CHAPTER XXII.
PEDEN THE PROPHET.
(_Being the concluding of the conventicle by the Dee Water._)
Yet the chariot of fire came not, for the time was not yet, though thegrinding of its wheels was even then to be heard at the door. But theLord had yet a great day's darg to do in Scotland with Richard Cameron.
Then after silence had endured for a time, another minister rose up tospeak to us. At sight of him a murmur went about, and wonder and joy saton every face. He was an old man, tall and gaunt. His hair, lyart andlong, fell upon his shoulders. His beard descended upon his breast.
"Peden the Prophet!" was the whisper that went about. And all benteagerly forward to look at the famous wanderer, whom all held to havegifts of utterance and prophecy beyond those of mortal. He it was thathad been a thousand times hunted like a partridge upon the mountains, ahundred times taken in the net, yet had ever escaped. He it was for thelove of whom men had laid down their lives like water, only thatAlexander Peden might go scatheless and speak his Master's will.
Bowed he was and broken; yet when he spoke his natural strength was inno wise abated, and at his first word the fear of the Lord came upon us.I looked at Lochinvar, who in his time had ridden so hard on his track.He sat open-mouthed, and there was a daze of awe in his look.
Alexander Peden had hardly spoken a sentence to us when the spirit ofprophecy brake upon him, and he cried out for Scotland as was his wontin those days. His voice rose and rang--not like a war-trumpet as didCameron's, but rather like the wild wind that goes about the house andabout the house, and cries fearful words in at the chinks and crevices.
"A bloody sword, a bloody sword for thee, O puir Scotland! Many a mileshall they travel in thee and see naught but waste places, nor so muchas a house reeking pleasantly on the brae. Many a conventicle has beenwared on thee, my Scotland. And Welsh and Semple, Cameron and Cargillhave cried to thee. But ere long they shall all be put to silence andGod shall preach to thee only with the bloody sword. Have ye neverwitnessed for the cause and Covenants? Or have ye been dumb dogs thatwould not bark? If that be so, as sayeth godly Mr. Guthrie of Fenwick,God will make the tongues that owned Him not to fry and flutter upon thehot coals of hell. He will gar them blatter and bleeze upon the burningcoals of hell!
"Speak, sirs, or He will gar these tongues that He hath put into yourmouths to popple and play in the pow-pot of hell!"
As he said these words his eyes shone upon us like to burn us through,and his action was most terrifying as he took his great oaken staff andshook it over us. And we fairly trembled beneath him like silly bairnstaken in a wrong.
But he went on his way as one that cries for vengeance over an opengrave in which a slain man lies.
"Ye think that there hath been bloodshed in Scotland, and so therehath--dear and precious--but I tell you that that which hath been, isbut as the dropping of the morning cloud ere the sun rises in hisstrength, to the mid-noon thunder plump that is yet to come.
"Not since the black day of Bothwell have I slept in a bed! I have beenNazarite for the vow that was upon me. Have any of you that are hereseen me in New Luce? Not even Ritchie here could have overcrowed methen, for strength and stature. I stood as a young tree by the river ofwaters. Look upon me now--so crooked by the caves and the moss-hags thatI could not go upright to the scaffold. The sword handle is fit for yourhands, and the Lord of Battles give you long arms when you measureswords with Charles Stuart. But old Sandy is good for nothing now butthe praying. He can only bide in his hole like a toothless tyke, lameand blind; and girn his gums at the robbers that spoil his master'shouse.
"'Crook-back, crab-heart,' sayeth the proverb," Peden cried, "but Ithink not so, for my heart is warm this day toward you that sit here,for but few of you shall win through the day of wrath that is to come inScotland."
He turned towards the place where we sat together, the maids, my cousinand I. A great fear in my heart chilled me like ice. Was he to denounceus as traitors? But he only said slowly these words in a soft and movingvoice, as one that hath the tears close behind.
"And there are some of you, young maids and weak, here present, thatshall make a name in Scotland, a name that shall never die!"
With that he made an end and sat down.
Then came one, white-face and panting from the hill on the east.
"The riders are upon us--flee quickly!" he cried.
