by Walter Scott
CHAPTER LV
For though, seduced and led astray, Thoust travell'd far and wander'd long, Thy God hath seen thee all the way, And all the turns that led thee wrong
The Hall of Justice.
After the space of about three-quarters of an hour, which theuncertainty and danger of their situation made seem almost thrice aslong, the voice of young Hazlewood was heard without. 'Here I am,' hecried, 'with a sufficient party.'
'Come in then,' answered Bertram, not a little pleased to find hisguard relieved. Hazlewood then entered, followed by two or threecountrymen, one of whom acted as a peace-officer. They liftedHatteraick up and carried him in their arms as far as the entrance ofthe vault was high enough to permit them; then laid him on his back anddragged him along as well as they could, for no persuasion would inducehim to assist the transportation by any exertion of his own. He lay assilent and inactive in their hands as a dead corpse, incapable ofopposing, but in no way aiding, their operations. When he was draggedinto daylight and placed erect upon his feet among three or fourassistants who had remained without the cave, he seemed stupefied anddazzled by the sudden change from the darkness of his cavern. Whileothers were superintending the removal of Meg Merrilies, those whoremained with Hatteraick attempted to make him sit down upon a fragmentof rock which lay close upon the high-water mark. A strong shudderingconvulsed his iron frame for an instant as he resisted their purpose.'Not there! Hagel! you would not make me sit THERE?'
These were the only words he spoke; but their import, and the deep toneof horror in which they were uttered, served to show what was passingin his mind.
When Meg Merrilies had also been removed from the cavern, with all thecare for her safety that circumstances admitted, they consulted whereshe should be carried. Hazlewood had sent for a surgeon, and proposedthat she should be lifted in the meantime to the nearest cottage. Butthe patient exclaimed with great earnestness, 'Na, na, na! to the Kaimo' Derncleugh--the Kaim o' Derncleugh; the spirit will not free itselfo' the flesh but there.'
'You must indulge her, I believe,' said Bertram; 'her troubledimagination will otherwise aggravate the fever of the wound.'
They bore her accordingly to the vault. On the way her mind seemed torun more upon the scene which had just passed than on her ownapproaching death. 'There were three of them set upon him: I broughtthe twasome, but wha was the third? It would be HIMSELL, returned towork his ain vengeance!'
It was evident that the unexpected appearance of Hazlewood, whoseperson the outrage of Hatteraick left her no time to recognise, hadproduced a strong effect on her imagination. She often recurred to it.Hazlewood accounted for his unexpected arrival to Bertram by sayingthat he had kept them in view for some time by the direction ofMannering; that, observing them disappear into the cave, he had creptafter them, meaning to announce himself and his errand, when his handin the darkness encountering the leg of Dinmont had nearly produced acatastrophe, which, indeed, nothing but the presence of mind andfortitude of the bold yeoman could have averted.
When the gipsy arrived at the hut she produced the key; and when theyentered, and were about to deposit her upon the bed, she said, in ananxious tone, 'Na, na! not that way--the feet to the east'; andappeared gratified when they reversed her posture accordingly, andplaced her in that appropriate to a dead body.
'Is there no clergyman near,' said Bertram, 'to assist this unhappywoman's devotions?'
A gentleman, the minister of the parish, who had been CharlesHazlewood's tutor, had, with many others, caught the alarm that themurderer of Kennedy was taken on the spot where the deed had been doneso many years before, and that a woman was mortally wounded. Fromcuriosity, or rather from the feeling that his duty called him toscenes of distress, this gentleman had come to the Kaim of Derncleugh,and now presented himself. The surgeon arrived at the same time, andwas about to probe the wound; but Meg resisted the assistance ofeither. 'It's no what man can do that will heal my body or save myspirit. Let me speak what I have to say, and then ye may work yourwill; I'se be nae hindrance. But where's Henry Bertram?' Theassistants, to whom this name had been long a stranger, gazed upon eachother. 'Yes!' she said, in a stronger and harsher tone, 'I said HENRYBERTRAM OF ELLANGOWAN. Stand from the light and let me see him.'
