  three  days  in  auld  EUangowan's  time.  But 
there  was  an  unco  dust  about  it — it  was  tried  in  the  Inner- 
house  afore  the  feifteen." 

"  I  know  all  that,  but  this  person  will  not  stay  there 
very  long — it's  only  a  makeshift  for  a  night — a  mere 
lock-up  house  till  farther  examination.  There  is  a  small 
room  through  which  it  opens ;  you  may  light  a  fire  for 
yourselves  there,  and  I'll  send  you  plenty  of  stuff  to  make 
you  comfortable.  But  be  sure  you  lock  the  door  upon 
the  prisoner ;  and,  hark  ye,  let  him  have  a  fire  in  the 
strong  room  too — the  season  requires  it.  Perhaps  he'll 
make  a  clean  breast  to-morrow." 


GUY   MANNERING.  41 

With  these  instructions,  and  with  a  large  allowance  of 
food  and  hquor,  the  Justice  dismissed  his  party  to  keep 
guard  for  the  night  in  the  old  castle,  under  the  full  hope 
and  belief  that  they  would  neither  spend  the  night  in 
watching  nor  prayer. 

There  was  little  fear  that  Glossin  himself  should  that 
night  sleep  over-sound.  His  situation  was  perilous  in  the 
extreme,  for  the  schemes  of  a  life  of  villany  seemed  at 
once  to  be  crumbling  around  and  above  him.  He  laid 
himself  to  rest,  and  tossed  upon  his  pillow  for  a  long  time 
in  vain.  At  length  he  fell  asleep,  but  it  was  only  to 
dream  of  his  patron, — now,  as  he  had  last  seen  him,  with 
the  paleness  of  death  upon  his  features,  then  again  trans- 
formed into  all  the  vigour  and  comehness  of  youth,  ap- 
proaching to  expel  him  from  the  mansion-house  of  his 
fathers.  Then  he  dreamed,  that  after  wandering  long 
over  a  wild  heath,  he  came  at  length  to  an  inn,  from 
which  sounded  the  voice  of  revelry ;  and  that  when  he 
entered,  the  first  person  he  met  was  Frank  Kennedy,  all 
smashed  and  gory,  as  he  had  lain  on  the  beach  at  War- 
roch  Point,  but  with  a  reeking  punch-bowl  in  his  hand. 
Then  the  scene  changed  to  a  dungeon,  where  he  heard 
Dirk  Hatteraick,  whom  he  imagined  to  be  under  sentence 
of  death,  confessing  his  crimes  to  a  clergyman. — "  After 
the  bloody  deed  was  done,"  said  the  penitent,  "  we  re- 
treated into  a  cave  close  beside,  the  secret  of  which  was 
known  but  to  one  man  in  the  country :  we  were  debating 
what  to  do  with  the  child,  and  we  thought  of  giving  it  up 
to  the  gipsies,  when  we  heard  the  cries  of  the  pursuers 
hallooing  to  each  other.  One  man  alone  came  straight 
to  our  cave,  and  it  was  that  man  who  knew  the  secret — • 
but  we  made  him  our  friend  at  the  expense  of  half  the 
value  of  the  goods  saved.     By  his  advice  we  carried  off 


42  WAVEKLEY    NOVELS. 

the  child  to  Holland  in  our  consort,  wliicli  came  the  fol- 
lowinof  niofht  to   take    us    from   the   coast.     That    man 


"  No,  I  deny  it ! — it  was  not  I !  "  said  Glossin,  in  half- 
uttered  accents  ;  and,  struggling  in  his  agony  to  express 
liis  denial  more  distinctly,  he  awoke. 

It  was,  however,  conscience  that  had  prepared  this 
m3ntal  phantasmagoria.  The  truth  was.  that  knowing 
much  better  than  any  other  person  the  haunts  of  the 
smugglers,  he  had,  while  the  others  were  seai'ching  in 
different  directions,  gone  straight  to  the  cave,  even  before 
he  had  learned  the  mui'der  of  Kennedy,  whom  he  ex- 
pected to  find  then-  prisoner.  He  came  upon  them  with 
some  idea  of  mediation,  but  found  them  in  the  midst  of 
their  guilty  terrors,  while  the  rage,  which  had  hurried 
them  on  to  murder,  began,  with  all  but  Hatteraick,  to 
sink  into  remorse  and  fear.  Glossin  was  then  indigent, 
and  greatly  in  debt,  but  he  was  ah*eady  possessed  of  ]SIr. 
Bertram's  ear,  and,  awai^e  of  the  facility  of  his  disposi- 
tion, he  saw  no  difficulty  in  enrichmg  himself  at  his  ex- 
pense, provided  the  heii'-male  were  removed ;  in  which 
case  the  estate  became  the  unlimited  property  of  the  weak 
and  prodigal  father.  Stimulated  by  present  gam  and  the 
prospect  of  contingent  advantage,  he  accepted  the  bribe 
which  the  smugglers  offered  in  their  terror,  and  connived 
au,  ur  rather  encouraged,  their  intention  of  carrying  away 
the  child  of  his  benefactor,  who,  if  left  behind,  was  old 
enough  to  have  described  the  scene  of  blood  which  he  had 
witnessed.  The  only  palliative  wliich  the  ingenuity  of 
Glossin  could  offer  to  liis  conscience  was,  that  the  temp- 
tation was  gi'eat,  and  came  suddenly  upon  him,  embracing 
as  it  were  the  very  advantages  on  which  his  mind  had  so 
long  rested,  and  promising  to  reUeve  him  from  distresses 


GUY   MANNERING.  43 

wliich  must  have  otherwise  speedily  overwhelmed  him. 
Besides,  he  endeavoured  to  think  that  self-preservation 
rendered  his  conduct  necessary.  He  was,  in  some  degree, 
in  the  power  of  the  robbers,  and  pleaded  hard  with  his 
conscience,  that,  had  he  declined  their  offers,  ths  assist- 
ance wliich  he  could  have  called  for,  though  not  dis- 
tant, might  not  have  arrived  in  time  to  save  him  from 
men  who,  on  less  provocation,  had  just  committed 
murder. 

Galled  with  the  anxious  forebodings  of  a  guilty  con- 
science, Glossin  now  arose,  and  looked  out  upon  the  night. 
The  scene  which  we  have  already  described  in  the  third 
chapter  of  this  story,  was  now  covered  with  snow,  and  the 
brilHant,  though  waste,  whiteness  of  the  land,  gave  to  the 
sea  by  contrast  a  dark  and  livid  tinge.  A  landscape  cov- 
ered with  snow,  though  abstractedly  it  may  be  called  beau- 
tiful, has,  both  from  the  association  of  cold  and  barren- 
ness, and  from  its  comparative  infrequency,  a  wild, 
strange,  and  desolate  appearance.  Objects,  well  known 
to  us  in  their  common  state,  have  either  disappeared,  or 
are  so  strangely  varied  and  disguised,  that  we  seem  gazing 
on  an  unknown  world.  But  it  was  not  with  such  reflec- 
tions that  the  mind  of  this  bad  man  was  occupied.  His 
eye  was  upon  the  gigantic  and  gloomy  outlines  of  the  old 
castle,  where,  in  a  flanking  tower  of  enormous  size  and 
thickness,  glimmered  two  lights, — one  from  the  window 
of  the  strong  room  where  Hatteraick  was  confined,  the 
other  from  that  of  the  adjacent  apartment  occupied  by  his 
keepers.  Has  he  made  his  escape,  or  will  he  be  able  to 
do  so? — Have  these  men  watched,  who  never  watched 
before,  in  order  to  complete  my  ruin  ? — If  morning  finds 
him  there,  he  must  be  committed  to  prison  ;  Mac-Mor- 
lan  or  some  other  person  will  take  the  matter  up — he 


44  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

will  be  detected — convicted — and  will  tell  all  in  re- 
venge ! " 

While  these  racking  thoughts  ghded  rapidly  tln^ough 
Glossin's  mind,  he  observed  one  of  the  lights  obscured, 
as  by  an  opaque  body  placed  at  the  window.  What  a 
moment  of  interest ! — "  He  has  got  clear  of  his  u'ons ! — 
he  is  working  at  the  stancheons  of  the  window — they  are 
surely  quite  decayed,  they  must  give  way — O  God  !  they 
have  fallen  outward  ;  I  heard  them  clink  among  the 
stones  ! — the  noise  cannot  fail  to  wake  them — furies  seize 
his  Dutch  awkwardness — The  light  burns  free  again — 
They  have  torn  him  from  the  window,  and  are  binding 
him  in  the  room ! — No  !  he  had  only  retired  an  instant 
on  the  alarm  of  the  falling  bars — he  is  at  the  window 
again — and  the  hght  is  quite  obscured  now — he  is  getting 
out!" 

A  heavy  sound,  as  of  a  body  dropped  from  a  height 
among  the  snow,  announced  that  Hatteraick  had  com- 
pleted his  escape,  and  shortly  after  Glossin  beheld  a  dark 
figure,  like  a  shadow,  steal  along  the  whitened  beach,  and 
reach  the  spot  where  the  skiff  lay.  New  cause  for  fear  ! 
— "  His  single  strength  will  be  unable  to  float  her,"  said 
Glossin  to  himself — "  I  must  go  to  the  rascal's  assistance. 
But  no !  he  has  got  her  off,  and  now,  thank  God  !  her 
sail  is  spreading  itself  against  the  moon — ay,  he  has  got 
the  breeze  now — would  to  heaven  it  were  a  tempest,  to 
sink  him  to  the  bottom  !  " 

After  this  last  cordial  wish,  he  continued  watching  the 
progress  of  the  boat  as  it  stood  away  towards  the  Point 
of  Warroch,  until  he  could  no  longer  distinguish  the 
dusky  sail  from  the  gloomy  waves  over  which  it  glided. 
Satisfied  then  that  the  immediate  danger  w^as  averted,  he 
retired  with  somewhat  more  composure  to  his  guilty  pillow. 


GUY   MANNERING.  45 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Why  dost  not  comfort  me,  and  help  me  out 
From  thia  unhallowed  and  blood-stained  hole? 

Titus  Andronicus. 

On  the  next  morning,  great  was  tlie  alarm  and  confu- 
sion of  the  officers  when  they  discovered  the  escape  of 
their  prisoner.  Mac-Guffog  appeared  before  Glossin 
with  a  head  perturbed  with  brandy  and  fear,  and  in- 
curred a  most  severe  reprimand  for  neglect  of  duty. 
The  resentment  of  the  Justice  appeared  only  to  be 
suspended  by  his  anxiety  to  recover  possession  of  the 
prisoner,  and  the  thief-takers,  glad  to  escape  from  his 
awful  and  incensed  presence,  were  sent  off  in  every  direc- 
tion (except  the  right  one)  to  recover  their  prisoner,  if 
possible.  Glossin  particularly  recommended  a  careful 
search  at  the  Kaim  of  Derncleugh,  which  was  occa- 
sionally occupied  under  night  by  vagrants  of  different 
descriptions.  Having  thus  dispersed  his  myrmidons  in 
various  directions,  he  himself  hastened  by  devdous  paths 
through  the  Wood  of  TVarroch,  to  his  appointed  interview 
with  Hatteraick,  from  whom  he  hoped  to  learn  at  more 
leisure  than  last  night's  conference  admitted,  the  circum- 
stances attending  the  return  of  the  heir  of  EUangowan  to 
his  native  country. 

With  manoeuvres  like  those  of  a  fox  when  he  doubles 
to  avoid  the  pack,  Glossin  stnwe  to  approach  the  place 


45  "WAVEKLET  NOVELS. 

of  appointment  in  a  manner  whicli  should  lea\'e  no  dis- 
tinct track  of  his  course.  "  Would  to  Heaven  it  would 
snow,"  he  said,  looking  upward,  "  and  hide  these  foot- 
prints. Should  one  of  the  officers  light  upon  them,  he 
would  run  the  scent  up  hke  a  blood-hound,  and  surprise 
us.  I  must  get  down  upon  the  seabeach,  and  contrive  to 
creep  along  beneath  the  rocks." 

And  accordingly  he  descended  from  the  chffs  with  some 
difficulty,  and  scrambled  along  between  the  rocks  and  the 
advancing  tide ;  now  looking  up  to  see  if  his  motions 
were  watched  from  the  rocks  above  him,  now  casting  a 
jealous  glance  to  mark  if  any  boat  appeared  upon  the 
sea,  from  which  his  course  might  be  discovered. 

But  even  the  feehngs  of  selfish  apprehension  were  for 
a  time  superseded,  as  Glossin  passed  the  spot  where 
Kennedy's  body  had  been  found.  It  was  marked  by  the 
fragment  of  a  rock  which  had  been  precipitated  from  the 
cliff  above,  either  with  the  body  or  after  it.  The  mass 
was  now  encrusted  with  small  shell-fish,  and  tasselled  with 
tangle  and  sea-weed;  but  still  its  shape  and  substance 
were  different  from  those  of  the  other  rocks  which  lay 
scattered  around.  His  voluntary  walks,  it  will  readily  be ' 
believed,  had  never  led  to  this  spot ;  so  that  finding  him- 
self now  there  for  the  first  time  after  the  terrible  catas- 
trophe, the  scene  at  once  recurred  to  his  mind  with  all 
its  accompaniments  of  horror.  He  remembered  how, 
like  a  guilty  thing,  ghding  from  the  neighbouring  place 
of  concealment,  he  had  mingled  wdth  eagerness,  yet  with 
caution,  among  the  ten-ified  group  who  surrounded  the 
corpse,  dreading  lest  any  one  should  ask  from  whence  he 
came.  He  remembered,  too,  with  what  conscious  fear  he 
had  avoided  gazing  upon  that  ghastly  spectacle.  The 
wild  scream   of  his  patron,   "My   bairn!    my   bairn  1" 


GUY   MANNERING.  47 

again  rang  in  his  ears.  "  Good  God ! "  lie  exclaimed, 
*'and  is  all  I  have  gained  worth  the  agony  of  that 
moment,  and  the  thousand  anxious  fears  and  horrors 
which  have  since  embittered  my  life! — O  how  I  wish 
that  I  lay  where  that  wretched  man  Hes,  and  that  he 
stood  here  in  life  and  health !  But  these  regrets  are  all 
too  late." 

Stifling,  therefore,  his  feelings,  he  crept  forward  to  the 
cave,  which  was  so  near  the  spot  where  the  body  was 
found,  that  the  smugglers  might  Lave  heard  from  their 
hiding-place  the  various  conjectures  of  the  bystanders 
concerning  the  fate  of  their  victim.  But  nothing  could 
be  more  completely  concealed  than  the  entrance  to  their 
asylum.  The  opening,  not  larger  than  that  of  a  fox- 
earth,  lay  in  the  face  of  the  cliff  directly  behind  a  large 
black  rock,  or  rather  upright  stone,  which  served  at  once 
to  conceal  it  from  strangers,  and  as  a  mark  to  point  out 
its  situation  to  those  who  used  it  as  a  place  of  retreat. 
The  space  between  the  stone  and  the  cliff  was  exceedingly 
narrow,  and  being  heaped  with  sand  and  other  rubbish, 
the  most  minute  search  would  not  have  discovered  the 
mouth  of  the  cavern,  without  removing  those  substances 
which  the  tide  had  drifted  before  it.  For  the  purpose  of 
further  concealment,  it  was  usual  with  the  contraband 
traders  who  frequented  this  haunt,  after  they  had  entered, 
to  stuff  the  mouth  with  withered  sea-weed,  loosely  piled 
together  as  if  carried  there  by  the  waves.  Dirk  Ilat- 
teraick  had  not  forgotten  this  precaution. 

Glossin,  though  a  bold  and  hardy  man,  felt  his  heart 
throb,  and  his  knees  knock  together,  when  he  prepared 
to  enter  this  den  of  secret  iniquity,  in  order  to  hold  con- 
ference with  a  felon,  whom  he  justly  accounted  one  of  the 
most  desperate  and  depraved  of  men.     "  But  he  has  no 


48  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

interest  to  injure  me,"  was  his  consolatory  reflection.  He 
examined  his  pocket-pistols,  however,  before  removing 
the  weeds  and  entering  the  cavern,  which  he  did  upon 
hands  and  knees.  The  passage,  which  at  first  was  low 
and  narrow,  just  admitting  entrance  to  a  man  in  a  creep- 
ing posture,  expanded  after  a  few  yards  into  a  high 
arched  vault  of  considerable  width.  The  bottom,  ascend- 
ing gradually,  was  covered  with  the  purest  sand.  Ere 
Glossin  had  got  upon  his  feet,  the  hoarse  yet  suppressed 
voice  of  Hatteraick  growled  through  the  recesses  of  the 
cave. 

''  Hasrel  and  donner ! — ^be'st  du  !  *' 

o 

"  Are  you  in  the  dark  ?  " 

"  Dark  ?  der  deyvil !  ay,"  said  Dirk  Hatteraick ; 
"  where  should  I  have  a  ghm  ?  " 

"  I  have  brought  hght ; "  and  Glossin  accordingly 
produced  a  tinder-box,  and  lighted  a  small  lantern. 

"  You  must  kindle  some  fire  too,  for  hold  mich  der 
deyvil,  Ich  bin  ganz  gefrome !  " 

"  It  is  a  cold  place,  to  be  sure,"  said  Glossin,  gathering 
together  some  decayed  staves  of  barrels  and  pieces  of 
wood,  which  had  perhaps  lain  in  the  cavern  since  Hat- 
teraick was  there  last. 

"  Cold  ?  Snow-wasser  and  hagel ! — it's  perdition — I 
could  only  keep  myself  ahve  by  rambling  up  and  down 
this  d — d  vault,  and  thinking  about  the  merry  rouses  we 
have  had  in  it." 

The  flame  then  began  to  blaze  brightly,  and  Hatteraick 
liung  his  bronzed  visage,  and  expanded  his  hard  and 
sinewy  hands  over  it,  with  an  avidity  resembhng  that  of 
a  famished  wretch  to  whom  food  is  exposed.  The  light 
shewed  his  savage  and  stern  features,  and  the  smoke, 
which  in  his  agony  of  cold  he  seemed  to  endure  almost 


GUY    MANNERING.  49 

to  suffocation,  after  circling  round  his  head,  rose  to  the 
dim  and  rugged  roof  of  the  cave,  through  which  it  escaped 
by  some  secret  rents  or  clefts  in  the  rock ;  the  same 
doubtless  that  afforded  air  to  the  cavern  when  the  tide 
was  in,  at  which  time  the  aperture  to  the  sea  was  filled 
with  water. 

"  And  now  I  have  brou/)ht  you  some  breakfast,"  said 
Glocsin,  producing  some  ccld  meat  and  a  flask  of  spirits. 
The  latter  Hatteraick  eagerly  seized  upon,  and  appUed 
to  his  mouth ;  and,  after  a  hearty  draught,  he  exclaimed, 
with  gi-eat  rapture,  "  Das  schmeckt ; — that  is  good — that 
warms  the  liver  !  "  Then  broke  into  the  fragment  of  a 
High-Dutch  song, 

"  Saufen  Bier  tuad  Brante-wein, 
Schmeissen  alle  die  Fenstem  ein; 
Ich  bin  liederlich, 
Du  bist  liederlich; 
Sind  wir  nicht  liederliche  Leute  a !  " 

"  Well  said,  my  hearty  Captain ! "  cried  Glossin,  en- 
deavouring to  catch  the  tone  of  revelry, — 

"  Gin  by  pailfuls,  wine  in  rivers, 
Dash  the  window-glass  to  shivers ! 

For  three  wild  lads  were  we,  brave  boys, 
And  three  wild  lads  were  we ; 
Thou  on  the  land,  and  I  on  the  sand, 
And  Jack  on  the  gallows-tree ! 

That's  it,  my  bully-boy  !     Why,  you're  alive  again  now 
And  now  let  us  talk  about  our  business." 

"  Tour  business,  if  you  please,"  said  Hatteraick ;  "  hagel 
and  donner  ! — mine  was  done  when  I  got  out  of  the  bil- 
boes." 

"  Have  patience,  my  good  friend ; — I'll  convince  you 
our  interests  ai-e  just  the  same." 

VOL.   IV.  4 


60  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Hatteraick  gave  a  short  dry  cough,  and  Glossin,  afk* 
a  pause,  proceeded. 

"  How  came  you  to  let  the  boy  escape  ?  " 

"  Wliy,  fluch  and  blitzen !  he  was  no  charge  of  mine. 
Lieutenant  Brown  gave  him  to  his  cousin  that's  in  the 
Middleburgh  house  of  Yanbeest  and  Vanbruggen,  and 
told  him  some  goose's  gazette  about  his  being  taken  in  a 
skirmish  with  the  land-sharks — he  gave  him  for  a  foot- 
boy.  Me  let  him  escape  ! — the  bastard  kinchin  should 
have  walked  the  plank  ere  I  troubled  myself  about  him.'* 

"  Well,  and  was  he  bred  a  foot-boy  then  ?  " 

"  Nein,  nein ;  the  kinchin  got  about  the  old  man's 
heart,  and  he  gave  him  his  own  name,  and  bred  him  up 
in  the  office,  and  then  sent  him  to  India — I  beli.eve  he 
would  have  packed  him  back  here,  but  his  nephew  told 
him  it  would  do  up  the  free  trade  for  many  a  day,  if  the 
youngster  got  back  to  Scotland." 

"  Do  you  think  the  younker  knows  much  of  his  own 
origin  now  ?  " 

"  Deyvil ! "  replied  Hatteraick,  "  how  should  I  tell 
what  he  knows  now  ?  But  he  remembered  something  of 
it  long.  When  he  was  but  ten  years  old,  he  persuaded 
another  Satan's  limb  of  an  English  bastard  like  himself 
to  steal  my  lugger's  khan — boat — what  do  you  call  it — 
to  return  to  his  country,  as  he  called  it — fire  him !  Be- 
fore we  could  overtake  them,  they  had  the  skiiF  out  of 
channel  as'far  as  the  Deurloo — the  boat  might  have  been 
lost." 

"  I  wish  to  Heaven  she  had — with  him  in  her ! "  ejac- 
ulated Glossin. 

''  Why,  I  was  so  angry  myself,  that,  sapperment !  I  did 
give  him  a  tip  over  the  side — but  spht  him — the  comical 
little  devil  swam  like  a  duck  ;  so  I  made  him  swim  astern 


GUY    BIANNERING.  51 

for  a  mile  to  teach  him  manners,  and  then  took  him  in 
when  he  was  sinking.  By  the  knocking  Nicholas  !  he'll 
plague  you,  now  he's  come  over  the  herring-pond  !  When 
he  was  so  high  he  had  the  spirit  of  thunder  and  hght- 
ning." 

"  How  did  he  get  back  from  India  ?  " 

"  Why,  how  should  I  know  ? — the  house  there  wag 
done  up,  and  that  gave  us  a  shake  at  Middleburgh,  I  think 
— so  they  sent  me  again  to  see  what  could  be  done  among 
my  old  acquaintances  here — ^for  we  held  old  stories  were 
done  away  and  forgotten.  So  I  had  got  a  pretty  trade 
on  foot  within  the  last  two  trips  ;  but  that  stupid  hounds- 
foot  schelm,  Brown,  has  knocked  it  on  the  head  again,  I 
suppose,  with  getting  himself  shot  by  the  colonel-man." 

"  Why  were  not  you  with  them  ?  " 

"  Why,  you  see — sapperment !  I  fear  nothing — but  it 
was  too  far  within  land,  and  I  might  have  been  scented." 

"  True.     But  to  return  to  this  youngster  " 

"  Ay,  ay,  donner  and  blitzen !  he's  your  affair,"  said  the 
Captain. 

"  — How  do  you  really  know  that  he  is  in  this  coun- 
try?" 

"  Wliy,  Gabriel  saw  him  up  among  the  hills." 

"Gabriel!  who  is  he?" 

"  A  fellow  from  the  gipsies,  that,  about  eighteen  years 
since,  was  pressed  on  board  that  d — d  fellow  Pritchard's 
sloop-of-war.  It  was  he  came  off  and  gave  us  warning 
Ihat  the  Shark  was  coming  round  upon  us  the  day  Ken- 
nedy was  done ;  and  he  told  us  how  Kennedy  had  given 
the  information.  The  gipsies  and  Kennedy  had  somo 
quarrel  besides-  This  Gab  went  to  the  East  Indies  in 
the  same  ship  with  your  younker,  and,  sapperment !  knew 
him  well,  though  the  other  did  not  remember  him.     Gab 


52  WAYEELEY   XOTELS. 

kept  out  of  his  eje  though,  as  he  had  served  the  States 
ag&inst  England,  and  was  a  deserter  to  boot ;  and  he  sent 
us  word  du-ectlj,  that  we  might  know  of  his  being  here 
— though  it  does  not  concern  us  a  rope's  end." 

"  So,  then,  really,  and  in  sober  earnest,  he  is  actually 
in  this  country,  Hatteraick,  between  friend  and  friend  ?  " 
asked  Glossin,  seriously. 

"  Wetter  and  donner !  yaw.  What  do  you  take  me 
for?" 

For  a  blood-thirsty,  fearless  miscreant !  thought  Glos- 
sin internally ;  but  said  aloud,  "  And  which  of  your 
people  was  it  that  shot  young  Hazlewood  ?  " 

"  Sturm-wetter  ! "  said  the  Captain,  "  do  ye  think  we 
were  mad  ?  none  of  us,  man.  Gott !  the  country  was 
too  hot  for  the  trade  akeady  with  that  d — d  frolic  of 
Brown's,  attacking  what  you  call  Woodbourne  House." 

"  Why,  I  am  told,"  said  Glossin,  "  it  was  Brown  who 
shot  Hazlewood  ?  " 

"  Not  our  heutenant,  I  promise  you ;  for  he  was  laid 
six  feet  deep  at  Demcleugh  the  day  befoce  the  thing 
happened.  Tausend  deyvils,  man  !  do  ye  think  that  he 
could  rise  out  of  the  earth  to  shoot  another  man  ?  " 

A  hght  here  began  to  break  upon  Glossin's  confusion 
of  ideas.  "  Did  you  not  say  that  the  younker,  as  you 
call  him,  goes  by  the  name  of  Brown  ?  " 

"  Of  Bro^\Ti  ?  yaw — Vanbeest  Brown  ;  old  Vanbeest 
Brown,  of  our  Vanbeest  and  Vanbruggen,  gave  him  liis 
own  name — he  did." 

"  Then,"  said  Glossin,  rubbing  his  hands,  "  it  is  he,  by 
Heaven,  who  has  committed  this  crime  !  " 

"  And  what  have  we  to  do  with  that  ?  "  demanded 
Hatteraick. 

Glossin  paused  ;  and,  fertile  in  expedients,  hastily  ran 


GUI    MAXXEEING.  53 

over  his  project  in  his  own  mind,  and  then  drew  near  the 
smuggler  with  a  confidential  air.  "  You  know,  my  dear 
Hatteraick,  it  is  our  principal  bushiess  to  get  rid  of  this 
young  man  ?  " 

"  Umph  ! "  answered  Dhk  Hatteraick. 

"  Not,"  continued  Glossin — "  not  that  I  would  wish  any 
personal  harm  to  him — if — if — if  we  can  do  without. 
Now,  he  is  liable  to  be  seized  upon  by  justice,  both  sls 
bearing  the  same  name  with  your  Heutenant,  who  was 
engaged  in  that  affair  at  Woodbourne,  and  for  firing  at 
young  Hazlewood  with  mtent  to  kill  or  wound." 

"  Ay,  ay,"  said  Dirk  Hatteraick  ;  "  but  what  good  will 
that  do  you  ?  He'll  be  loose  again  as  soon  as  he  shows 
himself  to  carry  other  colours." 

"  True,  my  dear  Dirk — well  noticed,  my  friend  Hat- 
teraick !  But  there  is  ground  enough  for  a  temporary 
imprisonment  till  he  fetch  his  proofs  from  England  or 
elsewhere,  my  good  friend.  I  understand  the  law,  Cap- 
tain Hatteraick,  and  I'll  take  it  upon  me,  simple  Gilbert 
Glossin  of  Ellangowan,  justice  of  peace  for  the  county 

of ,  to  refuse  his  bail,  if  he  should  offer  the  best  iu 

the  country,  until  he  is  brought  up  for  a  second  examina- 
tion— now  where  d'ye  think  I'll  incarcerate  him  ?  " 

"  Hagel  and  wetter  !  what  do  I  care  ?  " 

"  Stay,  my  friend — you  do  care  a  great  deal.  Do  you 
know  your  goods,  that  were  seized  and  carried  to  Wood- 
bourne,  are  now  lying  in  the  Custom-house  at  Portan- 
ferry  ?  "  (a  small  fishing-town.)  "  Now  I  will  commit 
this  younker  " 

"  When  you  have  caught  him  ?  " 

"  Ay^  ay,  when  I  have  caught  him — I  shall  not  be 
long  about  that — I  will  commit  him  to  the  Workhouse, 
or  Bridewell,  which  you  know  is  beside  the  Custom- 
house." 


54  VTATEKLET    NOTELS. 

"  Yaw,  the  Rasp-liouse,  I  know  it  very  well." 

"  I  will  take  care  that  the  red-coats  are  dispersed 
through  the  country  ;  you  land  at  night  with  the  crew 
of  your  lugger,  receive  your  own  goods,  and  carry  the 
younker  Brown  with  you  back  to  Flushing.  Won't 
that  do  ?  " 

"  Ay,  caiTy  him  to  Flushing,"  said  the  Captain,  "  or— 
to  America  ?  " 

"  Ay,  ay,  my  friend." 

«  Or— to  Jericho  ?  " 

"  Psha  !     Wherever  you  have  a  mind." 

"  Ay,  or — pitch  him  overboard  ?  " 

"  Nay,  I  advise  no  violence." 

"  Xein,  nein — you  leave  that  to  me.  Sturm-wetter ! 
I  know  you  of  old.  But,  hark  ye,  what  am  I,  Dirk 
Hatteraick,  to  be  the  better  of  this  ?  " 

"  Why,  is  it  not  your  interest  as  well  as  mine  ?  "  said 
Glossin  :  "  besides,  I  set  you  free  this  morning." 

"  You  set  me  free ! — Donner  and  dey vil !  I  set  myself 
free.  Besides,  it  was  all  in  the  way  of  your  profession, 
and  happened  a  long  time  ago,  ha !  ha !  ha !  " 

"  Pshaw  !  pshaw  !  don't  let  us  jest ;  I  am  not  against 
making  a  handsome  comphment — but  it's  your  affair  as 
well  as  mine." 

"  What  do  you  talk  of  my  affair  ?  is  it  not  you  that 
keep  the  younker's  whole  estate  from  him  ?  Dfrk  Hat- 
teraick never  touched  a  stiver  of  his  rents." 

"  Hush !  hush  ! — I  tell  you  it  shall  be  a  joint  business.** 

"  Why,  will  ye  give  me  half  the  kitt  ?  " 

"  What,  half  the  estate  ? — d'ye  mean  we  should  set  up 
house  together  at  EUangowan,  and  take  the  barony,  ridge 
about?" 

"  Stu]"m-wetter,  no  !  but  you  might  give  uie  haff  tha 


GUY    MANNERING.  DO 

Talue'-half  the  gelt.  Live  with  you? — nein — I  would 
have  a  lusthaus  of  mine  own  on  the  Middleburgh  dyke, 
and  a  blumengarten  like  a  burgomaster's." 

"Ay,  and  a  wooden  lion  at  the  door,  and  a  painted 
sentinel  in  the  garden,  with  a  pipe  in  his  mouth  ! — But, 
hark  ye,  Ilatteraick— what  will  all  the  tulips,  and  flower- 
gardens,  and  pleasure-houses  in  the  Netherlands  do  for 
you,  if  you  are  hanged  here  in  Scotland  ?  " 

Hatteraick's  countenance  fell.  "  Der  Deyvil ! — 
hanged  ?  " 

"  Ay,  hanged,  meinheer  Captain.  The  devil  can  scai'ce 
save  Dirk  Hatteraick  from  being  hanged  for  a  murderer 
and  kidnapper,  if  the  younker  of  Ellangowan  should 
settle  in  this  country,,  and  if  the  gallant  Captain  chances 
to  be  caught  here  re-establishing  his  fair  trade !  And  I 
won't  say,  but,  as  peace  is  now  so  much  talked  of,  their 
High  Mightinesses  may  not  hand  him  over  to  oblige  their 
new  allies,  even  if  he  remained  in  faderland." 

"  Poz  hagel  blitzen  and  donner  !  I — I  doubt  you  say 
true." 

"  Not,"  said  Glossin,  perceiving  he  had  made  the 
desired  impression,  "  not  that  I  am  against  being  civil ;  " 
and  he  slid  into  Hatteraick's  passive  hand  a  bank-note  of 
some  value. 

"  Is  this  all  ?  "  said  the  smuggler  ;  "  you  had  the  price 
of  half  a  cargo  for  winking  at  our  job,  and  made  us  do 
fcur  business  too." 

"  But,  my  good  friend,  you  forget — in  this  case  you 
fvill  recover  all  your  own  goods." 

"  Ay,  at  the  risk  of  all  our  o^vn  necks — we  could  do 
rhat  without  you." 

"  I  doubt  that,  Captain  Hatteraick,"  said  Glossin  drily, 
•*  because  you  would  probably  find  a  dozen  red-  .oats  at 


56  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

the  Custom-house,  whom  it  must  be  mj  busmess,  if  we 
agree  about  this  matter,  to  have  removed.  Come,  come, 
I  will  be  as  hberal  its  I  can,  but  you  should  have  a 
conscience." 

"  Now  strafe  mich  der  dejfel ! — this  provokes  me  more 
than  all  the  rest ! — You  rob  and  you  murder,  and  jou 
want  me  to  rob  and  murder,  and  play  the  silver-cooper, 
or  kidnapper,  as  you  call  it,  a  dozen  a  times  over,  and  then, 
hagel  and  windsturm  !  you  speak  to  me  of  conscience  ! 
Can  you  think  of  no  fairer  way  of  getting  rid  of  this 
unlucky  lad  ?  " 

"  No,  meinheer ;  but  as  I  commit  him  to  your 
charge" 

"  To  my  charge — to  the  charge  of  steel  and  gunpow- 
der !  and — well,  if  it  must  be,  it  must — but  you  have  a 
tolerably  good  guess  what's  like  to  come  of  it." 

"  0,  my  dear  friend,  I  trust  no  degree  of  severity  will 
be  necessary,"  replied  Glossin. 

"  Severity !  "  said  the  fellow  with  a  kind  of  groan. 
"  I  wish  you  had  had  my  dreams  when  I  first  came  to 
this  dog-hole,  and  tried  to  sleep  among  the  dry  sea-weed. 
First,  there  was  that  d — d  fellow  there,  with  his  broken 
back,  sprawling  as  he  did  when  I  hurled  the  rock  over 
a-top  on  him — ha  !  ha  ! — you  would  have  sworn  he  was 
lying  on  the  floor  where  you  stand,  wriggUng  hke  a 
crushed  frog — and  then  " 

"  Nay,  my  friend,"  said  Glossin,  interrupting  him, 
"  what  signifies  going  over  this  nonsense  ? — If  you  are 
turned  chicken-hearted,  why,  the  game's  up,  that's  all — 
the  game's  up  with  us  both." 

"  Chicken-hearted  ? — No.  I  have  not  lived  so  long 
upon  the  account  to  start  at  last,  neither  for  devil  noi 
Dutchman." 


GUT   MAXNEEING.  57 

"  "Well,  then,  take  another  schnaps — the  cold's  at  jour 
heart  still. — And  now  tell  me,  are  any  of  your  old  crew 
with  you  ?  " 

"  Nein — all  dead,  shot,  hanged,  drowned,  and  damned. 
Brown  was  the  last — all  dead  but  Gipsy  Gab,  and  he 
would  go  off  the  country  for  a  spiU  of  money— or  he'll 
be  quiet  for  his  own  sake — or  old  Meg,  his  aunt,  will 
keep  him  quiet  for  hers." 

"  Which  Meg  ?  " 

"  Meg  Merrilies,  the  old  devil's  limb  of  a  gipsy  witch." 

«  Is  she  still  ahve  ?  " 

"  Yaw." 

"  And  in  this  country  ?  " 

"  And  in  this  country.  She  was  at  the  Kaim  of  Dem- 
cleugh,  at  Vanbeest  Brown's  last  wake,  as  they  call  it,  the 
other  night,  with  two  of  my  people,  and  some  of  her  own 
blasted  gipsies." 

"  That's  another  breaker  a-head.  Captain !  Will  she 
not  squeak,  think  ye  ?  " 

"  Not  she — she  won't  start — she  swore  by  the  salmon,* 
if  we  did  the  kinchin  no  harm,  she  would  never  tell  how 
the  ganger  got  it.  WTiy,  man,  though  I  gave  her  a  wipe 
with  my  hanger  in  the  heat  of  the  matter,  and  cut  her 
arm,  and  though  she  was  so  long  after  in  trouble  about  it 
up  at  your  borough-town  there,  der  deyvil !  old  Meg  was 
as  true  as  steel." 

"Why,  that's  true,  as  you  say,"  replied  Glossin. 
"  And  yet  if  she  could  be  carried  over  to  Zealand,  or 
Hamburgh,  or — or — anywhere  else,  you  know,  it  were  as 
well." 

Hatteraick  jumped  upright  upon  his  feet,  and  looked 
at  Glossin  from  head  to  heel. — "I  don't  see  the  goat's 
*  The  great  and  inviolable  oath  of  the  strolling  tribes. 


58  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

foot,"  he  said  ; — "  and  yet  lie  must  be  the  very  deyvil  !— 
But  Meg  Merrilies  is  closer  yet  with  the  Kobold  than 
you  are — ay,  and  I  had  never  such  weather  as  after 
having  drawn  her  blood. — Nein,  nein,  I'll  meddle  with 
her  no  more — she's  a  witch  of  the  fiend — a  real  deyvil's- 
kind — but  that's  her  affair.  Donner  and  wetter!  I'll 
neither  make  nor  meddle — that's  her  work. — But  for  the 
rest — why,  if  I  thought  the  trade  would  not  suffer,  I 
would  soon  rid  you  of  the  younker,  if  you  send  me  word 
when  he's  under  embargo." 

In  brief  and  under  tones  the  two  worthy  associates 
concerted  their  enterprise,  and  agreed  at  which  of  his 
haunts  Hatteraick  should  be  heard  of.  The  stay  of  his 
lugger  on  the  coast  was  not  difficult,  as  there  were  no  king's 
vessels  there  at  the  time. 


GUT   MANNEEING.  59 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

You  are  one  of  those  that  will  not  serve  God  if  the  devil  bids  you   — 
Because  we  come  to  do  you  service,  you  think  we  are  riiflans. 

Otheixo. 

When  Glossin  returned  liome,  he  found,  among  other 
letters  and  papers  sent  to  him,  one  of  considerable  im- 
portance. It  was  signed  bj  Mr.  Protocol,  an  attorney  in 
Edinburgh,  and,  addressing  him  as  the  agent  for  Godfrey 
Bertram,  Esq.,  late  of  Ellangowan,  and  his  representa- 
tives, acquainted  him  with  the  sudden  death  of  Mrs. 
Margaret  Bertram  of  Singleside,  requesting  him  to 
inform  his  clients  thereof,  in  case  they  should  judge  it 
proper  to  have  any  person  present  for  their  interest  at 
opening  the  repositories  of  the  deceased.  Mr.  Glossin 
perceived  at  once  that  the  letter-writer  was  unacquainted 
with  the  breach  which  had  taken  place  between  him  and 
his  late  patron.  The  estate  of  the  deceased  lady  should 
by  rights,  as  he  well  knew,  descend  to  Lucy  Bertram  ; 
but  it  was  a  thousand  to  one  that  the  caprice  of  the  old 
lady  might  have  altered  its  destination.  After  running 
over  contingencies  and  probabilities  in  his  fertile  mind, 
to  ascertain  what  sort  of  personal  advantage  might  accrue 
to  him  from  this  incident,  he  could  not  perceive  any  mode 
of  availing  himself  of  it,  except  in  so  far  as  it  might  go  to 
assist  his  plan  of  recovering,  or  rather  creating,  a  charac- 
ter, the  want  of  which  he  had  already  experienced,  and 


6l>  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

was  llkelj  to  feel  yet  more  deeply.  "  I  must  place  my- 
self," he  thought,  "  on  strong  ground,  that  if  anything 
goes  wrong  with  Dirk  Hatteraick's  project,  I  may  have 
prepossessions  in  my  favour  at  least." — Besides,  to  do 
Glossin  justice,  bad  as  he  was,  he  might  feel  some  desire 
to  compensate  to  Miss  Bertram  in  a  small  degree,  and  in 
a  case  in  which  his  own  interest  did  not  interfere  with 
hers,  the  infinite  mischief  which  he  had  occasioned  to  her 
family.  He  therefore  resolved  early  the  next  morning 
to  ride  over  to  Woodbourne. 

It  was  not  without  hesitation  that  he  took  this  step, 
having  the  natural  reluctance  to  face  Colonel  Mannering, 
which  fraud  and  villany  have  to  encounter  honour  and 
probity.  But  he  had  great  confidence  in  his  own  savoir 
faire.  His  talents  were  naturally  acute,  and  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  line  of  his  profession.  He  had  at 
different  times  resided  a  good  deal  in  England,  and  his 
address  was  free  both  from  country  rusticity  and  profes- 
sional pedantry  ;  so  that  he  had  considerable  powers  both 
of  address  and  persuasion,  joined  to  an  unshaken  effron- 
tery, which  he-  affected  to  disguise  under  plainness  of 
manner.  Confident,  therefore,  in  himself,  he  appeared 
at  Woodbourne,  about  ten  in  the  morning,  and  was 
admitted  as  a  gentleman  come  to  wait  upon  Miss  Ber- 
tram. 

He  did  not  announce  himself  until  he  was  at  the  door 
of  the  breakfast-parlour,  when  the  servant,  by  his  desire, 
said  aloud — "  Mr.  Glossin,  to  wait  upon  Miss  Bertram." 
Lucy,  remembering  the  last  scene  of  her  father's  exist- 
ence, turned  as  pale  as  death,  and  had  well-nigh  fallen 
from  her  chair.  Julia  Mannering  flew  to  her  assistance, 
and  they  left  the  room  together.  There  remained  Colo- 
nel Mannering,  Charles  Hazlewood,  with  his  arm  in  a 


GUY    MA^NNEEING.  61 

sling,  and  the  Dominie,  whose  gaunt  visage  and  wall-ejes 
assumed  a  most  hostile  aspect  on  recognising  Glossin. 

That  honest  gentleman,  though  somewhat  abashed  by 
the  effect  of  his  first  mtroduction,  advanced  with  con- 
fidence, and  hoped  he  did  not  intrude  upon  the  ladies. 
Colonel  Mannering,  in  a  very  upright  and  stately  man- 
ner, observed,  that  he  did  not  know  to  what  he  was  to 
impute  the  honour  of  a  visit  from  Mr.  Glossin. 

"  Hem !  hem ! — I  took  the  liberty  to  wait  upon  Miss 
Bertram,  Colonel  Mannering,  on  account  of  a  matter  of 
business." 

"  If  it  can  be  communicated  to  Mr.  Mac-Morlan,  her 
agent,  sir,  I  believe  it  will  be  more  agreeable  to  Miss 
Bertram." 

"  I  beg  pardon,  Colonel  Mannering,"  said  Glossin, 
making  a  wretched  attempt  at  an  easy  demeanour  ;  "  you 
are  a  man  of  the  world — ^there  are  some  cases  in  which 
it  is  most  prudent  for  all  parties  to  treat  with  principals." 

"  Then,"  replied  Mannering,  with  a  repulsive  air,  "  if 
Mr.  Glossin  will  take  the  trouble  to  state  his  object  in  a 
letter,  I  will  answer  that  Miss  Bertram  pays  proper 
attention  to  it." 

"  Certainly,"  stammered  Glossin ; — "  but  there  are  cases 
in  which  a  viva  voce  conference — Hem  !  I  perceive — I 
know — ^that  Colonel  Mannering  has  adopted  some  prej- 
udices which  may  make  my  visit  appear  intrusive  ;  but 
I  submit  to  his  good  sense,  whether  he  ought  to  exclude 
me  from  a  hearing  without  knowing  the  purpose  of  my 
visit,  or  of  how  much  consequence  it  may  be  to  the 
young  lady  whom  he  honours  with  his  protection." 

"  Certainly,  sir,  I  have  not  the  least  intention  to  do 
60,"  replied  the  Colonel.  "  I  will  learn  Miss  Bertram's 
pleasure  on  the  subject,  and  acquaint  Mr.  Glossin,  if  he 


62  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

can  spare  time  to  wait  for  her  answer."  So  saving,  he 
left  the  room. 

Glossin  had  still  remained  standing  in  the  midst  of 
the  apartment.  Colonel  Mannering  had  made  not  the 
shghtest  motion  to  invite  him  to  sit,  and  indeed  had  re- 
mained standing  himself  during  their  short  interview. 
"When  he  left  the  room,  however,  Glossin  seized  upon  a 
chair,  and  threw  himself  into  it  with  an  air  between  em- 
barrassment and  effrontery.  He  felt  the  silence  of  his 
companions  disconcerting  and  oppressive,  and  resolved  to 
interrupt  it. 

"  A  fine  day,  Mr.  Sampson." 

The  Dominie  answered  with  something  between  an 
acquiescent  grunt  and  an  indignant  groan. 

"  You  never  come  down  to  see  your  old  acquaintance 
on  the  Ellangowan  property,  Mr.  Sampson — You  would 
find  most  of  the  old  stagers  still  stationary  there.  I  have 
too  much  respect  for  the  late  family  to  disturb  old  resi- 
denters,  even  under  pretence  of  improvement.  Besides 
it's  not  my  way — I  don't  hke  it — I  beheve,  Mr.  Sampson, 
Scripture  pai'ticularly  condemns  those  who  oppress  the 
poor,  and  remove  landmarks." 

"  Or  who  devour  the  substance  of  orphans,"  subjoined 
the  Dominie.  "  Anathema !  Maranatha  !  "  So  saying, 
he  rose,  shouldered  the  folio  which  he  had  been  perusing, 
faced  to  the  right  about,  and  marched  out  of  the  room 
with  the  strides  of  a  grenadier. 

Mr.  Glossin,  no  way  disconcerted,  at  least  feeling  it 
necessary  not  to  appear  so,  turned  to  young  Hazlewood, 
who  was  apparently  busy  with  the  newspaper.  "  Any 
news,  sir  ?  "  Hazlewood  raised  his  eyes,  looked  at  him, 
and  pushed  the  paper  towards  him,  as  if  to  a  stranger  in 
a  coffee-house,  then  rose,  and  was  about  to  leave  the 


GUT    MANNERING.  63 

room.  "I  beg  pardon,  Mr.  Hazlewood — ^biit  I  can't  help 
wishing  you  joy  of  getting  so  easily  over  that  infernal 
accident."  Tiiis  was  answered  by  a  sort  of  inclination 
of  the  head,  as  slight  and  stiff  as  could  well  be  imagined. 
Yet  it  encouraged  our  man  of  law  to  proceed.  "  I  can 
promise  you,  Mr.  Hazlewood,  few  people  have  taken  the 
interest  in  that  matter  which  I  have  done,  both  for  the 
sake  of  the  country,  and  on  account  of  my  particular 
I  espect  for  your  family,  which  have  so  high  a  stake  in  it ; 
indeed  so  very  high  a  stake,  that,  as  Mr.  Featherhead  is 
turning  old  now,  and  as  there's  a  talk,  since  his  last 
stroke,  of  his  taking  the  Chiltern  Hundreds,  it  might  be 
worth  your  while  to  look  about  you.  I  speak  as  a  friend, 
Mr.  Hazlewood,  and  as  one  who  understands  the  roll ; 
and  if  in  going  over  it  together  " 

"  I  beg  pardon,  sir,  but  I  have  no  views  in  which  your 
assistance  could  be  useful." 

"  Oh,  very  well — perhaps  you  are  right — it's  quite 
time  enough,  and  I  love  to  see  a  young  gentleman  cau- 
tious. But  I  was  talking  of  your  wound — I  think  I  have 
got  a  clew  to  that  business — I  think  I  have — and  if  I 
don't  bring  the  fellow  to  condign  punishment !  " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  once  more  ;  but  your  zeal 
outruns  my  wishes.  I  have  every  reason, to  think  the 
wound  was  accidental — certainly  it  was  not  premeditated. 
Against  ingratitude  and  premeditated  treachery,  should 
you  find  any  one  guilty  of  them,  my  resentment  wiU  be 
as  warm  as  your  own."     This  was  Hazlewood's  answer. 

"  Another  rebuff,"  thought  Glossin ;  "  I  must  try  him 

upon  the  other  tack. Right,  sir ;  very  nobly  said  !  I 

would  have  no  more  mercy  on  an  ungrateful  man  than  I 
would  on  a  woodcock. — And  now  we  talk  of  sport,"  (thi? 
was  a  sort  of  diverting  of  the  conversation  which  Glossin 


64  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

had  learned  from  his  former  patron,)  "  I  see  you  often 
carrj  a  gun,  and  I  hope  you  will  be  soon  able  to  take  the 
field  again.  I  observe  you  confine  yourself  always  to 
your  own  side  of  the  Hazleshaws-burn.  I  hope,  my  dear 
sir,  you  will  make  no  scruple  of  following  your  game  to 
the  EDangowan  bank :  I  beHeve  it  is  rather  the  bes< 
exposure  of  the  two  for  woodcocks,  although  both  are 
capital." 

As  this  offer  only  excited  a  cold  and  constrained  bow, 
Glossin  was  obliged  to  remain  silent,  and  was  presently 
afterwards  somewhat  relieved  by  the  entrance  of  Colonel 
Mannering. 

"  I  have  detained  you  some  time,  I  fear,  sir,"  said  he, 
addressing  Glossin  :  "I  wished  to  prevail  upon  Miss 
Bertram  to  see  you,  as,  in  my  opinion,  her  objections 
ought  to  give  way  to  the  necessity  of  hearing  in  her  own 
person  what  is  stated  to  be  of  importance  that  she  should 
know.  But  I  find  that  circumstances  of  recent  occur- 
rence, and  not  easily  to  be  forgotten,  have  rendered  her 
so  utterly  repugnant  to  a  personal  interview  with  Mr. 
Glossin,  that  it  would  be  cruelty  to  insist  upon  it :  and 
she  has  deputed  me  to  receive  his  commands,  or  proposal 
— or,  in  short,  whatever  he  may  wish  to  say  to  her." 

"  Hem,  hem  !  I  am  sorry,  sir — I  am  very  sorry.  Colonel 
Mannering,  that  Miss  Bertram  should  suppose — that 
any  prejudice,  in  short — or  .  idea  that  anything  on  my 
pai't " 

*'  Sir,"  said  the  inflexible  Colonel,  "  where  no  accui-a 
tion  is  made,  excuses  or  explanations  are  unnecessary 
Have  you  any  objection  to  communicate  to  me,  as  Miss 
Bertram's  temporary  guardian,  the  circumstances  which 
you  conceive  to  interest  her  ?  " 

"None,  Colonel  Mannering;  she  could  not  choose  a 


GUT   MANNERINGT.  65 

more  respectable  friend,  or  one  with  whom  I,  in  partic- 
ular, would  more  anxiously  wish  to  communicate  frankly." 

"  Have  the  goodness  to  speak  to  the  pomt,  sir,  if  you 
please." 

"Why,  sir,  it  is  not  so  easy  all  at  once — but  ]Mi\ 
Hazlewood  need  not  leave  the  room, — I  mean  so  well  to 
Miss  Bertram,  that  I  could  wish  the  whole  world  to  hear 
my  part  of  the  conference." 

"  My  friend  Mr.  Charles  Hazlewood  will  not  probably 
be  anxious,  Mr.  Glossin,  to  listen  to  what  cannot  concern 
him — and  now,  when  he  has  left  us  alone,  let  me  pray 
you  to  be  short  and  explicit  in  what  you  have  to  say.  I 
am  a  soldier,  sir,  somewhat  impatient  of  forms  and  intro- 
ductions." So  saying,  he  drew  himself  up  in  his  chair, 
and  waited  for  Mr.  Glossin's  communication. 

"  Be  pleased  to  look  at  that  letter,"  said  Glossin,  put- 
ting Protocol's  epistle  into  Mannering's  hand,  as  the 
shortest  way  of  stating  his  business. 

The  Colonel  read  it,  and  returned  it,  after  pencilling 
the  name  of  the  writer  in  his  memorandum-book.  "  This, 
sir,  does  not  seem  to  require  much  discussion — I  will  see 
that  Miss  Bertram's  interest  is  attended  to." 

"  But,  sir, — but,  Colonel  Mannering,"  added  Glossin, 
"  there  is  another  matter  which  no  one  can  explain  but 
myself.  This  lady — this  Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram,  to  my 
certain  knowledge,  made  a  general  settlement  of  her 
affairs  in  Miss  Lucy  Bertram's  favour  while  she  Hved 
with  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Bertram,  at  Ellangowan.  The 
Dominie — that  was  the  name  by  which  my  deceased 
friend  always  called  that  very  respectable  man  ]Mr. 
Sampson — he  and  I  witnessed  the  deed.  And  she  had 
full  power  at  that  time  to  make  such  a  settlement,  for  she 
was  in  fee  of  the  estate  of  Singleside  even  then,  although 

VOL.  IV.  6 


66  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

it  was  life-rented  by  an  elder  sister.  It  was  a  wliimsical 
settlement  of  old  Singleside's,  sir  ;  he  pitted  the  two  cats 
his  daughters  against  each  other, — ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  " 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  Mannering,  without  the  slightest  smile 
of  sympathy — "  but  to  the  purpose.  You  say  that  this 
lady  had  powei-  to  settle  her  estate  on  Miss  Bertram,  and 
that  she  did  so  ?  " 

"  Even  so,  Colonel,"  replied  Glossin.    "  I  think  I  should 

understand  the  law — I  have  followed  it  for  many  years, 

and  though  I  have  given  it  up  to  retire  upon  a  handsome 

competence,  I  did  not  throw  away  that  knowledge  which 

is  pronounced  better  than  house  and  land,  and  which  I 

take  to  be  the  knowledge  of  the  law,  since,  as  our  common 

rhyme  has  it, 

'Tis  most  excellent, 

To  win  the  land  that's  gone  and  spent, 

No,  no, — I  love  the  smack  of  the  whip — I  have  a  little,  a 
very  little  law  yet,  at  the  service  of  my  friends." 

Glossin  ran  on  in  this  manner,  thinking  he  had  made 
a  favourable  impression  on  Mannering.  The  Colonel 
indeed  reflected  that  this  might  be  a  most  important  crisis 
for  Miss  Bertram's  interest,  and  resolved  that  his  strong 
inclination  to  throw  Glossin  out  at  window,  or  at  door, 
should  not  interfere  with  it.  He  put  a  strong  curb  on  his 
temper,  and  resolved  to  listen  with  patience  at  least,  if 
without  complacency.  He  therefore  let  Mr.  Glossin  get 
to  the  end  of  his  self-congratulations,  and  then  asked  him 
if  he  knew  where  the  deed  was  ? 

"  I  know — that  is,  I  think — I  believe  I  can  recover  it. 
In  such  cases  custodiers  have  sometimes  made  a  charge.' 

"  We  won't  differ  as  to  that,  sir,"  said  the  Colonel, 
taking  out  his  pocket-book. 

'  But,  my  dear  sir,  you  take  me  so  very  short — I  said 


GTJT    MANNERING.  67 

some  persons  might  make  such  a  claim — I  mean  lor  pay- 
ment of  the  expenses  of  the  deed,  trouble  in  the  affair, 
&c.  But  I,  for  my  own  part,  only  wish  Miss  Bertram 
and  her  friends  to  be  satisfied  that  I  am  acting  towards 
her  with  honour.  There's  the  paper,  sir !  It  would  have 
been  a  satisfaction  to  me  to  have  delivered  it  into  Miss 
Bertram's  own  hands,  and  to  have  wished  her  joy  of  the 
prospects  which  it  opens.  But  since  her  prejudices  on 
the  subject  are  invincible,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  trans- 
mit her  my  best  wishes  through  you,  Colonel  Mannering, 
and  to  express  that  I  shall  willingly  give  my  testimony  in 
support  of  that  deed  when  I  shall  be  called  upon.  I  have 
the  honour  to  wish  you  a  good  morning,  sir." 

This  parting  speech  was  so  well  got  up,  and  had  so 
much  the  tone  of  conscious  integrity  unjustly  suspected, 
that  even  Colonel  Mannering  was  staggered  in  his  bad 
opinion.  He  followed  him  two  or  three  steps,  and  took 
leave  of  him  with  more  politeness  (though  still  cold  and 
formal)  than  he  had  paid  during  his  visit.  Glossin  left 
the  house,  half  pleased  with  the  impression  he  had  made, 
half  mortified  by  the  stern  caution  and  proud  reluctance 
with  which  he  had  been  received.  "  Colonel  Mannering 
might  have  had  more  politeness,"  he  said  to  himself — "  it 
is  not  every  man  that  can  bring  a  good  chance  of  £400  a 
year  to  a  penniless  girl.  Singleside  must  be  up  to  £400 
a  year  now — there's  Reilageganbeg,  Gillifidget,  Loverless, 
Liealone,  and  the  Spinster's  Knowe — good  £400  a  year. 
Some  people  might  have  made  their  own  of  it  in  my 
place — and  yet,  to  own  the  truth,  after  much  consid- 
eration, I  don't  see  how  that  is  possible." 

Glossin  was  no  sooner  mounted  and  gone,  than  the 
Colonel  despatched  a  groom  for  Mr.  Mac-Morlan,  and 
putting  the  deed  into  his  hand,  req^uested  to  know  if  it 


68  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

was  likely  to  be  available  to  his  friend  Lucy  Bertram. 
Mr.  Mac-Morlan  perused  it  with  eyes  that  spai-kled  with 
deHght,  snapped  his  fingers  repeatedly,  and  at  length 
exclaimed,  "  Available  ! — it's  as  tight  as  a  glove — nae- 
body  could  make  better  wark  than  Glossin,  when  he  didna 
let  down  a  steek  on  purpose.     But"  (his  countenance 

falling)   "  the  auld  b ,  that  I  should  say  so,  might 

alter  at  pleasure  ! " 

"  Ah  !  And  how  shall  we  know  whether  she  has  done 
sc"' 

"  Somebody  must  attend  on  Miss  Bertram's  part,  when 
the  repositories  of  the  deceased  are  opened." 

"  Can  you  go  ?  "  said  the  Colonel. 

"  I  fear  I  cannot,"  repHed  Mac-Morlan ;  "  I  must  attend 
a  jury  trial  before  our  court." 

«  Then  I  will  go  myself,"  said  the  Colonel ;  "  I'll  set 
out  to-morrow.  Sampson  shall  go  with  me — he  is  witness 
to  this  settlement.     But  I  shall  want  a  legal  ad^dser." 

"  The  gentleman  that  was  lately  sheriff  of  this  county 
is  high  in  reputation  as  a  barrister;  I  will  give  you  a 
card  of  introduction  to  him." 

"  What  I  hke  about  you,  INIr.  Mac-Morlan,"  said  the 
Colonel,  "  is,  that  you  always  come  straight  to  the  point ; 
— let  me  have  it  instantly.  Shall  we  tell  ISIiss  Lucy  her 
chance  of  becoming  an  heiress  ?  " 

"  Surely,  because  you  must  have  some  powers  from 
her,  which  I  will  instantly  draw  out.  Besides,  I  will  be 
caution  for  her  prudence,  and  that  she  will  consider  it 
only  in  the  light  of  a  chance." 

Mr.  Mac-Morlan  judged  well.  It  could  not  be  dis- 
cerned from  IMiss  Bertram's  manner,  that  she  founded 
exulting  hopes  upon  the  prospect  thus  unexpectedly  open- 
ing before  her.     She  did,  indeed,  in  the  course  of  the 


GUT   MANNERING. 


69 


evening,  ask  Mr.  Mac-Morlan,  as  if  hj  accident,  what 
might  be  the  annual  income  of  the  Hazlewood  property  ; 
but  shall  we  therefore  aver  for  certain  that  she  was  con- 
sidering whether  an  heiress  of  four  hundred  a  year  might 
be  a  suitable  match  for  the  young  Laird  ? 


70  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Give  me  a  cup  of  sack,  to  make  mine  eyes  look  red — for  I  must  speak  In  pas 
rion,  and  I  mil  do  it  in  King  Gambyses'  vein. 

Henet  IV.  Part  I. 

INlANNERiNa,  with  Sampson  for  his  companion,  lost  no 
time  in  his  journey  to  Edinburgh.  They  travelled  in  the 
Colonel's  post-chariot,  who  knowing  his  companion's 
habits  of  abstraction,  did  not  choose  to  lose  him  out 
of  his  own  sight,  far  less  to  trust  him  on  horseback, 
where,  in  all  probability,  a  knavish  stable-boy  might  with 
little  address  have  contrived  to  mount  him  with  his  face 
to  the  tail.  Accordingly,  with  the  aid  of  his  valet,  who 
attended  on  horseback,  he  contrived  to  bring  Mr.  Samp- 
son safe  to  an  inn  in  Edinburgh, — for  hotels  in  those  days 
there  were  none, — without  any  other  accident  than  arose 
from  his  straying  twice  upon  the  road.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  recovered  by  Barnes,  who  understood  his  humour, 
when,  after  engaging  in  close  colloquy  with  the  school- 
master of  Moffat,  respecting  a  disputed  quanti^^y  in 
Horace's  seventh  Ode,  Book  H.,  the  dispute  led  on  to 
another  controversy,  concerning  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
word  Malohathro,  in  that  lyric  effusion.  His  second 
escapade  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the  field 
of  Rullion-green,  which  was  dear  to  his  Presbyterian 
predilections.  Having  got  out  of  the  carriage  for  an  in- 
stant, he  saw  the  sepulchral  monument  of  the  slain  at  the 


GUY   MANNERING.  71 

distance  of  about  a  mile,  and  was  arrested  by  Barnes  in 
his  progress  up  the  Pentland  Hills,  having  on  both  occa- 
sions forgot  his  friend,  patron,  and  fellow-traveller,  as 
completely  as  if  he  had  been  in  the  East  Indies.  On 
being  reminded  that  Colonel  Mannering  was  waiting  for 
him,  he  uttered  his  usual  ejaculation  of  "  Prodigious  ! — I 
was  obhvious,"  and  then  strode  back  to  his  post.  Barnes 
was  surprised  at  his  master's  patience  on  both  occasions, 
knowing  by  experience  how  httle  he  brooked  neglect  or 
delay ;  but  the  Dominie  was  in  every  respect  a  privileged 
person.  His  patron  and  he  were  never  for  a  moment  in 
each  other's  way,  and  it  seemed  obvious  that  they  were 
formed  to  be  companions  thi'ough  hfe.  If  Mannering 
wanted  a  particular  book,  the  Dommie  could  bring  it ;  if 
he  wished  to  have  accounts  summed  up  or  checked,  his 
assistance  was  equally  ready  ;  if  he  desired  to  recall  a 
particular  passage  in  the  classics,  he  could  have  recourse 
to  the  Dominie  as  to  a  dictionary ;  and  all  the  while,  this 
walking  statue  was  neither  presuming  when  noticed,  nor 
sulky  when  left  to  himself.  To  a  proud,  shy,  reserved 
man,  and  such  in  many  respects  was  Mannering,  this  sort 
of  hving  catalogue,  and  animated  automaton,  had  all  the 
advantages  of  a  literary  dumb-waiter. 

As  soon  as  they  arrived  in  Edinburgh,  and  were 
established  at  the  George  Inn,  near  Bristo-Port,  then 
kept  by  old  Cockburn,  (I  love  to  be  particular,)  the 
Colonel  desired  the  waiter  to  procure  him  a  guide  to  Mr. 
Pleydell's,  the  advocate,  for  whom  he  had  a  letter  of  in- 
troduction from  Mr.  Mac-Morlan.  He  then  commanded 
Barnes  to  have  an  eye  to  the  Dominie,  and  walked 
forth  with  a  chairman,  who  was  to  usher  him  to  the  man 
of  law. 

The  period  was  near  the  end  of  the   American  war., 


72  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

The  desire  of  room,  of  air,  and  of  decent  aecommodatioTi, 
had  not  as  yet  made  very  much  progress  in  the  capital  of 
Scotland.  Some  efforts  had  been  made  on  the  south  side 
of  the  town  towards  building  houses  within  themselves^  as 
they  are  emphatically  termed  ;  and  the  New  Town  on  the 
north,  since  so  much  extended,  was  then  just  commenced. 
But  the  great  bulk  of  the  better  classes,  and  particularly 
those  connected  with  the  law,  still  hved  in  flats  or  dun- 
geons of  the  Old  Town.  The  manners  also  of  some  of 
the  veterans  of  the  law  had  not  admitted  innovation. 
One  or  two  eminent  lawyers  still  saw  their  chents  in 
taverns,  as  was  the  general  custom  fifty  years  before; 
and  although  their  habits  were  already  considered  as  old- 
fashioned  by  the  younger  barristers,  yet  the  custom  of 
mixing  wine  and  revelry  with  serious  business  was  still 
maintained  by  those  senior  counsellors,  who  loved  the  old 
road,  either  because  it  was  such,  or  because  they  had  got 
too  well  used  to  it  to  travel  any  other.  Among  those 
praisers  of  the  past  time,  who  with  ostentatious  obstinacy 
affected  the  manners  of  a  former  generation,  was  this 
same  Paulus  Pleydell,  Esq.,  otherwise  a  good  scholar,  an 
excellent  lawyer,  and  a  worthy  man. 

Under  the  guidance  of  his  trusty  attendant,  Colonel 
Mannering,  after  threading  a  dark  lane  or  two,  reached 
the  High  Street,  then  clanging  with  the  voices  of  oyster- 
women  and  the  bells  of  pie-men ;  for  it  had,  as  his  guide 
assured  him,  just  "  chappit  eight  upon  the  Tron."  It  was 
long  since  Mannering  had  been  in  the  street  of  a  crowded 
metropoHs,  which,  with  its  noise  and  clamour,  its  sounds 
of  trade,  of  revelry  and  of  license,  its  variety  of  lights, 
and  the  eternally  changing  bustle  of  its  hundred  groups, 
offers,  by  night  especially,  a  spectacle  which,  though 
composed  of  the  most  vulgar  materials   when  they  are 


GUY    JIANNERING.  73 

separately  considered,  has,  when  thej  are  combined,  a 
striking  and  powerful  effect  on  the  imagination.  The 
extraordinary  height  of  the  houses  was  marked  by  lights, 
which,  glimmering  irregularly  along  their  front,  ascended 
so  high  among  the  attics,  that  they  seemed  at  length  to 
twinkle  in  the  middle  sky.  This  coup  d'oeil,  which  still 
subsists  in  a  certain  degree,  was  then  more  imposing, 
living  to  the  uninterrupted  range  of  buildings  on  each 
side,  which,  broken  only  at  the  space  where  the  North 
Bridge  joins  the  main  street,  formed  a  superb  and  uniform 
Place,  extending  from  the  front  of  the  Luckenbooths  to 
the  head  of  the  Canongate,  and  corresponding  in  breadth 
and  length  to  the  uncommon  height  of  the  buildings  on 
either  side. 

Mannering  had  not  much  time  to  look  and  to  admire. 
His  conductor  hurried  him  across  this  striking  scene,  and 
suddenly  dived  with  him  into  a  very  steep  paved  lane. 
Turning  to  the  right,  they  entered  a  scale-staircase,  as  it 
is  called,  the  state  ci  which,  so  far  as  it  could  be  judged 
of  by  one  of  his  senses,  annoyed  Mannering's  dehcacy  not 
a  little.  When  they  had  ascended  cautiously  to  a  con- 
siderable height,  they  heard  a  heavy  rap  at  a  door,  still 
two  stories  above  them.  The  door  opened,  and  imme- 
diately ensued  the  sharp  and  worrying  bark  of  a  dog, 
the  squalling  of  a  woman,  the  screams  of  an  assaulted 
cat,  and  the  hoarse  voice  of  a  man,  who  cried  in  a  most 
imperative  tone,  "Will  ye.  Mustard.?  will  ye? — down 
sir !  down  ! " 

"  Lord  preserve  us  ! "  said  the  female  voice,  "  an  he 
had  worried  our  cat,  IVIr.  Pleydell  would  ne'er  hae  for- 
given me !  " 

"  Aweel,  my  doo,  the  cat's  no  a  prin  the  waur — So  he'a 
no  in,  ye  say  ?  " 


74  TVAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  Na,  IVIr.  Pleydell's  ne'er  in  the  house  on  Saturday  at 
e'en,"  answered  the  female  voice. 

"And  the  morn's  Sabbath  too,"  said  the  querist;  "I 
dinna  ken  what  will  be  done." 

By  this  time  Mannering  appeared,  and  found  %,  tall 
strong  countryman,  clad  in  a  coat  of  pepper-and-salt 
coloured  mixture,  with  huge  metal  buttons,  a  glazed  hat 
and  boots,  and  a  large  horsewhip  beneath  his  arm,  in 
colloquy  with  a  slip-shod  damsel,  who  had  in  one  hand 
the  lock  of  the  door,  and  in  the  other  a  pail  of  whiting,  or 
camstane,  as  it  is  called,  mixed  with  water — a  circum- 
stance which  indicates  Saturday  night  in  Edinburgh. 

"  So  Mr.  Pleydell  is  not  at  home,  my  good  girl  ?  "  said 
Mannering. 

"  Ay,  sir,  he's  at  hame,  but  he's  no  in  the  house :  he's 
aye  out  on  Saturday  at  e'en." 

"  But,  my  good  girl,  I  am  a  stranger,  and  my  business 
express. — Will  you  tell  me  where  I  can  find  him  ?  " 

"  His  honour,"  said  the  chairman,  "  will  be  at  Cleri- 
hugh's  about  this  time — Hersell  could  hae  tell'd  ye  that, 
but  she  thought  ye  wanted  to  see  his  house." 

"  Well,  then,  show  me  to  this  tavern — I  suppose  he 
will  see  me,  as  I  come  on  business  of  some  conse- 
quence ?  " 

"  I  dinna  ken,  sir,"  said  the  girl ;  "  he  disna  like  to  be 
disturbed  on  Saturdays  wi'  business — ^but  he's  aye  civil 
to  strangers." 

"  I'll  gang  to  the  tavern  too,"  said  our  friend  Dinmont, 
"  for  I  am  a  stranger  also,  and  on  business  e'en  sic 
like." 

"  Na,"  said  the  handmaiden,  "  an  he  see  the  gentleman, 
he'll  see  the  simple  body  too — but.  Lord's  sake,  dinna  say 
it  was  me  sent  ye  there ! " 


GUT   MANNERING.  75 

"  Atweel,  I'm  a  simple  body,  that's  true,  liinney,  but  I 
am  no  come  to  steal  ony  o'  his  skeel  for  naething,"  said 
the  farmer  in  his  honest  pride,  and  strutted  away  down 
stairs,  followed  by  Mannering  and  the  cadie.  Manner- 
ing  could  not  help  admiring  the  determined  stride  with 
which  the  stranger  who  preceded  them  divided  the 
press,  shouldering  from  him,  by  the  mere  weight  and 
impetus  of  his  motion,  both  drunk  and  sober  passengers. 
"He'll  be  a  Teviotdale  tup  tat  ane,"  said  the  chair- 
man, "  tat's  for  keeping  ta  crown  o'  ta  causeway  tat 
gate ;  he'll  no  gang  far  or  he'll  get  somebody  to  bell  ta  cat 
wi'  him." 

His  shrewd  augury,  however,  was  not  fulfilled.  Those 
who  recoiled  from  the  colossal  weight  of  Dinmont,  on 
looking  up  at  his  size  and  strength,  apparently  judged 
him  too  heavy  metal  to  be  rashly  encountered,  and  suf- 
fered him  to  pursue  his  course  unchallenged.  Follow- 
ing in  the  wake  of  this  first-rate,  Mannering  proceeded 
till  the  farmer  made  a  pause,  and,  looking  back  to  the 
chairman,  said,  "I'm  thinking  this  will  be  the  close, 
friend.?" 

"  Ay,  ay,"  replied  Donald,  "  tat's  ta  close." 

Dinmont  descended  confidently,  then  turned  into  a  dark 
alley — then  up  a  dark  stair — and  then  into  an  open  door. 
While  he  was  whistling  shrilly  for  the  waiter,  as  if  he  had 
been  one  of  his  colHe  dogs,  Mannering  looked  round  him, 
and  could  hardly  conceive  how  a  gentleman  of  a  liberal 
profession,  and  good  society,  should  choose  such  a  scene 
for  social  indulgence.  Besides  the  miserable  entrance, 
the  house  itself  seemed  paltry  and  half  ruinous.  The 
passage  in  which  they  stood  had  a  window  to  the  close, 
which  admitted  a  Httle  light  during  the  day-time,  and  a 
villanous  compound  of  smells  at  ail  times,  but  more  espe- 


76  '    WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

cially  towards  evening.  Corresponding  to  tMs  windovv 
was  a  borrowed  light  on  the  other  side  of  the  passage, 
looking  into  the  kitchen,  which  had  no  direct  communica- 
tion with  the  free  air,  but  received  in  the  day-time,  at 
second-hand,  such  straggling  and  obscure  light  as  found 
its  way  from  the  lane  through  the  window  opposite.  At 
present,  the  interior  of  the  kitchen  was  visible  by  its  own 
huge  fires — a  sort  of  Pandemonium,  where  men  and 
women,  half  undressed,  were  busied  in  baking,  broiling, 
roasting  oysters,  and  preparing  devils  on  the  gridiron; 
the  mistress  of  the  place,  with  her  shoes  slip-shod,  and 
her  hair  straggling  like  that  of  Megaera  from  under  a 
round-eared  cap,  toiling,  scolding,  receiving  orders,  giving 
them,  and  obeying  them  all  at  once,  seemed  the  presiding 
enchantress  of  that  gloomy  and  fiery  region. 

Loud  and  repeated  bursts  of  laughter,  from  different 
quarters  of  the  house,  proved  that  her  labours  were  ac- 
ceptable, and  not  unrewarded  by  a  generous  public 
With  some  difficulty  a  waiter  was  prevailed  upon  to  show 
Colonel  Mannering  and  Dinmont  the  room  where  their 
friend,  learned  in  the  law,  held  his  hebdomadal  carousals. 
The  scene  which  it  exhibited,  and  particularly  the  attitude 
of  the  counsellor  himself,  the  principal  figure  therein, 
struck  his  two  clients  with  amazement. 

Mr.  Pleydell  was  a  lively,  sharp-looking  gentleman, 
with  a  professional  shrewdness  in  his  eye,  and,  generally 
speaking,  a  professional  formality  in  his  manners.  But 
this,  like  his  three-tailed  wig  and  black  coat,  he  could  slif 
off  on  a  Saturday  evening,  when  surrounded  by  a  party 
of  jolly  companions,  and  disposed  for  what  he  called  his 
altitudes.  On  the  present  occasion,  the  revel  had  lasted 
since  four  o'clock,  and  at  length,  under  the  direction  of  a 
venerable  compotator,  who  had  shared  the  sports  and  fes* 


GUY   MANXERING.  77 

tivitj  of  tliree  generations,  the  frolicsome  company  had 
begun  to  practise  the  ancient  and  now  forgotten  pastime 
of  Hlgli  Jinhs.  This  game  was  played  in  several  differ- 
ent ways.  Most  frequently  the  dice  were  thrown  by  the 
company,  and  those  upon  whom  the  lot  fell  were  obliged 
to  assume  and  maintain  for  a  time,  a  certain  fictitious 
character,  or  to  repeat  a  certain  number  of  fescennino 
verses  in  a  particular  order.  If  they  departed  from  the 
characters  assigned,  or  if  their  memory  j^roved  treacher- 
ous \^  the  repetition,  they  incurred  forfeits,  which  were 
either  compounded  for  by  swallowing  an  additional 
bumper,  or  by  paying  a  small  sum  towards  the  reckoning. 
At  this  sport  the  jovial  company  were  closely  engaged, 
when  Mannering  entered  the  room. 

