CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
_Dangle._--Egad, I think the interpreter is the harder to be understood of the two. Critic.
I had scarce given vent to my feelings in this paroxysm, ere was ashamedof my weakness. I remembered that I had been for some time endeavouringto regard Diana Vernon, when her idea intruded itself on my remembrance,as a friend, for whose welfare I should indeed always be anxious, butwith whom I could have little further communication. But the almostunrepressed tenderness of her manner, joined to the romance of our suddenmeeting where it was so little to have been expected, were circumstanceswhich threw me entirely off my guard. I recovered, however, sooner thanmight have been expected, and without giving myself time accurately toexamine my motives. I resumed the path on which I had been travellingwhen overtaken by this strange and unexpected apparition.
"I am not," was my reflection, "transgressing her injunction sopathetically given, since I am but pursuing my own journey by the onlyopen route.--If I have succeeded in recovering my father's property, itstill remains incumbent on me to see my Glasgow friend delivered from thesituation in which he has involved himself on my account; besides, whatother place of rest can I obtain for the night excepting at the littleinn of Aberfoil? They also must stop there, since it is impossible fortravellers on horseback to go farther--Well, then, we shall meetagain--meet for the last time perhaps--But I shall see and hear her--Ishall learn who this happy man is who exercises over her the authorityof a husband--I shall learn if there remains, in the difficult course inwhich she seems engaged, any difficulty which my efforts may remove, oraught that I can do to express my gratitude for her generosity--for herdisinterested friendship."
As I reasoned thus with myself, colouring with every plausible pretextwhich occurred to my ingenuity my passionate desire once more to see andconverse with my cousin, I was suddenly hailed by a touch on theshoulder; and the deep voice of a Highlander, who, walking still fasterthan I, though I was proceeding at a smart pace, accosted me with, "Abraw night, Maister Osbaldistone--we have met at the mirk hour beforenow."
There was no mistaking the tone of MacGregor; he had escaped the pursuitof his enemies, and was in full retreat to his own wilds and to hisadherents. He had also contrived to arm himself, probably at the house ofsome secret adherent, for he had a musket on his shoulder, and the usualHighland weapons by his side. To have found myself alone with such acharacter in such a situation, and at this late hour in the evening,might not have been pleasant to me in any ordinary mood of mind; for,though habituated to think of Rob Roy in rather a friendly point of view,I will confess frankly that I never heard him speak but that it seemed tothrill my blood. The intonation of the mountaineers gives a habitualdepth and hollowness to the sound of their words, owing to the gutturalexpression so common in their native language, and they usually speakwith a good deal of emphasis. To these national peculiarities Rob Royadded a sort of hard indifference of accent and manner, expressive of amind neither to be daunted, nor surprised, nor affected by what passedbefore him, however dreadful, however sudden, however afflicting.Habitual danger, with unbounded confidence in his own strength andsagacity, had rendered him indifferent to fear, and the lawless andprecarious life he led had blunted, though its dangers and errors had notdestroyed, his feelings for others. And it was to be remembered that Ihad very lately seen the followers of this man commit a cruel slaughteron an unarmed and suppliant individual.
Yet such was the state of my mind, that I welcomed the company of theoutlaw leader as a relief to my own overstrained and painful thoughts;and was not without hopes that through his means I might obtain some clewof guidance through the maze in which my fate had involved me. Itherefore answered his greeting cordially, and congratulated him on hislate escape in circumstances when escape seemed impossible.
"Ay," he replied, "there is as much between the craig and the woodie* asthere is between the cup and the lip. But my peril was less than you maythink, being a stranger to this country.
* _i.e._ The throat and the withy. Twigs of willow, such as bind faggots,were often used for halters in Scotland and Ireland, being a sage economyof hemp.
Of those that were summoned to take me, and to keep me, and to retake meagain, there was a moiety, as cousin Nicol Jarvie calls it, that had naewill that I suld be either taen, or keepit fast, or retaen; and of tothermoiety, there was as half was feared to stir me; and so I had only likethe fourth part of fifty or sixty men to deal withal."
"And enough, too, I should think," replied I.
"I dinna ken that," said he; "but I ken, that turn every ill-willer thatI had amang them out upon the green before the Clachan of Aberfoil, I wadfind them play with broadsword and target, one down and another come on."
He now inquired into my adventures since we entered his country, andlaughed heartily at my account of the battle we had in the inn, and atthe exploits of the Bailie with the red-hot poker.
