Waverley; Or 'Tis Sixty Years Since — Complete

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER XXXVIII

  A NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE

  There was a moment's pause when the whole party had got out of the hut;and the Highlander who assumed the command, and who, in Waverley'sawakened recollection, seemed to be the same tall figure who had actedas Donald Bean Lean's lieutenant, by whispers and signs imposed thestrictest silence. He delivered to Edward a sword and steel pistol,and, pointing up the track, laid his hand on the hilt of his ownclaymore, as if to make him sensible they might have occasion to useforce to make good their passage. He then placed himself at the head ofthe party, who moved up the pathway in single or Indian file, Waverleybeing placed nearest to their leader. He moved with great precaution,as if to avoid giving any alarm, and halted as soon as he came to theverge of the ascent. Waverley was soon sensible of the reason, for heheard at no great distance an English sentinel call out 'All's well.'The heavy sound sunk on the night-wind down the woody glen, and wasanswered by the echoes of its banks. A second, third, and fourth timethe signal was repeated fainter and fainter, as if at a greater andgreater distance. It was obvious that a party of soldiers were near,and upon their guard, though not sufficiently so to detect men skilfulin every art of predatory warfare, like those with whom he now watchedtheir ineffectual precautions.

  When these sounds had died upon the silence of the night, theHighlanders began their march swiftly, yet with the most cautioussilence. Waverley had little time, or indeed disposition, forobservation, and could only discern that they passed at some distancefrom a large building, in the windows of which a light or two yetseemed to twinkle. A little farther on the leading Highlander snuffedthe wind like a setting spaniel, and then made a signal to his partyagain to halt. He stooped down upon all fours, wrapped up in his plaid,so as to be scarce distinguishable from the heathy ground on which hemoved, and advanced in this posture to reconnoitre. In a short time hereturned, and dismissed his attendants excepting one; and, intimatingto Waverley that he must imitate his cautious mode of proceeding, allthree crept forward on hands and knees.

  After proceeding a greater way in this inconvenient manner than was atall comfortable to his knees and shins, Waverley perceived the smell ofsmoke, which probably had been much sooner distinguished by the moreacute nasal organs of his guide. It proceeded from the corner of a lowand ruinous sheep-fold, the walls of which were made of loose stones,as is usual in Scotland. Close by this low wall the Highlander guidedWaverley, and, in order probably to make him sensible of his danger, orperhaps to obtain the full credit of his own dexterity, he intimated tohim, by sign and example, that he might raise his head so as to peepinto the sheep-fold. Waverley did so, and beheld an outpost of four orfive soldiers lying by their watch-fire. They were all asleep exceptthe sentinel, who paced backwards and forwards with his firelock on hisshoulder, which glanced red in the light of the fire as he crossed andre-crossed before it in his short walk, casting his eye frequently tothat part of the heavens from which the moon, hitherto obscured bymist, seemed now about to make her appearance.

  In the course of a minute or two, by one of those sudden changes ofatmosphere incident to a mountainous country, a breeze arose and sweptbefore it the clouds which had covered the horizon, and the nightplanet poured her full effulgence upon a wide and blighted heath,skirted indeed with copse-wood and stunted trees in the quarter fromwhich they had come, but open and bare to the observation of thesentinel in that to which their course tended. The wall of thesheep-fold indeed concealed them as they lay, but any advance beyondits shelter seemed impossible without certain discovery.

  The Highlander eyed the blue vault, but far from blessing the usefullight with Homer's, or rather Pope's benighted peasant, he muttered aGaelic curse upon the unseasonable splendour of Mac-Farlane's buat(i.e. lantern) [Footnote: See Note 1]. He looked anxiously around for afew minutes, and then apparently took his resolution. Leaving hisattendant with Waverley, after motioning to Edward to remain quiet, andgiving his comrade directions in a brief whisper, he retreated,favoured by the irregularity of the ground, in the same direction andin the same manner as they had advanced. Edward, turning his head afterhim, could perceive him crawling on all fours with the dexterity of anIndian, availing himself of every bush and inequality to escapeobservation, and never passing over the more exposed parts of his trackuntil the sentinel's back was turned from him. At length he reached thethickets and underwood which partly covered the moor in that direction,and probably extended to the verge of the glen where Waverley had beenso long an inhabitant. The Highlander disappeared, but it was only fora few minutes, for he suddenly issued forth from a different part ofthe thicket, and, advancing boldly upon the open heath as if to invitediscovery, he levelled his piece and fired at the sentinel. A wound inthe arm proved a disagreeable interruption to the poor fellow'smeteorological observations, as well as to the tune of 'Nancy Dawson,'which he was whistling. He returned the fire ineffectually, and hiscomrades, starting up at the alarm, advanced alertly towards the spotfrom which the first shot had issued. The Highlander, after giving thema full view of his person, dived among the thickets, for his ruse deguerre had now perfectly succeeded.