Mr.  Counsellor  Pleydell,  such  as  we  have  described 
him,  was  enthroned,  as  a  monarch,  in  an  elbow-chair, 
placed  on  the  dining-table,  his  scratch  wig  on  one  side,  his 
head  crowned  with  a  bottle-slider,  his  eye  leering  with  an 
expression  betwixt  fun  and  the  effects  of  wine,  while  his 
court  around  him  resounded  with  such  crambo  scraps  of 
verse  as  these : 

"WTiere  is  GeruBto  now  ?  and  what's  become  of  him  ? 
Gerunto's  di-owned  because  he  could  not  swim,  &c.  &;c. 

Such,  O  Themis,  were  anciently  the  sports  of  thy  Scot- 
tish children !  Dmmont  was  first  in  the  room.  He 
stood  aghast  a  moment, — and  then  exclaimed,  "  It's  him, 
sure  enough — Deil  o'  the  hke  o'  that  ever  I  saw  ! " 

At  the  sound  of  "  Mr.  Dinmont  and  Colonel  Manner- 
ing wanting  to  speak  to  you,  sir,"  Pleydell  turned  his 
head,  and  blushed  a  little  when  he  saw  the  very  genteel 
figure  of  the  English  stranger.  He  was,  however,  of 
the  opinion  of  Falstaff,  "Out,  ye  villains,,  play  out  the 


78  WAVERLEY   XOTELS. 

plaj ! "  wisely  judging  it  the  better  way  to  appear  totally 
unconcerned.  ^'  Where  be  our  guards  ?  "  exclaimed  this 
second  Justinian ;  "  see  ye  not  a  stranger  kniglit  from 
foreign  parts  arrived  at  tliis  our  court  of  Holyrood, — with 
our  bold  yeoman  Andrew  Dinmont,  who  has  succeeded 
to  the  keeping  of  our  royal  flocks  within  the  forest  of 
Jedwood,  where,  thanks  to  our  royal  care  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  they  feed  as  safe  as  if  they  were  within 
the  bounds  of  Fife  ?  Where  be  our  heralds,  our  pursui- 
vants, our  Lyon,  our  Marchmount,  our  Carrick,  and  our 
Snowdown  ?  Let  the  strangers  be  placed  at  our  board, 
and  regaled  as  beseemeth  their  quahty,  and  this  our  high 
hohday — to-morrow  we  will  hear  their  tidings." 

"  So  please  you,  my  liege,  to-morrow's  Sunday,"  said 
one  of  the  company. 

"  Sunday,  is  it  ?  then  we  will  give  no  offence  to  the 
assembly  of  the  ku*k — on  Monday  shall  be  their  audi- 
ence." 

Mannering,  who  had  stood  at  first  uncertain  whether  to 
advance  or  retreat,  now  resolved  to  enter  for  the  moment 
into  the  whim  of  the  scene,  though  internally  fretting  at 
Mac-Morlan  for  sendiug  him  to  consult  with  a  crack- 
brained  humourist.  He  therefore  advanced  with  three 
profound  congees,  and  craved  permission  to  lay  his  cre- 
dentials at  the  feet  of  the  Scottish  monarch,  in  order  to 
be  perused  at  his  best  leisure.  The  gravity  with  which 
he  accommodated  himself  to  the  humour  of  the  moment, 
and  the  deep  and  humble  mclination  with  which  he  had 
at  first  declined,  and  then  accepted,  a  seat  presented  by 
the  master  of  the  ceremonies,  procured  him  three  rounds 
of  applause. 

"  Deil  hae  me,  if  they  arena  a'  mad  thegither !  "  said 
Dinmont,  occujDying  with  less  ceremony  a  seat  at  tJo 


GUY   MANNERING.  79 

bottom  of  tlie  table,  "  or  else  tliej  hae  taen  Yule  before 
it  comes,  and  are  gaun  a-guisardlng." 

A  large  glass  of  claret  was  offered  to  Mannering,  who 
drank  it  to  the  health  of  the  reigning  prince.  "  You  ai'e, 
I  presume  to  guess,"  said  the  monarch,  "  that  celebrated 
Sir  Miles  Mannering,  so  renowned  in  the  French  wars, 
and  may  well  pronounce  to  us  if  the  wines  of  Gascony 
lose  their  flavour  in  our  more  northern  realm." 

Mannering,  agreeably  flattered  by  this  allusion  to  the 
fame  of  his  celebrated  ancestor,  replied,  by  professing 
himself  only  a  distant  relation  of  the  preux  chevalier, 
and  added,  "  that  in  his  opinion  the  wine  was  superla- 
tively good." 

"It's  ower  cauld  for  my  stamach,"  said  Dinmont,  set- 
ting down  the  glass  (empty,  however.) 

"  We  wiU  correct  that  quality,"  answered  King  Paulus, 
the  first  of  the  name ;  "  we  have  not  forgotten  that  the 
moist  and  humid  air  of  our  valley  of  Liddel  inclines  to 
sti'onger  potations. — Seneschal,  let  our  faithful  yeoman 
have  a  cup  of  brandy ;  it  will  be  more  germain  to  the 
matter." 

"  And  now,"  said  Mannering,  "  since  we  have  unwa- 
rily intruded  upon  your  majesty  at  a  moment  of  mirthful 
retirement,  be  pleased  to  say  when  you  will  indulge  a 
stranger  with  an  audience  on  those  affairs  of  weight 
which  have  brought  him  to  your  northern  capital." 

The  monarch  opened  Mac-Morlan's  letter,  and,  run- 
ning it  hastily  over,  exclaimed  with  his  natural  voice  and 
manner,  "Lucy  Bertram  of  EUangowan,  poor  dear  las- 


sie 


"  A  forfeit !    a  forfeit !  "    exclaimed  a  dozen  voices  ; 
'*  his  majesty  has  forgot  his  kingly  character." 

"  Not  a  whit !  not  a  whit ! "  replied  the  king  ; — "  I'll 


80  WAYERLET   NOVELS. 

be  judged  by  tliis  courteous  knight.  May  not  a  monarch 
love  a  maid  of  low  degree  ?  Is  not  King  Copbetua  and 
the  Beggar-maid  an  adjudged  case  in  point  ?  " 

"  Professional !  professional ! — another  forfeit ! "  ex 
claimed  the  tumultuary  nobiHty. 

"  Had  not  our  royal  predecessors,"  cor  inued  the  mon- 
arch, exalting  his  sovereign  voice  to  drown  these  dis- 
affected clamours, — "  had  they  not  their  Jean  Logies, 
their  Bessie  Carmichaels,  their  Oliphants,  their  Sandi- 
lands,  and  then-  Weirs,  and  shall  it  be  denied  to  us  even 
to  name  a  maiden  whom  we  dehght  to  honour  ?  Nay, 
then,  sink  state,  and  perish  sovereignty !  for,  like  a  second 
Charles  V.,  we  will  abdicate,  and  seek  in  the  private 
shades  of  hfe  those  pleasures  which  are  denied  to  a 
throne." 

So  saying  he  flung  away  his  crown,  and  sprung  from 
his  exalted  station  with  more  agility  than  could  have  been 
expected  from  his  age,  ordered  lights  and  a  wash-hand 
basin  and  towel,  with  a  cup  of  green  tea,  into  another 
room,  and  made  a  sign  to  Mannei-ing  to  accompany  him. 
In  less  than  two  minutes  he  washed  his  face  and  hands, 
settled  his  wig  in  the  glass,  and,  to  Mannering's  great 
surprise,  looked  quite  a  different  man  from  the  childish 
Bacchanal  he  had  seen  a  moment  before. 

"  There  are  folks,"  he  said,  "  Mr.  Mannering,  before 
whom  one  should  take  care  how  they  play  the  fool — 
because  they  have  either  too  much  malice,  or  too  Httle 
wit,  as  the  poet  says.  The  best  compliment  I  can  pay 
Colonel  Mannering,  is  to  show  I  am  not  ashamed  to 
expose  myself  before  him — and  truly  I  think  it  is  a  com- 
pliment I  have  not  spared  to-night  on  your  good-nature. — 
But  what's  that  great  strong  fellow  wanting  ?  " 

Dinmont,  who  had  pushed  after  Mannering  into  the 


GUY   MANNERxNG.  81 

room,  began  witli  a  scrape  of  his  foot  and  a  scratch  of 
his  head  in  unison.  "  I  am  Dandie  Dinmont,  sir,  of  the 
Charhes-hope — the  Liddesdale  lad — ye'll  mind  me  ?  It 
was  for  me  you  won  yon  grand  plea." 

"  What  plea,  you  loggerhead  ? "  said  the  lawyer  ; 
**  d'ye  think  I  can  remember  all  the  fools  that  come  to 
plague  me  ?  " 

"  Lord,  sir,  it  was  the  grand  plea  about  the  grazing  o* 
the  Langtae-head,"  said  the  farmer. 

"  Well,  curse  thee,  never  mind  ; — give  me  the  memo- 
rial,* and  come  to  me  on  Monday  at  ten,"  replied  the 
learned  counsel. 

"  But,  sir,  I  haena  got  ony  distinct  memorial." 

"  No  memorial,  man  ?  "  said  Pleydell. 

"  Na,  sir,  nae  memorial,"  answered  Dandie  ;  "  for  your 
honour  said  before,  Mr.  Pleydell,  ye'll  mind,  that  ye 
liked  best  to  hear  us  hill-folk  tell  our  ain  tale  by  word  o* 
mouth." 

"  Beshrew  my  tongue  that  said  so  ! "  answered  the 
counsellor  ;  "  it  will  cost  my  ears  a  dinning. — Well,  say 
in  two  words  what  you've  got  to  say — you  see  the  gentle- 
man waits." 

"  Ou,  sir,  if  the  gentleman  likes  he  may  play  his  ain 
spring  first ;  it's  a'  ane  to  Dandie." 

"  Now,  you  looby,"  said  the  lawyer,  "  cannot  you  con- 
ceive that  your  business  can  be  nothing  to  Colonel  Man- 
nering,  but  that  he  may  not  choose  to  have  these  great 
ears  of  thine  regaled  with  his  matters  ?  " 

"  Aweel,  sir,  just  as  you  and  he  hke,  so  ye  see  to  my 

business,"  said   Dandie,  not  a  whit  disconcerted  by  the 

roughness  of  this  reception.     "  We're  at  the  auld  wark 

o'  the  marches  again,  Jock  o'  Dawston  Cleugh  and  me. 

*  The  Scottish  memorial  corresponds  to  the  English  brief. 

VOL.   IV.  6 


82  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Ye  see  we  march  on  the  tap  o'  Touthop-rigg  after  we 
pass  the  Pomoragrains  ;  for  the  Pomoragrains,  and 
Slackenspool,  and  Bloodjlaws,  thej  come  in  there,  and 
thej  belang  to  the  Peel ;  but  after  je  pass  Pomoragi-ains 
at  a  muckle  great  saucer-headed  cutlugged  stane,  that 
they  ca'  Charhes  Chuckle,  there  Dawston  Cleugh  and 
CharHes-hope  they  march.  Now,  I  say,  the  march  rius 
on  the  tap  o'  the  hill  where  the  \Nand  and  water  shears ;  but 
Jock  o'  Dawston  Cleugh  again,  he  contravenes  that,  and 
says  that  it  hands  down  by  the  auld  di'ove-road  that  gaea 
awa  by  the  Knot  o'  the  Gate  ower  to  Keeldar-wai'd — > 
and  that  makes  an  unco  difference." 

"  And  what  difference  does  it  make  friend  ? "  said 
Pleydell.     "  How  many  sheep  will  it  feed  ?  " 

"  Ou,  no  mony,"  said  Dandie,  scratching  his  head ; 
"  it's  lying  high  and  exposed — it  may  feed  a  hog,  or 
aiblins  twa  in  a  good  year." 

"  And  for  this  grazing,  which  may  be  worth  about  five 
shillings  a-year,  you  are  willing  to  thi'ow  away  a  hundred 
pound  or  two  ?  " 

"  Na,  sir,  it's  no  for  the  value  of  the  grass,"  replied 
Dinmont,  "  it's  for  justice." 

"  My  good  friend,"  said  Pleydell,  "justice,  like  charity, 
should  begin  at  home.  Do  you  justice  to  your  wife  and 
family,  and  think  no  more  about  the  matter." 

Dinmont  still  hngered,  twisting  his  hat  in  his  hand — 
"  It's  no  for  that,  sir, — but  I  would  like  ill  to  be  bragged 
wi'  him ; — he  threeps  he'll  bring  a  score  o'  witnesses  and 
mair — and  I'm  sure  there's  as  mony  will  swear  for  me 
as  for  him,  folk  that  lived  a'  their  days  upon  the  Charlies* 
hope,  and  wadna  like  to  see  the  land  lose  its  right." 

"  Zounds,  man,  if  it  be  a  point  of  honour,"  said  the 
lawyer,  "  why  don't  your  landlords  take  it  up  ?  " 


GUT   MANNERING.  83 

"I  dinna  ken,  sir,"  (scratching  Ms  liead  again  ;) 
"  there's  been  nae  election-dusts  lately,  and  the  lairds  are 
unco  neighbourly,  and  Jock  and  me  cannot  get  them  to 
yoke  thegither  about  it  a'  that  we  can  say ;  but  if  ye 
thought  we  might  keep  up  the  rent " 

"  No  !  no  !  that  will  never  do,"  said  Pleydell ; — "  con- 
found you.  why  don't  you  take  good  cudgels,  and  settle 
it?" 

"  Od,  sir,"  answered  the  farmer,  "  we  tried  that  three 
times  already — that's  twice  on  the  land  and  ance  at  Lock- 
erby  fair.  But  I  dinna  ken — we're  baith  gey  good  at 
single-stick,  and  it  couldna  weel  be  judged." 

"  Then  take  broadswords,  and  be  d — d  to  you,  as  your 
fathers  did  before  you,"  said  the  counsel  learned  in  the 
law. 

"  Aweel,  sir,  if  ye  think  it  wadna  be  again  the  law,  it's 
a*  ane  to  Dandie." 

"  Hold !  hold ! "  exclaimed  Pleydell,  "  we  shall  have 
another  Lord  Soulis'  mistake — Pr'ythee,  man,  compre- 
hend me  ;  I  wish  you  to  consider  how  very  trifling  and 
foolish  a  lawsuit  you  wish  to  engage  in." 

"Ay,  sir  ?  "  said  Dandie,  in  a  disappointed  tone.  ".  So 
ye  winna  take  on  wi'  me,  I'm  doubting  ?  " 

"  Me  !  not  I — Go  home,  go  home,  take  a  pint  and 
agree."  Dandie  looked  but  half  contented,  and  still 
remained  stationary.     "  Anything  more,  my  friend  ?  " 

"  Only,  sir,  about  the  succession  of  this  leddy  that's 
dead, — auld  Miss  Margaret  Bertram  o'  Singleside." 

"  Ay,  what  about  her  ? "  said  the  counsellor,  rather 
surprised. 

"  Ou,  we  have  nae  connexion  at  a'  wi'  the  Bertrams," 
eaid  Dandie — "  they  were  grand  folk  by  the  like  o'  us. — 
But  Jean  Liltup,  that  was  auld  Singleside's  housekeeper, 


84  WAVEKLET   NOYELS. 

and  the  motlier  of  these  twa  young  ladies  that  are  gane — 
the  last  o'  them's  dead  at  a  ripe  age,  I  trow — Jean  Liltup 
came  out  o'  Liddel  water,  and  she  was  as  near  our  con- 
nexion as  second  cousin  to  my  mother's  half-sister.  She 
drew  up  wi'  Singleside,  nae  doubt,  when  she  was  his 
housekeeper,  and  it  was  a  sair  vex  and  gi'ief  to  a'  her  kith 
and  kin.  But  he  acknowledged  a  marriage,  and  satisfied 
the  kirk — and  now  I  wad  ken  frae  you  if  we  hae  not 
some  claim  by  law  ?  " 

"  Not  the  shadow  of  a  claim." 

"  Aweel,  we're  nae  puirer,"  said  Dandle, — "  but  she 
may  hae  thought  on  us  if  she  was  minded  to  make  a 
testament. — Weel,  sir,  I've  said  my  say — I'se  e'en  wish 
you  good-night,  and  " putting  his  hand  in  his  pocket. 

"  No,  no,  my  friend ;  I  never  take  fees  on  Saturday 
night,  or  without  a  memorial — away  with  you,  Dandie." 
And  Dandie  made  his  reverence,  and  departed  ao 
cordingly. 


GUY   MAN.NERING.  85 


CHAPTER  XXXYII. 

But  this  poor  farce  has  neither  truth,  nor  art, 
To  please  the  fancy  or  to  touch  the  heart. 
Dark  but  not  awful,  dismal  but  yet  mean, 
With  anxious  bustle  moves  the  cumbrous  scene ; 
Presents  no  objects  tender  or  profound. 
But  spreads  its  cold  unmeaning  gloom  around. 

Parish  Register. 

"  Your  majesty,"  said  Mannering,  laughing,  "  lias 
Bolemnized  your  abdication  by  an  act  of  mercy  and 
charity. — That  fellow  will  scarce  think  of  going  to  law." 

"  Oh,  you  are  quite  wrong,''  said  the  experienced  law- 
yer. "  The  only  difference  is,  I  have  lost  iiiy  client  and 
my  fee.  He'll  never  rest  till  he  finds  somebody  to  en- 
courage him  to  commit  the  folly  he  has  predetermined. — 
No !  no !  I  have  only  shown  you  another  weakness  of  my 
chai'acter — ^I  always  speak  truth  of  a  Saturday  night." 

"  And  sometimes  through  the  week,  I  should  think," 
said  Mannering,  continuing  the  same  tone. 

"  Why,  yes  ;  as  far  as  my  vocation  will  permit.  I  am, 
as  Hamlet  says,  indifferent  honest,  when  my  clients  and 
their  solicitors  do  not  make  me  the  medium  of  conveying 
their  double-distilled  lies  to  the  bench.  But  oportet  vi- 
vere  /  it  is  a  sad  thing. — And  now  to  our  business.  I  am 
glad  my  old  friend  Mac-Morlan  has  sent  you  to  me  ;  he 
is  an  active,  honest,  and  intelligent  man,  long  sheriff- 
substitute  of  the  county  of under  me,  and  still  holds 


86  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

the  office.  Hi;  knows  I  have  a  regard  for  that  unfor- 
tunate family  of  Eilaiigowan,  and  for  poor  Lucy.  I  have 
not  seen  her  since  she  was  twelve  years  old,  and  she  wag 
then  a  sweet  pretty  girl  under  the  management  of  a  very 
silly  father.  But  my  interest  in  her  is  of  an  early  date. 
I  was  called  upon,  Mr.  Mannering,  being  then  sheriff  of 
that  county,  to  investigate  the  particulars  of  a  murder 
which  had  been  committed  near  EUaugowan  the  day  on 
which  this  poor  child  was  born  ;  and  Avhich,  by  a  strange 
combination  that  I  was  unhappily  not  able  to  trace,  in- 
volved the  death  or  abstraction  of  her  only  brother,  a  boy 
of  about  five  years  old.  No,  Colonel,  I  shall  never  forget 
the  misery  of  the  house  of  EUangowan  that  morning  ! — 
the  father  half-distracted — the  mother  dead  in  premature 
travail — the  helpless  infant,  with  scarce  any  one  to  attend 
it,  coming  wawling  and  crying  into  this  miserable  world 
at  such  a  moment  of  unutterable  misery.  We  laAvyers 
are  not  of  iron,  sir,  or  of  brass,  any  more  than  you 
soldiers  are  of  steel.  We  are  conversant  with  the  crimes 
and  distresses  of  civil  society,  as  you  are  with  those  that 
occur  in  a  state  of  war — and  to  do  our  duty  in  either 
case,  a  little  apathy  is  perhaps  necessary. — But  the  devil 
take  a  soldier  whose  heart  can  be  as  hard  as  his  sword, 
and  his  dam  catch  the  lawyer  who  bronzes  his  bosom 
instead  of  his  forehead ! — But  come,  I  am  losing  my 
Saturday  at  e'en — will  you  have  the  kindness  to  trust  me 
with  these  papers  which  relate  to  Miss  Bertram's  busi- 
ness ? — And  stay — to-morrow  you'll  take  a  bachelor's 
dinner  with  an  old  lawyer, — I  insist  upon  it,  at  three 
precisely — and  come  an  hour  sooner. — The  old  lady  is  to 
be  buried  on  Monday ;  it  is  the  orphan's  cause,  and  we'll 
borrow  an  hour  from  the  Sunday  to  talk  over  this  busi- 
ness— although  I  fear  nothing  can  be  done  if  she  has 


GUT   MANNERING.  37 

altered  her  settlement — unless  perhaps  it  occurs  within 
the  sixty  days,  and  then  if  Miss  Bertram  can  show  that 
she  possesses  the  character  of  heir-at-law,  why 

"  But,  hark  !  my  lieges  are  impatient  of  their  interreg' 
num — I  do  not  invite  you  to  rejoin  us,  Colonel ;  it  would 
be  a  trespass  on  your  complaisance,  unless  you  had  begun 
the  day  with  us,  and  gradually  glided  on  from  wisdom  to 
mii'th,  and  from  mirth  to — to — to — extravagance. — Good- 
right. — Harry,  go  home  with  Mr.  Mannering  to  his 
lodging. — Colonel,  I  expect  you  at  a  little  past  two 
to-morrow." 

The  Colonel  returned  to  his  inn,  equally  surprised  at 
the  childish  froKcs  in  which  he  had  found  his  learned 
counsellor  engaged,  at  the  candour  and  sound  sense  which 
he  had  in  a  moment  summoned  up  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  his  profession,  and  at  the  tone  of  feehng  w^hich  he 
displayed  when  he  spoke  of  the  friendless  orphan. 

In  the  morning,  while  the  Colonel  and  his  most  quiet 
and  silent  of  all  retainers.  Dominie  Sampson,  were  finish- 
ing the  breakfast  which  Barnes  had  made  and  poured 
out,  after  the  Dominie  had  scalded  himself  in  the  attempt, 
Mr.  Pleydell  was  suddenly  ushered  in.  A  nicely-dressed 
bob-wig,  upon  every  hair  of  which  a  zealous  and  careful 
barber  had  bestowed  its  proper  allowance  of  powder ;  a 
well-brushed  black  suit,  with  very  clean  shoes  and  gold 
buckles  and  stock-buckle ;  a  manner  rather  reserved  and 
formal  than  intrusive,  but,  withal,  showing  only  the  for- 
mality of  manner,  by  no  means  that  of  awkwardness ;  a 
countenance,  the  expressive  and  somewhat  comic  features 
of  which  were  in  complete  repose, — all  showed  a  beirg 
perfectly  different  from  the  choice  spirit  of  the  evening 
before.  A  glance  of  shrewd  and  piercing  fire  in  liis  eye 
was  the  only  marked  expression  which  recalled  the  man 
pf  "  Saturday  at  e'en." 


88  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  I  am  come,"  said  he,  with  a  very  poliLe  address,  "  to 
use  my  regal  authority  in  your  behalf  in  siDirituals  as 
well  as  temporals — can  I  accompany  you  to  the  Presby- 
terian kirk,  or  Episcopal  meeting-house  ?  Tros  Tyriusve 
—a  lawyer,  you  know  is  of  both  religions,  or  rather  I 
should  say  of  both  forms — or  can  I  assist  in  passing  the 
forenoon  otherwise?  You'll  excuse  my  olJ-fashioned 
importunity — I  was  born  in  a  time  when  a  Scotchman 
was  thought  inhospitable  if  he  left  a  guest  alone  a 
moment,  except  when  he  slept — but  I  trust  you  will  teU 
me  at  once  if  I  intrude." 

"  Not  at  all,  my  dear  sir,"  answered  Colonel  Mannering 
— "  I  am  delighted  to  put  myself  under  your  pilotage.  I 
should  wish  much  to  hear  some  of  your  Scottish  preachers 
whose  talents  have  done  such  honour  to  your  country — 
your  Blair,  your  Robertson,  or  your  Henry ;  and  I  em- 
brace your  kind  offer  with  all  my  heart. — Only,"  drawing 
the  lawyer  a  little  aside,  and  turning  liis  eye  towards 
Sampson,  "  my  worthy  friend  there  in  the  reverie  is  a 
little  helpless  and  abstracted,  and  my  servant,  Barnes, 
who  is  his  pilot  in  ordinary,  cannot  well  assist  him  here, 
especially  as  he  has  expressed  his  determination  of  going 
to  some  of  your  darker  and  more  remote  places  of 
worship." 

The  lawyer's  eye  glanced  at  Dominie  Sampson.  "  A 
curiosity  worth  preserving — and  I'll  find  you  a  fit  custo- 
dier.— Here  you,  sir,"  (to  the  waiter,)  "  go  to  Luckie 
Finlayson's  in  the  Cowgate  for  Miles  Macfin  the  cadie — 
he'll  be  there  about  this  time, — and  tell  him  I  wish  to 
epeak  to  him." 

The  person  wanted  soon  arrived.  "  I  will  commit  your 
friend  to  this  man's  charge,"  said  Pleydell ;  "  he'll  attend 
him,  or  conduct  him,  wherever  he  chooses  to  go,  with  a 


GUY   MANNERING.  89 

happy  indifference  as  to  kirk  or  market,  meeting  or  court 
of  justice,  or — any  other  place  whatever,  and  bring  him 
safe  home  at  whatever  hour  you  appoint ;  so  that  Mr. 
Barnes  there  may  be  left  to  the  freedom  of  his  own  will." 

This  was  easily  arranged,  and  the  Colonel  committed 
the  Dominie  to  the  charge  of  this  man  while  they  should 
remain  in  Edinburgh. 

"  And  now,  sir,  if  you  please,  we  shall  go  to  the  Grey- 
friars  church,  to  hear  our  historian  of  Scotland,  of  the 
Continent,  and  of  America." 

They  were  disappointed — he  did  not  preach  that 
morning. — "  Never  mind,"  said  the  counsellor,  "  have  a 
moment's  patience,  and  we  shall  do  very  well." 

The  colleague  of  Dr.  Robertson  ascended  the  pulpit.* 
His  external  appearance  was  not  prepossessing.  A  re- 
markably fair  complexion,  strangely  contrasted  with  a  black 
wig  without  a  grain  of  powder ;  a  narrow  chest  and  a 
stooping  posture ;  hands  which,  placed  like  props  on  either 
side  of  the  pulpit,  seemed  necessary  rather  to  support  the 
person  than  to  assist  the  gesticulation  of  the  preacher, — no 
gown,  not  even  that  of  Geneva,  a  tumbled  band,  and  a 
gesture  which  seemed  scarce  voluntary,  were  the  first  cir- 
cumstances which  struck  a  stranger.  "  The  preacher 
seems  a  very  ungainly  person,"  whispered  Mannering  to 
his  new  friend. 

*'  Never  fear ;  he's  the  son  of  an  excellent  Scottish 
lawyer  f — he'll  show  blood,  I'll  warrant  him." 

The  learned  counsellor  predicted  truly.     A  lecture  was 


*  This  was  the  celebrated  Dr.  Ei'skine,  a  distinguished  clergyman, 
and  a  most  excellent  man. 

t  The  father  of  Dr.  Erskine  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  his  Insti- 
tutes of  the  Law  of  Scotland  are  to  this  day  the  text-book  of  students 
of  that  science. 


90  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

delivered,  fraught  Avith  new,  striking,  and  entertaining 
views  of  Scripture  history — a  sermon,  in  which  the  Cal- 
vinism of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  was  ably  supported,  yet 
made  the  basis  of  a  sound  system  of  practical  morals, 
which  should  neither  shelter  the  sinner  under  the  cloak 
of  speculative  faith  or  of  peculiarity  of  opinion,  nor  leave 
him  loose  to  the  waves  of  unbelief  and  schism.  Some- 
thing there  was  of  an  antiquated  turn  of  argument  and 
metaphor,  but  it  only  served  to  give  zest  and  peculiarity 
to  the  style  of  elocution.  The  sermon  was  not  read — a 
scrap  of  paper  containing  the  heads  of  the  discourse  was 
occasionally  referred  to,  and  the  enunciation,  which  at 
first  seemed  imperfect  and  embarrassed,  became,  as  the 
preacher  warmed  in  his  progress,  animated  and  distinct ; 
and  although  the  discourse  could  not  be  quoted  as  a  cor- 
rect specimen  of  pulpit  eloquence,  yet  Mannering  had 
seldom  heard  so  much  learning,  metaphysical  acuteness, 
and  energy  of  argument,  brought  into  the  service  of 
Clu'istianity. 

"  Such,"  he  said,  going  out  of  the  church,  "  must  have 
been  the  preachers  to  whose  unfearing  minds,  and  acute, 
though  sometimes  rudely  exercised  talents,  we  owe  the 
Reformation." 

"  And  yet  that  reverend  gentleman,"  said  Pleydell, 
"whom  I  love  for  his  father's  sake  and  his  own,  has 
nothing  of  the  sour  or  pharisaical  pride  which  has  been 
imputed  to  some  of  the  early  fathers  of  the  Calvinistic 
Kirk  of  Scotland.  His  colleague  and  he  differ,  and  head 
different  parties  in  the  kirk,  about  particular  points  of 
church  discipline,  but  without  for  a  moment  losing  per- 
sonal regard  or  respect  for  each  other,  or  suffering  ma- 
lignity to  interfere  in  an  opposition,  steady,  constant,  and 
apparently  conscientious  on  both  sides." 


GUY    MANNERING.  91 

"  And  you,  Mr.  Pleydell,  what  do  you  think  of  their 
points  of  difference  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  hope.  Colonel,  a  plain  man  may  go  to  heaven 
vrithout  thinking  about  them  at  all ; — besides,  inter  nos,  I 
im  a  member  of  the  suffering  and  Episcopal  Church  of 
Scotland — the  shadow  of  a  shade  now,  and  fortunately 
so  ; — but  I  love  to  pray  where  my  fathers  prayed  before 
me,  without  thinking  worse  of  the  Presbyterian  forms 
because  they  do  not  affect  me  with  the  same  associations." 
And  with  this  remark  they  parted  until  dinner-time. 

From  the  awkward  access  to  the  lawyer's  mansion, 
Mannering  was  induced  to  form  very  moderate  expecta- 
tions of  the  entertainment  which  he  was  to  receive.  The 
approach  looked  even  more  dismal  by  day-Ught  than  on 
the  preceding  evening.  The  houses  on  each  side  of  the 
lane  were  so  close,  that  the  neighbours  might  have  shaken 
hands  with  each  other  from  the  different  sides,  and  occa- 
sionally the  space  between  was  traversed  by  wooden 
galleries,  and  thus  entirely  closed  up.  The  stair,  the 
scale-stair,  was  not  well  cleaned ;  and  on  entering  the 
house,  Mannering  was  struck  with  the  narrowness  and 
meanness  of  the  wainscotted  passage.  But  the  Hbrary, 
into  which  he  was  shown  by  an  elderly  respectable  look- 
ing man-servant,  was  a  complete  contrast  to  these  un 
promising  appearances.  It  was  a  well-proportioned  room, 
hung  with  a  portrait  or  two  of  Scottish  characters  of 
eminence,  by  Jamieson,  the  Caledonian  Vandyke,  and 
surrounded  with  books,  the  best  editions  of  the  best 
authors,  and  in  particular,  an  admirable  collection  of 
classics. 

"  These,"  said  Pleydell,  "  are  my  tools  of  trade.  A 
lawyer  without  history  or  hterature  is  a  mechanic,  a  mere 
working  mason ;  if  he  possesses  some  knowledge  of  these, 
he  may  venture  to  call  himself  an  architect." 


yZ  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

But  Mannering  was  chiefly  delighted  with  the  view 
from  the  windows,  which  commanded  that  incomparable 
prospect  of  the  ground  between  Edinburgh  and  the  sea ; 
the  Frith  of  Forth,  with  its  islands ;  the  embayment 
which  is  terminated  bj  the  Law  of  North  Berwick ;  and 
the  varied  shores  of  Fife  to  the  northwai'd,  indenting 
with  a  hilly  outhne  the  clear  blue  horizon. 

When  Mr.  Pleydell  had  sufficiently  enjoyed  the  sur- 
prise of  his  guest,  he  called  his  attention  to  Miss  Ber- 
tram's affairs.  "  I  was  in  hopes,"  he  said,  "  though  but 
faint,  to  have  discovered  some  means  of  ascertaining  her 
indefeasible  right  to  this  property  of  Singleside ;  but  my 
researches  have  been  in  vain.  The  old  lady  was  cer- 
tainly absolute  fiar,  and  might  dispose  of  it  in  full  right 
of  property.  All  that  we  have  to  hope  is,  that  the  devil 
may  not  have  tempted  her  to  alter  this  very  proper  set- 
tlement. You  must  attend  the  old  girl's  funeral  to-mor- 
row, to  which  you  will  receive  an  invitation,  for  I  have 
acquainted  her  agent  with  your  being  here  on  Miss  Ber- 
tram's part ;  and  I  will  meet  you  afterwards  at  the  house 
she  inhabited,  and  be  present  to  see  fair  play  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  settlement.  The  old  cat  had  a  little  girl,  the 
orphan  of  some  relation,  who  hved  with  her  as  a  kind  of 
slavish  companion.  I  hope  she  has  had  the  conscience 
to  make  her  independent,  in  consideration  of  the  peine 
forte  et  dure  to  which  she  subjected  her  during  her  hfe- 
lime." 

Three  gentlemen  now  appeared,  and  were  introduced 
to  the  stranger.  They  were  men  of  good  sense,  gaiety, 
and  general  information,  so  that  the  day  passed  very 
pleasantly  over ;  and  Colonel  Mannering  assisted,  about 
eight  o'clock  at  night,  in  discussing  the  landlord's  bottle, 
which  was,  of  course,  a  magnum.     Upon  his  return  to 


GUT   MANNERING.  93 

the  inn,  he  found  a  card  inviting  him  to  the  funeral  of 
Miss  Margaret  Bertram,  late  of  Singleside,  which  was  to 
proceed  from  her  own  house  to  the  place  of  interment  in 
the  Grejfriars  churchyard,  at  one  o'clock,  afternoon. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  Mannering  went  to  a  small 
house  in  the  suburbs  to  the  southward  of  the  city,  where 
he  found  the  place  of  mourning,  indicated,  as  usual,  in 
Scotland,  by  two  rueful  figures  with  long  black  cloaks, 
white  crapes  and  hat-bands,  holding  in  their  hands  poles, 
adorned  with  melancholy  streamers  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion. By  two  other  mutes,  who,  from  their  visages, 
seemed  suffering  under  the  pressure  of  some  strange 
calamity,  he  was  ushered  into  the  dining-parlour  of  the 
defunct,  where  the  company  were  assembled  for  the 
funeral. 

In  Scotland,  the  custom,  now  disused  in  England,  of 
inviting  the  relations  of  the  deceased  to  the  interment, 
is  universally  retained.  On  many  occasions  this  has  a 
singular  and  striking  effect,  but  it  degenerates  into  mere 
empty  form  and  grimace,  in  cases  where  the  defunct  has 
had  the  misfortune  to  Hve  unbeloved  and  die  unlamented. 
— The  English  service  for  the  dead,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  impressive  parts  of  the  ritual  of  the  church, 
would  have,  in  such  cases,  the  effect  of  fixing  the  atten- 
tion, and  uniting  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  audience 
present,  in  an  exercise  of  devotion  so  pecuharly  adapted 
to  such  an  occasion.  But,  according  to  the  Scottish 
custom,  if  there  be  not  real  feehng  among  the  assistants, 
there  is  nothing  to  supply  the  deficiency,  and  exalt  or 
rouse  the  attention  ;  so  that  a  sense  of  tedious  form,  and 
almost  hypocritical  restraint,  is  too  apt  to  pervade  the 
company  assembled  for  the  mournful  solemnity.  Mrs. 
Margaret   Bertram  was   unluckily  one   of  those  whose 


94  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

good  qualities  had  attached  no  general  friendship.  She 
had  no  near  relations  who  might  have  mourned  from 
natural  affection,  and  therefore  her  funeral  exhibited 
merely  the  exterior  trappings  of  sorrow. 

Mannermg,  therefore,  stood  among  this  lugubriois 
company  of  cousins  in  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixih 
degree,  composing  his  countenance  to  the  decent  solem- 
nity of  all  who  were  around  him,  and  looking  as  much 
concerned  on  Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram's  account,  as  if  the 
deceased  lady  of  Singleside  had  been  his  own  sister  or 
mother.  After  a  deep  and  awful  pause,  the  company 
began  to  talk  aside — under  their  breaths,  however,  and 
as  if  m  the  chamber  of  a  dying  person. 

"  Our  poor  friend,"  said  one  grave  gentleman,  scarcely 
opening  his  mouth,  for  fear  of  deranging  the  necessary 
solemnity  of  his  features,  and  sliding  his  whisper  from 
between  his  hps,  which  were  as  little  unclosed  as  possible 
— "  our  poor  friend  has  died  well  to  pass  in  the  world." 

"  Nae  doubt,"  answered  the  person  addressed,  with  half- 
closed  eyes  ;  "  poor  JMrs.  Margaret  was  aye  careful  of  the 
gear." 

"  Any  news  to-day.  Colonel  Mannering  ?  "  said  one  of 
the  gentlemen  whom  he  had  dined  with  the  day  before, 
but  in  a  tone  which  might,  for  its  impressive  gravity,  have 
communicated  the  death  of  his  whole  generation. 

"  Nothing  particular,  I  believe,  sir,"  said  Mannering, 
in  the  cadence  which  was,  he  observed,  appropriated  to 
the  house  of  mourning. 

"  I  understand,"  continued  the  first  speaker,  emphat- 
ically, and  with  the  air  of  one  who  is  well  informed — "  I 
understand  there  is  a  settlement." 

"  And  what  does  little  Jenny  Gibson  get  ?  " 

"  A  hundred,  and  the  auld  repeater." 


GUY   MANNERING.  95 

"  That's  but  a  sma'  gear,  puir  thing ;  she  •  had  a  sail 
•iime  o't  with  the  auld  leddj.  But  it's  ill  waiting  for  dead 
folk's  shoon." 

"  I  am  afraid,"  said  the  politician,  who  was  close  by 
Mannering,  "  we  have  not  done  with  your  old  friend 
Tippoo  Saib  yet — I  doubt  he'll  give  the  Company  more 
plague ;  and  I  am  told — but  you'll  know  for  certain— 
that  East  India  Stock  is  not  rising." 

"  I  trust  it  will,  sir,  soon." 

"  Mrs.  Margaret,"  said  another  person,  mingling  in  the 
conversation,  "  had  some  India  bonds.  I  know  that,  for 
I  drew  the  interest  for  her — it  would  be  desirable  now 
for  the  trustees  and  legatees  to  have  the  Colonel's  advice 
about  the  time  and  mode  of  converting  them  into  money. 
For  my  part  I  think — But  there's  JMr.  Mortcloke  to  tell 
us  they  are  gaun  to  hft." 

Mr.  Mortcloke  the  undertaker  did  accordingly,  with  a 
visage  of  professional  length  and  most  grievous  solemnity, 
distribute  among  the  pall-bearers  little  cards,  assigning 
their  respective  situations  in  attendance  upon  the  coffin. 
As  this  precedence  is  supposed  to  be  regulated  by  pro- 
pinquity to  the  defunct,  the  undertaker,  however  skilful  a 
master  of  these  lugubrious  ceremonies,  did  not  escape 
giving  some  offence.  To  be  related  to  IVIrs.  Bertram 
was  to  be  of  kin  to  the  lands  of  Singleside,  and  was  a 
propinquity  of  which  each  relative  present  at  that  mo- 
ment was  particularly  jealous.  Some  murmurs  there 
were  on  the  occasion,  and  our  friend  Dinmont  gave  more 
open  offence,  being  unable  either  to  repress  his  discon- 
tent, or  to  utter  it  in  the  key  properly  modulated  to  the 
solemnity.  "  I  think  ye  might  hae  at  least  gi'en  me  a 
leg  o'  her  to  carry,"  he  exclaimed,  in  a  voice  considerably 
loader  than   propriety  admitted.     "  God !    an   it   hadna 


96  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

been  for  the  rigs  o'  land,  I  would  hae  gotten  her  a'  to 
cany  mysell,  for  as  mony  gentles  as  are  here." 

A  score  of  frowning  and  reproving  brows  were  bent 
upon  the  unappalled  yeoman,  who,  having  given  vent  to 
his  displeasure,  stalked  sturdily  down  stairs  with  the  rest 
of  the  company,  totally  disregarding  the  censures  of  thoie 
whom  his  remarks  had  scandalized. 

And  then  the  funeral  pomp  set  forth  ;  saulies  ?vith 
their  batons,  and  gumphions  of  tarnished  white  crape,  in 
honour  of  the  well-preserved  maiden  fame  of  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Bertram.  Six  starved  horses,  themselves  the  very 
emblems  of  mortality,  well  cloaked  and  plumed,  lugging 
along  the  heai'se  with  its  dismal  emblazonry,  crept  in 
slow  state  towards  the  place  of  interment,  preceded  by 
Jamie  Duff,  an  idiot,  who  with  weepers  and  cravat  made 
of  white  paper,  attended  on  every  funeral,  and  followed 
by  six  mourning  coaches,  filled  with  the  company. — 
Many  of  these  now  gave  more  free  loose  to  their  tongues, 
and  discussed  with  unrestained  earnestness  the  amount 
of  the  succession,  and  the  probabihty  of  its  destination. 
The  principal  expectants,  however,  kept  a  prudent 
silence,  indeed  ashamed  to  express  hopes  which  might 
prove  fallacious ;  and  the  agent,  or  man  of  business, 
who  alone  knew  exactly  how  matters  stood,  maintained 
a  countenance  of  mysterious  importance,  as  if  determined 
to  preserve  the  full  interest  of  anxiety  and  suspense. 

At  length  they  arrived  at  the  churchyard  gates,  and 
from  thence,  amid  the  gaping  of  two  or  three  dozen  of 
idle  women  with  infants  in  their  arms,  and  accompanied 
by  some  twenty  children,  Avho  ran  gambolling  and 
screaming  alongside  of  the  sable  procession,  they  finally 
ai'rived  at  the  burial-place  of  the  Singleside  family.  This 
was  a  square  enclosure  in  the  Greyfriars   churchyard; 


GUY   MANNEEING.  97 

guarded  on  one  side  by  a  veteran  angel,  without  a  nose, 
and  having  only  one  wing,  who  had  the  merit  of  having 
maintained  his  post  for  a  century,  while  his  comrade 
cherub,  who  had  stood  sentinel  on  the  corresponding 
pedestal,  lay  a  broken  trunk  among  the  hemlock,  burdock, 
and  nettles,  which  grew  in  gigantic  luxuriance  around  the 
walls  of  the  mausoleum.  A  moss-grown  and  broken 
inscription  informed  the  reader,  that  in  the  year  1650 
Captain  Andrew  Bertram,  first  of  Singleside,  descended 
of  the  very  ancient  and  honourable  house  of  EUangowan, 
had  caused  this  monument  to  be  erected  for  himself  and 
his  descendants.  A  reasonable  number  of  scythes  and 
hour-glasses,  and  death's-heads,  and  cross-bones,  garnished 
the  following  sprig  of  sepulchral  poetry,  to  the  memory 
of  the  founder  of  the  mausoleum  : — 

Nathaniel's  heart,  Bezaleel's  hand, 

If  ever  any  had, 
These  boldly  do  I  say  had  he, 

Who  lieth  in  this  bed. 

Here  then,  amid  the  deep  black  fat  loam  into  which 
her  ancestors  were  now  resolved,  they  deposited  the  body 
of  Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram ;  and,  like  soldiers  returning 
from  a  mihtary  funeral,  the  nearest  relations  who  might 
be  interested  in  the  settlements  of  the  lady,  urged  the 
dog-cattle  of  the  hackney  coaches  to  all  the  speed  of 
which  they  were  capable,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  farther 
suspense  on  that  interesting  topic. 


rOL.  IT. 


98  WAVEELEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XXXVm. 

Die  and  endow  a  college  or  a  cat. 


Pope. 


There  is  a  fable  told  by  Lucian,  that  while  a  troop  of 
monkeys,  well  drilled  by  an  inteUigent  manager,  were 
performing  a  tragedy  with  great  applause,  the  decorum 
of  the  whole  scene  was  at  once  destroyed,  and  the  natural 
passions  of  the  actors  called  forth  in  a  very  indecent  and 
active  emulation,  by  a  wag  Avho  threw  a  handful  of  nuts 
upon  the  stage.  In  like  manner,  the  approaching  crisis 
stirred  up  among  the  expectants  feelings  of  a  nature  very 
different  from  those  of  which,  under  the  superintendence 
of  Mr.  Mortcloke,  they  had  but  now  been  endeavouring 
to  imitate  the  expression.  Those  eyes  which  were  lately 
devoutly  cast  up  to  heaven,  or  with  greater  humility 
bent  solemnly  upon  earth,  were  now  sharply  and  alertly 
darting  their  glances  through  shuttles,  and  trunks,  and 
drawers,  and  cabinets,  and  all  the  odd  corners  of  an  old 
maiden  lady's  repositories.  Nor  was  their  seai-ch  with- 
out interest,  though  they  did  not  find  the  will  of  which 
they  were  in  quest. 

Here  was  a  promissory-note  for  £20  by  the  minister 
uf  the  nonjuring  chapel,  interest  marked  as  paid  to 
IMartinmas  last,  carefully  folded  up  in  a  new  set  of  words 
to  the  old  tune  of  "  Over  the  Water  to  Charlie  ; " — there, 
was  a  curious  love  correspondence  between  the  deceased 


GUY   MANNEEING.  99 

and  a  certain  Lieutenant  O'Kean,  of  a  marcliing  regiment 
of  foot ;  and  tied  up  with  the  letters  was  a  document, 
which  at  once  explained  to  the  relatives  why  a  connexion 
that  boded  them  little  good  had  been  suddenly  broken 
off,  being  the  Lieutenant's  bond  for  two  hundred  pounds, 
upon  which  no  interest  whatever  appeared  to  have  been 
paid.  Other  bills  and  boids  to  a  larger  amount,  and 
signed  by  better  names  (I  mean  commercially)  than 
those  of  the  worthy  divine  and  gallant  soldier,  also  oc- 
curred in  the  course  of  ttieir  researches,  besides  a  hoard 
of  coins  of  every  size  and  denomination,  and  scraps  of 
broken  gold  and  silver,  old  ear-rings,  hinges  of  cracked 
snuff-boxes,  mountings  of  spectacles,  &c.  &c.  &c.  Still 
no  will  made  its  appearance,  and  Colonel  Mannering 
began  full  well  to  hope  that  the  settlement  which  he  had 
obtained  from  Glossin  contained  the  ultimate  arrange- 
ment of  the  old  lady's  affairs.  But  his  friend  Pleydell, 
who  now  came  into  the  room,  cautioned  him  against 
entertaining  this  behef. 

"  I  am  well  acquainted  with  the  gentleman,"  he  said, 
"  who  is  conducting  the  search,  and  I  guess  from  his 
manner  that  he  knows  something  more  of  the  matter  than 
any  of  us."  Meantime,  while  the  search  proceeds,  let  us 
take  a  brief  glance  at  one  or  two  of  the  company,  who 
seem  most  interested. 

Of  Dinmont,  who,  with  his  large  hunting-whip  under 
his  arm,  stood  poking  his  great  round  face  over  the 
ehoulder  of  the  homme  d'affaires,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
gay  any  thing.  That  thin-looking  oldish  person,  in  a 
most  correct  and  gentleman-like  suit  of  mourning,  is  Mae- 
Casquil,  formerly  of  Drumquag,  who  was  ruined  by  hav- 
ing a  legacy  bequeathed  to  him  of  two  shares  in  the  Ayr 
bank.     His  hop^^s  on  the  present  occasion  are  founded  on 


100  WATERLET   NOVELS. 

a  very  distant  relationship,  upon  his  sitting  in  the  same 
pew  with  the  deceased  every  Sunday,  and  upon  his  play- 
ing at  cribbage  with  her  regularly  on  the  Saturday 
evenings — taking  great  care  never  to  come  off  a  winner. 
That  other  coarse-looking  man,  wearing  his  own  greasy 
hair  tied  in  a  leathern  cue  more  greasy  still,  is  a  tobac- 
conist, a  relation  of  Mrs.  Bertram's  mother,  who,  having 
a  good  stock  in  trade  when  the  colonial  war  broke  out, 
trebled  the  price  of  his  commodity  to  all  the  world,  jSIis. 
Bertram  alone  excepted,  whose  tortoise-shell  snuff-box 
was  weekly  filled  with  the  best  rappee  at  the  old  prices, 
because  the  maid  brought  it  to  the  shop  with  Mrs.  Ber- 
tram's respects  to  her  cousin  Mr.  Quid.  That  young 
fellow,  who  has  not  had  the  decency  to  put  off  his  boots 
and  buck-skins,  might  have  stood  as  forward  as  most  of 
them  in  the  graces  of  the  old  lady,  who  loved  to  look  upon 
a  comely  young  man ;  but  it  is  thought  he  has  forfeited 
the  moment  of  fortune,  by  sometimes  neglecting  her  tea- 
table  when  solemnly  invited  ;  sometimes  appearing  there, 
when  he  had  been  dining  with  blither  company ;  twice 
treading  upon  her  cat's  tail,  and  once  affronting  her 
parrot. 

To  Mannering,  the  most  interesting  of  the  group  was 
the  poor  girl,  who  had  been  a  sort  of  humble  companion 
of  the  deceased,  as  a  subject  upon  whom  she  could  at  all 
times  expectorate  her  bad  humour.  She  was  for  form's 
sake  dragged  into  the  room  by  the  deceased's  favourite 
female  attendant,  where,  shrinking  into  a  comer  as  soon 
as  possible,  she  saw  with  wonder  and  affright  the  intrusive 
researches  of  the  strangers  amongst  those  recesses  to 
which  from  childhood  she  had  looked  with  awful  venera- 
tion. This  girl  was  regarded  with  an  unfavourable  eye 
by  all  the  competitors,  honest  Dinmont  only  excepted 


GUY   MANNERING.  101 

the  rest  conceived  tliey  should  find  in  her  a  formidable 
competitor,  whose  claims  might  at  least  encumber  and 
diminish  their  chance  of  succession.  Yet  she  was  the 
only  person  present  who  seemed  really  to  feel  sorrow 
for  the  deceased.  Mrs.  Bertram  had  been  her  protectress, 
although  from  selfish  motives, — and  her  capricious  tyranny 
was  forgotten  at  the  moment  while  the  tears  followed  each 
other  fast  down  the  cheeks  of  her  frightened  and  friend- 
less dependent.  "  There's  ower  muckle  saut  water  there, 
Drumquag,"  said  the  tobacconist  to  th,^  ex-proprietor,  "  to 
bode  ither  folk  muckle  gude.  Folk  seldom  greet  that 
gate  but  they  ken  what  it's  for."  Mr.  Mac-Casquil  only 
replied  with  a  nod,  feeling  the  propriety  of  asserting  his 
superior  gentry  in  presence  of  Mr.  Pleydell  and  Colonel 
Mannering. 

"  Very  queer  if  there  suld  be  nae  will,  after  a',  friend,'* 
said  Dinmont,  who  began  to  grow  impatient,  to  the  man 
of  business. 

"  A  moment's  patience,  if  you  please — she  was  a  good 
and  prudent  woman,  Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram — a  good 
and  prudent  and  well-judging  woman,  and  knew  how  to 
choose  friends  and  depositories ;  she  may  have  put  her 
last  will  and  testament,  or  rather  her  mortis  causa  settle- 
ment, as  it  relates  to  heritage,  into  the  hands  of  some  safe 
friend." 

"  I'll  bet  a  rump  and  dozen,"  said  Pleydell,  whispering 
to  the  Colonel,  "  he  has  got  it  in  his  own  pocket ; " — then 
addressing  the  man  of  law,  "  Come,  sir,  we'll  cut  this  short 
if  you  please — here  is  a  settlement  of  the  estate  of  Single- 
side,  executed  several  years  ago,  in  favour  of  Miss  Lucy 
Berti-am  of  Ellangowan  " The  company  stared  fear- 
fully wild.  "  You,  I  presume,  Mr.  Protocol,  can  inform 
as  if  there  is  a  later  deed  "i  " 


102  WAYERLEY   NOYELS. 

"  Please  to  favour  me,  ]VIi\  Plejdell ; " — and  so  saying, 
he  took  the  deed  out  of  the  learned  counsel's  hand,  an^ 
glanced  his  eje  over  the  contents. 

"  Too  cool,"  said  Plejdell,  "  too  cool  by  half — he  h^  ^. 
another  deed  in  his  pocket  still." 

"  Why  does  he  not  show  it  then,  and  be  d — d  to  him  ! " 
said  the  military  gentleman,  whose  patience  began  to  wax 
threadbare. 

"  Why,  how  should  I  know  ?  "  answered  the  barrister — 
"  why  does  a  cat  not  kill  a  mouse  when  she  takes  him  ? — 
the  consciousness  of  power  and  the  love  of  teasing,  I  sup- 
pose.— Well,  Mr.  Protocol,  what  say  you  to  that  deed  ?  " 

"  Why,  Mr.  Pleydell,  the  deed  is  a  well-drawn  deed, 
properly  authenticated  and  tested  in  forms  of  the  statute.'* 

"  But  recalled  or  superseded  by  another  of  posterior 
date  in  your  possession,  eh  ?  "  said  the  counsellor. 

"  Something  of  the  sort,  I  confess,  Mr.  Pleydell,"  re- 
joined the  man  of  business,  producing  a  bundle  tied  with 
tape,  and  sealed  at  each  fold  and  ligation  with  black  wax. 
"  That  deed,  Mr.  Pleydell,  which  you  produce  and  found 
upon,  is  dated  1st  June,  17 — ;  but  this" — breaking  the 
seals  and  unfolding  the  document  slowly — "  is  dated  the 
20th — no,  1  see  it  is  the  21st,  of  April  of  this  present 
year,  being  ten  years  posterior." 

"  Marry,  hang  her,  brock ! "  said  the  counsellor,  borrow- 
ing an  exclamation  from  Sir  Toby  Belch — "just  the 
month  in  which  Ellangowan's  distresses  became  generally 
public.     But  let  us  hear  what  she  has  done." 

Mr.  Protocol  accordingly,  having  required  silence, 
began  to  read  the  settlement  aloud  in  a  slow,  steady, 
business-like  tone.  The  group  around,  in  whose  eyes 
hope  alternately  awakened  and  faded,  and  who  were 
straining  their  apprehensions  to  get  at  the  drift  of  the 


GUY    MANNERING.  103 

tt^stator's  meaning  through  the  mist  of  technical  language 
in  which  the  conveyance  had  involved  it,  might  have 
made  a  study  for  Hogarth. 

The  deed  was  of  an  unexpected  nature.  It  set  forth 
with  conveying  and  disponing  all  and  whole  the  estate 
and  lands  of  Singleside  and  others,  with  the  lands  of 
Loverless,  Liealone,  Spinster's  Knowe,  and  heaven  knows 
what  beside,  "  to  and  in  favours  of "  (here  the  reader 
softened  his  voice  to  a  gentle  and  modest  piano)  "  Peter 
Protocol,  clerk  to  the  signet,  having  the  fullest  confidence 
in  his  capacity  and  integrity, — (these  are  the  very  words 
which  my  worthy  deceased  friend  insisted  upon  my  insert- 
ing,)— But  in  TRUST  always,"  (here  the  reader  recovered 
his  voice  and  style,  and  the  visages  of  several  of  the  hear- 
ers, which  had  attained  a  longitude  that  Mr.  Mortcloke 
might  have  envied,  were  perceptibly  shortened,)  "  in 
TRUST  always,  and  for  the  uses,  ends,  and  purposes 
hereinafter  mentioned." 

In  these  "  uses,  ends,  and  purposes,"  lay  the  cream  of 
the  affair.  The  first  was  introduced  by  a  preamble  set- 
ting forth,  that  the  testatrix  was  lineally  descended  from 
the  ancient  house  of  Ellangowan,  her  respected  great- 
grandfather, Andrew  Bertram,  first  of  Singleside,  of  happy 
memory,  having  been  second  son  to  Allan  Bertram,  fif- 
teenth Baron  of  Ellangowan.  It  proceeded  to  state,  that 
Henry  Bertram,  son  and  heir  of  Godfrey  Bertram,  now 
of  Ellangowan,  had  been  stolen  from  his  parents  in  in- 
fancy, but  that  she,  the  testatrix,  was  well  assured  that  he 
was  yet  alive  in  foreign  parts,  and  by  the  providence  of 
heaven  would  he  restored  to  the  possessions  of  his  anceitors 
— in  which  case  the  said  Peter  Protocol  was  bound  and 
obhged,  likeas  he  bound  and  obliged  himself,  by  afcept- 
ftnce  of  these  presents,  to  denude  himself  of  the  said  Ian  Is 


104  TVAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

of  Singleside  and  others,  and  of  all  the  other  effects 
thereby  conveyed  (excepting  always  a  proper  gratification 
for  his  own  trouble)  to  and  in  favour  of  the  said  Henry 
Bertram,  upon  his  return  to  his  native  country.  And 
during  the  time  of  his  residing  in  foreign  parts,  or  in  case 
of  his  never  again  returning  to  Scotland,  JMr.  Peter  Pro- 
tocol, the  trustee,  was  directed  to  distribute  the  rents  of 
the  land,  and  interest  of  the  other  funds,  (deducting  always 
a  proper  gratification  for  his  trouble  in  the  premises,) 
in  equal  portions,  among  four  charitable  estabhshments 
pointed  out  in  the  wiU.  The  power  of  management,  of 
letting  leases,  of  raising  and  lending  out  money,  in  short, 
the  full  authority  of  a  proprietor,  was  vested  in  this  confi- 
dential trustee,  and,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  went  to 
certain  official  persons  named  in  the  deed.  There  were 
only  two  legacies, — one  of  a  hundred  pounds  to  a  favour- 
ite waiting-maid,  another  of  the  like  sum  to  Janet  Gibson, 
(whom  the  deed  stated  to  have  been  supported  by  the 
charity  of  the  testatrix,)  for  the  purpose  of  binding  her 
an  apprentice  to  some  honest  trade. 

A  settlement  in  mortmain  is  in  Scotland  termed  a 
mortijication,  and  in  one  great  borough  (Aberdeen,  if  I 
remember  righth^)  there  is  a  municipal  officer  who  takeg 
care  of  these  public  endowments,  and  is  thence  called  the 
Master  of  Mortifications.  One  would  almost  presume 
that  the  term  had  its  origin  in  the  effisct  which  such 
settlements  usually  produce  upon  the  kinsmen  of  thosp- 
by  whom  they  are  executed.  Heavy  at  least  was  the 
mortification  which  befell  the  audience,  who,  in  the  late 
j\Irs.  Margai'Ct  Bertram's  pai'lour,  had  Hstened  to  this 
unexpected  destination  of  the  lands  of  Singleside. 
There  was  a  profound  silence  after  the  deed  had  been 
read  over. 


GUY   MANNERING.  105 

Mr.  Pleydell  was  the  first  to  speak.  He  begged  to 
ook  at  the  deed,  and  having  satisfied  himself  that  it  was 
correctly  drawn  and  executed,  he  returned  it  without  any 
observation,  only  saying  aside  to  Mannering,  "  Protocol 
is  not  worse  than  other  people,  I  believe  ;  but  this  old 
lady  has  determined,  that  if  he  do  not  turn  rogue,  it  shall 
not  be  for  want  of  temptation." 

"  I  really  think,"  said  Mr.  Mac-Casquil  of  Drum<i[uag, 
who,  having  gulped  down  one  half  of  his  vexation,  de- 
termined to  give  vent  to  the  rest — "  I  really  think  this  ig 
an  extraordinary  case  !  I  should  like  now  to  know  from 
Mr.  Protocol,  who,  being  sole  and  unhmited  ti'ustee,  must 
have  been  consulted  upon  this  occasion — I  should  like,  I 
say,  to  know,  how  Mrs.  Bertram  could  possibly  believe 
in  the  existence  of  a  boy,  that  a'  the  world  kens  was 
murdered  many  a  year  since  ?  " 

"  Really,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Protocol,  "  I  do  not  conceive  it 
is  possible  for  me  to  explain  her  motives  more  than  she 
has  done  herself.  Our  excellent  deceased  friend  was  a 
good  woman,  sir — a  pious  woman — and  might  have 
grounds  for  confidence  in  the  boy's  safety  which  are  not 
accessible  to  us,  sir." 

"  Hout,"  said  the  tobacconist,  "  I  ken  very  weel  what 
were  her  grounds  for  confidence.  There's  Mrs.  Rebecca 
(the  maid)  sitting  there,  has  tell'd  me  a  hundred  times  in 
my  ain  shop,  there  was  nae  kenning  how  her  leddy  wad 
settle  her  affairs,  for  an  auld  gipsy  witch  wife  at  Gilsland 
had  possessed  her  with  a  notion,  that  the  callant — Harry 
Bertram  ca's  she  him  ? — would  come  alive  again  some 
day  after  a' — ye'll  no  deny  that,  Mrs.  Rebecca  ? — though 
I  dare  to  say  ye  forgot  to  put  your  mistress  in  mind  of 
what  ye  promised  to  say  when  I  gied  ye  mony  a  half- 
•jrown — But  ye'll  no  deny  what  I  am  saying  now,  lass  ?  " 


106  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

"  I  ken  naeiliing  at  a'  about  it,"  answered  Rebecca, 
d3ggedly,  and  looking  straight  forward  with  the  firm 
countenance  of  one  not  disposed  to  be  compelled  to 
remember  more  than  was  agreeable  to  her. 

"  Weel  said,  Rebecca !  ye're  satisfied  wi'  jour  ain  share 
on  J  way,"  rejoined  the  tobacconist. 

The  buck  of  the  second-head,  for  a  buck  of  the  first- 
head  he  was  not,  had  hitherto  been  slapping  his  boots 
with  his  switch- whip,  and  looking  hke  a  spoiled  child  that 
has  lost  its  supper.  EQs  murmurs,  however,  were  all 
vented  inwardly,  or  at  most  in  a  soliloquy  such  as  this — 
"  I  am  sorry,  by  G — d,  I  ever  plagued  myself  about  her 
— I  came  here,  by  G — d,  one  night  to  drink  tea,  and  I  left 
King,  and  the  Duke's  rider.  Will  Hack.  They  were 
toasting  a  round  of  running  horses ;  by  G — d,  I  might 
have  got  leave  to  wear  the  jacket  as  well  as  other  folk, 
if  I  had  carried  it  on  with  them — and  she  has  not  so 
much  as  left  me  that  hundred  !  " 

"  We'll  make  the  payment  of  the  note  quite  agreeable," 
said  Mr.  Protocol,  who  had  no  wish  to  increase  at  that 
moment  the  odium  attached  to  his  ofiice — "And  now, 
gentlemen,  I  fancy  we  have  no  more  to  wait  for  here, 
and — I  shall  put  the  settlement  of  my  excellent  and 
worthy  friend  on  record  to-morrow,  that  every  gentleman 
may  examine  the  contents,  and  have  free  access  to  take 
an  extract ;  and  " — he  proceeded  to  lock  up  the  repos- 
itories of  the  deceased  with  more  speed  than  he  had 
opened  them — "  Mrs.  Rebecca,  ye'U  be  so  kind  as  to  keep 
all  right  here  until  we  can  let  the  house — I  had  an  offer 
from  a  tenant  this  morning,  if  such  a  thing  should  be, 
and  if  I  was  to  have  any  management." 

Our  friend  Dinraont,  having  had  his  hopes  as  well  as 
another,  had  hitherto  sate  sulky  enough  in  tlie  arm-chair 


GUY   MANNERING.  lOlt 

formerly  appropriated  to  the  deceased,  and  In  whicli  she 
would  have  been  not  a  little  scandalized  to  have  seen  this 
colossal  specimen  of  the  masculine  gender  lolling  at 
length.  His  employment  had  been  rolling  up,  into  the 
form  of  a  coiled  snake,  the  long  lash  of  his  horse-whip, 
and  then  by  a  jerk  causing  it  to  unroll  itself  into  the 
middle  of  the  floor.  The  first  words  he  said  when  he 
had  digested  the  shock,  contained  a  magnanimous  declara- 
tion, which  he  probably  was  not  conscious  of  having 
uttered  aloud — "  Weel — blude's  thicker  than  water — she's 
welcome  to  the  cheeses  and  the  hams  just  the  same." 
But  when  the  trustee  had  made  the  above-mentioned 
motion  for  the  mourners  to  depart,  and  talked  of  the 
house  being  immediately  let,  honest  Dinmont  got  upon 
his  feet,  and  stunned  the  company  with  this  blunt  ques- 
tion, "  And  what's  to  come  o'  this  poor  lassie. then — Jenny 
Gibson?  Sae  mony  o'  us  as  thought  oursells  sib  to  the 
family  when  the  gear  was  parting,  we  may  do  something 
for  her  amang  us  surely." 

This  proposal  seemed  to  dispose  most  of  the  assembly 
instantly  to  evacuate  the  premises,  although  upon  Mr. 
Protocol's  motion  they  had  lingered  as  if  around  the  grave 
of  their  disappointed  hopes.  Drumquag  said,  or  rather 
muttered,  something  of  having  a  family  of  his  own,  and 
took  precedence,  in  virtue  of  his  gentle  blood,  to  depart 
as  fast  as  possible.  The  tobacconist  sturdily  stood  for- 
ward,  and  scouted  the  motion — "  A  little  huzzie  like  tha* 
was  weel  eneugh  provided  for  already  ;  and  Mr.  Protocol^ 
at  ony  rate  was  the  proper  person  to  take  direction 
of  her,  as  he  had  charge  of  her  legacy ; "  and  after 
uttering  such  his  opinion  in  a  steady  and  decisive  tone  of 
voice,  he  also  left  the  place.  The  buck  made  a  stupid 
Bnd  brutal  attempt  at  a  jest  upon  Mrs.  Bertram's  recom* 


J.08  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

mendation  that  the  poor  girl  should  be  taught  some  honest 
trade;  but  encountered  a  scowl  from  Colonel  Mannering'3 
darkening  eye  (to  whom,  in  his  ignorance  of  the  tone  of 
good  society,  he  had  looked  for  applause)  that  made  him 
ache  to  the  very  b'ack-bone.  He  shuffled  down  stairs, 
therefore,  as  fast  as  possible. 

Protocol,  who  was  really  a  good  sort  of  man,  next 
expressed  his  intention  to  take  a  temporary  charge  of  the 
young  lady,  under  protest  always,  that  his  so  doing  should 
be  considered  as  merely  eleemosynary ;  when  Dinmont 
at  length  got  up,  and,  having  shaken  liis  huge  dread- 
nouglit  great-coat,  as  a  Newfoundland  dog  does  his  shaggy 
hide  when  he  comes  out  of  the  w^ater,  ejaculated,  "  Weel, 
deil  hae  me  then,  if  ye  hae  ony  fash  wi'  her,  Mr.  Protocol 
— if  she  likes  to  gang  hame  wi'  me,  that  is.  Ye  see, 
Ailie  and  me.  we're  weel  to  pass,  and  we  would  like  the 
lassies  to  hae  a  wee  bit  mair  lair  than  oursells,  and  to  be 
neighbour-like — that  wad  we. — And  ye  see  Jenny  canna 
miss  but  to  ken  manners,  and  the  like  o'  reading  books, 
and  sewing  seams — having  Hved  sae  lang  wi'  a  grand 
lady  hke  Lady  Singleside  ;  or  if  she  disna  ken  onything 
about  it,  Pm  jealous  that  our  bairns  will  like  her  a'  the 
better.  And  PU  take  care  o'  the  bits  o'  claes,  and  what 
spending  siller  she  maun  hae  ;  so  the  hundred  pound  may 
rin  on  in  your  hands,  Mr.  Protocol,  and  Pll  be  adding 
something  till't,  till  she'll  maybe  get  a  Liddlesdale  joe 
that  wants  something  to  help  to  buy  the  hirsel.* — What 
d'ye  say  to  that,  hinney  ?  I'll  take  out  a  ticket  for  ye  in 
the  fly  to  Jethart. — Od,  but  ye  maun  take  a  powny  after 
that  o'er  the  Limestane-rig — deil  a  wheeled  carriage  ever 
gaed  into  Liddesdale.t — ^And  I'll  be  very  glad  if  Mrs. 

*  The  stock  of  sheep. 

t  The  roads  of  Liddesdale,  in  Dandie  Dinmont' s  days,  could  not  bs 


GUT    MANNERING.  109 

Rebecca  comes  wi'  you,  hinnej,  and  stays  a  montli  or  twa 
while  ye're  stranger-like." 

While  IMrs.  Rebecca  was  courtseying,  and  endeavouring 
to  mjike  the  poor  orphan  girl  courtesy  instead  of  crying, 
and  while  Dandie,  in  his  rough  way,  was  encouraging 
them  both,  old  Pleydell  had  recourse  to  liis  snuiF-box. 
*'  It's  meat  and  drink  to  me,  now.  Colonel,"  he  said,  as  he 

recovered  himself,  ""  to  see  a  clown  like  this 1  must 

gratify  him  in  his  own  way — must  assist  him  to  ruin 
himself ; — there's  no  help  for  it.  Here  you  Liddesdale 
Dandie — Charlies-hope — what  do  they  call  you  ?  " 

The  farmer  turned,  infinitely  gratified  even  by  this  sort 
of  notice  ;  for  in  his  heart,  next  to  his  own  landlord  he 
honoured  a  lawyer  in  high  practice. 

"  So  you  will  not  be  advised  against  trying  that  ques- 
tion about  your  marches  ?  " 

"  No — ^no,  sir — naebody  likes  to  lose  their  right,  and 
to  be  laughed  at  down  the  haill  water.  But  since  your 
honour's  no  agreeable,  and  is  may  be  a  friend  to  the  other 
side  like,  we  maun  try  some  other  advocate." 

"  There — I  told  you  so.  Colonel  Mannering ! — Well, 
sir,  if  you  must  needs  be  a  fool,  the  business  is  to  givi 
you  the  luxury  of  a  lawsuit  at  the  least  possible  expens',, 
and  to  bring  you  off  conqueror  if  possible.  Let  M.\ 
Protocol  send  me  your  papers,  and  I  will  advise  him  how 
to  conduct  your  cause.  I  don't  see,  after  all,  why  you 
should  not  have  your  lawsuits  too,  and  your  feuds  in  the 

said  to  exist,  and  the  district  was  only  accessible  thi'ough  a  succession 
of  tremendous  morasses.  About  thirty  years  ago,  the  author  himself 
was  the  first  person  who  ever  drove  a  little  open  carriage  into  these 
wilds ;  the  excellent  roads  by  which  they  are  now  travei'sed  being 
then  in  some  progress.  The  people  stared  with  no  small  wonder 
«,t  a  sight  which  many  of  them  had  never  witnessed  in  their  Uvea 
before. 


110  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Court  of  Session,  as  well  as  your  forefathers  had  their 
mauslau^jhters  and  fire-raisintrs." 

"  Veiy  natural,  to  be  sure,  sir.  We  wad  just  take  the 
auld  gate  as  readily,  if  it  werena  for  the  law.  And  as 
the  law  binds  us,  the  law  should  loose  us.  Besides,  a 
man's  aye  the  better  thought  o'  in  our  country  for  having 
been  afore  the  Feifteen." 

"  Excellently  argued,  my  friend  !  Away  with  you,  and 
isend  your  papers  to  me. — Come,  Colonel,  we  have  no 
more  to  do  here." 

"  God,  we'll  ding  Jock  o'  Dawston  Cleugh  now,  after 
a' ! "  said  Dinmont,  slapping  his  thigh  in  great  exul« 
tation. 


GUY    MANNERING.  11 J 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

1  am  going  to  the  parliament ; 

Tou  understand  this  bag.    If  you  have  any  business 
Depending  there,  be  short,  and  let  me  hear  it, 
And  pay  your  fees. 

Little  French  Lawteb. 

"  Shall  you  be  able  to  carry  this  honest  fellow's  cause 
for  him  ?  "  said  Mannering. 

"  Why,  I  don't  know  ;  the  battle  is  not  to  the  strong, 
but  he  shall  come  off  triumphant  over  Jock  of  Dawston 
if  we  can  make  it  out.  I  owe  him  something.  It  is  the 
pest  of  our  profession,  that  we  seldom  see  the  best  side 
of  human  nature.  People  come  to  us  with  every  selfish 
feehng,  newly  pointed  and  grinded ;  they  turn  down  the 
very  caulkers  of  their  animosities  and  prejudices,  as 
smiths  do  with  horses'  shoes  in  a  white  frost.  Many  a 
man  has  come  to  my  garret  yonder,  that  I  have  at  first 
longed  to  pitch  out  at  the  window,  and  jet,  at  length, 
have  discovered  that  he  was  only  doing  as  I  might  have 
done  in  his  case,  being  very  angry,  and,  of  course,  very 
unreasonable.  I  have  now  satisfied  myself,  that  if  our 
profession  sees  more  of  human  folly  and  human  roguery 
than  others,  it  is  because  we  witness  them  acting  in  that 
channel  in  which  they  can  most  freely  vent  themselves. 
In  civilized  society,  law  is  the  chimney  through  which 
all  that  smoke  discharges  itself  that  used  to  circulate 
thi'ough  the  whole  house,  and  put  every  one's  eyes  out — ■ 


112  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

no  wo:i(ler,  therefore,  that  the  vent  itself  should  some- 
times get  a  little  sooty.  But  we  will  take  care  our  Lid- 
desdale  man's  cause  is  well  conducted  and  well  argued, 
so  all  unnecessary  expense  will  be  saved — he  shall  have 
his  pine-apple  at  wholesale  price." 

"  Will  you  do  me  the  pleasure,"  said  Mannering,  as 
they  parted,  "  to  dine  with  me  at  my  lodgings  ?  my  land- 
lord says  he  has  a  bit  of  red-deer  vension,  and  some  ex- 
cellent wine." 

"  Venison — eh  ?  "  answered  the  counsellor  alertly,  but 
presently  added — "  But  no  !  it's  impossible — and  I  can't 
ask  you  home  neither.  Monday's  a  sacred  day — so's 
Tuesday — and  Wednesday,  we  are  to  be  heard  in  the 
great  teind  case  in  presence — But  stay — it's  frosty 
weather,  and  if  you  don't  leave  town,  and  that  venison 
would  keep  till  Thursday  " 

"  You  will  dine  with  me  that  day  ?  " 

"  Under  certification." 

"  Well,  then,  I  will  indulge  a  thought  I  had  of  spend- 
ing a  week  here  ;  and  if  the  venison  will  not  keep,  why 
we  will  see  what  else  our  landlord  can  do  for  us." 

"  Oh,  the  venison  will  keep,"  said  Pleydell.  "  And 
now,  good-by ; — look  at  these  two  or  three  notes,  and 
deliver  them  if  you  like  the  addresses  ;  I  wrote  them  for 
you  this  morning.  Farewell;  my  clerk  has  been  wait- 
ing this  hour  to  begin  a  d — d  information." — And  away 
walked  Mr.  Pleydell  with  great  activity,  diving  through 
closes  and  ascending  covered  stairs,  in  order  to  attain  the 
High  Street  by  an  access,  which,  compared  to  the  com 
mon  route,  was  what  the  Straits  of  Magellan  are  to  th? 
more  open  but  circuitous  passage  round  Cape  Horn. 

On  looking  at  the  notes  of  introduction  which  Pleydell 
had  thrust  into  his  hand,  Mannering  was  gratified  witb 


GUY    MANNERING.  113 

seeing  that  they  were  addressed  to  some  of  the  first 
literary  characters  of  Scotland — "  To  David  Hume,  Esq.'* 
"  To  John  Home,  Esq."  «  To  Dr.  Ferguson."  "  To  Dr. 
Black."  "To  Lord  Kaimes."  "To  Mr.  Hutton."  «  To 
John  Clerk,  Esq.  of  Eldm."  "  To  Adam  Smith  Esq." 
"  To  Dr.  Eoberte  on." 