"Let Glasgow Flourish!" he exclaimed. "The curse of Cromwell on me, if Iwad hae wished better sport than to see cousin Nicol Jarvie singeIverach's plaid, like a sheep's head between a pair of tongs. But mycousin Jarvie," he added, more gravely, "has some gentleman's bluid inhis veins, although he has been unhappily bred up to a peaceful andmechanical craft, which could not but blunt any pretty man's spirit.--Yemay estimate the reason why I could not receive you at the Clachan ofAberfoil as I purposed. They had made a fine hosenet for me when I wasabsent twa or three days at Glasgow, upon the king's business--But Ithink I broke up the league about their lugs--they'll no be able to houndone clan against another as they hae dune. I hope soon to see the daywhen a' Hielandmen will stand shouther to shouther. But what chancednext?"
I gave him an account of the arrival of Captain Thornton and his party,and the arrest of the Bailie and myself under pretext of our beingsuspicious persons; and upon his more special inquiry, I recollected theofficer had mentioned that, besides my name sounding suspicious in hisears, he had orders to secure an old and young person, resembling ourdescription. This again moved the outlaw's risibility.
"As man lives by bread," he said, "the buzzards have mistaen my friendthe Bailie for his Excellency, and you for Diana Vernon--O, the mostegregious night-howlets!"
"Miss Vernon?" said I, with hesitation, and trembling for theanswer--"Does she still bear that name? She passed but now, along witha gentleman who seemed to use a style of authority."
"Ay, ay," answered Rob, "she's under lawfu' authority now; and full time,for she was a daft hempie--But she's a mettle quean. It's a pity hisExcellency is a thought eldern. The like o' yourself, or my son Hamish,wad be mair sortable in point of years."
Here, then, was a complete downfall of those castles of cards which myfancy had, in despite of my reason, so often amused herself withbuilding. Although in truth I had scarcely anything else to expect, sinceI could not suppose that Diana could be travelling in such a country, atsuch an hour, with any but one who had a legal title to protect her, Idid not feel the blow less severely when it came; and MacGregor's voice,urging me to pursue my story, sounded in my ears without conveying anyexact import to my mind.
"You are ill," he said at length, after he had spoken twice withoutreceiving an answer; "this day's wark has been ower muckle for anedoubtless unused to sic things."
The tone of kindness in which this was spoken, recalling me to myself,and to the necessities of my situation, I continued my narrative as wellas I could. Rob Roy expressed great exultation at the successful skirmishin the pass.
"They say," he observed, "that king's chaff is better than other folk'scorn; but I think that canna be said o' king's soldiers, if they letthemselves be beaten wi' a wheen auld carles that are past fighting, andbairns that are no come till't, and wives wi' their rocks and distaffs,the very wally-draigles o' the countryside. And Dougal Gregor, too--whawad hae thought there had been as muckle sense in his tatty-pow, thatne'er had a better covering than his ain shaggy hassock of hair!--But sayawa
y--though I dread what's to come neist--for my Helen's an incarnatedevil when her bluid's up--puir thing, she has ower muckle reason."
I observed as much delicacy as I could in communicating to him the usagewe had received, but I obviously saw the detail gave him great pain.
"I wad rather than a thousand merks," he said, "that I had been at hame!To misguide strangers, and forbye a', my ain natural cousin, that hadshowed me sic kindness--I wad rather they had burned half the Lennox intheir folly! But this comes o' trusting women and their bairns, that haveneither measure nor reason in their dealings. However, it's a' owing tothat dog of a gauger, wha betrayed me by pretending a message from yourcousin Rashleigh, to meet him on the king's affairs, whilk I thought wasvery like to be anent Garschattachin and a party of the Lennox declaringthemselves for King James. Faith! but I ken'd I was clean beguiled when Iheard the Duke was there; and when they strapped the horse-girth ower myarms, I might hae judged what was biding me; for I ken'd your kinsman,being, wi' pardon, a slippery loon himself, is prone to employ those ofhis ain kidney--I wish he mayna hae been at the bottom o' the ployhimsell--I thought the chield Morris looked devilish queer when Idetermined he should remain a wad, or hostage, for my safe back-coming.But I _am_ come back, nae thanks to him, or them that employed him; andthe question is, how the collector loon is to win back himsell--I promisehim it will not be without a ransom."
"Morris," said I, "has already paid the last ransom which mortal man canowe."
