alarming cry arose from the assembly, "The dragoons areupon us!"
Instantly the Clydesdale men mounted and formed to meet the expectedonset. The men of Nithsdale were not slow to follow their example, andGordon of Earlstoun, a tried and skilful soldier, put himself at thehead of a large troop of Galloway horse. Four or five companies offoot, also well armed, got ready for action, and videttes and singlehorsemen were sent out to reconnoitre. Thus, in a moment, was thisassembly of worshippers transformed into a band of Christian warriors,ready to fight and die for their families and liberties.
But the alarm, as it turned out, was a false one. Glendinning, informedby spies of the nature of the gathering, was much too sagacious awarrior to oppose his small force to such overwhelming odds. Hecontented himself for the present with smaller game.
After continuing in the posture of defence for a considerable time, theassembly dispersed, those who were defenceless being escorted by armedparties to the barns and cottages around. As they retired from thescene the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain, which had beenrestrained all day, came down in torrents, and sent the Cairn and Cludenred and roaring to the sea.
But long before this dispersion took place, Andrew Black, with QuentinDick, Will Wallace, Ramblin' Peter, and six sturdy young men, armed withsword, gun, and pistol, had hurried down the hill to succour theMitchells, if need be, and see to the welfare of those who had been leftbehind in the farm.
CHAPTER FOUR.
THE HUNTING AND HARRYING DISPLAYED.
Being ignorant, as we have said, of the cruel murder of old Mitchell,Ramblin' Peter's report had not seriously alarmed Black. He concludedthat the worst the troopers would do would be to rob the poor old coupleof what money they found in their possession, oblige them to take theOath of Supremacy, drink the health of King and bishops, and otherwiseinsult and plunder them. Knowing the Mitchells intimately, he had nofear that their opposition would invite severity. Being very fond ofthem, however, he resolved, at the risk of his life, to prevent as faras possible the threatened indignity and plunder.
"They're a douce auld pair," he remarked to Will Wallace as they strodedown the hillside together, "quiet an' peaceable, wi' naething to speako' in the way of opeenions--somethin' like mysel'--an' willin' to let-befor let-be. But since the country has been ower-run by thae Hielandersan' sodgers, they've had little peace, and the auld man has gie'n them aheap o' trouble, for he's as deaf as a post. Peter says the pairty o'dragoons is a sma' ane, so I expect the sight o' us'll scare them awayan' prevent fechtin'."
"It may be so," said Wallace, "and of course I shall not fail you inthis attempt to protect your old friends; but, to tell you the truth, Idon't quite like this readiness on the part of you Covenanters to defythe laws, however bad they may be, and to attack the King's troops. TheBible, which you so often quote, inculcates longsuffering and patience."
"Hm! there speaks yer ignorance," returned the farmer with a dash ofcynicism in his tone. "Hoo mony years, think ye, are folk to submit totyranny an' wrang an' fierce oppression for nae sin whatever against thelaws o' God or the land? Are twunty, thretty, or forty years no' enoughto warrant oor claim to lang-sufferin'? Does submission to law-brekin'on the pairt o' Government, an' lang-continued, high-handed oppressionfrae King, courtier, an' prelate, accompanied wi' barefaced plunder andmurder--does _that_ no' justifiee oor claim to patience? To a' this theCovenanters hae submitted for mony weary years withoot rebellion, exceptmaybe in the metter o' the Pentlands, when a wheen o' us were driven todesperation. But I understand your feelin's, lad, for I'm a man o'peace by natur', an' would gladly submit to injustice to keep thingsquiet--_if possable_; but some things are _no'_ possable, an' the Bibleitsel' says we're to live peaceably wi' a' men only `as much as in uslies.'"
The ex-trooper was silent. Although ignorant of the full extent ofmaddening persecution to which not merely the Covenanters but the peopleof Scotland generally had been subjected, his own limited experiencetold him that there was much truth in what his companion said; still,like all loyal-hearted men, he shrank from the position of antagonism toGovernment.
