by Walter Scott
CHAPTER XLV
But if thou shouldst be dragg'd in scorn To yonder ignominious tree, Thou shall not want one faithful friend To share the cruel fates' decree.
SHENSTONE.
Plunged in the gloomy reflections which were naturally excited by hisdismal reading and disconsolate situation, Bertram for the first timein his life felt himself affected with a disposition to low spirits. 'Ihave been in worse situations than this too,' he said; 'more dangerous,for here is no danger; more dismal in prospect, for my presentconfinement must necessarily be short; more intolerable for the time,for here, at least, I have fire, food, and shelter. Yet, with readingthese bloody tales of crime and misery in a place so corresponding tothe ideas which they excite, and in listening to these sad sounds, Ifeel a stronger disposition to melancholy than in my life I everexperienced. But I will not give way to it. Begone, thou record ofguilt and infamy!' he said, flinging the book upon the spare bed; 'aScottish jail shall not break, on the very first day, the spirits whichhave resisted climate, and want, and penury, and disease, andimprisonment in a foreign land. I have fought many a hard battle withDame Fortune, and she shall not beat me now if I can help it.'
Then bending his mind to a strong effort, he endeavoured to view hissituation in the most favourable light. Delaserre must soon be inScotland; the certificates from his commanding officer must soonarrive; nay, if Mannering were first applied to, who could say but theeffect might be a reconciliation between them? He had often observed,and now remembered, that when his former colonel took the part of anyone, it was never by halves, and that he seemed to love those personsmost who had lain under obligation to him. In the present case afavour, which could be asked with honour and granted with readiness,might be the means of reconciling them to each other. From this hisfeelings naturally turned towards Julia; and, without very nicelymeasuring the distance between a soldier of fortune, who expected thather father's attestation would deliver him from confinement, and theheiress of that father's wealth and expectations, he was building thegayest castle in the clouds, and varnishing it with all the tints of asummer-evening sky, when his labour was interrupted by a loud knockingat the outer gate, answered by the barking of the gaunt half-starvedmastiff which was quartered in the courtyard as an addition to thegarrison. After much scrupulous precaution the gate was opened and someperson admitted. The house-door was next unbarred, unlocked, andunchained, a dog's feet pattered upstairs in great haste, and theanimal was heard scratching and whining at the door of the room. Next aheavy step was heard lumbering up, and Mac-Guffog's voice in thecharacter of pilot--'This way, this way; take care of the step; that'sthe room.' Bertram's door was then unbolted, and to his great surpriseand joy his terrier, Wasp, rushed into the apartment and almostdevoured him with caresses, followed by the massy form of his friendfrom Charlie's Hope.
'Eh whow! Eh whow!' ejaculated the honest farmer, as he looked roundupon his friend's miserable apartment and wretchedaccommodation--'What's this o't! what's this o't!'
'Just a trick of fortune, my good friend,' said Bertram, rising andshaking him heartily by the hand, 'that's all.'
'But what will be done about it? or what CAN be done about it?' saidhonest Dandie. 'Is't for debt, or what is't for?'
'Why, it is not for debt,' answered Bertram; 'and if you have time tosit down, I'll tell you all I know of the matter myself.'
'If I hae time?' said Dandie, with an accent on the word that soundedlike a howl of derision. 'Ou, what the deevil am I come here for, man,but just ance errand to see about it? But ye'll no be the waur o'something to eat, I trow; it's getting late at e'en. I tell'd the folkat the Change, where I put up Dumple, to send ower my supper here, andthe chield Mac-Guffog is agreeable to let it in; I hae settled a' that.And now let's hear your story. Whisht, Wasp, man! wow, but he's glad tosee you, poor thing!'
Bertram's story, being confined to the accident of Hazlewood, and theconfusion made between his own identity and that of one of thesmugglers who had been active in the assault of Woodbourne, and chancedto bear the same name, was soon told. Dinmont listened veryattentively. 'Aweel,' he said, 'this suld be nae sic dooms desperatebusiness surely; the lad's doing weel again that was hurt, and whatsignifies twa or three lead draps in his shouther? if ye had putten outhis ee it would hae been another case. But eh, as I wuss auld SherraPleydell was to the fore here! Od, he was the man for sorting them, andthe queerest rough-spoken deevil too that ever ye heard!'