Then, indeed, there was great confusion and deray. Some rose up in actto flee. But Anton Lennox, who had the heart of a soldier in him and thewit of a general, commanded the men to stand to their arms, putting thewomen behind them. And through the confusion I could see stern-faced menmoving to the front with guns and swords in their hands. These, as Ilearned, were the disciplined members of the Praying Societies, whomCameron and afterwards Renwick, drew together into one military bond ofdefence and fellowship.
For me I stood where I was, the maids only being with me; and I feltthat, come what might, it was my duty to protect them. Kate McGhieclasped her hands and stood as one that is gripped with fear, yet canmaster it. But Maisie Lennox, who was nearest to me, looked over towhere her father stood at the corner of his company. Then, because shewas distressed for him and knew not what she did, she drew ahalf-knitted stocking out of the pocket that swung beneath her kirtle,calmly set the stitches in order, and went on knitting as is theGalloway custom among the hill-folk when they wait for anything.
There was a great silence--a stillness in which one heard his neighbourbreathing. Through it the voice of Peden rose.
"Lord," he prayed, "it is Thine enemies' day. Hour and power are allowedto them. They may not be idle. But hast Thou no other work for them todo in their master's service? Send them after those to whom Thou hastgiven strength to flee, for our strength's gone, and there are many weakwomen among us this day. Twine them about the hill, O Lord, and cast thelap of Thy cloak over puir Sandy and thir puir things, and save us thisone time."
So saying he went to the top of a little hill near by, from which thereis a wide prospect. It is called Mount Pleasant. From thence he lookedall round and waved his hands three times. And in a minute there befel awonderful thing. For even as his hands beckoned, from behind the ridgesof the Duchrae and Drumglass, arose the level tops of a great sea ofmist. It came upon the land suddenly as the "haar" that in the autumndrives up the eastern valleys from the sea. Like a river that risesbehind a dam, it rose, till of a sudden it overflowed and came towardsus over the moorland, moving with a sound like running water very faraway.
Then Peden the Prophet came hastening back to us.
"Move not one of you out of your places!" he cried, "for the Lord isabout to send upon us His pillar of cloud." Then the mist came, and madeby little and little a very thick darkness, and Peden said:
"Lads, the bitterest of the blast is over. We shall no more be troubledwith them this day." And through the darkness I felt a hand placed inmine--whose I could not tell, but I hoped plainly that it might beMaisie Lennox's hand, for, as I have said, she was my gossip and myfriend. At least I heard no more the click of the knitting-needles.
The mist came yet thicker, and through it there shone, now and then, theflickering leme of pale lightning, that flashed about us all. Then quitesuddenly we heard strangely near us the jangling of the accoutrements ofthe troopers and the sound of voices.
"Curse the Whig's mist, it has come on again! We canna steer for it!"cried a voice so near that the hillmen stood closer in their ranks, andmy own heart leaped till I heard it beat irregularly within me.
We marked the sharp _clip clip_ as the shod horses struck the stoneswith their feet. Now and then a man would clatter over his steed's headas the poor beast bogged or stumbled.
Looking over between the hazel trees, I could faintly discern the steelcaps of the troopers through the gloom, as they wound in single filebetween us and the water-side. It was but a scouting party, for in amoment we heard the trumpet blow from the main body, which had kept theroad that wind
s down to the old ford, over the Black Water on the wayfrom Kirkcudbright to New Galloway and Kenmuir.
In a little the sounds came fainter on our ears, and the swing andtrample of the hoofs grew so far away that we could not hear them anymore.
But the great cloud of people stood for long time still, no man daringto move. It struck me as strange that in that concourse of shepherds notso much as a dog barked. In a moment I saw the reason. Each herd wassitting on the grass with his dog's head in his lap, wrapped in hisplaid. Then came the scattering of the great meeting. Such were thechances of our life at that dark time, when brother might part frombrother and meet no more. And when a father might go out to look thelambs, and be found by his daughter fallen on his face on the heather bythe sheep ree, with that on his breast that was not bonny to see whenthey turned him over. As for me I went home with Maisie Lennox and herfriend the young lass of Glen Vernock, as was indeed my plain duty. Wewalked side by side in silence, for we had great thoughts within us ofCameron and Peden, and of the Blue Banner of the Covenant that was notyet wholly put down.