by Walter Scott
CHAPTER SIXTH.
Hame came our gudeman at e'en, And hame came he, And there he saw a man Where a man suldna be. "How's this now, kimmer? How's this?" quo he,-- "How came this carle here Without the leave o' me?" Old Song.
The magistrate took the light out of the servant-maid's hand, andadvanced to his scrutiny, like Diogenes in the street of Athens,lantern-in-hand, and probably with as little expectation as that of thecynic, that he was likely to encounter any especial treasure in thecourse of his researches. The first whom he approached was my mysteriousguide, who, seated on a table as I have already described him, with hiseyes firmly fixed on the wall, his features arranged into the utmostinflexibility of expression, his hands folded on his breast with an airbetwixt carelessness and defiance, his heel patting against the foot ofthe table, to keep time with the tune which he continued to whistle,submitted to Mr. Jarvie's investigation with an air of absoluteconfidence and assurance which, for a moment, placed at fault the memoryand sagacity of the acute investigator.
"Ah!--Eh!--Oh!" exclaimed the Bailie. "My conscience!--it'simpossible!--and yet--no!--Conscience!--it canna be!--and yetagain--Deil hae me, that I suld say sae!--Ye robber--ye cateran--ye borndeevil that ye are, to a' bad ends and nae gude ane!--can this be you?"
"E'en as ye see, Bailie," was the laconic answer.
"Conscience! if I am na clean bumbaized--_you_, ye cheat-the-wuddyrogue--_you_ here on your venture in the tolbooth o' Glasgow?--What d'yethink's the value o' your head?"
"Umph!--why, fairly weighed, and Dutch weight, it might weigh down oneprovost's, four bailies', a town-clerk's, six deacons', besidesstent-masters'"--
"Ah, ye reiving villain!" interrupted Mr. Jarvie. "But tell ower yoursins, and prepare ye, for if I say the word"--
"True, Bailie," said he who was thus addressed, folding his hands behindhim with the utmost _nonchalance,_ "but ye will never say that word."
"And why suld I not, sir?" exclaimed the magistrate--"Why suld I not?Answer me that--why suld I not?"
"For three sufficient reasons, Bailie Jarvie.--First, for auld langsyne;second, for the sake of the auld wife ayont the fire at Stuckavrallachan,that made some mixture of our bluids, to my own proper shame be itspoken! that has a cousin wi' accounts, and yarn winnles, and looms andshuttles, like a mere mechanical person; and lastly, Bailie, because if Isaw a sign o' your betraying me, I would plaster that wa' with your harnsere the hand of man could rescue you!"
"Ye're a bauld desperate villain, sir," retorted the undaunted Bailie;"and ye ken that I ken ye to be sae, and that I wadna stand a moment formy ain risk."
"I ken weel," said the other, "ye hae gentle bluid in your veins, and Iwad be laith to hurt my ain kinsman. But I'll gang out here as free as Icame in, or the very wa's o' Glasgow tolbooth shall tell o't these tenyears to come."
"Weel, weel," said Mr. Jarvie, "bluid's thicker than water; and it liesnain kith, kin, and ally, to see motes in ilka other's een if other een seethem no. It wad be sair news to the auld wife below the Ben ofStuckavrallachan, that you, ye Hieland limmer, had knockit out my harns,or that I had kilted you up in a tow. But ye'll own, ye dour deevil, thatwere it no your very sell, I wad hae grippit the best man in theHielands."
"Ye wad hae tried, cousin," answered my guide, "that I wot weel; but Idoubt ye wad hae come aff wi' the short measure; for we gang-there-outHieland bodies are an unchancy generation when you speak to us o'bondage. We downa bide the coercion of gude braid-claith about ourhinderlans, let a be breeks o' free-stone, and garters o' iron."
"Ye'll find the stane breeks and the airn garters--ay, and the hempcravat, for a' that, neighbour," replied the Bailie.
"Nae man in a civilised country ever played the pliskies ye hae done--bute'en pickle in your ain pock-neuk--I hae gi'en ye wanting."
"Well, cousin," said the other, "ye'll wear black at my burial."
"Deil a black cloak will be there, Robin, but the corbies and thehoodie-craws, I'se gie ye my hand on that. But whar's the gude thousandpund Scots that I lent ye, man, and when am I to see it again?"
