Flower o' the Heather: A Story of the Killing Times

by Robert William MacKenna

  *CHAPTER XXXVI*

  *FOR THE SAKE OF THE COVENANT*

  I had twenty-eight hours in which to reach Closeburn--time sufficient tocover the distance, if I made an average of three miles an hour. Andthree miles an hour was well within the compass even of a man lame likemyself. Already I saw my task accomplished, and the joy that filled myheart lent wings to my feet. With hands clenched, and chest thrownforward, I raced along until my breathing became a torment and I had tostop. I leaned against a wall by the roadside panting violently, and asI rested, soberer thoughts came to me. This was foolishness!

  Not in this way would I ever complete the journey; nor was there need ofsuch impetuous haste. A moderate speed on the level, a steady struggleup the hills and all the speed I could command down them would bring mesafely to my goal within the allotted time. I looked back along the wayI had come. Far off I could see the light gleaming in the windows ofthe city, and high up, where a great black mass threw its bulk towardsthe sky, I saw the red glare of the brazier upon the Castle walls.Already I had travelled far, and when I had recovered my breath, I tookto the road again. This time I did not run, but walked steadily.

  The moon climbed the heavens, and all the sky was glad with littlestars. A gentle breeze had arisen and white clouds were scurryingoverhead; but the cool of the wind was as refreshing balm and I ploddedsteadily on. Hour followed hour, and the moon sank to rest and still Ifollowed the winding road. The first rosy streaks of dawn were warmingthe eastern sky when I sat down to rest. I was well content. My steadypace had carried me far and though I was weary I was confident. In thedaylight I should be able to make better progress than during thedarkness. As I rested I became aware that the strength of the wind hadincreased, and great leaden clouds were beginning to sweep across thesky. Rain began to fall upon my upturned face. The cooling drops werewelcome; it would be but a passing shower! Thinking thus I rose andcontinued my journey. Then the heavens opened and the rain came down ina flood. Blown by the wind it struck my face and hands with missileforce and to shelter myself I left the road and crawled under awhin-bush on the hill-side. For a time this gave me protection; but asthe storm increased the rain-drops beat their way through the palisadeof thorns, and poured mercilessly upon me once more. There was nothingto be gained by resting here. I was losing time. Better up and on! SoI took to the road again. The wind had waxed to a tempest and beatdirect upon me, so that I had to bend my head and put forth all mystrength to fight it. I had not looked for this, but with doggeddetermination I clenched my teeth and battled on.

  On I struggled, unable to see more than a few paces ahead of me; for therain was like a cloud--so wet that with every step the water streamedfrom my shoes. Should I ever reach the end of the journey? I wouldthough I fell dead! It was for Mary's sake.

  Hour after hour passed, and at last the storm began to abate. The furyof the rain lessened, and the downpour settled into a drizzle. The skybegan to clear. There were breaks in its leaden vault through which awhite tuft of cloud thrust an infrequent pennon, and by and by the sunbroke through the dull veil that had hidden it, and the rain ceased.

  Still the wind blew upon me with such force that every now and then Iwas brought to a standstill. When a lull came between one and the nextmore stern blast, I would run a pace or two; but only to be baffledagain when the wind had gathered strength. I cast an anxious look up tothe sky; the sun was visible now, but there was no vigour in his rays.It seemed as though the rain had quenched his fire, and that instead oflooking into the heart of a furnace I gazed upon a ball of grey ashes.But what gave me pause and filled me with sudden dread was his place inthe sky. He was already well past the meridian. The steady progress ofthe night, in which I had taken such satisfaction, counted for littleset against the small tally of the miles covered since the dawn. Theagony in my heart whipped me to greater effort, and I tried to run. Butthe wind seized me, and smote me with mighty buffets so that I had todesist and content myself by making what poor speed I could. On and onI trudged--hour after hour boring my way head downwards against therelentless wind, ashamed to count my paces, for I knew that the tale ofthem, as each minute slipped past, was less than a quarter of what itwould have been if fortune had not turned against me. I had left themoorland track now and was upon a stretch of better road, sheltered insome fashion by trees upon either side. They broke the sterner fury ofthe blast and the better surface of the road made speedier progresspossible. Spurring myself to the effort I sprang forward. Suddenly, tomy joy, I saw on the hill-side above the road a little white cottage. Idragged myself up the slope, sodden and weary, and as I drew near Inoticed the iron tyre of a cart-wheel leaning against the side of thehouse, and near by a rusty anvil. I knocked at the door, which wasopened immediately by a young woman.