'But now tell me, my excellent friend, how did you find out I was here?'
'Od, lad, queerly eneugh,' said Dandie; 'but I'll tell ye that after weare done wi' our supper, for it will maybe no be sae weel to speakabout it while that lang-lugged limmer o' a lass is gaun flisking inand out o' the room.'
Bertram's curiosity was in some degree put to rest by the appearance ofthe supper which his friend had ordered, which, although homely enough,had the appetising cleanliness in which Mrs. Mac-Guffog's cookery wasso eminently deficient. Dinmont also, premising he had ridden the wholeday since breakfast-time without tasting anything 'to speak of,' whichqualifying phrase related to about three pounds of cold roast muttonwhich he had discussed at his mid-day stage--Dinmont, I say, fellstoutly upon the good cheer, and, like one of Homer's heroes, saidlittle, either good or bad, till the rage of thirst and hunger wasappeased. At length, after a draught of home-brewed ale, he began byobserving, 'Aweel, aweel, that hen,' looking upon the lamentable relicsof what had been once a large fowl, 'wasna a bad ane to be bred at atown end, though it's no like our barn-door chuckies at Charlie's Hope;and I am glad to see that this vexing job hasna taen awa your appetite,Captain.'
'Why, really, my dinner was not so excellent, Mr. Dinmont, as to spoilmy supper.'
'I daresay no, I daresay no,' said Dandie. 'But now, hinny, that ye haebrought us the brandy, and the mug wi' the het water, and the sugar,and a' right, ye may steek the door, ye see, for we wad hae some o' ourain cracks.' The damsel accordingly retired and shut the door of theapartment, to which she added the precaution of drawing a large bolt onthe outside.
As soon as she was gone Dandie reconnoitred the premises, listened atthe key-hole as if he had been listening for the blowing of an otter,and, having satisfied himself that there were no eavesdroppers,returned to the table; and, making himself what he called a gey stiffcheerer, poked the fire, and began his story in an undertone of gravityand importance not very usual with him.
'Ye see, Captain, I had been in Edinbro' for twa or three days, lookingafter the burial of a friend that we hae lost, and maybe I suld hae hadsomething for my ride; but there's disappointments in a' things, andwha can help the like o' that? And I had a wee bit law businessbesides, but that's neither here nor there. In short, I had got mymatters settled, and hame I cam; and the morn awa to the muirs to seewhat the herds had been about, and I thought I might as weel gie a lookto the Touthope Head, where Jock o' Dawston and me has the outcastabout a march. Weel, just as I was coming upon the bit, I saw a manafore me that I kenn'd was nane o' our herds, and it's a wild bit tomeet ony other body, so when I cam up to him it was Tod Gabriel, thefox-hunter. So I says to him, rather surprised like, "What are ye doingup amang the craws here, without your hounds, man? are ye seeking thefox without the dogs?" So he said, "Na, gudeman, but I wanted to seeyoursell."
'"Ay," said I, "and ye'll be wanting eilding now, or something to pitower the winter?"
'"Na, na," quo' he, "it's no that I'm seeking; but ye tak an uncoconcern in that Captain Brown that was staying wi' you, d'ye no?"
'"Troth do I, Gabriel," says I; "and what about him, lad?"
'Says he, "There's mair tak an interest in him than you, and some thatI am bound to obey; and it's no just on my ain will that I'm here totell you something about him that will no please you."
'"Faith, naething will please me," quo' I, "that's no pleasing to him."
'"And then," quo' he, "ye'll be ill-sorted to hear that he's like to bein the prison at Portanferry, if he dis
na tak a' the better care o'himsell, for there's been warrants out to tak him as soon as he comesower the water frae Allonby. And now, gudeman, an ever ye wish himweel, ye maun ride down to Portanferry, and let nae grass grow at thenag's heels; and if ye find him in confinement, ye maun stay beside himnight and day for a day or twa, for he'll want friends that hae baithheart and hand; and if ye neglect this ye'll never rue but ance, for itwill be for a' your life."
'"But, safe us, man," quo' I, "how did ye learn a' this? it's an uncoway between this and Portanferry."