"  Upon  my  word,  my  legal  friend  has  a  good  selection 
of  acquaintances — these  are  names  pretty  widely  blown 
indeed.  An  East  Indian  must  rub  up  his  faculties^  a 
little,  and  put  his  mind  in  order,  before  he  enters  this  sort 
of  society." 

Mannering  gladly  availed  himself  of  these  introduc- 
tions ;  and  we  regret  deeply  it  is  not  in  our  power  to 
give  the  reader  an  account  of  the  pleasure  and  informa- 
tion which  he  received,  in  admission  to  a  circle  never 
closed  against  strangers  of  sense  and  information,  and 
which  has  perhaps  at  no  period  been  equalled,  consider- 
ing the  depth  and  variety  of  talent  which  it  embraced  and 
concentrated. 

Upon  the  Thursday  appointed,  Mr.  Pleydell  made  his 
appearance  at  the  inn  where  Colonel  JMaunering  lodged. 
The  venison  proved  in  high  order,  the  claret  excellent ; 
and  the  learned  counsel,  a  professed  amateur  in  the  affairs 
of  the  table,  did  distinguished  honour  to  both.  I  am  un- 
certain, however,  if  even  the  good  cheer  gave  him  more 
satisfaction  than  the  presence  of  Dominie  Sampson,  from 
whom,  in  his  own  juridical  style  of  wit,  he  contrived  to 
extract  great  amusement,  both  for  himself  and  one  or  two 
friends  whom  the  Colonel  regaled  on  the  same  occasion. 
Tiie  grave  and  laconic  simplicity  of  Sampson's  answers 
to  the  insidious  questions  of  the  barrister,  placed  the  bon- 
hommie  of  his  character  in  a  more  luminous  point  of  view 
than  Mannering  had  yet  seen  it.     Upon  the  same  occa- 


114  WAVERLEY    NOVELS 

sion  lie  drew  forth  a  strange  quantity  c<f  miscellaneous 
and  abstruse,  though,  generally  speaking,  useless  learning 
Tlie  lawyer  afterwards  compared  his  mind  to  the  maga* 
zine  of  a  paw^nbroker,  stowed  with  goods  of  every 
description,  but  so  cumbrously  piled  together,  and  iii 
such  total  disorganization,  that  the  owner  can  never  lay 
his  hands  upon  any  one  article  at  the  moment  he  has 
occasion  for  it. 

As  for  the  advocate  himself,  he  afforded  at  least  aa 
mucli  exercise  to  Sampson  as  he  extracted  amusement 
from  him.  When  the  man  of  law  began  to  get  into  his 
altitudes,  and  his  wit,  naturally  shrewd  and  dry,  became 
more  lively  and  poignant,  the  Dominie  looked  upon  him 
with  that  sort  of  surprise  with  which  we  can  conceive  a 
tame  bear  might  regard  his  future  associate,  the  monkey, 
on  their  being  first  introduced  to  each  other.  It  was 
Mr.  Pleydell's  delight  to  state  in  grave  and  serious  argu- 
ment some  position  which  he  knew  the  Dominie  would 
be  inclined  to  dispute.  He  then  beheld  with  exquisite 
pleasure  the  internal  labour  with  which  the  honest  man 
arranged  his  ideas  for  reply,  and  tasked  his  inert  and 
sluggish  powers  to  bring  up  all  the  heavy  artillery  of  his 
learning  for  demolishing  the  schismatic  or  heretical 
opinion  which  had  been  stated — when,  behold !  before 
the  ordnance  could  be  discharged,  the  foe  had  quitted 
the  post,  and  appeared  in  a  new  position  of  annoyance  on 
the  Dominie's  flank  or  rear.  Often  did  he  exclaim 
"  Prodigious  !  "  when,  marching  up  to  the  enemy  in  full 
confidence  of  victory,  he  found  the  field  evacuated  ;  and 
it  may  be  supposed  that  it  cost  him  no  little  labour  to 
attempt  a  new  formation.  "  He  was  like  a  native  Indian 
army,"  the  Colonel  said,  "  formidable  by  numerical 
strength  and  size  of  ordnance,  but  liable  to  be  throwo 


GUY   MANNERING.  115 

into  irreparable  confusion  bj  a  movement  to  take  tliem 
in  flank." — On  the  whole,  however,  the  Dominie,  though 
somewhat  fatigued  with  these  mental  exertions,  made 
at  unusual  speed  and  upon  the  pressure  of  the  moment, 
reckoned  this  one  of  the  white  days  of  liis  hfe,  and 
always  mentioned  Mr.  Pleydell  as  a  very  erudite  and 
fa-ce-ti-ous  person. 

By  degrees  the  rest  of  the  party  dropped  off,  and  left 
these  three  gentlemen  together.  Their  conversation 
turned  to  Mrs.  Bertram's  settlements. — "  Now  what  could 
drive  it  into  the  noddle  of  that  old  harridan,"  said 
Pieydell,  "  to  disinherit  poor  Lucy  Bertram,  under  pre- 
tence of  settling  her  property  on  a  boy  who  has  been  so 
'^  g  dead  and  gone  ? — I  ask  your  pardon,  Mr.  Sampson 
— I  forgot  what  an  affecting  case  this  was  for  you ; — I 
remember  taking  your  examination  upon  it — and  I  never 
had  so  much  trouble  to  make  any  one  speak  three  words 
consecutively. — You  may  talk  of  your  Pythagoreans,  or 
your  silent  Brahmins,  Colonel — go  to,  I  tell  you  this 
learned  gentleman  beats  them  all  in  taciturnity — but  the 
words  of  the  wise  are  precious,  and  not  to  be  thrown  away 
lightly." 

"  Of  a  surety,"  said  the  Dominie,  taking  his  blue- 
checqued  handkerchief  from  his  eyes,  "  that  was  a  bitter 
day  with  me  indeed ;  ay,  and  a  day  of  grief  hard  to  be 
borne — but  He  giveth  strength  who  layeth  on  the  load." 

Colonel  Mannering  took  this  opportunity  to  request 
Mr.  Pieydell  to  inform  him  of  the  particulars  attending 
the  loss  of  the  boy  ;  and  the  counsellor,  who  was  fond  of 
talking  upon  subjects  of  criminal  jurisprudence,  especially 
when  connected  with  his  own  experience,  went  through 
the  circumstances  at  full  length.  "And  what  is  your 
opinion  upon  the  result  of  the  whole  ?  " 


116  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Oh,  that  Kennedy  was  murdered  :  it's  an  old  case 
which  has  occurred  on  that  coast  before  now — the  case  of 
Smuggler  versus  Exciseman." 

*'  What,  then,  is  your  conjecture  concerning  the  fate  of 
the  child  ?  " 

"  Oh,  murdered  too,  doubtless,"  answered  Pleydell. 
"  He  was  old  enough  to  tell  what  he  had  seen,  and  these 
ruthless  scoundrels  would  not  scruple  committing  a  second 
Bethlehem  massacre,  if  they  thought  their  interest  re- 
quired it." 

The  Dominie  groaned  deeply,  and  ejaculated,  "  Enor- 
mous ! " 

"  Yet  there  was  mention  of  gipsies  in  the  business  too, 
counsellor,"  sajd  Mannering,  "  and  from  what  that  vulgar- 
looking  fellow  said  after  the  funeral  " 

"  Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram's  idea  that  the  child  was 
alive  was  founded  upon  the  report  of  a  gipsy,"  said 
Pleydell,  catching  at  the  half-spoken  hint — "  I  envy  you 
the  concatenation.  Colonel, — it  is  a  shame  to  me  not  to 
have  drawn  the  same  conclusion.  "We'll  follow  this  busi- 
ness up  instantly — Here,  hark  ye,  waiter, — go  down  to 
Luckie  Wood's  in  the  Cowgate  ;  ye'll  find  my  clerk 
Driver ;  he'll  be  set  down  to  High-Jinks  by  this  time, 
(for  we  and  our  retainers.  Colonel,  are  exceedingly  regu- 
lar in  our  irregularities ;)  tell  him  to  come  here  instantly, 
and  I  will  pay  his  forfeits." 

"  He  won't  appear  in  character,  will  he  ?  "  said  Man- 
nering. 

"  Ah  !  no  more  of  that,  Hal,  an  thou  lovest  me,"  said 
Pleydell.  "  But  we  must  have  some  news  from  the  land 
of  Egypt,  if  possible.  O,  if  I  had  but  hold  of  the  slight- 
est thread  of  this  complicated  skein,  you  should  see  how 
I  would  unravel  it !     I  would  work  the  truth  out  of  your 


GUY   MANNERING.  117 

Boliemian,  as  the  French  call  them,  better  than  a  Moni' 
toire,  or  a  Plainte  de  Tournelle  :  I  know  how  to  manage 
a  refractory  witness." 

While  Mr.  Pleydell  was  thus  vaunting  his  knowledge 
of  his  profession,  the  waiter  re-entered  with  Mr.  Driver, 
his  mouth  still  greasy  with  mutton  pies,  and  the  froth  of 
the  last  draught  of  twopenny  yet  unsubsided  on  his  upper 
lip,  with  such  speed  had  he  obeyed  the  commands  of  his 
principal.  "  Driver,  you  must  go  instantly  and  find  out 
the  woman  who  was  old  Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram's  maid. 
Inquire  for  her  everywhere ;  but  if  you  find  it  necessary 
to  have  recourse  to  Protocol,  Quid  the  tobacconist,  or  any 
other  of  these  folks,  you  will  take  care  not  to  appear  your- 
self, but  send  some  woman  of  your  acquaintance — I  dare 
say  you  know  enough  that  may  be  so  condescending  as 
to  oblige  you.  When  you  have  found  her  out,  engage 
her  to  come  to  my  chambers  to-morrow  at  eight  o'clock 
precisely." 

"  What  shall  I  say  to  make  her  forthcoming  ?  "  asked 
the  aide-de-camp. 

"  Anything  you  choose,"  repHed  the  lawyer.  "  Is  it 
my  business  to  make  lies  for  you,  do  you  think  ?  But  let 
her  be  in  prcesentia  by  eight  o'clock,  as  I  have  said  be- 
fore."    The  clerk  grinned,  made  his  reverence,  and  exit. 

"  That's  a  useful  fellow,"  said  the  counsellor  ; — "  1 
don't  believe  his  match  ever  carried  a  process.  He'll 
write  to  my  dictating  three  nights  in  the  week  without 
sleep,  or,  what's  the  same  thing,  he  writes  as  well  and 
correctly  when  he's  asleep  as  when  he's  awake.  Then 
he's  such  a  steady  fellow — some  of  them  are  always 
changing  their  alehouses,  so  that  they  have  twenty  cadies 
sweating  after  them,  like  the  bare-headed  captains  trav- 
ersing the  taverns  of  East- Cheap  in  search  of  Sir  John 


118  ^  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Falstaff.  But  this  is  a  complete  fixture ; — he  has  his 
winter  seat  by  the  fire,  and  his  summer  seat  by  the 
window,  in  Luckie  Wood's,  betwixt  which  seats  are  his 
only  migrations — there  he's  to  be  found  at  all  times  when 
he  is  off"  duty.  It  is  my  opinion  he  never  puts  off  his 
clothes  or  goes  to  sleep  ; — sheer  ale  supports  him  under 
everything ;  it  is  meat,  drink,  and  clothing,  bed,  board, 
and  washing." 

"  And  is  he  always  fit  for  duty  upon  a  sudden  turn- 
out ?     I  should  distrust  it,  considering  his  quarters." 

"  Oh,  drink  never  disturbs  him,  Colonel ;  he  can  write 
for  hours  after  he  cannot  speak.  I  remember  being 
called  suddenly  to  draw  an  appeal  case.  I  had  been 
dining,  and  it  was  Saturday  night,  and  I  had  ill  will  to 
begin  to  it ;  however,  they  got  me  down  to  Clerihugh's,  and 
there  we  sat  birling  till  I  had  a  fair  tappit  hen  *  under 
my  belt,  and  then  they  persuaded  me  to  draw  the  paper. 
Then  we  had  to  seek  Driver,  and  it  was  all  that  two  men 
could  do  to  bear  him  in,  for,  when  found,  he  was,  as  it 
happened,  both  motionless  and  speechless.  But  no  sooner 
was  his  pen  put  between  his  fingers,  his  paper  stretched 
before  him,  and  he  heard  my  voice,  than  he  began  to 
WTfite  like  a  scrivener — and,  excepting  that  we  were 
obliged  to  have  somebody  to  dip  his  pen  in  the  ink,  for  he 
could  not  see  the  standish,  I  never  saw  a  thing  scrolled 
more  handsomely." 

*  Th9  Tappit  Hen  contained  three  quarts  of  claret^ 
Weel  she  lo'ed  a  Hawick  gill, 
And  leugb  to  see  a  Tappit  Hen. 

I  have  seen  one  of  these  formidable  stoups  at  Provost  Haswell's,  at 
Jedburgh,  in  the  days  of  yore.  It  was  a  pewter  measure,  the  claiet 
being  in  ancient  days  served  from  the  tap,  and  had  the  figure  of  a  hen 
upon  the  lid.  In  later  times,  the  name  was  given  to  a  glass  bottle  of 
the  same  dimensions.  These  are  rare  apparitions  among  the  degener- 
ate topers  of  modem  days. 


GUT   MANNERING.  119 

"But  liow  did  your  joint  production  look  the  next 
morning  ?  "  said  the  Colonel. 

"  Wheugh  !  capital — not  three  words  required  to  be 
altered  ;  *  it  was  sent  off  by  that  day's  post.  But  you'll 
come  and  breakfast  with  me  to-morrow,  and  hear  this 
woman's  examination  ?  " 

*  The  account  given  by  Mr.  Pleydell,  of  his  sitting  down  in  the 
midst  of  a  revel  to  draw  an  appeal  case,  was  taken  from  a  story  told 
me  by  an  aged  gentleman,  of  the  elder  President  Dundas  of  Arniston, 
(father  of  the  younger  President,  and  of  Lord  Melville.)  It  had  been 
thought  very  desirable,  while  that  distinguished  lawyer  was  King's 
counsel,  that  his  assistance  should  be  obtained  in  drawing  an  appeal 
case,  which,  as  occasion  for  such  writings  then  rarely  occurred,  was 
held  to  be  matter  of  great  nicety.  The  Solicitor  employed  for  the  ap- 
pellant, attended  by  my  informant  acting  as  his  clerk,  went  to  the  Lord 
Advocate's  chambers  in  the  Fishmarket  Close,  as  I  think.  It  was  Sat- 
urday at  noon,  the  Court  was  just  dismissed,  the  Lord  Advocate  had 
changed  his  dress  and  booted  himself,  and  his  servant  and  horses  were 
at  the  foot  of  the  close  to  carry  him  to  Arniston.  It  was  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  get  him  to  listen  to  a  word  respecting  business.  The  wily 
agent,  however,  on  pretence  of  asking  one  or  two  questions,  which 
would  not  detain  him  half  an  hour,  drew  his  Lordship,  who  was  no 
less  an  eminent  bon  vivant  than  a  lawyer  of  unequalled  talent,  to  take 
a  whet  at  a  celebrated  tavern,  when  the  learned  counsel  became  gi'ad- 
ually  involved  in  a  spirited  discussion  of  the  law  points  of  the  case. 
At  length  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  as  well  ride  to  Arniston 
in  the  cool  of  the  evening.  The  horses  were  directed  to  be  put  in  the 
stable,  but  not  to  be  unsaddled.  Dinner  was  ordei-ed,  the  law  was  laid 
aside  for  a  time,  and  the  bottle  circulated  very  freely.  At  nine  o'clock 
at  night,  after  he  had  been  honouring  Bacchus  for  so  many  hours, 
the  Lord  Advocate  ordered  his  horses  to  be  unsaddled, — paper,  pen, 
and  ink  were  brought — he  began  to  dictate  the  appeal  case — and  con- 
tinued at  his  task  till  four  o'clock  the  next  morning.  By  next  day's 
post,  the  solicitor  sent  the  case  to  London,  a  chef-d'oRuvre  of  its  kind, 
and  m  which,  my  informant  assured  me,  it  was  not  necessary  on  revi- 
sal  to  correct  five  words.  I  am  not,  therefore,  conscious  of  having 
overstepped  accuracy  in  describing  the  manner  in  which  Scottish  law- 
yers of  the  old  time  occasionally  united  the  worship  of  Bacchus  witlx 
that  of  Themis.  My  informant  was  Alexander  Keith,  Esq.,  grandfather 
to  my  friend,  the  present  Sir  Alexander  Keith  of  Ravelstone,  and  ap" 
orentice  at  the  time  to  the  writer  who  conducted  the  cause. 


120  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

"  Why,  your  liour  is  rather  early." 

"  Can't  make  it  later.  If  I  were  not  on  the  boards  of 
the  Outer-House  precisely  as  the  nme-hours  bell  rings, 
there  would  be  a  report  that  I  had  got  an  apoplexy,  and 
I  should  feel  the  effects  of  it  all  the  rest  of  the  session." 

"  Well,  I  will  make  an  exertion  to  wait  upon  you." 

Here  the  company  broke  up  for  the  evening. 

In  the  morning.  Colonel  Mannering  appeared  at  the 
counsellor's  chambers,  although  cursing  the  raw  air  of  a 
Scottish  morning  in  December.  Mr.  Pleydell  had  got 
Mrs.  Rebecca  installed  on  one  side  of  his  fire,  accom- 
modated her  with  a  cup  of  chocolate,  and  was  ah'eady 
deeply  engaged  in  conversation  with  her.  "  O  no,  I 
assure  you,  Mrs.  E-ebecca,  there  is  no  intention  to  chal- 
lenge your  mistress's  will ;  and  I  give  you  my  word  of 
honour  that  youi'  legacy  is  quite  safe.  You  have  de- 
served it  by  your  conduct  to  your  mistress,  and  I  wish  it 
had  been  twice  as  much." 

"  Why,  to  be  sure,  sir,  it's  no  right  to  mention  what  is 
said  before  ane — ^ye  heard  how  that  dirty  body  Quid  cast 
up  to  me  the  bits  o'  comphments  he  gied  me,  and  tell'd 
ower  again  ony  loose  cracks  I  might  hae  had  wi'  him ; — • 
now  if  ane  was  talking  loosely  to  your  honour,  there's 
nae  saying  what  might  come  o't." 

"I  assure  you,  my  good  Rebecca,  my  character  and 
^our  own  age  and  appearance  are  your  security,  if  you 
should  talk  as  loosely  as  an  amatory  poet." 

"  Aweel,  if  your  honour  thinks  I  am  safe — the  story  is 
just  this. — Ye  see,  about  a  year  ago,  or  no  just  sae  lang, 
my  leddy  was  advised  to  go  to  Gilsland  for  a  while,  for 
her  spirits  were  distressing  her  sair.  Ellaiigowan's  trou- 
bles began  to  be  spoken  o'  publicly,  and  sair  vexed  she 
was ;  for  she  was  proud  o'  her  family.     For  EUangowan 


GUY   MANNERING.  121 

himsell  and  her,  they  sometimes  'greed,  and  sometimes 
no ;  but  at  last  they  didna  'gree  at  a'  for  twa  or  three 
year — for  he  was  aye  wanting  to  borrow  siller,  and  that 
was  what  she  couldna  bide  at  no  hand,  and  she  was 
aye  wanting  it  paid  back  again,  and  that  the  Laird  he 
liked  as  Httle.  So,  at  last,  they  were  clean  aff  thegither. 
And  then  some  of  the  company  at  Gilsland  tells  her  that 
the  estate  was  to  be  seU'd ;  and  ye  wad  hae  thought  she 
had  taen  an  ill  will  at  Miss  Lucy  Bertram  frae  that 
moment,  for  mony  a  time  she  cried  to  me,  *  O  Becky,  O 
Becky,  if  that  useless  peenging  thing  o'  a  lassie  there  at 
Ellangowan,  that  canna  keep  her  ne'er-do-weel  father 
within  bounds — if  she  had  been  but  a  lad-bairn,  they 
couldna  hae  sell'd  the  auld  inheritance  for  that  fool  body's 
debts  ; ' — and  she  would  rin  on  that  Avay  till  I  was  just 
wearied  and  sick  to  hear  her  ban  the  puir  lassie,  as  if  she 
wadna  hae  been  a  lad-bairn,  and  keepit  the  land,  if  it  had 
been  in  her  will  to  change  her  sect.  And  ae  day  at  the 
spaw-well,  below  the  craig  at  Gilsland,  she  was  seeing  a 
very  bonny  family  o'  bairns — they  belanged  to  ane  Mac- 
Crosky — and  she  broke  out — '  Is  not  it  an  oddlike  thing 
that  ilka  waf  carle  *  in  the  country  has  a  son  and  heir, 
and  that  the  house  of  Ellangowan  is  without  male 
succession  ? '  There  was  a  gipsy  wife  stood  ahint  and 
heard  her — a  muckle  stour  fearsome-looking  wife  she  was 
as  ever  I  set  een  on.  '  Wha  is  it,'  says  she,  '  that  dare 
say  the  house  of  Ellangowan  will  perish  without  male 
SLiccession  ?  '  My  mistress  just  turned  on  her  ;  she  was 
a  high-spirited  woman,  and  aye  ready  wi'  an  answer  to  a* 
body.  '  It's  me  that  says  it,'  says  she,  '  that  may  say  it 
with  a  sad  heart.'  Wi'  that  the  gipsy  wife  gripped  till 
her  hand :  '  I  ken  you  weel  eneugh,'  says  she, '  though 

*  Every  insigiiificant  churl. 


122  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

ye  kenna  me — But  as  sure  as  that  sun's  in  heaven,  and 
as  sure  as  that  water's  rinning  to  the  sea,  and  as  sure  aa 
there's  an  ee  that  sees,  and  an  ear  that  hears  us  baith,— 
Harry  Bertram,  that  was  thought  to  perish  at  Warroch 
Point,  never  did  die  there.  He  was  to  have  a  weary 
weird  o't  till  his  ane-and-twentieth  year,  that  was  aye  said 
o'  him — but  if  ye  hve  and  I  live,  ye'U  hear  mair  o'  him 
this  winter  before  the  snaw  hes  twa  days  on  the  Dun  of 
Singleside.  I  want  nane  o'  your  siller,'  she  said,  *to 
make  ye  think  I  am  blearing  your  ee.  Fare  ye  weel  till 
after  Martinmas.'     And  there  she  left  us  standing." 

"  Was  she  a  very  tall  woman  ?  "  interrupted  Manner- 
ing. 

"  Had  she  black  hair,  black  eyes,  and  a  cut  above  the 
brow  ?  "  added  the  lawyer. 

"  She  was  the  tallest  woman  I  ever  saw,  and  her  hair 
was  as  black  as  midnight,  unless  where  it  was  grey,  and 
she  had  a  scar  abune  the  brow,  that  ye  might  hae  laid 
the  lith  of  your  finger  in.  Naebody  that's  seen  her  will 
ever  forget  her ;  and  I  am  morally  sure  that  it  was  on 
the  ground  o'  what  that  gipsy-woman  said  that  my  mis- 
tress made  her  will,  having  taen  a  dislike  at  the  young 
leddy  o'  Ellangowan  ;  and  she  liked  her  far  waur  after 
she  was  obliged  to  send  her  £20, — for  she  said  Miss 
Bertram,  no  content  wi'  letting  the  Ellangowan  property 
pass  into  strange  hands,  owing  to  her  being  a  lass  and  no 
a  lad,  was  coming,  by  her  poverty,  to  be  a  burden  and  a 
disgrace  to  Singleside  too. — But  I  hope  my  mistress's  is 
a  good  will  for  a'  that,  for  it  would  be  hard  on  me  to  lose 
the  wee  bit  legacy — I  served  for  little  fee  and  bountith, 
weel  I  wot." 

The  counsellor  relieved  her  fears  on  this  head,  then 
inquired  after  Jenny  Gibson,  and   understood  she   had 


GUT   MANNERING.  123 

acc«jpted  'Mr.  DInmont's  offer;  and  "I  have  done  sae 
mysell  too,  since  he  was  sae  discreet  as  to  ask  me,"  said 
Mrs.  Rebecca  ;  "  they  are  very  decent  folk  the  Dinmonts, 
though  my  lady  didna  dow  to  hear  muckle  about  the 
friends  on  that  side  the  house.  But  she  liked  the  Charlies- 
hope  hams,  and  the  cheeses  and  the  muir-fowl,  that  they 
were  aye  sending,  and  the  lamb's-wool  hose  and  mittens 
— she  Hked  them  weel  eneuch." 

Mr.  Pleydell  now  dismissed  Mrs.  Rebecca.  When  she 
was  gone,  "  I  think  I  know  the  gipsy-woman,"  said  the 
lawyer. 

"I  was  just  going  to  say  the  same,"  replied  Mannering. 

"  And  her  name,"  said  Pleydell 

"  Is  Meg  Merrihes,"  answered  the  Colonel. 

"  Are  you  avised  of  that  ?  "  said  the  counsellor,  looking 
'  at  his  military  friend  with  a  comic  expression  of  surprise. 

Mannering  answered.  "  that  he  had  known  such  a 
woman  when  he  was  at  Ellangowan  upwards  of  twenty 
years  before;"  and  then  made  his  learned  friend  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  remarkable  particulars  of  his  first 
visit  there. 

Mr.  Pleydell  listened  with  great  attention,  and  then 
repHed,  "  I  congratulated  myself  upon  having  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  profound  theologian  in  your  chaplain  ; 
but  I  really  did  not  expect  to  find  a  pupil  of  Albumazar 
or  Messahala  in  his  patron.  I  have  a  notion,  however, 
this  gipsy  could  tell  us  some  more  of  the  matter  than  she 
derives  from  astrology  or  second-sight — I  had  her  through 
hands  once,  and  could  then  make  little  of  her ;  but  I 
must  write  to  Mac-Morlan  to  stir  heaven  and  earth  to 

find  her  out.     I  will  gladly  come  to shire  myself  to 

assist  at  her  examination.  I  am  still  in  the  commission 
of  the  peace  there,  though  I  have  ceased  to  be  sheriff.    I 


124 


T^AYERLEY   NOVELS. 


never  had  anything  more  at  heart  in  my  life  than  tracing 
that  murder,  and  the  fate  of  the  child.  I  must  ^  rite  to 
the  sheriff  of  Roxburghshire  too,  and  to  an  active  justico 
of  peace  in  Cumberland." 

"  I  hope  when  you  come  to  the  country  you  will  make 
"Woodbourne  your  head-quarters  ?  " 

"  Certainly ;  I  was  afraid  you  were  going  to  forbid  me 
— But  we  must  go  to  breaidast  now,  or  I  shall  be  too 
late." 

On  the  following  day  the  new  friends  parted,  and  the 
Colonel  rejoined  his  family  without  any  adventure  worthy 
of  being  detailed  in  these  chapters. 


GUT   MANNERING.  J  25 


CHAPTER   XL. 

Can  no  rest  find  me,  no  private  place  secure  me, 
But  still  my  miseries  like  bloodhounds  haunt  me? 
Unfortunate  youug  man,  which  way  now  guides  thee, 
Guides  thee  from  death?    The  country's  laid  around  for  thee. 

Women  Pleased. 

Omi  narrative  now  recalls  us  for  a  moment  to  the 
period  when  young  Hazlewood  received  his  wound. 
That  accident  had  no  sooner  happened,  than  the  conse- 
quences to  Miss  Mannering  and  to  himself  rushed  upon 
Brown's  mind.  From  the  manner  in  which  the  muzzle 
of  the  piece  was  pointed  when  it  went  off,  he  had  no 
great  fear  that  the  consequences  would  be  fatal.  But  an 
arrest  in  a  strange  country,  and  while  he  was  unprovided 
with  any  means  of  establishing  his  rank  and  character, 
was  at  least  to  be  avoided.  He  therefore  resolved  to 
escape  for  the  present  to  the  neighbouring  coast  of  Eng- 
land, and  to  remain  concealed  there,  if  possible,  until  he 
should  receive  letters  from  his  regimental  friends,  and 
remittances  from  his  agent ;  and  then  to  resume  his  own 
character,  and  offer  to  young  Hazlewood  and  his  friends 
any  explanation  or  satisfaction  they  might  desire.  With 
this  purpose  he  walked  stoutly  forward,  after  leaving  the 
spot  where  the  accident  had  happened,  and  reached  with- 
out adventure  the  village  which  we  have  called  Portan- 
ferry  (but  which  the  reader  will  in  vain  seek  for  under 


I'ZQ  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

that  name  in  the  county  map.)  A  large  open  boat  was 
just  about  to  leave  the  quay,  bound  for  the  Httle  sea-port 
of  Allonby,  in  Cumberland.  In  this  vessel  Brown  em- 
barked, and  resolved  to  make  that  place  his  temporary 
abode,  until  he  should  receive  letters  and  money  from 
England. 

In  the  course  oi  tneir  short  voyage  he  entered  into 
some  conversation  with  the  steersman,  who  was  also 
owner  of  the  boat, — a  jolly  old  man,  who  had  occasionally 
been  engaged  in  the  smugghng  trade,  Hke  most  fishers 
on  the  coast.  After  talking  about  objects  of  less  interest, 
Brown  endeavoured  to  turn  the  discourse  toward  the 
Mannering  family.  The  sailor  had  heard  of  the  attack 
upon  the  house  at  Woodbourne,  but  disapproved  of  the 
smugglers'  proceedings. 

"  Hands  off  is  fair  play.  Zounds  !  they'll  bring  the 
whole  country  down  upon  them.  Na,  na !  when  I  was 
in  that  way,  I  played  at  giff-gaff  with  the  officers :  here  a 
cargo  taen — vera  weel,  that  was  their  luck  ; — there  another 
carried  clean  through,  that  was  mine.  Na,  na !  hawks 
shouldna  pike  out  hawks'  een." 

"  And  this  Colonel  Mannering,"  said  Brown. 

"  Troth,  he's  nae  wise  man  neither,  to  interfere.  No 
that  I  blame  him  for  saving  the  gaugers'  lives — that  was 
very  right ;  but  it  wasna  like  a  gentleman  to  be  fighting 
about  the  poor  folk's  pocks  o'  tea  and  brandy  kegs  ;  how- 
ever, he's  a  grand  man  and  an  officer  man,  and  they  do 
what  they  like  wi'  the  like  o'  us." 

"  And  his  daughter,"  said  Brown,  with  a  throbbing 
heart,  "  is  going  to  be  married  into  a  great  family  too,  as 
I  have  heard  ?  " 

"  What,  into  the  Hazlewood's  ?  "  said  the  pilot.  "  Na, 
na,  that's  but  idle  clashes — every  Sabbath-day,  as  regu- 


GUT   MANNERING.  127 

larlj  as  it  came  round,  did  tlie  young  man  ride  hame  wi* 
the  daughter  of  the  late  Ellangowan  ; — and  mj  daughter 
Peggy's  in  the  service  up  at  Woodbourne,  and  she  says 
she's  sure  young  Hazlewood  thinks  nae  mair  of  Miss 
Manuering  than  you  do." 

Bitterly  censuring  his  own  precipitate  adoption  of  a 
contrary  behef,  Brown  yet  heard  with  delight  that  the 
suspicions  of  Julia's  fidelity,  upon  which  he  had  so  rashly 
acted,  were  probably  void  of  foundation.  How  must  he 
in  the  meantime  be  suffering  in  her  opinion  ?  or  what 
could  she  suppose  of  conduct,  which  must  haye  made 
him  appear  to  her  regardless  alike  of  her  peace  of  mind, 
and  of  the  interests  of  their  affection  ?  The  old  man's 
connexion  with  the  family  at  Woodbourne  seemed  to  offer 
a  safe  mode  of  communication,  of  which  he  determined 
to  avail  himself. 

"  Your  daughter  is  a  maid-servant  at  "Woodbourne  ? — 
I  knew  Miss  Mannering  in  India,  and  though  I  am  at 
present  in  an  inferior  rank  of  life,  I  have  great  reason  to 
hope  she  would  interest  herself  in  my  favour.  I  had  a 
quarrel  unfortunately  with  her  father,  who  was  my  com- 
manding-officer, and  I  am  sure  the  young  lady  would 
endeavour  to  reconcile  him  to  me.  Perhaps  your  daugh- 
ter could  deliver  a  letter  to  her  upon  the  subject,  without 
making  mischief  between  her  father  and  her  ?  " 

The  old  man,  a  friend  to  smuggling  of  every  kind, 
readily  answered  for  the  letter's  being  faithfully  and  se- 
cretly delivered  ;  and,  accordingly,  as  soon  as  they  arrived 
at  AUonby,  Brown  wrote  to  Miss  Mannering,  stating  the 
utmost  contrition  for  what  had  happened  through  his 
rashness,  and  conjuring  her  to  let  him  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  pleading  his  own  cause,  and  obtaining  forgive- 
ness for  his  indiscretion.     He  did  not  judge  it  safe  tc   go 


128  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

into  any  detail  concerning  the  circumstances  by  which  be 
had  been  misled,  and  upon  the  whole  endeavoured  to 
express  himself  with  such  ambiguity,  that  if  the  letter 
should  fall  into  wrong  hands,  it  would  be  difficult  either 
to  understand  its  real  purport,  or  to  trace  the  writer. 
This  letter  the  old  man  undertook  faithfully  to  dehver  to 
liis  daughter  at  Woodbom^ne ;  and,  as  his  trade  would 
speedily  again  bring  him  or  his  boat  to  Allonby,  he  prom- 
ised farther  to  take  charge  of  any  answer  with  which  the 
young  lady  might  entrust  him. 

And  now  our  persecuted  traveller  landed  at  Allonby, 
and  sought  for  such  accommodations  as  might  at  once 
suit  his  temporary  poverty,  and  his  desire  of  remaining 
as  much  unobserved  as  possible.  With  this  view  he  as- 
sumed the  name  and  profession  of  his  friend  Dudley, 
having  command  enough  of  the  pencil  to  verify  his  pre- 
tended character  to  his  host  of  Allonby.  His  baggage 
he  pretended  to  expect  from  Wigton  ;  and  keeping  him- 
self as  much  within  doors  as  possible,  awaited  the  return 
of  the  letters  which  he  had  sent  to  his  agent,  to  Delaserre, 
and  to  his  Lieutenant- Colonel.  From  the  first  he  re- 
quested a  supply  of  money ;  he  conjured  Delaserre,  if 
possible,  to  join  him  in  Scotland  ;  and  from  the  Lieuten- 
ant Colonel  he  required  such  testimony  of  his  rank  and 
conduct  in  the  regiment,  as  should  place  his  character  as 
a  gentleman  and  officer  beyond  the  power  of  question. 
The  inconvenience  of  being  run  short  in  his  finances 
struck  him  so  strongly,  that  he  wrote  to  Dinmont  on  that 
subject,  requesting  a  small  temporary  loan,  having  1.0 
doubt  that,  being  within  sixty  or  seventy  miles  of  his 
residence,  he  should  receive  a  speedy  as  well  as  favour- 
able answer  to  his  request  of  pecuniary  accommodation, 
which  was  owing,  as  he  stated,  to  his  having  been  robbed 


GUT    MANNERING.  129 

after  their  parting.  And  then,  with  impatience  enough, 
though  without  any  serious  apprehension,  he  waited  the 
answers  of  these  various  letters. 

It  must  be  observed,  in  excuse  of  his  correspondents, 
that  the  post  was  then  much  more  tardy  than  since  Mr. 
Pahner's  ingenious  invention  has  taken  place ;  and  with 
respect  to  honest  Dinmont  in  particular,  as  he  rarely  re- 
ceived above  one  letter  a  quarter,  (unless  during  the  time 
of  his  being  engaged  in  a  law-suit,  when  he  regularly 
sent  to  the  post-town,)  his  correspondence  usually  re- 
mained for  a  month  or  two  sticking  in  the  postmaster's 
window,  among  pamphlets,  gingerbread,  rolls,  or  ballads, 
according  to  the  trade  which  the  said  postmaster  exer- 
cised. Besides,  there  was  then  a  custom,  not  yet  wholly 
obsolete,  of  causing  a  letter,  from  one  town  to  another, 
perhaps  within  the  distance  of  thirty  miles,  perform  a 
circuit  of  two  hundred  miles  before  delivery  ;  which  had 
the  combined  advantage  of  airing  the  epistle  thoroughly, 
of  adding  some  pence  to  the  revenue  of  the  post-office, 
and  of  exercising  the  patience  of  the  correspondents. 
Owing  to  these  circumstances.  Brown  remained  several 
days  in  Allonby  without  any  answers  whatever ;  and  his 
stock  of  money,  though  husbanded  with  the  utmost  econ- 
omy, began  to  wear  very  low,  when  he  received,  by  the 
hands  of  a  young  fisherman,  the  following  letter : — 

"  You  have  acted  with  the  most  cruel  indiscretion  ;  you 
have  shown  how  little  I  can  trust  to  your  declarations 
that  my  peace  and  happiness  are  dear  to  you ;  and  your 
rashness  has  nearly  occasioned  the  death  of  a  young  man 
of  the  highest  worth  and  honour.  Must  I  &ay  more  ? — 
must  I  add,  that  I  have  been  myself  very  ill  in  conse- 
quence of  your   violence  and   its    effects  ?     And,  alas  I 


130  WAYEKLEY   NOVELS. 

need  I  sav  still  farther,  that  I  have  thought  anxiously 
upon  them  as  they  are  likely  to  aifect  you,  although  you 
have  given  me  such  slight  cause  to  do  so  ?  The  C.  is 
gone  from  home  for  several  days ;  Mr.  H.  is  almost  qui^B 
recovered ;  and  I  have  reason  to  think  that  the  blame  is  laid 
in  a  quarter  different  fi'om  that  where  it  is  deserved.  Yet 
do  not  think  of  venturmg  here.  Our  fate  has  been  crossed 
by  accidents  of  a  natui-e  too  violent  and  terrible  to  permit 
me  to  think  of  renewing  a  correspondence  which  has  so 
often  threatened  the  most  dreadful  catastrophe.  Fare- 
well, therefore,  and  believe  that  no  one  can  wish  your 
happiness  more  sincerely  than  "  J.  M." 

This  letter  contained  that  species  of  advice  which  is 
frequently  given  for  the  precise  piu-pose  that  it  may  lead 
to  a  directly  opposite  conduct  from  that  which  it  recom- 
mends. At  least  so  thought  Bro^\Ti,  who  immediately 
asked  the  young  fisherman  if  he  came  from  PortanfeiTy. 

"  Ay,"  said  the  lad ;  "  I  am  auld  Willie  Johnstone's 
son,  and  I  got  that  letter  frae  my  sister  Peggy,  that's 
laundry-maid  at  TVoodboume." 

"  My  good  friend,  when  do  you  sail  ?  " 

"  With  the  tide  this  evening." 

"  m  return  with  you  ; — ^but  as  I  do  not  desire  to  go  to 
Portanferry,  I  wish  you  could  put  me  on  shore  somewhere 
on  the  coast." 

"  We  can  easily  do  that,"  said  the  lad. 

Although  the  price  of  provisions,  &c.,  was  then  very 
moderate,  the  discharging  his  lodgings,  and  the  expense 
of  his  hving,  together  with  that  of  a  change  of  dress, 
firhich  safety,  as  well  as  a  proper  regard  to  his  external 
appearance,  rendered  necessary,  brought  Brown's  purse 
to  a  very  low  ebb.     He  left  directions  at  the  post-office 


GUY    MANNERING.  131 

that  his  letters  should  be  forwarded  to  Kippletringan, 
wliither  he  resolved  to  proceed,  and  reclaim  the  treasure 
which  he  had  deposited  in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Mac- 
Candlish.  He  also  felt  it  would  be  his  duty  to  assume 
his  proper  character  as  soon  as  he  should  receive  the 
necessary  evidence  for  supporting  it,  and,  as  an  officer 
in  the  kingV  service,  give  and  receive  every  explanation 
which  might  be  necessary  with  young  Hazlewood.  "  If 
he  is  not  very  wrong-headed  indeed,"  he  thought,  "  he 
must  allow  the  manner  in  which  I  acted  to  have  been 
the  necessary  consequence  of  his  own  overbearing  con- 
duct." 

And  now  we  must  suppose  him  once  more  embarked 
on  the  Solway  Frith.  The  wind  was  adverse,  attended 
by  some  rain,  and  they  struggled  against  it  without  much 
assistance  from  the  tide.  The  boat  was  heavily  laden 
with  goods,  (part  of  which  were  probably  contraband,) 
and  laboured  deep  in  the  sea.  Brown,  who  had  been 
bred  a  sailor,  and  was  indeed  skilled  in  most  athletic 
exercises,  gave  his  powerful  and  effectual  assistance  in 
rowing,  or  occasionally  in  steering  the  boat,  and  his  advice 
in  the  management,  which  became  the  more  delicate  as 
the  wind  increased,  and,  being  opposed  to  the  very  rapid 
tides  of  that  coast,  made  the  voyage  perilous.  At  length, 
after  spending  the  whole  night  upon  the  frith,  they  were 
at  morning  within  sight  of  a  beautiful  bay  upon  the  Scot- 
tish c»ast.  The  weather  was  now  more  mild.  The  snow, 
which  had  been  for  some  time  waning,  had  given  way 
entirely  under  the  fresh  gale  of  the  preceding  night. 
The  more  distant  hills,  indeed,  retained  their  snowy 
mantle,  but  all  the  open  country  was  cleared,  unless  where 
a  few  white  patches  indicated  that  it  had  been  drifted  to 
an  uncommon  depth.     Even  under  its  wintry  appearance. 


132  WAVERLET   XOYELS. 

the  shore  was  higUy  interesting.  The  line  of  sea-coasl^ 
with  all  its  varied  curves,  indentures,  and  embayments- 
swept  avv^aj  from  the  sight  on  either  hand,  in  that  varied, 
intricate,  jet  graceful  and  easy  line,  which  the  eye  loves 
so  well  to  pursue.  And  it  was  no  less  relieved  and  varied 
in  elevation  than  in  outline,  by  the  different  forms  of  the 
shore ;  the  beach  in  some  places  being  edged  by  steep 
rocks,  and  in  others  rising  smoothly  from  the  sands  in 
easy  and  swelling  slopes. — Buildings  of  different  kinds 
caught  and  reflected  the  wintry  sunbeams  of  a  December 
morning,  and  the  woods,  though  now  leafless,  gave  relief 
and  variety  to  the  landscape.  Brown  felt  that  lively  and 
awakening  interest  which  taste  and  sensibility  always 
derive  from  the  beauties  of  nature,  when  opening  sud- 
denly to  the  eye,  after  the  dulness  and  gloom  of  a  night 
voyage.  Perhaps — for  who  can  presume  to  analyze  that 
inexpUcable  feeling  which  binds  the  person  born  in  a 
mountainous  country  to  his  native  hiUs — perhaps  some 
early  associations,  retaming  their  effect  long  after  the 
cause  was  forgotten,  mingled  in  the  feelings  of  pleasure 
with  which  he  regarded  the  scene  before  him. 

"  And  what,"  said  Brown  to  the  boatman,  "  is  the  name 
of  that  fine  cape,  that  stretches  into  the  sea  with  its  sloping 
banks  and  hillocks  of  wood,  and  forms  the  right  side  of 
the  bay?" 

"  Warroch  Point,"  answered  the  lad. 

"  And  that  old  castle,  my  friend,  with  the  modem  house 
situated  just  beneath  it  ?  It  seems  at  this  distance  a  very 
large  building." 

"  That's  the  Auld  Place,  sir  ;  and  that's  the  New  Placo 
below  it.     We'll  land  you  there,  if  you  like." 

"  I  should  like  it  of  all  things.  I  must  visit  that  ruia 
before  I  continue  my  journey.'* 


GUY    MANNEEING.  133 

"  Ay,  it'b  a  queer  auld  bit,"  said  the  fisherman  ;  "  and 
that  highest  tower  is  a  gude  land-mark  as  far  as  Ramsay 
in  Man,  and  the  Point  of  Ayr ; — there  was  muckle  fight- 
ing about  the  place  langsyne." 

Brown  would  have  inquired  into  farther  particulars, 
but  a  fisherman  is  seldom  an  antiquary.  His  boatman's 
local  knowledge  was  summed  up  in  the  information 
already  given,  '*  that  it  was  a  grand  land-mark,  and  that 
there  had  been  muckle  fighting  about  the  bit  langsyne." 

"  I  shall  learn  more  of  it,"  said  Brown  to  himself, 
*'  when  I  get  ashore." 

The  boat  continued  its  course  close  under  the  point 
upon  which  the  castle  was  situated,  which  frowned  from 
the  summit  of  its  rocky  site  upon  the  still  agitated  waves 
of  the  bay  beneath.  "I  believe,"  said  the  steersman, 
"ye'U  get  ashore  here  as  dry  as  ony  gate.  There's  a 
place  where  their  berlins  and  galleys,  as  they  ca'd  them, 
used  to  lie  in  langsyne,  but  it's  no  used  now,  because  it's 
ill  carrying  gudes  up  the  narrow  stairs,  or  ower  the  rocks. 
Whiles  of  a  moonlight  night  I  have  landed  articles  there, 
though." 

While  he  thus  spoke,  they  pulled  round  a  point  of  rock, 
and  found  a  very  small  harbour,  partly  formed  by  nature, 
partly  by  the  indefatigable  labour  of  the  ancient  inhabi- 
tants of  the  castle,  who,  as  the  fisherman  observed,  had 
found  it  essential  for  the  protection  of  their  boats  and 
email  craft,  though  it  could  not  receive  vessels  of  any 
burden.  The  two  points  of  rock  which  formed  the  access 
approached  each  other  so  nearly,  that  only  one  boat  could 
enter  at  a  time.  On  each  side  were  still  remaining  two 
immense  iron  rings,  deeply  morticed  into  the  solid  rock. 
Through  these,  according  to  tradition,  there  was  nightly 
drawn  a  huge  chain,  secured  by  an  immense  padlock,  for 


134  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

the  protection  of  the  haven,  and  the  armada  which  it 
contained.  A  ledge  of  rock  had,  bj  the  assistance  of  the 
chisel  and  pickaxe,  been  formed  into  a  sort  of  quay 
The  rock  was  of  extremely  hard  consistence,  and  the 
task  so  difficult,  that,  according  to  the  fisherman,  a 
labourer  who  wrought  at  the  work  might  in  the  evening 
have  carried  home  in  his  bonnet  all  the  shivers  which  he 
Dad  struck  from  the  mass  in  the  course  of  the  day.  This 
little  quay  communicated  with  a  rude  staircase,  already 
yepeatedly  mentioned,  which  descended  from  the  old 
tastle.  There  was  also  a  communication  between  the 
beach  and  the  quay,  by  scrambling  over  the  rocks. 

"Ye  had  better  land  here,"  said  the  lad,  "for  the  surf's 
running  high  at  the  Shellicoat-stane,  and  there  will  no  be 
a  dry  thread  amang  us  or  we  get  the  cargo  out. — Na ! 
na  !  "  (in  answer  to  an  offer  of  money,)  "  ye  have  wrought 
for  your  passage,  and  wrought  far  better  than  ony  o'  us. 
Gude-day  to  ye :  I  wuss  ye  weel." 

So  saying,  he  pushed  off  in  order  to  land  his  cargo  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  bay ;  and  Brown,  with  a  small 
bundle  in  his  hand,  containing  the  trifling  stock  of  neces- 
saries which  he  had  been  obliged  to  purchase  at  Allonby, 
was  left  on  the  rocks  beneath  the  ruin. 

And  thus,  unconscious  as  the  most  absolute  stranger, 
and  in  circumstances  which,  if  not  destitute,  were  for  the 
present  highly  embarrassing  ;  without  the  countenance  of 
a  friend  within  the  circle  of  several  hundred  miles; 
accused  of  a  heavy  crime,  and,  what  was  as  bad  as  all 
the  rest,  being  nearly  penniless,  did  the  harassed  wan- 
derer, for  the  first  time  after  the  interval  of  so  many 
years,  approach  the  remains  of  the  castle  where  his  an- 
cestors had  exercised  all  but  regal  dominion. 


GUY   MANNERING.  135 


CHAPTER  XLL 

Yes,  ye  moss-green  walls, 

Ye  towers  defenceless,  I  revisit  ye 
Shame-stricken !    Where  are  all  your  trophies  now? 
Your  thronged  courts,  the  revelry,  the  tumult. 
That  spoke  the  grandevir  of  my  house,  the  homage 
Of  neighbouring  Barons? 

Mysterious  Mother. 

Entering  the  castle  of  EUangowan  by  a  postern  door- 
way, whicla  showed  symptoms  of  having  been  once  secured 
with  the  most  jealous  care,  Brown  (whom,  since  he  has 
set  foot  upon  the  property  of  his  fathers,  we  shall  here- 
after call  by  his  father's  name  of  Bertram)  wandered 
from  one  ruined  apartment  to  another,  surprised  at  the 
massive  strength  of  some  parts  of  the  building,  the  rude 
and  impressive  magnificence  of  others,  and  the  great 
extent  of  the  whole.  In  two  of  these  rooms,  close  beside 
each  other,  he  saw  signs  of  recent  habitation.  In  one 
small  apartment  were  empty  bottles,  half-gnawed  bones, 
and  dried  fragments  of  bread.  In  the  vault  which  ad- 
joined, and  which  was  defended  by  a  strong  door,  then 
left  open,  he  observed  a  considerable  quantity  of  straw  ; 
and  in  both  were  the  rehcs  of  recent  fires.  How  little 
was  it  possible  for  Bertram  to  conceive,  that  such  trivial 
circumstances  were  closely  connected  with  incidents 
affecting  his  prosperity,  his  honour,  perhaps  his  life  ! 

After  satisfying  his  curiosity  by  a  hasty  glance  througli 


136  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

the  interior  of  the  castle,.  Bertram  now  advanced  through 
the  great  gateway  which  opened  to  the  land,  and  paused 
to  look  upon  the  noble  landscape  which  it  commanded. 
Having  in  vain  endeavoured  to  guess  the  position  of 
Woodbourne,  and  having  nearly  ascertained  that  of 
Kippletringan,  he  turned  to  take  a  parting  look  at  the 
stately  ruins  which  he  had  just  traversed.  He  admired 
the  massive  and  picturesque  effect  of  the  huge  round 
towers,  which,  flanking  the  gateway,  gave  a  double  por- 
tion of  depth  and  majesty  to  the  high  yet  gloomy  arch 
under  which  it  opened.  The  carved  stone  escutcheon  of 
the  ancient  family,  bearing  for  their  arms  three  wolves' 
heads,  was  hung  diagonally  beneath  the  helmet  and  crest, 
the  latter  being  a  wolf  couchant  pierced  with  an  arrow. 
On  either  side  stood  as  supporters,  in  full  human  size,  or 
larger,  a  salvage  man  proper,  to  use  the  language  of 
heraldry,  wreathed  and  cinctured,  and  holding  in  his  hand 
an  oak-tree  eradicated,  that  is,  torn  up  by  the  roots. 

"  And  the  powerful  barons  who  owned  this  blazonry," 
thought  Bertram,  pursuing  the  usual  train  of  ideas  which 
flows  upon  the  mind  at  such  scenes, — "  do  their  posterity 
continue  to  possess  the  lands  which  they  had  laboured  to 
fortify  so  strongly  ?  or  are  they  wanderers,  ignorant  per- 
haps even  of  the  fame  or  power  of  their  forefathers, 
while  their  hereditary  possessions  are  held  by  a  race  of 
strangers  ?  Why  is  it,"  he  thought,  continuing  to  follow 
out  the  succession  of  ideas  which  the  scene  prompted, 
— "  why  is  it  that  some  scenes  awaken  thoughts  which 
belong  as  it  were  to  di-eams  of  early  and  shadowy  recol- 
lection, such  as  my  old  Brahmin  Moonshie  would  have 
ascribed  to  a  state  of  previous  existence?  Is  it  the 
visions  of  our  sleep  that  float  confusedly  in  our  memory, 
and  are  recalled  by  the  appearance  of  such  real  objects  ai 


GUY   MANNERIKG.  137 

in  any  respect  correspond  to  the  phantoms  they  presented 
to  our  hnagination  ?  How  often  do  we  find  ourselves  in 
society  which  we  have  never  before  met,  and  yet  feel  im- 
pressed with  a  mysterious  and  ill-defined  consciousness, 
that  neither  the  scene,  the  speakers,  nor  the  subject,  are 
entirely  new ;  nay,  feel  as  if  we  could  anticipate  that  part 
of  the  conversation  which  has  not  yet  taken  place  !  It  is 
even  so  with  me  while  I  gaze  upon  that  ruin; — nor  can  I 
divest  myself  of  the  idea,  that  these  massive  towers,  and 
that  dark  gateway,  retiring  through  its  deep-vaulted  and 
ribbed  arches,  and  dimly  lighted  by  the  court-yard 
beyond,  are  not  entirely  strange  to  me.  Can  it  be,  that 
they  have  been  familiar  to  me  in  infancy,  and  that  I  am 
to  seek  in  their  vicinity  those  friends  of  whom  my  child- 
hood has  still  a  tender  though  faint  remembrance,  and 
whom  I  early  exchanged  for  such  severe  taskmasters  ? 
Yet  Brown,  who  I  think  would  not  have  deceived  me, 
always  told  me  I  was  brought  off  from  the  eastern  coast, 
after  a  skirmish  in  which  my  father  was  killed  ; — and  I 
do  remember  enough  of  a  horrid  scene  of  violence  to 
strengthen  his  account." 

It  happened  that  the  spot  upon  which  young  Bertram 
chanced  to  station  himself  for  the  better  viewing  the 
castle,  was  nearly  the  same  on  which  his  father  had  died. 
It  was  marked  by  a  large  old  oak-tree,  the  only  one  on 
the  esplanade,  and  which,  having  been  used  for  executions 
by  the  barons  of  EUangowan,  was  called  the  Justice-Tree. 
It  chanced,  and  the  coincidence  was  remarkable,  that 
Glossin  was  this  morning  engaged  with  a  person  whom 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  consulting  in  such  matters,  con- 
cerning some  projected  repairs,  and  a  large  addition  to 
the  house  of  EUangowan, — and  that,  having  no  great 
pleasure  in   remains   so   intimately  connected  with  the 


138  WAYERLEY    NOVELS. 

grandeui*  of  the  former  inhabitants,  he  had  resolved  to 
use  the  stones  of  the  ruinous  castle  in  his  new  edifice. 
Accordingly  he  came  up  the  bank,  followed  by  the  land- 
surveyor  mentioned  on  a  former  occasion,  who  was  also 
in  the  habit  of  acting  as  a  sort  of  architect  in  case  of 
necessity.  In  drawing  the  plans,  &c.,  Glossin  was  in  the 
custom  of  relying  upon  his  own  skill.  Bertram's  back 
was  towai'ds  them  as  they  came  up  the  ascent,  and  he 
was  quite  shrouded  by  the  branches  of  the  large  tree,  so 
that  Glossin  was  not  aware  of  the  presence  of  the  stranger 
till  he  was  close  upon  him. 

"  Yes,  sir,  as  I  have  often  said  before  to  you,  the  Old 
Place  is  a  perfect  quarry  of  hewn  stone,  and  it  would  be 
better  for  the  estate  if  it  were  all  down,  since  it  is  only  a 
den  for  smuo^orlers." 

At  this  instant  Bertram  turned  short  round  upon  Glos- 
sin at  the  distance  of  two  yards  only,  and  said,  "  Would 
you  destroy  this  fine  old  castle,  sir  ?  " 

His  face,  person,  and  voice,  were  so  exactly  those  of 
his  father  in  his  best  days,  that  Glossin,  hearing  his  ex- 
clamation, and  seeing  such  a  sudden  apparition  in  the 
shape  of  his  patron,  and  on  nearly  the  very  spot  where  he 
had  expired,  almost  thought  the  grave  had  given  up  its 
dead  !  He  staggered  back  two  or  three  paces,  as  if  he 
had  received  a  sudden  and  deadly  wound.  He  instantly 
recovered,  however,  his  presence  of  mind,  stimulated  by 
the  thrilling  reflection  that  it  was  no  inhabitant  of  the 
other  world  which  stood  before  him,  but  an  injured  man, 
whom  the  sHghtest  want  of  dexterity  on  his  part  might 
lead  to  acquaintance  with  his  rights,  and  the  means  of 
asserting  them  to  his  utter  destruction.  Yet  his  ideas 
were  so  much  confused  by  the  shock  he  had  received,  that 
bis  first  question  partook  of  the  alarm. 


GUY   MANNEKING.  139 

"In  the  name  of  God,  how  came  you  here?"  said 
Glossin. 

"  How  came  I  here  ?  "  repeated  Bertram,  surprised  at 
the  solemnity  of  the  address.  "  I  landed  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  since  in  the  little  harbour  beneath  the  castle,  and 
was  employing  a  moment's  leisure  in  viewing  these  fine 
ruins.     I  trust  there  is  no  intrusion  ?  " 

"  Intrusion,  sir  ?  No,  sir,"  said  Glossin,  in  some 
degree  recovering  his  breath,  and  then  whispered  a 
few  words  into  his  companion's  ear,  who  immediately 
left  him  and  descended  towards  the  house.  "  Intrusion, 
sir?  No,  sir,  you  or  any  gentleman  are  welcome  to 
satisfy  your  curiosity." 

"  I  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Bertram.  "  They  call  this  the 
Old  Place,  I  am  informed  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir ;  in  distinction  to  the  New  Place,  my  house 
there,  below." 

Glossin,  it  must  be  remarked,  was,  during  the  fol- 
lowing dialogue,  on  the  one  hand  eager  to  learn  what 
local  recollections  young  Bertram  had  retained  of  the 
scenes  of  his  infancy,  and,  on  the  other,  compelled  to  be 
extremely  cautious  in  his  replies,  lest  he  should  awaken 
or  assist,  by  some  name,  phrase,  or  anecdote,  the  slum- 
bering train  of  association.  He  suffered,  indeed,  during 
the  whole  scene,  the  agonies  which  he  so  richly  def  erved  ; 
yet  his  pride  and  interest,  hke  the  fortitude  of  a  North 
American  Indian,  manned  him  to  sustain  the  tortures 
inflicted  at  once  by  the  contending  stings  of  a  guilty  con- 
science, of  hatred,  of  fear,  and  of  suspicion. 

"  I  wish  to  ask  the  name,  sir,"  said  Bertram,  "  of  the 
family  to  whom  this  stately  ruin  belongs  ?  " 

"  It  is  my  property,  sir — my  name  is  Glossin." 

"  Glossin  ? — Glossin  ?  "    repeated  Bertram,  as   if  the 


140  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

answer  were  somewhat  different  from  what  lie  expected. 
"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Glossin ;  I  am  apt  to  be  very- 
absent.  May  I  ask  if  the  castle  has  been  long  in  your 
family  ?  " 

"  It  was  built,  I  believe,  long  ago,  by  a  family  called 
Mac-Dingawaie,"  answered  Glossin;  suppressing,  for 
obvious  reasons,  the  more  familiar  sound  of  Bertram, 
which  might  have  awakened  the  recollections  which  he 
was  anxious  to  lull  to  rest,  and  slurring  with  an  evasive 
answer  the  question  concerning  the  endurance  of  his  own 
possession. 

"  And  how  do  you  read  the  half-defaced  motto,  sir," 
said  Bertram,  "  which  is  upon  that  scroll  above  the  en- 
tablature with  the  arms  ?  " 

"  I — I — I  really  do  not  exactly  know,"  replied  Glossin. 

"  I  should  be  apt  to  make  it  out.  Our  Right  makes  our 
Mightr 

"  I  believe  it  is  something  of  that  kind,"  said  Glossin. 

"  May  I  ask,  sir,"  said  the  stranger,  "  if  it  is  your 
family  motto  ?  " 

"  N — n — no — no — not  ours.  That  is,  I  believe,  the 
motto  of  the  former  people — mine  is — mine  is — in  fact  I 
have  had  some  correspondence  with  Mr.  Gumming  of 
the  Lyon  Qjfice  in  Edinburgh  about  mine.  He  writes 
me,  the  Glossins  anciently  bore  for  a  motto,  '  He  who 
takes  it,  makes  it.' " 

"If  there  be  any  uncertainty,  sir,  and  the  case  were 
miae,"  said  Bertram,  "I  would  assume  the  old  motto, 
which  seems  to  me  the  better  of  the  two." 

Glossin,  whose  tongue  by  this  time  clove  to  the  roof 
of  his  mouth,  only  answered  by  a  nod. 

"  It  is  odd  enough,"  said  Bertram,  fixing  his  eye  upon 
the  arms  and  gateway,  and  parti}-  addressing  Glossin, 


GTJT   MANNERING.  141 

partly  as  it  were  tliinking  aloud — "  It  is  odd  the  trick** 
which  our  memory  plays  us.  The  remnants  of  an  old 
prophecy,  or  song,  or  rhyme,  of  some  kind  or  other, 
return  to  my  recollection  on  hearing  that  motto — Stay— ^ 
it  is  a  strange  jingle  of  sounds  : 

The  dark  shall  be  light, 

And  the  wrong  made  right, 

When  Bertram's  right  and  Bertram's  might 

Shall  meet  on 

I  cannot  remember  the  last  line — on  some  particulai 
height — height  is  the  rhyme,  I  am  sure;  but  I  cannot 
hit  upon  the  preceding  word." 

"  Confound  your  memory,"  muttered  Glossin, — "  you 
remember  by  far  too  much  of  it !  " 

"  There  are  other  rhymes  connected  with  these  early 
recollections,"  continued  the  young  man  : — "  Pray,  sir,  is 
there  any  song  current  in  this  part  of  the  world  respect- 
ing a  daughter  of  the  Eling  of  the  Isle  of  Man  eloping 
with  a  Scottish  knight  ?  " 

"  I  am  the  worst  person  in  the  world  to  consult  upon 
legendary  antiquities,"  answered  Glossin. 

^'  I  could  sing  such  a  ballad,"  said  Bertram,  "  from  one 
end  to  another,  when  I  was  a  boy. — You  must  know  I 
left  Scotland,  which  is  my  native  country,  very  young, 
and  those  who  brought  me  up  discouraged  all  my  attempts 
to  preserve  recollection  of  my  native  land, — on  account,  I 
beheve,  of  a  boyish  wish  which  I  had  to  escape  from 
their  charge." 

"  Very  natural,"  said  Glossin,  but  speaking  as  if  his 
utmost  efforts  were  unable  to  unseal  his  lips  beyond  the 
width  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  so  that  his  whole  utterance 
was  a  kind  of  compressed  muttering,  very  different  from 
the  round,  bold,  bullying  voice  with  which  he  usually 


142  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Bpoke.  Indeed  his  appearance  and  demeanour  during 
all  this  conversation  seemed  to  diminish  even  his  strength 
and  stature ;  so  that  he  appeared  to  wither  into  the 
shadow  of  himself,  now  advancing  one  foot,  now  the 
other,  now  stooping  and  wrigghng  his  shoulders,  now 
fumbling  with  the  buttons  of  his  waistcoat,  now  clasping 
his  hands  together, — ^in  short,  he  was  the  picture  of  a 
mean-spirited  shuffling  rascal  in  the  very  agonies  of 
detection.  To  these  appearances  Bertram  was  totally 
inattentive,  being  dragged  on  as  it  were  by  the  current 
of  his  own  associations.  Indeed,  although  he  addressed 
Glossin,  he  was  not  so  much  thinking  of  him,  as  arguing 
upon  the  embarrassing  state  of  his  own  feelings  and 
recollection.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  "  I  preserved  my  language 
among  the  sailors,  most  of  whom  spoke  Enghsh,  and  when 
I  could  get  into  a  corner  by  myself,  I  used  to  sing  all 
that  song  over  from  beginning  to  end. — I  have  forgot  it 
all  now — ^but  I  remember  the  tune  well,  though  I  cannot 
guess  what  should  at  present  so  strongly  recall  it  to  my 
memoiy." 

He  took  his  flageolet  from  his  pocket,  and  played  a 
simple  melody.  Apparently  the  tune  awoke  the  corre- 
sponding associations  of  a  damsel,  who,  close  beside  a  fine 
spring  about  halfway  down  the  descent,  and  which  had 
once  suppHed  the  castle  with  water,  was  engaged  in 
blcachinr  linen.     She  immediately  took  up  the  song : 

"  Are  these  the  Links  of  Forth,  she  said, 
Or  are  they  the  crooks  of  Dee, 
Or  the  bonny  woods  of  Warroch-Head 
That  I  so  fain  would  see  ?  " 

"  By  heaven,"  said  Bertram,  "  it  is  the  very  ballad  !  I 
must  learn  these  words  from  the  girl." 

"  Confusion ! "  thought   Glossin  ;  "  if  I  cannot  put  a 


GUY   MANNERING.  143 

Btop  to  tliis,  all  will  be  out.  Oli  the  devil  take  all  ballads, 
and   ballad-makers,  and   ballad-singers  !  and   that   d — d 

jade  too,  to  set  up  her  pipe ! You  will  have  time 

enough  for  this  on  some  other  occasion,"  he  said  aloud  ; 
"  at  present  " — (for  now  he  saw  his  emissary  with  two  or 
three  men  coming  up  the  bank) — "  at  present  we  must 
have  some  more  serious  conversation  together." 

"  How  do  you  mean,  sir  ? "  said  Bertram,  turning 
short  upon  him,  and  not  liking  the  tone  which  he  made 
use  of. 

"  Why,  sir,  as  to  that — I  believe  your  name  is  Brown  ?  '* 
said  Glossin. 

"  And  what  of  that,  sir  ?  " 

Glossin  looked  over  his  shoulder  to  see  how  near  his 
party  had  approached  ;  they  were  coming  fast  on.  "  Van- 
beest  Brown  ?  if  I  mistake  not." 

"  And  what  of  that,  sir  ?  "  said  Bertram,  with  increas- 
ing astonishment  and  displeasure. 

"  Why,  in  that  case,"  said  Glossin,  observing  his  friends 
had  now  got  upon  the  level  space  close  beside  them — "  in 
that  case  you  are  my  prisoner  in  the  king's  name  ! "  At 
the  same  time  he  stretched  his  hand  towards  Bertram's 
collar,  while  two  of  the  men  who  had  come  up  seized 
upon  his  arms  ;  he  shook  himself,  however,  free  of  their 
grasp  by  a  violent  effort,  in  which  he  pitched  the  most 
pertinacious  down  the  bank,  and,  drawing  his  cutlass, 
stood  on  the  defensive,  while  those  who  had  felt  his 
strength  recoiled  from  his  presence,  and  gazed  at  a  safe 
distance.  "  Observe,"  he  called  out  at  the  same  time, 
"  that  I  have  no  purpose  to  resist  legal  authority  ;  satisfy 
me  that  you  have  a  magistrate's  warrant,  and  are  author- 
ized to  make  this  arrest,  and  I  will  obey  it  quietly  ;  but 
'et  no  man  who  loves  his  life  venture  to  approach  me,  till 


144  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

I  am  satisfied  for  what  crime,  and  by  whose  authority,  I 
am  apprehended." 

Glossin  then  caused  one  of  the  officers  to  show  a  war- 
rant for  the  apprehension  of  Vanbeest  Brown,  accused  of 
the  crime  of  wilfully  and  mahciously  shooting  at  Charles 
Hazlewood,  younger  of  Hazlewood,  with  an  intent  to  kill, 
and  also  of  other  crimes  and  misdemeanours,  and  which 
appointed  him,  having  been  so  apprehended,  to  be  brought 
before  the  next  magistrate  for  examination.  The  war- 
rant being  formal,  and  the  fact  such  as  he  could  not  denyj 
Bertram  threw  down  his  weapon,  and  submitted  himself 
to  the  officers,  who,  flying  on  him  with  eagerness  corre- 
sponding to  their  former  pusillanimity,  were  about  to  load 
him  with  irons,  alleging  the  strength  and  activity  which 
he  had  displayed,  as  a  justification  of  this  severity.  But 
Glossin  was  ashamed  or  afraid  to  permit  this  unnecessary 
insult,  and  directed  the  prisoner  to  be  treated  with  all  the 
decency,  and  even  respect,  that  was  consistent  with 
safety.  Afraid,  however,  to  introduce  him  into  his  own 
house,  where  still  further  subjects  of  recollection  might 
have  been  suggested,  and  anxious  at  the  same  time  to 
cover  his  own  proceedings  by  the  sanction  of  another's 
authority,  he  ordered  his  carnage  (for  he  had  lately  set 
up  a  carriage)  to  be  got  ready,  and  in  the  meantime 
directed  refreshments  to  be  given  to  the  prisoner  and  the 
officers,  who  were  consigned  to  one  of  the  rooms  in  the 
old  castle,  until  the  means  of  conveyance  for  examination 
before  a  magistrate  should  be  provided. 


GUT   MANKEUrSTG.  145 


CHAPTER  XLH. 


Bring  in  the  evidence 

ThoTi  robed  man  of  justice,  take  thy  place, 
And  thou,  his  yoke-fellow  of  equity, 
Bench  by  his  side — ^you  are  of  the  commission, 
Sit  you  too. 

KrsG  Leab. 

While  the  carriage  was  getting  readj,  Glossi  i  had  a 
letter  to  compose,  about  which  he  wasted  no  smr Jl  time. 
It  was  to  his  neighbour,  as  he  was  fond  of  calling  him, 
Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood,  the  head  of  an 
ancient  and  powerful  interest  in  the  county,  which  had, 
in  the  decadence  of  the  Ellangowan  family,  gradually 
succeeded  to  much  of  their  authority  and  influence.  The 
present  representative  of  the  family  was  an  elderly  man, 
dotingly  fond  of  his  own  family,  which  was  limited  to  an 
only  son  and  daughter,  and  stoically  indifferent  to  the  fate 
of  all  mankind  besides.  For  the  rest,  he  was  honourable 
in  his  general  dealings,  because  he  was  afraid  to  suffer 
the  censure  of  the  world,  and  just  from  a  better  motive. 
He  was  presumptuously  over-conceited  on  the  score  of 
family  pride  and  importance — a  feeling  considerably  en- 
hanced by  his  late  succession  to  the  title  of  a  Nova  Scotia 
Baronet ;  and  he  hated  the  memory  of  the  Ellangowan 
family,  though  now  a  memory  only,  because  a  certain 
baron  of  that  house  was  traditionally  reported  to  have 
caused  the  foimder  of  the   Hazlewood  family  hold  his 

VOL.  IV.  10 


146  WAVEHLET   NOVELS. 

Stirrup  until  lie  mounted  into  his  saddle.  la  his  general 
deportment  he  was  pompous  and  important,  affecting  a 
species  of  florid  elocution  which  often  became  ridiculous 
fi'om  his  misarranging  the  triads  and  quaternions  with 
which  he  loaded  his  sentences. 

To  this  personage  Glossin  was  now  to  write  in  such  a 
conciliatory  style  as  might  be  most  acceptable  to  his 
vanity  and  family  pride,  and  the  following  was  the  form 
of  his  note  : — 

"  ]Mr.  Gilbert  Glossin "  (he  longed  to  add  of  Ellan- 
gowan,  but  prudence  prevailed,  and  he  suppressed  that 
territorial  designation) — "  Mr.  Gilbert  Glossin  hai5  the 
honour  to  offer  his  most  respectful  compliments  to  Sir 
Robert  Hazlewood,  and  to  inform  him,  that  he  has  this 
morning  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure  the  person  who 
wounded  Mr.  C.  Hazlewood.  As  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood 
may  probably  choose  to  conduct  the  examination  of  this 
criminal  himself,  Mr.  G.  Glossin  will  cause  the  man  to  be 
carried  to  the  inn  at  Kippletringan,  or  to  Hazlewood- 
House,  as  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  may  be  pleased  to 
direct :  And,  with  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood's  permission, 
Mr.  G.  Glossin  will  attend  him  at  either  of  these  places 
with  the  proofs  and  declarations  which  he  has  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  collect  respecting  this  atrocious  business." 
Addressed, 
"  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood,  Bart. 


Tuesday." 


"  Hazlewood  House,  &c.  &c. 


This  note  -  he  despatched  by  a  servant  on  horseback, 
and  having  given  the  man  some  time  to  get  a-head,  and 
desired  him  to  ride  fast,  he  ordered  two  cvffice  's  of  justice 


GUY   MANNERING.  147 

to  get  into  the  carriage  with  Bertram ;  and  he  himself, 
mounting  his  horse,  accompanied  them  at  a  slow  pace  to 
the  point  where  the  roads  to  Kippletringan  and  Hazle- 
wood  House  separated,  and  there  awaited  the  return  of 
liis  messenger,  in  order  that  his  farther  route  might  be 
determined  by  the  answer  he  should  receive  from  the 
Baronet.  In  about  half  ni  hour  his  servant  returned 
with  the  following  answer,  handsomely  folded  and  sealed 
with  the  Hazlewood  arms,  having  the  Nova  Scotia  badge 
depending  from  the  shield  : — 

"  Sir  Eobert  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood  returns  Mr.  G. 
Glossin's  compliments,  and  thanks  him  for  the  trouble  he 
has  taken  in  a  matter  affecting  the  safety  of  Sir  Robert's 
family.  Sir  R.  H.  requests  ]Mr.  G.  G.  will  have  the 
goodness  to  bring  the  prisoner  to  Hazlewood  House  for 
examination,  with  the  other  proofs  or  declarations  which 
he  mentions.  And  after  the  business  is  over,  in  case  Mr, 
G.  G.  is  not  otherwise  engaged.  Sir  R.  and  Lady  Hazle- 
wood request  his  company  to  dinner." 
Addressed, 

"  Mr.  Gilbert  Glossin,  &c. 

*'  Hazlewood-House,     ) 
Tuesday."  ) 

"  Soh  ! "  thought  ]VIr.  Glossin,  "  here  is  one  finger  in 
at  least,  and  that  I  will  make  the  means  of  introducing  my 
whole  hand.  But  I  must  first  get  clear  of  this  wretched 
young  fellow. — I  think  I  can  manage  Sir  Robert.  He  is 
dull  and  pompous,  and  will  be  ahke  disposed  to  listen  to 
my  suggestions  upon  the  law  of  the  case,  and  to  assume 
the  credit  of  acting  upon  them  as  his  own  proper  motion. 
So  I  shall  have  the  advantage  of  being  the  real  magis- 
trate, without  the  odium  of  responsibihty." 


14S  "WAVERLEY   KOTELS. 

As  he  cherished  these  hopes  and  expectations,  the  car- 
riage approached  Hazlewood  House  through  a  noble 
avenue  of  old  oaks,  which  shrouded  the  ancient  abbey- 
resembling  building  so  called.  It  was  a  large  edifice  built 
at  different  periods,  part  having  actually  been  a  priory, 
upon  the  suppression  of  which,  in  the  time  of  Queen 
Mary,  the  first  of  the  family  had  obtained  a  gift  of  the 
house  and  surrounding  lands  from  the  crown.  It  was 
pleasantly  situated  in  a  large  deer  park,  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  we  have  before  mentioned.  The  scenery  around 
was  of  a  dark,  solemn,  and  somewhat  melancholy  cast, 
according  well  with  the  architecture  of  the  house.  Every 
thing  appeared  to  be  kept  in  the  highest  possible  order^ 
and  announced  the  opulence  and  rank  of  the  proprietor. 

As  Mr.  Glossin's  carriage  stopped  at  the  door  of  the 
hall.  Sir  Robert  reconnoitred  the  new  vehicle  from  the 
windows.  According  to  his  aristocratic  feehngs,  there 
was  a  degree  of  presumption  in  this  novus  homo,  this  BIr. 

Gilbert   Glossin,  late  writer  in  •,  presuming  to   set 

up  such  an  accommodation  at  all ;  but  his  wrath  was 
mitigated  when  he  observed  that  the  mantle  upon  the 
panels  only  bore  a  plain  cipher  of  G.  G.  This  apparent 
modesty  was  indeed  solely  owing  to  the  delay  of  Mr. 
Gumming  of  the  Lyon  Otfice,  who,  being  at  that  time 
engaged  in  discovering  and  matriculating  the  arms  of  two 
commissaries  from  North  America,  three  English-Irish 
peers,  and  two  great  Jamaica  traders,  had  been  more  slow 
than  usual  in  finding  an  escutcheon  for  the  new  Laird  of 
Ellangowan.  But  his  delay  told  to  the  advantage  of 
Glossin  in  the  opinion  of  the  proud  Baronet. 