  "What's yer pleesure?" she asked.

  "Something to eat--and the time o' day," I answered.

  "It's past five on the nock, an' if ye'll come awa' ben ye can ha'e someprovender."

  She led the way into a large kitchen, and as she busied herself insetting oat cakes and ale before me I warmed myself by the fire. I wasin no mood for delay, so I ate some of the food hastily, stored a littlein my pockets, drank my ale, and called for my score. As I paid her Iasked the distance to Moffat.

  "Eight miles and a bittock, and the first bit is a' uphill--an awfu'road: but easy after ye pass the Beef-tub."

  My heart sank, the hour was late--far later than I had thought, and Ihad still far to go.

  Bidding my hostess good day I hurried to the door, threw it open--andwalked into the arms of two troopers. Taken unawares I was startled,but quickly recovering myself I bade them good day and tried to passthem.

  "No' sae fast, young man--no' sae fast. Ye're in a de'il o' a hurry,"said one of the troopers--a towering brawny giant--as he seized me bythe coat.

  "Unhand me," I cried. "What right have you to interfere with a loyalsubject, engaged on his lawful occasions?"

  "Hear tae him, Sandy," said my captor. "He talks like a mangy lawyer.'Lawful occasions!' We'll see aboot that. What are ye daein' here?"

  Eager to satisfy the man, and in the hope that by doing so I should bepermitted to continue on my way, I answered:

  "I am a traveller on my way to Dumfries--I have been caught in thestorm, and sought shelter and refreshment in this house"--and I tried towrench myself from his grasp.

  "A gey thin tale. Whit think ye, Sandy? As like as no' he's aCovenanter." And Sandy grunted "Umphm."

  Again I tried to shake myself free--but the giant flung his arms aboutme, and lifting me up, struggle how I might, as though I had been achild he carried me back into the kitchen and thrust me roughly on achair.

  The woman of the house looked on open-eyed.

  "Whit ken ye o' this man?" said the trooper, turning towards her, butall the while keeping a firm hold of me.

  "Naething mair than yersel," she answered. "He cam' tae the door abittock syne, and asked for something tae eat--and he peyed his lawin'like a gentleman."

  "Umphm," growled my tormentor; and Sandy standing beside him answered"Umphm."

  "Bring us something tae drink, Mirren, Solway waters if ye hae them.We're fair drookit," said my captor. "As for you," he said, tighteninghis grip on my arm, "we'll ha'e to look into your case. Sandy--fetch atow."

  Sandy followed the woman into another room, and in a moment returnedwith a rope in his hand.

  "What does this mean?" I shouted. "You have no right to interfere withme--and when I reach Moffat I shall lodge a complaint with the OfficerCommanding."

  "Shut yer jaw," bellowed the giant, and shook his fist at me.

  I sprang up--my clenched left fist smashed into his face, and the bloodstreamed from him--but still he held me.

  Sandy sprang to his aid, and though I struggled like one possessed I wasquickly overpowered, flung roughly on the chair and bound there. Therope that surrounded me, and held my a
rms close to my sides, was drawnso tightly that I could hardly breathe. They ran it round the back ofthe chair and under the legs shackling each ankle. I was helpless. Ashe bound me the giant cursed me soundly, pausing only to spit blood fromhis foul mouth.

  "Ye blasted hound! Ye're no' what ye pretend. We'll mak' ye talk in awee. Eh, Sandy?" And Sandy, binding my ankles, answered "Umphm."

  When I was tied securely they stood away from me and surveyed theirhandiwork.