"Where it is," replied my guide, after the affectation of considering fora moment, "I cannot justly tell--probably where last year's snaw is."
"And that's on the tap of Schehallion, ye Hieland dog," said Mr. Jarvie;"and I look for payment frae you where ye stand."
"Ay," replied the Highlander, "but I keep neither snaw nor dollars in mysporran. And as to when you'll see it--why, just when the king enjoys hisain again, as the auld sang says."
"Warst of a', Robin," retorted the Glaswegian,--"I mean, ye disloyaltraitor--Warst of a'!--Wad ye bring popery in on us, and arbitrary power,and a foist and a warming-pan, and the set forms, and the curates, andthe auld enormities o' surplices and cerements? Ye had better stickto your auld trade o' theft-boot, black-mail, spreaghs, andgillravaging--better stealing nowte than ruining nations."
"Hout, man--whisht wi' your whiggery," answered the Celt; "we hae ken'dane anither mony a lang day. I'se take care your counting-room is nocleaned out when the Gillon-a-naillie* come to redd up the Glasgowbuiths, and clear them o' their auld shop-wares.
* The lads with the kilts or petticoats.
And, unless it just fa' in the preceese way o' your duty, ye maunna seeme oftener, Nicol, than I am disposed to be seen."
"Ye are a dauring villain, Rob," answered the Bailie; "and ye will behanged, that will be seen and heard tell o'; but I'se ne'er be the illbird and foul my nest, set apart strong necessity and the skreigh ofduty, which no man should hear and be inobedient. And wha the deevil'sthis?" he continued, turning to me--"Some gillravager that ye hae listed,I daur say. He looks as if he had a bauld heart to the highway, and alang craig for the gibbet."
"This, good Mr. Jarvie," said Owen, who, like myself, had been struckdumb during this strange recognition, and no less strange dialogue, whichtook place betwixt these extraordinary kinsmen--"This, good Mr. Jarvie,is young Mr. Frank Osbaldistone, only child of the head of our house, whoshould have been taken into our firm at the time Mr. RashleighOsbaldistone, his cousin, had the luck to be taken into it"--(Here Owencould not suppress a groan)--"But howsoever"--
"Oh, I have heard of that smaik," said the Scotch merchant, interruptinghim; "it is he whom your principal, like an obstinate auld fule, wad makea merchant o', wad he or wad he no,--and the lad turned a strollingstage-player, in pure dislike to the labour an honest man should live by.Weel, sir, what say you to your handiwork? Will Hamlet the Dane, orHamlet's ghost, be good security for Mr. Owen, sir?"
"I don't deserve your taunt," I replied, "though I respect your motive,and am too grateful for the assistance you have afforded Mr. Owen, toresent it. My only business here was to do what I could (it is perhapsvery little) to aid Mr. Owen in the management of my father's affairs. Mydislike of the commercial profession is a feeling of which I am the bestand sole judge."
"I protest," said the Highlander, "I had some respect for this callanteven before I ken'd what was in him; but now I honour him for hiscontempt of weavers and spinners, and sic-like mechanical persons andtheir pursuits."
"Ye're mad, Rob," said the Bailie--"mad as a March hare--though whereforea hare suld be mad at March mair than at Martinmas, is mair than I canweel say. Weavers! Deil shake ye out o' the web the weaver craft made.Spinners! ye'll spin and wind yourself a bonny pirn. And this youngbirkie here, that ye're hoying and hounding on the shortest road to thegallows and the deevil, will his stage-plays and his poetries help himhere, dye think, ony mair than your deep oaths and drawn dirks, yereprobate that ye are?--Will _Tityre tu patulae,_ as they ca' it, tellhim where Rashleigh Osbaldistone is? or Macbeth, and all his kernes andgalla-glasses, and your awn to boot, Rob, procure him five thousandpounds to answer the bills which fall due ten days hence, were they a'rouped
at the Cross,--basket-hilts, Andra-Ferraras, leather targets,brogues, brochan, and sporrans?"