All eyes were turned towards Bertram, who approached the wretchedcouch. The wounded woman took hold of his hand. 'Look at him,' shesaid, 'all that ever saw his father or his grandfather, and bearwitness if he is not their living image?' A murmur went through thecrowd; the resemblance was too striking to be denied. 'And now hear me;and let that man,' pointing to Hatteraick, who was seated with hiskeepers on a sea-chest at some distance--'let him deny what I say if hecan. That is Henry Bertram, son to Godfrey Bertram, umquhile ofEllangowan; that young man is the very lad-bairn that Dirk Hatteraickcarried off from Warroch wood the day that he murdered the gauger. Iwas there like a wandering spirit, for I longed to see that wood or weleft the country. I saved the bairn's life, and sair, sair I priggedand prayed they would leave him wi' me. But they bore him away, andhe's been lang ower the sea, and now he's come for his ain, and whatshould withstand him? I swore to keep the secret till he wasane-an'-twenty; I kenn'd he behoved to dree his weird till that daycam. I keepit that oath which I took to them; but I made another vow tomysell, that if I lived to see the day of his return I would set him inhis father's seat, if every step was on a dead man. I have keepit thatoath too. I will be ae step mysell, he (pointing to Hatteraick) willsoon be another, and there will be ane mair yet.'
The clergyman, now interposing, remarked it was a pity this depositionwas not regularly taken and written down, and the surgeon urged thenecessity of examining the wound, previously to exhausting her byquestions. When she saw them removing Hatteraick, in order to clear theroom and leave the surgeon to his operations, she called out aloud,raising herself at the same time upon the couch, 'Dirk Hatteraick, youand I will never meet again until we are before the judgment-seat; willye own to what I have said, or will you dare deny it?' He turned hishardened brow upon her, with a look of dumb and inflexible defiance.'Dirk Hatteraick, dare ye deny, with my blood upon your hands, one wordof what my dying breath is uttering?' He looked at her with the sameexpression of hardihood and dogged stubbornness, and moved his lips,but uttered no sound. 'Then fareweel!' she said, 'and God forgive you!your hand has sealed my evidence. When I was in life I was the madrandy gipsy, that had been scourged and banished and branded; that hadbegged from door to door, and been hounded like a stray tyke fromparish to parish; wha would hae minded HER tale? But now I am a dyingwoman, and my words will not fall to the ground, any more than theearth will cover my blood!'
She here paused, and all left the hut except the surgeon and two orthree women. After a very short examination he shook his head andresigned his post by the dying woman's side to the clergyman.
A chaise returning empty to Kippletringan had been stopped on thehighroad by a constable, who foresaw it would be necessary to conveyHatteraick to jail. The driver, understanding what was going on atDerncleugh, left his horses to the care of a blackguard boy, confiding,it is to be supposed, rather in the years and discretion of the cattlethan in those of their keeper, and set off full speed to see, as heexpressed himself, 'whaten a sort o' fun was gaun on.' He arrived justas the group of tenants and peasants, whose numbers increased everymoment, satiated with gazing upon the rugged features of Hatteraick,had turned their attention towards Bertram. Almost all of them,especially the aged men who had seen Ellangowan in his better days,felt and acknowledged the justice of Meg Merrilies's appeal. But theScotch are a cautious people: they remembered there was another inpossession of the estate, and they as yet only expressed their feelingsin low whispers to each other. Our friend Jock Jabos, the postilion,forced his way into the middle of the circle; but no sooner cast hiseyes upon Bertram than he started back in amazement, with a solemnexclamation, 'As sure as there's breath in man, it's auld Ellangowanarisen from the dead!'
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p; This public declaration of an unprejudiced witness was just the sparkwanted to give fire to the popular feeling, which burst forth in threedistinct shouts: 'Bertram for ever!' 'Long life to the heir ofEllangowan!' 'God send him his ain, and to live among us as hisforebears did of yore!'
'I hae been seventy years on the land,' said one person.
'I and mine hae been seventy and seventy to that,' said another; 'Ihave a right to ken the glance of a Bertram.'
'I and mine hae been three hundred years here,' said another old man,'and I sail sell my last cow, but I'll see the young Laird placed inhis right.'