  "Umphm," said Sandy--as he poured out a glass of Solway waters from thebottle which the woman had brought, and raised it to his lips. The twosat down by the fire--the bottle between them--and for a time turned alltheir attention to its contents. I tried to move--=but I was gripped asin a vice. I was in sore case. I cared not what happened to myself,but there was my message. I alone could prevent the massacre on themorrow, and now the proud hope I had cherished of doing service to theCovenant was brought to naught. Was there a God in heaven, that suchthings could be? I was not left long to my thoughts.

  Suddenly the giant rose, and standing over me glowered into my eyes ashe shouted:

  "Are ye a Covenanter?"

  Temptation assailed me. If I denied the Covenant, I could with a firmerclaim demand to be set free--and then I might yet carry my messagethrough. "No" was upon my lips--but it died unspoken there. I heard thenotes of a flute on a heather-clad hill-side: saw again a heap ofsmouldering ashes where a home of love had been. I could not deny theCovenant.

  Firmly I answered "I am"--and in the gathering shadows I saw the radiantface of Mary smiling upon me--as she blew me a kiss with either hand.

  "Umphm," said Sandy, "I thocht as muckle."

  "So ye're a Covenanter, are ye?" roared the giant. "I'll learn ye! Wullye say 'God save the King?'"

  "God save the King," I answered promptly. "I am a loyal subject and aCovenanter."

  "Ye lie," he shouted. "The Covenanters are a' rebels. Wull ye tak' theTest?"

  In the cave at the Linn I had heard Hector repeat the involved sentencesof the Test with scorn upon his lips, and I knew that this half-drunkentrooper could not possibly find his way through them; so I answered:

  "If you can put the Test to me you shall have my answer."

  Sandy--with the bottle in his hand--looked over his shoulder and laughedsoftly. The giant turned upon him. "Whit the deevil are ye lauchin'at"--and then turning to me, "I'm nae scholar--and I canna min' thewords, but if I canna pit the Test to you I can pit you tae thetest--and by heaven I will." A look of fiendish cruelty swept over hishard face.

  "Try him wi' the match," said Sandy.

  "Ay--that'll test him."

  While Sandy busied himself about my fastenings to free my left arm forthe ordeal, the other trooper was trying to make the long match he hadunwound from his head-gear take light. It was damp and would not burn.I watched in a strange state of abstraction. Only a few minutes ago thevision of Mary had smiled upon me. Pain and torture were nothing to menow. Let them do their worst!

  "It winna burn: it's wat," said the giant. Throwing the match on thefloor, he gripped my left arm savagely and pushed back the sleeve of mycoat.

  "Rax me a live peat," he said, and Sandy picked one up with the tongsand handed it to him. He seized the tongs, and held the peat against myarm just above the wrist where the blue veins showed. "That'll mak' yetalk, ye dog," he shouted. But no word escaped my lips. My eyes soughtthe distance--and there I saw the face of Mary--twin tears upon hereyelids. The pain was swallowed up by the joy.

  "He's a dour deevil," growled Sandy.

  "Ay: but we'll ha'e him yelling for mercy yet. The peat's gaen cauld.Gar it lowe, Sandy."

  Sandy bent his head and blew upon the peat. It began to glow again--butI did not flinch.

  "Rax me anither," said my tormentor, letting the first fall and relaxinghis grip of my arm. For a moment he turned to watch his companion pickup another glowing peat--and in that moment I eased the ropes about myright arm with my left hand. They slipped upwards and my right arm wasfree.

  My tormentors did not observe it when they came to me again and appliedthe torture to my left arm once more.

  Again Sandy lowered his head to blow upon the peat--and in that instantmy right arm shot out like a steel spring, my fist crashed into his jawand he fell in a heap, knocking the legs from under the giant, who fellheavily upon him.

  "Ye clumsy lout!" he cried, as he rose in drunken fury, and as Sandy laymotionless he kicked him savagely with his heavy boots in the chest.

  The kitchen door opened softly, and for a moment I caught a glimpse ofthe woman's frightened face: then she withdrew.

  "Get up--I tell ye," roared the giant, kicking the recumbent figureagain.