Wliile  the  officers  of  justice  detained  their  prisoner  in 
a  sort  of  steward's  room,  Mr.  Glossin  was  ushered  into 
what  was    called   the   great   oak-parlour,  a  long  rooi% 


GUT   MANNERING.  14^ 

pianelled  witli  <\'ell- varnished  wainscot,  and  adoraed  with 
the  grim  portraits  of  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood's  ancestry. 
The  visitor,  who  had  no  internal  consciousness  of  worth 
to  balance  that  of  meanness  of  birth,  felt  his  inferiority, 
and  by  the  depth  of  his  bow  and  the  obsequiousness  of 
his  demeanour,  showed  that  the  Laird  of  EUangowan  was 
sunk  for  the  time  in  the  old  and  submissive  habits  of  the 
quondam  retainer  of  the  law.  He  would  have  persuaded 
himself,  indeed,  that  he  was  only  humouring  the  pride  of 
the  old  Baronet,  for  the  purpose  of  turning  it  to  his  own 
advantage ; — but  his  feehngs  were  of  a  mingled  nature, 
and  he  felt  the  influence  of  those  very  prejudices  which 
he  pretended  to  flatter. 

The  Baronet  received  his  visitor  with  that  condescend- 
ing parade  which  was  meant  at  once  to  assert  his  own 
vast  suxjeriority,  and  to  show  the  generosity  and  courtesy 
v/ith  which  he  could  waive  it,  and  descend  to  the  level  of 
ordinary  conversation  with  ordinary  men.  He  thanked 
Glossin  for  his  attention  to  a  matter  in  which  "  young 
Hazlewood  "  was  so  intimately  concerned,  and,  pointing 
to  his  family  pictures,  observed,  with  a  gracious  smile, 
"  Indeed  these  venerable  gentlemen,  Mr.  Glossin,  are  as 
much  obliged  as  I  am  in  this  case,  for  the  labour,  pains, 
care,  and  trouble  which  you  have  taken  in  their  behalf; 
and  I  have  no  doubt,  were  they  capable  of  expressing 
themselves,  would  join  me,  sir,  in  thanking  you  for  the 
favour  you  have  conferred  upon  the  house  of  Hazlewood, 
by  taking  care,  and  trouble,  sir,  and  interest,  in  behalf  of 
the  young  gentleman  who  is  to  continue  their  name  and 
family." 

Thrice  bowed  Glossin,  and  each  time  more  profoundly 
than  before  ;  once  in  honour  of  the  kniglit  who  stood  up- 
right bef')re  him,  once  in  respect  to  the  quiet  personages 


150  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

who  patiently  hung  upon  the  wainscot,  and  a  third  time  In 
deference  to  the  young  gentleman  who  was  to  carry  on  the 
name  and  family.  Roturier  as  he  was,  Sir  Robert  was 
gratified  by  the  homage  which  he  rendered,  and  pro- 
ceeded, in  a  tone  of  gracious  familiarity — "  And  now,  Mr. 
Glossin,  my  exceeding  good  friend,  you  must  allow  me 
to  avail  myself  of  your  knowledge  of  law  in  our  proceed- 
ings in  this  matter.  I  am  not  much  in  the  habit  of  acting 
as  a  justice  of  the  peace  ;  it  suits  better  with  other  gen- 
tlemen, whose  domestic  and  family  affairs  require  less 
constant  superintendence,  attention,  and  management, 
than  mine." 

Of  course,  whatever  small  assistance  Mr.  Glossin  could 
render  was  entirely  at  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood's  service ; 
but,  as  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood's  name  stood  high  in  the 
hst  of  the  faculty,  the  said  Mr.  Glossin  could  not  presume 
to  hope  it  could  be  either  necessary  or  useful. 

"  Why,  my  good  sir,  you  will  understand  me  only  to 
mean,  that  I  am  something  deficient  in  the  practical 
knowledge  of  the  ordinary  details  of  justice-business.  I 
was  indeed  educated  to  the  bar,  and  might  boast  perhaps 
at  one  time,  that  I  had  made  some  progress  in  the  spec- 
ulative, and  abstract,  and  abstruse  doctrines  of  our 
municipal  code  ;  but  there  is  in  the  present  day  so  little 
opportunity  of  a  man  of  family  and  fortune  rising  to  that 
eminence  at  the  bar,  which  is  attained  by  adventurers 
who  are  as  willing  to  plead  for  John-a-Nokes  as  for  the 
first  noble  of  the  land,  that  I  was  really  early  disgusted 
with  practice.  The  first  case,  indeed,  which  was  laid  on 
my  table,  quite  sickened  me  ;  it  respected  a  bargain,  sir, 
of  tallow,  between  a  butcher  and  a  candlemaker ;  and  I 
found  it  was  expected  that  I  should  grease  my  mouth, 
not  only  with  their  vulgar  names,  but  with  all  the  tech- 


GUY   MANNERING.  151 

nical  terms,  and  phrases,  and  peculiar  language,  of  their 
dirty  arts.  Upon  mj  honour,  mj  good  sir,  I  have  never 
been  able  to  bear  the  smell  of  a  tallow-candle  since." 

Pitying,  as  seemed  to  be  expected,  the  mean  use  to 
which  the  Baronet's  faculties  had  been  degraded  on  this 
melancholy  occasion,  Mr.  Glossin  offered  to  officiate  as 
clerk  or  assessor,  or  in  any  way  in  which  he  could  be 
most  useful.  "  And  with  a  view  to  possessing  you  of  the 
whole  business,  and  in  the  first  place,  there  will,  I  believe, 
be  no  difficulty  in  proving  the  main  fact,  that  this  was  the 
person  who  fired  the  unhappy  piece.  Should  he  deny  it, 
it  can  be  proved  by  Mr.  Hazlewood,  I  presume  ?  " 

"  Young  Hazlewood  is  not  at  home  to-day,  Mr.  Glos- 
sin." 

"  But  we  can  have  the  oath  of  the  servant  who  at- 
tended him,"  said  the  ready  Mr.  Glossin ;  "  indeed  I 
hardly  think  the  fact  will  be  disputed.  I  am  more  appre- 
hensive, that,  from  the  too  favourable  and  indulgent 
manner  in  which  I  have  understood  that  Mr.  Hazlewood 
has  been  pleased  to  represent  the  business,  the  assault 
may  be  considered  as  accidental,  and  the  injury  as  unin- 
tentional, so  that  the  fellow  may  be  immediately  set  at 
liberty,  to  do  more. mischief." 

"  I  have  not  the  honour  to  know  the  gentleman  who 
now  holds  the  office  of  king's  advocate,"  replied  Sir 
Robert,  gravely ;  "  but  I  presume,  sir — nay,  I  am  confi- 
dent, that  he  will  consider  the  mere  fact  of  having 
wounded  young  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood,  even  by  inad- 
vertency, to  take  the  matter  in  its  mildest  and  gentlest,  and 
in  its  most  favourable  and  improbable  light,  as  a  crime 
which  will  be  too  easily  atoned  by  imprisonment,  and  as 
more  deserving  of  deportation." 

"  Indeed,   Sir  Robert,"  said  his  assenting  brother  in 


152  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

justice,  "  I  am  entirely  of  jour  opinion ;  "but,  I  don't 
know  how  it  is,  I  liave  observed  the  Edinburgh  gentlemen 
of  the  bar,  and  even  the  officers  of  the  crown,  pique 
themselves  upon  an  indifferent  administration  of  justice, 
without  respect  to  rank  and  family ;  and  I  should 
fear" 

"  How,  sir,  without  respect  to  rank  and  family  ?  Will 
you  tell  me  that  doctrine  can  be  held  by  men  of  birth  and 
legal  education  ?  No,  sir,  if  a  trifle  stolen  in  the  street 
is  termed  mere  pickery,  but  is  elevated  into  sacrilege  if 
the  crime  be  committed  in  a  church,  so,  according  to  the 
just  gradations  of  society,  the  guilt  of  an  injury  is  en- 
hanced by  the  rank  of  the  person  to  whom  it  is  offered, 
done,  or  perpetrated,  sir." 

Glossin  bowed  low  to  this  declaration  ex  cathedra,  but 
observed,  that  in  case  of  the  very  worst,  and  of  such 
unnatural  doctrines  being  actually  held  as  he  had  already 
hinted,  "  the  law  had  another  hold  on  ]Mr.  Vanbeest 
Brown." 

''  Vanbeest  Brown !  is  that  the  fellow's  name  ?  Good 
God !  that  young  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood  should  have 
had  his  life  endangered,  the  clavicle  of  his  right  shoulder 
considerably  lacerated  and  dislodged,  several  large  drops 
or  slugs  deposited  in  the  acromion  process,  as  the  account 
of  the  family  surgeon  expressly  bears, — and  all  by  an 
obscure  wretch  named  Vanbeest  Brown !  " 

"  Why,  really,  Sir  Robert,  it  is  a  tiling  which  one  can 
hardly  bear  to  think  of;  but,  begging  ten  thousand  par- 
dons for  resuming  what  I  was  about  to  say,  a  person  of 
the  same  name  is,  as  appears  from  these  papers,"  (pro^ 
ducing  Dirk  Hatteraick's  pocket-book,)  "  mate  to  the 
smuggling  vessel  who  offered  such  violence  at  Wood- 
bourne,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  same  indi- 


GUY   MANNEEINGf.  153 

vidual;  wliich,  however,  your  acute  discriiniriatiou  will 
easily  be  able  to  ascertain." 

"  The  same,  my  good  sir,  he  must  assuredly  be — it 
would  be  injustice  even  to  the  meanest  of  the  people,  to 
suppose  there  could  be  found  among  them  two  persons 
doomed  to  bear  a  name  so  shocking  to  one's  ears  as  this 
of  Yanbeest  Brown." 

"True,  Sir  Robert;  most  unquestionably;  there  can- 
not be  a  shadow  of  doubt  of  it.  But  you  see  farther, 
that  this  circumstance  accounts  for  the  man's  desperate 
conduct.  You,  Sir  Robert,  will  discover  the  motive  for 
his  crime — you,  I  say,  will  discover  it  without  difficulty, 
on  your  giving  your  mind  to  the  examination  ;  for  my  part, 
I  cannot  help  suspecting  the  moving  spring  to  have  been 
revenge  for  the  gallantry  with  which  Mr.  Hazlewood, 
with  all  the  spirit  of  his  renowned  forefathers,  defended 
the  house  at  Woodbourne  against  this  villain  and  his 
lawless  companions." 

"  I  will  inquire  into  it,  my  good  sir,"  said  the  learned 
Baronet.  "  Yet  even  now  I  venture  to  conjecture  that  I 
shall  adopt  the  solution  or  explanation  of  this  riddle, 
enigma,  or  mystery,  which  you  have  in  some  degree  thus 
started.  Yes  !  revenge  it  must  be — and,  good  Heaven  ! 
entertained  by  and  against  whom  ? — entertained,  fostered, 
cherished  against  young  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood,  and 
in  part  carried  into  effect,  executed,  and  implemented,  by 
the  hand  of  Vanbeest  Brown  !  These  are  dreadful  days 
indeed,  my  worthy  neighbour  "  (this  epithet  indicated  a 
rapid  advance  in  the  Baronet's  good  graces) — "  days  when 
the  bulwarks  of  society  are  shaken  to  their  mighty  base, 
and  that  rank,  which  forms,  as  it  were,  its  highest  grace 
and  ornament,  is  mingled  and  confused  with  the  viler 
parts   of  the   architecture.     Oh    my   good   Mr.   Gilbert 


154 


WAYERLET   NOVELS. 


Glossin,  in  my  time,  sir,  tlie  use  of  swords  and  pistols, 
and  such  honourable  arms,  was  reserved  by  the  nobil- 
ity and  gentry  to  themselves,  and  the  disputes  of  the 
vulgar  were  decided  by  the  weapons  which  nature  had 
given  them,  or  by  cudgels,  cut,  broken,  or  hewed  out  of 
the  next  wood.  But  now,  sir,  the  clouted  shoe  of  the 
peasant  galls  the  kibe  of  the  courtier.  The  lower  ranks 
have  their  quarrels,  sir,  and  their  points  of  honour,  and 
their  revenges,  which  they  must  bring,  forsooth,  to  fatal 
arbitrament.  But  well,  well !  it  wiU  last  my  time — ^let 
us  have  in  this  fellow,  this  Vanbeest  Brown,  and  make 
an  end  of  him  at  least  for  the  present." 


mmn 


QUT   MANNERING.  155 


CHAPTER  XLin. 


'Twas  he 


Gave  heat  unto  the  injury,  which  returned. 
Like  a  petard  ill  lighted,  into  the  bosom 
Of  him  gave  fire  to't.    Yet  I  hope  his  hurt 
Is  not  so  dangerous  but  he  may  recover. 

Faib  Maid  op  the  !»». 

The  prisoner  was  now  presented  before  the  two  wor- 
Bhipful  magistrates.  Glossin,  partly  from  some  compunc- 
tious visitings,  and  partly  out  of  his  cautious  resolution 
to  suffer  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  to  be  the  ostensible  man- 
ager of  the  whole  examination,  looked  down  upon  the 
table,  and  busied  himself  with  reading  and  arranging 
the  papers  respecting  the  business,  only  now  and  then 
throwing  in  a  skilful  catchword  as  prompter,  when  he  saw 
the  principal,  and  apparently  most  active,  magistrate 
stand  in  need  of  a  hint.  As  for  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood, 
he  assumed,  on  his  part,  a  happy  mixture  of  the  austeiity 
of  the  justice,  combined  with  the  display  of  personal  dig- 
nity appertaining  to  the  Baronet  of  ancient  family. 

"  There,  constables,  let  him  stand  there  at  the  bottom 
of  the  table. — Be  so  good  as  look  me  in  the  face,  sir,  and 
raise  your  voice  as  you  answer  the  questions  which  I  am 
going  to  put  to  you." 

'•  May  I  beg,  in  the  first  place,  to  know,  sir,  who  it  is 
that  takes  the  trouble  to  interrogate  me  ?  "  said  the  pris- 
oner ;  "  for  the  honest  gentlemen  who  have  brought  me 


156  TVAVERLET   NOVELS. 

here,  have  not  been  pleased  to  furnish  any  information 
upon  that  point." 

"  And  pray,  sir,"  answered  Sir  Robert,  "  what  has  my 
name  and  quality  to  do  with  the  questions  I  am  about  to 
ask  you  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  perhaps,  sir,"  rephed  Bertram ;  "but  it 
may  considerably  influence  my  disposition  to  answer 
them." 

"  Why,  then,  sir,  you  will  please  to  be  infoi-med  that 
you  are  in  the  presence  of  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  of 
Hazlewood,  and  another  justice  of  peace  for  this  county 
—that's  ah." 

As  this  intimation  produced  a  less  stunning  effect  upon 
the  prisoner  than  he  had  anticipated,  Sir  Robert  pro- 
ceeded in  his  iQvestigation  with  an  increasing  dishke  to 
the  object  of  it. 

"  Is  your  name  Yanbeest  Brown,  sir  ?  " 

"  It  is,"  answered  the  prisoner. 
.  "  So  far  well ; — and  how  are  we  to  design  you  farther, 
su*  ?  "  demanded  the  Justice. 

"  Captain  in  his  Majesty's  regiment  of  horse," 

answered  Bertram. 

"  The  Baronet's  ears  received  this  intimation  with  as- 
tonishment ;  but  he  was  refreshed  in  courage  by  an  incred- 
ulous look  from  GlossiQ,  and  by  hearing  him  gently  utter 
a  sort  of  interjectional  whistle,  in  a  note  of  surprise  and 
contempt.  "  I  believe,  my  friend,"  said  Sir  Robert,  "  we 
shall  fmd  for  you,  before  we  part,  a  more  humble  title." 

"  If  you  do,  sir,"  replied  his  prisoner,  "  I  shall  wil- 
lingly submit  to  any  punishment  which  such  an  imposture 
shall  be  thought  to  deserve." 

"  Well,  sir,  we  shall  see,"  continued  Sir  Robert.  "  Do 
you  know  young  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood  ?  " 


GUY   MANNERING.  157 

'*  I  never  saw  the  gentleman  who  I  am  Informed  bears 
that  name  exceptmg  once,  and  I  regret  that  it  was  under 
very  unpleasant  ch'cumstances." 

"  You  mean  to  acknowledge,  then,"  said  the  Baronet, 
*'  that  you  inflicted  upon  young  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood 
that  wound  w^hich  endangered  his  life,  considerably  lacer- 
ated the  clavicle  of  his  right  shoulder,  and  deposited,  as 
the  family  surgeon  declares,  several  large  drops  or  slugs 
in  the  acromion  process  ?  " 

"  Why,  sir,"  replied  Bertram,  "  I  can  only  say  I  am 
equally  ignorant  of  and  sorry  for  the  extent  of  the  damage 
which  the  young  gentleman  has  sustained.  I  met  him  in 
a  narrow  path,  walking  with  two  ladies  and  a  servant,  and 
before  I  could  either  pass  them  or  address  them,  this 
young  Hazlewood  took  his  gun  from  his  servant,  pre- 
sented it  against  my  body,  and  commanded  me  in  the 
most  haughty  tone  to  stand  back.  I  was  neither  inclined 
to  submit  to  his  authority,  nor  to  leave  him  in  possession 
of  the  naeans  to  injure  me,  which  he  seemed  disposed  to 
use  with  such  rashness.  I  therefore  closed  with  him  for 
the  purpose  of  disarming  him ;  and  just  as  I  had  nearly 
effected  my  purpose,  the  piece  went  off  accidentally,  and, 
to  my  regret  then  and  since,  inflicted  upon  the  young  gen- 
tleman a  severer  chastisement  than  I  desired,  though  I 
am  glad  to  understand  it  is  like  to  prove  no  more  than 
his  unprovoked  folly  deserved." 

"  And  so,  sir,"  said  the  Baronet,  every  feature  swollen 
with  offended  dignity, — "  you,  sir,  admit,  sir,  that  it  was 
your  purpose,  sir,  and  your  intention,  sir,  and  the  real  jet 
and  object  of  your  assault,  sir,  to  disarm  young  Hazle- 
wood of  Hazlewood  of  his  gun,  sir,  or  his  fowling-piece, 
or  his  fuzee,  or  whatever  you  please  to  call  it,  sir, 
upon  the'  king's   highway,   sir  ? — I    think   this    will  dcs 


158  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

my  worthy  neighbour  !  I  thmk  he  should  stand  com- 
mitted ?  " 

"  You  are  by  far  the  best  'judge,  Sir  Robert,"  said 
Glossin,  in  his  most  insinuating  tone  ;  "  but  if  I  might 
presume  to  hint,  there  was  something  about  these  smug- 
glers." 

''  Very  true,  good  sir. — And  besides,  sir,  you,  Van- 
beest  Brown,  who  call  yourself  a  captain  in  his  Majesty's 
service,  are  no  better  or  worse  than  a  rascally  mate  of  a 
smuoj2;ler !  " 

"  Really,  sir,"  said  Bertram,  "  you  are  an  old  gentle- 
man, and  acting  under  some  strange  delusion,  otherwise  I 
should  be  very  angry  with  you." 

''  Old  gentleman,  sir  ! — strange  delusion,  sir  !  "  said  Sir 
Robert,  colouring  with  indignation — "  I  protest  and  de- 
clare   Why,  su",  have  you  any  papers  or  letters  that 

can  estabhsh  your  pretended  rank,  and  estate,  and  com- 
mission  : 

"  None  at  present,  su',"  answered  Bertram ; — "  but  in 
the  return  of  a  post  or  two  " 

"  And  how  do  you,  sir,"  continued  the  Baronet,  "  if  you 
are  a  captam  m  his  Majesty's  service,  how  do  you  chance 
to  be  travelling  in  Scotland  without  letters  of  introduction, 
credentials,  baggage,  or  anything  belonging  to  your  pre- 
tended rank,  estate,  and  condition,  as  I  said  before  ?  " 

"  Sir,"  replied  the  prisoner,  "  I  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  robbed  of  my  clothes  and  baggage." 

"  Oho !  then  you  are  the  gentleman  who  took  a  post- 

ctaise  from to  Kippletringan,  gave  the  boy  the  slip 

on  the  road,  and  sent  two  of  your  accompUces  to  beat  the 
Doy  and  bring  away  the  baggage  ?  " 

"  I  was,  sir,  in  a  carriage  as  you  describe,  was  obliged 
to  alight  in  the  snow,  and  lost  my  w^ay  endeavouring  to 


GUY   MANNERING.  159 

find  the  road  to  Kippletringan.  The  landlady  of  the  inn 
will  inform  you  that  on  my  arrival  there  the  next  day,  my 
first  inquiries  were  after  the  boy." 

"  Then  give  me  leave  to  ask  where  you  spent  the 
night  ? — not  in  the  snow,  I  presume  ?  you  do  not  suppose 
tliat  will  pass,  or  be  taken,  credited,  and  received  ?" 

'*  I  beg  leave,"  said  Bertram,  his  recollection  turning 
to  the  gipsy  female,  and  to  the  promise  he  had  given  her, 
"  I  beg  leave  to  decUne  answering  that  question." 

"  I  thought  as  much,"  said  Sir  Robert. — "  Were  you 
not,  during  that  night,  in  the  ruins  of  Derncleugh  ? — ^in 
the  ruins  of  Derncleugh,  sir  ?  " 

"  I  have  told  you  that  I  do  not  intend  answering  that 
question,"  replied  Bertram. 

"  Well,  sir,  then  you  will  stand  committed,  sir,"  said  Sir 
Robert,  "  and  be  sent  to  prison,  sir,  that's  all,  sir. — Have 
the  goodness  to  look  at  these  papers :  are  you  the  Van- 
beest  Brown  who  is  there  mentioned  ?  " 

It  must  be  remarked  that  Glossin  had  shuffled  among 
the  papers  some  writings  which  really  did  belong  to  Ber- 
tram, and  which  had  been  found  by  the  officers  in  the  old 
vault  where  his  portmanteau  was  ransacked. 

"  Some  of  these  papers,"  said  Bertram,  looking  over 
them,  "  are  mine,  and  were  in  my  portfolio  when  it  was 
stolen  from  the  post-chaise.  They  are  memoranda  of 
little  value,  and,  I  see,  have  been  carefully  selected  as 
affording  no  evidence  of  my  rank  or  character,  which 
many  of  the  other  papers  would  have  established  fully. 
They  are  mingled  with  ship-accounts  and  other  papers, 
belonging  apparently  to  a  person  of  the  same  name." 

"  And  wilt  thou  attempt  to  persuade  me,  friend,"  de- 
manded Sir  Robert,  "  that  there  are  two  persons  in  this 
country,  at  the  same  time,  of  thy  very  uncommon  and 
awkwardly  sound mg  name?" 


160  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  I  really  do  not  see,  sir,  as  there  is  an  old  Hazlewood 
and  a  young  Hazlewood,  why  there  should  not  be  an  old 
and  a  young  Vanbeest  Brown.  And  to  speak  seriously^ 
I.  was  educated  in  Holland,  and  I  know  that  this  name, 

however  uncouth  it  may  sound  in  British  ears  " 

Glossin,  conscious  that  the  prisoner  was  now  about  to 
enter  upon  dangerous  ground,  interfered,  though  the 
interruption  was  unnecessary,  for  the  purpose  of  divert- 
ing the  attention  of  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood,  who  was 
speechless  and  motionless  with  indignation  at  the  pre- 
sumptuous comparison  implied  in  Bertram's  last  speech. 
In  fact,  the  veins  of  his  throat  and  of  his  temples  swelled 
almost  to  bursting,  and  he  sat  with  the  indignant  and  dis- 
concerted air  of  one  who  has  received  a  mortal  insult 
from  a  quarter  to  which  he  holds  it  unmeet  and  in- 
decorous to  make  any  reply.  While  with  a  bent  brow 
and  an  angry  eye  he  was  drawing  in  his  breath  slowly 
and  majestically,  and  puffing  it  forth  again  with  deep  and 
solemn  exertion,  Glossin  stepped  in  to  his  assistance.  "  I 
should  think,  now.  Sir  Robert,  with  great  submission, 
that  this  matter  may  be  closed.  One  of  the  constables, 
besides  the  pregnant  proof  already  produced,  offers  to 
make  oath,  that  the  sword  of  which  the  prisoner  was  this 
morning  deprived  (while  using  it,  by  the  way,  in  resist- 
ance to  a  legal  warrant)  was  a  cutlass  taken  from  him  in 
a  fray  between  the  officers  and  smugglers,  just  previous 
to  their  attack  upon  Woodbourne.  And  yet,"  he  added, 
"  I  would  not  have  you  form  any  rash  construction  upon 
Ihat  subject ;  perhaps  the  young  man  can  explain  how  he 
came  by  that  weapon." 

"  That  question,  sir,"  said  Bertram,  "  I  shall  also  leave 
unanswered." 

"There  is   yet  another   circumstance  to  be  inquired 


GUY   MANNEKING.  Ibl 

into,  always  under  Sir  Robert's  leave,"  insinuated  Glossin. 
*  This  prisoner  put  into  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Mae-Candlish 
of  Kippletringan,  a  parcel  containing  a  variety  of  gold 
coins  and  valuable  articles  of  different  kinds.  Perhaps, 
Sir  Robert,  you  might  think  it  right  to  ask,  how  he  came 
by  property  of  a  description  which  seldom  occurs." 

"You,  sir — Mr.  Vanbeest  Brown,  sir,— you  hear  the 
question,  sir,  which  the  gentleman  asks  you  ?  " 

"  I  have  particular  reasons  for  declining  to  answer  that 
question,"  answered  Bertram. 

"  Then  I  am  afraid,  sir,"  said  Glossin,  who  had 
brought  matters  to  the  point  he  desired  to  reach,  "  our 
duty  must  lay  us  under  the  necessity  to  sign  a  warrant  of 
committal." 

"  As  you  please,  sir,"  answered  Bertram  :  "  take  care, 
however,  what  you  do.     Observe,  that  I  inform  you  that 

I  am  a  captain  in  his  Majesty's regiment,  and  that 

I  am  just  returned  from  India,  and  therefore  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  connected  with  any  of  those  contraband  traders 
you  talk  of ;  that  my  Lieutenant-Colonel  is  now  at  Not- 
tingham, the  Major,  with  the  officers  of  my  corps,  at 
Kingston-upon-Thames.  I  offer  before  you  both  to  sub- 
mit to  any  degree  of  ignominy,  if,  within  the  return  of  the 
Kingston  and  Nottingham  posts,  I  am  not  able  to  establish 
these  points.  Or  you  may  write  to  the  agent  for  the 
r(  giment,  if  you  please,  and  " 

"  This  is  all  very  well,  sir,"  said  Glossin,  beginning  ta 
fear  lest  the  firm  expostulation  of  Bertram  should  make 
some  impression  on  Sir  Robert,  who  would  almost  have 
died  of  shame  at  committing  such  a  solecism  as  sending  a 
captain  of  horse  to  jail — "  This  is  all  very  well,  sir ; 
but  is  there  no  person  nearer  whom  you  could  refer  to  ?  " 

"  There  are  only  two  persons  in  this  country  who  know 

VOL.  IV.  11 


162  WAYERLEY    XOYELS. 

anytliing  of  me,"  replied  the  prisoner.  "  One  is  a  plain 
Liddesdale  slieep-farmer,  called  Diiimont  of  Charlies- 
hope  ;  but  he  knows  nothing  more  of  me  than  what  I  told 
liim,  and  what  I  now  tell  you." 

"  Why,  this  is  well  enough,  Sir  Robert !  "  said  Glossin. 
"  I  suppose  he  would  bring  forward  this  thick-skulled 
fellow  to  give  his  oath  of  creduhty,  Sir  Robert,  ha! 
ha!  ha!" 

"And  what  is  your  other  \vitness,  friend  ?"  said  the 
Baronet. 

"  A  gentleman  whom  I  have  some  reluctance  to  men- 
tion, because  of  certain  private  reasons  ;  but  under  whose 
command  I  served  some  time  in  India,  and  who  is  too 
much  a  man  of  honour  to  refuse  his  testimony  to  my 
character  as  a  soldier  and  gentleman." 

"  And  who  is  this  doughty  witness,  pray,  sir  ?  "  said  Sir 
Robert, — "some  half-pay  quarter-master  or  sergeant,  I 
suppose?" 

"  Colonel  Guy  Mannering,  late  of  the regiment, 

in  which,  as  I  told  you,  I  have  a  troop." 

"  Colonel  Guy  Mannering !  "  thought  Glossin, — "  who 
the  devil  could  have  guessed  this  ?  " 

"  Colonel  Guy  Mannering ! "  e<2hoed  the  Baronet  con- 
siderably shaken  in  his  opinion. — "  My  good  sir," — apart 
to  Glossin,  "  the  young  man  with  a  dreadfully  plebeian 
name,  and  a  good  deal  of  modest  assurance,  has,  never- 
theless, something  of  the  tone,  and  manners,  and  feeling 
of  a  gentleman,  of  one  at  least  who  has  hved  in  got  d 
society ; — they  do  give  commissions  very  loosely,  and 
carelessly,  and  inaccurately,  in  India ; — I  think  we  had 
better  pause  till  Colonel  Mannering  shall  return ;  he  is 
now,  I  believe  at  Edinburgh." 

"  You  are  in  every  respect  the  best  judge,  Sir  Robert," 


GUY   MANNERING.  163 

answered  Glossin,  "  in  every  possible  respect.  I  would 
only  submit  to  you,  that  we  are  certainly  hardly  entitled 
to  dismiss  this  man  upon  an  assertion  which  cannot  be 
satisfied  by  proof,  and  that  we  shall  incur  a  heavy  re- 
sponsibility by  detaining  him  in  private  custody,  without 
committing  him  to  a  public  jail.  Undoubtedly,  however, 
you  are  the  best  judge,  Sir  Robert ; — and  I  would  only 
say,  for  my  own  part,  that  I  very  lately  incurred  severe 
censure  by  detaining  a  person  in  a  place  whit-h  I  thought 
perfectly  secure,  and  under  the  custody  of  the  proper 
officers.  The  man  made  his  escape,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
my  own  character  for  attention  and  circumspection  as  a 
magistrate  has  in  some  degree  suiFered — I  only  hint  this 
— I  will  join  in  any  step  you.  Sir  Robert,  think  most  ad- 
visable." But  Ml'.  Glossin  was  well  aware  that  such  a 
hint  was  of  power  sufficient  to  decide  the  motions  of  his 
self-important,  but  not  self-relying  colleague.  So  that  Sir 
Robert  Hazlewood  summed  up  the  business  in  the  fol- 
lowing speech,  which  proceeded  partly  upon  the  sup- 
position of  the  prisoner  being  really  a  gentleman,  and 
partly  upon  the  opposite  belief  that  he  was  a  villain  and 
an  assassin. 

"  Sir,  Mr.  Vanbeest  Brown — ^I  would  call  you  Captain 
Bro\vn  if  there  was  the  least  reason,  or  cause,  or  grounds 
to  suppose  that  you  are  a  captain,  or  had  a  troop  in  the 
very  respectable  corps  you  mention,  or  indeed  in  any 
other  corps  in  his  Majestj'^s  service,  as  to  which  circum- 
stance I  beg  to  be  understood  to  give  no  positive,  settled, 
or  unalterable  judgment,  declaration,  or  opinion.  I  say 
therefore,  sir,  Mr.  Brown,  we  have  determined,  consider- 
ing the  unpleasant  predicament  in  which  you  now  stand, 
having  been  robbed,  as  you  say,  an  assertion  as  to  which 
I  suspend  my  opinion,  and  being  possessed  of  much  and 


164  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

valuable  treasure,  and  of  a  brass-handled  cutlass  besides, 
as  to  your  obtaining  which  you  will  favour  us  with  no 
explanation — I  saj,  sir,  we  have  determined  and  re- 
solved, and  made  up  our  minds,  to  commit  you  to  jail, 
or  rather  to  assign  you  an  apartment  therein,  in  order 
that  you  may  be  forthcoming  upon  Colonel  Mannering's 
return  from  Edinburgh." 

"  With  humble  submission.  Sir  Robert,"  said  Glossin, 
"may  I  inquire  if  it  is  your  purpose  to  send  this  young 
gentleman  to  the  county  jail  ? — for  if  that  were  not  your 
settled  intention,  I  would  take  the  liberty  to  hint,  that 
there  would  be  less  hardship  in  sending  him  to  the 
Bridewell  at  Portanferry,  where  he  can  be  secured 
without  pubKc  exposure, — a  circumstance  which,  on  the 
mere  chance  of  his  story  being  really  true,  is  much  to  be 
avoided." 

"  Why,  there  is  a  guard  of  soldiers  at  Portanferry 
to  be  sure,  for  protection  of  the  goods  in  the  Custom- 
house ;  and  upon  the  whole,  considering  everything,  and 
that  the  place  is  comfortable  for  such  a  place — I  say,  aL 
things  considered,  we  will  commit  this  person,  I  would 
rather  say  authorize  him  to  be  detained,  in  the  workhouse 
at  Portanferry." 

The  warrant  was  made  out  accordingly,  and  Bertram 
was  informed  he  was  next  morning  to  be  removed  to  his 
place  of  confinement,  as  Sir  Robert  had  determined  he 
should  not  be  taken  there  under  cloud  of  night,  for  fear 
of  rescue.  He  was,  during  the  interval,  to  be  detained  at 
Hazlewood-House. 

"It  cannot  be  so  hard  as  my  imprisonment  by  the 
Looties  in  India,"  he  thought ;  nor  can  it  last  so  long. 
But  the  deuce  take  the  old  formal  dunderhead,  and  his 
more  sly  associate,  who  speaks  always  under  his  breath, 


GUr   MANNERING.  165 

— they  cannot  understand  a  plain  man's  story  when  it  id 
told  them." 

In  the  meanwhile  Glossin  took  leave  of  the  Baronet, 
with  a  thousand  respectful  bows  and  cringing  apologies 
for  not  accepting  his  invitation  to  dinner,  and  venturing 
to  hope  he  might  be  pardoned  in  paying  his  respects  to 
him.  Lady  Hazlewood,  and  young  Mr.  Hazlewood,  on 
some  future  occasion. 

"  Certainly,  sir,"  said  the  Baronet,  very  graciously. 
"  I  hope  our  family  was  never  at  any  time  deficient  in 
civihty  to  our  neighbours ;  and  when  I  ride  that  way, 
good  Mr.  Glossin,  I  will  convince  you  of  this  by  calling 
at  your  house  as  familiarly  as  is"  consistent — that  is,  as 
can  be  hoped  or  expected." 

"And  now,"  said  Glossin  to  himself,  "to  find  Dirk 
Hatteraick  and  his  people, — ^to  get  the  guard  sent  off 
from  the  Custom-house, — and  then  for  the  grand  cast  of 
the  dice.  Everything  must  depend  upon  speed.  How 
lucky  that  Mannering  has  betaken  himself  to  Edinburgh ! 
His  knowledge  of  this  young  fellow  is  a  most  perilous 
addition  to  my  dangers," — here  he  suffered  his  horse  to 
slacken  his  pace.  "  What  if  I  should  try  to  compound 
with  the  heir  ?  It's  likely  he  might  be  brought  to  pay 
a  round  sum  for  restitution,  and  I  could  give  up  Hatter- 
aick.— But  no,  no,  no  !  there  were  too  many  eyes  on  me, 
— Hatteraick  himself,  and  the  gipsy  sailor,  and  that  old 
hag.~No,  no !  I  must  stick  to  my  original  plan."  And 
with  that  he  struck  his  spurs  against  his  horse's  flanks, 
and  rode  forward  at  a  hard  trot  to  put  his  machines  in 
motion. 


166  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 


A  prison  is  a  house  of  care, 
A  place  where  none  can  thrive, 
A  touchstone  true  to  try  a  friend, 
A  grave  for  one  alive. 
Sometimes  a  place  of  right, 
Sometimes  a  place  of  wrong, 
Sometimes  a  place  of  rogues  and  thieves, 
And  honest  men  among. 

Inscription  on  Edinbueoh  Tolbooth. 


Early  on  the  following  morning,  the  carriage  which 
had  brought  Bertram  to  Hazlewood-House,  was,  with  his 
two  silent  and  surly  attendants,  appointed  to  convey  him 
to  his  place  of  confinement  at  Portanferry.  This  build- 
ing adjoined  to  the  Custom-house  established  at  that  httle 
sea-port,  and  both  were  situated  so  close  to  the  sea-beach, 
that  it  was  necessary  to  defend  the  back  part  with  a  large 
and  strong  rampart  or  bulwark  of  huge  stones,  disposed 
in  a  slope  towards  the  surf,  which  often  reached  and 
broke  upon  them.  The  front  was  surrounded  by  a  high 
wall,  enclosing  a  small  court-yard,  within  which  the 
miserable  inmates  of  the  mansion  were  occasionally  per- 
mitted to  take  exercise  and  air.  The  prison  was  used  as 
a  House  of  Correction,  and  sometimes  as  a  chapel  of  ease 
to  the  county  jail,  which  was  old,  and  far  from  being  con- 
veniently situated  with  reference  to  the  Kippletringan 
district  of  the  county.  Mac-Guffog,  the  officer  by  whom 
Bertram  had  at  first  been  apprehended,   and  who  was 


GUT   MANNEEING.  167 

now  in  attendance  upon  him,  was  keeper  of  this  palace 
of  little-ease.  He  caused  the  carriage  to  be  drawn  close 
up  to  the  outer  gate,  and  got  out  himself  to  summon  the 
warders.  The  noise  of  his  rap  alarmed  some  twenty  or 
thirty  ragged  boys,  who  left  off  sailing  their  mimic  sloops 
and  frigates  in  the  little  pools  of  salt  water  left  by  the 
receding  tide,  and  hastily  crowded  round  the  vehicle  to 
ree  what  luckless  being  was  to  be  delivered  to  the  prison- 
house  out  of  "  Glossin's  braw  new  carriage."  The  door 
of  the  court-yard,  after  the  heavy  clanking  of  many  chains 
and  bars,  was  opened  by  Mrs.  Mac-Guffog — an  awful 
spectacle,  being  a  woman  for  strength  and  resolution 
capable  of  maintaining  order  among  her  riotous  inmates, 
and  of  administering  the  discipline  of  the  house,  as  it  was 
called,  during  the  absence  of  her  husband,  or  when  he 
chanced  to  have  taken  an  over-dose  of  the  creature.  The 
growling  voice  of  this  Amazon,  which  rivalled  in  harsh- 
ness the  crashing  music  of  her  own  bolts  and  bars,  soon 
dispersed  in  every  direction  the  little  varlets  who  had 
thronged  around  her  threshold,  and  she  next  addressed 
her  amiable  helpmate : — 

"  Be  sharp,  man,  and  get  out  the  swell,  canst  thou 
not?" 

"  Hold  your  tongue  and  be  d — d,  you  ! "  an- 
swered her  loving  husband,  with  two  additional  epithets 
of  great  energy,  but  which  we  beg  to  be  excused  from 
repeating.  Then,  addressing  Bertram, — "  Come,  will 
you  get  out,  my  handy  lad,  or  must  we  lend  you  a  lift  ?  " 

Bertram  came  out  of  the  carriage,  and,  collared  by  the 
constable  as  he  put  his  foot  on  the  ground,  was  dragged, 
though  he  offered  no  resistance,  across  the  threshold, 
amid  the  continued  shouts  of  the  little  sans  culottes,  who 
looked  on  at  such  distance  as  their  fear  of  Mrs.  Mao^ 


168  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

Guffog  permitted.  The  instant  his  foot  had  crossed  the 
fatal  porch,  the  portress  again  di'opped  her  chains,  di-ew 
her  bolts,  and  turning  with  both  hands  an  immense  key, 
took  it  from  the  lock,  and  thrust  it  into  a  huge  side- 
pocket  of  red  cloth. 

Bertram  was  now  in  the  small  court  already  men- 
tioned. Two  or  three  prisoners  were  sauntering  along 
the  pavement,  and  deriving  as  it  were  a  feeling  of 
refreshment  from  the  momentary  glimpse  with  wliich  the 
opening  door  had  extended  their  prospect  to  the  other 
side  of  a  dirty  street.  Nor  can  this  be  thought  surpris- 
ing, when  it  is  considered,  that,  unless  on  such  occasions, 
their  view  was  confined  to  the  grated  front  of  their  prison, 
the  high  and  sable  walls  of  the  court-yard,  the  heaven 
above  them,  and  the  pavement  beneath  their  feet;  a 
sameness  of  landscape,  which,  to  use  the  poet's  expres- 
sion, "  lay  like  a  load  on  the  wearied  eye,"  and  had 
fostered  in  some  a  callous  and  dull  misanthropy,  in  others 
that  sickness  of  the  heart  which  induces  him  who  is  im- 
mured already  in  a  living  grave,  to  wish  for  a  sepulchre 
yet  more  calm  and  sequestered. 

Mac-Guffog,  when  they  entered  the  court-yard,  suf- 
fered Bertram  to  pause  for  a  minute,  and  look  upon  his 
companions  in  affliction.  When  he  had  cast  his  eye 
around,  on  faces  on  which  guilt,  and  despondence,  and 
low  excess,  had  fixed  their  stigma — upon  the  spendthrift, 
and  the  swindler,  and  the  thief,  the  bankrupt  debtor,  the 
*' moping  idiot,  and  the  madman  gay,"  whom  a  paltry 
spiiit  of  economy  congregated  to  share  this  dismal  habi- 
tation, he  felt  his  heart  recoil  with  inexpressible  loathing 
from  enduring  the  contamination  of  their  society  even  for 
a  moment. 

"  I  hope,  sir,"  he  said  to  the  keeper,  "  you  intend  to 
assign  me  a  place  of  confinement  apart  ?  " 


GUY    MAN]<fERmG.  169 

"  And  what  should  I  be  the  better  of  that  ?  " 

"  Why,  sir,  I  can  but  be  detained  here  a  day  or  two, 
and  it  would  be  very  disagreeable  to  me  to  mix  in  the 
sort  of  company  this  place  affords." 

"  And  what  do  I  care  for  that  ?  " 

"  Why,  then,  sir,  to  speak  to  your  feelings,"  said  Ber- 
tram, "  I  should  be  willing  to  make  you  a  handsome 
compliment  for  this  indulgence." 

"  Ay,  but  when,  Captain  ?  when  and  how  ?  that's  the 
question,  or  rather  the  twa  questions,"  said  the  jailor. 

'"•  When  I  am  delivered,  and  get  my  remittances  from 
England,"  answered  the  prisoner. 

Mac-Guffog  shook  his  head  incredulously. 

"  Why,  friend,  you  do  not  pretend  to  believe  that  I  am 
really  a  malefactor  ?  "  said  Bertram. 

"  Why,  I  no  ken,"  said  the  fellow  ;  "  but  if  you  are  on 
the  account,  ye're  nae  sharp  ane,  that's  the  day-light  o't." 

"  And  why  do  you  say  I  am  no  sharp  one  ?  " 

"  Why,  wha  but  a  crack-brained  greenhorn  wad  hae 
let  them  keep  up  the  siller  that  ye  left  at  the  Gordon- 
Arms  ?  "  said  the  constable.  "  Deil  fetch  me,  but  I  wad 
have  had  it  out  o'  their  wames  !  Ye  had  nae  right  to  be 
strippit  o'  your  money  and  sent  to  jail  without  a  mark  to 
pay  your  fees  ;  they  might  have  keepit  the  rest  o'  the 
articles  for  evidence.  But  why,  for  a  blind  bottle-head, 
did  not  ye  ask  the  guineas  ?  and  I  kept  winking  and 
nodding  a'  the  time,  and  the  donnert  deevil  wad  never 
ance  look  my  way  ! " 

"  Well,  sir,"  replied  Bertram,  "  if  I  have  a  title  to  have 
that  property  delivered  up  to  me,  I  shall  apply  for  it ; 
ai:d  there  is  a  good  deal  more  than  enough  to  pay  any 
demand  you  can  set  up." 

"  I  dinna  ken  a  bit  about  that,"  said  Mac-Guffog ;  "  ye 


170  TTAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

may  be  here  lang  eneugh.  And  then  the  gieing  credit 
maun  be  considered  in  the  fees.  But,  however,  as  ye  do 
seem  to  be  a  chap  by  common,  though  my  wife  says  I 
lose  by  my  good-nature,  if  ye  gie  me  an  order  for  my 
fees  upon  that  money — I  dare  say  Glossin  will  make  it 
foith  coming — I  ken  something  about  an  escape  from 
Ellangowan — ay,  ay,  he'll  be  glad  to  carry  me  through, 
nnd  be  neighbour-hke." 

"  Well,  sir,"  replied  Bertram,  "  if  I  am  not  furnished 
in  a  day  or  two  otherwise,  you  shall  have  such  an  order." 

"  Weel,  weel,  then  ye  shall  be  put  up  like  a  prince," 
said  Mac-Guffog.  "But  mark  ye  me,  triend,  that  we 
may  have  nae  colly -shangie  afterhend,  these  are  the  fees 
that  I  always  charge  a  swell  that  must  have  his  Hb-ken 
to  himsell — Thirty  shillings  a-week  for  lodgings,  and  a 
guinea  for  garnish  ;  half-a-guinea  a-week  for  a  single  bed, 
and  I  dinna  get  the  whole  of  it,  for  I  must  gie  half-a- 
crown  out  of  it  to  Donald  Laider  that's  in  for  sheep- 
stealing,  that  should  sleep  with  you  by  rule,  and  he'll 
expect  clean  strae,  and  maybe  some  whisky  beside.  So 
I  make  little  upon  that." 

"  Well,  sir,  go  on." 

"  Then  for  meat  and  liquor,  ye  may  have  the  best,  and 
I  never  charge  abune  twenty  per  cent,  ower  tavern  price 
for  pleasing  a  gentleman  that  way — and  that's  littlb 
oneugh  for  sending  in  and  sending  out,  and  wearing  the 
lassie's  shoon  out.  And  then  if  ye're  dowie,  I  will  sit  wi* 
you  a  gliff  in  the  evening  mysell,  man,  and  help  ye  out 
wi'  your  bottle ; — I  have  drank  mony  a  glass  wi'  Glossin, 
man,  that  did  you  up,  though  he's  a  Justice  now.  And 
then  I'se  warrant  ye'll  be  for  fire  thir  cauld  nights,  or  if 
ye  want  candle,  that's  an  expensive  article,  for  it's  against 
the  rules.     And  now  I've  tell'd  ye  the  head  articles  of 


GUY    MANNERING.  171 

the  charge,  and  I  dinna  think  there's  muckle  mail',  though 
there  will  aye  be  some  odd  expenses  ower  and  abune." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  must  trust  to  your  conscience,  if  ever  you 
happened  to  hear  of  such  a  thing — I  cannot  help  myself." 

''  Na,  na,  sir,"  answered  the  cautious  jailor,  "  I'll  no 
permit  you  to  be  saying  that — I'm  forcing  naething  upon 
ye; — an  ye  dinna  like  the  price,  ye  needna  take  the 
article — I  force  no  man;  I  was  only  explaining  what 
civility  was  :  but  if  ye  like  to  take  the  common  run  of 
the  house,  it's  a'  ane  to  me — I'll  be  saved  trouble, 
that's  a'." 

"  Nay,  my  friend,  I  have,  as  I  suppose  you  may  easily 
guess,  no  incHnation  to  dispute  your  terms  upon  such  a 
penalty,"  answered  Bertram.  "  Come,  show  me  where  I 
am  to  be,  for  I  would  fain  be  alone  for  a  little  while." 

"  Ay,  ay,  come  along  then,  Captain,"  said  the  fellow, 
with  a  contortion  of  visage  which  he  intended  to  be  a 
smile.  "  And  I'll  tell  you  now, — to  show  you  that  I  have 
a  conscience,  as  ye  ca't,  d — n  me  if  I  charge  ye  abune 
sixpence  a-day  for  the  freedom  o'  the  court,  and  ye  may 
walk  in't  very  near  three  hours  a-day,  and  play  at  pitch- 
and-toss,  and  handba',  and  what  not." 

With  this  gracious  promise,  he  ushered  Bertram  into 
the  house,  and  showed  him  up  a  steep  and  narrow  stone 
staircase,  at  the  top  of  which  was  a  strong  door,  clenched 
with  iron  and  studded  with  nails.  Beyond  this  door  was 
a  narrow  passage  or  gallery,  having  three  cells  on  each 
side,  wretched  vaults,  with  iron  bed-frames  and  straw 
mattresses.  But  at  the  farther  end  was  a  small  apart- 
ment, of  rather  a  more  decent  appearance, — that  is,  having 
less  the  air  of  a  place  of  confinement,  since,  unless  for 
the  large  lock  and  chain  upon  the  door,  and  the  crossed 
and  ponderous   stanchions  upon   the  window,  it   rather 


172  TTAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

resembled  tlie  "  worst  inn's  worst  room."  It  was  designed 
as  a  sort  of  infirmary  for  prisoners  whose  state  of  health 
required  some  indulgence  ;  and,  in  fact,  Donald  Laider, 
Bertram's  destined  chum,  had  been  just  dragged  out  of 
one  of  the  two  beds  which  it  contained,  to  try  whether 
clean  straw  and  whisky  might  not  have  a  better  chance 
to  cure  his  intermitting  fever.  This  process  of  ejection 
had  been  carried  into  force  by  Mrs.  Mac-Guffog  while 
her  husband  parleyed  with  Bertram  in  the  court-yard, 
that  good  lady  having  a  distinct  presentiment  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  treaty  must  necessarily  terminate. 
Apparently  the  expulsion  had  not  taken  place  without 
some  application  of  the  strong  hand,  for  one  of  the  bed- 
posts of  a  sort  of  tent-bed  was  broken  down,  so  that  the 
tester  and  curtains  hung  forward  into  the  middle  of  the 
narrow  chamber,  like  the  banner  of  a  cliieftain,  half  sink- 
ing amid  the  confusion  of  a  combat. 

"  Never  mind  that  being  out  o'  sorts,  Captain,"  said 
Mrs.  Mac-Guffog,  who  now  followed  them  into  the  room; 
then  turning  her  back  to  the  prisoner,  with  as  much  deU- 
cacy  as  the  action  admitted,  she  whipped  from  her  knee 
her  ferret  garter,  and  applied  it  to  splicing  and  fastening 
the  broken  bed-post — then  used  more  pins  than  her 
apparel  could  well  spare  to  fasten  up  the  bed-curtains  in 
festoons — then  shook  the  bed-clothes  into  something  like 
form — then  flung  over  all  a  tattered  patch-work  quilt,  and 
pronounced  that  things  were  now  "  something  purpose- 
like." "  And  there's  your  bed.  Captain,"  pointing  to  a 
massy  foar-posted  hulk,  which,  owing  to  the  inequality 
of  the  floor,  that  had  sunk  considerably,  (the  house,  though 
new,  having  been  built  by  contract,)  stood  on  three  legs, 
and  held  the  fourth  aloft  as  if  pawing  the  air,  and  in  the 
attitude  of  advancing  like  an  elephant  passant  upon   the 


GUT   MANNERING.  173 

panel  of  a  coacli — "  There's  your  bed  and  the  blankets  ; 
but  if  ye  want  sheets,  or  bowster,  or  pillow,  or  ony  sort 
o'  napery  for  the  table,  or  for  your  hands,  ye'll  hae  to 
speak  to  me  about  it,  for  that's  out  o'  the  gudeman's  line,'* 
(Mac-Guffog  had  by  this  time  left  the  room,  to  a\oid, 
probably,  any  appeal  which  might  be  made  to  him  upon 
this  new  exaction,)  "  and  he  never  engages  for  onything 
like  that." 

"  In  God's  name,"  said  Bertram,  "  let  me  have  what  is 
decent,  and  make  any  charge  you  please." 

"  Aweel,  aweel,  that's  sune  settled  ;  we'll  no  excise  you 
neither,  though  we  live  sae  near  the  Custom-house.  And 
I  maun  see  to  get  you  some  fire  and  some  dinner  too,  I'se 
warrant ;  but  your  dinner  will  be  but  a  puir  ane  the  day, 
no  expecting  company  that  would  be  nice  and  fashions." — 
So  saying,  and  in  all  haste,  Mrs.  Mac-GufFog  fetched  a 
scuttle  of  live  coals,  and  having  replenished  "  the  rusty 
gi'ate,  unconscious  of  a  fire  "  for  months  before,  she  pro- 
ceeded with  unwashed  hands  to  arrange  the  stipulated 
bed-linen,  (alas,  how  diiFerent  from  Ailie  Dinmont's  !) 
and,  muttering  to  herself  as  she  discharged  her  task, 
seemed,  in  inveterate  spleen  of  temper,  to  grudge  even 
those  accommodations  for  which  she  was  to  receive  pay- 
ment At  length,  however,  she  departed,  grumbling 
between  her  teeth,  that  "  she  wad  rather  lock  up  a  haill 
ward  than  be  fiking  about  thae  nifi*-nafiy  gentles  that  gae 
sae  muckle  fash  wi'  their  fancies." 

When  she  was  gone,  Bertram  found  himself  reduced 
to  the  alternative  of  pacing  his  little  apartment  for  exer- 
cise, or  gazing  out  upon  the  sea  in  such  proportions  as 
could  be  seen  from  the  narrow  panes  of  his  window,  ob- 
scured by  dirt  and  by  close  iron -bars,  or  reading  over  the 
records  of  brutal  wit  and  blackguardism  which  despair 


174  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

had  scrawled  upon  the  half-whitened  walls.  The  sounds 
were  as  uncomfortable  as  the  objects  of  sight ;  the  sullen 
dash  of  the  tide,  which  was  now  retreating,  and  the  occa- 
sional opening  and  shutting  of  a  door,  with  all  its  accom- 
paniments of  jarring  bolts  and  creaking  hinges,  mingling 
occasionally  with  the  dull  monotony  of  the  retiring  ocean. 
Sometimes,  too,  he  could  hear  the  hoarse  gi'owl  of  the 
keeper,  or  the  shriller  strain  of  his  helpmate,  almost 
always  in  the  tone  of  discontent,  anger,  or  insolence.  At 
other  times  the  large  mastiff,  chained  in  the  court-yard, 
answered  with  furious  bark  the  insults  of  the  idle  loiterers 
who  made  a  sport  of  incensing  him. 

At  length  the  tedium  of  this  weary  space  was  broken 
by  the  entrance  of  a  dirty-looking  serving  wench,  who 
made  some  preparations  for  dinner  by  laying  a  half-dirty 
cloth  upon  a  whole-dirty  deal  table.  A  knife  and  fork, 
which  had  not  been  worn  out  by  overcleanin^,  flanked  a 
cracked  delf-plate  ;  a  nearly-empty  mustard-pot  placed  on 
one  side  of  the  table,  balanced  a  salt-cellar,  containing  an 
article  of  a  greyish,  or  rather  a  blackish  mixture,  upon 
the  other,  both  of  stone-ware,  and  bearing  too  obvious 
marks  of  recent  service.  Shortly  after,  the  same  Hebe 
brought  up  a  plate  of  beef-collops,  done  in  the  frying-pan, 
with  a  huge  allowance  of  grease  floating  in  an  ocean  of 
lukewarm  water ;  and  having  added  a  coarse  loaf  to  these 
savoury  viands,  she  requested  to  know  what  liquors  the 
gentleman  chose  to  order.  The  appearance  of  this  fare 
was  not  very  inviting ;  but  Bertram  endeavoured  to  mend 
his  commons  by  ordering  wine,  which  he  found  tolerably 
good,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  some  indifferent  cheese, 
made  his  dinner  chiefly  off  the  brown  loaf.  When  his 
meal  was  over,  the  girl  presented  her  master's  compli- 
ments, and,  if  agreeable  to  the  gentleman,  he  would  help 


GUY   MANNERINO.  17** 

him  to  spend  the  evening.  Bertram  desired  to  be  excused, 
and  begged,  instead  of  this  gracious  society,  that  he  might 
be  furnished  with  paper,  pen,  ink,  and  candles.  The 
light  appeared  in  the  shape  of  one  long  broken  tallow- 
candle,  inclining  over  a  tin  candlestick  coated  with  grease  ; 
as  for  the  writing  materials,  the  prisoner  was  informed 
that  he  might  have  them  the  next  daj  if  h*e  chose  to  send 
out  to  buj  them.  Bertram  next  desired  the  maid  to 
procure  him  a  book,  and  enforced  his  request  with  a  shil- 
ling ;  in  consequence  of  which,  after  long  absence,  she 
reappeared  with  two  odd  volumes  of  the  Newgate  Cal- 
endar, which  she  had  borrowed  from  Sam  Silverquill,  an 
idle  apprentice,  who  was  imprisoned  under  a  charge  of 
forgery.  Having  laid  the  books  on  the  table,  she  retired, 
and  left  Bertram  to  studies  which  were  not  ill  adapted  to 
his  present  melancholy  situation. 


176  WAVERLET  NOVELS. 


*      CHAPTER  XLV. 

But  if  thou  shouldst  be  dragged  in  scorn 

To  yonder  ignominious  tree, 
Thou  Shalt  not  want  one  faithful  friend 

To  share  the  cruel  fate's  decree. 

Shbnsione. 

Plunged  in  the  gloomy  reflections  which  were  natu- 
rally excited  by  his  dismal  reading,  and  disconsolate 
situation,  Bertram,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  felt  liimself 
affected  with  a  disposition  to  low  spirits.  "  I  have  been 
in  worse  situations  than  this  too,"  he  said ; — "  more 
dangerous,  for  here  is  no  danger — more  dismal  in  pros- 
pect, for  my  present  confinement  must  necessarily  be 
short — more  intolerable  for  the  time,  for  here  at  least  I 
have  fire,  food,  and  shelter.  Yet  with  reading  these 
bloody  tales  of  crime  and  misery,  in  a  place  so  corre- 
sponding to  the  ideas  which  they  excite,  and  in  listening 
to  these  sad  sounds,  I  feel  a  stronger  disposition  to  mel- 
ancholy than  in  my  hfe  I  ever  experienced.  But  I  will 
not  give  way  to  it — Begone,  thou  record  of  guilt  and 
infamy  ! "  he  said,  flinging  the  book  upon  the  spare  bed  ; 
"  a  Scottish  jail  shall  not  break,  on  the  very  first  day,  the 
spirits  which  have  resisted  climate,  and  want,  and  penury, 
and  disease,  and  imprisonment,  in  a  foreign  land.  I  have 
fought  many  a  hard  battle  with  dame  Fortune,  and  she 
shall  not  beat  me  now  if  I  can  helj)  it." 

Then  bending  his  mind  to  a  strong  ejQTort,  he  endear* 


GUT   MANNERING.  177 

oured  to  view  Ms  situation  in  the  most  favourable  light, 
Delaserre  must  soon  be  in  Scotland ;  the  certificates  from 
his  commanding-officer  must  soon  arrive ;  nay,  if  Man- 
nering  were  first  applied  to,  who  could  saj  but  the  effect 
might  be  a  reconciliation  between  them  ?  He  had  often 
observed,  and  now  remembered,  that  when  his  former 
colonel  took  the  part  of  any  one,  it  was  never  by  halves, 
and  that  he  seemed  to  love  those  persons  most  who  had 
lain  under  obligation  to  him.  In  the  present  case,  a  fa- 
vour, which  could  be  asked  with  honour  and  granted  with 
readiness,  might  be  the  means  of  reconciling  them  to 
each  other.  From  this  his  feelings  naturally  turned 
towards  Julia;  and,  without  very  nicely  measuring  the 
distance  between  a  soldier  of  fortune,  who  expected  that 
her  father's  attestation  would  deliver  him  from  confine- 
ment, and  the  heiress  of  that  father's  wealth  and  expecta- 
tions, he  was  building  the  gayest  castle  in  the  clouds,  and 
varnishing  it  with  all  the  tints  of  a  summer-evening  sky, 
when  his  labour  was  interrupted  by  a  loud  knocking  at 
the  outer-gate,  answered  by  the  barking  of  the  gaunt 
half-starved  mastiff,  which  was  quartered  in  the  court- 
yard as  an  addition  to  the  garrison.  After  much  scru- 
pulous precaution  the  gate  was  opened,  and  some  person 
admitted.  The  house-door  was  next  unbarred,  unlocked, 
and  unchained,  a  dog's  feet  pattered  up  stairs  in  great 
hafte,  and  the  animal  was  heard  scratching  and  whining 
at  the  door  of  the  room.  Next  a  heavy  step  was  heard 
lumbering  up,  and  Mac-Guffog's  voice  in  the  character 
of  pilot — "  This  way,  this  way  ;  take  care  of  the  step  ;— - 
that's  the  room." — Bertram's  door  was  then  unbolted, 
and,  to  his  great  surprise  and  joy,  his  terrier  Wasp 
rushed  into  the  apartment,  and  almost  devoured  him  with 

VOL.  IV.  12 


178  WAVERLEY  NOVELS. 

caresses,  followed  hj  the  massy  form  of  his  fiiend  from 
Charlies-hope. 

"  Eh  whow  !  Eh  whow ! "  ejaculated  the  honest  farmer, 
as  he  looked  round  upon  his  friend's  miserable  apartment 
and  wretched  accommodation — "  What's  this  o't !  what's 
this  o't ! " 

"  Just  a  trick  of  Fortune,  jrj  good  friend,"  said  Ber- 
tram, rising  and  shaking  him  heartily  by  the  hand, 
"that's  all." 

"  But  what  will  be  done  about  it  ? — or  what  can  be 
done  about  it?"  said  honest  Dandie :  "  is't  for  debt,  or 
what  is't  for  ?  " 

"  Why,  it  is  not  for  debt,"  answered  Bertram  ;  "  and 
if  you  have  time  to  sit  down,  I'll  tell  you  all  I  know  of 
the  matter  myself." 

"  If  I  hae  time  ?  "  said  Dandie,  with  an  accent  on  the 
word  that  sounded  like  a  howl  of  derision — "  Ou,  what 
the  deevil  am  I  come  here  for,  man,  but  just  ance  errand 
to  see  about  it  ?  But  ye'll  no  be  the  waur  o'  something 
to  eat,  I  trow ; — it's  getting  late  at  e'en — I  tell'd  the  folk 
at  the  Change,  where  I  put  up  Dumple,  to  send  ower  my 
supper  here,  and  the  chield  Mac-Guffog  is  agreeable  to 
let  it  in — I  hae  settled  a'  that. — And  now  let's  hear  your 
story — Whisht,  Wasp,  man !  wow  but  he's  glad  to  see 
you,  poor  thing  !  " 

Bertram's  story,  being  confined  to  the  accident  of  Ha- 
zlewood,  and  the  confusion  made  between  his  own  identity 
and  that  of  one  of  the  smuojsrlers  who  had  been  active  in 
the  assault  of  Woodbourne,  and  chanced  to  bear  the  same 
name,  was  soon  told.  Dinmont  listened  very  attentively. 
"  Aweel,"  he  said,  "  this  suld  be  nae  sic  dooms-desperate 
business  surely — the  lad's  doing  weel  again  that  was  hurt, 
and  what  signifies  twa  or  three  lead  draps  in  his  shouther  .'' 


GUY   MANNERING. .  179 

if  ye  had  putten  out  his  ee,  it  would  hae  been  another 
case.  But  eh,  as  I  wnss  auld  Sherra  Pleydell  was  to  the 
fore  here ! — Od,  he  was  the  man  for  sorting  them,  and 
the  queerest  rough-spoken  deevil  too  that  ever  ye  heard !  '* 

"  But  now  tell  me,  my  excellent  friend,  how  did  you 
find  out  I  was  here  ?  " 

"  Od,  lad,  queerly  eneugh,"  said  Dandie ;  "  but  I'll  tell 
ye  that  after  we  are  done  wi'  our  supper,  for  it  will 
maybe  no  be  sae  weel  to  speak  about  it  while  that  lang- 
lugged  limmer  o'  a  lass  is  gaun  flisking  in  and  out  o'  the 
room." 

Bertram's  curiosity  was  in  some  degree  put  to  rest  by 
the  appearance  of  the  supper  which  his  friend  had 
ordered,  which,  although  homely  enough,  had  the  appe- 
tizing cleanhness  in  which  Mrs.  Mac-Guffog's  cookery 
was  so  eminently  deficient.  Dinmont  also,  premising  he 
had  ridden  the  whole  day  since  breakfast-time,  without 
tasting  anything  "  to  speak  of,"  which  qualifying  phrase 
related  to  about  three  pounds  of  cold  roast  mutton  which 
he  had  discussed  at  his  mid-day  stage, — Dinmont,  I  say, 
fell  stoutly  upon  the  good  cheer,  and,  like  one  of  Homer's 
heroes,  said  little,  either  good  or  bad,  till  the  rage  of 
thirst  and  hunger  was  appeased.  At  length,  after  a 
draught  of  home-brewed  ale,  he  began  by  observing, 
"  Aweel,  aweel,  that  hen,"  looking  upon  the  lamentable 
relics  of  what  had  been  once  a  large  fowl,  "  wasna  a  bad 
ane  to  be  bred  at  a  town  end,  though  it's  no  like  our  barn- 
door chuckles  at  Charlies-hope — and  I  am  glad  to  see 
that  this  vexing  job  hasna  taen  awa  your  appetite, 
Captain." 

"  Why  really,  my  dinner  was  not  so  excellent,  Mr, 
Dinmont,  as  to  spoil  my  supper." 

"  I  daur  say  no — I  daur  say  no,"  said  Dandie. — "  But 


180  WAVEELEY   NOVELS. 

now,  hinny,  tliat  ye  liae  brought  us  the  brandy,  and  th« 
mug  wi'  the  het  water,  and  the  sugar,  and  a'  right,  yo 
may  steek  the  door,  ye  see,  for  we  wad  hae  some  o'  our 
ain  cracks."  The  damsel  accordingly  retired,  and  shut 
the  door  of  the  apartment,  to  which  she  added  the  pre- 
caution of  drawing  a  large  bolt  on  the  outside. 

As  soon  as  she  was  gone,  Dandie  reconnoitred  the 
premises,  listened  at  the  key-hole  as  if  he  had  been  H^tcn- 
ing  for  the  blowing  of  an  otter, — and  having  satisfied  him- 
self that  there  were  no  eavesdroppers,  returned  to  the 
table  ;  and  making  himself  what  he  called  a  gej  stiff 
cheerer,  poked  the  fire,  and  began  his  story  in  an 
undertone  of  gravity  and  importance  not  very  usual 
with  him. 

"  Ye  see.  Captain,  I  had  been  in  Edinbro'  for  twa  or 
three  days,  looking  after  the  burial  of  a  friend  that  we 
hae  lost,  and  may  be  I  suld  hae  had  something  for  my 
ride ;  but  there's  disappointments  in  a'  thmgs,  and  wha 
can  help  the  like  o'  that  ?  And  I  had  a  wee  bit  law 
business  besides,  but  that's  neither  here  nor  there.  In 
short,  I  had  got  my  matters  settled,  and  hame  I  cam ; 
and  the  morn  awa  to  the  muirs  to  see  what  the  herds  had 
been  about,  and  I  thought  I  might  as  weel  gie  a  look  to 
the  Tout-hope  head,  where  Jock  o'  Dawston  and  me  has 
the  outcast  about  a  march.  Weel,  just  as  I  was  coming 
upon  the  bit,  I  saw  a  man  afore  me  that  I  kenn'd  was 
nane  o'  our  herds,  and  it's  a  wild  bit  to  meet  ony  other 
body,  so  when  I  cam  up  to  him,  it  was  Tod  Gabriel  the 
fox-hunter.  So  I  says  to  him,  rather  surprised  like, 
*  What  are  ye  doing  up  amang  the  craws  here,  without 
your  hounds,  man  ?  are  ye  seeking  the  fox  without  the 
dogs  ? '  So  he  said,  '  Na,  gudeman,  but  I  wanted  to  see 
youi'sell.' 


GXJY   MANNERING.  181 

" '  Ay,'  said  I,  *  and  ye'U  be  wanting  eliding  now,  or 
something  to  pit  ower  the  winter  ? ' 

"  '  Na,  na,'  quo'  he,  '  it's  no  that  I'm  seeking ;  but  ye 
tak  an  unco  concern  in  that  Captain  Brown  that  was 
staying  wi'  you,  d'ye  no  ?  ' 

"  '  Troth  do  I,  Gabriel,'  says  I ;  '  and  what  about  him, 
lad  ? ' 

"  Says  he,  '  There's  mair  tak  an  interest  in  him  than 
you,  and  some  that  I  am  bound  to  obey ;  and  it's  no  just 
on  my  ain  will  that  I'm  here  to  tell  you  something  about 
him  that  will  no  please  you.' 

" '  Faith,  naething  will  please  me,'  quo'  I,  '  that's  no 
pleasing  to  him.' 

" '  And  then,'  quo'  he,  '  ye'U  be  ill-sorted  to  hear  that 
he's  like  to  be  in  the  prison  at  Portanferry,  if  he  disna 
tak  a'  the  better  care  o'  himsell,  for  there's  been  warrants 
out  to  tak  him  as  soon  as  he  comes  ower  the  water  frae 
Allonby.  And  now,  gudeman,  an  ever  ye  wish  him  weel, 
ye  maun  ride  down  to  Portanferry,  and  let  nae  grass  grow 
at  the  nag's  heels ;  and  if  ye  find  him  in  confinement,  ye 
maun  stay  beside  him  night  and  day,  for  a  day  or  twa,  for 
he'll  want  friends  that  hae  baith  heart  and  hand ;  and  if 
ye  neglect  this,  ye'U  never  rue  but  ance,  for  it  wUl  be  for 
a'  your  life.' 

"  '  But,  safe  us,  man,'  quo'  I,  '  how  did  ye  learn  a'  this  ? 
—it's  an  unco  way  between  this  and  Portanferry.' 

"  '  Never  ye  mind  that,'  quo'  he  ;  '  them  that  brought 
us  the  news  rade  night  and  day,  and  ye  maun  be  aff  in- 
stantly if  ye  wad  do  ony  gude — and  sae  I  have  naething 
mair  to  tell  ye.'  Sae  he  sat  himsell  doun  and  hirselled 
doun  into  the  glen,  where  it  wad  hae  been  ill  following 
him  wi'  the  beast,  and  I  cam  back  to  Charlies-hope  to  teU 
the  gudewife,  for  I  was  uncertain  what  to  do.     It  wad 


182  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

look  unco-like,  I  thought,  just  to  be  sent  out  on  a  hunt- 
the-gowk  errand  wi'  a  land-louper  like  that.  But,  Lord"! 
as  the  gudewife  set  up  her  throat  about  it,  and  said  what 
a  shame  it  wad  be  if  ye  was  to  come  to  ony  wrang,  an  I 
could  help  ye ; — and  then  in  cam  your  letter  that  con- 
firmed it.  So  I  took  to  the  kist,  and  out  wi'  the  pickle 
notes  in  case  they  should  be  needed,  and  a'  the  bairns  ran 
to  saddle  Dumple.  By  gi-eat  luck  I  had  taen  the  other 
beast  to  Edinbro',  sae  Dumple  was  as  fresh  as  a  rose. 
Sae  aff  I  set,  and  Wasp  wi'  me,  for  ye  wad  really  hae 
thought  he  kenn'd  where  I  was  gaun,  puir  beast ;  and 
here  I  am  after  a  trot  o'  sixty  mile,  or  near  by.  But 
Wasp  rade  thirty  o'  them  afore  me  on  the  saddle,  and  the 
puir  doggie  balanced  itsell  as  ane  of  the  weans  wad  hae 
dune,  whether  I  trotted  or  cantered." 

In  this  strange  story  Bertram  obviously  saw,  supposing 
the  warning  to  be  true,  some  intimation  of  danger  more 
violent  and  imminent  than  could  be  likely  to  arise  from  a 
few  days'  imprisonment.  At  the  same  time  it  was  equally 
evident  that  some  unknown  friend  was  working  in  his 
behalf.  "  Did  you  not  say,"  he  asked  Dinmont,  "  that 
this  man  Gabriel  was  of  gipsy  blood  ?  " 

"  It  was  e'en  judged  sae,"  said  Dinmont,  "  and  I  think 
this  maks  it  likely ;  for  they  aye  ken  where  the  gangs  o' 
ilk  ither  are  to  be  found,  and  they  can  gar  news  flee  like 
a  foot-ba'  through  the  country  an  they  like.  An'  I  forgat 
to  tell  ye,  there's  been  an  unco  inquiry  after  the  auld  wife 
that  we  saw  in  Bewcastle  ;  the  sheriff's  had  folk  ower 
the  Limestane  Edge  after  her,  and  down  the  Hermitage 
and  Liddel,  and  a'  gates,  and  a  rewai"d  offered  for  her 
to  appear,  o'  fifty  pound  sterling,  nae  less ;  and  Justice 
Forster,  he's  had  out  warrants,  as  I  am  tell'd,  in  Cumber- 
land, and  an  unco  ranging  and  riping  they  have  had  a* 


GUY   MANNERING.  183 

gates  seeking  for  her — but  she'll  no  be  taen  wi'  them 
unless  she  likes,  for  a'  that." 

" And  how  comes  that?"  said  Bertram. 

"  Ou,  I  dinna  ken  ;  I  daur  say  it's  nonsense,  but  they 
say  she  has  gathered  the  fern-seed,  and  can  gang  ony 
gate  she  likes,  like  Jock-the- Giant-killer  in  the  ballant, 
wi'  his  coat  o'  darkness  and  his  shoon  o'  swiftness.  Ony 
way  she's  a  kind  o'  queen  amang  the  gipsies ;  she  is  mair 
than  a  hundred  year  auld,  folk  say,  and  minds  the  coming 
in  o'  the  moss-troopers  in  the  troublesome  times  when  the 
Stuarts  were  put  awa.  Sae,  if  she  canna  hide  hersell, 
she  kens  them  that  can  hide  her  weel  eneugh,  ye  needna 
doubt  that.  Od,  an  I  had  kenn'd  it  had  been  Meg 
Merrilies  yon  night  at  Tibb  Mumps's,  I  wad  taen  care 
how  I  crossed  her." 

Bertram  listened  with  great  attention  to  this  account, 
which  tallied  so  well  in  many  points  with  what  he  had 
himself  seen  of  this  gipsy  sibyl.  After  a  moment's  con- 
sideration, he  concluded  it  would  be  no  breach  of  faith  to 
mention  what  he  had  seen  at  Derncleugh  to  a  person  who 
held  Meg  in  such  reverence  as  Dinmont  obviously  did. 
He  told  his  story  accordingly,  often  interrupted  by  ejacu- 
lations, such  as,  "  Weel,  the  like  o'  that  now  ! "  or,  "  Na, 
deil  an  that's  no  something  now  !  " 

When  our  Liddesdale  friend  had  heard  the  whole  to  an 
end,  he  shook  his  great  black  head — "  Weel,  I'll  uphaud 
there's  baith  gude  and  ill  amang  the  gipsies,  and,  if  they 
deal  wi'  the  Enemy,  it's  a'  their  ain  business,  and  no  oui-s. 
I  ken  what  the  streeking  the  corpse  wad  be,  weel  eneugh. 
Thae  smuggler  deevils,  when  ony  o'  them's  killed  in  a 
fray,  they'll  send  for  a  wife  like  Meg  far  eneugh  to  dress 
the  corpse — od,  it's  a'  the  burial  they  ever  think  o' !  and 
then  to  be  put  into  the  ground  without  ony  decency,  just 


184  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

like  dogs.  But  they  stick  to  it  tliat  they'll  be  streekit, 
and  hae  an  auld  wife  when  they're  dying,  to  rhyme  ower 
prayers,  and  ballants,  and  charms,  as  they  ca'  them,  rather 
than  they'll  hae  a  mmister  to  come  and  pray  wi'  them — 
that's  an  auld  threep  o'  theirs ;  and  I  am  thinkmg  the 
man  that  died  will  hae  been  ane  o'  the  folk  that  was  shot 
when  they  burnt  Woodbourne." 