"Eh! What?" exclaimed my companion hastily; "what d'ye say? I trust itwas in the skirmish he was killed?"
"He was slain in cold blood after the fight was over, Mr. Campbell."
"Cold blood?--Damnation!" he said, muttering betwixt his teeth--"How fellthat, sir? Speak out, sir, and do not Maister or Campbell me--my foot ison my native heath, and my name is MacGregor!"
His passions were obviously irritated; but without noticing the rudenessof his tone, I gave him a short and distinct account of the death ofMorris. He struck the butt of his gun with great vehemence against theground, and broke out--"I vow to God, such a deed might make one forswearkin, clan, country, wife, and bairns! And yet the villain wrought longfor it. And what is the difference between warsling below the water wi' astane about your neck, and wavering in the wind wi' a tether roundit?--it's but choking after a', and he drees the doom he ettled for me. Icould have wished, though, they had rather putten a ball through him, ora dirk; for the fashion of removing him will give rise to mony idleclavers--But every wight has his weird, and we maun a' dee when our daycomes--And naebody will deny that Helen MacGregor has deep wrongs toavenge."
So saying, he seemed to dismiss the theme altogether from his mind, andproceeded to inquire how I got free from the party in whose hands he hadseen me.
My story was soon told; and I added the episode of my having recoveredthe papers of my father, though I dared not trust my voice to name thename of Diana.
"I was sure ye wad get them," said MacGregor;--"the letter ye brought mecontained his Excellency's pleasure to that effect and nae doubt it wasmy will to have aided in it. And I asked ye up into this glen on the veryerrand. But it's like his Excellency has foregathered wi' Rashleighsooner than I expected."
The first part of this answer was what most forcibly struck me.
"Was the letter I brought you, then, from this person you call hisExcellency? Who is he? and what is his rank and proper name?"
"I am thinking," said MacGregor, "that since ye dinna ken them alreadythey canna be o' muckle consequence to you, and sae I shall say naethingon that score. But weel I wot the letter was frae his ain hand, or,having a sort of business of my ain on my hands, being, as ye weel maysee, just as much as I can fairly manage, I canna say I would hae fashedmysell sae muckle about the matter."
I now recollected the lights seen in the library--the variouscircumstances which had excited my jealousy--the glove--the agitation ofthe tapestry which covered the secret passage from Rashleigh's apartment;and, above all, I recollected that Diana retired in order to write, as Ithen thought, the billet to which I was to have recourse in case of thelast necessity. Her hours, then, were not spent in solitude, but inlistening to the addresses of some desperate agent of Jacobiticaltreason, who was a secret resident within the mansion of her uncle! Otheryoung women have sold themselves for gold, or suffered themselves to beseduced from their first love from vanity; but Diana had sacrificed myaffections and her own to partake the fortunes of some desperateadventurer--to seek the haunts of freebooters through midnight deserts,with no better hopes of rank or fortune than that mimicry of both whichthe mock court of the Stuarts at St. Germains had in their power tobestow.
"I will see her," I said internally, "if it be possible, once more. Iwill argue with her as a friend--as a kinsman--on the risk she isincurring, and I will facilitate her retreat to France, where she may,with more comfort and propriety, as well as safety, abide the issue ofthe turmoils which the political trepanner, to whom she has united herfate, is doubtless busied in putting into motion."
"I conclude, then," I said to MacGregor, after about five minutes'silence on both sides, "that his Excellency, since you give me no othername for him, was residing in Osbaldistone Hall at the same time withmyself?"
"To be sure--to be sure--and in the young lady's apartment, as bestreason was." This gratuitous information was adding gall to bitterness."But few," added MacGregor, "ken'd he was derned there, save Rashleighand Sir Hildebrand; for you were out o' the question; and the young ladshaena wit eneugh to ca' the cat frae the cream--But it's a bra'auld-fashioned house, and what I specially admire is the abundance o'holes and bores and concealments--ye could put twenty or thirty men in aecorner, and a family might live a week without finding them out--whilk,nae doubt, may on occasion be a special convenience. I wish we had thelike o' Osbaldistone Hall on the braes o' Craig-Royston--But we maun garwoods and caves serve the like o' us puir Hieland bodies."
"I suppose his Excellency," said I, "was privy to the first accidentwhich befell"--
I could not help hesitating a moment.