The women, ever delighted with the marvellous, and not less so when ahandsome young man is the subject of the tale, added their shrillacclamations to the general all-hail. 'Blessings on him; he's the verypicture o' his father! The Bertrams were aye the wale o' the countryside!'
'Eh! that his puir mother, that died in grief and in doubt about him,had but lived to see this day!' exclaimed some female voices.
'But we'll help him to his ain, kimmers,' cried others; 'and beforeGlossin sail keep the Place of Ellangowan we'll howk him out o't wi'our nails!'
Others crowded around Dinmont, who was nothing both to tell what heknew of his friend, and to boast the honour which he had incontributing to the discovery. As he was known to several of theprincipal farmers present, his testimony afforded an additional motiveto the general enthusiasm. In short, it was one of those moments ofintense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like asnow-wreath, and the dissolving torrent carries dam and dyke before it.
The sudden shouts interrupted the devotions of the clergyman; and Meg,who was in one of those dozing fits of stupefaction that precede theclose of existence, suddenly started--'Dinna ye hear? dinna ye hear?He's owned! he's owned! I lived but for this. I am a sinfu' woman; butif my curse brought it down, my blessing has taen it off! And now I wadhae liked to hae said mair. But it canna be. Stay'--she continued,stretching her head towards the gleam of light that shot through thenarrow slit which served for a window--'is he not there? Stand out o'the light, and let me look upon him ance mair. But the darkness is inmy ain een,' she said, sinking back, after an earnest gaze uponvacuity; 'it's a' ended now,
Pass breath, Come death!'
And, sinking back upon her couch of straw, she expired without a groan.The clergyman and the surgeon carefully noted down all that she hadsaid, now deeply regretting they had not examined her more minutely,but both remaining morally convinced of the truth of her disclosure.
Hazlewood was the first to compliment Bertram upon the near prospect ofhis being restored to his name and rank in society. The people around,who now learned from Jabos that Bertram was the person who had woundedhim, were struck with his generosity, and added his name to Bertram'sin their exulting acclamations.
Some, however, demanded of the postilion how he had not recognisedBertram when he saw him some time before at Kippletringan. To which hegave the very natural answer--'Hout, what was I thinking aboutEllangowan then? It was the cry that was rising e'en now that the youngLaird was found, that put me on finding out the likeness. There was naemissing it ance ane was set to look for't.'
The obduracy of Hatteraick during the latter part of this scene was insome slight degree shaken. He was observed to twinkle with his eyelids;to attempt to raise his bound hands for the purpose of pulling his hatover his brow; to look angrily and impatiently to the road, as ifanxious for the vehicle which was to remove him from the spot. Atlength Mr. Hazlewood, apprehensive that the popular ferment might takea direction towards the prisoner, directed he should be taken to thepost-chaise, and so removed to the town of Kippletringan, to be at Mr.Mac-Morlan's disposal; at the same time he sent an express to warn thatgentleman of what had happened. 'And now,' he said to Bertram, 'Ishould be happy if you would accompany me to Hazlewood House; but asthat might not be so agreeable just now as I trust it will be in a dayor two, you must allow me to return with you to Woodbourne. But you areon foot.'--'O, if the young Laird would take my horse!'--'Or mine'--'Ormine,' said half-a-dozen voices.--'Or mine; he can trot ten mile anhour without whip or spur, and he's the young Laird's frae this moment,if he likes to take him for a herezeld, [Footnote: See Note 8.] as theyca'd it lang syne.' Bertram readily accepted the horse as a loan, andpoured forth his thanks to the assembled crowd for their good wishes,which they repaid with shouts and vows of attachment.
While the happy owner was directing one lad to 'gae doun for the newsaddle'; another,' just to rin the beast ower wi' a dry wisp o' strae';a third, 'to hie doun and borrow Dan Dunkieson's plated stirrups,' andexpressing his regret 'that there was nae time to gie the nag a feed,that the young Laird might ken his mettle,' Bertram, taking theclergyman by the arm, walked into the vault and shut the doorimmediately after them. He gazed in silence for some minutes upon thebody of Meg Merrilies, as it lay before him, with the featuressharpened by death, yet still retaining the stern and energeticcharacter which had maintained in life her superiority as the wildchieftainess of the lawless people amongst whom she was born. The youngsoldier dried the tears which involuntarily rose on viewing this wreckof one who might be said to have died a victim to her fidelity to hisperson and family. He then took the clergyman's hand and asked solemnlyif she appeared able to give that attention to his devotions whichbefitted a departing person.