"  But,  my  good  friend,  Woodbourne  is  not  burnt,"  said 
Bertram. 

"  Weel,  the  better  for  them  that  bides  in't " — answered 
the  store-farmer.  "  Od,  we  had  it  up  the  water  wi'  us, 
that  there  wasna  a  stane  on  the  tap  o'  anither.  But  there 
was  fighting,  ony  way ;  I  daur  to  say,  it  would  be  fine  fun ! 
And,  as  I  said,  ye  may  take  it  on  trust,  that  that's  been 
ane  o'  the  men  killed  there,  and  that  it's  been  the  gipsies 
that  took  your  pockmanky  when  they  fand  the  chaise 
stickin'  in  the  snaw — they  wadna  pass  the  like  o'  that — 
it  wad  just  come  to  their  hand  like  the  bowl  o'  a  pint 
stoup."  * 

"  But  if  this  woman  is  a  sovereign  among  them,  why 
was  she  not  able  to  afford  me  open  protection,  and  to  get 
me  back  my  property  ?  " 

"  Ou,  wha  kens  "^  she  has  muckle  to  say  wi'  them,  but 
whiles  they'll  tak  their  ain  way  for  a'  that,  when  they're 
under  temptation.  And  then  there's  the  smugglers  that 
they're  aye  leagued  wi' ;  she  maybe  couldna  manage  them 
sae  weel — they're  aye  banded  thegither.  I've  heard  that 
the  gipsies  ken  when  the  smugglers  will  come  aff,  and 
where  they're  to  land,  better  than  the  very  merchants  that 
deal  wi'  them.  And  then,  to  the  boot  o'  that,  she's  whiles 
crack-brained,  and  has  a  bee  in  her  head ;  they  say  that 

*  The  handle  of  a  stoup  of  liquor ;  than  which,  our  proverb  seems 
to  infer,  there  is  nothing  comes  more  readily  to  the  g"  asp. 


GUY   MANNERING.  185 

whether  Ler  spaeings  and  fortune-tellings  be  true  or  no, 
for  certain  slie  believes  in  them  a'  liersell,  and  is  aye 
guiding  hersell  by  some  queer  prophecy  or  anither.  So 
she  disna  aye  gang  the  straight  road  to  the  well.—  But 
deil  o'  sic  a  story  as  yours,  wi'  glamour  aud  dead  follv  and 
losing  ane's  gate,  I  ever  heard  out  o'  the  tale-bookb  ! — 
But  whisht,  I  hear  the  keeper  coming." 

Mac-Guffog  accordingly  interrupted  their  discourse  by 
the  harsh  harmony  of  the  bolts  and  bars,  and  showed  tiis 
bloated  visage  at  the  openhig  door.  "  Come,  Mr.  Din- 
mont,  we  have  put  off  locking  up  for  an  hour  to  obhge 
ye  ;  ye  must  go  to  your  quarters." 

"  Quarters,  man  ?  I  intend  to  sleep  here  the  night. 
There's  a  spare  bed  in  the  Captain's  room." 

"  It's  impossible  !  "  answered  the  keeper. 

"But  I  say  it  is  possible,  and  that  I  wmna  stii  — and 
there's  a  dram  t'ye." 

Mac-Guffog  drank  off  the  spirits,  and  resumed  his  ob- 
jection. "  But  it's  against  rule,  sir  ;  ye  have  committed 
nae  malefaction." 

"  I'll  break  your  head,"  said  the  sturdy  Liddesdale 
man,  "  if  ye  say  ony  mair  about  it,  and  that  will  be  mal- 
efaction eneugh  to  entitle  me  to  ae  night's  lodging  wi'  you, 
ony  way." 

"  But  I  tell  ye,  Mr.  Dinmont,  reiterated  the  keeper, 
"  it's  against  rule,  and  I  behoved  tc  lose  my  post." 

"Weel,  Mac-Guffog,"  said  Dai) die,  "I  hae  just  twa 
things  to  say.  Ye  ken  wha  I  am  -^yeel  eneugh,  and  that 
I  wadna  loose  a  prisoner." 

"  And  how  do  I  ken  that  ?  "  answered  the  jailor. 

'*  Weel,  if  ye  dinna  ken  that,"  said  the  resolute  farmer, 
'*  ye  ken  this  ; — ye  ken  ye're  whiles  obhged  to  be  up  our 
water  in  the  way  o'  your  business  ;  now,  if  ye  let  me  stay 


186  WAVERLEY   XOYELS. 

quiellj  here  tlie  night  wi'  the  Captain,  I'se  pay  je  double 
fees  for  the  room ;  and  if  ye  say  no,  ye  shall  hae  the  best 
sark-fu'  o'  sair  banes  that  ever  ye  had  in  your  life,  the 
first  time  ye  set  a  foot  by  Liddel-moat !  " 

"  Aweel,  aweel,  gudeman,"  said  Mac-Guffog,  "  a  wilfu* 
man  maun  hae  his  way  ;  but  if  I  am  challenged  for  it  by 
the  justices,  I  ken  wha  sail  bear  the  wyte  ;"  and  having 
sealed  this  observation  with  a  deep  oath  or  two,  he  re- 
tired to  bed,  after  carefully  securing  all  the  doors  of  the 
Bridewell.  The  bell  from  the  tow^n  steeple  tolled  nine 
just  as  the  ceremony  w^as  concluded. 

"  Although  it's  but  early  hours,"  said  the  farmer,  who 
had  observed  that  his  friend  looked  somewhat  pale  and 
fatigued,  "  I  think  we  had  better  lie  dowm,  Captain,  if 
ye're  no  agreeable  to  another  cheerer.  But  troth,  ye're 
nae  glass-breaker ;  and  neither  am  I,  miless  it  be  a  screed 
wi'  the  neighbours,  or  when  I'm  on  a  ramble." 

Bertram  readily  assented  to  the  motion  of  his  faithful 
friend,  but,  on  looking  at  the  bed,  felt  repugnance  to  trust 
himself  undressed  to  jMi's.  Mac-Gufibg's  clean  sheets. 

"  I'm  muckle  o'  your  opinion.  Captain,"  said  Dandie. 
"  Od,  this  bed  looks  as  if  a'  the  colliers  in  Sanquhar  had 
been  in't  thegither.  But  it'U  no  w^in  through  my  muckle 
coat."  So  saying,  he  flung  himself  upon  the  frail  bed 
■with  a  force  that  made  all  its  timbers  crack,  and  in  a  few 
moments  gave  audible  signal  that  he  was  fast  asleep. 
Bertram  slipped  off  his  coat  and  boots,  and  occupied  the 
other  dormitory.  The  strangeness  of  his  destiny,  and  the 
mysteries  \vhich  appeared  to  thicken  around  him,  while 
he  seemed  ahke  to  be  persecuted  and  protected  by  secret 
enemies  and  friends,  arising  out  of  a  class  of  people  wHth 
w^hom  he  had  no  previous  connexion,  for  some  time  occu- 
pied his  thoughts.     Fatigue,   however,   gradually    com- 


GUT    MANNEEING. 


187 


posed  his  mind,  and  in  a  short  time  he  was  as  fast  asleep 
as  his  companion.  And  in  this  comfortable  state  of  ob- 
livion we  must  leave  them,  until  we  acquaint  the  reader 
with  some  other  circumstances  which  occurred  about  th-j 
same  period. 


188  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER   XL VI. 


Say  from  whence 


You  owe  this  strange  intelligence?  or  why 
Upon  this  blasted  heath  you  stop  our  way 
With  such  prophetic  greeting? — 
Speak,  I  charge  you. 

Macbeth. 

Upon  the  evening  of  the  day  when  Bertram's  exami- 
nation had  taken  place,  Colonel  Mannering  arrived  at 
"Woodbom-ne  from  Edinburgh.  He  found  his  family  in 
their  usual  state,  which  probably,  so  far  as  Julia  was  con- 
cerned, would  not  have  been  the  case  had  she  learned  the 
news  of  Bertram's  arrest.  But  as,  during  the  Colonel's 
absence,  the  two  young  ladies  lived  much  retired,  this  cir- 
cumstance fortunately  had  not  reached  Woodbourne.  A 
letter  had  already  made  JMiss  Bertram  acquainted  with 
the  downfall  of  the  expectations  which  had  been  formed 
upon  the  bequest  of  her  kinswoman.  Whatever  hopes 
that  news  might  have  dispelled,  the  disappointment  did 
not  prevent  her  from  joining  her  friend  in  affording  a 
cheerful  reception  to  the  Colonel,  to  whom  she  thus  en- 
deavoured to  express  the  deep  sense  she  entertained  of 
his  paternal  kindness.  She  touched  on  her  regret,  that 
at  such  a  season  of  the  year  he  should  have  made,  upon 
her  account,  a  journey  so  fruitless. 

"  That  it  was  fruitless  to  you,  my  dear,"  said  the  Colo- 
nel, "  I  do  most  deeply  lament ;  but  for  my  owti  share,  I 


GUT   MANNERING.  189 

have  made  .some  valuable  acquaintances,  and  have  spent 
the  time  I  have  been  absent  in  Edinburgh  with  pecuUar 
satisfaction  ;  so  that,  on  that  score,  there  is  nothing  to  be 
regretted.  Even  our  friend  the  Dominie  is  returned 
thrice  the  man  he  was,  from  having  sharpened  his  wits  in 
controversy  with  the  geniuses  of  the  northern  metrop- 
olis." 

"  Of  a  surety,"  said  the  Dominie,  with  great  compla- 
v>3ncy,  "  I  did  wrestle,  and  was  not  overcome,  though  my 
adversary  was  cunning  in  his  art." 

"  I  presume,"  said  Miss  Mannering,  "  the  contest  was 
somewhat  fatiguing,  Mr.  Sampson  ?  " 

"Very  much,  young  lady — howbeit,  I  girded  up  my 
loins  and  strove  against  him." 

*'  I  can  bear  witness,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  I  never  saw 
an  affair  better  contested.  The  enemy  was  Hke  the 
Mahratta  cavalry ;  he  assailed  on  all  sides,  and  presented 
no  fair  mark  for  artillery  ;  but  Mr.  Sampson  stood  to  his 
guns,  notwithstanding,  and  fired  away,  now  upon  the  en- 
emy, and  now  upon  the  dust  which  he  had  raised.  But 
we  must  not  fight  our  battles  over  again  to-night — ^to- 
morrow we  shall  have  the  whole  at  breakfast." 

The  next  morning  at  breakfast,  however,  the  Dominie 
did  not  make  his  appearance.  "  He  had  walked  out,  a  ser- 
vant said,  early  in  the  morning  ; — it  was  so  common  for 
him  to  forget  his  meals,  that  his  absence  never  deranged 
the  family.  The  housekeeper,  a  decent  old-fashioned 
Presbyterian  matron,  having,  as  such,  the  highest  respect 
for  Sampson's  theological  acquisitions,  had  it  in  charge  on 
these  occasions  to  tal^e  care  that  he  was  no  sufferer  by  his 
absence  of  mind,  and  therefore  usually  waylaid  him  on 
his  return,  to  remind  him  of  his  sublunary  wants,  and  to 
minister  to  their  relief.     It  seldom,  however,  happened 


190  WAYEKLET   NOVELS. 

that  he  was  absent  from  two  meals  together,  as  was  the 
case  in  the  present  instance.  We  must  explain  the  cause 
of  this  unusual  occurrence. 

The  conversation  which  Mr.  Plejdell  had  held  with 
]Mr.  Mannering  on  the  subject  of  the  loss  of  Harry  Ber- 
tram, had  awakened  all  the  painful  sensations  which  that 
event  had  intiicted  upon  Sampson.  The  affectionate 
heart  of  the  poor  Dominie  had  always  reproached  him, 
that  his  negligence  m  leaving  the  child  in  the  care  of 
Frank  Kennedy  had  been  the  proximate  cause  of  the 
murder  of  the  one,  the  loss  of  the  other,  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Bertram,  and  the  ruin  of  the  family  of  his  patron. 
It  was  a  subject  which  he  never  conversed  upon, — if  in- 
deed his  mode  of  speech  could  be  called  conversation  at 
any  time, — but  it  was  often  present  to  his  imagination. 
The  sort  of  hope  so  strongly  affirmed  and  asserted  in 
Mrs.  Bertram's  last  settlement,  had  excited  a  correspond- 
ing feeling  in  the  Dominie's  bosom,  which  was  exasper- 
ated into  a  sort  of  sickening  anxiety,  by  the  discredit 
with  which  Pleydell  had  treated  it. — "  Assuredly,"  thought 
Sampson  to  himself,  "  he  is  a  man  of  erudition,  and  well 
skilled  in  the  weighty  matters  of  the  law  ;  but  he  is  also 
a  man  of  humorous  levity  and  inconsistency  of  speech  ; 
and  wherefore  should  he  pronounce  ex  cathedra^  as  it 
were,  on  the  hope  expressed  by  worthy  Madam  Margaret 
Bertram  of  Singleside  ?  " 

All  this,  I  say,  the  Dominie  thought  to  himself ;  for  had 
he  uttered  half  the  sentences,  his  jaws  would  have  ached 
for  a  month  under  the  unusual  fatigue  of  such  a  continued 
exertion.  The  result  of  these  cogitations  was  a  resolution 
to  go  and  visit  the  scene  of  the  tragedy  at  Warroch  Point, 
where  he  had  not  been  for  many  y^ars — not,  indeed,  since 
the  fatal  accident  had  happened      The  walk  was  a  long 


GUY   MANNERING.  191 

one,  for  tlie  Point  of  TVarrocli  lay  on  the  farther  side  of 
the  Ellangowan  property,  which  was  interposed  between 
it  and  Woodbourne.  Besides,  the  Dominie  went  astray 
more  than  once,  and  met  with  brooks  swollen  into  torrents 
by  the  melting  of  the  snow,  where  he,  honest  man,  had 
only  the  summer-recollection  of  little  trickling  rills. 

At  length,  however,  he  reached  the  woods  which  he 
had  made  the  object  of  his  excursion,  and  traversed  them 
with  care,  muddling  his  disturbed  brains  with  vague 
efforts,  to  recall  every  circumstance  of  the  catastrophe. 
It  will  readily  be  supposed  that  the  influence  of  local 
situation  and  association  was  inadequate  to  produce  con- 
clusions different  from  those  which  he  had  formed  under 
the  immediate  pressure  of  the  occurrences  themselves. 
"  With  many  a  weary  sigh,  therefore,  and  many  a  groan," 
the  poor  Dominie  returned  from  his  hopeless  pilgrimage, 
and  wearily  plodded  his  way  towards  Woodbourne,  de- 
bating at  times  in  his  altered  mind  a  question  which  was 
forced  upon  him  by  the  cravings  of  an  appetite  rather  of 
the  keenest,  namely,  whether  he  had  breakfasted  that 
morning  or  no  ? — It  was  in  this  twilight  humour,  now 
thinking  of  the  loss  of  the  child,  then  involuntarily  com- 
pelled to  meditate  upon  the  somewhat  incongruous  subject 
of  hung-beef,  rolls,  and  butter,  that  his  route,  which  was 
different  from  that  which  he  had  taken  in  the  morning, 
conducted  him  past  the  small  ruined  tower,  or  rather 
vestige  of  a  tower,  called  by  the  country  people  the  Kaim 
of  Derncleugh. 

The  reader  may  recollect  the  description  of  this  ruin 
in  the  twenty-seventh  chapter  of  this  narrative,  as  the 
vault  in  which  young  Bertram,  under  the  auspices  of  Meg 
MeiTihes,  witnessed  the  death  of  Hatteraick's  lieutenant. 
The  tradition  of  the  country  added  ghostly  terrors  to  the 


192  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

natural  awe  inspired  by  the  situation  of  this  place — ^which 
terrors  the  gipsies,  who  so  long  inhabited  the  vicinity,  had 
probably  invented,  or  at  least  propagated,  for  their  own 
advantage.  It  was  said,  that  during  the  times  of  the 
Galwegian  independence,  one  Hanlon  Mac-Dingawaie 
brother  to  the  reigning  chief,  Knarth  Mac-Dingawaie, 
murdered  his  brother  and  sovereign,  in  order  to  usurp 
the  principahty  from  his  infant  nephew,  and  that  being 
pursued  for  vengeance  by  the  faithful  allies  and  retainers 
of  the  house,  who  espoused  the  cause  of  the  lawful  heir, 
he  was  compelled  to  retreat  with  a  few  followers  whom 
he  had  involved  in  his  crime,  to  this  impregnable  tower 
called  the  Kaim  of  Derncleugh,  where  he  defended  him- 
self until  nearly  reduced  by  famine,  when,  setting  fire  to 
the  place,  he  and  the  small  remaining  garrison  desperately 
perished  by  their  own  swords,  rather  than  fall  into  the 
hands  of  their  exasperated  enemies.  This  tragedy,  which, 
considering  the  wild  times  wherein  it  was  placed,  might 
have  some  foundation  in  truth,  was  larded  with  many 
legends  of  superstition  and  diablerie,  so  that  most  of  the 
peasants  of  the  neighbourhood,  if  benighted,  would  rather 
have  chosen  to  make  a  considerable  circuit,  than  pass 
these  haunted  waUs.  The  lights,  often  seen  around  the 
tower  when  used  as  the  rendezvous  of  the  lawless  char- 
acters by  whom  it  was  occasionally  frequented,  were 
accounted  for,  under  authority  of  these  tales  of  witchery, 
in  a  manner  at  once  convenient  for  the  private  parties 
CGDcemed,  and  satisfactory  to  the  pubhc. 

Now  it  must  be  confessed  that  our  friend  Sampson, 
although  a  profound  scholar  and  mathematician,  had  not 
travelled  so  far  in  pliilosophy  as  to  doubt  the  reality  of 
witchcraft  or  apparitions.  Born  indeed  at  a  time  when  a 
doubt  in  the  existence   of  witches  was   interpreted   as 


GUT    MANNERING.  193 

equivalent  to  a  justification  of  their  infernal  practices,  a 
belief  of  such  legends  had  been  impressed  upon  the 
Dominie  as  an  article  indivisible  from  his  rehgious  faith ; 
and  perhaps  it  would  have  been  equally  difficult  to  have 
induced  him  to  doubt  the  one  as  the  other.  With  these 
feelings,  and  in  a  thick  misty  day,  which  was  already 
drawing  to  its  close,  Dominie  Sampson  did  not  pass  the 
Kaim  of  Derncleugh  without  some  feelings  of  tacit 
horror. 

What,  then,  was  his  astonishment,  when,  on  passing 
the  door — that  door  which  was  supposed  to  have  been 
placed  there  by  one  of  the  latter  Lairds  of  Ellangowan 
to  prevent  presumptuous  strangers  from  incurring  the 
dangers  of  the  haunted  vault — that  door,  supposed  to  be 
always  locked,  and  the  key  of  which  was  popularly  said 
to  be  deposited  with  the  presbytery — that  door,  that  /ery 
door,  opened  suddenly,  and  the  figure  of  Meg  Merrilies, 
well  known,  though  not  seen  for  many  a  revolving  year, 
was  placed  at  once  before  the  eyes  of  the  startled  Do- 
minie !  She  stood  immediately  before  him  in  the  footpath, 
confronting  him  so  absolutely,  that  he  could  not  avoid  her 
except  by  fairly  turning  back,  which  his  manhood  pre- 
vented him  from  thinking  of. 

"  I  kenn'd  ye  wad  be  here,"  she  said,  with  her  harsh 
and  hollow  voice :  "  I  ken  wha  ye  seek  ;  but  ye  maun 
do  my  bidding." 

"  Get  thee  behind  me !  "  said  the  alarmed  Dominie 
— "  Avoid  ye  ! —  Gonjuro  te,  scelestissima — neqnissima 
— spurcissima — iniquissima — atque  miserrima — conjuro 
te  !  I  !  " 

Meg  stood  her  ground  against  this  tremendous  volley 
of  superlatives,  which  Sampson  hawked  up  from  the  pit 

VOL.  IV.  13 


194  WAVEHLEY   NOVELS. 

of  his  stomacli,  and  hurled  at  her  in  thunder.  "  Is  tha 
osjcl  daft,"  she  said,  "  wi'  his  glamour  ?  " 

"  Conjuro,"  continued  the  Dominie,  "  ahjuro,  contestor 
atque  viriliter  impero  tihi  !  " — 

"  What  in  the  name  of  Sathan,  are  ye  feared  for,  wi' 
your  French  gibberish,  that  would  make  a  dog  sick  ? 
Listen,  ye  stickit  stibbler,  to  what  I  tell  ye,  or  ye  sail  rue 
it  while  there's  a  limb  o'  ye  hings  to  anither!  Tell 
Colonel  Mannerinoj  that  I  ken  he's  seeking  me.  He 
kens,  and  I  ken,  that  the  blood  will  be  wiped  out,  and  the 
lost  will  be  found, 

And  Bertram's  right  and  Bertram's  might 
Shall  meet  on  Ellangowan  height. 

Hae,  there's  a  letter  to  him ;  I  was  gaun  to  send  it  in 
another  way. — I  canna  write  mysell ;  but  I  hae  them  that 
will  baith  write  and  read,  and  ride  and  rin  for  me.  Tell 
him  the  time's  coming  now,  and  the  weird's  dreed,  and 
the  wheel's  turning.  Bid  him  look  at  the  stars  as  he  has 
looked  at  them  before. — Will  ye  mind  a'  this  ?  '* 

"  Assuredly,"  said  the  Dominie,  "  I  am  dubious — ^for, 
woman,  I  am  perturbed  at  thy  words,  and  my  flesh  quakes 
to  hear  thee." 

"  They'll  do  you  nae  ill  though,  and  maybe  muckle 
gude." 

"  Avoid  ye  !  I  desire  no  good  that  comes  by  unlawful 
means." 

"  Fule-body  that  thou  art ! "  said  Meg,  stepping  up  to 
him  with  a  frown  of  indignation  that  made  her  dark  eyes 
flash  like  lamps  from  under  her  bent  brows — "Fule-body  I 
if  I  meant  ye  wrang,  couldna  I  clod  ye  OAver  that  craig, 
and  wad  man  ken  how  ye  cam  by  your  end  mair  than 
Frank  Kennedy  ?     Hear  ye  that,  ye  worricow  ?  " 

"  In  the  name  of  all  that  is  good,"  said  the  Dominie, 


GUY    MANNERIXG.  195 

recoiling,  and  pointing  his  long  pewter-headed  waliing- 
cane  hke  a  javelin  at  the  supposed  sorceress, — "  in  the 
name  of  all  that  is  good,  bide  off  hands  !  I  will  not  be 
handled — woman,  stand  off,  upon  thine  own  proper  peril ! 
—desist,  I  say — I  am  strong — lo,  I  will  resist !  "  Here 
his  speech  was  cut  short;  for  Meg,  armed  with  super- 
natural strength,  (as  the  Dominie  asserted,)  broke  in 
upon  his  guard,  put  by  a  thrust  which  he  made  at  her 
with  his  cane,  and  lifted  him  into  the  vault,  "  as  easily," 
said  he,  "  as  I  could  sway  a  Kitchen's  Atlas." 

"  Sit  down  there,"  she  said,  pushing  the  half-throttled 
preacher  with  some  violence  against  a  broken  chair — 
"  sit  down  there,  and  gather  your  wind  and  your  senses, 
ye  black  barrow-tram  o'  the  kirk  that  ye  are  ! — Are  ye 
fou  or  fasting  ?  " 

"  Fasting — from  all  but  sin,"  answered  the  Dominie, 
who,  recovering  his  voice,  and  finding  his  exorcisms  only 
served  to  exasperate  the  intractable  sorceress,  thought  it 
best  to  affect  complaisance  and  submission,  inwardly 
conning  over,  however,  the  wholesome  conjurations  which 
he  durst  no  longer  utter  aloud.  But  as  the  Dominie's 
brain  was  by  no  means  equal  to  carry  on  two  trains  of 
ideas  at  the  same  time,  a  word  or  two  of  his  mental 
exercise  sometimes  escaped,  and  mingled  with  his  uttered 
speech  in  a  manner  ludicrous  enough,  especially  as  the 
poor  man  shrunk  himself  together  after  every  escape  of 
the  kind,  from  terror  of  the  effect  it  might  produce  upon 
Iho  irritable  feehngs  of  the  witch. 

Meg,  in  the  meanwhile,  went  to  a  great  black  cauldrcn 
that  was  boiling  on  a  fire  on  the  floor,  and,  lifting  the 
lid,  an  odour  was  diffused  through  the  vault,  which,  if  the 
vapours  of  a  witch's  cauldron  could  in  aught  be  trusted, 
promised  better  things  than   the  hell-broth  which  such 


196  WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

vessels  are  usually  supposed  to  contain.  It  was  in  fact 
the  savour  of  a  goodly  stew,  composed  of  fowls,  hares, 
partridges,  and  moorgame,  boiled  in  a  large  mess  with 
potatoes,  onions,  and  leeks,  and,  from  the  size  of  the 
cauldron,  appeared  to  be  prepared  for  half  a  dozen  cf 
people  at  least. 

"  So  ye  hae  eat  naething  a'  day  ?  "  said  Meg,  heaving 
a  large  portion  of  this  mess  into  a  brown  dish,  and  strew- 
ing it  savourily  with  salt  and  pepper.* 

"  Nothing,"  answered  the  Dominie — "  scelestissima  I — 
that  is — gudewife." 

"  Hae,  then,"  said  she,  placing  the  dish  before  him, 
"  there's  what  will  warm  your  heart." 

"I  do  not  hunger — malefica — that  is  to  say — Mrs. 
MerriUes ! "  for  he  said  unto  himself,  "  the  savour  is 
sweet,  but  it  hath  been  cooked  by  a  Canidia  or  an 
Ericthoe." 

"  If  ye  dinna  eat  instantly,  and  put  some  saul  in  ye,  by 
the  bread  and  the  salt,  I'll  put  it  down  your  throat  wi'  the 
cutty  spoon,  scaulding  as  it  is,  and  whether  ye  will  or  no. 
Gape,  sinner,  and  swallow  ! " 

*  We  must  again  have  recourse  to  the  contribution  to  Blackwood's 
Magazine,  AprQ  1817: — 

"  To  the  admirers  of  good  eating,  gipsy  cookery  seems  to  have  little 
to  recommend  it.  I  can  assui-e  you,  however,  that  the  cook  of  a  noble- 
man of  high  distinction,  a  person  who  never  reads  even  a  novel  with- 
out an  eye  to  the  enlargement  of  the  culinary  science,  has  added  to 
the  Almanach  des  Gourmands,  a  certain  Potage  a  la  Meg  Mernlies  de 
Derndeugh,  consisting  of  game  and  poultry  of  all  kinds,  stewed  with 
vegetables  into  a  soup,  which  rivals  in  savour  and  richness  the  gallant 
messes  of  Camacho's  wedding;  and  which  the  Baron  of  Bradwai'dine 
would  certainly  have  reckoned  among  the  Epulos  lauiiores.'''' 

The  artist  alluded  to  in  this  passage,  is  Mons.  Florence,  cook  to 
Henry  and  Charles,  late  Dukes  of  Buccleuch,  and  of  high  distinctioB 
in  his  profession. 


GUT   MANNERIXG.  197 

Sampson,  afraid  of  eye  of  newt,  and  toe  of  frog, 
tigers'  chaudrons,  and  so  forth,  had  determined  not  to 
venture ;  but  the  smell  of  the  stew  was  fast  melting  his 
obstinacy,  which  flowed  from  his  chops  as  it  were  in 
streams  of  water,  and  the  witch's  threats  decided  him  to 
feed.     Hunger  and  fear  are  excellent  casuists. 

"Saul,"  said  Hunger,  "feasted  with  the  witch  of 
Endor." — "  And,"  quoth  Fear,  "  the  salt  which  she 
sprinkled  upon  the  food  showeth  plainly  it  is  not  a 
necromantic  banquet,  in  which  that  seasoning  never 
occurs." — "And  besides,"  says  Hunger,  after  the  first 
spoonful,  "  it  is  savoury  and  refreshing  viands." 

"  So  ye  like  the  meat  ?  "  said  the  hostess. 

"  Yea,"  answered  the  Dominie,  "  and  I  give  thee 
thanks — sceleratissima! — which  means — JMrs.  Margaret." 

"  Aweel,  eat  your  fill ;  but  an  ye  kenn'd  how  it  was 
gotten,  ye  maybe  wadna  like  it  sae  week"  Sampson's 
spoon  di'opped,  in  the  act  of  conveying  its  load  to  his 
mouth.  "  There's  been  mony  a  moonhght  watch  to  bring 
a'  that  trade  thegither,"  continued  Meg, — "  the  folk  that 
are  to  eat  that  dinner  thought  httle  o'  your  game-laws." 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  thought  Sampson,  resuming  his  spoon, 
and  shovelling  away  manfully  ;  "  I  will  not  lack  my  food 
upon  that  argument." 

"  Now,  ye  maun  tak  a  dram." 

"  I  will,"  quoth  Sampson — "  conjuro  te — that  is,  I 
thank  you  heartily,"  for  he  thought  to  himself,  in  for  a 
penny  in  for  a  pound;  and  he  fairly  drank  the  witch's 
health  in  a  cupful  of  brandy.  When  he  had  put  this 
cope-stone  upon  Meg's  good  cheer,  he  felt,  as  he  said, 
"  mightily  elevated,  and  afraid  of  no  evil  which  could 
befall  unto  him." 

"  Will  ye  remember  my  errand  now  ?  "  said  Meg  Mer- 


198  WATEELET    NOVELS. 

rilies  ;  "  I  ken  by  the  cast  o'  tout  ee  that  je're  anither 
man  than  when  vou  cam  in." 

"  I  will,  Mrs.  Margaret,"  repeated  Sampson,  stoutly ; 
"  I  will  dehver  unto  him  the  sealed  yepistle,  and  will  add 
what  you  please  to  send  by  word  of  mouth." 

"  Then  I'U  make  it  short,"  says  Meg.  "  TeU  him  to 
look  at  the  stars  without  fail  this  night,  and  to  do  what  I 
desii-e  him  in  that  letter,  as  he  would  wish 

That  Beitram's  right  and  Bertram's  might 
Should  meet  on  Ellangowan  height. 

I  have  seen  him  twice  when  he  saw  na  me  ;  I  ken  when 
he  was  in  tliis  country  first,  and  I  ken  what's  brought  him 
back  again.  Up,  an'  to  the  gate !  ye're  ower  lang  here— 
follow  me." 

Sampson  followed  the  sibyl  accordingly,  who  guided 
him  about  a  quarter  of  a  nule  thi-ough  the  woods,  by  a 
shorter  cut  than  he  could  have  found  for  himself;  they 
then  entered  upon  the  common,  Meg  still  marching  before 
him  at  a  great  pace,  until  she  gained  the  top  of  a  small 
hillock  which  overhung  the  road. 

"  Here,"  she  said,  "  stand  still  here.  Look  how  the 
setting  sun  breaks  through  yon  cloud  that's  been  darken- 
ing the  lift  a'  day.  See  where  the  first  stream  o'  Hght 
fa's — it's  upon  Donagild's  round  tower — the  auldest  tower 
in  the  Castle  o'  Ellangowan — that's  no  for  naething ! — • 
See  as  it's  glooming  to  seaward  abune  yon  sloop  m  the  bay 
— that's  no  for  naething  neither. — Here  I  stood  on  lliis 
very  spot,"  said  she,  drawing  herself  up  so  as  not  to  lose 
one  hair-breadth  of  her  uncommon  height,  and  stretching 
out  her  long  sinewy  ai'm  and  clenched  hand — "  here  I 
stood  when  I  tauld  the  last  Laii'd  o'  Ellangowan  what 
was  coming  on  his  house  ; — and  did  that  fa'  to  the  ground  ? 


GUY    MANNERING.  199 

Na — it  hit  even  ower  sair !  And  here,  where  1  brake 
tlie  wand  of  peace  ower  him — here  I  stand  again — to 
bid  God  bless  and  prosper  the  just  heir  of  Ellangowan, 
that  will  sune  be,  brought  to  his  ain ;  and  the  best  laird 
he  shall  be  that  Ellangowan  has  seen  for  three  hundred 
years.  I'll  no  live  to  see  it,  maybe ;  but  there  will  be 
mony  a  blythe  ee  see  it,  though  mine  be  closed.  And 
now,  Abel  Sampson,  as  ever  ye  lo'ed  the  house  of  Ellan- 
gowan, away  wi'  my  message  to  the  English  Colonel,  as 
if  life  and  death  were  upon  your  haste  ! " 

So  saying,  she  turned  suddenly  from  the  amazed 
Dominie,  and  regamed  with  swift  and  long  strides  the 
shelter  of  the  wood  from  which  she  had  issued,  at  the 
point  where  it  most  encroached  upon  the  common.  Samp- 
son gazed  after  her  for  a  moment  in  utter  astonishment, 
and  then  obeyed  her  directions,  hurrying  to  Woodbourne 
at  a  pace  very  unusual  for  him,  exclaiming  three  times, 
"  Prodigious  !  prodigious  !  pro-di-gi-ous  !  " 


200  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  XL VII. 


It  is  not  madness 


That  I  have  uttered ;  bring  me  to  the  test, 
And  I  the  matter  will  re-word ;  which  madness 
Would  gambol  from. 

Hamlet. 

As  Mr.  Sampson  crossed  the  hall  with  a  bewildered 
look,  Mrs.  Allan,  the  good  housekeeper,  who,  with  the 
reverent  attention  which  is  usually  rendered  to  the  clergy 
in  Scotland,  was  on  the  watch  for  his  return,  sallied  forth 
to  meet  him — "  What's  this  o't  now,  Mr.  Sampson  ;  this 
is  waur  than  ever ! — ye'U  really  do  yourself  some  injury 
wi'  these  lang  fasts — naething's  sae  hurtful  to  the  stamach, 
Mr.  Sampson  ; — if  ye  would  but  put  some  peppermint 
draps  in  your  pocket,  or  let  Barnes  cut  ye  a  sandwich." 

"  Avoid  thee ! "  quoth  the  Dominie,  his  mind  running 
still  upon  his  interview  with  Meg  Merrilies,  and  making 
for  the  dining-parlour. 

"  Na,  ye  needna  gang  in  there — the  cloth's  been  re- 
moved an  hour  syne,  and  the  Colonel's  at  his  wine :  but 
just  step  into  my  room- — I  have  a  nice  steak  that  the 
cook  will  do  in  a  moment." 

"  Exorciso  te  !  "  said  Sampson, — "  that  is,  I  have 
dined." 

"  Dined !  it's  impossible — wha  can  ye  hae  dined  wi', 
you  that  gangs  out  nae  gate  ?  " 

"  With  Beelzebub,  I  believe,"  said  the  minister. 


GUY    MANNERING.  201 

"  Na,  then  he's  bewitched  for  certam,"  said  the  house- 
keeper, letting  go  her  hold  ;  "  he's  bewitched,  or  he's  daft, 
and  ony  waj  the  Colonel  maun  just  guide  him  his  ain 
gate.  Wae's  me  !  Hech,  sirs  !  It's  a  sair  thing  to  see 
learning  bring  folk  to  this  ! "  And  with  this  compassion- 
ate ejaculation  she  retreated  into  her  own  premises. 

The  object  of  her  commiseration  had  by  this  time  en- 
tered the  dining-parlour,  where  his  appearance  gave  great 
surprise.  He  was  mud  up  to  the  shoulders,  and  the  nat- 
ural paleness  of  his  hue  was  twice  as  cadaverous  as  usual, 
through  terror,  fatigue,  and  perturbation  of  mind.  "  What 
on  earth  is  the  meaning  of  this,  Mr.  Sampson  ? "  said 
Mannering,  who  observed  Miss  Bertram  looking  much 
alarmed  for  her  simple  but  attached  friend. 

"  Exorciso^' — said  the  Dominie. 

"  How,  sir  ?  "  replied  the  astonished  Colonel. 

"  I  crave  pardon,  honourable  sir !  but  my  wits  " — 

."Are  gone  a  wool-gathering,  I  think.  Pray,  Mr. 
Sampson,  collect  yourself,  and  let  me  know  the  meaning 
of  all  this." 

Sampson  was  about  to  reply,  but  finding  his  Latin 
formula  of  exorcism  still  came  most  readily  to  his  tongue, 
he  prudently  desisted  from  the  attempt,  and  put  the  scrap 
of  paper  which  he  had  received  from  the  gipsy  into  Mam- 
nering's  hand,  who  broke  the  seal  and  read  it  with  sur- 
prise. "  This  seems  to  be  some  jest,"  he  said,  "  and  a 
very  dull  one." 

"  It  came  from  no  jesting  person,"  said  Mr.  Sampson. 

"  From  whom  then  did  it  come  ? "  demanded  Man- 
nering. 

The  Dominie,  who  often  displayf;d  some  delicacy  of 
recollection  in  cases  where  Miss  Bertram  had  an  interest, 
remembered  the   painful   circumstvAHces    connected  with 


202  WAVERLEY   NOYELS. 

Meg  Merrilies,  looked  at  the  young  ladies,  and  remained 
silent.  "  We  will  join  jou  at  the  tea-table  in  an  instant, 
Julia,"  said  the  Colonel ;  "  I  see  that  ]Mi\  Sampson  wishes 
to  speak  to  me  alone. — And  now  they  are  gone,  what,  in 
Heaven's  name,  Mr.  Sampson,  is  the  meaning  of  all 
this?" 

"  It  may  be  a  message  from  Heaven,"  said  the  Domi- 
Mie,  "  but  it  came  by  Beelzebub's  jDOstmistress.  It  was 
that  witch,  Meg  Merrilies,  who  should  have  been  burned 
with  a  tar-barrel  twenty  years  since,  for  a  harlot,  thief, 
witch,  and  gipsy." 

"  Are  you  sure  it  was  she  ? "  said  the  Colonel,  with 
great  interest. 

"  Sure,  honoured  sir  ?  Of  a  truth  she  is  one  not  to  be 
forgotten — the  like  o'  Meg  Merrihes  is  not  to  be  seen  in 
any  land." 

The  Colonel  paced  the  room  rapidly,  cogitating  with 
himself.  "  To  send  out  to  apprehend  her — but  it  is  too 
distant  to  send  to  Mac-Morlan,  and  Sir  Robert  Hazle- 
wood  is  a  pompous  coxcomb  ;  besides  the  chance  of  not 
finding  her  upon  the  spot,  or  that  the  humour  of  silence 
that  seized  her  before  may  again  return  ; — no,  I  will  not, 
to  save  being  thought  a  fool,  neglect  the  course  she  points 
eut.  Many  of  her  class  set  out  by  being  impostors,  and 
end  by  becoming  enthusiasts,  or  hold  a  kind  of  darkling 
conduct  between  both  lines,  unconscious  almost  when  they 
are  cheating  themselves,  or  when  imposing  on  others. 
Well,  my  course  is  a  plain  one  at  any  rate ;  and  if  my 
efforts  are  fruitless,  it  shall  not  be  owing  to  over-jealousy 
of  my  own  character  for  wisdom." 

With  tliis  he  rang  the  bell,  and  ordering  Barnes  into 
his  private  sitting-room,  gave  him  some  orders,  with  the 
result   of  which    the   reader   may   be    made    hereafter 


GUT   MANNERING.  203 

acquainted.  We  must  now  take  up  another  ad\'enture, 
which  is  also  to  be  woven  into  the  story  of  this  remark- 
able day. 

Charles  Hazlewood  had  not  ventured  to  make  a  visit 
at  Woodbourne  during  the  absence  of  the  Colonel.  In- 
deed, Mannering's  whole  behaviour  had  impressed  upon 
him  an  opinion  that  this  would  be  disagreeable  ;  and  such 
was  the  ascendency  which  the  successful  soldier  and  ac- 
complished gentleman  had  attained  over  the  young  man's 
conduct,  that  in  no  respect  would  he  have  ventured  to 
offend  him.  He  saw,  or  thought  he  saw,  in  Colonel  Man- 
nering's general  conduct,  an  approbation  of  his  attachment 
to  Miss  Bertram.  But  then  he  saw  still  more  plainly  the 
impropriety  of  any  attempt  at  a  private  correspondence, 
of  which  his  parents  could  not  be  supposed  to  approve, 
and  he  respected  this  barrier  interposed  betwixt  them, 
both  on  Mannering's  account,  and  as  he  was  the  liberal 
and  zealous  protector  of  Miss  Bertram.  "  No,"  said  he 
to  himself,  "  I  will  not  endanger  the  comfort  of  my  Lucy's 
present  retreat,  until  I  can  offer  her  a  home  of  her  own." 

With  this  valorous  resolution,  which  he  mamtained, 
although  his  horse,  from  constant  habit,  turned  his  head 
down  the  avenue  of  Woodbourne,  and  although  he  him- 
self passed  the  lodge  twice  every  day,  Charles  Hazle- 
wood withstood  a  strong  inclination  to  ride  down,  just  to 
ask  how  the  young  ladies  were,  and  whether  he  could  be 
of  any  service  to  them  during  Colonel  Mannering's  ab- 
sence. But  on  the  second  occasion  he  felt  the  temptation 
60  severe,  that  he  resolved  not  to  expose  himself  to  it  a 
third  time  ;  and,  contenting  himself  with  sending  hopes 
and  inquiries,  and  so  forth,  to  Woodbourne,  he  resolved 
to  make  a  visit  long  promised  to  a  family  at  some  distance, 
and  to  return  in  such  time  as  to  be  one  of  the  eai'Hest 


204  TTAVEKLEY    NOVELS. 

among  Mannering's  visitors  who  should  congratulate  his 
safe  arrival  from  his  distant  and  hazardous  expedition  to 
Edinburgh.  Accordingly,  he  made  out  his  visit,  and 
havino;  arran^jed  matters  so  as  to  be  informed  witliin  a  few 
hours  after  Colonel  Mannering  reached  home,  he  finally 
resolved  to  take  leave  of  the  friends  with  whom  he  had 
spent  the  intervening  time,  with  the  intention  of  dining  at 
AYoodbourne,  where  he  was  in  a  gi-eat  measure  domesti- 
cated ;  and  this  (for  he  thought  much  more  deeply  on  the 
subject  than  was  necessary)  would,  he  flattered  himself, 
appear  a  simple,  natural,  and  easy  mode  of  conducting 
himself. 

Fate,  however,  of  which  lovers  make  so  many  com- 
plaints, was  in  this  case  unfavourable  to  Charles  Hazle- 
wood.  His  horse's  shoes  requu-ed  an  alteration,  in 
consequence  of  the  fresh  weather  having  decidedly  com- 
menced. The  lady  of  the  house  where  he  was  a  visitor, 
chose  to  indulge  in  her  own  room  till  a  very  late  break- 
fast hour.  His  friend  also  insisted  on  showing  him  a  litter 
of  puppies,  which  his  favourite  pointer  bitch  had  pro- 
duced that  mornmg.  The  colours  had  occasioned  some 
doubts  about  the  paternity, — a  weighty  question  of  legit- 
macy,  to  the  decision  of  which  Hazlewood's  opinion  was 
called  in  as  arbiter  between  his  friend  and  his  groom,  and 
which  inferred  in  its  consequences  which  of  the  Htter 
should  be  drowned,  which  saved.  Besides,  the  Laird 
himself  delayed  our  young  lover's  departure  for  a  consid- 
erable time,  endeavouring,  with  long  and  superfluous 
rhetoric,  to  insinuate  to  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood,  through 
the  medium  of  his  son,  his  own  particular  ideas  respecting 
the  line  of  a  meditated  turnpike  road.  It  is  greatly  to 
the  shame  of  our  young  lover's  apprehension,  that  after 
the  tenth  reiterated  account  of  the  matter,  he  could  not 


GUT    MANNERING.  205 

^ee  the  advantage  to  be  obtained  bj  the  proposed  road 
passing  over  the  Lang-hirst,  Windj-knowe,  the  Good- 
house-park,  Hailziecroft,  and  then  crossing  the  river  at 
Simon's  Pool,  and  so  by  the  road  to  Kippletringan — and 
the  less  eligible  hne  pointed  out  by  the  English  surveyor, 
which  would  go  clear  through  the  main  enclosures  at  Ha- 
zlewood,  and  cut  within  a  mile,  or  nearly  so,  of  the  house 
itself,  destroying  the  privacy  and  pleasure,  as  his  informer 
contended,  of  the  grounds. 

In  short,  the  adviser  (whose  actual  interest  was  to  have 
the  bridge  built  as  near  as  possible  to  a  farm  of  his  own) 
failed  m  every  effort  to  attract  young  Hazle wood's  atten- 
tion, until  he  mentioned  by  chance  that  the  proposed  Hne 
was  favoured  by  "  that  fellow  Glossin,"  who  pretended  to 
take  a  lead  in  the  county.  On  a  sudden,  young  Ilazle- 
wood  became  attentive  and  interested ;  and  having  satis- 
fied hunself  which  was  the  line  that  Glossin  patronized, 
assured  his  friend  it  should  not  be  his  fault  if  his  father 
did  not  countenance  any  other  instead  of  that.  But  these 
various  interruptions  consumed  the  morning.  Hazlewood 
got  on  horseback  at  least  thi-ee  hours  later  than  he  in- 
tended, and,  cursing  fine  ladies,  pointers,  puppies,  and 
turnpike  acts  of  parliament,  saw  himself  detained  beyond 
the  time  when  he  could,  with  propriety,  intrude  upon  the 
family  at  Woodbourne. 

He  had  passed,  therefore,  the  turn  of  the  road  which 
led  to  that  mansion,  only  edified  by  the  distant  appear- 
ance of  the  blue  smoke  curling  against  the  pale  sky  of  the 
winter  evening,  when  he  thought  he  beheld  the  Dominie 
taking  a  footpath  for  the  house  through  the  woods.  He 
called  after  him, — ^but  in  vain ;  for  that  honest  gentleman, 
never  the  most  susceptible  of  extraneous  impressions,  had 
just  that  moment  parted  from  Meg  Merrilies,  and  was 


206  WATERLET   NOVELS. 

too  deeply  wi-apped  up  in  pondering  upon  her  vaticina- 
tions, to  make  any  answer  to  Hazlewood's  call.  He  was 
therefore  obliged  to  let  him  proceed  without  inquiry  after 
the  health  of  the  young  ladies,  or  any  other  fishing  ques- 
tion, to  which  he  might,  by  good  chance,  have  had  an 
answer  retui-ned  wherein  Miss  Bertram's  name  might 
have  be^n  mentioned.  All  cause  for  haste  was  now  over, 
— and,  slackening  the  reins  upon  his  horse's  neck,  he 
permitted  the  animal  to  ascend  at  his  o^vn  leisure  the 
steep  sandy  track  between  two  high  banks,  which,  rising 
to  a  considerable  height,  commanded,  at  length,  an  exten- 
sive view  of  the  neighbouring  country. 

Hazlewood  was,  however,  so  far  from  eagerly  looking 
forward  to  this  prospect,  though  it  had  the  recommenda- 
tion that  great  part  of  the  land  was  his  father's,  and  must 
necessarily  be  his  own,  that  his  head  still  turned  back- 
ward towards  the  chimneys  of  TVoodboume,  although,  at 
every  step  his  horse  made,  the  difficulty  of  employing  his 
eyes  in  that  direction  became  greater.  From  the  reverie 
in  which  he  was  sunk,  he  was  suddenly  roused  by  a  voice 
too  harsh  to  be  called  female,  yet  too  shrill  for  a  man : — 
"  What's  kept  you  on  the  road  sae  lang  ? — maun  ither 
folk  do  your  wark  ?  " 

He  looked  up  ;  the  spokeswoman  was  very  tall,  had  a 
voluminous  handkerchief  rolled  round  her  head,  grizzled 
Lair  flowing  in  elf-locks  from  beneath  it,  a  long  red  cloak, 
and  a  staff  in  her  hand,  headed  with  a  sort  of  spear-point 
—it  was,  in  short,  Meg  Merrilies.  Hazlewood  had  never 
seen  this  remarkable  figure  before  ;  he  di-ew  up  his  reins 
in  astonishment  at  her  appearance,  and  made  a  full  stop. 
"  I  think,"  continued  she,  "  they  that  hae  taen  interest  in 
the  house  of  EUangowan  suld  sleep  nane  this  night ;  three 
men  hae  been  seeking  ye,  and  you  are  gaun  hame  to 


GUT   MAJfXEKIXG.  207 

sleep  in  your  bed. — D'ye  think  if  the  lad-hairn  fa's,  the 
sister  will  do  weel  ?     Na,  na !  " 

"I  don't  understand  you,  good  woman,"  said  Hazle- 

wood.     "  If  you  speak  of  Miss ,  I  mean  of  any  of 

the  late  Ellangowan  family,  tell  me  what  I  can  do  for 
them." 

"Of  the  late  Ellangowan  family ! "  she  answeied  with 
great  vehemence — "  of  the  late  Ellangowan  family ! — 
and  when  was  there  ever,  or  when  will  there  ever  be,  a 
family  of  Ellangowan,  but  bearing  the  gallant  name  of  the 
bauld  Bertrams  ?  " 

"  But  what  do  you  mean,  good  woman  ?  " 

"  I  am  nae  good  woman — a'  the  country  kens  I  am  bad 
eneugh,  and  baith  they  and  I  may  be  sorrow  eneugh  that 
I  am  nae  better.  But  I  can  do  what  good  women  canna 
and  daurna  do — I  can  do  what  would  freeze  the  blood  o' 
them  that  is  bred  in  biggit  wa's  for  naething  but  to  bind 
bairns'  heads,  and  to  hap  them  in  the  cradle.  Hear  me  ! 
The  guard's  drawn  off  at  the  Custom-house  at  Portanferry, 
and  it's  brought  up  to  Hazlewood-House  by  your  father's 
orders,  because  he  thinks  his  house  is  to  be  attacked  this 
night  by  the  smugglers  ;  there's  naebody  means  to  touch 
his  house ;  he  has  gude  blood  and  gentle  blood — I  say 
little  o'  him  for  himsell,  but  there's  naebody  thinks  him 
worth  meddling  wi'.  Send  the  horsemen  back  to  their 
post,  cannily  and  quietly — see  an  they  winna  hae  wark 
the  night — ay  will  they — the  guns  mil  flash  and  the 
swords  will  glitter  in  the  braw  moon." 

"  Good  God !  what  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  young  Hazle- 
wood  ;  "  your  words  and  manner  would  persuade  me  you 
are  mad,  and  yet  there  is  a  strange  combination  in  what 
you  say." 

"  I  am   not   mad  ! "    exclaimed   the  gipsy ;    "  I  have 


208  WAVERLEY   XOYELS. 

been  imprisoned  for  mad — scourged  for  mad — ^banished 
for  mad — but  mad  I  am  not.  Hear  ye,  Charles  Hazle- 
wood  of  Hazlewood :  d'ye  bear  malice  against  him  that 
wounded  you  ?  " 

"  Xo,  dame,  God  forbid !  My  arm  is  quite  well,  and  T 
have  always  said  the  shot  was  discharged  by  accident  I 
should  be  glad  to  tell  the  young  man  so  himself." 

"  Then  do  what  I  bid  ye,"  answered  Meg  Merrihes, 
"  and  ye'll  do  him  mair  gude  than  ever  he  did  you  ill ;  for 
if  he  was  left  to  his  ill-wishers  he  would  be  a  bloody 
corpse  ere  morn,  or  a  banished  man — ^but  there's  ane 
abune  a'. — Do  as  I  bid  you ;  send  back  the  soldiers  to 
Portanferry.  There's  nae  mail'  fear  o'  Hazlewood- House 
than  there's  o'  Cruffelfell."  And  she  vanished  with  her 
usual  celerity  of  pace. 

It  would  seem  that  the  appearance  of  this  female,  and 
the  mixture  of  frenzy  and  enthusiasm  in  her  manner, 
seldom  failed  to  produce  the  strongest  impression  upon 
those  whom  she  addi-essed.  Her  words,  though  wild, 
were  too  plain  and  intelligible  for  actual  madness,  and  yet 
too  vehement  and  extravagant  for  sober-minded  commu- 
nication. She  seemed  acting  under  the  influence  of  an 
imagination  rather  strongly  excited  than  deranged;  and 
it  is  wonderful  how  palpably  the  difference,  in  such  cases, 
is  impressed  upon  the  mind  of  the  auditor.  This  may 
account  for  the  attention  with  which  her  strange  and 
mysterious  hints  were  heard  and  acted  upon.  It  is  cer- 
tain, at  least,  that  young  Hazlewood  was  strongly  im- 
pressed by  her  sudden  appearance  and  imperative  tone. 
He  rode  to  Hazlewood  at  a  brisk  pace.  It  had  been 
dark  for  some  time  before  he  reached  the  house,  and  on 
his  arrival  there,  he  saw  a  confirmation  of  what  the  sibyl 
bad  hinted. 


GUY    MANNERING.  209 

Thirty  dragoon  horses  stood  under  a  shed  near  the 
offices,  with  their  bridles  hnked  together ; — three  or  four 
soldiers  attended  as  a  guard,  while  others  stamped  up  and 
down  with  their  long  broadswords  and  heavy  boots  in 
front  of  the  house.  Hazlewood  asked  a  non-commissioned 
officer  "  from  whence  they  came  ?  " 

"From  Portanferry." 

"  Had  they  left  any  guard  there  ?  " 

"  No  ; — they  had  been  drawn  off  by  order  of  Sir  Robert 
Hazlewood  for  defence  of  his  house,  against  an  attack 
which  was  threatened  by  the  smugglers." 

Charles  Hazlewood  instantly  went  in  quest  of  his 
father,  and,  having  paid  his  respects  to  him  upon  his 
return,  requested  to  know  upon  what  account  he  had 
thought  it  necessary  to  send  for  a  militaiy  escort.  Sir 
Robert  assured  his  son  in  reply,  "  that  from  the  informa- 
tion, intelligence,  and  tidings,  which  had  been  communi- 
cated to,  and  laid  before  him,  he  had  the  deepest  reason 
to  beheve,  credit,  and  be  convinced,  that  a  riotous  assault 
would  that  night  be  attempted  and  perpetrated  against 
Hazlewood-House,  by  a  set  of  smugglers,  gipsies,  and 
other  desperadoes." 

"  And  what,  my  dear  sir,"  said  his  son,  "  should  direct 
the  fury  of  such  persons  against  ours  rather  than  any 
other  house  in  the  country  ?  " 

"I  should  rather  think,  suppose,  and  be  of  opinion, 
sir,"  answered  Su-  Robert,  "  with  deference  to  your  wis- 
dom and  experience,  that  on  these  occasions  and  times, 
the  vengeance  of  such  persons  is  directed  or  levelled 
against  the  most  important  and  distinguished  in  point  c£ 
rank,  talent,  birth,  and  situation,  who  have  checked,  in- 
terfered with,  and  discountenanced  their  unlawful  and 
illegal  and  criminal  actions  or  deeds." 

VOL.  IV.  14 


210  TVAVERLEY    XOVELS. 

Young  Hazlewood,  who  knew  liis  father's  foible, 
answered,  ''  that  the  cause  of  his  surprise  did  not  lie 
where  Sir  Robert  apprehended,  but  that  he  only  won- 
dered thej  should  think  of  attacking  a  house  where  there 
were  so  many  servants  and  where  a  signal  to  the  neigh- 
bouring tenants  could  call  in  such  strong  assistance ; " 
and  added,  "that  he  doubted  much  whether  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  family  Avould  not  in  some  degree  suiFer  from 
calling  soldiers  from  their  duty  at  the  Custom-house  to 
protect  them,  as  if  they  were  not  sufficiently  strong  to 
defend  themselves  upon  any  ordinary  occasion."  He 
even  hinted,  "  that  in  case  their  house's  enemies  should 
observe  that  this  precaution  had  been  taken  unnecessarily, 
there  would  be  no  end  of  their  sarcasms." 

Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  was  rather  puzzled  at  this  inti- 
mation, for,  like  most  dull  men,  he  heartily  hated  and 
feared  ridicule.  He  gathered  himself  up,  and  looked 
with  a  sort  of  pompous  embarrassment,  as  if  he  wished 
to  be  thought  to  despise  the  opinion  of  the  public,  which 
in  reality  he  dreaded. 

"  I  really  should  have  thought,"  he  said,  "  that  the 
injury  which  had  already  been  aimed  at  my  house  in 
your  person,  being  the  next  heir  and  representative  of  the 
Hazlewood  family,  failing  me — I  should  have  thought  and 
believed,  I  say,  that  this  would  have  justified  me  suffi- 
ciently in  the  eyes  of  the  most  respectable  and  the  greater 
part  of  ihe  people,  for  taking  such  precautions  as  are  cal- 
culated to  prevent  and  impede  a  repetition  of  outrage." 

"  Really,  sir,"  said  Charles,  "  I  must  remind  you  of  what 
I  have  often  said  before,  that  I  am  positive  the  discharge 
of  the  piece  was  accidental." 

"  Sir,  it  was  not  accidental,"  said  his  father,  angrily  :— 
^  but  you  will  be  wiser  than  your  elders." 


GUT    MANNERING.  211 

*'  Really,  sir,"  replied  Hazlewood,  "  in  what  so  inti- 
mately concerns  myself" 

"  Sir,  it  does  not  concern  you  but  in  a  very  secondary 
degree — that  is,  it  does  not  concern  you,  as  a  giddy  young 
fellow,  who  takes  pleasure  in  contradicting  his  father ;  but 
it  concerns  the  country,  sir ;  and  the  county,  sir ;  and  the 
public,  sir ;  and  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  in  so  far  as  the 
interest  of  the  Hazlewood  family,  sir,  is  committed,  and 
interested,  and  put  in  peril,  in,  by,  and  thi'ough  you,  sir. 
And  the  fellow  is  in  safe  custody,  and  Mr.  Glossin 
thinks  " 

"  Mr.  Glossin,  sir  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  the  gentleman  who  has  purchased  Ellan- 
gowan — you  know  who  I  mean,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  the  young  man  ;  "  but  I  should 
hardly  have  expected  to  hear  you  quote  such  authority. 
Why,  this  fellow — all  the  world  knows  him  to  be  sordid, 
mean,  tricking;  and  I  suspect  him  to  be  worse.  And 
you  yourself,  my  dear  sir,  when  did  you  call  such  a  per- 
son a  gentleman  in  your  life  before  ?  " 

"  Why,  Charles,  I  did  not  mean  gentleman  in  the 
precise  sense  and  meaning,  and  restricted  and  proper  use, 
to  which,  no  doubt,  the  phrase  ought  legitimately  to  be 
confined ;  but  I  meant  to  use  it  relatively,  as  marking 
something  of  that  state  to  which  he  has  elevated  and 
raised  himself — as  designing,  in  short,  a  decent  and 
weallhy  and  estimable  sort  of  a  person." 

"  Allow  me  to  ask,  sh^,"  said  Charles,  "  if  it  was  by  this 
man's  orders  that  the  guard  was  drawn  from  Portan- 
ferry  ?  " 

"  Sir,"  replied  the  Baronet,  "  I  do  apprehend  that  ]Mr. 
Glossin  would  not  presume  to  give  orders,  or  even  an 
opinion,  unless  asked,  in  a  matter  in  which  Hazlewood- 


212  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

House  and  the  House  of  Hazlewood — meaning  by  the 
one  this  mansion-house  of  my  family,  and  by  the  other, 
typically,  metaphorically,  and  parabolically,  the  family 
itself — I  say,  then,  where  the  House  of  Hazlewood,  or 
Hazlewood-House,  was  so  immediately  concerned." 

"  I  presume,  however,  sir,"  said  the  son,  "  this  Glossin 
approved  of  the  proposal  ?  " 

"  Sir,"  replied  his  father,  "  I  thought  it  decent  and  right 
and  proper  to  consult  him  as  the  nearest  magistrate,  as 
soon  as  report  of  the  intended  outrage  reached  my  ears ; 
and  although  he  declined,  out  of  deference  and  respect, 
as  became  our  relative  situations,  to  concur  in  the  order, 
yet  he  did  entirely  approve  of  my  arrangement." 

At  this  moment  a  horse's  feet  were  heard  coming  very 
fast  up  the  avenue.  In  a  few  minutes  the  door  opened, 
and  j\Ii\  Mac-Morlan  presented  himself. — "  I  am  under 
great  concern  to  intrude.  Sir  Robert,  but " 

"  Give  me  leave,  Mr.  Mac-Morlan,"  said  Sir  Robert, 
with  a  gracious  flourish  of  welcome  ;  "  this  is  no  intrusion, 
sir ; — for  your  situation  as  Sheriff-substitute  calling  upon 
you  to  attend  to  the  peace  of  the  county,  (and  you,  doubt- 
less, feeling  yourself  particularly  called  upon  to  protect 
Hazlewood- House,)  you  have  an  acknoAvledged,  and  ad- 
mitted, and  undeniable  right,  sir,  to  enter  the  house  of  the 
first  gentleman  in  Scotland,  uninvited — always  presuming 
you  to  be  called  there  by  the  duty  of  your  oflice." 

"  It  is,  indeed,  the  duty  of  my  office,"  said  Mac-Morlan, 
who  waited  wdth  impatience  an  opportunity  to  speak^ 
"  that  makes  me  an  intruder." 

"  No  intrusion  ! "  reiterated  the  Baronet,  gracefully 
waving  his  hand. 

"  But  permit  me  to  say,  Sir  Robert,"  said  the  Sheriff- 
Bubstitute,  "  I  do  not  c  ^me  with  the  purpose  of  remaining 


GUT    MANNERIXGf.  213 

here,  but  to  recall  these  soldiers  to  Portanferry,  and  to 
assure  you  that  I  will  answer  for  the  safety  of  your 
house." 

"  To  withdi-aw  the  guard  from  Hazlewood-House ! " 
exclaimed  the  proprietor,  in  mingled  displeasure  and  sur- 
prise ;  "  and  yov,  wiU  be  answerable  for  it !  -A  od  pray, 
who  are  you,  si^,  that  I  should  take  your  security,  and 
caution,  and  pledge,  official  or  personal,  for  the  safety  of 
Hazlewood-Hou-'e  ? — I  think,  sir,  and  beheve,  sir,  and  am 
of  opinion,  sir^  Ihat  if  any  one  of  these  family  pictures 
were  deranojed,  or  destroyed,  or  injured,  it  would  be 
difficult  for  me  •'£>  make  up  the  loss  upon  the  guarantee 
which  yov,  so  rViigingly  offer  me." 

"Id  that  ciae  I  shaU  be  sorry  for  it,  Sir  Robert," 
answered  th-j  downright  Mac-Morlan  ;  "  but  I  presume  I 
may  escape  the  pain  of  feeling  my  conduct  the  cause  of 
such  irreparitble  loss,  as  I  can  assure  you  there  will  be  no 
attempt  upon  Hazlewood-House  whatever,  and  I  have 
received  infoimation  which  induces  me  to  suspect  that 
the  rumour  was  put  afloat  merely  in  order  to  occasion  the 
removal  of  the  soldiers  from  Portanferry.  And  under 
this  strong  belief  and  conviction,  I  must  exert  my  author- 
ity as  sheriff  and  cliief  magistrate  of  police,  to  order  the 
whole,  or  greater  part  of  them,  back  agam.  I  regret 
much,  that  by  my  accidental  absence  a  good  deal  of  delay 
has  already  taken  place,  and  we  shaU  not  now  reach 
Portanferry  until  it  is  late." 

As  Mr.  Mac-Morlan  was  the  superior  magistrate,  and 
expressed  himself  peremptory  in  the  purpose  of  acting 
as  such,  the  Baronet,  though  highly  offended,  could  only 
say,  "  Very  well,  sir,  it  is  very  well.  Nay,  sir,  take  them 
all  with  you — I  am  far  from  desiring  any  to  be  left  here, 
«ir.     We,  sir,  can  protect  ourselves,  sir.     But  you  will 


214  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

have  the  goodness  to  observe,  sir,  that  you  are  acting  oi* 
your  own  proper  risk,  sir,  and  peril,  sir,  and  responsibility, 
sir,  if  anything  shall  happen  or  befall  to  Hazlewood- 
House,  sir,  or  the  inhabitants,  sir,  or  to  the  furniture  and 
paintings,  sir." 

"  I  am  acting  to  the  best  of  my  judgment  and  infonna- 
tion.  Sir  Robert,"  said  Mac-Morlan,  "  and  I  must  pray 
of  you  to  believe  so,  and  to  pardon  me  accordingly.  I 
beg  you  to  observe  it  is  no  time  for  ceremony — it  is 
already  very  late." 

But  Sir  Robert,  without  deigning  to  hsten  to  his  apol- 
ogies, immediately  employed  himself  with  much  parade 
in  arming  and  arraying  liis  domestics.  Charles  Hazle- 
wood  longed  to  accompany  the  military,  which  were  about 
to  depart  for  Portanferry,  and  which  were  now  drawn  up 
and  mounted  by  direction,  and  under  the  guidance  of  Mr. 
Mac-Morlan,  as  the  civil  magistrate.  But  it  would  have 
given  just  pain  and  offence  to  his  father  to  have  left  him 
at  a  moment  when  he  conceived  himself  and  his  mansion- 
house  in  danger.  Young  Hazlewood  therefore  gazed 
from  a  window  with  suppressed  regret  and  displeasure, 
until  he  heard  the  officer  give  the  word  of  command. 
"  From  the  right  to  the  front,  by  files,  m-a-rch.  Leading 
file,  to  the  right  wheel — Trot." — The  whole  party  of 
soldiers  then  getting  into  a  sharp  and  uniform  pace,  wero 
soon  lost  among  the  trees,  and  the  noise  of  the  hoofs  died 
speedily  away  in  the  distance. 


GUY   MANNERING.  215 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

WV  coulters  and  wi'  forehammers 

"We  garr'd  the  bars  bang  merrily, 
Until  we  came  to  the  inner  prison, 

Where  Willie  o'  Kinmont  he  did  lie. 

Old  Border  Baixad. 

We  return  to  Portanferry  and  to  Bertram  and  his 
honest-hearted  friend,  whom  we  left  most  innocent  inhabi- 
tants of  a  place  built  for  the  guilty.  The  slumbers  of  the 
farmer  were  as  sound  as  it  was  possible. 
.  But  Bertram's  fii-st  heavy  sleep  passed  away  long  be- 
fore midnight,  nor  could  he  again  recover  that  state  of 
oblivion.  Added  to  the  uncertain  and  uncomfortable 
state  of  his  mind,  his  body  felt  feverish  and  oppressed. 
This  was  chiefly  owing  to  the  close  and  confined  air  of 
the  small  apartment  in  which  they  slept.  After  enduring 
for  some  time  the  broiling  and  suffocating  feeling  attend- 
ant upon  such  an  atmosphere,  he  rose  to  endeavour  to 
open  the  window  of  the  apartment,  and  thus  to  procure  a 
change  of  air.  Alas !  the  first  trial  reminded  him  that 
he  was  in  jail,  and  that  the  building  being  contrived  for 
security,  not  comfort,  the  means  of  procuring  fresh  air 
were  not  left  at  the  disposal  of  the  wretched  inhabitants. 
Disappointed  in  this  attempt,  he  stood  by  the  un- 
manageable window  for  some  time.  Little  Wasp,  though 
oppressed  with  the  fatigue  of  his  journey  on  the  preced- 
ing day,  crept  out  of  bed  after  his  master,  and  stood  by 


216  WATEKLEY    NOVELS. 

him  rubbing  his  shaggy  coat  against  his  legs,  and  ex- 
pressing, by  a  murmuring  sound,  the  delight  which  he 
felt  at  being  restored  to  him.  Thus  accompanied,  and 
waiting  until  the  feverish  feeling  which  at  present  agi- 
tated his  blood  should  subside  into  a  desire  for  warmth 
and  slumber,  Bertram  remained  for  some  time  looking 
out  upon  the  sea. 

The  tide  was  now  nearly  full,  and  dashed  hoarse  and 
near,  below  the  base  of  the  building.  Now  and  then  a 
lai'ge  wave  reached  even  the  barrier  or  bulwark  which 
defended  the  foundation  of  the  house,  and  was  flung  upon 
it  with  greater  force  and  noise  than  those  which  only 
broke  upon  the  sand.  Far  in  the  distance,  \inder  the 
indistinct  light  of  a  hazy  and  often  over-clouded  moon, 
the  ocean  rolled  its  multitudinous  complication  of  waves, 
crossing,  bursting,  and  mingling  vdih  each  other. 

"  A  wild  and  dim  spectacle,"  said  Bertram  to  himself, 
"  like  those  crossing  tides  of  fate  which  have  tossed  me 
about  the  world  from  my  infancy  upwards  !  When  will 
this  uncertainty  cease,  and  how  soon  shall  I  be  permitted 
to  look  out  for  a  tranquil  home,  where  I  may  cultivate  in 
quiet,  and  without  dread  and  perplexity,  those  arts  of 
peace  from  which  my  cares  have  been  hitherto  so  forcibly 
diverted  ?  The  ear  of  Fancy,  it  is  said,  can  discover  the 
voice  of  sea-nymphs  and  tritons  amid  the  bursting  mur- 
murs of  the  ocean ;  would  that  I  could  do  so,  and  that 
some  siren  or  Proteus  would  arise  from  these  billows,  to 
unriddle  for  me  the  strange  maze  of  fate  in  which  I  am 
so  deeply  entangled  ! — Happy  friend  !  "  he  said,  looking 
at  the  bed  where  Dinmont  had  deposited  his  bulky  per- 
son, "  thy  cares  are  confined  to  the  narrow  round  of  a 
healthy  and  thriving  occupation ! — thou  canst  lay  them 
aside  at  pleasure,  and  enjoy  the  deep  repose  of  body 


GUY    BIANNEKING.  217 

and  mirxd  wliich  wholesome  labour  has  prepared  for 
thee  ! " 

At  this  moment  his  reflections  were  broken  by  Httle 
Wasp,  who,  attempting  to  spring  up  against  the  window, 
began  to  yelp  and  bark  most  furiously.  The  sounds 
reached  Dinmont's  ears,  but  without  dissipating  the  illu- 
sioQ  which  had  transported  him  from  this  wretched 
apartment  to  the  free  air  of  his  own  green  hiUs.  "  Hoy, 
Yarrow,  man  ! — far  yaud — far  yaud  !  "  he  muttered 
between  his  teeth,  imagining  doubtless  that  he  was  calling 
to  his  sheep-dog,  and  hounding  him  in  shepherds'  phrase 
against  some  intruders  on  the  grazing.  The  continued 
barking  of  the  terrier  within  was  answered  by  the  angry 
challenge  of  the  mastiff  in  the  court-yard,  which  had  for 
a  long  time  been  silent,  excepting  only  an  occasional 
short  and  deep  note,  uttered  when  the  moon  shone  sud- 
denly from  among  the  clouds.  Now,  his  clamour  was 
continued  and  furious,  and  seemed  to  be  excited  by  some 
disturbance  distinct  from  the  barking  of  Wasp,  which  had 
first  given  him  the  alarm,  and  which,  with  much  trouble, 
his  master  had  contrived  to  still  into  an  angry  note  of 
low  growhng. 

At  last  Bertram,  whose  attention  was  now  fully 
awakened,  conceived  that  he  saw  a  boat  upon  the  sea, 
and  heard  in  good  earnest  the  sound  of  oars  and  of 
human  voices  mingling  with  the  dash  of  the  billows. 
"  Some  benighted  fishermen,"  he  thought,  "  or  perhaps 
some  of  the  desperate  traders  from  the  Isle  of  Man. 
They  are  very  hardy,  however,  to  approach  so  near  to 
the  Custom-house,  where  there  must  be  sentinels.  It  is 
a  large  boat,  like  a  long-boat,  and  full  of  people ;  per- 
haps it  belongs  to  the  revenue  ser^nce."  Bertram  was 
confirmed  in  this  last  opinion,  by  observing  that  the  boat 


218  TTAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

made  for  a  little  quay  which  ran  into  the  sea  bel  ind  the 
Custom-house,  and,  jumping  ashore  one  after  another,  the 
crew,  to  the  number  of  twenty  hands,  glided  secretly  up 
a  small  lane  which  divided  the  Custom-house  from  the 
Bridewell,  and  disappeared  from  his  sight,  leaving  only 
two  persons  to  take  care  of  the  boat. 

The  dash  of  these  men's  oars  at  first,  and  latterly  the 
^^uppressed  sounds  of  their  voices,  had  excited  the  wrath 
of  the  wakeful  sentinel  in  the  court-yard,  who  now 
exalted  his  deep  voice  into  such  a  horrid  and  continuous 
din,  that  it  awakened  his  brute  master,  as  savage  a  ban- 
dog as  himself.  His  cry  from  the  window,  of  "  How 
now,  Tearum,  what's  the  matter,  sir  ? — down,  d — n  ye ! 
down  ! "  produced  no  abatement  of  Tearum's  vocifera- 
tion, which  in  part  prevented  his  master  from  hearing 
the  sounds  of  alarm  which  his  ferocious  vigilance  was  in 
the  act  of  challenging.  But  the  mate  of  the  two-legged 
Cerberus  was  gifted  with  sharper  ears  than  her  husband. 
She  also  was  now  at  the  mndow — "  B — t  ye,  gae  down 
and  let  loose  the  dog,"  she  said  ;  "  they're  sporting  the 
door  of  the  Custom-house,  and  the  auld  sap  at  Hazlewood 
House  has  ordered  off  the  guard.  But  ye  hae  nae  mair 
heart  than  a  cat."  And  down  the  amazon  sallied  to  per- 
form the  task  herself,  while  her  helpmate,  more  jealous 
of  insurrection  within  doors,  than  of  storm  from  without, 
went  from'ceU  to  cell  to  see  "that  the  inhabitants  of  each 
were  cai-efully  secured. 

These  latter  sounds,  with  which  we  have  made  the 
reader  acquainted,  had  their  origin  in  the  front  of  the 
liouse,  and  were  consequently  imperfectly  heard  by 
Bertram,  whose  apartment,  as  we  have  already  noticed, 
looked  from  the  back  part  of  the  building  upon 
the  sea.     He  heai'd,  however,  a  stir  and  tumult  in  the 


GUY    MANNERING.  219 

lious(},  which  did  not  seem  to  accord  -with  the  stern 
seclusion  of  a  prison  at  the  hour  of  midnight,  and,  con- 
necting them  with  the  arrival  of  an  armed  boat  at  that 
dead  hour,  could  not  but  suppose  that  something  extra- 
ordinary was  about  to  take  place.  In  this  behef  he  shook 
Dinmont  by  the  shoulder — "  Eh  ! — Ay  ! — Oh  ! — Ailie, 
woman,  it's  no  time  to  get  up  yet,"  groaned  the  sleeping 
man  of  the  mountains.  More  roughly  shaken,  however, 
he  gathered  himself  up,  shook  his  ears,  and  asked,  "  In 
the  name  of  Providence,  what's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  That  I  can't  tell  you,"  replied  Bertram ;  "  but  either 
the  place  is  on  fire,  or  some  extraordinary  thing  is  about 
to  happen.  Are  you  not  sensible  of  a  smell  of  fire  ?  Do 
you  not  hear  w^hat  a  noise  there  is  of  clashing  doors 
within  the  house,  and  of  hoarse  voices,  murmurs,  and 
distant  shouts  on  the  outside  ?  Upon  my  word,  I  believe 
something  very  extraordinary  has  taken  place. — Get  up, 
for  the  love  of  Heaven,  and  let  us  be  on  our  guard." 