  My blow could have caused him only temporary damage--but this savageryof the giant would kill him.

  My eyes were on Sandy. His pallid face grew ashen: his chest was raisedfrom the ground in a curve like a bow as he took a convulsive breath:blood and froth bubbled at his lips--and he lay still, his ashen pallordeepening.

  Fear seized the giant. He dropped on his knees beside the body. "Getup, Sandy my lammie"--he said, drunken tears falling down his cheeks."Ye're no' deid. Ye'll be a' richt in a meenute. Get up, lad. Sayye're no' deid."

  But Sandy lay motionless.

  "You have killed him," I said.

  "You lie," roared the trooper, springing to his feet and facing me."You did it--an' ye'll pey for 't."

  He seized me by the throat, and readjusted my fastenings--binding mecruelly tight. Then he took a long draught from the bottle, and satdown. I watched him as he took a knife from his pocket, and ran histhumb along its edge.

  "I'll bluid him like a sheep," he muttered, as he bent down and tried tosharpen the blade on the hearth-stone.

  I knew I could expect no mercy from this frenzied, half-drunken brute.

  A prayer stole up from my heart--not for mercy, but for the safety ofthe hill-folks on the morrow, and for the pardon of my own sins. Only ashriven soul could hope to be reunited with my beloved:--please God,Mary would be waiting for me on the other side.

  The trooper rose and came towards me.

  "I'll bluid ye like a sheep," he snarled, and seizing me by the hairswung my head over to one side.

  Death stared me in the face, and, let me set it down for the comfort ofthose who live in daily terror of death, at that moment I felt no fear.

  "Like a sheep," he mumbled--and swung his arm back for the blow; but atthat instant he crashed forward carrying me before him, and his openknife clattered on the floor.

  "Thank God--oh, thank God," whispered a woman's voice, as she drew me,still bound to the chair, from under the heavy body of the giant. In atrice she had cut my bonds--and was chafing my numbed limbs.

  "Ha'e I killed him?" she asked anxiously.

  I looked at the giant. He was breathing heavily--and a long gash on theback of his head was spurting jets of blood.

  "No," I said--"only stunned him. I owe my life to you."

  "Ay. Tae me an' the tatie-beetle," she answered, pointing to her weaponon the floor. "But haste ye. Tie him up afore he comes tae."

  I bound him, hands and feet, with a grim satisfaction, and left himlying on his face.

  The woman watched me anxiously, urging me to greater haste.

  "And now," I said--"what of you? You must escape."

  "Oh, I'll be a' richt," she said, leading the way to the other room."My man will be back in an 'oor. Tie me in a chair--and gag me: and I'lltell a bonnie story when Peter comes hame."

  I did her bidding quickly, pouring out my gratitude with fervent lips.

  As I was about to gag her with her kerchief, she forbade me for amoment, and said with tears in her eyes:

  "God forgi'e me! My mither was a Covenanter--an'--I mairrit a trooper."

  I bent down reverently and kissed her bound hands.

  "You have done a greater service to the Covenant than you know," I said,then springing up I
dashed from the house into the gathering darkness.

  I had lost two precious hours--but by the mercy of God I was stillalive, and I should carry my message through.

  I raced down the slope to the road, and turned my face to the longascent. The wind had abated, and I could make better progress. Thecold air stung my burnt arm, but as I set my mind to my task the painceased to trouble me.

  With hope still rising within me I struggled on--breaking into a steady,mechanical trot. As the woman had said, the road was very bad, but,after my strange deliverance from death, nothing could daunt me, and Ifought my way on. The stars were looking down upon me now, and I lookedup at them with a grateful heart. At last I reached the top of thehill, and the long descent lay before me. I paused for a moment toregain my breath, and saw far below me that tender light which alwayshangs in the sky, when night comes, above the habitations of men, and Iknew that I was looking down on Moffat. As though the light were abeacon which beckoned me, I started to run down-hill.