"Ye were going to say Morris," said Rob Roy coolly, for he was too muchaccustomed to deeds of violence for the agitation he had at firstexpressed to be of long continuance. "I used to laugh heartily at thatreik; but I'll hardly hae the heart to do't again, since the ill-far'daccident at the Loch. Na, na--his Excellency ken'd nought o' thatploy--it was a' managed atween Rashleigh and mysell. But the sport thatcame after--and Rashleigh's shift o' turning the suspicion aff himselfupon you, that he had nae grit favour to frae the beginning--and thenMiss Die, she maun hae us sweep up a' our spiders' webs again, and setyou out o' the Justice's claws--and then the frightened craven Morris,that was scared out o' his seven senses by seeing the real man when hewas charging the innocent stranger--and the gowk of a clerk--and thedrunken carle of a justice--Ohon! ohon!--mony a laugh that job's gienme--and now, a' that I can do for the puir devil is to get some messessaid for his soul."
"May I ask," said I, "how Miss Vernon came to have so much influence overRashleigh and his accomplices as to derange your projected plan?"
"Mine! it was none of mine. No man can say I ever laid my burden on otherfolk's shoulders--it was a' Rashleigh's doings. But, undoubtedly, she hadgreat influence wi' us baith on account of his Excellency's affection, asweel as that she ken'd far ower mony secrets to be lightlied in a mattero' that kind.--Deil tak him," he ejaculated, by way of summing up, "thatgies women either secret to keep or power to abuse--fules shouldna haechapping-sticks."
We were now within a quarter of a mile from the village, when threeHighlanders, springing upon us with presented arms, commanded us to standand tell our business. The single word _Gregaragh,_ in the deep andcommanding voice of my companion, was answered by a shout, or ratheryell, of joyful recognition. One, throwing down his firelock, clasped hisleader so fast round the knees, that he was unable to extricate himself,muttering, at the same time, a torrent of Gaelic gratulation, which everynow and then rose
into a sort of scream of gladness. The two others,after the first howling was over, set off literally with the speed ofdeers, contending which should first carry to the village, which a strongparty of the MacGregors now occupied, the joyful news of Rob Roy's escapeand return. The intelligence excited such shouts of jubilation, that thevery hills rung again, and young and old, men, women, and children,without distinction of sex or age, came running down the vale to meet us,with all the tumultuous speed and clamour of a mountain torrent. When Iheard the rushing noise and yells of this joyful multitude approach us, Ithought it a fitting precaution to remind MacGregor that I was astranger, and under his protection. He accordingly held me fast by thehand, while the assemblage crowded around him with such shouts of devotedattachment, and joy at his return, as were really affecting; nor did heextend to his followers what all eagerly sought, the grasp, namely, ofhis hand, until he had made them understand that I was to be kindly andcarefully used.
The mandate of the Sultan of Delhi could not have been more promptlyobeyed. Indeed, I now sustained nearly as much inconvenience from theirwell-meant attentions as formerly from their rudeness. They would hardlyallow the friend of their leader to walk upon his own legs, so earnestwere they in affording me support and assistance upon the way; and atlength, taking advantage of a slight stumble which I made over a stone,which the press did not permit me to avoid, they fairly seized upon me,and bore me in their arms in triumph towards Mrs. MacAlpine's.
On arrival before her hospitable wigwam, I found power and popularity hadits inconveniences in the Highlands, as everywhere else; for, beforeMacGregor could be permitted to enter the house where he was to obtainrest and refreshment, he was obliged to relate the story of his escape atleast a dozen times over, as I was told by an officious old man, whochose to translate it at least as often for my edification, and to whom Iwas in policy obliged to seem to pay a decent degree of attention. Theaudience being at length satisfied, group after group departed to taketheir bed upon the heath, or in the neighbouring huts, some cursing theDuke and Garschattachin, some lamenting the probable danger of Ewan ofBrigglands, incurred by his friendship to MacGregor, but all agreeingthat the escape of Rob Roy himself lost nothing in comparison with theexploit of any one of their chiefs since the days of Dougal Ciar, thefounder of his line.
The friendly outlaw, now taking me by the arm, conducted me into theinterior of the hut. My eyes roved round its smoky recesses in quest ofDiana and her companion; but they were nowhere to be seen, and I felt asif to make inquiries might betray some secret motives, which were bestconcealed. The only known countenance upon which my eyes rested was thatof the Bailie, who, seated on a stool by the fireside, received with asort of reserved dignity, the welcomes of Rob Roy, the apologies which hemade for his indifferent accommodation, and his inquiries after hishealth.