Dinmont  rose  at  the  idea  of  danger,  as  intrepid  and 
undismayed  as  any  of  his  ancestors  when  the  beacon-light 
was  kindled.  "  Od,  Captain,  this  is  a  queer  place ! — ■ 
they  winna  let  ye  out  in  the  day,  and  they  winna  let  ye 
sleep  in  the  night.  Deil,  but  it  wad  break  my  heart  in  a 
fortnight.  But,  Lordsake,  what  a  racket  they're  making 
now! — Od,  I  wish  we  had  some  light. — Wasp — Wasp, 
whisht,  hinny — whisht,  my  bonnie  man,  and  let's  hear 
what  they're  doing. — Deil's  in  ye,  will  ye  wdiisht  ?  " 

They  sought  in  vain  among  the  embers  the  means  of 
lighting  their  candle,  and  the  noise  without  still  continued. 
Dinmont  in  his  turn  had  recourse  to  the  window — "  Lord- 
sake,  Captain  !  come  here.  Od,  they  hae  broken  the 
Custom-house  ! " 

Bertram  hastened  to  the  window,  and  plainly  saw  a 


220  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

miscellaneous  crowd  of  smugglers,  and  blackguards  of 
different  descriptions,  some  carrying  lighted  torches, 
others  bearing  packages  and  barrels  down  the  lane  to  the 
boat  that  was  lying  at  the  quay,  to  which  two  or  three 
other  fisher-boats  were  now  brought  round.  The}  A^ere 
loading  each  of  these  m  their  turn,  and  one  or  two  had 
ab'eady  put  off  to  seaward.  "  This  speaks  for  itself," 
said  Bertram ;  "  but  I  fear  something  worse  has  hap- 
pened. Do  you  perceive  a  strong  smell  of  smoke,  or  is 
it  my  fancy  ?  " 

"  Fancy  ?  "  answered  Dinmont — "  there's  a  reek  like  a 
killogie.  Od,  if  they  burn  the  Custom-house,  it  will  catch 
here,  and  we'll  lunt  like  a  tai'-barrel  a'  thegither. — Eh  ! 
it  wad  be  fearsome  to  be  burnt  alive  for  naething,  like  as 
if  ane  had  been  a  warlock  ! — Mac-Guffog,  hear  ye  !  " — ■ 
roaring  at  the  top  of  liis  voice ; — "  an  ye  wad  ever  hae 
a  haill  bane  in  your  skin,  let's  out,  man  !  let's  out !  " 

The  fire  began  now  to  rise  high,  and  thick  clouds  of 
smoke  rolled  past  the  window  at  wliich  Bertram  and  Din- 
mont were  stationed.  Sometimes,  as  the  wind  pleased, 
the  dim  shroud  of  vapour  hid  everything  from  their 
sight ;  sometimes,  a  red  glare  illuminated  both  land  and 
sea,  and  shone  full  on  the  stern  and  fierce  figures,  who, 
wild  with  ferocious  activity,  were  engaged  in  loading  the 
boats.  The  fire  was  at  length  triumphant,  and  spouted 
in  jets  of  flame  out  at  each  window  of  the  burning  build- 
ing while  huge  flakes  of  flaming  materials  came  driving 
on  the  wind  against  the  adjoining  prison,  and  rolling  a 
dark  canopy  of  smoke  over  all  the  neighbourliood.  The 
shouts  of  a  furious  mob  resounded  far  and  wide ;  for  the 
smugglers,  in  their  triumph,  were  joined  by  all  the  rabble 
of  the  Httle  town  and  neighbourhood,  now  aroused,  and 
in  complete  agitation,  notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the 


GUT    MANNERING.  221 

lioiir ; — some  from  interest  in  the  free  trade,  and  most 
from  the  geneial  love  of  mischief  and  tumult,  natural  to 
a  vulgar  populace. 

Bertram  began  to  be  seriously  anxious  for  their  fate. 
There  was  no  stir  in  the  house  ;  it  seemed  as  if  the  jailor 
aad  deserted  his  charge,  and  left  the  prison  with  its 
viretched  inhabitants  to  the  mercy  of  the  conflagration 
\hich  was  spreading  towards  them.  In  the  meantime  a 
>aew  and  fierce  attack  was  heard  upon  the  outer  gate  of 
the  Correction -ho  use,  which,  battered  with  sledge-hammers 
and  crown,  was  soon  forced.  The  keeper,  as  great  a 
cow^ii'd  as  a  bully,  with  his  more  ferocious  wife,  had  fled  ; 
theii  servants  readily  surrendered  the  keys.  The  liber- 
ated ^i.risoners,  celebrating  their  deliverance  with  the 
wilde  i  yells  of  joy,  mingled  among  the  mob  which  had 
given  ihem  freedom. 

In  ihe  midst  of  the  confusion  that  ensued,  three  or 
four  o; '  the  principal  smugglers  hurried  to  the  apartment 
of  Bertram  with  lighted  torches,  and  armed  with  cutlasses 
and  pistols. — "  Der  deyvil,"  said  the  leader,  "  here's  our 
mark  ! "  and  two  of  them  seized  on  Bertram ;  but  one 
whispered  in  his  ear,  "  Make  no  resistance  till  you  are  in 
the  street."  The  same  individual  found  an  instant  to  say 
to  Dinmont — "  Follow  your  friend,  and  help  when  you 
see  the  time  come." 

In  the  hurry  of  the  moment,  Dinmont  obeyed  and  fol- 
lowed close.  The  two  smugglers  dragged  Bertram  along 
Ihe  passage,  down  stairs,  through  the  court-yard,  now 
illuminated  by  the  glare  of  fire,  and  into  the  narrow  street 
to  which  the  gate  opened,  where,  in  the  confusion,  the 
gang  were  necessarily  in  some  degree  separated  froiri 
each  other.  A  rapid  noise,  as  of  a  body  of  horse  ad- 
rancing,  seemed  to  add  to  the  disturbance.     "  Hagel  and 


222  "  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

welter  !  what  is  that  ?  "  said  the  leader ;  "  keep  together, 
kinder — look  to  the  prisoner."  But  in  spite  of  his  charge, 
the  two  who  held  Bertram  were  the  last  of  the  party. 

The  sounds  and  signs  of  violence  were  heard  in  front. 
The  press  became  furiously  agitated,  while  some  endeav- 
oured to  defend  themselves,  others  to  escape  ;  shots  were 
fired,  and  the  gUttering  broadswords  of  the  dragoons 
began  to  appear  flashing  above  the  heads  of  the  rioters. 
"  Now,"  said  the  warning  whisper  of  the  man  who  held 
Bertram's  left  arm,  the  same  who  had  spoken  before, 
"  shake  off  that  fellow,  and  follow  me." 

Bertram,  exerting  his  strength  suddenly  and  effectually, 
easily  burst  from  the  grasp  of  the  man  who  held  his 
collar  on  the  right  side.  The  fellow  attempted  to  draw  a 
pistol,  but  was  prostrated  by  a  blow  of  Dinmont's  fist, 
which  an  ox  could  hardly  have  received  without  the  same 
humiliation.  "  Follow  me  quick,"  said  the  friendly  par- 
tisan, and  dived  through  a  very  narrow  and  dirty  lane 
which  led  from  the  main  street. 

No  pursuit  took  place.  The  attention  of  the  smugglers 
had  been  otherwise  and  very  disagreeably  engaged  by 
the  sudden  appearance  of  Mac-Morlan  and  the  party  of 
horse.  The  loud  manly  voice  of  the  provincial  magis- 
trate was  heard  proclaiming  the  riot  act,  and  charging 
"  all  those  unlawfully  assembled  to  disperse  .  at  their  own 
proper  peril."  This  interruption  would  indeed  have  hap- 
pened in  time  suificient  to  have  prevented  the  attempt, 
had  not  the  magistrate  received  upon  the  road  some  false 
information,  which  led  him  to  think  that  the  smugglers 
were  to  land  at  the  Bay  of  Ellangowan.  Nearly  two 
hours  were  lost  in  consequence  of  this  false  intelligence, 
which  it  may  be  no  lack  of  charity  to  suppose  that  Glos- 
sin,  so  deeply  interested  in  the  issue  of  that  night's  daiing 


GUT    MANNERING.  222 

attempt,  had  contrived  to  throw  in  Mac-Morlan's  way, 
availing  himself  of  the  knowledge  that  the  soldiers  had 
left  Hazlewood-House,  which  would  soon  reach  an  ear  so 
anxious  as  his. 

In  the  meantime,  Bertram  followed  his  guide,  and  was 
in  his  turn  followed  by  Dinmont.  The  shouts  of  the 
mob,  the  trampHng  of  the  horses,  the  dropping  pistol- 
shots,  sunk  more  and  more  faintly  upon  their  ears  ;  when 
at  the  end  of  the  dark  lane  they  found  a  post-chaise  with 
four  horses.  "Are  you  here,  in  God's  name  ?  "  said  the 
guide  to  the  postilion  who  drove  the  leaders. 

"  Ay,  troth  am  I,"  answered  Jock  Jabos,  "  and  I  wish 
I  were  ony  gate  else." 

"  Open  the  carriage,  then — You,  gentlemen,  get  into 
it ; — ^in  a  short  time  you'll  be  in  a  place  of  safety — and  " 
(to  Bertram)  "  remember  your  promise  to  the  gipsy 
wife ! " 

Bertram,  resolving  to  be  passive  in  the  hands  of  a 
person  who  had  just  rendered  him  such  a  distinguished 
piece  of  service,  got  into  the  chaise  as  directed.  Din- 
mont followed ;  Wasp,  who  had  kept  close  by  them, 
sprung  in  at  the  same  time,  and  the  carriage  drove  off 
very  fast.  "  Have  a  care  o'  me,"  said  Dinmont,  "  but 
this  is  the  queerest  thing  yet ! — Od,  I  trust  they'll  no 
coup  us — and  then  what's  to  come  o'  Dumple  !  I  would 
rather  be  on  his  back  than  in  the  Deuke's  coach,  God 
bless  him." 

Bertram  observed,  that  they  could  not  go  at  that  rapid 
rate  to  any  very  great  distance  without  changing  horses, 
and  that  they  might  insist  upon  remaining  till  day-light 
at  the  first  inn  they  stopped  at,  or  at  least  upon  being 
made  acquainted  with  the  purpose  and  termination  of 
their  journey,  and  Mr.  Dinmont  might  there  give  direc- 


224  -WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

tions  about  his  faithful  horse,  which  would  probably  be 
safe  at  the  stables  where  he  had  left  him. — "  Aweel, 
aweel,  e'en  sae  be  it  for  Dandle. — Od,  if  we  were  ance 
out  o'  this  trindling  kist  o'  a  thing,  I  am  thinking  they 
wad  find  it  hard  wark  to  gar  us  gang  ony  gate  but  where 
we  liked  oursells." 

While  he  thus  spoke,  the  carriage  making  a  sudden 
turn,  showed  them,  thi'ough  the  left  window,  the  village 
at  some  distance,  still  widely  beaconed  by  the  fire,  which, 
having  reached  a  storehouse  wherein  spirits  were  depos- 
ited, now  rose  high  into  the  air,  a  wavering  column  of 
brilliant  light.  They  had  not  long  time  to  admire  this 
spectacle,  for  another  turn  of  the  road  carried  them  into 
a  close  lane  between  plantations,  through  which  the  chaise 
proceeded  in  nearly  total  darkness,  but  with  unabated 
speed. 


GUY   MANNERING.  225 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

The  night  drave  on  wi'  sangs  and  clatter, 
And  aye  the  ale  was  growing  better. 

Tam  o'  Shanteh. 

We  must  now  return  to  Woodbourne,  which,  it  maj 
be  remembered,  we  left  just  after  the  Colonel  had  given 
some  directions  to  his  confidential  servant.  When  he 
returned,  his  absence  of  mind,  and  an  unusual  expression 
of  thought  and  anxiety  upon  his  features,  struck  the 
ladies  whom  he  joined  in  the  drawing-room.  Mannering 
was  not,  however,  a  man  to  be  questioned,  even  by  those 
whom  he  most  loved,  upon  the  cause  of  the  mental 
agitation  which  these^  signs  expressed.  The  hour  of  tea 
arrived,  and  the  party  were  partaking  of  that  refreshment 
in  silence,  when  a  carriage  drove  up  to  the  door,  and  the 
bell  announced  the  arrival  of  a  visitor.  "  Surely,"  said 
Mannering,  "  it  is  too  soon  by  some  hours." — " 

There  was  a  short  pause,  when  Barnes,  opening  the 
door  of  the  saloon,  announced  Mr.  Pleydell.  In  marched 
the  lawyer,  whose  well-brushed  black  coat,  and  well- 
powdered  wig,  together  with  his  point  ruffles,  brown  silk 
stockings,  highly  varnished  shoes,  and  gold  buckles,  ex- 
hibited the  pains  which  the  old  gentleman  had  taken  to 
prepare  his  person  for  the  ladies'  society.  He  was  wel- 
comed by  Mannering  with  a  hearty  shake  by  the  hand— 
"  The  very  man  I  wished  to  see  at  this  moment !  " 

VOL.  IV.  15 


226  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  counsellor,  "  I  told  you  I  would  take 
the  first  opportunity ;  so  I  have  ventured  to  leave  the 
Court  for  a  week  in  session  time — no  common  sacrifice — 
but  I  had  a  notion  I  could  be  useful,  and  I  was  to  attend 
a  proof  here  about  the  same  time.  But  will  you  not 
introduce  me  to  the  young  ladies  ? — Ah !  there  is  one  [ 
should  have  known  at  once,  from  her  family  likeness  ! 
Miss  Lucy  Bertram,  my  love,  I  am  most  happy  to  soe 
you." — And  he  folded  her  in  his  arms,  and  gave  her  a 
hearty  kiss  on  each  side  of  the  face,  to  which  Lucy 
submitted  in  blushino^  resignation. 

"  On  n'arrete  pas  dans  un  si  heau  chemin^'  continued 
the  gay  old  gentleman,  and,  as  the  Colonel  presented  him 
to  Julia,  took  the  same  liberty  with  that  fair  lady's  cheek. 
Julia  laughed,  coloured,  and  disengaged  herself.  "  I  beg 
a  thousand  pardons,"  said  the  lawyer,  with  a  bow  which 
was  not  at  all  professionally  awkward ; — "  age  and  old 
fashions  give  privileges,  and  I  can  hardly  say  whether  I 
am  most  sorry  just  now  at  being  too  well  entitled  to  claim 
them  at  all,  or  happy  in  having  such  an  opportunity  to 
exercise  them  so  agreeably." 

"  Upon  my  word,  sir,"  said  Miss  Mannering,  laughing, 
"  if  you  make  such  flattering  apologies,  we  shall  begin  to 
doubt  whether  we  can  admit  you  to  shelter  yourself 
under  your  alleged  qualifications." 

"  I  can  assure  you,  Julia,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  you  are 
perfectly  right ;  my  friend  the  counsellor  is  a  dangerous 
person  ;  the  last  time  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him, 
he  was  closeted  with  a  fair  lady,  who  had  granted  him  a 
tete-d-tete  at  eight  in  the  morning." 

"  Ay,  but  Colonel,"  said  the  counsellor,  "  you  should 
add,  I  was  more  indebted  to  my  chocolate  than  my  charms 
for  so  distinguished  a  favour,  from  a  person  of  such  pro- 
priety of  demeanour  as  Mrs.  Rebecca." 


GUY   MANNERI^^G.  227 

"  And  tKat  should  remind  me,  IMr.  Pleydell,"  said  JuKa^ 
"  to  oflfer  you  tea — that  is,  supposing  you  have  dined." 

"Anything,  Miss  Mannering,  from  your  hands,"  an- 
swered tlie  gallant  jurisconsult ;  "  yes,  I  have  dined — 
that  13  to  say,  as  people  dine  at  a  Scotch  inn." 

"  And  that  is  indifferently  enough,"  said  the  Colonel, 
with  his  hand  upon  the  bell-handle  ; — "  give  me  leave  to 
order  something." 

"  Why,  to  say  truth,"  replied  Mr.  Pleydell, "  I  had  rather 
not ;  I  have  been  inquiring  into  that  matter,  for  you  must 
know  I  stopped  an  instant  below  to  pull  off  my  boot-hose, 
*  a  ^/orld  too  wide  for  my  shrunk  shanks,'  "  glancing  down 
with  some  complacency  upon  limbs  which  looked  very 
well  for  his  time  of  life,  "  and  I  had  some  conversation 
with  your  Barnes,  and  a  very  intelligent  person  whom  I 
presume  to  be  the  housekeeper  ;  and  it  was  settled  among 
us — tota  re  perspecta — ^I  beg  Miss  Mannering's  pardon 
for  my  Latin — that  the  old  lady  should  add  to  your  light 
family-supper  the  more  substantial  refreshment  of  a  brace 
of  wild-ducks.  I  told  her  (always  under  deep  submis- 
sion) my  poor  thoughts  about  the  sauce,  which  concurred 
exactly  with  her  own  ;  and,  if  you  please,  I  would  rather 
wait  till  they  are  ready  before  eating  anything  solid." 

"  And  we  will  anticipate  our  usual  hour  of  supper," 
said  the  Colonel. 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  said  Pleydell,  "  providing  I  do 
not  lose  the  ladies'  company  a  moment  the  sooner.  I  am 
of  counsel  with  my  old  friend  Burnet,*  I  love  the  coena, 

*  The  Burnet,  whose  taste  for  the  evening  meal  of  the  ancients  is 
quoted  by  Mr.  Pleydell,  was  the  celebrated  metaphysician  and  excel- 
lent man,  Lord  ]\Ionboddo,  whose  coence  will  not  be  soon  forgotten  by 
those  who  have  shared  his  classic  hospitality.  As  a  Scottish  Judge, 
he  took  the  designation  of  his  family  estate.  His  philosopny,  as  is 
well  known,  was  of  a  fancifi J  and  somewhat  fantastic  character ;  buft 


228  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

the  supper  of  tlie  ancients,  the  pleasant  meal  and  social 
glass  that  wash  out  of  one's  mind  the  cobwebs  that  busi- 
ness or  gloom  have  been  spinning  in  our  brains  all  day." 

The  vivacity  of  Mr.  Pleydell's  look  and  manner,  and 
the  quietness  with  which  he  made  himself  at  home  on  the 
subject  of  his  httle  epicurean  comforts,  amused  the  ladies, 
but  particularly  J^iiss  Mannering,  who  immediately  gave 
the  counsellor  a  great  deal  of  flattering  attention ;  and 
more  pretty  things  were  said  on  both  sides  during  the 
service  of  the  tea-table  than  we  have  leisure  to  repeat. 

As  soon  as  this  was  over,  Mannering  led  the  counsellor 
by  the  arm  into  a  small  study  which  opened  from  the 
saloon,  and  where,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  family, 
there  were  always  lights  and  a  good  fii'e  in  the  evening. 

"  I  see,"  said  Mr.  Pleydell,  "  you  have  got  something 
to  tell  me  about  the  EUangowan  business — Is  it  terrestrial 
or  celestial  ?  What  says  my  military  Albumazar  ?  Have 
you  calculated  the  course  of  futurity  ?  have  you  consulted 
your  Ephemerides,  your  Almochoden,  your  Almuten  ?  " 
.  "  No,  truly,  counsellor,"  replied  Mannering — "  you  are 
the  only  Ptolemy  I  intend  to  resort  to  upon  the  present 
occasion.     A  second  Prospero,  I  have  broken  my  staff, 

his  learning  was  deep,  and  he  was  possessed  of  a  singular  power  of 
eloquence,  which  reminded  the  hearer  of  the  os  roiundum  of  the  Grove 
or  Academe.  Enthusiastically  partial  to  classic  habits,  his  enter- 
tainments were  always  given  in  the  evening,  when  there  was  a  circu- 
lation of  exceUeut  Bourdeaux,  in  flasks  garlanded  with  roses,  which 
were  also  strewed  on  the  table  after  the  manner  of  Horace.  The  best 
society,  whether  in  respect  of  rank  or  literary  distinction,  was  always 
to  be  found  in  St.  John's  Street,  Canongate.  The  conversation  of  the 
ex^.ellent  old  man,  his  high,  gentleman-like,  and  chivalrous  sph'it,  the 
learaing  and  wit  with  which  he  defended  his  fanciful  paradoxes,  and 
the  kind  and  liberal  spirit  of  his  hospitality,  must  render  these  nodes 
coenceque  dear  to  all  who,  like  the  author,  (though  then  young,)  had  the 
honour  of  sitting  at  his  board. 


GUY   MANNEKING.  229 

and  drowned  my  book  far  beyond  plummet  depth.  But 
I  have  great  news  notwithstanding.  Meg  Merrilies,  oui 
Egyptian  sibyl,  has  appeared  to  the  Dominie  this  very 
day,  and,  as  I  conjecture,  has  frightened  the  honest  man 
not  a  little." 

"  Indeed  ! " 

"  Ay,  and  she  has  done  me  the  honour  to  open  a  cor- 
respondence with  me,  supposing  me  to  be  as  deep  in 
astrological  mysteries  as  when  we  first  met.  Here  is  her 
scroll,  delivered  to  me  by  the  Dominie." 

Pleydell  put  on  his  spectacles. — "A  vile  greasy  scrawl, 
indeed — ^and  the  letters  are  uncial  or  semi-uncial,  as 
somebody  calls  your  large  text  hand,  and  in  size  and 
perpendicularity  resemble  the  ribs  of  a  roasted  pig — I 
can  hardly  make  it  out." 

"  Read  aloud,"  said  Mannering. 

"  I  will  try,"  answered  the  lawyer,  "  '  You  are  a  good 
seeker,  but  a  hadjinder  ;  you  set  yourself  to  prop  a  falling 
.house,  hut  had  a  gey  guess  it  would  rise  again.  Lend  your 
hand  to  the  warh  that's  near,  as  you  lent  your  ee  to  the 
weird  that  was  far.  Have  a  carriage  this  night  hy  ten 
o'clock,  at  the  end  of  the  Crooked  Dyhes  at  Portanferry, 
and  let  it  bring  the  folk  to  Woodbourne  that  shall  ask  them, 
if  they  be  there  in  God's  name.'  Stay,  here  follows 
some  poetry — 

'  Darh  shall  he  light. 
And  wrong  done  to  right. 
When  Bertram'' s  right  and  Bertrams  might 
Shall  meet  on  Ellangowan's  height.'' 

A  most  mystic  epistle  truly,  and  closes  in  a  vein  of  poetry 
worthy  of  the  Cumagan  sibyl. — And  what  have  you 
done?" 

"Why,"  said  Mannermg,  rather  reluctantly,   "I  was 


230  AVAVERLEY    XOVELS. 

loth  to  risk  anj  opportunity  of  throwing  light  on  this 
business.  The  womim  is  perhaps  crazed,  •  and  these 
effusions  may  arise  only  from  visions  of  her  imagination ; 
— but  you  were  of  opinion  that  she  knew  more  of  that 
strange  story  than  she  ever  told." 

"  And  so,"  said  Pleydell,  "  you  sent  a  carriage  to  the 
place  named  ?  " 

"  You  w^ill  laugh  at  me  if  I  own  I  did,"  rephed  the. 
Colonel. 

"  Who,  I  ?  "  replied  the  advocate — "  No,  truly ;  I  thmk 
it  was  the  wisest  thing  you  could  do." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Mannering,  well  pleased  to  have 
escaped  the  ridicule  he  apprehended ;  "  you  know^  the 
worst  is  paying  the  chaise-hire ; — I  sent  a  post-chaise  and 
four  from  Kippletringan,  with  instructions  corresponding 
to  the  letter.  The  horses  will  have  a  long  and  cold 
station  on  the  out-posts  to-night  if  our  intelligence  be 
false." 

"Ay,  but  I  think  it  will  prove  otherwise,"  said  the 
law^yer.  "  This  ^voman  has  played  a  part  till  she  believes 
it ;  or,  if  she  be  a  thorough-paced  impostor,  without  a 
single  grain  of  self-delusion  to  qualify  her  knavery,  still 
she  may  think  herself  bound  to  act  in  character.  This  I 
know,  that  I  could  get  nothing  out  of  her  by  the  common 
modes  of  interrogation,  and  the  wisest  thing  we  can  do  is 
to  give  her  an  opportunity  of  making  the  discovery  her 
owm  way.  And  now  have  you  more  to  say,  or  shall  we 
go  to  the  ladies  ?  " 

"  Why,  my  mind  is  uncommonly  agitated,"  answered 
the  Colonel,  "  and — but  I  really  have  no  more  to  say — 
only  I  shall  count  the  minutes  till  the  carriage  returns ; 
but  you  cannot  be  expected  to  be  so  anxious." 

"  Why,  no — use  is  all  in  all,"  said  the  more  experienced 


GUY    MANNERING.  231 

lawj  er.  "  I  am  much  interested,  certainly,  but  I  think  I 
shall  be  able  to  survive  the  interval,  if  the  ladies  will 
afford  us  some  music." 

"And  with  the  assistance  of  the  wild-ducks  by  and 
by  ?  "  suggested  Mannering. 

"  True,  Colonel ;  a  lawyer's  anxiety  about  the  fate  of 
the  most  interesting  cause  has  seldom  spoiled  either  his 
sleep  or  digestion.*  And  jet  I  shall  be  very  eager  to 
hear  the  rattle  of  these  wheels  on  their  return,  notwith- 
standing." 

So  saying,  he  rose  and  led  the  way  into  the  next  room, 
where  Miss  Mannering,  at  his  request,  took  her  seat  at 
the  harpsichord.'  Lucy  Bertram,  who  sung  her  native 
melodies  very  sweetly,  was  accompanied  by  her  friend 
upon  the  instrument,  and  Julia  afterwards  performed 
some  of  Scarlatti's  sonatas  with  great  brilliancy.  The 
old  lawyer,  scraping  a  little  upon  the  violoncello,  and 
being  a  member  of  the  gentlemen's  concert  in  Edinburgh, 
was  so  greatly  delighted  with  this  mode  of  spending  the 
evening,  that  I  doubt  if  he  once  thought  of  the  wild- 
ducks  until  Barnes  informed  the  company  that  supper 
was  ready. 

"Tell  Mrs.  Allan  to  have  something  in  readiness," 
said  the  Colonel — "I  expect — that  is,  I  hope — perhaps 

*  It  is  probably  true,  as  observed  by  Counsellor  Pleydell,  that  a 
lawyer's  anxiety  about  Ms  case,  supposing  him  to  have  been  some 
time  in  practice  will  seldom  disturb  his  rest  or  digestion.  Clients  will, 
however,  sometimes  fondly  entertain  a  different  opinion.  I  was  told 
by  an  excellent  judge,  now  no  more,  of  a  country  gentleman,  who, 
addressing  his  leading  counsel,  my  informer,  then  an  advocate  in  great 
practice,  on  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  the  case  was  to  be 
plea  led,  said,  with  singular  bonhomie,  "  Weel,  my  Lord,"  'the  counsel 
was  Lord  Advocate,)  "the  awful  day  is  come  at  last.  1  have  nae 
been  able  to  sleep  a  wink  for  thinking  of  it — nor,  I  dare  say,  your 
i-ordship  either." 


232  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Bome  company  may  be  here  to-night ;  and  let  the  men  sit 
up,  and  do  not  lock  the  upper  gate  on  the  lawn  until  1 
desire  you." 

"  Lord,  sir,"  said  Julia,  "  whom  can  you  possibly  expect 
to-night  ?  " 

"  Why,  some  persons,  strangers  to  me,  talked  of  calling 
in  the  evening  on  business,"  answered  her  father,  not 
without  embarrassment,  for  he  would  little  have  brooked 
a  disappointment  which  might  have  thi'own  ridicule  on 
his  judgment ;  "  it  is  quite  uncertain." 

"Well,  we  shall  not  pardon  them  for  disturbing  our 
party,"  said  Julia,  "  unless  they  bring  as  much  good 
humour,  and  as  susceptible  hearts,  as  my  friend  and 
admu'er — for  so  he  has  dubbed  himself — Mr.  Pleydell." 

"  Ah,  IMiss  Julia,"  said  Pleydell,  offering  his  arm  with 
an  air  of  gallantry  to  conduct  her  into  the  eating-room, 
"  the  time  has  been — when  I  returned  from  Utrecht  in 
the  year  1738  "— 

"  Pray,  don't  talk  of  it,"  answered  the  young  lady — 
"we  like  you  much  better  as  you  are.  Utrecht,  in 
Heaven's  name  ! — I  dare  say  you  have  spent  all  the 
intervening  years  in  getting  rid  so  completely  of  the 
effects  of  your  Dutch  education." 

"  0  forgive  me.  Miss  Mannering,"  said  the  lawyer ; 
"  the  Dutch  are  a  much  more  accomplished  people  in 
point  of  gallantry  than  their  volatile  neighbours  are 
willing  to  admit.  They  are  constant  as  clock-work  in 
their  attentions." 

"  I  should  tire  of  that,"  said  Julia. 

"  Impertui'bable  in  their  good  temper,"  continued 
rieydeU. 

"  Worse  and  worse,"  said  the  young  lady. 

"  And  then,"  said  the  old  beau  gargon,  "  although  for 


GUY   MANNEKING.  233 

six  times  tkree  hundred  and  sixtj-five  days  your  swain 
has  placed  the  capuchin  round  your  neck,  and  the  stove 
under  your  feet,  and  driven  your  little  sledge  upon  the 
ice  in  the  winter,  and  your  cabriole  tlirough  the  dust  in 
summer,  you  may  dismiss  him  at  once,  without  reason  or 
apology,  upon  the  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninetieth 
day,  which,  according  to  my  hasty  calculation,  and  without 
reckoning  leap-years,  will  complete  the  cycle  of  the  sup- 
posed adoration,  and  that  without  your  amiable  feelings 
having  the  slightest  occasion  to  be  alarmed  for  the  con- 
sequences to  those  of  Mynheer." 

"  Well,"  replied  Julia,  "  that  last  is  truly  a  Dutch 
recommendation,  Mr.  Pleydell— crystal  and  hearts  would 
lose  all  their  merit  in  the  world,  if  it  were  not  for  their 
fragility." 

"  Why,  upon  that  point  of  the  argument.  Miss  Man- 
nering,  it  is  as  difficult  to  find  a  heart  that  will  break,  as 
a  glass  that  will  not ;  and  for  that  reason  I  would  press 
the  value  of  mine  own — were  it  not  that  I  see  Mr. 
Sampson's  eyes  have  been  closed,  and  his  hands  clasped 
for  some  time,  attending  the  end  of  our  conference  to 
begin  the  grace — And,  to  say  the  truth,  the  appearance 
of  the  wild-ducks  is  very  appetizing."  So  saying,  the 
worthy  counsellor  sat  himself  to  table,  and  laid  aside  his 
gallantry  for  awhile,  to  do  honour  to  the  good  things 
placed  before  liim.  Nothing  further  is  recorded  of  him 
for  some  time,  excepting  an  observation  that  the  ducks 
were  roasted  to  a  single  turn,  and  that  Mrs.  Allan's  sauce, 
of  claret,  lemon,  and  cayenne,  was  beyond  praise. 

'^  I  see,"  said  INiiss  Mannering,  "  I  have  a  formidable 
rival  in  Mr.  Pleydell's  favour,  even  on  the  very  first 
night  of  his  avowed  admiration." 

"  Pardon  me,  my  fair  lady,"  answered  the  counsellor,— 


234  ^^^AVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  your  avowed  rigour  alone  has  induced  me  to  commit 
the  solecism  of  eating  a  good  supper  in  your  presence ; 
how  shall  I  support  your  frowns  without  reinforcing  my 
strength  ?  Upon  the  same  principle,  and  no  other,  I  will 
ask  permission  to  drink  wine  with  you." 

"  This  is  the  fashion  of  Utrecht  also,  I  suppose,  IMi*. 
Pleydell  ?  " 

"  Forgive  me,  madam,"  answered  the  counsellor ;  "  the 
French  themselves,  the  patterns  of  all  that  is  gallant, 
term  their  tavern-keepers  restaurateurs,  alluding,  doubt- 
less, to  the  relief  they  afford  to  the  disconsolate  lover, 
when  bowed  down  to  the  earth  by  his  mistress's  severity. 
My  own  case  requires  so  much  relief,  that  I  must  trouble 
you  for  that  other  wing,  Mr.  Sampson,  without  prejudice 
to  my  afterwards  applying  to  Miss  Bertram  for  a  tart ; — 
be  pleased  to  tear  the  wing,  sir,  instead  of  cutting  it  off — 
]Mi\  Barnes  wiU  assist  you,  ]VIi\  Sampson, — thank  you, 
sir, — and,  Mr.  Barnes,  a  glass  of  ale,  if  you  please." 

While  the  old  gentleman,  pleased  with  ]\Iiss  Manner- 
ing's  liveliness  and  attention,  rattled  away  for  her  amuse- 
ment and  his  own,  the  impatience  of  Colonel  Mannering 
began  to  exceed  all  bounds.  He  declined  sitting  down  at 
table,  under  pretence  that  he  never  ate  supper;  and 
traversed  the  paiiour,  in  which  they  were,  with  hasty  and 
impatient  steps,  now  throwing  up  the  window  to  gaze 
upon  the  dark  lawn,  now  listening  for  the  remote  sound 
of  the  carriage  advancing  up  the  avenue.  At  length,  in 
a  feeling  of  uncontrollable  impatience,  he  left  the  room, 
took  his  hat  and  cloak,  and  pursued  his  walk  up  the 
avenue,  as  if  his  so  doing  would  hasten  the  approach  of 
those  whom  he  desired  to  see. 

"  I  really  wish,"  said  Miss  Bertram,  "  Colonel  Man- 
nering  would   not   venture   out    after    night-fall.     You 


GUY   MANNERING.  235 

must  have  heard,  Mr.  Pleydell,  what  a  cruel  fright  we 
had  ?  " 

"  Oh,  with  the  smugglers  ? "  rephed  the  advocate. 
*•'  They  are  old  friends  of  mine ; — I  was  the  means  of 
bringing  some  of  them  to  justice  a  long  time  since,  when 
sheriff  of  this  county." 

"  And  then  the  alarm  we  had  immediately  afterwards," 
added  Miss  Bertram,  "  from  the  vengeance  of  one  of 
these  wretches." 

"  When  young  Hazlewood  was  hurt — I  heard  of  that 
too." 

"  Imagine,  my  dear  Mr.  Pleydell,"  continued  Lucy, 
"  how  much  Miss  Mannering  and  I  were  alarmed,  Avhen 
a  ruffian,  equally  dreadful  for  his  great  strength,  and  the 
sternness  of  his  features,  rushed  out  upon  us  !  " 

"  You  must  know,  Mr.  Pleydell,"  said  Julia,  unable  to 
suppress  her  resentment  at  this  undesigned  aspersion  of 
her  admirer,  "  that  young  Hazlewood  is  so  handsome  in 
the  eyes  of  the  young  ladies  of  this  country,  that  they 
think  every  person  shocking  who  comes  near  him." 

"  Oho  !  "  thought  Pleydell,  who  was  by  profession  an 
observer  of  tones  and  gestures,  "  there's  something  wrong 
here  between  my  young  friends. Well,  Miss  Manner- 
ing, I  have  not  seen  young  Hazlewood  since  he  was  a 
boy,  so  the  ladies  may  be  perfectly  right ;  but  I  can  as- 
sure you,  in  spite  of  your  scorn,  that  if  you  want  to 
see  handsome  men  you  must  go  to  Holland ;  the  prettiest 
fellow  I  ever  saw  was  a  Dutchman,  in  spite  of  his  being 
called  Vanbost,  or  Vanbuster,  or  some  such  barbarous 
name.  He  will  not  be  quite  so  handsome  now,  to  be 
sure." 

It  was  now  Julia's  turn  to  look  a  little  out  of  counte- 
nance at  the  chance  hit  of  her  learned  admirer,  but  that 


236  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

instant  the  Colonel  entered  the  room.  "I  can  hear 
nothing  of  them  yet,"  he  said  ;  "  still,  however,  we  will 
not  separate. — Where  is  Dominie  Sampson  ?  " 

"  Here,  honoured  sir." 

"  "What  is  that  book  you  hold  in  your  hand,  Mr.  Samp- 
son?" 

'•  It's  even  the  learned  De  Lyra,  sir — I  would  crave 
his  honour  Mr.  Pleydell's  judgment,  always  with  his  best 
leisure,  to  expound  a  disputed  passage." 

"  I  am  not  in  the  vein,  Mr.  Sampson,"  answered  Pley- 
dell ;  here's  metal  more  attractive — I  do  not  despair  to 
engage  these  two  young  ladies  in  a  glee  or  a  catch, 
wherein  I,  even  I  myself,  will  adventure  myself  for  the 
bass  part.  Hang  De  Lyra,  man ;  keep  him  for  a  fitter 
season." 

The  disappointed  Dominie  shut  his  ponderous  tome, 
much  marvelling  in  his  mind  how  a  person  possessed  of 
the  lawyer's  erudition,  could  give  his  mind  to  these  friv- 
olous toys.  But  the  counsellor,  indifferent  to  the  high 
character  for  learning  which  he  was  trifling  away,  filled 
himself  a  large  glass  of  Burgundy,  and  after  preluding  a 
little  with  a  voice  somewhat  the  worse  for  the  wear,  gave 
the  ladies  a  courageous  invitation  to  join  in  "  We  be  three 
poor  Mariners,"  and  accomplished  his  ovm.  part  therein 
with  great  eclat. 

"  Are  you  not  withering  your  roses  with  sitting  up  so 
late,  my  young  ladies  ?  "  said  the  Colonel. 

"  Not  a  bit,  sir,"  answered  Julia ;  "  your  friend  Mr, 
Pleydell,  threatens  to  become  a  pupil  of  IVIr.  Sampson's 
to-morrow,  so  we  must  make  the  most  of  our  conquest 
to-night.'' 

This  led  to  another  musical  trial  of  skill,  and  that  to  ■ 
lively  conversation.     At  length,  when  the  solitary  sound 


OUT  MANNERING. 


237 


of  one  o'clock  had  long  since  resounded  on  llie  ebon  ear 
of  night,  and  the  next  signal  of  the  advance  of  time  was 
close  approaching,  Mannering,  whose  impatience  had  long 
subsided  into  disappointment  and  despair,  looked  at  his 
watch,  and  said,  "  We  must  now  give  them  up  " — when 
at  that  instant — But  what  then  befeU  will  require  a 
separate  chapter. 


238  WAVEELEY  NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  L. 

Justice.    This  does  indeed  confirm  each  circamstanoe 

The  gipsy  told 

No  orphan,  m  t  without  a  friend  art  thou 

/am  thy  father,  Aere'5  thy  mother,  there 

Thy  uncle This  thy  first  cousin,  and  these 

Are  all  thy  near  relations ! 

The  Ceitio. 

As  Mannering  replaced  his  watch,  he  heard  a  distant 
and  hollow  sound — "  It  is  a  carriage  for  certain — no,  it 
is  but  the  sound  of  the  wind  among  the  leafless  trees. 
Do  come  to  the  window,  Mr.  Pleydell."  The  counsellor, 
who,  with  his  large  silk  handkerchief  in  his  hand,  was 
expatiating  away  to  Juha  upon  some  subject  which  he 
thought  was  interesting,  obeyed  the  summons — first,  how- 
ever, wrapping  the  handkerchief  round  his  neck  by  way 
of  precaution  against  the  cold  air.  The  sound  of  wheels 
became  now  very  perceptible,  and  Pleydell,  as  if  he  had 
reserved  all  his  curiosity  till  that  moment,  ran  out  to  the 
hall.  The  Colonel  rung  for  Barnes  to  desire  that  the 
persons  who  came  in  the  carriage  might  be  shown  into  a 
separate  room,  being  altogether  uncertain  whom  it  might 
contain.  It  stopped,  however,  at  the  door,  before  his  pur- 
pose could  be  fully  explained.  A  moment  after  Mr. 
Pleydell  called  out,  "  Here's  our  Liddesdale  friend,  I 
protest,  with  a  strapping  young  fellow  of  the  same  cali- 
bre."    His  voice  arrested  Dinmont,  who  recognised  him 


GUY   MANNEKING.  239 

with  equal  surprise  and  pleasure.  "Od,  if  it's  jour 
honour,  we'll  a'  be  as  right  and  tight  as  thack  and  rape 
can  make  us."  * 

But  while  the  farmer  stopped  to  make  his  bow,  Ber- 
tram, dizzied  with  the  sudden  glare  of  light,  and  be- 
wildej-ed  with  the  circumstances  of  his  situation,  almost 
unconsciously  entered  the  open  door  of  the  parlour,  and 
confronted  the  Colonel,  who  was  just  advancing  towards 
it.  The  strong  light  of  the  apartment  left  no  doubt  of 
his  identity,  and  he  himself  was  as  much  confounded  with 
the  appearance  of  those  to  whom  he  so  unexpectedly 
presented  himself,  as  they  were  by  the  sight  of  so  utterly 
unlooked-for  an  object.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
each  individual  present  had  their  own  peculiar  reasons  for 
looking  with  terror  upon  what  seemed  at  first  sight  a 
spectral  apparition.  Mannering  saw  before  him  the  man 
whom  he  supposed  he  had  killed  in  India  ;  Juha  beheld 
her  lover  in  a  most  pecuHar  and  hazardous  situation ; 
and  Lucy  Bertram  at  once  knew  the  person  who  had 
fired  upon  young  Hazlewood.  Bertram,  who  interpreted 
the  fixed  and  motionless  astonishment  of  the  Colonel 
into  displeasure  at  his  intrusion,  hastened  to  say  that  it 
was  involuntary,  since  he  had  been  hurried  hither  with- 
out even  knowing  whither  he  was  to  be  transported. 

"  Mr.  Brown,  I  believe  ?  "  said  Colonel  Mannering. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  young  man,  modestly,  but  with 
firmness,  "  the  same  you  knew  in  India ;  and  who  ven- 
tures to  hope,  that  what  you  did  then  know  of  him  is  not 
such  as  should  prevent  his  requesting  you  would  favour 
him  with  your  attestation  to  his  character,  as  a  gentle- 
man and  man  of  honour." 

*  When  a  farmer's  crop  is  got  safely  into  the  barn-yard,  it  is  said  to 
be  made  fast  with  thack  and  rape. — Anglice,  straw  and  rope. 


240  WAYEELET   NOVELS. 

"  Mr.  Brown — I  have  been  seldom — ^never — so  much 
surprised — certainly,  sir,  in  whatever  passed  between  us, 
you  have  a  right  to  command  my  favourable  testimony." 

At  this  critical  moment  entered  the  counsellor  and 
Dinmont.  The  former  beheld,  to  his  astonishment,  the 
Colonel  but  just  recovering  from  his  first  surprise,  Lucy 
Bertram  ready  to  faint  with  terror,  and  IVIiss  Mannering 
in  an  agony  of  doubt  and  apprehension,  which  she  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  disguise  or  suppress.  "  What  is  the 
meaning  of  all  this  ?  "  said  he ;  "  has  this  young  fellow 
brought  the  Gorgon's  head  in  his  hand  ? — let  me  look  at 
him. — By  Heaven !  "  he  muttered  to  himself,  "  the  very 
image  of  old  Ellangowan  ! — Yes,  the  same  manly  form 
and  handsome  features,  but  with  a  world  of  more  intel- 
ligence in  the  face — Yes ! — ^the  witch  has  kept  her  word.'* 
Then  instantly  passing  to  Lucy,  "  Look  at  that  man, 
]\Iiss  Bertram,  my  dear ;  have  you  never  seen  any  one 
Hke  him  ?  " 

Lucy  had  only  ventured  one  glance  at  this  object  of 
terror,  by  which,  however,  from  his  remarkable  height 
and  appearance,  she  at  once  recognised  the  supposed  as- 
sassin of  young  Hazlewood — a  conviction  which  excluded, 
of  course,  the  more  favourable  association  of  ideas  Avhich 
might  have  occurred  on  a  closer  view. — "  Don't  ask  me 
about  him,  sir,"  said  she,  turning  away  her  eyes  ;  "  send 
him  away,  for  heaven's  sake !  we  shall  all  be  mur- 
dered ! " 

"  Murdered  !  where's  the  poker  ? "  said  the  advocate 
in  some  alarm.  "  But  nonsense  ! — we  are  three  men  be- 
sides the  servants,  and  there  is  honest  Liddesdale,  worth 
half-a-dozen  to  boot — we  have  the  major  vis  upon  our 
side.  However,  here,  my  friend  Dandie — Davie — what 
do  they  call  you  ? — keep  between  that  fellow  and  us  for 
the  protection  of  the  ladies." 


GUY    MANNERING.  241 

"  Lof  d !  Mr.  Pleydell,"  said  the  astonished  farmer, 
**  that's  Captain  Brown  ;  do  ye  no  ken  the  Captain  ?  " 

"  Nay,  if  he's  a  friend  of  yours,  we  may  be  safe 
enough,"  answered  Pleydell ;  "  but  keep  near  him." 

All  this  passed  with  such  rapidity,  that  it  w^as  over  be- 
fore the  Dominie  had  recovered  himself  from  a  fit  of 
absence,  shut  the  book  which  he  had  been  studying  in  a 
corner,  and  advancing  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  strangers, 
exclaimed  at  once,  upon  beholding  Bertram,  "  If  the  grave 
can  give  up  the  dead,  tliat  is  my  dear  and  honoured 
master ! " 

"  We're  right  after  all,  by  Heaven  !  I  was  sure  I  was 
right,"  said  the  lawyer ; — "  he  is  the  very  image  of  his 
father. — Come,  Colonel,  what  do  you  think  of,  that  you 
do  not  bid  your  guest  welcome  ?  I  think — I  believe — I 
trust  we're  right — never  saw  such  a  likeness — But  pa- 
tience— Dominie,  say  not  a  word.- — Sit  down,  young  gen- 
tleman." 

"  I  beg  pardon,  sir ; — if  I  am,  as  I  understand,  in  Colo- 
nel Mannering's  house,  I  should  wish  first  to  know  if  my 
accidental  appearance  here  gives  offence,  or  if  I  am  wel- 
come ?  " 

Mannering  instantly  made  an  effort.  "  Welcome  ? — 
most  certainly,  especially  if  you  can  point  out  how  I  can 
serve  you.  I  believe  I  may  have  some  wrongs  to  repair 
towards  you — I  have  often  suspected  so  ;  but  your  sudden 
and  unexpected  appearance,  connected  wdth  painful  recol- 
lections, prevented  my  saying  at  first,  as  I  now  say,  that 
whatever  has  procured  me  the  honour  of  this  visit,  it  is 
an  acceptable  one." 

Bertram  bowed  with  an  air  of  distant,  yet .  civil  ac- 
knowledgment, to  the  grave  courtesy  of  Mannering. 

"  Julia,  my  love,  you  had  better  retire. — Mr.  Brown, 

VOL.  IV.  16 


242  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

you  will  excuse  my  daughter;  there  are  circumstances 
which  I  perceive  rush  upon  her  recollection." 

Miss  Mannering  rose  and  retired  accordingly ;  jet,  as 
she  passed  Bertram,  could  not  suppress  the  words,  "  In- 
fatuated !  a  second  time ! "  but  so  pronounced  as  to  be 
heard  by  him  alone.  Miss  Bertram  accompanied  her 
friend,  much  surprised,  but  without  venturing  a  second 
glance  at  the  object  of  her  terror.  Some  mistake  she 
saw  there  was,  and  was  unwilling  to  increase  it  by  de- 
nouncing the  stranger  as  an  assassin.  He  was  known, 
she  saw,  to  the  Colonel,  and  received  as  a  gentleman : 
certainly  he  either  was  not  the  person  she  suspected,  or 
Hazlewood  was  right  in  supposing  the  shot  accidental. 

The  remaining  part  of  the  company  would  have  forined 
no  bad  group  for  a  skilful  painter.  Each  was  too  much 
embarrassed  with  his  own  sensations  to  observe  those  of 
the  others.  Bertram  most  unexpectedly  found  himself  in 
the  house  of  one  whom  he  was  alternately  disposed  to  dis- 
like as  his  personal  enemy,  and  to  respect  as  the  father 
of  Julia;  Mannering  was  struggling  between  his  high 
sense  of  courtesy  and  hospitality,  his  joy  at  finding  him- 
self relieved  from  the  guilt  of  having  shed  life  in  a  pri- 
vate quarrel,  and  the  former  feelings  of  dislike  and 
prejudice,  which  revived  in  his  haughty  mind  at  the  sight 
of  the  object  against  whom  he  had  entertained  them ; 
Sampson,  supporting  his  shaking  limbs  by  leaning  on  the 
back  of  a  chair,  fixed  his  eyes  upon  Bertram,  with  a 
staring  expression  of  nervous  anxiety,  which  convulsed 
his  whole  visage  ;  Dinmont,  enveloped  in  his  loose  shaggy 
great-coat,  and  resembling  a  huge  bear  erect  upon  his 
hinder  legs,  stared  on  the  whole  scene  with  great  round 
eyes  that  witnessed  his  amazement. 

The    counsellor  alone  was   in   his   element :    shrewd, 


GUY    MANNERING.  243 

prompt,  and  active,  he  already  calculatevl  tlie  pi-ospect  of 
brilliant  success  in  a  strange,  eventful,  and  mysterious 
law-suit, — and  no  young  monarch,  flushed  with  hopes, 
and  at  the  head  of  a  gallant  army,  could  experience  more 
glee  when  taking  the  field  on  his  first  campaign.  He 
bustled  about  with  great  energy,  and  took  the  arrange- 
ment of  the'whole  explanation  upon  himself. 

"  Come,  come,  gentlemen,  sit  down ;  this  is  all  in  my 
province — ^you  must  let  me  arrange  it  for  you.  Sit  down, 
my  dear  Colonel,  and  let  me  manage;  sit  down,  INIr. 
BrowL  aut  quocunque  alio  nomine  vocaris — Dominie, 
take  your  seat — draw  in  your  chair,  honest  Liddesdale." 

"  I  dinna  ken,  Mr.  Pleydell,"  said  Dinmont,  looking  at 
his  dreadnought-coat,  then  at  the  handsome  furniture  of 
the  room,  "  I  had  maybe  better  gang  some  gate  else, 
and  leave  ye  till  your  cracks — I'm  no  just  that  weel 
put  on." 

The  Colonel,  who  by  this  time  recognised  Dandle,  im- 
mediately went  up  and  bid  him  heartily  welcome ;  assur- 
ing him,  that  from  what  he  had  seen  of  him  in  Edin- 
burgh, he  was  sure  his  rough  coat  and  thick-soled  boots 
would  honour  a  royal  drawing-room. 

"  Na,  na,  Colonel,  we're  just  plain  up-the-country  folk ; 
but  nae  doubt  I  would  fain  hear  ony  pleasure  that  was 
gaun  to  happen  the  Captain,  and  I'm  sure  a'  will  gae 
right  if  Mr.  Pleydell  will  take  his  bit  job  in  hand." 

"  You're  right,  Dandie — spoke  like  a  Hieland  *  oracle 
— and  now  be  silent.  Well,  you  are  all  seated  at  la>;t ; 
take  a  glass  of  wine  till  I  begin  ray  catechism  methodi- 

*  It  may  not  be  unnecessary  to  tell  southern  readers,  that  the  motin- 
tainous  country  in  the  south-western  bordftrs  of  Scotland,  is  called 
Hieland,  though  totally  different  from  the  much  more  mountainous 
ind  more  extensive  districts  of  the  north,  usually  called  Hielands. 


244  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

cally.  And  now,"  turning  to  Bertram,  "  my  dear  boy,  do 
you  know  who  or  wliat  you  are  ?  " 

In  spite  of  his  perplexity,  the  catechumen  could  not 
help  laughing  at  this  commencement,  and  answered,  "  In- 
deed, sir,  I  formerly  thought  I  did ;  but  I  own  late  cir- 
cumstances have  made  me  somewhat  uncertain." 

"  Then  tell  us  what  you  formerly  thought  yourself." 

"  Why,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  thinking  and  calling  my- 
self Vanbeest  Brown,  who  served  as  a  cadet  or  volunteer 

under  Colonel  Mannering,  when  he  commanded  the — 

regiment,  in  which  capacity  I  was  not  unknown  to  him." 

"  There,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  I  can  assui'e  Mr.  Brown 
of  his  identity ;  and  add,  what  his  modesty  may  have  for- 
gotten, that  he  was  distinguished  as  a  young  man  of  talent 
and  spirit." 

"  So  much  the  better,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Mr.  Pleydell ; 
"  but  that  is  to  general  character — Mr.  Brown  must  tell 
us  where  he  was  born." 

"  In  Scotland,  I  beheve,  but  the  place  uncertain." 

"Where  educated?" 

"  In  Holland,  certainly." 

"  Do  you  remember  nothing  of  your  early  life  before 
you  left  Scotland  ?  " 

"  Yery  imperfectly ; — yet  I  have  a  strong  idea,  perhaps 
more*  deeply  impressed  upon  me  by  subsequent  hard 
usage,  that  I  was  during  my  childhood  the  object  of  much 
solicitude  and  affection.  I  have  an  indistinct  remem- 
brance of  a  good-looking  man  whom  I  used  to  call  papa, 
and  of  a  lady  who  was  infirm  in  health,  and  who,  I  think, 
must  have  been  my  mother ;  but  it  is  an  imperfect  and 
confused  recollection.  I  remember,  too,  a  tall,  thin,  kind- 
tempered  man  in  black,  who  used  to  teach  me  my  let- 
ters and  walk  out  with  me  ; — and  I  think  the  very  last 
time  " 


GUY   MANNERING.  245 

Here  the  Dominie  could  contain  no  longer.  "While 
every  succeeding  word  served  to  prove  that  the  child  of 
his  benefactor  stood  before  him,  he  had  struggled  with  the 
utmost  difficulty  to  suppress  his  emotions  ;  but,  when  the 
juvenile  recollections  of  Bertram  turned  towards  his  tutor 
and  his  precepts,  he  was  compelled  to  give  way  to  his 
feelings.  He  rose  hastily  from  his  chair,  and  with 
clasped  hands,  trembling  limbs,  and  streaming  eyes,  called 
out  aloud,  "  Harry  Bertram ! — look  at  me — was  I  not 
the  man  ?  " 

"  Yes  ! "  said  Bertram,  starting  from  his  seat  as  if  a 
sudden  light  had  burst  in  upon  his  mind, — "  Yes — that 
was  my  name  ! — and  that  is  the  voice  and  the  figure  of 
my  kind  old  master !  " 

The  Dominie  threw  himself  into  his  arms,  pressed  him 
a  thousand  times  to  his  bosom  in  convulsions  of  transport 
which  shook  his  whole  frame,  sobbed  hysterically,  and  at 
length,  in  the  emphatic  language  of  Scripture,  lifted  up 
his  voice  and  wept  aloud.  Colonel  Mannering  had  re- 
course to  his  handkerchief ;  Pleydell  made  wry  faces  and 
wiped  the  glasses  of  his  spectacles  ;  and  honest  Dinmont, 
after  two  loud  blubbering  explosions,  exclaimed,  "  Deil's 
in  the  man !  he's  garr'd  me  do  that  I  haena  done  since 
my  auld  mither  died." 

"  Come,  come,"  said  the  counsellor  at  last,  "  silence  in 
the  court. — We  have  a  clever  party  to  contend  with ;  wo 
must  lose  no  time  in  gathering  our  information — for  any- 
thing I  know,  there  may  be  something  to  be  done  before 
day-break." 

*'  I  will  order  a  horse  to  be  saddled  if  you  please,"  said 
the  Colonel.    • 

"  No,  no,  time  enough — time  enough.  But  come, 
Dominie  ; — I  have  allowed  you  a  competent  space  to  ex- 


246  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

press  your  feelings — I  must  circumduce  the  term ;  you 
must  let  me  proceed  in  my  examination." 

The  Dominie  was  habitually  obedient  to  anyone  who 
chose  to  impose  commands  upon  him ;  he  sunk  back  into 
his  chair,  spread  his  checked  handkerchief  over  his  face, 
to  serve,  as  I  suppose,  for  the  Grecian  painter's  veil,  and 
from  the  action  of  his  folded  hands,  appeared  for  a  time 
engaged  in  the  act  of  mental  thanksgiving.  lie  then 
raised  his  eyes  over  the  screen  as  if  to  be  assured  that  the 
pleasing  apparition  had  not  melted  into  air — then  again 
sunk  them  to  resume  his  internal  act  of  devotion,  until  he 
felt  himself  compelled  to  give  attention  to  the  counsellor, 
from  the  interest  which  his  questions  excited. 

"And  now,"  said  Mr.  PleydeU,  after  several  minute 
inquiries  concerning  his  recollection  of  early  events — ■ 
"  and  now,  JVIr.  Bertram,  for  I  think  we  ought  in  future 
to  call  you  by  your  own  proper  name,  will  you  have 
the  goodness  to  let  us  know  every  particular  which 
you  can  recollect  concerning  the  mode  of  your  leaving 
Scotland?" 

"  Indeed,  sir,  to  say  the  truth,  though  the  terrible  out- 
lines of  that  day  are  strongly  impressed  upon  my  memory, 
yet  somehow  the  very  terror  which  fixed  them  there  has 
in  a  great  measure  confounded  and  confused  the  details. 
I  recollect,  however,  that  I  was  walking  somewhere  or 
other — in  a  wood,  I  think  " 

"  0  yes,  it  was  in  Warroch-wood,  my  dear,"  said  the 
Dominie. 

"  Hush,  ]VIr.  Sampson,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"  Yes,  it  was  in  a  wood,"  continued  Bertram,  as  long 
past  and  confused  ideas  arranged  themselves  in  his  re- 
viving recollection  ;  "  and  some  one  was  with  me — this 
worthy  and  affectionate  gentleman,  I  think." 


GUr   MANNERING.  247 

"  O,  aj,  slj,  Harry,  Lord  bless  thee — it  was  even  I 
myself." 

"  Be  silent,  Dominie,  and  don't  interrupt  the  evidence," 
said  Pleydell. — ''  And  so,  sir  ?  "  to  Bertram. 

•'  And  so,  sir,"  continued  Bertram,  "  like  one  of  the 
changes  of  a  dream,  I  thought  I  was  on  horseback  before 
my  guide." 

"  No,  no,"  exclaimed  Sampson,  "  never  did  I  put  my 
own  limbs,  not  to  say  thine,  into  such  peril." 

"  On  my  word,  this  is  intolerable  ! — Look  ye.  Dominie, 
if  you  speak  another  word  till  I  give  you  leave,  I  wiU 
read  three  sentences  out  of  the  Black  Acts,  whisk  my 
cane  round  my  head  three  times,  undo  all  the  magic  of 
tliis  night's  work,  and  conjure  Harry  Bertram  back  again 
into  Vanbeest  Brown." 

"  Honoured  and  worthy  sir,"  groaned  out  the  Dominie, 
"  I  humbly  crave  pardon  ;  it  was  but  verbum  nolens.^' 

"  Well,  nolens  volens,  you  must  hold  your  tongue,"  said 
Pleydell. 

"  Pray,  be  silent,  Mr.  Sampson,"  said  the  Colonel ;  it  is 
of  great  consequence  to  your  recovered  friend,  that  you 
permit  Mr.  Pleydell  to  proceed  in  his  inquiries." 

"  I  am  mute,"  said  the  rebuked  Dominie. 

"  On  a  sudden,"  continued  Bertram,  "  two  or  three  men 
sprung  out  upon  us,  and  we  were  pulled  from  horseback. 
I  have  little  recollection  of  anything  else,  but  that  I  tried 
to  escape  in  the  midst  of  a  desperate  scuffle,  and  fell  into 
the  arms  of  a  very  tall  woman  who  started  from  the 
bushes,  and  protected  me  for  some  time  ;  the  rest  is  all 
confusion  and  dread — a  dim  recollection  of  a  sea-beach 
and  a  cave,  and  of  some  strong  potion  which  lulled  me  to 
sleep  for  a  length  of  time.  In  short,  it  is  all  a  blank  in 
my  memory,  until  I  recollect  myself  first  an  ill-used  and 


248  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

half-starved  cabin-boy  aboard  a  sloop,  and  then  a  school- 
boy in  Holland,  under  the  protection  of  an  old  merchant, 
who  had  talien  some  fancy  for  me." 

"  And  what  account,"  said  INIr.  Pleydell,  "  did  your 
guardian  give  of  your  parentage  ?  " 

"  A  very  brief  one,"  answered  Bertram,  "  and  a  charge 
to  inquire  no  farther.  I  was  given  to  understand,  that 
my  father  was  concerned  in  the  smuggling  trade  carried 
on  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Scotland,  and  was  killed  in  a 
skirmish  with  the  revenue  officers ;  that  his  corre- 
spondents in  Holland  had  a  vessel  on  the  coast  at  the 
time,  part  of  the  crew  of  which  were  engaged  in  the 
affair,  and  that  they  brought  me  off  after  it  was  over, 
from  a  motive  of  compassion,  as  I  was  left  destitute  by 
my  father's  death.  As  I  grew  older,  there  was  much  of 
this  story  seemed  inconsistent  with  my  own  recollections. 
But  what  could  I  do  ?  I  had  no  means  of  ascertaining 
my  doubts,  nor  a  single  friend  with  whom  I  could  com- 
municate or  canvass  them.  The  rest  of  my  story  is 
known  to  Colonel  Mannering ;  I  went  out  to  India  to  be 
a  clerk  in  a  Dutch  house ;  their  affairs  fell  into  confu- 
sion ;  I  betook  myself  to  the  military  profession,  and,  I 
trust,  as  yet  I  have  not  disgraced  it." 

"  Thou  art  a  fine  young  fellow,  I'll  be  bound  for  thee," 
said  Pleydell ;  "  and  since  you  have  wanted  a  father  so 
long,  I  wish  from  my  heart  I  could  claim  the  paternity 
myself.     But  this  affair  of  young  Hazlewood  " 

"  Was  merely  accidental,"  said  Bertram.  "  I  was 
travelling  in  Scotland  for  pleasure,  and  after  a  week's 
residence  with  my  friend  Mr.  Dinmont,  with  whom  I 
had  the  good  fortune  to  form  an  accidental  acquaint- 
ance " 

"  It  was  mj'  gude  fortune  that,"  said   Dinmont     "  Od, 


GUY   MANNERING.  249 

my  brains  wad  hae  been  knockit  out  by  twa  blackguards, 
if  it  liadna  been  for  his  four  quarters." 

"  Shortly  after  we.  parted  at  the  town  of ,  I  lost 

my  baggage  by  thieves,  and  it  was  while  residing  at  Kip- 
pletringan  that  I  accidentally  met  the  young  gentleman. 
As  I  was  approaching  to  pay  my  respects  to  Miss  Man- 
nering,  whom  I  had  known  in  India,  Mr.  Hazlewood, 
conceiving  my  appearance  none  of  the  most  respectable, 
commanded  me  rather  haughtily  to  stand  back,  and  so 
gave  occasion  to  the  fray  in  which  I  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  the  accidental  means  of  wounding  him. — And  "now, 
sir,  that  I  have  answered  all  your  questions" 

"  No,  no,  not  quite  all,"  said  Pleydell,  winking  saga- 
ciously ;  "  there  are  some  interrogatories  which  I  shall 
delay  till  to-morrow,  for  it  is  time,  I  beheve,  to  close  the 
sederunt  for  this  night,  or  rather  morning  " 

"  "Well,  then,  sir,"  said  the  young  man,  "^  vary  the 
phrase,  since  I  have  answered  all  the  questions  which  you 
ha^e  chosen  to  ask  to-night,  will  you  be  so  good  as  to  tell 
me  who  you  are  that  take  such  interest  in  my  affairs,  and 
whom  you  take  me  to  be,  since  my  arrival  has  occasioned 
such  commotion  ?" 

"  Why,  sir,  for  myself,"  replied  the  counsellor,  "  I  am 
Paulus  Pleydell,  an  advocate  at  the  Scottish  bar ;  and  for 
you,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  distinctly  who  you  are  at  pres- 
ent ;  but  I  trust  in  a  short  time  to  hail  you  by  the  title 
of  Henry  Bertram,  Esq.,  representative  of  one  of  the 
oldest  families  in  Scotland,  and  heir  of  tailzie  and  provis- 
ion to  the  estate  of  Ellangowan.  Ay,"  continued  he, 
shutting  his  eyes  and  speaking  to  himself,  "  we  must  pass 
over  his  father,  and  serve  him  heir  to  his  grandfather 
Lewis,  the  entailer,  the  only  wise  man  of  his  family  that 
I  ever  heard  of." 


250  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

They  had  now  risen  to  retire  to  their  apartments  for 
the  night,  when  Colonel  Mannermg  walked  up  to  Ber- 
ti'am,  as  he  stood  astonished  at  the  counsellor's  words. 
"  I  give  you  joy,"  he  said,  "  of  the  prospects  which  fate 
has  opened  before  you.  I  was  an  early  friend  of  your 
father,  and  chanced  to  be  in  the  house  of  EUangowan  as 
unexpectedly  as  you  are  now  in  mine,  upon  the  very 
night  on  which  you  were  born.  I  little  knew  this  circum- 
stance when — but  I  trust  unkindness  will  be  forgotten 
between  us.  Believe  me,  your  appearance  here,  as 
Mr.  Brown,  alive  and  well,  has  relieved  me  from  most 
painful  sensations  ;  and  your  right  to  the  name  of  an 
old  friend  renders  your  presence,  as  IMr.  Bertram,  doubly 
welcome." 

"  And  my  parents ! "  said  Bertram. 

"Are  both  no  more — and  the  family  property  has 
been  sold,  but  I  trust  may  be  recovered.  Whatever  is 
wanted  to  make  your  right  effectual,  I  shall  be  most 
happy  to  supply." 

"  Nay,  you  may  leave  all  that  to  me,"  said  the  coun- 
sellor;— "'tis  my  vocation,  Hal,  I  shall  make  money 
of  it." 

"  I'm  sure  it's  no  for  the  like  o'  me,"  observed  Din- 
mont,  "  to  speak  to  you  gentlefolks  ;  but  if  siller  would 
■help  on  the  Captain's  plea,  and  they  say  nae  plea  gangs 
on  weel  without  it " 

"  Except  on  Saturday  night,"  said  Pleydell. 

"  Ay,  but  when  your  honour  wadna  take  your  fee,  ye 
wadna  hae  the  cause  neither  ;  sae  I'll  ne'er  fash  you  on  a 
Saturday  at  e'en  again — But  I  was  saying  there's  some 
siller  in  the  spleuchan  *  that's  hke  the  Captain's  ain,  for 
we've  aye  counted  it  such,  baith  Ailie  and  me." 

*  A  spleuchan  is  a  tobacco  pouch,  occasionally  ised  as  a  purse. 


GUY   MAKNERING.  ^5X 

"  No,  no,  Liddesdale — no  occasion,  no  occasion  what- 
ever— ^keep  thy  cash  to  stock  thy  farm." 

"  To  stock  my  farm  ?  Mr.  Pleydell,  your  honour  kena 
jnony  things,  but  ye  dinna  ken  the  farm  o'  Charhes-hope 
— ^it's  sae  weel  stockit  abeady,  that  we  sell  maybe  sax 
hundred  pounds  off  it  ilka  year,  flesh  and  fell  thegither — 
na,  na." 

"  Can't  you  take  another,  then  ?  " 

"  I  dinna  ken — the  Deuke's  no  that  fond  o'  led  farms, 
and  he  canna  bide  to  put  away  the  auld  tenantry ;  and 
then  I  wadna  hke,  myseU,  to  gang  about  whistling  *  and 
raising  the  rent  on  my  neighbours." 

"  What,  not  upon  thy  neighbour  at  Dawston — Devil- 
stone — ^how  d'ye  call  the  place  ?  " 

"  What,  on  Jock  o'  Dawston  ? — hout  na — he's  a  cam- 
steary  f  chield,  and  fasheous  j  about  marches,  and  we've 
had  some  bits  o'  splores  thegither ;  but  deil  o'  me  if  I 
would  wrang  Jock  o'  Dawston  neither." 

"  Thou'rt  an  honest  fellow,"  said  the  lawyer ;  "  get 
thee  to  bed ; — thou  wilt  sleep  sounder,  I  warrant  thee, 
than  many  a  man  that  throws  off  an  embroidered  coat, 
and  puts  on  a  laced  night-cap.  Colonel,  I  see  you  are 
busy  with  our  Enfant  trouvL  But  Barnes  must  give  me 
a  summons  of  wakening  at  seven  to-morrow  morning,  for 
my  servant's  a  sleepy-headed  fellow,  and  I  dare  say  my 
clerk.  Driver,  has  had  Clarence's  fate,  and  is  drowned  by 
this  time  in  a  butt  of  your  ale  ;  for  Mrs.  Allan  promised 


*  Whistling,  among  the  tenantry  of  a  large  estate,  is  when  an  indi- 
vidual gives  such  information  to  the  proprietor,  or  his  managers,  as  to 
•Vccasion  the  rent  of  his  neighbour's  farms  being  raised,  which,  for 
'  vious  reasons,  is  held  a  very  unpopular  practice. 

t  Obstinate  and  unruly. 

X  Troublesome. 


252  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

to  make  him  comfortable,  and  she'll  soon  discover  what 
he  expects  from  that  engagement.  Good-night,  Colonel 
— good-night.  Dominie  Sampson — good-night,  Dinmont 
the  downright — good-night,  last  of  all,  to  the  new-fomid 
representative  of  the  Bertrams,  and  the  Mac-Dingawaies, 
the  Knarths,  the  Arths,  the  Godfreys,  the  Dennises,  and 
the  Rolands,  and,  last,  and  dearest  title,  heir  of  tailzie  and 
provision  of  the  lands  and  barony  of  Ellangowan,  mider 
the  settlement  of  Lewis  Bertram,  Esq.,  whose  represent- 
ative" you  are." 

And  so  saying,  the  old  gentleman  took  his  candle  and 
left  the  room;  and  the  company  dispersed,  after  the 
Dominie  had  once  more  hugged  and  embraced  his  "  little 
Harry  Bertram,"  as  he  continued  to  call  the  young  soldier 
of  six  feet  high. 


GUY   MANNEEING.  253 


CHAPTER  LI. 


My  imagination 

Carries  no  favour  in  it  but  Bertram's ; 
I  am  undone ;  there  is  no  living,  none, 
If  Bertram  be  away. 

All's  well  that  Ends  weli. 


At  the  hour  which  he  had  appointed  the  preceding 
evening,  the  indefatigable  lawyer  was  seated  by  a  good 
fire  and  a  pair  of  wax  candles,  with  a  velvet  cap  on  his 
head  and  a  quilted  silk  night-gown  on  his  person,  busy 
arranging  his  memoranda  of  proofs  and  indications  con- 
cerning the  murder  of  Frank  Kennedy.  An  express  had 
also  been  despatched  to  Mr.  Mac-Morlan,  requesting  his 
attendance  at  Woodbourne  as  soon  as  possible,  on  business 
of  importance.  Dinmont,  fatigued  with  the  events  of  the 
evening  before,  and  finding  the  accommodations  of  Wood- 
bourne  much  preferable  to  those  of  Mac-Guffog,  was  in 
no  hurry  to  rise.  The  impatience  of  Bertram  might  have 
put  him  earlier  in  motion,  but  Colonel  Mannering  had 
intimated  an  intention  to  visit  him  in  his  apartment  in 
the  morning,  and  he  did  not  choose  to  leave  it.  Before 
this  interview  he  had  dressed  himself,  Barnes  having,  by 
his  master's  orders,  supplied  him  with  every  accommoda- 
tion of  linen,  &c.,  and  he  now  anxiously  waited  the 
promised  visit  of  his  landlord. 

In  a   short  time  a  gentle  tap  announced  the  Colonel, 


254  WAYERLEY    NOVELS. 

with  wliom  Bertram  held  a  long  and  satisfactoiy  conver- 
sation. Each,  however,  concealed  from  the  other  one 
cii'cumstance.  Mannering  could  not  bring  himself  to 
acknowledge  the  astrological  prediction;  and  Bertram 
was,  from  motives  which  may  be  easily  conceived,  silent 
respecting  his  love  for  Julia.  In  other  respects,  their 
intercourse  was  frank,  and  grateful  to  both,  and  had  lat- 
terly, upon  the  Colonel's  part,  even  an  approach  to  cor- 
diality. Bertram  carefully  measured  his  own  conduct  by 
that  of  his  host,  and  seemed  rather  to  receive  his  offered 
kindness  with  gratitude  and  pleasure,  than  to  press  for  it 
with  sohcitation. 

Miss  Bertram  was  in  the  breakfast  parlour  when 
Sampson  shuffled  in, — his  face  all  radiant  with  smiles  ;  a 
circumstance  so  uncommon,  that  Lucy's  first  idea  was, 
that  somebody  had  been  bantering  him  with  an  imposition 
which  had  thrown  him  into  this  ecstasy.  Having  sate  for 
some  tim.e,  roUing  his  eyes  and  gaping  with  his  mouth 
like  the  great  wooden  head  at  Merlin's  exhibition,  he  at 
length  began — "  And  what  do  you  think  of  him,  o^Iiss 
Lucy  ?  " 

"  Think  of  whom,  Mr.  Sampson  ? "  asked  the  young 
lady. 

"  Of  Har — no — of  him  that  you  know  about  ?  "  again 
demanded  the  Dominie. 

"  That  I  know  about? "  replied  Lucy,  totally  at  a  loss 
to  comprehend  his  meaning. 

"  Yes — ^the  stranger,  you  know,  that  came  last  evening 
in  the  post  vehicle — he  who  shot  young  Hazlewood — ha  ! 
ha !  ho  ! "  burst  forth  the  Dominie,  with  a  laugh  that 
Bounded  like  neio;hinff. 

"  Indeed,  Mr.  Sampson,"  said  his  pupil,  "  you  have 
chosen   a   strange   subject  for  mirth; — I  think  nothing 


GUY   MANNERING.  26o 

about  the  man — only  I  hope  the  outrage  was  accidental, 
and  that  we  need  not  fear  a  repetition  of  it." 

"  Accidental ! — ho  !  ho  !  ha  !  "  again  whinnied  Samp- 
son. 

"  Really,  Mr.  Sampson,"  said  Lucy,  somewhat  piqued, 
"  you  are  unusually  gay  this  morning.'* 

"  Yes,  of  a  surety  I  am  !  ha !  ha !  ho !  fa-ce-ti-ous- — 
ho  !  ho  !  ha ! " 

"  So  unusually  facetious,  my  dear  sir,"  pursued  the 
young  lady,  "  that  I  would  wish  rather  to  know  the 
meaning  of  your  mirth,  than  to  be  amused  with  its  effects 
only."    . 

"  You  shall  know  it,  Miss  Lucy,"  replied  poor  Abel — 
"  Do  you  remember  your  brother  ?  " 

"  Good  God  !  how  can  you  ask  me  ? — no  one  knows 
better  than  you,  he  was  lost  the  very  day  I  was  born." 

"  Very  true,  very  true,"  answered  the  Dominie,  sad- 
dening at  the  recollection  ;  "  I  was  strangely  oblivious — 
ay,  ay — too  true — But  you  remember  your  worthy 
father  ?  " 

"  How  should  you  doubt  it,  'Mr.  Sampson  ?  it  is  not  so 
many  weeks  since  " 

"  True,  true — ay,  too  true,"  replied  the  Dominie,  his 
Houyhnhnm  laugh  sinking  into  a  hysterical  giggle — "  I 
will  be  facetious  no  more  under  these  remembrances — But 
look  at  that  young  man  ! " 

Bertram  at  this  instant  entered  the  room.  "  Yes,  look 
at  him  well — he  is  your  father's  living  image ;  and  as 
God  has  deprived  you  of  your  dear  parents — O  my  chil- 
dren, love  one  another  ! " 

^  It  is  indeed  my  father's  face  and  form,"  said  Lucy, 
turning  very  pale.  Bertram  ran  to  support  her — the 
Dominie  to  fetch  water  to  throw  upon  her  face — (which 


256  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

in  his  haste  he  took  from  the  boiling  tea-u]-n) — when  for- 
tunately her  colour  returning  rapidly,  saved  her  from  the 
application  of  this  ill-judged  remedy.  "  I  conjure  you  to 
tell  me,  Mr.  Sampson,"  she  said,  in  an  interrupted  yet 
solemn  voice,  "  is  this  my  brother  ?  " 

"  It  is  !  it  is,  Miss  Lucy  ! — it  is  little  Harry  Bertram, 
as  sure  as  God's  sun  is  in  that  heaven ! " 

"  And  this  is  my  sister  ?  "  said  Bertram,  giving  way  to 
all  that  family  affection  which  had  so  long  slumbered  in 
his  bosom  for  want  of  an  object  to  expand  itself  upon. 