'"Never ye mind that," quo' he, "them that brought us the news radenight and day, and ye maun be aff instantly if ye wad do ony gude; andsae I have naething mair to tell ye." Sae he sat himsell doun andhirselled doun into the glen, where it wad hae been ill following himwi' the beast, and I cam back to Charlie's Hope to tell the gudewife,for I was uncertain what to do. It wad look unco-like, I thought, justto be sent out on a hunt-the-gowk errand wi' a landlouper like that.But, Lord! as the gudewife set up her throat about it, and said what ashame it wad be if ye was to come to ony wrang, an I could help ye; andthen in cam your letter that confirmed it. So I took to the kist, andout wi' the pickle notes in case they should be needed, and a' thebairns ran to saddle Dumple. By great luck I had taen the other beastto Edinbro', sae Dumple was as fresh as a rose. Sae aff I set, and Waspwi' me, for ye wad really hae thought he kenn'd where I was gaun, puirbeast; and here I am after a trot o' sixty mile or near by. But Wasprade thirty o' them afore me on the saddle, and the puir doggiebalanced itsell as ane of the weans wad hae dune, whether I trotted orcantered.'
In this strange story Bertram obviously saw, supposing the warning tobe true, some intimation of danger more violent and imminent than couldbe likely to arise from a few days' imprisonment. At the same time itwas equally evident that some unknown friend was working in his behalf.'Did you not say,' he asked Dinmont, 'that this man Gabriel was ofgipsy blood?'
'It was e'en judged sae,' said Dinmont, 'and I think this maks itlikely; for they aye ken where the gangs o' ilk ither are to be found,and they can gar news flee like a footba' through the country an theylike. An' I forgat to tell ye, there's been an unco inquiry after theauld wife that we saw in Bewcastle; the Sheriff's had folk ower theLimestane Edge after her, and down the Hermitage and Liddel, and a'gates, and a reward offered for her to appear o' fifty pound sterling,nae less; and Justice Forster, he's had out warrants, as I am tell'd,in Cumberland; and an unco ranging and ripeing they have had a' gatesseeking for her; but she'll no be taen wi' them unless she likes, fora' that.'
'And how comes that?' said Bertram.
'Ou, I dinna ken; I daur say it's nonsense, but they say she hasgathered the fern-seed, and can gang ony gate she likes, like Jock theGiant-killer in the ballant, wi' his coat o' darkness and his shoon o'swiftness. Ony way she's a kind o' queen amang the gipsies; she is mairthan a hundred year auld, folk say, and minds the coming in o' themoss-troopers in the troublesome times when the Stuarts were put awa.Sae, if she canna hide hersell, she kens them that can hide her weeleneugh, ye needna doubt that. Od, an I had kenn'd it had been MegMerrilies yon night at Tibb Mumps's, I wad taen care how I crossed her.'
Bertram listened with great attention to this account, which tallied sowell in many points with what he had himself seen of this gipsy sibyl.After a moment's consideration he concluded it would be no breach offaith to mention what he had seen at Derncleugh to a person who heldMeg in such reverence as Dinmont obviously did. He told his storyaccordingly, often interrupted by ejaculations, such as, 'Weel, thelike o' that now!' or, 'Na, deil an that's no something now!'
When our Liddesdale friend had heard the whole to an end, he shook hisgreat black head--'Weel, I'll uphaud there's baith gude and ill amangthe gipsies, and if they deal wi' the Enemy, it's a' their ain businessand no ours. I ken what the streeking the corpse wad be, weel eneugh.Thae smuggler deevils, when ony o' them's killed in a fray, they 'llsend for a wife like Meg far eneugh to dress the corpse; od, it's a'the burial they ever think o'! and then to be put into the groundwithout ony decency, just like dogs. But they stick to it, that they'll be streekit, and hae an auld wife when they're dying to rhyme owerprayers, and ballants, and charms, as they ca' them, rather thanthey'll hae a minister to come and pray wi' them--that's an auld threepo' theirs; and I am thinking the man that died will hae been ane o' thefolk that was shot when they burnt Woodbourne.'
'But, my good friend, Woodbourne is not burnt,' said Bertram.
'Weel, the better for them that bides in't,' answered the store-farmer.'Od, we had it up the water wi' us that there wasna a stane on the tapo' anither. But there was fighting, ony way; I daur to say it would befine fun! And, as I said, ye may take it on trust that that's been aneo' the men killed there, and that it's been the gipsies that took yourpockmanky when they fand the chaise stickin' in the snaw; they wadnapass the like o' that, it wad just come to their hand like the bowl o'a pint stoup.'