"I am pretty weel, kinsman," said the Bailie--"indifferent weel, I thankye; and for accommodations, ane canna expect to carry about the SautMarket at his tail, as a snail does his caup;--and I am blythe that yehae gotten out o' the hands o' your unfreends."
"Weel, weel, then," answered Roy, "what is't ails ye, man--a's weel thatends weel!--the warld will last our day--Come, take a cup o' brandy--yourfather the deacon could take ane at an orra time."
"It might be he might do sae, Robin, after fatigue--whilk has been my lotmair ways than ane this day. But," he continued, slowly filling up alittle wooden stoup which might hold about three glasses, "he was amoderate man of his bicker, as I am mysell--Here's wussing health to ye,Robin" (a sip), "and your weelfare here and hereafter" (another taste),"and also to my cousin Helen--and to your twa hopefu' lads, of whom mairanon."
So saying, he drank up the contents of the cup with great gravity anddeliberation, while MacGregor winked aside to me, as if in ridicule ofthe air of wisdom and superior authority which the Bailie assumed towardshim in their intercourse, and which he exercised when Rob was at the headof his armed clan, in full as great, or a greater degree, than when hewas at the Bailie's mercy in the Tolbooth of Glasgow. It seemed to me,that MacGregor wished me, as a stranger, to understand, that if hesubmitted to the tone which his kinsman assumed, it was partly out ofdeference to the rights of hospitality, but still more for the jest'ssake.
As the Bailie set down his cup he recognised me, and giving me a cordialwelcome on my return, he waived farther communication with me for thepresent.--"I will speak to your matters anon; I maun begin, as in reason,wi' those of my kinsman.--I presume, Robin, there's naebody here willcarry aught o' what I am gaun to say, to the town-council or elsewhere,to my prejudice or to yours?"
"Make yourself easy on that head, cousin Nicol," answered MacGregor; "thetae half o' the gillies winna ken what ye say, and the tother winnacare--besides that, I wad stow the tongue out o' the head o' any o' themthat suld presume to say ower again ony speech held wi' me in theirpresence."
"Aweel, cousin, sic being the case, and Mr. Osbaldistone here being aprudent youth, and a safe friend--I'se plainly tell ye, ye are breedingup your family to gang an ill gate." Then, clearing his voice with apreliminary hem, he addressed his kinsman, checking, as Malvolio proposedto do when seated in his state, his familiar smile with an austere regardof control.--"Ye ken yourself ye haud light by the law--and for my cousinHelen, forbye that her reception o' me this blessed day--whilk I excuseon account of perturbation of mind, was muckle on the north side o'_friendly,_ I say (outputting this personal reason of complaint) I haethat to say o' your wife"--
"Say _nothing_ of her, kinsman," said Rob, in a grave and stern tone,"but what is befitting a friend to say, and her husband to hear. Of meyou are welcome to say your full pleasure."
"Aweel, aweel," said the Bailie, somewhat disconcerted, "we'se let thatbe a pass-over--I dinna approve of making mischief in families. But hereare your twa sons, Hamish and Robin, whilk signifies, as I'm gien tounderstand, James and Robert--I trust ye will call them sae infuture--there comes nae gude o' Hamishes, and Eachines, and Angusses,except that they're the names ane aye chances to see in the indictmentsat the Western Circuits for cow-lifting, at the instance of hismajesty's advocate for his majesty's interest. Aweel, but the twa lads,as I was saying, they haena sae muckle as the ordinar grunds, man, ofliberal education--they dinna ken the very multiplication table itself,whilk is the root of a' usefu' knowledge, and they did naething butlaugh and fleer at me when I tauld them my mind on their ignorance--It'smy belief they can neither read, write, nor cipher, if sic a thing couldbe believed o' ane's ain connections in a Christian land."
"If they could, kinsman," said MacGregor, with great indifference, "theirlearning must have come o' free will, for whar the deil was I to get thema teacher?--wad ye hae had me put on the gate o' your Divinity Hall atGlasgow College, 'Wanted, a tutor for Rob Roy's bairns?'"
"Na, kinsman," replied Mr. Jarvie, "but ye might hae sent the lads wharthey could hae learned the fear o' God, and the usages of civilisedcreatures. They are as ignorant as the kyloes ye used to drive to market,or the very English churls that ye sauld them to, and can do naethingwhatever to purpose."