"  It  is  !  it  is! — it  is  Miss  Lucy  Bertram ! "  ejaculated 
Sampson,  "  whom  by  my  poor  aid  you  will  find  perfect  in 
the  tongues  of  France  and  Italy,  and  even  of  Spain — in 
reading  and  writing  her  vernacular  tongue,  and  in  arith- 
metic and  book-keeping  by  double  and  single  entry.  I 
say  nothing  of  her  talents  of  shaping,  and  hemming,  and 
governing  a  household,  which,  to  give  every  one  their 
due,  she  acquired  not  from  me,  but  from  the  house- 
keeper ; — nor  do  I  take  merit  for  her  performance  upon 
stringed  instruments,  whereunto  the  instructions  of  an 
honourable  young  lady  of  virtue  and  modesty,  and  very 
facetious  withal — Miss  Juha  Mannering — hath  not  meanly 
contributed — Suum  cuique  tribidtor 

"  You,  then,"  said  Bertram  to  his  sister,  "  are  all  that 
remains  to  me  !  Last  night,  but  more  fully  this  morning, 
Colonel  Mannering  gave  me  an  account  of  our  family 
misfortunes,  though  without  saying  I  should  find  my  sister 
here." 

"  That,"  said  Lucy,  "  he  left  to  this  gentleman  to  tell 
you, — one  of  the  kindest  and  most  faithful  of  friends,  who 
soothed  my  father's  long  sickness,  witnessed  his  dying 
moments,  and  amid  the  heaviest  clouds  of  fortune  would 
not  desert  his  orphan." 


GUY   MANNERING.  257 

"  God  bless  him  for  it !  "  said  Bertram,  shaking  the 
Dominie's  hand;  "he  deserves  the  love  with  which  I 
have  always  regarded  even  that  dim  and  imperfect  shadow 
of  his  memory  which  my  childhood  retained." 

"And  God  bless  you  both,  my  dear  children!"  said 
Sampson  :  "  if  it  had  not  been  for  your  sake,  I  would 
have  been  contented  (had  Heaven's  pleasure  so  been)  to 
lay  my  head  upon  the  turf  beside  my  patron." 

"  But  I  trust,"  said  Bertram — "  I  am  encouraged  to 
hope,  we  shall  all  see  better  days.  All  our  wrongs  shall 
be  redressed,  since  Heaven  has  sent  me  means  and  friends 
to  assert  my  right." 

"  Friends  indeed !  "  echoed  the  Dominie,  "  and  sent,  as 
you  truly  say,  by  Him,  to  whom  I  early  taught  you  to 
look  up  as  the  source  of  all  that  is  good.  There  is  the 
great  Colonel  Mannering  from  the  Eastern  Indies,  a  man 
of  war  from  his  birth  upwards,  but  who  is  not  the  less  a 
man  of  great  erudition,  considering  his  imperfect  oppor- 
tunities ;  and  there  is,  moreover,  the  great  advocate,  Mr. 
Pleydell,  who  is  also  a  man  of  great  erudition,  but  who 
descendeth  to  trifles  unbeseeming  thereof;  and  there  is 
Mr.  Andrew  Dinmont,  whom  I  do  not  understand  to 
have  possession  of  much  erudition,  but  who,  like  the 
patriarchs  of  old,  is  cunning  in  that  which  belongeth  to 
flocks  and  herds.  Lastly,  there  is  even  I  myself,  whose 
opportunities  of  collecting  erudition,  as  they  have  been 
greater  than  those  of  the  aforesaid  valuable  persons,  have 
not,  if  it  becomes  me  so  to  speak,  been  pretermitted  by 
me,  in  so  far  as  my  poor  faculties  have  enabled  me  to 
profit  by  them.  Of  a  surety,  little  Harry,  we  must  speedily 
resume  our  studies.  1  will  begin  from  the  foundation — ■ 
ye?;,  I  will  reform  your  education  upward  from  the  tme 

VOL.  IV.  17 


2«18  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

knowledge  of  English  grammar,  even  to  that  of  the 
Hebrew  or  Chaiclaic  tongue." 

The  reader  may  observe,  that  upon  this  occasion  Samp- 
son was  infinitely  more  profuse  of  words  than  he  had 
hitherto  exhibited  himself.  The  reason  was,  tliat  in 
recovering  his  pupil,  his  mind  went  instantly  back  to 
their  original  connexion,  and  he  had,  in  his  confusion  of 
ideas,  the  strongest  desire  in  the  world  to  resume  spelling 
lessons,  and  half-text  with  young  Bertram.  This  was  the 
more  ridiculous,  as  towards  Lucy  he  assumed  no  such 
powers  of  tuition.  But  she  had  grown  up  under  his  eye, 
and  had  been  gradually  emancipated  from  his  government 
by  increase  in  years  and  knowledge,  and  a  latent  sense 
of  his  own  inferior  tact  in  manners,  whereas  his  first  ideas 
went  to  take  up  Harry  pretty  nearly  where  he  had  left 
him.  From  the  same  feelings  of  reviving  authority,  he 
indulged  himself  in  what  was  to  him  a  profusion  of  lan- 
guage ;  and  as  people  seldom  speak  more  than  usual 
without  exposing  themselves,  he  gave  those  whom  he 
addi'essed  plainly  to  understand,  that  while  he  deferred 
implicitly  to  the  opinions  and  commands,  if  they  chose  to 
impose  them,  of  almost  every  one  whom  he  met  with,  it 
was  under  an  internal  conviction,  that  in  the  article  of 
e-ru-di-ti-on,  as  he  usually  pronounced  the  word,  he  was 
infinitely  superior  to  them  all  put  together.  At  present, 
however,  this  intimation  fell  upon  heedless  ears,  for  the 
brother  and  sister  were  too  deeply  engaged  in  asking  and 
receiving  intelligence  concerning  their  former  fortunes,  to 
attend  much  to  the  worthy  Dominie. 

When  Colonel  Mannering  left  Bertram,  he  went  tr 

Julia's  dressing-room,  and  dismissed  her  attendant.    "  My 

.dear  sir,"  she  said  as  he  entered,  "you  have  forgot  our 

vigils  last  night,  and  have  hardly  allowed  me  time  to 


GUY    MANNERINGc  259 

3omb  my  hair,  although  jou  must  be  sensible  how  it  stood 
on  end  at  the  various  wonders  which  took  place." 

"  It  is  with  the  inside  of  your  head  that  I  have  some 
business  at  present,  Julia ;  I  will  return  the  outside  to  the 
care  of  your  Mrs.  Mincing  in  a  few  minutes." 

"  Lord,  papa,"  replied  Miss  Mannering,  "  think  how 
entangled  all  my  ideas  are,  and  you  to  propose  to  comb 
them  out  in  a  few  minutes  !  If  Mincing  were  to  do  so  in 
her  department,  she  would  tear  half  the  hair  out  of  my 
head." 

"  Well  then,  tell  me,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  v/here  the 
entanglement  lies,  which  I  will  try  to  extricate  with  due 
gentleness." 

"  Oh,  every  where,"  said  the  young  lady — "  the  whole 
is  a  wild  dream." 

"  Well  then,  I  will  try  to  unriddle  it." — He  gave  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  fate  and  prospects  of  Bertram,  to 
which  Julia  listened  with  an  interest  which  she  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  disguise — "  Well,"  concluded  her  father, 
"  are  your  ideas  on  the  subject  more  luminous  ?  " 

"  More  confused  than  ever,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Julia — 
"  Here  is  this  young  man  come  from  India,  after  he  had 
been  supposed  dead,  like  Aboulfouaris  the  great  voyager 
to  his  sister  Canzade  and  his  provident  brother  Hour.  1 
am  wrong  in  the  story,  I  believe — Canzade  was  his  wife 
—but  Lucy  may  represent  the  one,  and  the  Dominie  the 
other.  And  then  this  lively  crack-brained  Scotch  lawyer 
appears  like  a  pantomime  at  the  end  of  a  tragedy — And 
then  how  delightful  it  will  be  if  Lucy  gets  back  her 
fortune ! " 

"  Now  I  think,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  that  the  most .  mys- 
terious part  of  the  business  is,  that  Miss  Julia  Mannering, 
who  must  have  known  her  father's  anxiety  about  the  fate 


260  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

of  this  young  man  Brown,  or  Bertram,  as  we  must  now 
call  him,  should  have  met  him  when  Hazlewood's  acci- 
dent took  place,  and  never  once  mentioned  to  her  father 
a  word  of  the  matter,  but  suffered  the  search  to  proceed 
against  this  young  gentleman  as  a  suspicious  character 
and  assassin." 

Julia,  much  of  whose  courage  had  been  hastily  assumed 
to  meet  the  interview  with  her  father,  was  now  unable  to 
rally  herself;  she  hung  down  her  head  in  silence,  after  in 
vain  attempting  to  utter  a  denial  that  she  recollected 
Brown  when  she  met  him. 

"  No  answer  ! — Well,  Juha,"  continued  her  father, 
gravely  but  kindly,  "  allow  me  to  ask  you.  Is  this  the 
only  time  you  have  seen  Brown  since  his  return  from 
India  ? — Still  no  answer.  I  must  then  naturally  suppose 
that  it  is  not  the  first  time  ? — Still  no  reply.  Juha  Man- 
nering,  will  you  have  the  kindness  to  answer  me  ?  Was 
it  this  young  man  who  came  under  your  window  and  con- 
versed with  you  during  your  residence  at  Mervyn-Hall  ? 
Julia,  I  command — I  entreat  you  to  be  candid." 

Miss  Mannering  raised  her  head.  "  I  have  been,  sir — 
I  beheve  I  am  still  very  foolish  ; — and  it  is  perhaps  more 
hard  upon  me  that  I  must  meet  this  gentleman,  who  has 
been,  though  not  the  cause  entirely,  yet  the  accomplice  of 
my  folly,  in  your  presence." — Here  she  made  a  full  stop. 

"  I  am  to  understand,  then,"  said  Mannering,  "  that  this 
was  the  author  of  the  serenade  at  Mervyn-Hall  ?  " 

There  was  something  in  this  allusive  change  of  epithet, 
that  gave  Julia  a  little  more  courage — "  He  was  indeed, 
sir ;  and  if  I  am  very  wrong,  as  I  have  often  thought,  I 
have  some  apology." 

"  And  what  is  that  ?  "  answered  the  Colonel,  speaking 
quick,  and  with  something  of  harshness. 


GUY   MANNERING.  261 

"  I  will  iiot  venture  to  name  it,  sir — but " — She  optmed 
a  small  cabinet,  and  put  some  letters  into  Ms  hands ;  "  I 
will  give  you  these,  that  you  may  see  how  this  intimacy 
began,  and  by  whom  it  was  encouraged." 

Maunering  took  the  packet  to  the  window — his  pride 
forbade  a  more  distant  retreat.  He  glanced  at  some  pas- 
sages of  the  letters  with  an  unsteady  eye  and  an  agitated 
mind.  His  stoicism,  however,  came  in  time  to  his  aid- 
that  philosophy,  which  rooted  in  pride,  yet  frequently 
bears  the  fruits  of  virtue.  He  returned  towards  his 
daughter  with  as  firm  an  air  as  his  feelings  permitted  him 
to  assume. 

"  There  is^  great  apology  for  you,  JuHa,  as  far  as  I  can 
judge  from  a  glance  at  these  letters — you  have  obeyed  at 
least  one  parent.  Let  us  adopt  the  Scotch  proverb  the 
Dominie  quoted  the  other  day — '  Let  bygones  be  bygones, 
and  fair  play  for  the  future.' — I  will  never  upbraid  you 
with  your  past  want  of  confidence — do  you  judge  of  my 
future  intentions  by  my  actions,  of  which  hitherto  you 
have  surely  had  no  reason  to  complain.  Keep  these  let- 
ters— they  were  never  intended  for  my  eye,  and  I  would 
not  wilHngly  read  more  of  them  than  I  have  done,  at  your 
desire  and  for  your  exculpation.  And  now,  are  we 
friends  ?  or  rather,  do  you  understand  me  ?  " 

"  O  my  dear  generous  father,"  said  Julia,  throwing  her- 
self into  his  arms,  "  why  have  I  ever  for  an  instant  mis- 
understood you  ?  " 

"  No  more  of  that,  Julia,"  said  the  Colonel :  "  we  have 
both  been  to  blame.  He  that  is  too  proud  to  vindicate 
the  affection  and  confidence  which  he  conceives  should  be 
given  without  solicitation,  must  meet  much,  and  perhaps 
deserved  disappointment.  It  is  enough  that  one  dearest 
and  most  regretted  member  of  my  family  has  gone  to 


262  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

the  grave  without  knowing  me  ;  let  me  not  lose  the  con- 
fidence of  a  child,  who  ought  to  love  me  if  she  really 
loves  herself." 

"  O !  no  danger — no  fear !  "  answered  Julia — "  let  me 
but  have  your  approbation  and  my  own,  and  there  is  no 
rule  jou  can  prescribe  so  severe  that  I  will  not  follow." 

"  Well,  my  love,"  kissing  her  forehead,  "  I  trust  we 
shall  not  call  upon  you  for  anything  too  heroic.  With 
respect  to  tliis  young  gentleman's  addresses,  I  expect  in 
the  first  place  that  all  clandestine  correspondence — which 
no  young  woman  can  entertain  for  a  moment  without 
lessening  herself  in  her  own  eyes,  and  in  those  of  her 
lover — I  request,  I  say,  that  clandestine  correspondence 
of  every  kind  may  be  given  up,  and  that  you  will  refer 
]VIr.  Bertram  to  me  for  the  reason.  You  will  naturally 
wish  to  know  what  is  to  be  the  issue  of  such  a  reference. 
In  the  first  place,  I  desire  to  observe  this  young  gentle- 
man's character  more  closely  than  circumstances,  and 
perhaps  my  own  prejudices,  have  permitted  formerly — I 
should  also  be  glad  to  see  his  birth  estabhshed.  Not  that 
T  am  anxious  about  his  getting  the  estate  of  EUangowan, 
though  such  a  subject  is  held  in  absolute  indifference 
nowhere  except  in  a  novel ;  but  certainly  Henry  Ber- 
tram, heir  of  Ellangowan,  whether  possessed  of  the 
property  of  his  ancestors  or  not,  is  a  very  different  per- 
son from  Vanbeest  Brown,  the  son  of  nobody  at  all.  His 
fathers,  Mr.  Pleydell  tells  me,  are  distinguished  in  history 
as  following  the  banners  of  their  native  princes,  while  our 
own  fought  at  Cressy  and  Poictiers.  In  short,  I  neither 
give  nor  withhold  my  approbation,  but  I  expect  you  will 
redeem  past  errors ;  and  as  you  can  now  unfortunately 
have  recourse  only  to  one  parent,  that  you  will  show  the 
duty  of  a  child,  by  reposing  that  confidence  in  me,  which 


GUY    MANXEKIXG.  263 

I  will  saj  my  inclination  to  make  you  liappj  renders  a 
filial  debt  upon  your  part." 

The  first  part  of  this  speech  affected  Julia  a  good  deal ; 
the  comparative  merit  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Bertrams 
and  Mannerings  excited  a  secret  smile ;  but  the  conclu- 
sion was  such  as  to  soften  a  heart  peculiarly  open  to  the 
feelings  of  generosity.  "  No,  my  dear  sir,"  she  said,  ex- 
tending her  hand,  "  receive  my  faith,  that  from  this 
moment  you  shall  be  the  first  person  consulted  respect- 
ing what  shall  pass  in  future  between  Brown — I  mean 
Bertram — and  me ;  and  that  no  engagement  shall  be 
undertaken  by  me,  excepting  what  you  shall  immediately 
know  and  approve  of.  May  I  ask  if  ]VIr.  Bertram  is  to 
continue  a  guest  at  Woodbourne  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  while  his  affairs  render 
it  advisable." 

"  Then,  sir,  you  must  be  sensible,  considering  what  is 
already  past,  that  he  will  expect  some  reason  for  my 
withdrawing — I  beheve  I  must  say  the  encouragement, 
which  he  may  think  I  have  given." 

"  I  expect,  Julia,"  answered  Mannering,  '*  that  he  will 
respect  my  roof,  and  entertain  some  sense  perhaps  of  the 
services  I  am  desirous  to  render  him,  and  so  will  not 
insist  upon  any  course  of  conduct  of  which  I  might  have 
reason  to  complain ;  and  I  expect  of  you,  that  you  will 
make  him  sensible  of  what  is  due  to  both." 

"  Then,  sir,  I  understand  you,  and  you  shall  be  implic- 
itly obeyed." 

"  Thank  you,  my  love  ;  my  anxiety  "  (kissing  her)  "  is 
on  your  account. — Now  wipe  these  witnesses  trom  your 
eyes,  and  so  to  breakfast." 


264  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  LH. 

And,  Sheriflf,  I  will  engage  my  word  to  yon, 
That  I  will  by  to-morrow  dinner  time, 
Send  him  to  answer  thee,  or  any  man, 
For  anything  he  shall  be  charged  withal. 

FiEST  Part  of  EteNBT  IT. 

When  the  several  by-plays,  as  they  may  be  termed, 
had  taken  place  among  the  individuals  of  the  Woodboume 
family,  as  we  have  intimated  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
the  breakfast  party  at  length  assembled,  Dandle  excepted, 
who  had  consulted  his  taste  in  viands,  and  perhaps  in 
society,  by  partaking  of  a  cup  of  tea  with  Mrs.  Allan,  just 
laced  with  two  tea-spoonsful  of  Cogniac,  and  reinforced 
with  various  sHces  from  a  huge  round  of  beef.  He  had 
a  kind  of  feeling  that  he  could  eat  twice  as  much,  and 
speak  twice  as  much,  with  this  good  dame  and  Barnes,  as 
with  the  grand  folk  in  the  parloui\  Indeed,  the  meal  of 
this  less  distinguished  party  was  much  more  mirthful  than 
that  in  the  higher  circle,  where  there  was  an  obviuds  air 
of  constraint  on  the  greater  part  of  the  assistants.  Julia 
dared  not  raise  her  voice  in  asking  Bertram  if  he  chose 
another  cup  of  tea.  Bertram  felt  embarrassed  while 
eating  his  toast  and  butter  under  the  eye  of  INIannering. 
Lucy,  while  she  indulged  to  the  uttermost  her  affection 
for  her  recovered  brother,  began  to  think  of  the  quarrel 
betwixt  him  and  Hazlewood.  The  Colonel  felt  the  pain- 
ful anxiety  natural  to  a  proud  mind,  when  it  deems  i's 


GUY    MANNERING.  265 

slightest  action  subject  for  a  moment  to  the  watchful  con- 
struction of  others.  The  lawyer,  while  sedulously  but- 
tering his  roll,  had  an  aspect  of  unwonted  gravity,  arising, 
perhaps,  from  the  severity  of  his  morning  studies.  Aa 
for  the  Dominie,  his  state  of  mind  was  ecstatic ! — Ha 
looked  at  Bertram — he  looked  at  Lucy — he  whimpered 
— he  sniggled — ^he  grinned — he  committed  all  manner 
of  solecisms  in  point  of  fcrm — poured  the  whole  cream 
(no  unlucky  mistake)  upon  the  plate  of  porridge  which 
was  his  own  usual  breakfast — threw  the  slops  of  what 
he  called  his  "crowning  dish  of  tea"  into  the  sugar-dish 
instead  of  the  slop-basin,  and  concluded  with  spilhng  the 
scalding  liquor  upon  old  Plato,  the  Colonel's  favourite 
spaniel,  who  received  the  libation  with  a  howl  that  did 
little  honour  to  his  philosophy. 

The  Colonel's  equanimity  was  rather  shaken  by  this 
last  blunder.  "  Upon  my  word,  my  good  friend,  ISir. 
Sampson,  you  forget  the  difference  between  Plato  and 
Zenocrates." 

"  The  former  was  chief  of  the  Academics,  the  latter  of 
the  Stoics,"  said  the  Dominie,  with  some  scorn  of  the 
supposition. 

"  Yes,  my  dear  sir,  but  it  was  Zenocrates,  not  Plato, 
who  denied  that  pain  was  an  evil." 

"  I  should  have  thought,"  said  Pleydell,  "  that  very 
respectable  quadruped,  which  is  just  now  hmping  out  of 
the  room  upon  three  of  his  four  legs,  was  rather  of  the 
Cynic  school." 

"  Very  well  hit  off But  here  comes  an  answer  from 

Mac-Morlan." 

It  was  unfavourable.  Mrs.  Mac-Morlan  sent  her  re- 
spectful compliments,  and  her  husband  had  been,  and 
was,  detained  by  some  alarming  disturbances  which  had 


266  WAVERTEY   NOVELS. 

taken  place  the  preceding  night  at  Portanferrj,  and  the 
necessary  investigation  which  they  had  occasioned. 

"  What's  to  be  done  now,  counsellor  ?  "  said  the  Colo- 
nel to  Pleydell. 

"  Why,  I  wish  we  could  have  seen  Mac-Morlan,"  said 
the  counsellor,  "  who  is  a  sensible  fellow  himself,  and 
would,  besides,  have  acted  under  my  advice.  But  there 
is  Httle  harm.  Our  friend  here  must  be  made  sui  juris : 
he  is  at  present  an  escaped  prisoner ;  the  law  has  an 
awkward  claim  upon  him — he  must  be  placed  rectus  in 
curia, — that  is  the  first  object.  For  which  purpose. 
Colonel,  I  will  accompany  you  in  your  carriage  down  to 
Hazlewood-House  ; — the  distance  is  not  great.  We  will 
offer  our  bail ;  and  I  am  confident  I  can  easily  show 

Mr. —  I  beg  his  pardon — Sir  Robert  Hazlewood,  the 

necessity  of  receiving  it." 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  said  the  Colonel ;  and  ringing 
the  bell,  gave  the  necessary  orders.  "  And  what  is  next 
to  be  done  ?  " 

"  We  must  get  hold  of  Mac-Morlan,  and  look  out  for 
more  proof." 

"  Proof!"  said  the  Colonel;  "  the  tiling  is  as  clear  as 
dayhght; — here  are  ]Mr.  Sampson  and  Miss  Bertram, 
and  you  yourself,  at  once  recognise  the  young  gentleman 
as  his  father's  image;  and  he  himself  recollects  all  the 
very  pecuHar  circumstances  preceding  his  leaving  this 
country — What  else  is  necessary  to  conviction  ?  " 

"  To  moral  conviction  nothing  more,  perhaps,"  said  the 
experienced  lawyer,  "  but  for  legal  proof  a  great  deal. 
Mr.  Bertram's  recollections  are  his  own  recollections 
merely  ;  and  therefore  are  not  evidence  in  his  own  favour  ; 
Miss  Bertram,  the  learned  Mr.  Sampson,  and  I,  can  only 
Bay,  what  every  one  who  knew  the  late  Ellangowan  will 


GUT   MANNERtNG.  267 

readily  agree  in,  that  this  gentleman  is  his  very  picture 
— But  that  will  not  make  him  EUangowan's  son,  and 
give  him  the  estate." 

"  And  what  will  do  so  ?  "  said  the  Colonel. 

"  Why,  we  must  have  a  distinct  probation. — -There  are 
these  gipsies, — but  then,  alas  !  they  are  almost  infamous 
in  the  eye  of  law — scarce  capable  of  bearing  evidence, 
and  Meg  Merrilies  utterly  so,  by  the  various  accounts 
which  she  formerly  gave  of  the  matter,  and  her  impudent 
denial  of  all  knowledge  of  the  fact  when  I  myself  exam- 
ined her  respecting  it." 

"  What  must  be  done  then  ?  "  asked  Mannering. 

"  We  must  try,"  answered  the  legal  sage,  "  what  proof 
can  be  got  at  in  Holland,  among  the  persons  by  whom 
our  young  friend  was  educated. — But  then  the  fear  of 
being  called  in  question  for  the  murder  of  the  ganger 
may  make  them  silent ;  or  if  they  speak,  they  are  either 
foreigners  or  outlawed  smugglers.  In  short,  I  see 
doubts." 

"  Under  favour,  most  learned  and  honoured  sir,"  said 
the  Dominie,  "  I  trust  He,  who  hath  restored  little  Harry 
Bertram  to  his  friends,  will  not  leave  his  own  work  im- 
perfect." 

"  I  trust  so  too,  Mr.  Sampson,"  said'  Pleydell ;  "  but 
we  must  use  the  means  ;  and  I  am  afraid  we  shall  have 
more  difficulty  in  procuring  them  than  I  at  first  thought 
— But  a  faint  heart  never  won  a  fair  lady— And,  by  the 
way,  (apart  to  Miss  Mannering,  while  Bertram  was 
engaged  with  his  sister,)  "  there's  a  vindication  of  lioi- 
land  for  you  ! — what  smart  fellows  do  you  think  Ley  den 
and  Utrecht  must  send  forth,  when  such  a  very  genteel 
and  handsome  young  man  comes  from  the  paltry  schoola 
of  Middleburgh  ?  " 


268  WAVEKLET   NOVELS. 

"  Of  a  verity,"  said  the  Dominie,  jealous  of  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  Dutch  seminary — "  of  a  verity,  Mr.  Pleydell, 
but  I  make  it  known  to  you  that  I  myself  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  his  education," 

"  True,  my  dear  Dominie,"  answered  the  advocate ; 
"  that  accounts  for  his  proficiency  in  the  graces,  without 
question. — But  here  comes  your  carriage,  Colonel.  Adieu, 
young  folks;  Miss  JuUa,  keep  your  heart  till  I  come 
back  again — let  there  be  nothing  done  to  prejudice  my 
right,  whilst  I  am  non  valens  agere.^' 

Their  reception  at  Hazlewood-House  was  more  cold 
and  formal  than  usual ;  for  in  general  the  Baronet  ex- 
pressed great  respect  for  Colonel  Mannering,  and  Mr. 
Pleydell,  besides  being  a  man  of  good  family  and  of  high 
general  estimation,  was  Sir  Robert's  old  friend.  But 
now  he  seemed  dry  and  embarrassed  in  his  manner. 
"  He  would  willingly,"  he  said,  "  receive  bail,  notwith- 
standing that  the  offence  had  been  directly  perpetrated, 
committed,  and  done,  against  young  Hazlewood  of  Hazle- 
wood ;  but  the  young  man  had  given  him  himself  a 
fictitious  description,  and  was  altogether  that  sort  of  per- 
son who  should  not  be  liberated,  discharged,  or  let  loose 
upon  society  ;  and  therefore  " 

"  I  hope,  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood,"  said  the  Colonel, 
"  you  do  not  mean  to  doubt  my  word,  when  I  assure  you 
that  he  served  under  me  as  a  cadet  in  India  ?  " 

*^'  By  no  means  or  account  whatsoever.  But  you  call 
him  a  cadet ;  now  he  says,  avers,  and  upholds,  that  he 
was  a  captain,  or  held  a  troop  in  your  regiment." 

"  He  was  promoted  since  I  gave  up  the  command." 

"  But  you  must  have  heard  of  it  ?  " 

"  No.  I  returned  on  account  of  family  circumstances 
'rom  India,  and  have  not  since  been  solicitous  to  hear 


GUT   MANNET.ING.  269 

particular  news  from  the  regiment ;  the  name  of  Brown, 
too*,  is  so  common,  that  I  might  have  seen  his  promotion 
in  the  Gazette  without  noticing  it.  But  a  day  or  two 
will  bring  letters  from  his  commanding  officer." 

*'  But  I  am  told  and  informed,  Mr.  Pleydell,"  answered 
Sir  Robert,  still  hesitating,  "  that  he  does  not  mean  to 
abide  by  this  name  of  Brown,  but  is  to  set  up  a  claim  to 
the  estate  of  Ellangowan  under  the  name  of  Bertram." 

*'  Ay  ?  who  says  that  ?  "  said  the  counsellor. 

"  Or,"  demanded  the  soldier,  "  whoever  says  so,  does 
that  give  a  right  to  keep  him  in  prison  ?  " 

"  Hush,  Colonel,"  said  the  lawyer  ;  "  I  am  sure  you 
would  not,  any  more  than  I,  countenance  him,  if  he  prove 
an  impostor. — And,  among  friends,  who  informed  you  of 
this.  Sir  Robert  ?  " 

"  Why,  a  person,  Mr.  Pleydell,"  answered  the  Baro- 
net, "  who  is  peculiarly  interested  in  investigating,  sift- 
ing, and  clearing  out  this  business  to  the  bottom — you 
will  excuse  my  being  more  particular." 

"  Oh,  certainly,"  rephed  Pleydell ; — "  well,  and  he 
says  ?  " 

"  He  says  that  it  is  whispered  about  among  tinkers, 
gipsies,  and  other  idle  persons,  that  there  is  such  a  plan 
as  I  mentioned  to  you,  and  that  this  young  man,  who  is  a 
bastard  or  natural  son  of  the  late  Ellangowan,  is  pitched 
upon  as  the  impostor,  from  his  strong  family  hkeness." 

"  And  was  there  such  a  natural  son.  Sir  Robert  ?  " 
demanded  the  counsellor. 

"  Oh,  certainly,  to  my  own  positive  knowledge.  El- 
langowan had  him  placed  as  cabin-boy  or  powder-monkey 
rm  board  an  armed  sloop  or  yacht  belonging  to  the 
revenue,  through  the  interest  of  the  late  Commissioner 
Bertram,  a  kinsman  of  liis  own." 


270  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  Well,  Sir  Robert,"  said  the  lawyer,  taking  the  word 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  impatient  soldier — "  you  have  t6ld 
me  news ;  I  shall  investigate  them,  and  if  I  find  them 
true,  certainly  Colonel  Mannering  and  I  will  not  coun- 
tenance this  young  man.  In  the  meanwhile,  as  we  are 
all  willing  to  make  him  forthcoming,  to  answer  all  com- 
plaints against  him,  I  do  assure  you  you  will  act  most 
illegally,  and  incur  heavy  responsibihty,  if  you  refuse  our 
bail" 

"  Why,  Mr.  Pleydell,"  said  Sir  Eobert,  who  knew  the 
high  authority  of  the  counsellor's  opinion,  "  as  you  know 
best,  and  as  you  promise  to  give  up  this  young  man  " 

"  If  he  proves  an  impostor,"  rephed  the  lawyer,  with 
some  emphasis. 

"  Ay,  certainly — under  that  condition  I  will  take  your 
bail ;  though  I  must  say,  an  obliging,  well-disposed,  and 
civil  neighbour  of  mine,  who  was  himself  bred  to  the  law, 
gave  me  a  hint  or  caution  this  morning  against  doing  so. 
It  was  from  him  I  learned  that  this  youth  was  liberated 
and  had  come  abroad,  or  rather  had  broken  prison. — But 
where  shall  we  find  one  to  draw  the  bail-bond  ?  " 

"  Here,"  said  the  counsellor,  applying  himself  to  the 
bell,  "  send  up  my  clerk,  Mr.  Driver — it  will  not  do  my 
character  harm  if  I  dictate  the  needful  myself."  It  was 
written  accordingly,  and  signed  ;  and  the  Justice  having 
subscribed  a  regular  warrant  for  Bertram  alias  Brown's 
discharge,  the  visitors  took  their  leave. 

Each  threw  himself  into  his  own  corner  of  the  post- 
chariot,  and  said  nothing  for  some  time.  The  Colonel 
first  broke  silence :  "  So  you  intend  to  give  up  this  poor 
young  fellow  at  the  first  brush  ?  " 

"  Who,  I  ?  "  replied  the  counsellor;  "I  will  not  give 
ap  one  hair  of  his  head,  though  I  should  foUow  them  to 


GUT    MANXERING.  271 

the  court  of  last  resort  in  his  behalf — but  what  signified 
mooting  points  and  showing  one's  hand  to  that  old  ass  ? 
Much  better  he  should  report  to  liis  prompter,  Glossin, 
that  we  are  indifferent  or  lukewarm  in  the  matter.  Be- 
sides, I  wished  to  have  a  peep  at  the  enemies'  game." 

•'  Indeed  !  "  said  the  soldier.  "  Then  I  see  there  are 
stratagems  in  law  as  well  as  war.  Well,  and  how  do  you 
like  their  line  of  battle  ?  " 

"  Ingenious,"  said  Mr.  Pleydell,  "  but  I  think  desper- 
ate ;  they  are  finessing  too  much — a  common  fault  on 
such  occasions." 

During  this  discourse  the  carriage  rolled  rapidly  towards 
Woodbourne  without  anything  occurring  worthy  of  the 
reader's  notice,  excepting  their  meeting  with  young  Hazle- 
wood,  to  whom  the  Colonel  told  the  extraordinary  history 
of  Bertram's  re-appearance,  which  he  heard  with  high 
delight,  and  then  rode  on  before  to  pay  Miss  Bertram  his 
compliments  on  an  event  so  happy  and  so  unexpected. 

We  return  to  the  party  at  Woodbourne.  After  the 
departure  of  Mannering,  the  conversation  related  chiefly 
to  the  fortunes  of  the  Ellangowan  family,  their  domains, 
and  their  former  power.  "  It  was,  then,  under  the  towers 
of  my  fathers,"  said  Bertram,  "  that  I  landed  some  days 
since,  in  circumstances  much  resembling  those  of  a  vaga- 
bond ?  Its  mouldering  turrets  and  darksome  arches  even 
then  awakened  thoughts  of  the  deepest  interest,  and  rec- 
ollections which  I  was  unable  to  decipher.  I  will  now 
visit  them  again  with  other  feelings,  and,  I  trust,  other 
and  better  hopes." 

"  Do  not  go  there  now,"  said  his  sister.  "  The  house 
of  our  ancestors  is  at  present  the  habitation  of  a  wretch 
as  insidious  as  dangerous,  whose  arts  and  villany  accom- 
plished the  ruin  and  broke  the  heart  of  our  unhappy 
father." 


272  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

"  You  increase  my  anxiety,"  replied  her  brother,  "  to 
confront  this  miscreant,  even  in  the  den  he  has  constructed 
for  himself — I  think  I  have  seen  him." 

"  But  you  must  consider,"  said  Julia,  "  that  you  are 
now  left  under  Lucy's  guard  and  mine,  and  are  responsi- 
ble to  us  for  aU  your  motions— consider  I  have  not  been 
a  lawyer's  mistress  twelve  hours  for  nothing,  and  I  assure 
you  it  would  be  madness  to  attempt  to  go  to  Ellangowan 
just  now. — The  utmost  to  which  I  can  consent  is,  that 
we  shall  walk  in  a  body  to  the  head  of  the  Woodbourne 
avenue,  and  from  that  perhaps  we  may  indulge  you  with 
our  company  as  far  as  a  rising  ground  in  the  common, 
whence  your  eyes  may  be  blessed  with  a  distant  prospect 
of  those  gloomy  towers,  which  struck  so  strongly  your 
sympathetic  imagination." 

The  party  was  speedily  agreed  upon,  and  the  ladies, 
having  taken  their  cloaks,  followed  the  route  proposed, 
under  the  escort  of  Captain  Bertram.  It  was  a  pleasant 
winter  morning,  and  the  cool  breeze  served  only  to 
freshen,  not  to  chill,  the  fair  walkers.  A  secret  though 
unacknowledged  bond  of  kindness  combined  the  two 
ladies  ;  and  Bertram,  now  hearing  the  interesting  accounts 
of  his  own  family,  now  communicating  his  adventures  in 
Europe  and  in  India,  repaid  the  pleasure  which  he  re- 
ceived. Lucy  felt  proud  of  her  brother,  as  well  from  the 
bold  and  manly  turn  of  his  sentiments,  as  from  the  dan- 
gers he  had  encountered,  and  the  spirit  with  which  he 
had  surmounted  them.  And  Julia,  while  she  pondered 
on  her  father's  words,  could  not  help  entertaining  hopes, 
that  the  independent  spirit  which  had  seemed  to  her 
father  presumption  in  the  humble  and  plebeian  Brown, 
would  have  the  grace  of  courage,  noble  bearing,  and 
high  blood,  in  the  far-descended  heir  of  Ellangowan. 


GUY  MANNERma.  273 

They  reached  at  length  the  little  eminence  or  knoll 
upon  the  highest  part  of  the  common,  called  Gibbie's- 
knowe — a  spot  repeatedly  mentioned  in  this  history,  aa 
beins:  on  the  skirts  of  the  Ellancrowan  estate.  It  com- 
manded  a  fair  variety  of  hill  and  dale,  bordered  with 
natural  woods,  whose  naked  boughs  at  this  season  reheved 
the  general  colour  of  the  landscape  with  a  dark  purple 
hue ;  while  in  other  places  the  prospect  was  more  for* 
mally  intersected  by  lines  of  plantation,  where  the  Scotch 
firs  displayed  their  variety  of  dusky  green.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  two  or  three  miles  lay  the  bay  of  EUangowan, 
its  waves  rippling  under  the  influence  of  the  western 
breeze.  The  towers  of  the  ruined  castle,  seen  high  over 
every  object  in  the  neighbourhood,  received  a  brighter 
colouring  from  the  wintry  sun. 

"  There,"  said  Lucy  Bertram,  pointing  them  out  in  the 
distance,  "  there  is  the  seat  of  our  ancestors.  God  knows, 
my  dear  brother,  I  do  not  covet  in  your  behalf  the  ex- 
tensive power  which  the  lords  of  these  ruins  are  said  to 
have  possessed  so  long,  and  sometimes  to  have  used  so 
ill.  But,  0  that  I  might  see  you  in  possession  of  such 
relics  of  their  fortune  as  should  give  you  an  honourable 
independence,  and  enable  you  to  stretch  your  hand  for 
the  protection  of  the  old  and  destitute  dependents  of  our 
family,  whom  our  poor  father's  death  " 

"  True,  my  dearest  Lucy,"  answered  the  young  heir  of 
EUangowan ;  "  and  I  trust,  with  the  assistance  of  Heaven, 
which  has  so  far  guided  us,  and  with  that  of  these  good 
friends,  whom  their  own  generous  hearts  have  interested 
in  my  behalf,  such  a  consummation  of  my  hard  adven- 
tures is  now  not  unlikely. — But  as  a  soldier,  I  must  look 
with  some  interest  upon  that  worm-eaten   hold  of  ragged 

VOL.  IV.  18 


274  WAYERLEY   NOVELS. 

stone  ;  and  if  this  undermining  scoundrel,  who  is  now  in 
possession,  dare  to  displace  a  pebble  of  it " 

He  was  here  interrupted  by  Dinmont,  who  came  has- 
tily after  them  up  the  road,  unseen  till  he  was  near  the 
party  : — "  Captain,  Captain  !  ye're  wanted — Ye're  wanted 
by  her  ye  ken  o'." 

And  immediately  Meg  Merrilies,  as  if  emerging  out 
of  the  earth,  ascended  from  the  hollow  way,  and  stood 
before  them.  "  I  sought  ye  at  the  house,"  she  said,  "  and 
found  but  him,"  (pointing  to  Dinmont.)  "But  ye  are 
right,  and  I  was  wrang ;  it  is  here  we  should  meet — on 
this  very  spot,  where  my  eyes  last  saw  your  father. 
Remember  your  promise,  and  follow  me." 


GUY   MANNERING.  275 


CHAPTER  Lin. 

To  hail  the  king  in  seemly  sort 

The  ladie  was  full  fain, 
But  King  Arthur,  all  sore  amazed, 

No  answer  made  again. 
"  What  wight  art  thou,"  the  ladie  said, 

"  That  will  not  speak  to  me? 
Sir,  I  may  chance  to  ease  thy  pain. 

Though  I  be  foul  to  see." 

The  Marriage  of  Sm  Gawainb. 

The  fairy  bride  of  Sir  Gawaine,  while  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  spell  of  her  wicked  stepmother,  was  more 
decrepit  probably,  and  what  is  commonly  called  more 
ugly,  than  Meg  Merrilies  ;  but  I  doubt  if  she  possessed 
that  wild  sublimity  which  an  excited  imagination  com- 
municated to  features,  marked  and  expressive  in  their  own 
pecuhar  character,  and  to  the  gestures  of  a  form,  which, 
her  sex  considered,  might  be  termed  gigantic.  Accord- 
ingly, the  Knights  of  the  Round  Table  did  not  recoil  with 
more  terror  from  the  apparition  of  the  loathly  lady  placed 
between  "  an  oak  and  a  green  holly,"  than  Lucy  Bertram 
and  Julia  Mannering  did  from  the  appearance  of  this 
Galwegian  sibyl  upon  the  common  of  EUangowan. 

"  For  God's  sake,"  said  Julia,  pulling  out  her  purse, 
"give  that  dreadful  woman  sometliing,  and  bid  her  go 
away." 

"  I  cannot,"  said  Bertram  ;  "  I  must  not  offend  her." 

"  What  keeps  you  here  ?  "  said  Meg,  exalting  the  harslj 


276  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

and  rough  tones  of  her  hollow  voice — "  why  do  you  not 
follow  ? — Mu^t  your  hour  call  you  twice  ?  Do  you 
remember  your  oath  ? — were  it  at  kirk  or  market,  wed- 
ding or  burial," — and  she  held  high  her  skinny  forefinger 
in  a  menacing  attitude. 

Bertram  turned  round  to  his  terrified  companions. 
"  Excuse  me  for  a  moment ;  I  am  engaged  by  a  promist 
to  follow  this  woman." 

"  Good  heavens  !  engaged  to  a  madwoman  ? "  said 
Julia. 

"  Or  to  a  gipsy,  who  has  her  band  in  the  wood  ready 
to  murder  you  !  "  said  Lucy. 

"  That  was  not  spoken  like  a  bairn  of  Ellangowan," 
said  Meg,  frowning  upon  Miss  Bertram.  "  It  is  the  ill- 
doers  are  ill-di-eaders." 

"  In  short,  I  must  go,"  said  Bertram — "  it  is  absolutely 
necessary ;  wait  for  me  five  minutes  on  this  spot." 

"  Five  minutes  ?  "  said  the  gipsy, — "  five  hours  may 
not  bring  you  here  again." 

"  Do  you  hear  that  ?  "  said  Juha ;  "  for  Heaven's  sake 
do  not  go  ! " 

"  I  must,  I  must — ^Mr.  Dinmont  will  protect  you  back 
to  the  house." 

"  No,"  said  Meg,  "  he  must  come  with  you — it  is  for 
that  he  is  here.  He  maun  take  part  wi'  hand  and  heart ; 
and  weel  his  part  it  is,  for  redduig  his  quarrel  might  have 
cost  you  dear." 

"  Troth,  Luckie,  it's  very  true,"  said  the  steady  farmer ; 
"  and  ere  I  turn  back  frae  the  Captain's  side,  I'll  show 
that  I  haena  forgotten't." 

"  O  yes  !  "  exclaimed  both  the  ladies  at  once — "  let 
Mr.  Dinmont  go  with  you,  if  go  you  must  on  this  strange 
summons." 


GUY    MANNERING.  277 

"  Indeed  I  must,"  answered  Bertram,  "  but  jou  see  I 
am  safely  guarded — Adieu  for  a  short  time ;  go  home  as 
fast  as  you  can." 

He  pressed  his  sister's  hand,  and  took  a  yet  more  affec- 
tionate farewell  of  Julia  with  his  eyes.  Almost  stupefied 
with  surprise  and  fear,  the  young  ladies  watched  with 
anxious  looks  the  course  of  Bertram,  his  companion,  and 
their  extraordinary  guide.  Her  tall  figure  moved  across 
the  wintry  heath  with  steps  so  swift,  so  long,  and  so 
steady,  that  she  appeared  rather  to  glide  than  to  walk. 
Bertram  and  Dinmont,  both  tall  men,  apparently  scarce 
equalled  her  in  heigJit,  owing  to  her  longer  dress  and 
high  head-gear.  She  proceeded  straight  across  the  com- 
mon, without  turning  aside  to  the  winding  path,  by  which 
passengers  avoided  the  inequalities  and  little  rills  that 
traversed  it  in  different  directions.  Thus  the  diminishing 
figures  often  disappeared  from  the  eye,  as  they  dived  into 
such  broken ,  ground,  and  again  ascended  to  sight  when 
they  were  past  the  hollow.  There  was  something  fright- 
ful and  unearthly,  as  it  were,  in  the  rapid  and  undeviating 
course  which  she  pursued,  undeterred  by  any  of  the  im- 
pediments which  usually  incline  a  traveller  from  the  direct 
path.  Her  way  was  as  straight,  and  nearly  as  swift  as 
that  of  a  bird  through  the  air.  At  length  they  reached 
those  thickets  of  natural  wood  which  extended  from  the 
skirts  of  the  common  towards  the  glades  and  brook  of 
Derncleugh,  and  were  there  lost  to  the  view. 

"  This  is  very  extraordinary  ! "  said  Lucy,  after  a  pause, 
and  turning  round  to  her  companion — "  What  can  he  have 
to  do  with  that  old  hag  ?  " 

"  It  is  very  frightful,"  answered  Julia,  "  and  almost 
reminds  me  of  the  tales  of  sorceresses,  witches,  and  evil 
genii,  which  I  have  heard  in  India.     They  believe  there 


278  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

is  a  fascination  of  the  eye,  by  which  those  who  possess  i 
control  the  will  and  dictate  the  motions  of  their  victims. 
What  c.«in  your  brother  have  in  common  with  that  fearful 
woman,  that  he  should  leave  us,  obviously  against  liis 
will,  to  attend  to  her  commands  ?  " 

"  At  least,"  said  Lucy,  "  we  may  hold  him  safe  from 
harm ;  for  she  would  never  have  summoned  that  faithful 
creature  Dinmont,  of  whose  strength,  courage,  and  steadi- 
ness, Henry  said  so  much,  to  attend  upon  an  expedition 
where  she  projected  evil  to  the  person  of  his  friend.  And 
now  let  us  go  back  to  the  house  till  the  Colonel  returns  ; 
— perhaps  Bertram  may  be  back  first ;  at  any  rate,  the 
Colonel  will  judge  what  is  to  be  done." 

Leaning  then  upon  each  other's  arm,  but  yet  occasion- 
ally stumbling,  between  fear  and  the  disorder  of  their 
nerves,  they  at  length  reached  the  head  of  the  avenue, 
when  they  heard  the  tread  of  a  horse  behind.  They 
started,  for  their  ears  w^ere  awake  to  every  sound,  and 
beheld  to  their  great  pleasure  young  Ilazlewood.  "  The 
Colonel  will  be  here  immediately,"  he  said  ;  "  I  galloped 
on  before  to  pay  my  respects  to  Miss  Bertram,  with  the 
sincerest  congratulations  upon  the  joyful  event  which  has 
taken  place  in  her  family.  I  long  to  be  introduced  to 
Captain  Bertram,  and  to  thank  him  for  the  well-deserved 
lesson  he  gave  to  my  rashness  and  indiscretion." 

"  He  has  left  us  just  now,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  in  a  man- 
ner that  has  frightened  us  very  much." 

Just  at  that  moment  the  Colonel's  carriage  drove  up, 
and,  on  observing  the  ladies,  stopped,  while  Mannering 
and  his  learned  counsel  alighted  and  joined  them.  They 
mstantly  communicated  the  new  cause  of  alarm. 

"  Meg  Merrilies  again  ! "  said  the  Colonel.  "  She  cer- 
tainly is  a  most  mysterious  and  unaccountable  personage ; 


GUr    MANNEEING.  279 

but  I  think  she  must  have  something  to  impart  to  Ber- 
tram, to  which  vshe  does  not  mean  we  should  be  privy." 

"  The  devil  take  the  bedlamite  old  woman  ! "  said  the 
counsellor :  "  will  she  not  let  things  take  their  course^ 
^rout  de  lege,  but  must  always  be  putting  in  her  oar  in 
her  own  way  ? — Then  I  fear,  from  the  direction  they  took, 
they  are  going  upon  the  Ellangowan  estate.  That  rascal 
Glossin  has  shown  us  what  ruffians  he  has  at  his  disposal 
— I  wish  honest  Liddesdale  may  be  guard  sufficient." 

"  If  you  please,"  said  Hazlewood,  "  I  should  be  most 
happy  to  ride  in  the  direction  which  they  have  taken.  I 
am  so  well  known  in  the  country,  that  I  scarce  think  any 
outrage  will  be  offered  in  my  presence,  and  I  shall  keep 
at  such  a  cautious  distance  as  not  to  appear  to  watch 
Meg,  or  interrupt  any  communication  which  she  may 
make." 

"  Upon  my  word,"  said  Pleydell  (aside),  "  to  be  a  sprig, 
whom  I  remember  with  a  whey  face  and  a  satchel  not  so 
very  many  years  ago,  I  think  young  Hazlewood  grows  a 
fine  fellow. — I  am  more  afraid  of  a  new  attempt  at  legal 
oppression  than  at  open  violence,  and  from  that  this 
young  man's  presence  would  deter  both  Glossin  and  his 
understrappers.  Hie  away  then,  my  boy — peer  out — 
peer  out ; — you'll  find  them  somewhere  about  Derncleugh, 
or  very  probably  in  Warroch-wood." 

Hazlewood  turned  his  horse.  "  Come  back  to  us  to 
dinner,  Hazlewood,"  cried  the  Colonel.  He  bowed, 
spurred  his  horse,  and  galloped  off. 

We  now  return  to  Bertram  and  Dinmont,  who  con- 
tinued to  follow  their  mysterious  guide  through  the  woods 
and  dingles,  between  the  open  common  and  the  ruined 
hamlet  of  Derncleugh.  As  she  led  the  way,  she  never 
looked  back  upon  her  followers,  unless  to  chide  them  for 


280  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

loitering,  though  the  sweat,  in  spite  of  the  season,  poured 
from  theii'  brows.  At  other  times  she  spoke  to  herself  in 
Buch  broken  expressions  as  these  : — "  It  is  to  rebuild  the 
auid  house — it  is  to  laj  the  corner  stone — and  did  I  not 
warn  him  ? — I  tell'd  him  I  was  born  to  do  it,  if  my  father's 
head  had  been  the  stepping-stane,  let  alane  his.  I  was 
doomed — still  I  kept  my  purpose  in  the  cage  and  in  the 
stocks  ; — I  was  banished — I  kept  it  in  an  unco  land  ; — I 
was  scourged — I  was  branded — ^my  resolution  lay  deeper 
than  scourge  or  red  ii-on  could  reach — and  now  the  hour 
is  come  ! " 

"  Captain,"  said  Dinmont,  in  a  half  whisper,  "  I  wish 
she  binna  uncanny  !  her  words  dinna  seem  to  come  in 
God's  name,  or  like  other  folk's.  Od,  they  threep  in  our 
country  that  there  are  sic  things." 

"  Don't  be  afraid,  my  friend,"  whispered  Bertram  in 
return. 

"  Fear'd !  fient  a  haet  care  I,"  said  the  dauntless' 
farmer ;  "  be  she  witch  or  deevil,  it's  a'  ane  to  Dandle 
Dinmont." 

"  Hand  your  peace,  gudeman,"  said  Meg,  looking 
sternly  over  her  shoulder ;  "  is  this  a  time  or  place  for 
you  to  speak,  think  ye  ?  " 

"  But  my  good  friend,"  said  Bertram,  "  as  I  have  no 
doubt  in  your  good  faith,  or  kindness,  which  I  have  expe- 
rienced, you  should  in  return  have  some  confidence  in  me 
— I  wish  to  know  where  you  are  leading  us." 

"  There's  but  ae  answer  to  that,  Henry  Bertram,"  said 
the  sibyl. — "  I  swore  my  tongue  should  never  tell,  but  I 
never  said  my  finger  should  never  show.  Go  on  and 
meet  your  fortune,  or  turn  back  and  lose  it — that's  a'  I 
hae  to  say." 

'•  Go  on  then,"  answered  Bertram  ;  "  I  will  ask  no 
more  questions." 


GUY   MANNERING.  281 

They  descended  into  the  glen  about  the  same  place 
where  Meg  had  formerly  parted  from  Bertram.  She 
paused  an  instant  beneath  the  tall  rock  where  he  had  wit- 
nessed the  burial  of  a  dead  body,  and  stamped  upon  the 
ground,  which,  notwithstanding  all  the  care  that  had  been 
taken,  showed  vestiges  of  having  been  recently  removed. 
"  Here  rests  ane,"  she  said,  "  he'll  maybe  hae  neibours 
sune." 

She  then  moved  up  the  brook  until  she  came  to  the 
ruined  hamlet,  where,  pausing  with  a  look  of  peculiar  and 
softened  interest  before  one  of  the  gables  which  was  still 
standing,  she  said,  in  a  tone  less  abrupt,  though  as  solemn 
as  before,  "  Do  you  see  that  blackit  and  broken  end  of  a 
sheeling  ? — There  my  kettle  boiled  for  forty  yeai's — there 
1  bore  twelve  buirdly  sons  and  daughters — Where  are 
they  now  ? — Where  are  the  leaves  that  were  on  that  auld 
ash-tree  at  Martinmas  ! — the  w^est  wind  has  made  it  bare 
— and  I'm  stripped  too. — Do  you  see  that  saugh-tree  ? — 
it's  but  a  blackened  rotten  stump  now — I've  sat  under  it 
mony  a  bonnie  summer  afternoon,  when  it  hung  its  gay 
garlands  ower  the  poppling  water — I've  sat  there,  and  " 
(elevating  her  voice)  "  I've  held  you  on  my  knee,  Henry 
Bertram,  and  sung  ye  sangs  of  the  auld  barons  and  their 
bloody  wars — It  will  ne'er  be  green  again,  and  Meg  Mer- 
rilies  will  never  sing  sangs  mair,  be  they  bhthe  or  sad. 
But  ye'll  no  forget  her  ? — and  ye'U  gar  big  up  the  auld 
wa's  for  her  sake  ? — and  let  somebody  live  there  that's 
ower  gude  to  fear  them  of  another  warld — For  if  ever 
the  dead  came  back  amang  the  living,  I'll  be  seen  in  this 
glen  mony  a  night  after  these  crazed  banes  are  in  the 
mould." 

The  mixture  of  insanity  and  wild  pathos  with  which 
she  spoke  these  last  words,  with  her  right  arm  bare  and 


282  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

extended,  her  left  bent  and  shrouded  beneath  the  dark 
red  drapery  of  her  mantle,  might  have  been  a  studj 
worthy  of  our  Siddons  herself.  "  And  now,"  she  said,  re- 
suming at  once  the  short,  stern,  and  hasty  tone  which  wa& 
most  ordinary  to  her — "  let  us  to  the  wark — let  us  to  the 
wark." 

She  then  led  the  way  to  the  promontory  on  which  the 
Kaim  of  Derncleugh  was  situated,  produced  a  large  key 
froin  her  pocket,  and  unlocked  the  door.  The  interior  of 
this  place  was  in  better  order  than  formerly.  "  I  have 
made  things  decent,"  she  said ;  "  I  may  be  streekit  here 
or  night.  There  will  be  few,  few  at  Meg's  lykewake,  for 
mony  of  our  folk  will  blame  what  I  hae  done,  and  am 
to  do !  " 

She  then  pointed  to  a  table,  upon  which  was  some  cold 
meat,  arranged  with  more  attention  to  neatness  than  could 
have  been  expected  from  Meg's  habits.  "  Eat,"  she  said, 
"  eat ; — ye'll  need  it  this  night  yet." 

Bertram,  in  complaisance,  eat  a  morsel  or  two ;  and 
Dinmont,  whose  appetite  was  unabated  either  by  wonder, 
apprehension,  or  the  meal  of  the  morning,  made  his  usual 
figure  as  a  trencher-man.  She  then  offered  each  a  single 
glass  of  spirits,  which  Bertram  drank  diluted,  and  his 
companion  plain. 

"  Will  ye  taste  naething  yoursell,  Luckie  ?  "  said  Din- 
mont. 

"  I  shall  not  need  it,"  replied  their  mysterious  hostess. 
"  And  now,"  she  said,  "  ye  maun  hae  arms — je  maunna 
gang  on  dry-handed; — but  use  them  not  rashly — take 
captive,  but  save  life — let  the  law  hae  its  ain — he  maun 
Bpeak  ere  he  die." 

"  Who  is  to  be  taken  ? — who  is  to  speak  ?  "  said  Ber- 
tram, in  astonishment,  receiving  a  pair  of  pistols  which 


GUY   MANNERING.  283 

she  offered  him,  and  which,  upon  examining,  he  found 
loaded  and  locked. 

"  The  flints  are  gude,"  she  said,  "  and  the  powder  dry 
— I  ken  this  wark  week" 

Then,  without  answering  his  questions,  she  armed  Din- 
mont  also  with  a  large  pistol,  and  desired  them  to  choose 
sticks  for  themselves,  out  of  a  parcel  of  veiy  suspicious- 
looking  bludgeons  which  she  brought  from  a  corner. 
Bertram  took  a  stout  sapling,  and  Dandie  selected  a  club 
which  might  have  served  Hercules  himself.  They  then 
left  the  hut  together,  and,  in  doing  so,  Bertram  took  an 
opportunity  to  whisper  to  Dinmont,  "  There's  something 
inexplicable  in  all  this — But  we  need  not  use  these  arms 
unless  we  see  necessity  and  lawful  occasion — take  care  to 
do  as  you  see  me  do." 

Dinmont  gave  a  sagacious  nod ;  and  they  continued  to 
follow,  over  wet  and  over  dry,  through  bog  and  through 
fallow,  the  footsteps  of  their  conductress.  She  guided 
them  to  the  wood  of  Warroch  by  the  same  track  which 
the  late  Ellangowan  had  used  when  riding  to  Derncleugh 
in  quest  of  his  child,  on  the  miserable  evening  of  Ken- 
nedy's murder. 

When  Meg  Merrilies  had  attained  these  groves, 
through  which  the  wintry  sea-wind  was  now  whistHng 
hoarse  and  shriU,  she  seemed  to  pause  a  moment  as  if  to 
recollect  the  way.  "  We  maun  go  the  precise  track,"  she 
said,  and  continued  to  go  forward,  but  rather  in  a  zigzag 
and  involved  course,  than  according  to  her  former  steady 
and  direct  line  of  motion.  At  length  she  guided  them 
through  the  mazes  of  the  wood  to  a  httle  open  glade  of 
about  a  quarter  of  an  acre,  surrounded  by  trees  and 
bushes,  which  made  a  wild  and  irregular  boundary. 
Even  in  winter  it  was  a  sheltered  and  snugly  sequestered 


284  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

spot ;  but  when  arrayed  in  tlie  verdure  of  spring,  the 
earth  sending  forth  all  its  wild  flowers,  the  shrubs  spread- 
ing their  waste  of  blossom  around  it,  and  the  weeping 
birches,  which  towered  over  the  underwood,  drooping 
their  long  and  leafy  fibres  to  mtercept  the  sun,  it  must 
have  seemed  a  place  for  a  youthful  poet  to  study  his  earli- 
est sonnet,  or  a  pair  of  lovers  to  exchange  their  first  mu- 
tual avowal  of  afiection.  Apparently  it  now  awakened 
very  different  recollections.  Bertram's  brow,  when  he 
had  looked  round  the  spot,  became  gloomy  and  embar- 
rassed. Meg,  after  uttering  to  herself,  "  This  is  the  very 
spot !  "  looked  at  him  with  a  ghastly  side-glance, — "  D'ye 
mind  it?" 

"  Yes  !  "  answered  Bertram,  "  imperfectly  I  do." 

"  Ay !  "  pursued  his  guide,  "  on  this  very  spot  the  man 
fell  from  his  horse — I  was  behind  that  bourtree-bush  at 
the  very  moment.  Sair,  sair  he  strove,  and  sair  he  cried 
for  mercy — but  he  was  in  the  hands  of  them  that  never 
kenn'd  the  word! — Now  will  I  show  you  the  further 
track — the  last  time  ye  travelled  it,  was  in  these  arms." 

She  led  them  accordingly  by  a  long  and  winding  pas- 
sage, almost  overgrown  with  brushwood,  until,  without 
any  very  perceptible  descent,  they  suddenly  found  them- 
selves by  the  sea-side.  Meg  then  walked  very  fast  on 
between  the  surf  and  the  rocks,  until  she  came  to  a  re- 
markable fragment  of  rock,  detached  from  the  rest. 
"  Here,"  she  said,  in  a  low  and  scarcely  audible  whisper, 
^  here  the  corpse  was  found." 

"  And  the  cave,"  said  Bertram,  in  the  same  tone,  "  is 
close  beside  it — are  you  guiding  us  there  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  gipsy,  in  a  decided  tone.  "  Bend  up 
both  your  hearts — follow  me  as  I  creep  in — I  have  placed 
the  fire-wood  so  as  to  screen  you.     Bide  behind  it  for  a 


GUT   MANNERING.  285 

glrff  till  I  say,  The  hour  and  the  man  are  hak  \  come  ! 
then  rin  in  on  him,  take  his  arms,  and  bind  hini  till  the 
blood  burst  frae  his  finger  nails." 

"  I  will,  by  my  soul !  "  said  Henry — "  if  he  is  he  man 
I  suppose — Jansen  ?  " 

"  Ay,  Jansen,  Hatteraick,  and  twenty  mair  na  mes  are 
his." 

"  Dinmont,  you  must  stand  by  me  now,"  said  Bertram, 
"  for  this  fellow  is  a  devil." 

"  Ye  needna  doubt  that,"  said  the  stout  yeoman-—"  But 
I  wish  I  could  mind  a  bit  prayer  or  I  creep  after  the 
witch  into  that  hole  that  she's  opening — It  wad  be  a  sair 
thing  to  leave  the  blessed  sun,  and  the  free  air,  ar^d  gang 
and  be  killed,  like  a  tod  that's  run  to  earth,  in  a  dungeon 
like  that.  But,  my  sooth,  they  will  be  hard-bitten  t;erriers 
will  worry  Dandie ;  so,  as  I  said,  deil  hae  me  if  1  baulk 
you."  This  was  uttered  in  the  lowest  tone  of  vo^ce 
possible.  The  entrance  was  now  open.  Meg  crept  in 
upon  her  hands  and  knees,  Bertram  followed,  and  Din- 
mont, after  giving  a  rueful  glance  towards  the  daylight, 
whose  blessings  he  was  abandoning,  brought  up  the  rear 


28&  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

Die,  prophet,  in  thy  speech! 

For  this,  among  the  rest,  was  I  ordained. 

He^rt  VI.  Fart  III. 

The  progress  of  the  Borderer,  who,  as  we  have  said, 
was  the  last  of  the  party,  was  fearfully  arrested  by  a 
hand,  which  caught  hold  of  his  leg  as  he  di-agged  hig 
long  hmbs  after  him  in  silence  and  perturbation  through 
the  low  and  narrow  entrance  of  the  subterranean  passage. 
The  steel  heart  of  the  bold  yeoman  had  well-nigh  given 
way,  and  he  suppressed  with  difficulty  a  shout,  which,  in 
the  defenceless  posture  and  situation  which  they  then 
occupied,  might  have  cost  all  their  Hves.  He  contented 
himself,  however,  with  extricating  his  foot  from  the  grasp 
of  this  unexpected  follower.  "  Be  still,"  said  a  voice 
behind  him,  releasing  him ;  "  I  am  a  friend — Charles 
Hazlewood." 

These  words  were  uttered  in  a  very  low  voice,  but 
they  produced  sound  enough  to  staitle  Meg  MerriHes, 
who  led  the  van,  and  who,  having  already  gained  the 
place  where  the  cavern  expanded,  had  risen  upon  her 
feet.  She  began,  as  if  to  confound  any  listening  ear,  to 
growl,  to  mutter,  and  to  sing  aloud,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  make  a  bustle  among  some  brushwood  which  was  now 
heaped  in  the  cave. 

"  Here — ^beldam — Deyvil's   kind,"  growled  the  harsh 


GUY   MANNERING.  287 

voice  of  Dirk  Hatteraick  from  the  inside  of  his  den; 
"  what  makest  thou  there  ?  " 

"  Laying  the  roughies  *  to  keep  the  cauld  wind  frae 
you,  ye  desperate  do-nae-good — Ye're  e'en  ower  weel  off, 
and  wots  na ; — it  will  be  otherwise  soon." 

"  Have  you  brought  me  the  brandy,  and  any  news  of 
my  people  ?  "  said  Dirk  Hatteraick. 

"  There's  the  flask  for  ye.  Your  people — dispersed — 
broken — gone — or  cut  to  ribbands  by  the  red  coats." 

"  Der  Dey  vil ! — this  coast  is  fatal  to  me." 

"  Ye  may  hae  mair  reason  to  say  sae." 

While  this  dialogue  went  forward,  Bertram  and  Din- 
mont  had  both  gained  the  interior  of  the  cave,  and 
assumed  an  erect  position.  The  only  hght  which  illu- 
minated its  rugged  and  sable  precincts  was  a  quantity  of 
w^ood  burnt  to  charcoal  in  an  iron  grate,  such  as  they  use 
in  spearing  salmon  by  night.  On  these  red  embers  Hat- 
teraick from  time  to  time  threw  a  handful  of  twigs  or 
spUntered  wood ;  but  these,  even  when  they  blazed  up, 
afforded  a  Ught  much  disproportioned  to  the  extent  of  the 
cavern  ;  and,  as  its  principal  inhabitant  lay  upon  the  side 
of  the  grate  most  remote  from  the  entrance,  it  was  not 
easy  for  him  to  discover  distinctly  objects  which  lay  in 
that  direction.  The  intruders,  therefore,  whose  number 
was  now  augmented  unexpectedly  to  thi-ee,  stood  behind 
the  loosely-piled  branches  with  little  risk  of  discovery. 
Dinmont  had  the  sense  to  keep  back  Hazlewood  with 
one  hand  till  he  whispered  to  Bertram,  "  A  friend — ^young 
Hazlewood." 

It  was  no  time  for  following  up  the  introduction,  and 
they  all  stood  as  still  as  the  rocks  around  them,  obscurea 

*  Withered  boughs. 


V^^AVERLEY   NOVELS. 

behind  the  pile  of  brushwood,  which  had  been  probably 
placed  there  to  break  the  cold  wind  from  the  sea,  without 
totally  intercepting  the  supply  of  air.  The  branches 
were  laid  so  loosely  above  each  other,  that,  looking 
through  them  towards  the  light  of  the  fire-grate,  they 
could  easily  discover  what  passed  in  its  vicinity,  although 
a  much  stronger  degree  of  illumination  than  it  afforded 
would  not  have  enabled  the  persons  placed  near  the 
bottom  of  the  cave  to  have  descried  them  in  the  position 
which  they  occupied. 

The  scene,  independent  of  the  peculiar  moral  interest 
and  personal  danger  which  attended  it,  had,  from  the 
effect  of  the  light  and  shade  on  the  uncommon  objects 
which  it  exhibited,  an  appearance  emphatically  dismal. 
The  light  in  the  fire-grate  was  the  dark-red  glare  of  char- 
coal in  a  state  of  ignition,  relieved  from  time  to  time  by 
a  transient  flame  of  a  more  vivid  or  duskier  light,  as  the 
fuel  with  which  Du'k  Hatteraick  fed  his  fire  was  better 
or  worse  fitted  for  his  purpose.  Now  a  dark  cloud  of 
stifling  smoke  rose  up  to  the  roof  of  the  cavern,  and  then 
lighted  into  a  reluctant  and  sullen  blaze,  which  flashed 
wavering  up  the  pillar  of  smoke,  and  was  suddenly 
rendered  brighter  and  more  lively  by  some  drier  fuel,  or 
perhaps  some  splintered  fir-timber,  which  at  once  con- 
verted the  smoke  into  flame.  By  such  fitful  irradiation, 
they  could  see,  more  or  less  distinctly,  the  form  of  Hat- 
teraick, whose  savage  and  rugged  cast  of  features,  now 
rendered  yet  more  ferocious  by  the  circumstances  of  his 
situation,  and  the  deep  gloom  of  his  mind,  assorted  well 
with  the  rugged  and  broken  vault  which  rose  in  a  rude 
arch  over  and  around  him.  The  form  of  Meg  Merrilies, 
which  stalked  about  him,  sometimes  in  the  light,  some- 
times partially  obscured  in  the  smoke  or  darkness,  con- 


GUT   MANNERING.  289 

trasted  strongly  with  the  sitting  figure  of  Hatteraick  as 
he  bent  over  the  flame,  and  from  his  stationary  posture 
was  constantly  visible  to  the  spectator,  while  that  of  the 
female  flitted  around,  appearing  or  disappearing  hke  a 
spectre. 

Bertram  felt  his  blood  boil  at  the  sight  of  Hatteraick. 
He  remembered  him  well  under  the  name  of  Jansen, 
which  the  smuggler  had.  adopted  after  the  death  of  Ken- 
nedy ;  and  he  remembered  also,  that  this  Jansen,  and  his 
mate  Brown,  the  same  who  was  shot  at  Woodbourne, 
had  been  the  brutal  tyrants  of  his  infancy.  Bertram 
knew  farther,  from  piecing  his  own  imperfect  recollections 
with  the  narratives  of  Mannering  and  Pleydell,  that  this 
man  was  the  prime  agent  in  the  act  of  violence  which 
tore  him  from  his  family  and  country,  and  had  exposed 
him  to  so  many  distresses  and  dangers.  A  thousand 
exasperating  reflections  rose  within  his  bosom ;  and  he 
could  hardly  refrain  from  rushing  upon  Hatteraick  and 
blowing  his  brains  out. 

At  the  same  time  this  would  have  been  no  safe  adven- 
ture. The  flame,  as  it  rose  and  fell,  while  it  displayed 
the  strong,  muscular,  and  broad-chested  frame  of  the 
ruffian,  glanced  also  upon  two  brace  of  pistols  in  his  belt, 
and  upon  the  hilt  of  his  cutlass :  it  was  not  to  be  doubted 
that  his  desperation  was  commensurate  with  his  personal 
strength  and  means  of  resistance.  Both,  iudeed,  were 
inadequate  to  encounter  the  combined  power  of  two  such 
men  as  Bertram  himself  and  his  friend  Dinmont,  without 
reckoning  their  unexpected  assistant  Hazlewood,  who  was 
unarmed,  and  of  a  slighter  make  ;  but  Bertram  felt,  on  a 
moment's  reflection,  that  there  would  be  neither  sense 
nor  valour  in  anticipating  the  hangman's  office,  and  he 
considered  the  importance  of  making  Hatteraick  prisoner 

VOL.  IV.  19 


290  WAVEELEY   NOVELS. 

alive ; — he  therefore  repressed  his  indignation,  and  awaited 
what  should  pass  between  the  ruffian  and  his  gipsy  guide. 

"  And  how  are  ye  now  ?  "  said  the  harsh  and  discor- 
dant tones  of  his  female  attendant ;  "  Said  I  not  it  would 
come  upon  you — ay,  and  in  this  very  cave,  where  ye  har- 
boured after  the  deed  ?  " 

"  Wetter  and  sturm,  ye  hag ! "  replied  Hatteraick, 
"  keep  your  deyvil's  matins  till  they're  wanted. — Have 
you  seen  Glossin  ?  " 

"  No,"  rephed  Meg  Merrilies ;  "  you've  missed  your 
blow,  ye  blood-spiller !  and  ye  have  nothing  to  expect 
from  the  tempter." 

"  Hagel ! "  exclaimed  the  ruffian,  "  if  I  had  him  but  by 
the  throat ! — And  what  am  I  to  do  then  ?  " 

"  Do?"  answered  the  gipsy  ; — "  die  like  a  man,  or  be 
hanged  like  a  dog  !  " 

"  Hanged,  ye  hag  of  Satan ! — the  hemp's  not  sown  that 
shall  hang  me." 

"It's  sown,  and  it's  grown,  and  it's  heckled,  and  it's 
twisted.  Did  I  not  tell  ye,  when  ye  wad  take  away  the 
boy  Harry  Bertram,  in  spite  of  my  prayers — did  I  not 
say  he  would  come  back  when  he  had  dree'd  his  weird  in 
foreign  land  till  his  twenty-first  year  ? — did  I  not  say  the 
auld  fire  would  burn  down  to  a  spark,  but  wad  kindle 
again  ?  " 

"  Well,  mother,  you  did  say  so,"  said  Hatteraick,  in  a 
tone  that  had  something  of  despair  in  its  accents  ;  "  and 
donner  and  blitzen  !  I  believe  you  spoke  the  truth — that 
younker  of  Ellangowan  has  been  a  rock  a-head  to  me  all 
my  life  ! — and  now,  with  Glossin's  cursed  contrivance,  my 
crew  have  been  cut  off",  my  boats  destroyed,  and  I  dare 
say  the  lugger's  taken — there  were  not  men  enough  left 
on  board  to  work  her,  far  less  to  fip-ht  her — a  dredgre-boat 


GUY    MANNERING.  291 

might  have  taken  her.  And  what  will  the  owners  say  ?:— 
Hagel  and  sturm !  I  shall  never  dare  go  back  again  to 
Flushing/' 

"  You'll  never  need,"  said  the  gipsy. 

"  What  are  you  doing  there  ?  "  said  her  compaDion ; 
"  and  what  makes  you  say  that  ?  " 

During  this  dialogue,  Meg  was  heaping  some  flax 
loosely  together.  Before  answer  to  this  question,  she 
dropped  a  firebrand  upon  the  flax,  which  had  been  previ- 
ously steeped  in  some  spirituous  liquor,  for  it  instantly 
caught  fire,  and  rose  in  a  vivid  pyramid  of  the  most 
brilliant  light  up  to  the  very  top  of  the  vault.  As  it 
ascended,  Meg  answered  the  ruffian's  question  in  a  firm 
and  steady  voice :- — "  Because  the  Hour's  come,  and  the 
Man," 

At  the  appointed  signal,  Bertram  and  Dinmont  sprung 
over  the  brushwood,  and  rushed  upon  Hatteraick.  Hazle- 
wood,  unacquainted  with  their  plan  of  assault,  was  a 
moment  later.  The  ruffian,  who  instantly  saw  he  was 
betrayed,  turned  his  first  vengeance  on  Meg  Merrilies,  at 
whom  he  discharged  a  pistol.  She  fell,  with  a  piercing 
and  dreadful  cry,  between  the  shriek  of  pain  and  the 
sound  of  laughter,  when  at  its  highest  and  most  suffix- 
eating  height.  "  I  kenn'd  it  would  be  this  way,"  she 
said. 

Bertram,  in  his  haste,  slipped  his  foot  upon  the  uneven 
rock  which  floored  the  cave ; — a  fortunate  stumble,  for 
Hatteraick's  second  buUet  whistled  over  him  with  so  true 
and  steady  an  aim,  that,  had  he  been  standing  upright,  it 
must  have  lodged  in  his  brain.  Ere  the  smuggler  could 
draw  another  pistol,  Dinmont  closed  with  him,  and 
endeavoured  by  main  force  to  pinion  down  his  arms. 
Such,  however,  was  the  wretch's  personal  strength,  joined 


292  WAYEKLEY  NOVELS. 

to  the  efforts  of  his  despair,  that,  in  spite  of  the  gigantic 
force  with  which  the  Borderer  grappled  him,  he  dragged 
Dmmont  through  the  blazing  flax,  and  had  almost  suc- 
ceeded in  drawing  a  third  pistol,  which  might  have 
proved  fatal  to  the  honest  farmer,  had  not  Bertram,  as 
well  as  Hazlewood,  come  to  his  assistance,  when,  by  main 
force,  and  no  ordinary  exertion  of  it,  they  threw  Hat- 
teraick  on  the  ground,  disarmed  him,  and  bound  him. 
This  scuffle,  though  it  takes  up  some  time  in  the  narra- 
tive, passed  in  less  than  a  single  minute.  When  he  was 
fairly  mastered,  after  one  or  two  desperate  and  almost 
convulsionary  struggles,  the  ruffian  lay  perfectly  still  and 
silent.  "  He's  gaun  to  die  game  ony  how,"  said  Dinmont : 
"  weel,  I  like  him  na  the  waur  for  that." 

This  observation  honest  Dandie  made  while  he  was 
shaking  the  blazing  flax  from  his  rough  coat  and  shaggy 
black  hair,  some  of  which  had  been  singed  in  the  scuffle. 
"  He  is  quiet  now,"  said  Bertram ; — "  stay  by  him,  and  do 
not  permit  him  to  stir  till  I  see  whether  the  poor  woman 
be  alive  or  dead."  With  Hazlewood's  assistance  he  raised 
Meg  Merrilies. 