'My dear sir,' said the good minister, 'I trust this poor woman hadremaining sense to feel and join in the import of my prayers. But letus humbly hope we are judged of by our opportunities of religious andmoral instruction. In some degree she might be considered as anuninstructed heathen, even in the bosom of a Christian country; and letus remember that the errors and vices of an ignorant life were balancedby instances of disinterested attachment, amounting almost to heroism.To HIM who can alone weigh our crimes and errors against our effortstowards virtue we consign her with awe, but not without hope.'
'May I request,' said Bertram, 'that you will see every decentsolemnity attended to in behalf of this poor woman? I have someproperty belonging to her in my hands; at all events I will beanswerable for the expense. You will hear of me at Woodbourne.'
Dinmont, who had been furnished with a horse by one of hisacquaintance, now loudly called out that all was ready for theirreturn; and Bertram and Hazlewood, after a strict exhortation to thecrowd, which was now increased to several hundreds, to preserve goodorder in their rejoicing, as the least ungoverned zeal might be turnedto the disadvantage of the young Laird, as they termed him, took theirleave amid the shouts of the multitude.
As they rode past the ruined cottages at Derncleugh, Dinmont said, 'I'msure when ye come to your ain, Captain, ye'll no forget to bigg a bitcot-house there? Deil be in me but I wad do't mysell, an it werena inbetter hands. I wadna like to live in't, though, after what she said.Od, I wad put in auld Elspeth, the bedral's widow; the like o' them'sused wi' graves and ghaists and thae things.'
A short but brisk ride brought them to Woodbourne. The news of theirexploit had already flown far and wide, and the whole inhabitants ofthe vicinity met them on the lawn with shouts of congratulation. 'Thatyou have seen me alive,' said Bertram to Lucy, who first ran up to him,though Julia's eyes even anticipated hers, 'you must thank these kindfriends.'
With a blush expressing at once pleasure, gratitude, and bashfulness,Lucy curtsied to Hazlewood, but to Dinmont she frankly extended herhand. The honest farmer, in the extravagance of his joy, carried hisfreedom farther than the hint warranted, for he imprinted his thanks onthe lady's lips, and was instantly shocked at the rudeness of his ownconduct. 'Lord sake, madam, I ask your pardon,' he said. 'I forgot butye had been a bairn o'my ain; the Captain's sae namely, he gars aneforget himsell.'
Old Pleydell now advanced. 'Nay, if fees like these are going,' hesaid--
'Stop, stop, Mr. Pleydell,' said Julia, 'you had your fees beforehand;remember last night.'
'Why, I do confess a retainer,' said the Barrister; 'but if I don'tdeserve double fees from both M
iss Bertram and you when I conclude myexamination of Dirk Hatteraick to-morrow--Gad, I will so supple him!You shall see, Colonel; and you, my saucy misses, though you may notsee, shall hear.'
'Ay, that's if we choose to listen, Counsellor,' replied Julia.
'And you think,' said Pleydell, 'it's two to one you won't choose that?But you have curiosity that teaches you the use of your ears now andthen.'
'I declare, Counsellor,' answered the lively damsel, 'that such saucybachelors as you would teach us the use of our fingers now and then.'
'Reserve them for the harpsichord, my love,' said the Counsellor.'Better for all parties.'
While this idle chat ran on, Colonel Mannering introduced to Bertram aplain good-looking man, in a grey coat and waistcoat, buckskinbreeches, and boots. 'This, my dear sir, is Mr. Mac-Morlan.'
'To whom,' said Bertram, embracing him cordially, 'my sister wasindebted for a home, when deserted by all her natural friends andrelations.'
The Dominie then pressed forward, grinned, chuckled, made a diabolicalsound in attempting to whistle, and finally, unable to stifle hisemotions, ran away to empty the feelings of his heart at his eyes.
We shall not attempt to describe the expansion of heart and glee ofthis happy evening.