"Umph!" answered Rob; "Hamish can bring doun a black-cock when he's onthe wing wi' a single bullet, and Rob can drive a dirk through a twa-inchboard."
"Sae muckle the waur for them, cousin!--sae muckle the waur for thembaith!" answered the Glasgow merchant in a tone of great decision; "anthey ken naething better than that, they had better no ken that neither.Tell me yourself, Rob, what has a' this cutting, and stabbing, andshooting, and driving of dirks, whether through human flesh or fir deals,dune for yourself?--and werena ye a happier man at the tail o' yournowte-bestial, when ye were in an honest calling, than ever ye hae beensince, at the head o' your Hieland kernes and gally-glasses?"
I observed that MacGregor, while his well-meaning kinsman spoke to him inthis manner, turned and writhed his body like a man who indeed sufferspain, but is determined no groan shall escape his lips; and I longed foran opportunity to interrupt the well-meant, but, as it was obvious to me,
quite mistaken strain, in which Jarvie addressed this extraordinaryperson. The dialogue, however, came to an end without my interference.
"And sae," said the Bailie, "I hae been thinking, Rob, that as it may beye are ower deep in the black book to win a pardon, and ower auld to mendyourself, that it wad be a pity to bring up twa hopefu' lads to sic agodless trade as your ain, and I wad blythely tak them for prentices atthe loom, as I began mysell, and my father the deacon afore me, though,praise to the Giver, I only trade now as wholesale dealer--And--and"--
He saw a storm gathering on Rob's brow, which probably induced him tothrow in, as a sweetener of an obnoxious proposition, what he hadreserved to crown his own generosity, had it been embraced as anacceptable one;--"and Robin, lad, ye needna look sae glum, for I'll paythe prentice-fee, and never plague ye for the thousand merks neither."
"_Ceade millia diaoul,_ hundred thousand devils!" exclaimed Rob,rising and striding through the hut, "My sons weavers!--_Milliamolligheart!_--but I wad see every loom in Glasgow, beam, traddles,and shuttles, burnt in hell-fire sooner!"
With some difficulty I made the Bailie, who was preparing a reply,comprehend the risk and impropriety of pressing our host on this topic,and in a minute he recovered, or reassumed, his serenity of temper.
"But ye mean weel--ye mean weel," said he; "so gie me your hand, Nicol,and if ever I put my sons apprentice, I will gie you the refusal o' them.And, as you say, there's the thousand merks to be settled between us.--Here, Eachin MacAnaleister, bring me my sporran."
The person he addressed, a tall, strong mountaineer, who seemed to act asMacGregor's lieutenant, brought from some place of safety a largeleathern pouch, such as Highlanders of rank wear before them when in fulldress, made of the skin of the sea-otter, richly garnished with silverornaments and studs.
"I advise no man to attempt opening this sporran till he has my secret,"said Rob Roy; and then twisting one button in one direction, and anotherin another, pulling one stud upward, and pressing another downward, themouth of the purse, which was bound with massive silver plate, opened andgave admittance to his hand. He made me remark, as if to break short thesubject on which Bailie Jarvie had spoken, that a small steel pistol wasconcealed within the purse, the trigger of which was connected with themounting, and made part of the machinery, so that the weapon wouldcertainly be discharged, and in all probability its contents lodged inthe person of any one, who, being unacquainted with the secret, shouldtamper with the lock which secured his treasure. "This," said he touchingthe pistol--"this is the keeper of my privy purse."
The simplicity of the contrivance to secure a furred pouch, which couldhave been ripped open without any attempt on the spring, reminded me ofthe verses in the Odyssey, where Ulysses, in a yet ruder age, is contentto secure his property by casting a curious and involved complication ofcordage around the sea-chest in which it was deposited.
The Bailie put on his spectacles to examine the mechanism, and when hehad done, returned it with a smile and a sigh, observing--"Ah! Rob, hadither folk's purses been as weel guarded, I doubt if your sporran wad haebeen as weel filled as it kythes to be by the weight."
"Never mind, kinsman," said Rob, laughing; "it will aye open for afriend's necessity, or to pay a just due--and here," he added, pullingout a rouleau of gold, "here is your ten hundred merks--count them, andsee that you are full and justly paid."