"  I  kenn'd  it  would  be  this  way,"  she  muttered,  "  and 
it's  e'en  this  way  that  it  should  be." 

The  ball  had  penetrated  the  breast  below  the  throat. 
It  did  not  bleed  much  externally ;  but  Bertram,  accus- 
tomed to  see  gun-shot  wounds,  thought  it  the  more  alarm- 
ing. "  Good  God !  what  shall  we  do  for  this  poor 
woman  ? "  said  he  to  Hazlewood, — the  circumstances 
superseding  the  necessity  of  previous  explanation  or  in- 
troduction to  each  other. 

"  My  horse  stands  tied  above  in  the  wood,"  said 
Hazlewood — "  I  have  been  watching  you  these  two  hours 
"—I  will  ride  off  for  some  assistance  that  may  be  trusted. 


GUY   MANNERING. 


293 


Meanwhile,  you  had  better  defend  the  mouth  of  the 
cavern  against  every  one  until  I  return."  He  hastened 
Bertram,   after  binding  Meg  Merrilies's  wound 


cave  with  a  cocked  pistol  in  his  hand ;  Dinmont  con- 
tinued to  watch  Hatteraick,  keeping  a  grasp,  hke  that 
of  Hercules,  on  his  breast.  There  was  a  dead  silence  in 
the  cavern,  only  interrupted  by  the  low  and  suppressed 
moaning  of  the  woimded  female,  and  by  the  hard  breath- 
ing of  the  prisoner. 


294  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER  LV. 


For  though  seduced  and  led  astray 
Thou'st  travelled  far  and  wandered  long, 

Thy  God  hath  seen  thee  all  the  way, 
And  all  the  turns  that  led  thee  wrong. 

The  Hall  of  Justicse. 


After  the  space  of  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour, 
which  the  uncertainty  and  danger  of  their  situation  made 
seem  almost  thrice  as  long,  the  voice  of  young  Hazlewood 
was  heai'd  without.  "  Here  I  am,"  he  cried,  "  with  a 
sufficient  party." 

"  Come  in  then,"  answered  Bertram,  not  a  little  pleased 
to  find  his  guard  relieved.  Hazlewood  then  entered,  fol- 
lowed by  two  or  thi-ee  countrymen,  one  of  whom  acted  as 
a  peace-officer.  They  lifted  Hatteraick  up,  and  carried 
him  in  their  arms  as  far  as  the  entrance  of  the  vault  was 
high  enough  to  permit  them ;  then  laid  him  on  his  back, 
and  dragged  him  along  as  well  as  they  could,  for  no  per- 
suasion would  induce  him  to  assist  the  transportation  by 
any  exertion  of  his  own.  He  lay  as  silent  and  inactive 
in  their  hands  as  a  dead  corpse,  incapable  of  opposing, 
but  in  no  way  aiding  their  operations.  When  he  was 
dragged  into  daylight,  and  placed  erect  upon  his  feet 
among  three  or  four  assistants,  who  had  remained  with- 
out the  cave,  he  seemed  stupefied  and  dazzled  by  the 
sudden  change  from  the  darkness  of  his  cavern.  While 
others   were   superintending  the  removal  of  Meg  Mer- 


GUY   MANNERING.  295 

rilies,  those  who  remained  with  Hatteraick  attempted  to 
make  him  sit  down  upon  a  fragment  of  rock  which  lay 
close  upon  the  high-water  mark.  A  strong  shuddering 
convulsed  his  iron  frame  for  an  instant,  as  he  resisted 
their  purpose.  "Not  there — Hagel! — you  would  not 
make  me  sit  there  ?  " 

These  were  the  only  words  he  spoke;  but  their 
import,  and  the  deep  tone  of  horror  in  which  they 
were  uttered,  served  to  show  what  was  passing  in  his 
mind. 

When  Meg  Merrilies  had  also  been  removed  from  the 
cavern,  with  all  the  care  for  her  safety  that  circumstances 
admitted,  they  consulted  where  she  should  be  carried. 
Hazlewood  had  sent  for  a  surgeon,  and  proposed  that  she 
should  be  lifted  in  the  meantime  to  the  nearest  cottage. 
But  the  patient  exclaimed  with  great  earnestness,  "  Na, 
na,  na ! — to  the  Kaim  o'  Derncleugh — the  Kaim  o'  Dern- 
cleugh ; — the  spirit  will  not  free  itself  o'  the  flesh  but 
there." 

"  You  must  indulge  her,  I  beHeve,"  said  Bertram ; — 
"  her  troubled  imagination  will  otherwise  aggravate  the 
fever  of  the  wound." 

They  bore  her  accordingly  to  the  vault.  On  the  way 
her  mind  seemed  to  run  more  upon  the  scene  which  had 
just  passed,  than  on  her  own  approaching  death.  "There 
were  three  of  them  set  upon  him  ;  I  brought  the  twasome 
— but  wha  was  the  third  ? — It  would  be  himsell  returned 
to  work  his  ain  vengeance  ! " 

It  was  evident  that  the  unexpected  appearance  of 
Hazlewood,  whose  person  the  outrage  of  Hatteraick  left 
her  no  time  to  recognise,  had  produced  a  strong  effect  on 
her  imagination.  She  often  recurred  to  it.  Hazlewood 
accounted  for  his  unexpected  arrival  to  Bertram  by  say- 


296  WAVERLEl    NOVELS. 

ing  that  he  had  kept  them  in  view  for  some  time  by  the 
direction  of  Mannering ;  that,  observing  them  disappear 
into  the  cave,  he  had  crept  after  them,  meaning  to  an- 
nounce himself  and  his  errand,  when  his  hand  in  the 
darkness  encountering  the  leg  of  Dinmont  had  nearly 
produced  a  catastrophe,  which,  indeed,  nothing  but  the 
presence  of  mind  and  fortitude  of  the  bold  yeoman  could 
have  averted. 

TVhen  the  gipsy  arrived  at  the  hut,  she  produced  the 
key  ;  and  when  they  entered,  and  were  about  to  deposit  her 
upon  the  bed,  she  said  in  an  anxious  tone,  "  Na,  na !  not 
that  way — the  feet  to  the  east ;  "  and  appeared  gi-atified 
when  they  reversed  her  posture  accordingly,  and  placed 
her  in  that  appropriate  to  a  dead  body. 

"  Is  there  no  clergyman  near,"  said  Bertram,  "  to  assist 
this  unhappy  woman's  demotions  ?  " 

A  gentleman,  the  minister  of  the  parish,  who  had  been 
Charles  Hazlewood's  tutor,  had,  with  many  others,  caught 
the  alarm  that  the  murderer  of  Kennedy  was  taken  on 
the  spot  where  the  deed  had  been  done  so  many  years 
before,  and  that  a  woman  was  mortally  wounded.  From 
curiosity,  or  rather  from  the  feeling  that  his  duty  called 
him  to  scenes  of  distress,  this  gentleman  had  come  to  the 
Kaim  of  Derncleugh,  and  now  presented  himself.  The 
surgeon  ai'rived  at  the  same  time,  and  was  about  to  probe 
the  wound ;  but  Meg  resisted  the  assistance  of  either. 
"  It's  no  what  man  can  do,  that  will  heal  my  body,  or 
save  my  spirit.  Let  me  speak  what  I  have  to  say,  and 
then  ye  may  work  your  will — I'se  be  nae  hinderance. 
"But  Where's  Henry  Bertram  ? " — The  assistants,  to 
whom  this  name  had  been  long  a  stranger,  gazed  upon 
each  other. — "  Yes  ! "  she  said,  in  a  stronger  and  harsher 
tone,  "I  said  Henry  Bertram  of  EUangowan.  Stand 
from  the  light  and  let  me  see  him." 


GUY   MANNERING.  297 

All  ejes  were  turned  towards  Bertram,  who  approached 
the  wretched  couch.  The  wounded  woman  took  hold  of 
Ills  hand.  "  Look  at  him,"  she  said,  "  all  that  ever  saw 
his  father  or  his  grandfather ;  and  bear  witness  if  he  is 
not  their  living  image  ?  "  A  murmur  went  through  the 
crowd — the  resemblance  was  too  striking  to  be  denied. 
"  And  now  hear  me — and  let  that  man,"  pointing  to  Hat- 
teraick,  who  was  seated  with  his  keepers  on  a  sea-chest 
at  some  distance — "  let  him  deny  what  I  say,  if  he  can. 
That  is  Henry  Bertram,  son  to  Godfrey  Bertram,  um- 
quhile  of  Ellangowan  ;  that  young  man  is  the  very  lad- 
bairn  that  Dirk  Hatteraick  carried  off  from  Warroch-wood 
the  day  that  he  murdered  the  gauger.  I  was  there  hke 
a  wandering  spirit — for  I  longed  to  see  that  wood  or  we 
left  the  country.  I  saved  the  bairn's  life,  and  sair,  sair  I 
prigged  and  prayed  they  would  leave  him  wi'  me — But 
they  bore  him  away,  and  he's  been  lang  ower  the  sea, 
and  now  he's  come  for  his  ain,  and  what  should  withstand 
him  ?  I  swore  to  keep  the  secret  till  he  was  ane-an'- 
twenty — I  kenn'd  he  behoved  to  dree  his  weird  till  that 
day  cam — I  keepit  that  oath  which  I  took  to  them — ^but 
I  made  another  vow  to  mysell,  and  if  I  lived  to  see  the 
day  of  his  return,  I  would  set  him  in  his  father's  seat,  if 
every  step  was  on  a  dead  man.  I  have  keepit  that  oath 
too ; — I  will  be  ae  step  mysell — he  "  (pointing  to  Hat- 
teraick) "  will  soon  be  another,  and  there  will  be  ane 
mair  yet." 

The  clergyman  now  interposing,  remarked  it  was  a 
pity  this  deposition  was  not  regularly  taken  and  written 
down,  and  the  surgeon  urged  the  necessity  of  examining 
the  wound,  previously  to  exhausting  her  by  questions. 

When  she  saw  them  removing  Hatteraick,  in  order  to 
clear  the  room  and  leave  the  surgeon  to  his  operations, 


298  TVAVERLET    NOVELS. 

she  called  out  aloud,  raising  herself  at  the  same  time 
upon  the  couch,  "  Dirk  Hatteraick,  you  and  I  will  never 
meet  again  until  we  are  before  the  judgment-seat — Will 
ye  own  to  what  I  have  said,  or  will  you  dare  deny  it  ?  " 
— He  turned  his  hardened  brow  upon  her,  with  a  look 
of  dumb  and  inflexible  defiance.  "  Dirk  Hatteraick,  dare 
ye  deny,  with  my  blood  upon  your  hands,  one  word  of 
what  my  dying  breath  is  uttering  ?  "  He  looked  at  her 
with  the  same  expression  of  hardihood  and  dogged  stub- 
bornness, and  moved  his  lips,  but  uttered  no  sound. 
"  Then  fareweel !  "  she  said,  "  and  God  forgive  you  ! — 
your  hand  has  sealed  my  evidence.  When  I  was  in  life, 
I  was  the  mad  randy  gipsy,  that  had  been  scourged,  and 
banished  and  branded — that  had  begged  from  door  to 
door,  and  been  hounded  like  a  stray  tike  from  parish  to 
parish — wha  would  hae  minded  her  tale  ?  But  now  I 
am  a  dying  woman,  and  my  words  will  not  fall  to  the 
ground,  any  more  than  the  earth  will  cover  my  blood ! " 

She  here  paused,  and  all  left  the  hut  except  the  surgeon 
and  two  or  three  women.  After  a  very  short  examina- 
tion, he  shook  his  head,  and  resigned  his  post  by  the 
dying  woman's  side  to  the  clergyman. 

A  chaise  returning  empty  to  Kippletringan  had  been 
stopped  on  the  high-road  by  a  constable,  who  foresaw  it 
would  be  necessary  to  convey  Hatteraick  to  jail.  The 
driver  understanding  what  was  going  on  at  Demcleugh, 
left  his  horses  to  the  care  of  a  blackguard  boy,  confiding, 
it  is  to  be  supposed,  rather  in  the  years  and  discretion  of 
the  cattle,  than  in  those  of  their  keeper,  and  set  off  full 
speed,  to  see,  as  he  expressed  himself,  "  whaten  a  sort  o* 
fun  was  gaun  on."  He  arrived  just  as  the  group  of 
tenants  and  peasants,  whose  numbers  increased  every 
momcmt,  satiated  'with  gazing  upon  the  rugged  featurf3 


GUT   MAJ!fNERIN(J.  299 

of  Hatteraick,  had  turned  their  attention  towards  Bertram. 
Ahnost  all  of  them,  especially  the  aged  men  who  had 
seen  EUangowan  in  his  better  days,  felt  and  acknowledged 
the  justice  of  Meg  Merrilies's  appeal.  But  the  Scotch 
are  a  cautious  people  ; — they  remembered  there  was  an- 
other in  possession  of  the  estate,  and  they  as  yet  only 
expressed  their  feelings  in  low  whispers  to  each  other. 
Our  friend  Jock  Jabos,  the  postiHon,  forced  his  way  into 
the  middle  of  the  circle  ;  but  no  sooner  cast  his  eyes  upon 
Bertram,  than  he  started  back  in  amazement,  with  a 
solemn  exclamation,  "As  sure  as  there's  breath  in  man, 
it's  auld  EUangowan  arisen  from  the  dead  ! " 

This  public  declaration  of  an  unprejudiced  witness  was 
just  the  spark  wanted  to  give  fire  to  the  popular  feeling, 
which  burst  forth  in  three  distinct  shouts  : — "  Bertram 
forever  !  " — "  Long  life  to  the  heir  of  EUangowan  !  " — 
"  God  send  him  his  ain,  and  to  live  among  us  as  his 
forebears  did  of  yore  !  " 

"  I  hae  been  seventy  years  on  the  land,"  said  one 
person. 

"  I  and  mine  hae  been  seventy  and  seventy  to  that,'* 
said  another ;  "  I  have  a  right  to  ken  the  glance  of  a 
Bertram." 

"  I  and  mine  hae  been  three  hundred  years  here,"  said 
another  old  man,  "  and  I  sail  sell  my  last  cow,  but  I'U  see 
the  young  laird  placed  in  his  right." 

The  women,  ever  delighted  Avith  the  marvellous,  and 
not  less  so  when  a  handsome  young  man  is  the  subject  of 
the  tale,  added  their  shrill  acclamations  to  the  general 
aU-hail. — "  Blessings  on  him — he's  the  very  picture  o'  his 
father ! — ^the  Bertrams  were  aye  the  wale  o'  the  country 
side  ! " 

"  Eh !  that  his  puir  mother,  that  died   in  grief  and  in 


300  WAVEKLEY   NOVELS. 

doubt  about  bim,  bad  but  lived  to  see  tbis  day !  **  ex- 
clauned  some  female  voices. 

"'  But  we'll  belp  him  to  bis  ain,  kimmers,"  cried  others  ; 
"  and  before  Glossin  sail  keep  the  Place  of  EUangowan, 
we'll  bowk  him  out  o't  wi'  our  nails  !  " 

Others  crowded  around  Dinmont,  who  was  nothing 
loth  to  tell  what  be  knew  of  his  friend,  and  to  boast  the 
honour  which  be  had  in  contributing  to  the  discovery. 
As  he  was  known  to  several  of  the  principal  farmers 
present,  his  testimony  afforded  an  additional  motive  to  the 
general  enthusiasm.  In  short,  it  was  one  of  those  mo- 
ments of  intense  feehng,  when  the  frost  of  the  Scottish 
people  melts  like  a  snow-wreath,  and  the  dissolving  tor- 
rent carries  dam  and  dyke  before  it. 

The  sudden  shouts  interrupted  the  devotions  of  the 
clergyman ;  and  Meg,  who  was  in  one  of  those  dozing 
fits  of  stupefaction  that  precede  the  close  of  existence, 
suddenly  started — "  Dinna  ye  hear  ? — dinna  ye  hear  ? — ■ 
he's  owned  ! — he's  owned  ! — I  Hved  but  for  this. — I  am  a 
sinfu'  woman ;  but  if  my  curse  brought  it  down,  my 
blessing  has  taen  it  off!  And  now  I  wad  bae  liked  to 
hae  said  mair.  But  it  canna  be.  Stay" — she  con- 
tinued, stretching  her  head  towards  the  gleam  of  light 
that  shot  through  the  narrow  slit  which  served  for  a  win- 
dow— "  Is  he  not  there  ? — stand  out  o'  the  light,  and  let 
me  look  upon  him  ance  mair.  But  the  darkness  is  in  my 
ain-  een,"  she  said,  sinking  back,  after  an  earnest  gaze 
upon  vacuity — "  it*s  a'  ended  now, 

Pass  breath, 
Come  death ! " 

And,  sinking  back  upon  her  couch  of  straw,  she  expired 
without  a  groan.     The  clergyman  and  the  surgeon  care* 


GUY   MANNERING.  301 

fully  noted  down  all  that  she  had  said,  now  deeply  regret- 
ting they  had  not  examined  her  more  mmutely,  but 
both  remaining  morally  convinced  of  the  truth  of  her 
disclosure. 

Hazlewood  was  the  first  to  compliment  Bertram  upon 
the  near  prospect  of  his  being  restored  to  his  name  and 
rank  in  society.  The  people  around,  who  now  learned 
from  Jabos  that  Bertram  was  the  person  who  had 
"wounded  him,  were  struck  with  his  generosity,  and  added 
his  name  to  Bertram's  in  their  exulting  acclamations. 

Some,  however,  demanded  of  the  postilion  how  he  had 
not  recognised  Bertram  when  he  saw  him  some  time  be- 
fore at  Kippletringan  ? — to  which  he  gave  the  very  natu- 
ral answer — "  Hout,  what  was  I  thinking  about  Ellango- 
w^an  then  ? — It  was  the  cry  that  was  rising  e'en  now  that 
the  young  laird  was  found,  that  put  me  on  finding  out  the 
likeness. — There  was  nae  missing  it  ance  ane  was  set  to 
look  for't." 

The  obduracy  of  Hatteraick,  during  the  latter  part  of 
this  scene,  was  in  some  slight  degree  shaken.  He  was 
observed  to  twinkle  with  his  eyelids — to  attempt  to  raise 
his  bound  hands  for  the  purpose  of  pulling  his  hat  over 
his  brow — to  look  angrily  and  impatiently  to  the  road,  as 
if  anxious  for  the  vehicle  which  was  to  remove  him  from 
the  spot. — At  length  Mr.  Hazlewood,  apprehensive  that 
the  popular  ferment  might  take  a  direction  towards  the 
prisoner,  directed  he  should  be  taken  to  the  post-chaise, 
and  so  removed  to  the  town  of  Kippletringan,  to  be  at 
Mr.  Mac-Morlan's  disposal ;  at  the  same  time  he  sent  an 
express  to  warn  that  gentleman  of  what  had  happened. — 
"  And  now,"  he  said  to  Bertram,  "  I  should  be  happy  if 
you  would  accompany  me  to  Hazle wood-House ;  but  as 
that  might  not  be  so  agreeable  just  now  as  I  trust  it  will 


302  WAVERLEY    NOVELS. 

be  in  a  day  or  two,  you  must  allow  me  to  return  with  you 
to  Woodbourne.  But  you  are  on  foot." — "  0,  if  the 
young  laird  would  take  my  horse  !  " — "  Or  mine  " — "  Or 
minej'  said  half  a  dozen  voices — "  Or  mine  ;  he  can  trot 
ten  mile  an  hour  without  whip  or  spur,  and  he's  the 
young  laird's  frae  this  moment,  if  he  likes  to  take  him  for 
a  herezeld,*  as  they  ca'd  it  lang  syne." — Bertram  readily 
accepted  the  horse  as  a  loan,  and  poured  forth  his  thanks 
to  the  assembled  crowd  for  their  good  washes,  which  they 
repaid  with  shouts  and  vows  of  attacliment. 

While  the  happy  owner  was  directing  one  lad  to  "  gae 
down  for  the  new  saddle  ; "  another,  "  just  to  rin  the  beast 
ower  wi'  a  dry  wisp  o'  strae  ; "  a  third,  "  to  hie  down  and 
borrow  Dan  Dunkieson's  plated  stirrups,"  and  expressing 
his  regret  "  that  there  was  nae  time  to  gie  the  nag  a  feed, 
that  the  young  laird  might  ken  his  mettle," — Bertram, 
taking  the  clergyman  by  the  arm,  walked  into  the  vault, 
and  shut  the  door  immediately  after  them.  He  gazed  in 
silence  for  some  minutes  upon  the  body  of  Meg  Merri- 
lies,  as  it  lay  before  him,  with  the  features  sharpened  by 
death,  yet  still  retaining  the  stern  and  energetic  character 
which  had  maintained  in  life  her  superiority  as  the  wild 
chieftainess  of  the  lawless  people  amongst  whom  she  was 
born.  The  young  soldier  dried  the  tears  which  involun- 
tarily rose  on  viewing  this  wreck  of  one,  who  might  be 
said  to  have  died  a  victim  to  her  fidelity  to  his  person  and 
family.  He  then  took  the  clergyman's  hand,  and  asked 
solemnly,  if  she  appeared  able  to  give  that  attention  to 
his  devotions  which  befitted  a  departing  person. 

*  This  hard  word  is  placed  in  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  aged  tenants. 
In  the  old  feudal  tenures,  the  herezeld  constituted  the  best  horse  or 
other  animal  on  the  vassals'  lands,  become  the  right  of  the  superior. 
The  only  remnant  of  this  custom  is  what  is  called  the  sasine,  or  a  fee 
of  certain  estimated  value,  paid  to  the  sheriflf  of  the  county  who  gives 
possession  to  the  vassjils  of  the  crown. 


«JUY    MANNERING.  303 

*'  My  dear  sir,"  said  the  good  minister,  "  I  trust  this 
poor  woman  had  remaining  sense  to  feel  and  join  in  the 
import  of  my  prayers.  But  let  us  humbly  hope  we  are 
judged  of  by  our.  opportunities  of  religious  and  moral  in- 
struction. In  some  degree  she  might  be  considered  as  an 
uninstructed  heathen,  even  in  the  bosom  of  a  Christian 
country  ; — and  let  us  remember,  that  the  errors  and  vices 
of  an  ignorant  life  were  balanced  by  instances  of  disin- 
terested attachment  amounting  almost  to  heroism.  To 
Him,  who  can  alone  weigh  our  crimes  and  errors  against 
our  efforts  towards  virtue,  we  consign  her  with  awe,  but 
not  without  hope." 

"  May  I  request,"  said  Bertram,  "  that  you  will  see 
every  decent  solemnity  attended  to  in  behalf  of  this  poor 
woman  ?  I  have  some  property  belonging  to  her  in  my 
hands — at  all  events,  I  will  be  answerable  for  the  expenso 
— You  will  hear  of  me  at  Woodbourne." 

Dinmont,  who  had  been  furnished  with  a  horse  by  one 
of  his  acquaintance,  now  loudly  called  out  that  all  was 
ready  for  their  return;  and  Bertram  and  Hazlewood, 
after  a  strict  exhortation  to  the  crowd,  which  was  now  in- 
creased to  several  hundreds,  to  preserve  good  order  in 
their  rejoicing,  as  the  least  ungoverned  zeal  might  be 
turned  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  young  Laird,  as  they 
termed  him,  took  their  leave  amid  the  shouts  of  the  mul- 
titude. 

As  they  rode  past  the  ruined  cottages  at  Demcleugh, 
Dinmont  said,  "  I'm  sure  when  ye  come  to  your  ain,  Cap- 
tain, ye'U  no  forget  to  bigg  a  bit  cot-house  there  ?  Deil 
l>e  in  me  but  I  wad  do't  mysell,  an  it  werena  in  better 
hands.  I  wadna  like  to  live  in't  though,  after  what  she 
said.  Od,  I  wad  put  in  auld  Elspeth,  the  bedral's  widow 
. — the  like  o'  them's  used  wi'  graves  and  ghaists,  and  thae 
things." 


304  WAVERLEy   NOVELS. 

A  short  but  brisk  ride  brought  them  to  Woodboume. 
The  news  of  their  exploit  had  already  flown  far  and  wide, 
and  the  whole  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity  met  them  on  the 
lawn  with  shouts  of  congratulation.  ."  That  you  have 
seen  me  alive,"  said  Bertram  to  Lucy,  who  first  ran  up  to 
him,  though  Juha's  eyes  even  anticipated  hers,  "  you  must 
thank  these  kind  friends." 

With  a  blush  expressing  at  once  pleasure,  gratitude, 
and  bashfulness,  Lucy  courtesied  to  Hazlewood,  but  to 
Dinmont  she  frankly  extended  her  hand.  The  honest 
farmer,  in  the  extravagance  of  his  joy,  carried  his  free- 
dom farther  than  the  hint  warranted,  for  he  imprinted  his 
thanks  on  the  lady's  lips,  and  was  instantly  shocked  at  the 
rudeness  of  his  own  conduct.  "  Lord  sake,  madam,  I  ask 
your  pardon,"  he  said  ;  "  I  forgot  but  ye  had  been  a  bairn 
o'  my  ain — the  Captain's  sae  hamely,  he  gars  ane  forget 
himsell." 

Old  Pleydell  now  advanced  :  "  Nay,  if  fees  like  these 
are  going,"  he  said 

"  Stop,  stop,  Mr.  Pleydell,"  said  Julia,  "  you  had  your 
fees  beforehand — remember  last  night." 

"  Why,  I  do  confess  a  retainer,"  said  the  barrister ; 
"  but  if  I  don't  deserve  double  fees  from  both  Miss  Ber- 
tram and  you  when  I  conclude  my  examination  of  Dirk 
Hatteraick  to-morrow — Gad,  I  will  so  supple  him  ! — You 
shall  see,  Colonel ;  and  you,  my  saucy  Misses,  though  you 
may  not  see,  shall  hear." 

"  Ay,  that's  if  we  choose  to  listen,  counsellor,"  replied 
Julia. 

"  And  you  think,"  said  Pleydell,  "  it's  two  to  one  you 
won't  choose  that  ?  But  you  have  curiosity  that  teaches 
you  the  use  of  your  ears  now  and  then." 

"I  declare,  counsellor,"  answered  the  lively  damsel, 


GUT   MANNERINO.  SO 5 

"  that  such  saucy  bachelors  as  you,  would  teach  us  the  use 
of  our  fingers  now  and  then." 

"  Reserve  them  for  the  harpsichord,  my  love,"  said  the 
counsellor — "  Better  for  all  parties/' 

While  this  idle  chat  ran  on,  Colonel  Mannering  intro- 
duced to  Bertram  a  plain  good-looking  man,  in  a  grey 
coat  and  waistcoat,  buckskin  breeches,  and  boots.  "  This, 
my  dear  sir,  is  Mr.  Mac-Morlan." 

"  To  whom,"  said  Bertram,  embracing  him  cordially, 
"  my  sister  was  indebted  for  a  home,  when  deserted  by 
all  her  natural  friends  and  relations." 

The  Dominie  then  pressed  forward,  grinned,  chuckled, 
made  a  diabolical  sound  in  attempting  to  whistle,  and 
finally,  unable  to  stifle  his  emotions,  ran  away  to  empty 
the  feelings  of  his  heart  at  his  eyes. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  expansion  of 
heart  and  glee  of  this  happy  evening. 


vojm  it. 


30 G  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 


CHAPTER   LVI. 


How  like  a  hateful  ape, 


Detected  grinning  'midst  his  pilfered  hoard, 
A  cunning  man  appears,  whose  secret  frauds 

Are  opened  to  the  day ! 

Count  Basil. 

There  was  a  great  movement  at  Woodboume  early 
on  the  following  morning,  to  attend  the  examination  at 
Kippletringan.  Mr.  Pleydell,  from  the  investigation 
which  he  had  formerly  bestowed  on  the  dark  affair  of 
Kennedy's  death,  as  well  as  from  the  general  deference 
due  to  his  professional  abilities,  was  requested  by  Mr. 
Mac-Morlan  and  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood,  and  another 
justice  of  peace  who  attended,  to  take  the  situation  of 
chairman,  and  the  lead  in  the  examination.  Colonel 
Mannering  was  invited  to  sit  down  with  them.  The 
examination,  being  previous  to  trial,  was  private  in  other 
respects. 

The  counsellor  resumed  and  re-interrogated  former 
evidence.  He  then  examined  the  clergyman  and  surgeon 
respecting  the  dying  declaration  of  Meg  Merrilies.  They 
stated,  that  she  distinctly,  positively,  and  repeatedly,  de- 
clared herself  an  eye-witness  of  Kennedy's  death  by  the 
hands  of  Hatteraick,  and  two  or  three  of  his  crew ;  that 
her  presence  was  accidental;  that  she  believed  their 
resentment  at  meeting  him,  when  they  were  in  the  act  of 


GUT   MANNERING.  307 

losing  tlieir  vessel  through  the  means  of  his  Infoimation, 
led  to  the  commission  of  the  crime  ;  that  she  said  there 
was  one  witness  of 'the  murder,  but  who  refused  to  par- 
ticipate in  it,  still  alive, — her  nephew,  Gabriel  Faa ;  and 
she  had  hinted  at  another  person  who  was  an  accessory 
after,  not  before,  the  fact ;  but  her  strength  there  failed  her. 
Thej  did  not  forget  to  mention  her  declaration,  that  she 
had  saved  the  child,  and  that  he  was  torn  from  her  by  the 
smugglers,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  him  to  Holland. — 
All  these  particulars  were  carefully  reduced  to  writing. 

Dirk  Hatteraick  was  then  brought  in,  heavily  ironed ; 
for  he  had  been  strictly  secured  and  guarded,  owing  to 
his  former  escape.  He  was  asked  his  name  ;  he  made 
no  answer  : — His  profession ;  he  was  silent : — Several 
other  questions  were  put ;  to  none  of  which  he  returned 
any  reply.  Pleydell  wiped  the  glasses  of  his  spectacles,  and 
considered  the  prisoner  very  attentively.  "  A  very  truc- 
ulent-looking fellow,"  he  whispered  to  Mannering  ;  "  but, 
as  Dogberry  says,  I'll  go  cunningly  to  work  with  him. — 
Here,  call  in  Soles — Soles  the  shoemaker. — Soles,  do  you 
remember   measuring   some  footsteps  imprinted  on  the 

mud  at  the  wood  of  Warroch,  on November   17 — , 

by  my  orders?"  Soles  remembered  the  circumstance 
perfectly. — "  Look  at  that  paper — is  that  your  note  of 
the  measurement  ?  "  Soles  verified  the  memorandum. — 
"  Now,  there  stands  a  pair  of  shoes  on  that  table  ;  measure 
them,  and  see  if  they  correspond  with  any  of  the  marks 
you  have  noted  there."  The  shoemaker  obeyed,  and 
declared,  "  that  they  answered  exactly  to  the  largest  of 
the  footprints." 

"  We  shall  prove,"  said  the  counsellor,  aside  to  Man- 
nering, "  that  these  shoes,  which  were  found  in  the  ruins 
at  Derncleugh,  belonged  to  Brown,  the  fellow  whom   you 


308  WAVERLET   NOVELS. 

sliot  on  the  lawn  at  Woodboume. — jSTow,  Soles,  measure 
that  prisoner's  feet  very  accurately." 

Mannering  observed  Hatteraick  Strictly,  and  could 
notice  a  visible  tremour.  "  Do  these  measurements  cor- 
respond with  any  of  the  foot-prints  ?  " 

The  man  looked  at  the  note,  then  at  his  foot-rule  and 
measure — then  verified  his  former  measurement  by  a 
second.  "  They  correspond,"  he  said,  "  within  a  hair- 
breadth, to  a  foot-mark  broader  and  shorter  than  the 
former." 

Hatteraick's  genius  here  deserted  him — "  Der  deyvil !  " 
he  broke  out,  "  how  could  there  be  a  foot-mai'k  on  the 
groimd,  when  it  was  a  frost  as  hard  as  the  heart  of  a 
Memellog?" 

"  In  the  evening,  I  grant  you.  Captain  Hatteraick," 
said  Pleydell,  "  but  not  in  the  forenoon — Will  you  favour 
me  T\dth  information  where  you  were  upon  the  day  you 
remember  so  exactly  ?  " 

Hatteraick  saw  his  blunder,  and  again  screwed  up  his 
hard  features  for  obstinate  silence. — "  Put  down  his  ob- 
servation, however,"  said  Pleydell  to  the  clerk. 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened,  and,  much  to  the  sur- 
prise of  most  present,  Mr.  Gilbert  Glossin  made  his  ap- 
pearance. That  worthy  gentleman  had,  by  dint  of 
watching  and  eaves-dropping,  ascertained  that  he  was  not 
mentioned  by  name  in  Meg  MerriHes's  dying  declaration 
— a  circumstance  certainly  not  owing  to  any  favourable 
disposition  towards  him,  but  to  the  delay  of  taking  her 
regular  examination,  and  to  the  rapid  approach  of  death. 
He  therefore  supposed  himself  safe  from  all  evidence  but 
such  as  might  arise  from  Hatteraick's  confession ;  to  pre- 
vent which,  he  resolved  to  push  a  bold  face,  and  join  his 
brethren  of  the  bench  during  his  examination. — "  I  shall 


GUY    MANNERING.  309 

be  able,"  he  thought,  "  to  make  the  rascal  sensible  his 
safety  lies  in  keeping  His  own  counsel  and  mine  ;  and  my 
presence,  besides,  will  be  a  proof  of  confidence  and  inno- 
cence. If  I  must  lose  the  estate,  I  must^ — but  I  trust 
better  thmgs." 

He  entered  with  a  profound  salutation  to  Sir  Robert 
Ilazlewood.  Sir  Robert,  who  had  rather  begun  to  sus- 
pect that  his  plebeian  neighbour  had  made 'a  cat's  paw  of 
him,  inclined  his  head  stiffly,  took  snuff,  and  looked  another 
way. 

"  Mr.  Corsand,"  said  Glossin  to  the  other  yoke-fellow 
of  justice,  "  your  most  humble  servant." 

"  Your  humble  servant,  JMr.  Glossin,"  answered  Mr. 
Corsand,  drily,  composing  his  countenance  regis  ad  ex- 
emplar,— that  is  to  say,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Baronet. 

"  Mac-Morlan,  my  worthy  friend,"  continued  Glossin, 
"  how  d'ye  do — always  on  your  duty  ?  " 

"  Umph,"  said  honest  Mac-Morlan,  with  little  respect 
either  to  the  compHment  or  salutation. — "  Colonel  Man- 
nering,"  (a  low  bow  slightly  returned,)  "  and  Mr.  Pley- 
dell,"  (another  low  bow,)  "  I  dared  not  have  hoped  for 
your  assistance  to  poor  country  gentlemen  at  this  period 
of  the  session." 

Pleydell  took  snuff,  and  eyed  him  with  a  glance  equally 
shrewd  and  sarcastic — "  I'll  teach  him,"  he  said  aside  to 
Mannering,  "  the  value  of  the  old  admonition,  Ne  acces- 
seris  in  consilium  antequam  voceris^ 

"  But  perhaps  I  intrude,  gentlemen,"  said  Glossin,  who 
could  not  fail  to  observe  the  coldness  of  his  reception — 
"  Is  this  an  open  meeting  ?  " 

"  For  my  part,"  said  JMr.  Pleydell,  "  so  far  from  con- 
sidering your  attendance  as  an  intrusion,  JVIr.  Glossin,  I 
was  never  so  pleased  in  my  life  to  meet  with  you  ;  espec- 


310  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

iallj  as  I  think  we  should,  at  any  rate,  have  had  occasion 
to  request  the  favour  of  your  company  in  the  course  of 
the  day." 

"  Well,  then,  gentlemen,"  said  Glossin,  dramng  his 
chair  to  the  table,  and  beginning  to  bustle  about  among 
the  papers,  "  where  are  w^e  ? — how  far  have  we  got  ? 
where  are  the  declarations  ?  " 

"  Clerk,  give  me  all  those  papers,"  said  Mr.  Pley- 
dell. — "  I  have  an  odd  way  of  arranging  my  documents, 
Mr.  Glossin — another  person  touching  them  puts  me  out ; 
— but  I  shall  have  occasion  for  your  assistance  by  and 

by." 

Glossin,  thus  reduced  to  inactivity,  stole  one  glance  at 
Dirk  Hatteraick,  but  could  read  nothing  in  his  dark  scowl 
save  malignity  and  hatred  to  all  around.  "  But,  gentle- 
men," said  Glossin,  "  is  it  quite  right  to  keep  this  poor 
man  so  heavily  ironed,  when  he  is  taken  up  merely  for 
examination  ?  " 

This  was  hoisting  a  kind  of  friendly  signal  to  the  pris- 
oner. "  He  has  escaped  once  before,"  said  Mac-Morlan 
drily,  and  Glossin  wa-  silenced. 

Bertram  was  now  introduced,  and,  to  Glossin's  confu- 
sion, was  greeted  in  the  most  friendly  manner  by  all 
present,  even  by  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  himself.  He 
told  his  recollections  of  his  infancy  with  that  candour  and 
caution  of  expression  which  afforded  the  best  warrant  for 
bis  good  faith.  "  This  seems  to  be  rather  a  civil  than  a 
criminal  question,"  said  Glossin,  rising,  "  and  as  you 
cannot  be  ignorant,  gentlemen,  of  the  effect  which  this 
young  person's  pretended  parentage  may  have  on  my 
patrimonial  interest,  I  would  rather  beg  leave  to  retire." 

"  No,  my  good  sir,"  said  Mr.  Pleydell — "  we  can  by 
no  means  spare  you.     But  why  do  you  call  this  young 


GUY   MANNERING.  311 

man's  claims  pretended  ? — I  don't  mean  to  fish  for  your 
defences  against  them,  if  jou  have  any,  but " 

"  ]VIi\  Pleydell,"  replied  Glossin,  "  1  am  always  dis- 
posed to  act  above-board,  and  I  think  I  can  explain  the 
matter  at  once.  This  young  fellow,  whom  I  take  to  be  a 
natural  son  of  the  late  EUangowan,  has  gone  about  the 
country  for  some  weeks  under  different  names,  cabalhng 
with  a  wretched  old  mad-woman,  who,  I  understand,  w^as 
shot  in  a  late  scuffle,  and  with  other  tinkers,  gipsies,  and 
persons  of  that  description,  and  a  great  brute  farmer 
from  Liddesdale,  stirring  up  the  tenants  against  their 
landlords,  which,  as  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood  of  Hazlewood 
knows  " 

"  Not  to  interrupt  you,  Mr.  Glossin,"  said  Pleydell,  "  I 
ask  who  you  say  this  young  man  is  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  say,"  repUed  Glossin,  "  and  I  believe  that 
gentleman "  (looking  at  Hatteraick)  "  knows  that  the 
young  man  is  a  natural  son  of  the  late  EUangowan  by 
a  girl  called  Janet  Lightoheel,  who  was  afterwards  mar- 
ried to  He  wit,  the  shipwright,  that  lived  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Annan.  His  name  is  Godfrey  Bertram  Hewit, 
by  which  name  he  was  entered  on  board  the  Royal  Caro- 
line excise  yacht." 

"  Ay  ?  "  said  Pleydell, — "  that  is  a  very  likely  story  !■ — ■ 
but  not  to  pause  upon  some  difference  of  eyes,  complexion 
and  so  forth, — be  pleased  to  step  forward,  sir." — ^A  young 
seafaring  man  came  forward. — "  Here,"  proceeded  the 
counsellor,  "  is  the  real  Simon  Pure — here's  Godfrey 
Bertram  Hewit,  arrived  last  night  from  Antigua  via 
Liverpool,  mate  of  a  West  Indian,  and  in  a  fair  way  of 
doing  well  in  the  world,  although  he  came  somewhat 
irregularly  into  it." 

While  some  conversation  passed   between   the   other 


312  WAVERLET    NOVELS. 

justices  and  this  young  man,  Pleydell  lifted  from  among 
the  papers  on  the  table  Hatteraick's  old  pocket-book.  A 
peculiar  glance  of  the  smuggler's  eye  induced  the  shrewd 
lawyer  to  think  there  was  something  here  of  interest. 
He  therefore  continued  the  examination  of  the  papers, 
laying  the  book  on  the  table,  but  instantly  perceived  that 
the  prisoner's  interest  in  the  research,  had  cooled. — "  It 
must  be  in  the  book  still,  whatever  it  is,"  thought  Pley- 
dell ;  and  again  applied  himself  to  the  pocket-book,  until 
he  discovered,  on  a  narrow  scrutiny,  a  slit,  between  the 
pasteboard  and  leather,  out  of  which  he  drew  three  small 
slips  of  paper.  Pleydell  now,  turning  to  Glossin,  re- 
quested the  favour  that  he  would  tell  them  if  he  had 
assisted  at  the  search  for  the  body  of  Kennedy,  and  the 
child  of  his  patron,  on  the  day  when  they  disappeared." 

"  I  did  not — that  is — I  did,"  answered  the  conscience- 
struck  Glossin. 

"  It  is  remarkable,  though,"  said  the  advocate,  "  that 
connected  as  you  were  with  the  Ellangowan  family,  I 
don't  recollect  your  being  examined,  or  even  appearing 
before  me,  while  that  investigation  was  proceeding  "i  " 

"  I  was  called  to  London,"  answered  Glossin,  "  on  most 
miportant  business,  the  morning  after  that  sad  affair." 

"  Clerk,"  said  Pleydell,  "  minute  down  that  reply. — I 
presume  the  business,  Mr.  Glossin,  was  to  negociate  these 
three  bills,  drawn  by  you  on  Messrs.  Vanbeest  and  Yan- 
bruggen,  and  accepted  by  one  Dirk  Hatteraick  in  their 
name,  on  the  very  day  of  the  murder.  I  congratulate 
you  on  their  being  regularly  retired,  as  I  perceive  they 
have  been.  I  think  the  chances  were  against  it."  Glos- 
ein's  countenance  fell.  "This  piece  of  real  evidence," 
continued  Mr.  Pleydell,  "  makes  good  the  account  given 
of  your  conduct  on  this  occasion  by  a  man  called  Gabriel 


GUT    MAIS^NERING.  313 

Faa,  wliom  we  liave  now  in  custody,  and  who  witnessed 
the  whole  transaction  between  you  and  that  worthy  pris- 
oner— Have  you  any  explanation  to  give  ?  " 

"Mr.  Pleydell,"  said  Glossin  with  great  composure, 
*'  I  presume,  if  you  were  my  counsel,  you  would  not  ad- 
vise me  to  answer  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment  to  a 
charge,  which  the  basest  of  mankmd  seem  ready  to 
establish  by  perjury." 

"  My  advice,"  said  the  counsellor,  "  would  be  regulated 
by  my  opinion  of  your  innocence  or  guilt.  In  your  case, 
I  believe  you  take  the  wisest  course ;  but  you  are  aware 
you  must  stand  committed  ?  " 

"  Committed  ? — for  what,  sir?  "  replied  Glossin  ;  "  upon 
a  charge  of  murder  ?  " 

"  No  ;  only  as  art  and  part  of  kidnapping  the  child." 

"  That  is  a  bailable  offence." 

"  Pardon  me,"  said  Pleydell,  "  it  is  plagium,  and  pla- 
gium is  felony." 

"  Forgive  me,  Mr.  Pleydell ; — ^there  is  only  one  case 
upon  record,  Torrence  and  Waldie.  They  were,  you 
remember,  resurrection-women,  who  had  promised  to 
procure  a  child's  body  for  some  young  surgeons.  Being 
upon  honour  to  their  employers,  rather  than  disappoint 
the  evening  lecture  of  the  students,  they  stole  a  live  child, 
murdered  it,  and  sold  the  body  for  three  shillings  and  six- 
I)ence. — They  were  hanged,  but  for  the  murder,  not  for 
the  plagium."^  Your  civil  law  has  carried  you  a  little  too 
far." 

"  "Well,  sir  ; — ^but,  in  the  meantime,  Mr.  Mac-Morlan 
must  commit  you  to  the  county  jail,  in  case  this  young 
man   repeats    the    same    story. — Officers,   remove    Mr. 

*  This  is,  in  its  circurastances  and  issue,  actually  a  case  tried  and 
"epoi-ted . 


314  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

Glossin    and    Hatteraick,  and   guard   them   in  different 
apartments." 

Gabriel,  the  gipsy,  was  then  introduced,  and  gave  a 
distinct  account  of  his  deserting  from  Captain  Pritchard's 
vessel  and  joining  the  smugglers  in  the  action ;  detailed 
how  Dirk  Hatteraick  set  fire  to  his  ship  when  he  found 
her  disabled,  and  under  cover  of  the  smoke  escaped  with 
his  crew,  and  as  much  goods  as  they  could  save,  into  the 
cavern,  where  they  proposed  to  lie  till  night-fall.  Hat- 
teraick himself,  his  mate  Yanbeest  Brown,  and  three 
others,  of  whom  the  declarant  was  one,  went  into  the 
adjacent  woods  to  communicate  with  some  of  their  friends 
in  the  neighbourhood.  They  fell  in  with  Kennedy  unex- 
pectedly, and  Hatteraick  and  Brown,  aware  that  he  was 
the  occasion  of  their  disasters,  resolved  to  murder  him. 
He  stated,  that  he  had  seen  them  lay  violent  hands  on 
the  officer,  and  drag  him  through  the  woods,  but  had  not 
partaken  in  the  assault,  nor  witnessed  its  termination. 
That  he  returned  to  the  cavern  by  a  different  route, 
where  he  again  met  Hatteraick  and  his  accomplices  ;  and 
the  captain  was  in  the  act  of  giving  an  account  how  hf; 
and  Brown  had  pu>hed  a  huge  crag  over,  as  Kennedy 
lay  groaning  on  the  beach,  when  Glossin  suddenly  ap- 
peared among  them.  To  the  whole  transaction  by  which 
Hatteraick  purchased  his  secrecy  he  was  witness.  Re- 
specting young  Bertram  he  could  give  a  distinct  account 
till  he  went  to  India,  after  which  he  had  lost  sight  of  him 
until  he  unexpectedly  met  with  him  in  Liddesdale. 
Gabriel  Faa  farther  stated,  that  he  instantly  sent  notice 
to  his  aunt  Meg  Merrilies,  as  weU  as  to  Hatteraick,  who 
he  knew  was  then  upon  the  coast ;  but  that  he  had  in- 
curred his  aunt's  displeasure  upon  the  latter  account.  He 
concluded,  that  his  aunt  had  immediately  declared  th&t 


GUY    MANNERING.  315 

she  would  do  all  that  lay  in  her  power  to  help  joung 
EUangowan  to  his  right,  even  if  it  should  be  by  informing 
against  Dirk  Ilatteraick ;  and  that  many  of  her  people 
assisted  her  besides  himself,  from  a  belief  that  she  was 
gifted  with  supernatural  inspirations.  With  the  same 
purpose,  he  understood,  his  aunt  had  given  to  Bertram 
the  treasure  of  the  tribe,  of  which  she  had  the  custody. 
Three  or  four  gipsies,  by  the  express  command  of  Meg 
Merrihes,  had  mingled  in  the  crowd  when  the  Custom- 
house was  attacked,  for  the  purpose  of  liberating  Bertram, 
which  he  had  himself  effected.  He  said,  that  in  obeying 
Meg's  dictates  they  did  not  pretend  to  estimate  their 
propriety  or  rationality ;  the  respect  in  which  she  was 
held  by  her  tribe  precluding  all  such  subjects  of  specula- 
tion. Upon  farther  interrogation,  the  witness  added,  that 
his  aunt  had  always  said  that  Harry  Bertram  carried 
that  round  his  neck  which  would  ascertain  his  birth.  It 
was  a  spell,  she  said,  that  an  Oxford  scholar  had  made 
for  him,  and  she  possessed  the  smugglers  with  an  opinion, 
that  to  deprive  him  of  it  would  occasion  the  loss  of  the 
vessel. 

Bertram  here  produced  a  small  velvet  bag,  which  he 
said  he  had  worn  round  his  neck  from  his  earliest  infancy, 
and  which  he  had  preserved,— first  from  superstitious 
reverence, — and  latterly,  from  the  hope  that  it  might 
serve  one  day  to  aid  in  the  discovery  of  his  birth.  The 
bag  being  opened,  was  found  to  contain  a  blue  silk  case, 
from  which  was  drawn  a  scheme  of  nativity.  Upon  in- 
specting this  paper,  Colonel  Mannering  instantly  admitted 
it  was  his  own  composition,  and  afforded  the  strongest 
and  most  satisfactory  evidence,  that  tlie  possessor  of  it 
must  necessarily  be  the  young  heir  of  EUangowan,  by 
avowing  his  having  first  appeared  in  that  country  in  the 
character  of  an  astrologer. 


316  WAYERLET    NOVELS. 

"  And  now,"  said  Pie jdell,  "  make  out  warrants  of  com- 
mitment for  Hatteraick  and  Glossin  until  liberated  in 
due  course  of  law.  Yet,"  he  said,  "  I  am  sorry  for 
Glossin." 

'"  Xow,  I  think,"  said  Mannering,  "  he's  incomparably 
the  least  deserving  of  pity  of  the  two.  The  other's  a 
bold  fellow,  though  as  hard  as  flint." 

"  Very  natural.  Colonel,"  said  the  advocate,  "  that  you 
should  be  interested  in  the  ruffian,  and  I  in  the  knave — 
that's  all  professional  taste  ;  but  I  can  tell  you,  Glossin 
would  have  been  a  pretty  lawyer,  had  he  not  had  such  a 
turn  for  the  roguish  part  of  the  profession." 

"  Scandal  would  say,"  observed  Mannering,  "  he  might 
not  be  the  worse  lawyer  for  that." 

"  Scandal  would  tell  a  lie,  then,"  rephed  Pleydell,  "  as 
she  usually  does.  Law's  like  laudanum  ;  it's  much  more 
easy  to  use  it  as  a  quack  does,  than  to  learn  to  apply  it 
like  a  physician." 


GUY   MANNERING.  817 


CHAPTER  LVn. 


Unfit  to  live  or  die — 0  marble  heart 
After  him,  fellows,  drag  him  to  the  block. 

Measure  for  Measure. 

The  jail  at  the  county  town  of  the  shire  of 


was  one  of  those  old-fashioned  dungeons  which  disgraced 
Scotland  until  of  late  years.  When  the  prisoners  and 
their  guard  arrived  there,  Hatteraick,  whose  violence  and 
strength  were  well  known,  was  secured  in  what  was 
called  the  condemned  ward.  This  was  a  large  apartment 
near  the  top  of  the  prison.  A  round  bar  of  iron,  about 
the  thickness  of  a  man's  arm  above  the  elbow,  crossed 
the  apartment  horizontally  at  the  height  of  about  six 
inches  from  the  floor ;  and  its  extremities  were  strongly 
built  into  the  wall  at  either  end.*  Hatteraick's  ankles 
were  secured  within  shackles,  which  were  connected  by  a 
chain  at  the  distance  of  about  four  feet,  with  a  large  iron 
ring,  which  travelled  upon  the  bar  we  have  described. 
Thus  a  prisoner  might  shuffle  along  the  length  of  the 
bar  from  one  side  of  the  room  to  another,  but  could  not 

*  This  mode  of  securing  prisoners  was  universally  practised  in 
Scotland  after  condemnation.  When  a  man  received  sentence  of 
death,  he  was  put  upon  the  Gad.,  as  it  was  called,  that  is,  secured  to 
the  bar  of  iron  in  the  manner  mentioned  in  the  text.  The  practice 
subsisted  in  Edinburgh  till  the  old  jail  was  taken  down  some  yeara 
since,  and  perhaps  may  be  still  in  use. 


318  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

retreat  farther  from  it  in  any  other  direction  than  the 
brief  length  of  the  chain  admitted.  When  his  feet  had 
been  thus  secured,  the  keeper  removed  his  hand-cuffs, 
and  left  his  person  at  liberty  in  other  respects.  A  pallet- 
bed  was  placed  close  to  the  bar  of  iron,  so  that  the 
shackled  prisoner  might  lie  down  at  pleasure,  still  fast- 
ened to  the  iron-bar  in  the  manner  described. 

Hatteraick  had  not  been  long  in  this  place  of  confine- 
ment, before  Glossin  arrived  at  the  same  prison-house. 
In  respect  to  his  comparative  rank  and  education,  he  was 
not  ironed,  but  placed  in  a  decent  apartment,  under  the 
inspection  of  Mac-Guffog,  who,  since  the  destruction  of 
the  Bridewell  of  Portanferry  by  the  mob,  had  acted  here 
as  an  under-turnkey.  When  Glossin  was  enclosed  within 
this  room,  and  had  solitude  and  leisure  to  calculate  all 
the  chances  against  him  and  in  his  favour,  he  could  not 
prevail  upon  himself  to  consider  the  game  as  desperate. 

"  The  estate  is  lost,"  he  said,  "  that  must  go ; — and, 
between  Pleydell  and  Mac-Morlan,  the/11  cut  down  my 
claim  on  it  to  a  trifle.  My  character — but  if  I  get  off 
with  life  and  liberty,  I'll  win  money  yet,  and  varnish  that 
over  again.  I  knew  not  the  ganger's  job  until  the  rascal 
had  done  the  deed,  and  though  I  had  some  advantage  by 
the  contraband,  that  is  no  felony.  But  the  kidnapping 
of  the  boy — there  they  touch  me  closer.  Let  me  see  : — 
This  Bertram  was  a  child  at  the  time — his  evidence  must 
be  imperfect — the  other  fellow  is  a  deserter,  a  gipsy,  and 
an  outlaw — Meg  Merrilies,  d — n  her,  is  dead.  These 
infernal  bills !  Hatteraick  brought  them  with  him,  I 
Suppose,  to  have  the  means  of  threatening  me,  or  extort- 
ing money  from  me.  I  must  endeavour  to  see  the  rascal- 
must  get  him  to  stand  steady — must  persuade  him  to  put 
some  other  colour  upon  the  business." 


GUY   MANNERING.  319 

His  mind  teeming  witli  schemes  of  future  deceit  to 
cover  former  villanj,  he  spent  the  time  in  arranging  and 
combining  them  until  the  hour  of  supper.  Mac-Guffog 
attended  as  turnkey  on  this  occasion.  He  was,  as  we 
know,  the  old  and  special  acquaintance  of  the  prisoner 
\^  ho  was  now  under  his  charge.  After  giving  the  turn- 
key a  glass  of  brandy,  and  sounding  him  with  one  or  two 
cajoling  speeches,  Glossin  made  it  his  request  that  he 
would  help  him  to  an  interview  with  Dirk  Hatteraick. — 
"  Impossible  !  utterly  impossible  ! — it's  contrary  to  the 
express  orders  of  Mr.  Mac-Morlan,  and  the  captain  "  (as 
the  head  jailor  of  a  county  jail  is  called  in  Scotland) 
"  would  never  forgie  me." 

"  But  why  should  he  know  of  it  ?  "  said  Glossin,  slip- 
ping a  couple  of  guineas  into  Mac-Guffog's  hand. 

The  turnkey  weighed  the  gold,  and  looked  sharp  at 
Glossin. — "  Ay,  ay,  Mr.  Glossin,  ye  ken  the  ways  o'  this 
place.  Lookee,  at  lock-up  hour,  I'll  return  and  bring  ye 
up  stairs  to  him — But  ye  must  stay  a'  night  in  his  cell, 
for  I  am  under  needcessity  to  carry  the  keys  to  the 
captain  for  the  night,  and  I  cannot  let  you  out  again  until 
morning — then  I'll  visit  the  wards  half  an  hour  earlier 
than  usual,  and  ye  may  get  out,  and  be  snug  in  your  ain 
birth  when  the  captain  gangs  his  rounds." 

When  the  hour  of  ten  had  pealed  from  the  neighbour- 
ing steeple,  Mac-GufFog  came  prepared  with  a  small  dark 
lantern.  He  said  softly  to  Glossin,  "  Slip  your  shoes  off, 
and  follow  me."  When  Glossin  was  out  of  the  door, 
Mac-Guffog,  as  if  in  the  execution  of  his  ordinary  duty, 
and  speaking  to  a  prisoner  within,  called  aloud,  "  Good 
night  to  you,  sir,"  and  locked  the  door,  clattering  the 
bolts  with  much  ostentatious  noise.  He  then  guided 
Glossin  up  a  steep  and  narrow  stair,  at  the  top  of  which 


320  WAYERLET   N0YEL9. 

was  the  door  of  the  condemned  ward ;  he  unbarj-ed  and 
unlocked  it,  and  giving  Glossin  the  lantern,  made  a  sign  to 
him  to  enter,  and  locked  the  door  behind  him  with  the 
same  affected  accuracy. 

In  the  large  dark  cell  into  which  he  was  thus  intro- 
duced, Glossin's  feeble  light  for  some  time  enabled  him 
to  discover  nothing.  At  length  he  could  dimlj  distinguish 
the  pallet-bed  stretched  on  the  floor  beside  the  great  iron 
bar  which  traversed  the  room,  and  on  that  pallet  reposed 
the  figure  of  a  man.  Glossin  approached  him — "  Dirk 
Hatteraick  ! " 

''  Donner  and  hagel !  it  is  his  voice,"  said  the  prisoner, 
sitting  up  and  clashing  his  fetters  as  he  rose :  "  then  my 
dream  is  true  !  Begone,  and  leave  me  to  myself — it  will 
be  your  best." 

"  What !  my  good  friend,"  said  Glossin,  "  will  you 
allow  the  prospect  of  a  few  weeks'  confinement  to  depress 
your  spirit  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  ruffian,  sullenly — "  when  I  am 
only  to  be  released  by  a  halter ! — Let  me  alone — go  about 
your  business,  and  turn  the  lamp  from  my  face." 

"  Psha  !  my  dear  Dii-k,  don't  be  afraid,"  said  Glossin ; 
"  I  have  a  glorious  plan  to  make  all  right." 

"  To  the  bottomless  pit  with  your  plans  ! "  repHed  his 
accomphce.  "  You  have  planned  me  out  of  ship,  cargo, 
and  life  ;  and  I  dreamt  this  moment  that  Meg  Merrilies 
di-agged  you  here  by  the  hair,  and  gave  me  the  long 
clasped  knife  she  used  to  wear.  You  don't  know  what 
she  said — Sturm  wetter !  it  will  be  your  wisdom  not  to 
tempt  me  !  " 

"  But,  Hatteraick,  my  good  friend,  do  but  rise  and  speak 
to  me,"  said  Glossin. 

"  I  will  not !  "  answered  the  savage,  doggedly — "  you 


GUY    MANNERING.  321 

have  caused  all  the  mischief;  you  would  not  let  Meg 
keep  the  boy — she  would  have  returned  him  after  he  had 
forgot  all." 

"  Why,  Hatteraick,  you  are  turned  driveller  ! " 

"  Wetter  !  will  you  deny  that  all  that  cursed  attempt 
at  Portanferry,  which  lost  both  sloop  and  crew,  was  youi* 
device  for  your  own  job  ?  " 

"  But  the  goods,  you  know  " 

"  Curse  the  goods  !  "  said  the  smuggler, — "  we  could 
have  got  plenty  more ;  but,  der  dey  vil !  to  lose  the  ship 
and  the  fine  fellows,  and  my  own  life,  for  a  cursed  coward 
villain,  that  always  works  his  own  mischief  with  other 
people's  hands  !    Speak  to  me  no  more — I'm  dangerous." 

"But,  Dirk — but,  Hatteraick,  hear  me  only  a  few 
words." 

"Hagel!  nein!" 

"  Only  one  sentence." 

"  Tausand  curses  !  nein  !  " 

"  At  least  get  up,  for  an  obstinate  Dutch  brute ! "  said 
Glossin,  losing  his  temper,  and  pushing  Hatteraick  with 
his  foot. 

"  Donner  and  blitzen  !  "  said  Hatteraick,  springing  up 
and  grappHng  with  him — "  you  will  have  it  then  ?  " 

Glossin  struggled  and  resisted  ;  but,  owing  to  his  sur- 
prise at  the  fury  of  the  assault,  so  ineffectually,  that  he 
fell  under  Hatteraick,  the  back  part  of  his  neck  coming 
full  upon  the  iron  bar  with  stunning  violence.  The  death- 
grapple  continued.  The  room  immediately  below  the 
condemned  ward,  being  that  of  Glossin,  was,  of  course, 
empty ;  but  the  inmates  of  the  second  apartment  beneath 
felt  the  shock  of  Glossin's  heavy  fall,  and  heard  a  noise 
as  of  struggluig  and  of  groans.     But  all  sounds  of  horror 

VOL.  IV.  21 


322  WAVEKLEY    NOVELS. 

were  too  congenial  to  tliis  place  to  excite  mucli  curiosity 
or  interest. 

In  the  morning,  faithful  to  his  promise,  Mac-Guffog 
came — "  ]SIr.  Glossin,"  said  he,  in  a  whispering  voice. 

"  Call  louder,"  answered  Dirk  Hatteraick. 

"  Mr.  Glossin,  for  God's  sake  come  away  !  " 

"  He'll  hardly  do  that  without  help,"  said  Hatteraick. 

''  What  are  you  chattering  there  for,  Mac-Guffog  ?  " 
called  out  the  captain  from  below. 

"  Come  away,  for  God's  sake,  Jilr.  Glossin ! "  repeated 
the  turnkey. 

At  this  moment  the  jailor  made  his  appearance  with  a 
hght.  Great  was  his  sui-prise,  and  even  horror,  to  observe 
Glossin's  body  lying  doubled  across  the  iron  bar,  in  a  pos- 
ture that  excluded  all  idea  of  his  being  alive.  Hatteraick 
was  quietly  stretched  upon  his  pallet  within  a  yard  of  his 
victim.  On  lifting  Glossin,  it  was  found  he  had  been 
dead  for  some  hours.  His  body  bore  uncommon  marks 
of  violence.  The  spine,  where  it  joins  the  skull,  had 
received  severe  injury  by  his  first  fall.  There  were  dis- 
tinct mai'ks  of  strangulation  about  the  throat,  which  cor- 
responded Avith  the  blackened  state  of  his  face.  The 
head  was  turned  backward  over  the  shoulder,  as  if  the 
neck  had  been  wrung  round  with  desperate  violence.  So 
that  it  would  seem  that  his  inveterate  antagonist  had  fixed 
a  fatal  gripe  upon  the  wretch's  throat,  and  never  quitted 
it  while  life  lasted.  The  lantern,  crushed  and  broken  to 
pieces,  lay  beneath  the  body. 

Mac-Morlan  was  in  the  town,  and  came  instantly  to 
examine  the  corpse. — "  What  brought  Glossin  here  ?  "  be 
paid  to  Hatteraick. 

"  The  devil !  "  answered  the  ruffian. 

^  And  what  did  you  do  to  him  ?  " 


GUY   jyiANNERING.  323 

.  •'  Sent  liim  to  hell  before  me,"  replied  the  miscreant. 

"  Wretch ! "  said  Mac-Morlan,  "  you  have  crowned  a 
life  spent  without  a  single  virtue,  with  the  murder  of  your 
own  miserable  accomplice  !  " 

"  Virtue  ?  "  exclaimed  the  prisoner — "  Donner  !  I  was 
always  faithful  to  my  ship-owners — always  accounted  for 
cargo  to  the  last  stiver.  Hark  ye  !  let  me  have  pen  and 
ink,  and  I'll  write  an  account  of  the  whole  to  our  house ; 
and  leave  me  alone  a  couple  of  hours,  will  ye — and  let 
them  take  away  that  piece  of  carrion,  donner  wetter ! " 

Mac-Morlan  deemed  it  the  best  way  to  humour  the 
savage ;  he  was  furnished  with  writing  materials,  and  left 
alone.  When  they  again  opened  the  door,  it  was  found 
that  this  determined  villain  had  anticipated  justice.  He 
had  adjusted  a  cord  taken  from  the  truckle-bed,  and 
attached  it  to  a  bone,  the  relic  of  his  yesterday's  dinner, 
which  he  had  contrived  to  drive  into  a  crevice  between 
two  stones  in  the  wall,  at  a  height  as  great  as  he  could 
reach  standing  upon  the  bar.  Having  fastened  the  noose, 
he  had  the  resolution  to  drop  his  body  as  if  to  fall  on  his 
knees,  and  to  retain  that  posture  until  resolution  was  no 
longer  necessary.  The  letter  he  had  written  to  his  own- 
ers, though  chiefly  upon  the  business  of  their  trade,  con- 
tained many  allusions  to  the  younker  of  Ellangowan,  as 
he  called  him,  and  afforded  absolute  confirmation  of  all 
Meg  MerriHes  and  her  nephew  had  told. 

To  dismiss  the  catastrophe  of  these  two  wretched  men, 
I  shall  only  add,  that  Mac-Guffog  was  turned  out  of  office, 
notwithstanding  his  declaration,  (which  he  offered  to  attest 
by  oath,)  that  he  had  locked  Glossin  safely  in  his  own 
room  upon  the  night  preceding  his  being  found  dead  in 
Dirk  Hatteraick's  cell.  His  story,  however,  found  faith 
with  the  worthy  Mr.  Skriegh,  and  other  lovers  of  the 


324 


•WA7ERLEY   NOVELS. 


marvellous,  who  still  hold  that  the  Enemy  of  Mankind 
brought  these  two  wretches  together  upon  that  night,  by 
supernatural  interference,  that  they  might  fill  up  the 
cup  of  their  guilt  and  receive  its  meed,  by  murder  and 
suicide. 


GUY   MANNEEING.  325 


CHAPTER  LVni. 

To  sum  the  whole — the  close  of  all. 

Dean  Swut. 

As  Glossin  died  without  heirs,  and  without  payment 
of  the  price,  the  estate  of  Ellangowan  was  again  thrown 
upon  the  hands  of  Mr.  Godfrey  Bertram's  creditors,  the 
right  of  most  of  whom  was  however  defeasible,  in  case 
Henry  Bertram  should  establish  his  character  of  heir  of 
entail.  This  young  gentleman  put  his  affairs  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Pleydell  and  Mr.  Mac-Morlan,  with  one 
single  proviso,  that  though  he  himself  should  be  obliged 
again  to  go  to  India,  every  debt,  justly  and  honourably 
due  by  his  father,  should  be  made  good  to  the  claimant. 
Mannering,  who  heard  this  declaration,  grasped  him  kindly 
by  the  hand,  and  from  that  moment  might  be  dated  a 
thorough  understanding  between  them. 

The  hoards  of  Miss  Margaret  Bertram,  and  the  liberal 
Assistance  of  the  Colonel,  easily  enabled  the  heir  to 
make  provision  for  payment  of  the  just  creditors  of  his 
father ; — while  the  ingenuity  and  research  of  his  law 
friends  detected,  especially  in  the  accounts  of  Glossin,  so 
many  overcharges  as  greatly  diminished  the  total  amount. 
In  these  circumstances,  the  creditors  did  not  hesitiite  to 
recognise  Bertram's  right,  and  to  surrender  to  him  the 
house  and  property  of  his  ancestors.  All  the  party  re- 
paired from  Woodbourne  to  take  possession,  amid  the 

21* 


826  WAVERLEY   NOVELS. 

shouts  of  the  tenantry  and  the  neighbourhood;  and  so 
eager  was  Colonel  Mannering  to  superintend  certain  im- 
provements which  he  had  recommended  to  Bertram,  that 
he  removed  with  his  family  from  Woodbourne  to  EUan- 
gowan,  although  at  present  containing  much  less  and 
much  inferior  accommodation. 

The  poor  Dominie's  brain  was  almost  turned  with  joy 
on  returning  to  his  old  habitation.  He  posted  up  stairs, 
taking  three  steps  at  once,  to  a  httle  shabby  attic,  his  cell 
and  dormitory  in  former  days,  and  which  the  possession 
of  his  much  superior  apartment  at  Woodbourne  had  never 
banished  from  his  memory.  Here  one  sad  thought  sud- 
denly struck  the  honest  man — the  books  ! — no  three  rooms 
in  EUangowan  were  capable  to  contain  them.  While  this 
qualifying  reflection  was  passing  through  his  mind,  he  was 
suddenly  summoned  by  Mannering  to  assist  in  calculating 
some  proportions  relating  to  a  large  and  splendid  house, 
which  was  to  be  built  on  the  site  of  the  New  Place  of 
EUangowan,  in  a  style  corresponding  to  the  magnificence 
of  the  ruins  in  its  vicinity.  Among  the  various  rooms  in 
the  plan,  the  Dominie  observed  that  one  of  the  largest 
was  entitled  The  Library  ;  and  close  beside  was  a 
snug  well-proportioned  chamber,  entitled  IMr.  Sampson's 
Apartment. — "  Prodigious,  prodigious,  prodigious  !  " 
shouted  the  enraptured  Dominie. 

Mr.  Pleydell  had  left  the  party  for  some  time  ;  but  he 
returned,  according  to  promise,  during  the  Christmas 
recess  of  the  courts.  He  di'ove  up  to  EUangowan  when 
all  the  family  were  abroad  but  the  Colonel,  who  was  busy 
with  plans  of  buildings  and  pleasure-grounds,  in  which 
he  was  weU  skilled,  and  took  great  deUght. 

"  Ah  ha  ! "  said  the  counsellor, — "  so  here  you  are  ! 
Where  are  the  ladies  ?  where  is  the  fair  Julia  ?  " 


GUY   MANNERING.  327 

**  Walking  out  with  young  Hazlewood,  Bertram,  and 
Captain  Delaserre,  a  friend  of  his,  who  is  with  us  just 
now.  They  are  gone  to  plan  out  a  cottage  at  Derncleugh. 
Well,  have  you  carried  through  your  law  business  ?  " 

"  With  a  wet  finger,"  answered  the  lawyer ;  "  got  our 
youngster's  special  service  retoured  into  Chancery.  We 
had  him  served  heir  before  the  macers." 

"  Macers  ?  who  are  they  ?  " 

"  Why,  it  is  a  kind  of  judicial  Saturnalia.  You  must 
know,  that  one  of  the  requisites  to  be  a  macer,  or  officer 
in  attendance  upon  our  supreme  court,  is,  that  they  shall 
be  men  of  no  knowledge." 

"  Very  well !  " 

"  Now,  our  Scottish  legislature,  for  the  joke's  sake  I 
suppose,  have  constituted  those  men  of  no  knowledge  into 
a  peculiar  court  for  trying  questions  of  relationship  and 
descent,  such  as  this  business  of  Bertram,  which  often 
involve  the  most  nice  and  complicated  questions  of 
evidence." 

"The  devil  they  have? — I  should  think  that  rather 
inconvenient,"  said  Mannering. 

"  O,  we  have  a  practical  remedy  for  the  theoretical 
absurdity.  One  or  two  of  the  judges  act  upon  such  oc- 
casions as  prompters  and  assessors  to  their  own  door- 
keepers. But  you  know  what  Cujacius  says,  Multa  sunt 
in  moribus  dissentanea,  multa  sine  ratione.*  However, 
this  Saturnalian  court  has  done  our  business  ;  and  a  glo- 
rious batch  of  claret  we  had  afterwards  at  Walker's — 
Mac-Morlan  will  stare  when  he  sees  the  bill." 

"  Never  fear,"  said  the  Colonel ;  "  we'll  face  the  shock, 
and  entertain  the  county  at  my  friend  Mrs.  Mac-Candlish's 
to  boot." 

*  The  singular  inconsistency  hinted  at  is  now,  in  a  greut  degree 
removed. 


328  WAVERLET  NOVELS.    * 

"  And  choose  Jock  Jabos  for  jour  master  of  horse  ? " 
replied  the  lawyer. 

"  Perhaps  I  may." 

"  And  where  is  Dandie,  the  redoubted  Lord  of  Liddes* 
dale  ?  "  demanded  the  advocate. 

"  Returned  to  his  mountains ;  but  he  has  promised 
Juha  to  make  a  descent  in  summer,  with  the  goodwife,  as 
he  calls  her,  and  I  don't  know  how  many  children." 

"  O,  the  curlie-headed  varlets  ! — I  must  come  to  play 
at  Blind  Harry  and  Hy  Spy  with  them. — But  what  is  all 
this  ?  "  added  Pleydell,  taking  up  the  plans  ; — "  tower  in 
the  centre  to  be  an  imitation  of  the  Eagle  Tower  at 
Caernarvon — corps  de  logis — ^the  devil  1 — wings — swings  ? 
why,  the  house  will  take  the  estate  of  Ellangowan  on  its 
back,  and  fly  away  with  it !  " 

"  Why  then,  we  must  ballast  it  with  a  few  bags  of 
Sicca  rupees,"  repHed  the  Colonel. 

"  Aha !  sits  the  wind  there  ?  Then  I  suppose  the 
young  dog  carries  off  my  mistress  Julia  ?  " 

"  Even  so,  counsellor." 

"  These  rascals,  the  post-nati,  get  the  better  of  us  of 
the  old  school  at  every  turn,"  said  Mr.  Pleydell.  "  But 
she  must  convey  and  make  over  her  interest  in  me  to 
Lucy." 

"  To  teU  you  the  truth,  I  am  afraid  your  flank  will  be 
turned  there  too,"  replied  the  Colonel. 

"Indeed?" 

"  Here  has  been  Sir  Robert  Hazlewood,"  said  Manner- 
ing,  "  upon  a  visit  to  Bertram,  thinking,  and  deeming, 
and  opining  " 

"  O  Lord !  pray  spare  me  the  worthy  baronet's  triads !  ** 

"  Well,  sir,"  continued  Mannering  ;  "  to  make  short,  he 
conceived  that  as  the  property  of  Singleside  lay  like  a 


GUY    MAKNEHING.  3^& 

wedge  between  two  farms  of  his,  and  was  four  or  jSve 
miles  separated  from  Ellangowan,  something  like  a  sale, 
or  exchange,  or  arrangement  might  take  place,  to  the 
mutual  convenience  of  both  parties." 

"  Well,  and  Bertram  " — 

"  Why,  Bertram  replied,  that  he  considered  the  orig- 
inal settlement  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Bertram  as  the  arrange- 
ment most  proper  in  the  circumstances  of  the  family,  and 
that  therefore  the  estate  of  Singleside  was  the  property 
of  his  sister." 

"  The  rascal ! "  said  Pleydell,  wiping  his  spectacles, 
"he'll  steal  my  heart  as  well  as  my  mistress — Et 
puis  ?  " 

"  And  then  Sir  Robert  retired,  after  many  gracious 
speeches  ;  but  last  week  he  again  took  the  field  in  force, 
with  his  coach  and  six  horses,  his  laced  scarlet  waistcoat, 
and  best  bob-wig — all  very  grand,  as  the  good-boy  books 
say." 

"  Ah !  and  what  was  his  overture  ?  " 

"  Wliy  he  talked  in  gi-eat  form  of  an  attachment  on  the 
part  of  Charles  Hazlewood  to  Miss  Bertram." 

"  Ay,  ay ;  he  respected  the  httie  god  Cupid  when  he 
saw  him  perched  on  the  Dun  of  Singleside.  And  is  poor 
Lucy  to  keep  house  with  that  old  fool  and  his  wife,  who 
is  just  the  knight  himself  in  petticoats  ?  " 

"No — we  parried  that.  Singleside-House  is  to  be 
repaired  for  the  young  people,  and  to  be  called  hereafter 
Mount  Hazlewood." 

"  And  do  you  yourself.  Colonel,  propose  to  continue  at 
Woodboume  ?  " 

"  Only  till  we  carry  these  plans  into  effect.  See,  here's 
the  plan  of  my  Bungalow,  with  all  convenience  for  being 
.separate  and  sulky  when  I  please." 


330 


WAVERLET   NOVELS. 


"  And,  being  situated,  as  I  see,  next  door  to  the  old 
castle,  you  may  repair  Donagild's  tower  for  the  nocturnal 
contemplation  of  the  celestial  bodies  ?     Bravo,  Colonel ! " 

"  No,  no,  my  dear  counsellor !  Here  ends  The  As- 
trologer." 


Jeacidified  using  the  Bookkeeper  process. 
Neutralizing  agent:  Magnesium  Oxide 
Treatment  Date:  May  2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A  WORLD  LEADER  IN  COLLECTIONS  PRESERVATION 

111  Thomson  Park  Drive 
Cranberry  Township,  PA  1 6066 
(724)  779-2111 


LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS 


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