"Ten days," I answered, and instinctively drew out Diana Vernon's packet;and the time being elapsed during which I was to keep the seal sacred, Ihastily broke it open. A sealed letter fell from a blank enclosure, owingto the trepidation with which I opened the parcel. A slight current ofwind, which found its way through a broken pane of the window, wafted theletter to Mr. Jarvie's feet, who lifted it, examined the address withunceremonious curiosity, and, to my astonishment, handed it to hisHighland kinsman, saying, "Here's a wind has blown a letter to its rightowner, though there were ten thousand chances against its coming tohand."
The Highlander, having examined the address, broke the letter openwithout the least ceremony. I endeavoured to interrupt his proceeding.
"You must satisfy me, sir," said I, "that the letter is intended for youbefore I can permit you to peruse it."
"Make yourself quite easy, Mr. Osbaldistone," replied the mountaineerwith great composure.--"remember Justice Inglewood, Clerk Jobson, Mr.Morris--above all, remember your vera humble servant, Robert Cawmil, andthe beautiful Diana Vernon. Remember all this, and doubt no longer thatthe letter is for me."
I remained astonished at my own stupidity.--Through the whole night, thevoice, and even the features of this man, though imperfectly seen,haunted me with recollections to which I could assign no exact local orpersonal associations. But now the light dawned on me at once; this manwas Campbell himself. His whole peculiarities flashed on me at once,--thedeep strong voice--the inflexible, stern, yet considerate cast offeatures--the Scottish brogue, with its corresponding dialect andimagery, which, although he possessed the power at times of laying themaside, recurred at every moment of emotion, and gave pith to his sarcasm,or vehemence to his expostulation. Rather beneath the middle size thanabove it, his limbs were formed upon the very strongest model that isconsistent with agility, while from the remarkable ease and freedom ofhis movements, you could not doubt his possessing the latter quality in ahigh degree of perfection. Two points in his person interfered with therules of symmetry; his shoulders were so broad in proportion to hisheight, as, notwithstanding the lean and lathy appearance of his frame,gave him something the air of being too square in respect to his stature;and his arms, though round, sinewy, and strong, were so very long as tobe rather a deformity. I afterwards heard that this length of arm was acircumstance on which he prided himself; that when he wore his nativeHighland garb, he could tie the garters of his hose without stooping; andthat it gave him great advantage in the use of the broad-sword, at whichhe was very dexterous. But certainly this want of symmetry destroyed theclaim he might otherwise have set up, to be accounted a very handsomeman; it gave something wild, irregular, and, as it were, unearthly, tohis appearance, and reminded me involuntarily of the tales which Mabelused to tell of the old Picts who ravaged Northumberland in ancienttimes, who, according to her tradition, were a sort of half-goblinhalf-human beings, distinguished, like this man, for courage, cunning,ferocity, the length of their arms, and the squareness of theirshoulders.
When, however, I recollected the circumstances in which we formerly met,I could not doubt that the billet was most probably designed for him. Hehad made a marked figure among those mysterious personages over whomDiana seemed to exercise an influence, and from whom she experienced aninfluence in her turn. It was painful to think that the fate of a beingso amiable was involved in that of desperadoes of this man'sdescription;--yet it seemed impossible to doubt it. Of what use, however,could this person be to my father's affairs?--I could think only of one.Rashleigh Osbaldistone had, at the instigation of Miss Vernon, certainlyfound means to produce Mr. Campbell when his presence was necessary toexculpate me from Morris's accusation--Was it not possible that herinfluence, in like manner, might prevail on Campbell to produceRashleigh? Speaking on this supposition, I requested to know where mydangerous kinsman was, and when Mr. Campbell had seen him. The answer wasindirect.
"It's a kittle cast she has gien me to play; but yet it's fair play, andI winna baulk her. Mr. Osbaldistone, I dwell not very far from hence--mykinsman can show you the way--Leave Mr. Owen to do the best he can inGlasgow--do you come and see me in the glens, and it's like I maypleasure you, and stead your father in his extremity. I am but a poorman; but wit's better than wealth--and, cousin" (turning from me toaddress Mr. Jarvie), "if ye daur venture sae muckle as to eat a dish ofScotch collops, and a leg o' red-deer venison wi' me, come ye wi' thisSassenach gentleman as far as Drymen or Bucklivie,--or the Clachan ofAberfoil will be better than ony o' them,--and I'll hae somebody waitingto weise ye the gate to the place where I may be for the time--What sayye, man? There's my thumb, I'll ne'er beguile thee."