Mr. Jarvie took the money in silence, and weighing it in his hand for aninstant, laid it on the table, and replied, "Rob, I canna tak it--I downaintromit with it--there can nae gude come o't--I hae seen ower weel theday what sort of a gate your gowd is made in--ill-got gear ne'erprospered; and, to be plain wi' you, I winna meddle wi't--it looks asthere might be bluid on't."
"Troutsho!" said the outlaw, affecting an indifference which perhaps hedid not altogether feel; "it's gude French gowd, and ne'er was inScotchman's pouch before mine. Look at them, man--they are a'louis-d'ors, bright and bonnie as the day they were coined."
"The waur, the waur--just sae muckle the waur, Robin," replied theBailie, averting his eyes from the money, though, like Caesar on theLupercal, his fingers seemed to itch for it--"Rebellion is waur thanwitchcraft, or robbery either; there's gospel warrant for't."
"Never mind the warrant, kinsman," said the freebooter; "you come by thegowd honestly, and in payment of a just debt--it came from the one king,you may gie it to the other, if ye like; and it will just serve for aweakening of the enemy, and in the point where puir King James is weakesttoo, for, God knows, he has hands and hearts eneugh, but I doubt he wantsthe siller."
"He'll no get mony Hielanders then, Robin," said Mr. Jarvie, as, againreplacing his spectacles on his nose, he undid the rouleau, and began tocount its contents.
"Nor Lowlanders neither," said MacGregor, arching his eyebrow, and, as helooked at me, directing a glance towards Mr. Jarvie, who, all unconsciousof the ridicule, weighed each piece with habitual scrupulosity; andhaving told twice over the sum, which amounted to the discharge of hisdebt, principal and interest, he returned three pieces to buy hiskinswoman a gown, as he expressed himself, and a brace more for the twabairns, as he called them, requesting they might buy anything they likedwith them except gunpowder. The Highlander stared at his kinsman'sunexpected generosity, but courteously accepted his gift, which hedeposited for the time in his well-secured pouch.
The Bailie next produced the original bond for the debt, on the back ofwhich he had written a formal discharge, which, having subscribedhimself, he requested me to sign as a witness. I did so, and BailieJarvie was looking anxiously around for another, the Scottish lawrequiring the subscription of two witnesses to validate either a bond oracquittance. "You will hardly find a man that can write save ourselveswithin these three miles," said Rob, "but I'll settle the matter aseasily;" and, taking the paper from before his kinsman, he threw it inthe fire. Bailie Jarvie stared in his turn, but his kinsman continued,"That's a Hieland settlement of accounts. The time might come, cousin,were I to keep a' these charges and discharges, that friends might bebrought into trouble for having dealt with me."
The Bailie attempted no reply to this argument, and our supper nowappeared in a style of abundance, and even delicacy, which, for theplace, might be considered as extraordinary. The greater part of theprovisions were cold, intimating they had been prepared at some distance;and there were some bottles of good French wine to relish pasties ofvarious sorts of game, as well as other dishes. I remarked thatMacGregor, while doing the honours of the table with great and anxioushospitality, prayed us to excuse the circumstance that some particulardish or pasty had been infringed on before it was presented to us. "Youmust know," said he to Mr. Jarvie, but without looking towards me, "youare not the only guests this night in the MacGregor's country, whilk,doubtless, ye will believe, since my wife and the twa lads wouldotherwise have been maist ready to attend you, as weel beseems them."
Bailie Jarvie looked as if he felt glad at any circumstance whichoccasioned their absence; and I should have been entirely of his opinion,had it not been that the outlaw's apology seemed to imply they were inattendance on Diana and her companion, whom even in my thoughts I couldnot bear to designate as her husband.
While the unpleasant ideas arising from this suggestion counteracted thegood effects of appetite, welcome, and good cheer, I remarked that RobRoy's attention had extended itself to providing us better bedding thanwe had enjoyed the night before. Two of the least fragile of thebedsteads, which stood by the wall of the hut, had been stuffed withheath, then in full flower, so artificially arranged, that, the flowersbeing uppermost, afforded a mattress at once elastic and fragrant.Cloaks, and such bedding as could be collected, stretched over thisvegetable couch, made it both soft and warm. The Bailie seemed exhaustedby fatigue. I resolved to adjourn my communication to him until nextmorning; and therefore suffered him to betake himself to bed so soon ashe had finished a plentiful supper. Though tired and harassed, I did notmyself feel the same disposition to sleep, but rather a restless a
ndfeverish anxiety, which led to some farther discourse betwixt me andMacGregor.