"I agree with you," he said, after a few minutes' thought, "but I havebeen born, I suppose, with a profound respect for law and legallyconstituted authority."
"Div ye think, lad," returned Black, impressively, "that naebody's beenborn wi' a high respec' for law but yersel'? I suppose ye admit thatthe King is bound to respec' the law as weel as the people?"
"Of course I do. I am no advocate of despotism."
"Weel then," continued the farmer with energy, "in the year saxteenforty-ane, an' at ither times, kings an' parliaments hae stamped theCovenants o' Scotland as bein' pairt o' the law o' this land--wherebyfreedom o' conscience an' Presbyterian worship are secured to us a'.An' here comes Chairles the Second an' breks the law by sendin' thatscoondrel the Duke o' Lauderdale here wi' full poors to dae what helikes--an' Middleton, a man wi' nae heart an' less conscience, that wasraised up frae naething to be a noble, nae less! My word, nobles areeasy made, but they're no' sae easy unmade! An' this Lauderdale maks acooncil wi' Airchbishop Sherp--a traiter and a turncoat--an' a wheenmair like himsel', and they send sodgers oot ower the land to eat us upan' cram Prelacy doon oor throats, an' curates into oor poo'pits whetherwe wull or no'. An' that though Chairles himsel' signed the Covenant atthe time he was crooned! Ca' ye _that_ law or legally constitutedauthority?"
Although deeply excited by this brief recital of his country's wrongs,Black maintained the quiet expression of feature and tone of voice thatwere habitual to him. Further converse on the subject was interruptedby their arrival at the farm, where they found all right save that Jeanand Aggie were in a state of tearful anxiety about their poorneighbours.
While the farmer was seeing to the security of his house and itsarrangements, preparatory to continuing the march to the Mitchells'cottage, the rest of the party stood about the front door conversing.Will Wallace was contemplating Jean Black with no little admiration, asshe moved about the house. There was something peculiarly attractiveabout Jean. A winsome air and native grace, with refinement of mannerunusual in one of her station, would have stamped her with a powerfulspecies of beauty even if she had not possessed in addition a modestlook and fair young face.
The ex-trooper was questioning, in a dreamy way, whether he had everbefore seen such a pretty and agreeable specimen of girlhood, when heexperienced a shock of surprise on observing that Jean had gone to aneighbouring spring for water and was making something very like asignal to him to follow her.
The surprise was mingled with an uncomfortable feeling of regret, forthe action seemed inconsistent with the maiden's natural modesty.
"Forgie me, sir," she said, "for being so bold, but oh! sir, if ye knewhow anxious I am about Uncle Black, ye would understand--he is wanted somuch, an' there's them in the hidy-hole that would fare ill if he wastaken to prison just now. If--ye--would--"
"Well, Jean," said Will, sympathising with the struggle it evidentlycost the girl to speak to him--"don't hesitate to confide in me. Whatwould you have me do?"
"Only to keep him back frae the sodgers if ye can. He's such an awfu'man to fecht when he's roosed, that he's sure to kill some o' them ifhe's no' killed himsel'. An' it'll be ruin to us a' an' to theMitchells too, if--"
She was interrupted at this point by Black himself calling her name.
"Trust me," said Wallace earnestly, "I understand what you wish, andwill do my best to prevent evil."
A grateful look was all the maiden's reply as she hurried away.
Our hero's perplexity as to how this promise was to be fulfilled was,however, needless, for on reaching the Mitchells' hut it was found thatthe troopers had already left the place; but the state of things theyhad left behind them was enough to stir deeply the pity and theindignation of the party.
Everything in confusion--broken furniture, meal and grain scattered onthe floor, open chests and cupboards--told that the legalised brigandshad don
e their worst. Poor Mrs. Mitchell had objected to nothing thatthey said or did or proposed to her. She feebly drank the health ofKing and prelates when bidden to do so, and swore whatever test-oathsthey chose to apply to her till they required her to admit that the Kingwas lord over the kirk and the conscience. Then her spirit fired, andwith a firm voice she declared that no king but Christ should rule overher