"Na, na, Robin," said the cautious burgher, "I seldom like to leave theGorbals;* I have nae freedom to gang among your wild hills, Robin, andyour kilted red-shanks--it disna become my place, man."
* [The _Gorbals_ or "suburbs" are situate on the south side of theRiver.]
"The devil damn your place and you baith!" reiterated Campbell. "The onlydrap o' gentle bluid that's in your body was our great-grand-uncle's thatwas justified* at Dumbarton, and you set yourself up to say ye wadderogate frae your place to visit me!
* [Executed for treason.]
Hark thee, man--I owe thee a day in harst--I'll pay up your thousan pundScots, plack and bawbee, gin ye'll be an honest fallow for anes, and justdaiker up the gate wi' this Sassenach."
"Hout awa' wi' your gentility," replied the Bailie; "carry your gentlebluid to the Cross, and see what ye'll buy wi't. But, if I _were_ tocome, wad ye really and soothfastly pay me the siller?"
"I swear to ye," said the Highlander, "upon the halidome of him thatsleeps beneath the grey stane at Inch-Cailleach."*
* Inch-Cailleach is an island in Lochlomond, where the clan of MacGregorwere wont to be interred, and where their sepulchres may still be seen.It formerly contained a nunnery: hence the name of Inch-Cailleach, or theisland of Old Women.
"Say nae mair, Robin--say nae mair--We'll see what may be dune. But yemaunna expect me to gang ower the Highland line--I'll gae beyond the lineat no rate. Ye maun meet me about Bucklivie or the Clachan ofAberfoil,--and dinna forget the needful."
"Nae fear--nae fear," said Campbell; "I'll be as true as the steel bladethat never failed its master. But I must be budging, cousin, for the airo' Glasgow tolbooth is no that ower salutary to a Highlander'sconstitution."
"Troth," replied the merchant, "and if my duty were to be dune, yecouldna change your atmosphere, as the minister ca's it, this ae weewhile.--Ochon, that I sud ever be concerned in aiding and abetting anescape frae justice! it will be a shame and disgrace to me and mine, andmy very father's memory, for ever."
"Hout tout, man! let that flee stick in the wa'," answered his kinsman;"when the dirt's dry it will rub out--Your father, honest man, could lookower a friend's fault as weel as anither."
"Ye may be right, Robin," replied the Bailie, after a moment'sreflection; "he was a considerate man the deacon; he ken'd we had a' ourfrailties, and he lo'ed his friends--Ye'll no hae forgotten him, Robin?"This question he put in a softened tone, conveying as much at least ofthe ludicrous as the pathetic.
"Forgotten him!" replied his kinsman--"what suld ail me to forget him?--awapping weaver he was, and wrought my first pair o' hose.--But come awa',kinsman,
Come fill up my cap, come fill up my cann, Come saddle my horses, and call up my man; Come open your gates, and let me gae free, I daurna stay langer in bonny Dundee."
"Whisht, sir!" said the magistrate, in an authoritative tone--"liltingand singing sae near the latter end o' the Sabbath! This house may hearye sing anither tune yet--Aweel, we hae a' backslidings to answerfor--Stanchells, open the door."
The jailor obeyed, and we all sallied forth. Stanchells looked with somesurprise at the two strangers, wondering, doubtless, how they came intothese premises without his know
ledge; but Mr. Jarvie's "Friends o' mine,Stanchells--friends o' mine," silenced all disposition to inquiries. Wenow descended into the lower vestibule, and hallooed more than once forDougal, to which summons no answer was returned; when Campbell observedwith a sardonic smile, "That if Dougal was the lad he kent him, he wouldscarce wait to get thanks for his ain share of the night's wark, but wasin all probability on the full trot to the pass of Ballamaha"--
"And left us--and, abune a', me, mysell, locked up in the tolbooth a'night!" exclaimed the Bailie, in ire and perturbation. "Ca' forforehammers, sledge-hammers, pinches, and coulters; send for DeaconYettlin, the smith, an let him ken that Bailie Jarvie's shut up in thetolbooth by a Highland blackguard, whom he'll hang up as high as Haman"--
"When ye catch him," said Campbell, gravely; "but stay--the door issurely not locked."