'But if this woman is a sovereign among them, why was she not able toafford me open protection, and to get me back my property?'
'Ou, wha kens? she has muckle to say wi' them, but whiles they'll taktheir ain way for a' that, when they're under temptation. And thenthere's the smugglers that they're aye leagued wi', she maybe couldnamanage them sae weel. They're aye banded thegither; I've heard that thegipsies ken when the smugglers will come aff, and where they're toland, better than the very merchants that deal wi' them. And then, tothe boot o' that, she's whiles cracked-brained, and has a bee in herhead; they say that, whether her spaeings and fortune-tellings be trueor no, for certain she believes in them a' hersell, and is aye guidinghersell by some queer prophecy or anither. So she disna aye gang thestraight road to the well. But deil o' sic a story as yours, wi'glamour and dead folk and losing ane's gate, I ever heard out o' thetale-books! But whisht, I hear the keeper coming.'
Mac-Guffog accordingly interrupted their discourse by the harsh harmonyof the bolts and bars, and showed his bloated visage at the openingdoor. 'Come, Mr. Dinmont, we have put off locking up for an hour tooblige ye; ye must go to your quarters.'
'Quarters, man? I intend to sleep here the night. There's a spare bedin the Captain's room.'
'It's impossible!' answered the keeper.
'But I say it IS possible, and that I winna stir; and there's a dram t'ye.'
Mac-Guffog drank off the spirits and resumed his objection. 'But it'sagainst rule, sir; ye have committed nae malefaction.'
'I'll break your head,' said the sturdy Liddesdale man, 'if ye say onymair about it, and that will be malefaction eneugh to entitle me to aenight's lodging wi' you, ony way.'
'But I tell ye, Mr. Dinmont,' reiterated the keeper, 'it's againstrule, and I behoved to lose my post.'
'Weel, Mac-Guffog,' said Dandie, 'I hae just twa things to say. Ye kenwha I am weel eneugh, and that I wadna loose a prisoner.'
'And how do I ken that?' answered the jailor.
'Weel, if ye dinna ken that,' said the resolute farmer, 'ye ken this:ye ken ye're whiles obliged to be up our water in the way o' yourbusiness. Now, if ye let me stay quietly here the night wi' theCaptain, I'se pay ye double fees for the room; and if ye say no, yeshall hae the best sark-fu' o' sair banes that ever ye had in your lifethe first time ye set a foot by Liddel Moat!'
'Aweel, aweel, gudeman,' said Mac-Guffog, 'a wilfu' man maun hae hisway; but if I am challenged for it by the justices, I ken wha sall bearthe wyte,' and, having sealed this observation with a deep oath or two,he retired to bed, after carefully securing all the doors of thebridewell. The bell from the town steeple tolled nine just as theceremony was concluded.
'Although it's but early hours,' said the farmer, who had observed thathis friend looked somewhat pale and fatigued, 'I think we had betterlie down, Captain, if ye're no agreeable to another cheerer. But troth,ye're nae glass-breaker; and neither am I, unless it be a screed wi'the neighbours, or when I'm on a ramble.'
Bertram readily assented to the motion of his faithful friend, but
, onlooking at the bed, felt repugnance to trust himself undressed to Mrs.Mac-Guffog's clean sheets.
'I'm muckle o' your opinion, Captain,' said Dandie. 'Od, this bed looksas if a' the colliers in Sanquhar had been in't thegither. But it'll nowin through my muckle coat.' So saying, he flung himself upon the frailbed with a force that made all its timbers crack, and in a few momentsgave audible signal that he was fast asleep. Bertram slipped off hiscoat and boots and occupied the other dormitory. The strangeness of hisdestiny, and the mysteries which appeared to thicken around him, whilehe seemed alike to be persecuted and protected by secret enemies andfriends, arising out of a class of people with whom he had no previousconnexion, for some time occupied his thoughts. Fatigue, however,gradually composed his mind, and in a short time he was as fast asleepas his companion. And in this comfortable state of oblivion we mustleave them until we acquaint the reader with some other circumstanceswhich occurred about the same period.