  While the soldiers pursued the cause of their disturbance in onedirection, Waverley, adopting the hint of his remaining attendant, madethe best of his speed in that which his guide originally intended topursue, and which now (the attention of the soldiers being drawn to adifferent quarter) was unobserved and unguarded. When they had runabout a quarter of a mile, the brow of a rising ground which they hadsurmounted concealed them from further risk of observation. They stillheard, however, at a distance the shouts of the soldiers as theyhallooed to each other upon the heath, and they could also hear thedistant roll of a drum beating to arms in the same direction. But thesehostile sounds were now far in their rear, and died away upon thebreeze as they rapidly proceeded.

  When they had walked about half an hour, still along open and wasteground of the same description, they came to the stump of an ancientoak, which, from its relics, appeared to have been at one time a treeof very large size. In an adjacent hollow they found severalHighlanders, with a horse or two. They had not joined them above a fewminutes, which Waverley's attendant employed, in all probability, incommunicating the cause of their delay (for the words 'Duncan Duroch'were often repeated), when Duncan himself appeared, out of breathindeed, and with all the symptoms of having run for his life, butlaughing, and in high spirits at the success of the stratagem by whichhe had baffled his pursuers. This indeed Waverley could easily conceivemight be a matter of no great difficulty to the active mountaineer, whowas perfectly acquainted with the ground, and traced his course with afirmness and confidence to which his pursuers must have been strangers.The alarm which he excited seemed still to continue, for a droppingshot or two were heard at a great distance, which seemed to serve as anaddition to the mirth of Duncan and his comrades.

  The mountaineer now resumed the arms with which he had entrusted ourhero, giving him to understand that the dangers of the journey werehappily surmounted. Waverley was then mounted upon one of the horses, achange which the fatigue of the night and his recent illness renderedexceedingly acceptable. His portmanteau was placed on another pony,Duncan mounted a third, and they set forward at a round pace,accompanied by their escort. No other incident marked the course ofthat night's journey, and at the dawn of morning they attained thebanks of a rapid river. The country around was at once fertile andromantic. Steep banks of wood were broken by corn-fields, which thisyear presented an abundant harvest, already in a great measure cut down.

  On the opposite bank of the river, and partly surrounded by a windingof its stream, stood a large and massive castle, the half-ruinedturrets of which were already glittering in the first rays of the sun.[Footnote: See Note 2.] It was in form an oblong square, of sizesufficient to contain a large court in the centre. The towers at eachangle of the square rose higher than the walls of the building, andwere in their turn surmounted by turrets, differing in height andirregular in shape
. Upon one of these a sentinel watched, whose bonnetand plaid, streaming in the wind, declared him to be a Highlander, as abroad white ensign, which floated from another tower, announced thatthe garrison was held by the insurgent adherents of the House of Stuart.

  Passing hastily through a small and mean town, where their appearanceexcited neither surprise nor curiosity in the few peasants whom thelabours of the harvest began to summon from their repose, the partycrossed an ancient and narrow bridge of several arches, and, turning tothe left up an avenue of huge old sycamores, Waverley found himself infront of the gloomy yet picturesque structure which he had admired at adistance. A huge iron-grated door, which formed the exterior defence ofthe gateway, was already thrown back to receive them; and a second,heavily constructed of oak and studded thickly with iron nails, beingnext opened, admitted them into the interior court-yard. A gentleman,dressed in the Highland garb and having a white cockade in his bonnet,assisted Waverley to dismount from his horse, and with much courtesybid him welcome to the castle.

  The governor, for so we must term him, having conducted Waverley to ahalf-ruinous apartment, where, however, there was a small camp-bed, andhaving offered him any refreshment which he desired, was then about toleave him.

  'Will you not add to your civilities,' said Waverley, after having madethe usual acknowledgment, 'by having the kindness to inform me where Iam, and whether or not I am to consider myself as a prisoner?'

  'I am not at liberty to be so explicit upon this subject as I couldwish. Briefly, however, you are in the Castle of Doune, in the districtof Menteith, and in no danger whatever.'

  'And how am I assured of that?'

  'By the honour of Donald Stewart, governor of the garrison, andlieutenant-colonel in the service of his Royal Highness Prince CharlesEdward.' So saying, he hastily left the apartment, as if to avoidfurther discussion.

  Exhausted by the fatigues of the night, our hero now threw himself uponthe bed, and was in a few minutes fast asleep.