Indeed, on examination, we found that the door was not only left open,but that Dougal in his retreat had, by carrying off the keys along withhim, taken care that no one should exercise his office of porter in ahurry.
"He has glimmerings o' common sense now, that creature Dougal," saidCampbell.--"he ken'd an open door might hae served me at a pinch."
We were by this time in the street.
"I tell you, Robin," said the magistrate, "in my puir mind, if ye livethe life ye do, ye suld hae ane o' your gillies door-keeper in every jailin Scotland, in case o' the warst."
"Ane o' my kinsmen a bailie in ilka burgh will just do as weel, cousinNicol--So, gude-night or gude-morning to ye; and forget not the Clachanof Aberfoil."
And without waiting for an answer, he sprung to the other side of thestreet, and was lost in darkness. Immediately on his disappearance, weheard him give a low whistle of peculiar modulation, which was instantlyreplied to.
"Hear to the Hieland deevils," said Mr. Jarvie; "they think themselves onthe skirts of Benlomond already, where they may gang whewingand whistlingabout without minding Sunday or Saturday." Here he was interrupted bysomething which fell with a heavy clash on the street before us--"Gudeguide us what's this mair o't?--Mattie, haud up the lantern--Conscienceif it isna the keys!--Weel, that's just as weel--they cost the burghsiller, and there might hae been some clavers about the loss o' them. O,an Bailie Grahame were to get word o' this night's job, it would be asair hair in my neck!"
As we were still but a few steps from the tolbooth door, we carried backthese implements of office, and consigned them to the head jailor, who,in lieu of the usual mode of making good his post by turning the keys,was keeping sentry in the vestibule till the arrival of some assistant,whom he had summoned in order to replace the Celtic fugitive Dougal.
Having discharged this piece of duty to the burgh, and my road lying thesame way with the honest magistrate's, I profited by the light of hislantern, and he by my arm, to find our way through the streets, which,whatever they may now be, were then dark, uneven, and ill-paved. Age iseasily propitiated by attentions from the young. The Bailie expressedhimself interested in me, and added, "That since I was nane o' thatplay-acting and play-ganging generation, whom his saul hated, he wad beglad if I wad eat a reisted haddock or a fresh herring, at breakfast wi'him the morn, and meet my friend, Mr. Owen, whom, by that time, he wouldplace at liberty."
"My dear sir," said I, when I had accepted of the invitation with thanks,"how could you possibly connect me with the stage?"
"I watna," replied Mr. Jarvie;--"it was a bletherin' phrasin' chield theyca' Fairservice, that cam at e'en to get an order to send the crierthrough the toun for ye at skreigh o' day the morn. He tell't me whae yewere, and how ye were sent frae your father's house because ye wadna be adealer, and that ye mightna disgrace your family wi' ganging on thestage. Ane Hammorgaw, our precentor, brought him here, and said he was anauld acquaintance; but I sent them both away wi' a flae in their lug forbringing me sic an errand, on sic a night. But I see he's a fule-creaturea'thegither, and clean mistaen about ye. I like ye, man," he continued;"I like a lad that will stand by his friends in trouble--I aye did itmysell, and sae did the deacon my father, rest and bless him! But yesuldna keep ower muckle company wi' Hielandmen and thae wild cattle. Cana man touch pitch and no be defiled?--aye mind that. Nae doubt, the bestand wisest may err--Once, twice, and thrice have I backslidden, man, anddune three things this night--my father wadna hae believed his een if hecould hae looked up and seen me do them."
He was by this time arrived at the door of his own dwelling. He paused,however, on the threshold, and went on in a solemn tone of deepcontrition,--"Firstly, I hae thought my ain thoughts on theSabbath--secondly, I hae gi'en security for an Englishman--and, in thethird and last place, well-a-day! I hae let an ill-doer escape from theplace of imprisonment--But there's balm in Gilead, Mr. Osbaldistone--Mattie, I can let mysell in--see Mr. Osbaldistone to Luckie Flyter's, atthe corner o' the wynd.--Mr. Osbaldistone"--in a whisper--"ye'll offernae incivility to Mattie--she's an honest man's daughter, and a nearcousin o' the Lairdo' Limmerfield's."