  My stiff limbs warmed to their work and soon I was running with somefreedom. On and on ... splashing through the pools of water that lay inthe path, with eyes strained ever towards the gleam in the sky; on, andon ... with clenched teeth and parted lips through which my hurryingbreath issued with the poignant sound of a sob. On, and on ... therhythmic sound of my footsteps throbbing through my brain. Faster now,for the light was drawing nearer; on, and on ... till just without theconfines of the little town I turned to the right lest the sound of myracing feet should awake suspicion. Skirting the township cautiously, Icame out upon the road again beyond it.

  On, and on ... fear and desire lending speed to my feet; and behind methe town clock striking ten. God help me!--a score of miles still laybefore me; had I strength to accomplish the task? The perspirationbroke out upon me, and for very weariness I reeled as I ran. At last Icame to the place where I must leave the highway and take to the opencountry. It was harder going thus, but the way was more direct and everymoment was precious. On, and on ... until my mind divorced itself frommy body, and in a mood of abstraction contemplated the running figurealongside which it sailed so easily. On, and on ... the mind holdingitself aloof and regarding with a kind of pity the struggles of thetired body that was plunging headlong across the fields. Suddenly I wasconscious that something other than myself was running along beside me... keeping step with my step, measuring its paces with my paces, neckand neck with me. What ghostly companion was this? I looked to theright and left but saw nothing, and, as I looked, the sound of theattendant footsteps ceased and I heard nothing but the tick-tack of myown feet. On, and on ... crashing through the hedges, leaping over thelow dykes, stumbling in the ruts of the ploughed fields, wading thelittle streams, ... still I pressed on. I was panting wildly now, sothat my breath whistled as the wind whistles through a keyhole inwinter. Nothing mattered: come life, come death, I should carry thetidings through. Once more the ghostly feet were audible, keeping timewith my own--pit-pat, pit-pat, step for step. I flung my arms to rightand left, but they touched vacancy, and the ghostly footsteps ceased.On, and on, ... until a heavy languor stole over me and filled me withthe hunger of sleep. My eyelids drooped, so that for an instant I didnot see the ground before me, and I stumbled and almost fell. I sprangerect and shook myself. Sleep meant death--not for myself, but forthousands of others who had grown to be dear to me, and on and on I ran.But the things that a man would do are conditioned by the strength whichGod has given him, and the body, though an obedient slave to the mind,sometimes becomes a tyrant. My limbs were heavy--no longer things offlesh and blood, but compact of lead. On, and on ... knowing nothingnow but that my task was a sacred one, deaf to the sound of my ownfootsteps, blind to the things around me, on and on I reeled till sleepor something akin to it, seized me, and for a time I raced onunconscious of what I did. Stumbling, I fell to spring up again wildlyalert. I should win through or die! On and on--and on and on ... tillI sank helpless to the ground.

  I slept: I dreamed:--

  It was a peaceful Sabbath day. In a hollow among the hills aboveCloseburn a great gathering of men and women and children was assembledto keep the feast. On a low table covered with a fair white cloth stoodthe sacred elements. Behind the table I saw my friend of the cave atthe Linn standing with a look of rapture on his face. The gatheredpeople were singing a psalm, when, suddenly, there was a loud alarm.The posted sentinels came hot-foot with cruel tidings on their lips.But it was too late. From north and south and east and west, on horsesat the gallop, poured the dragoons--Claver'se's men, Lag's men, Winram'smen, Dalzell's men, all with the blood-lust in their eyes--and in amoment that peaceful hollow was a bloody shambles. Muskets rattled onevery side; men, women and children fell. Through and through thatdefenceless company the wild troopers rode, spurring their horses totheir sickening task, trampling the women and children underfoot,shooting the men with their bullets or beating them down with the stocksof their muskets. Screams and wild blasphemy rent the air that but amoment before had been fragrant with the melodies of love and adoration.Lag himself I saw spur his charger over a tangled mass of dead and dyingright at the sacred table. The horse leaped, spurning to the ground theBread and Wine, and the man of blood, swinging his sword high, broughtit down upon the head of the sainted minister, who fell cleft to thechin. And I, by whose failure such deeds of blood had been madepossible, lay bound, a prisoner, hand and foot.