CHAPTER IX
THE HEATHER ON FIRE
When I left Prestongrange that afternoon I was for the first time angry.The Advocate had made a mock of me. He had pretended my testimony was tobe received and myself respected; and in that very hour, not only wasSymon practising against my life by the hands of the Highland soldier,but (as appeared from his own language) Prestongrange himself had somedesign in operation. I counted my enemies: Prestongrange with all theKing's authority behind him; and the Duke with the power of the WestHighlands; and the Lovat interest by their side to help them with sogreat a force in the north, and the whole clan of old Jacobite spies andtraffickers. And when I remembered James More, and the red head of Neilthe son of Duncan, I thought there was perhaps a fourth in theconfederacy, and what remained of Rob Roy's old desperate sept ofcaterans would be banded against me with the others. One thing wasrequisite, some strong friend or wise adviser. The country must be fullof such, both able and eager to support me, or Lovat and the Duke andPrestongrange had not been nosing for expedients; and it made me rage tothink that I might brush against my champions in the street and be nowiser.
And just then (like an answer) a gentleman brushed against me going by,gave me a meaning look, and turned into a close. I knew him with thetail of my eye--it was Stewart the Writer; and, blessing my goodfortune, turned in to follow him. As soon as I had entered the close Isaw him standing in the mouth of a stair, where he made me a signal andimmediately vanished. Seven storeys up, there he was again in a housedoor, the which he locked behind us after we had entered. The house wasquite dismantled, with not a stick of furniture; indeed, it was one ofwhich Stewart had the letting in his hands.
"We'll have to sit upon the floor," said he; "but we're safe here forthe time being, and I've been wearying to see ye, Mr. Balfour."
"How's it with Alan?'" I asked.
"Brawly," said he. "Andie picks him up at Gillane Sands to-morrow,Wednesday. He was keen to say good-by to ye, but the way that thingswere going, I was feared the pair of ye was maybe best apart. And thatbrings me to the essential: how does your business speed?"
"Why," said I, "I was told only this morning that my testimony wasaccepted, and I was to travel to Inverary with the Advocate, no less."
"Hout awa!" cried Stewart. "I'll never believe that."
"I have maybe a suspicion of my own," says I, "but I would like fine tohear your reasons."
"Well, I tell ye fairly, I'm horn-mad," cries Stewart. "If my one handcould pull their Government down I would pluck it like a rotten apple.I'm doer for Appin and for James of the Glens; and, of course, it's myduty to defend my kinsman for his life. Hear how it goes with me, andI'll leave the judgment of it to yourself. The first thing they have todo is to get rid of Alan. They cannae bring in James as art and partuntil they've brought in Alan first as principal; that's sound law: theycould never put the cart before the horse."
"And how are they to bring in Alan till they can catch him?" says I.
"Ah, but there is a way to evite that arrestment," said he. "Sound law,too. It would be a bonny thing if, by the escape of one ill-doer anotherwas to go scatheless, and the remeid is to summon the principal and puthim to outlawry for the non-compearance. Now there's four places where aperson can be summoned: at his dwelling-house; at a place where he hasresided forty days; at the head burgh of the shire where he ordinarilyresorts; or lastly (if there be ground to think him forth of Scotland),_at the cross of Edinburgh, and the pier and shore of Leith, for sixtydays_. The purpose of which last provision is evident upon its face:being that outgoing ships may have time to carry news of thetransaction, and the summonsing be something other than a form. Now takethe case of Alan. He has no dwelling-house that ever I could hear of; Iwould be obliged if anyone would show me where he has lived forty daystogether since the '45; there is no shire where he resorts whetherordinarily or extraordinarily; if he has a domicile at all, which Imisdoubt, it must be with his regiment in France; and if he is not yetforth of Scotland (as we happen to know and they happen to guess) itmust be evident to the most dull it's what he's aiming for. Where, then,and what way should he be summoned? I ask it at yourself, a layman."
"You have given the very words," said I. "Here at the cross, and at thepier and shore of Leith, for sixty days."
"Ye're a sounder Scots lawyer than Prestongrange, then!" cries theWriter. "He has had Alan summoned once; that was on the twenty-fifth,the day that we first met. Once, and done with it. And where? Where, butat the cross of Inverary, the head burgh of the Campbells. A word inyour ear, Mr. Balfour--they're not seeking Alan."
"What do you mean?" I cried. "Not seeking him?"
"By the best that I can make of it," said he. "Not wanting to find him,in my poor thought. They think perhaps he might set up a fair defence,upon the back of which James, the man they're really after, might climbout. This is not a case, ye see, it's a conspiracy."
"Yet I can tell you Prestongrange asked after Alan keenly," said I;"though, when I come to think of it, he was something of the easiest putby."
"See that!" says he. "But there! I may be right or wrong, that'sguesswork at the best, and let me get to my facts again. It comes to myears that James and the witnesses--the witnesses, Mr. Balfour!--lay inclose dungeons, and shackled forbye, in the military prison at FortWilliam; none allowed in to them, nor they to write. The witnesses, Mr.Balfour; heard ye ever the match of that? I assure ye, no old, crookedStewart of the gang ever outfaced the law more impudently. It's clean inthe two eyes of the Act of Parliament of 1700, anent wrongousimprisonment. No sooner did I get the news than I petitioned the LordJustice Clerk. I have his word to-day. There's law for ye! here'sjustice!"
He put a paper in my hand, that same mealy-mouthed, false-faced paperthat was printed since in the pamphlet "by a bystander," for behoof (asthe title says) of James's "poor widow and five children."
"See," said Stewart, "he couldn't dare to refuse me access to my client,so he _recommends the commanding officer to let me in_. Recommends!--theLord Justice Clerk of Scotland recommends. Is not the purpose of suchlanguage plain? They hope the officer may be so dull, or so very muchthe reverse, as to refuse the recommendation. I would have to make thejourney back again betwixt here and Fort William. There would follow afresh delay till I got fresh authority, and they had disavowed theofficer--military man, notoriously ignorant of the law, and that--I kenthe cant of it. Then the journey a third time; and there we should be onthe immediate heels of the trial before I had received my firstinstruction. Am I not right to call this a conspiracy?"
"It will bear that colour," said I.
"And I'll go on to prove it you outright," said he. "They have the rightto hold James in prison, yet they cannot deny me to visit him. They haveno right to hold the witnesses; but am I to get a sight of them, thatshould be as free as the Lord Justice Clerk himself? See--read: _For therest, refuses to give any orders to keepers of prisons who are notaccused as having done anything contrary to the duties of their office_.Anything contrary! Sirs! And the Act of seventeen hunner! Mr. Balfour,this makes my heart to burst. The heather is on fire inside my wame."
"And the plain English of that phrase," said I, "is that the witnessesare still to lie in prison and you are not to see them?"
"And I am not to see them until Inverary, when the court is set!" crieshe, "and then to hear Prestongrange upon _the anxious responsibilitiesof his office and the great facilities afforded the defence!_ But I'llbegowk them there, Mr. David. I have a plan to waylay the witnesses uponthe road, and see if I cannae get a little harle of justice out of the_military man notoriously ignorant of the law_ that shall command theparty."
It was actually so--it was actually on the wayside near Tynedrum, and bythe connivance of a soldier officer, that Mr. Stewart first saw thewitnesses upon the case.
"There is nothing that would surprise me in this business," I remarked.
"I'll surprise you ere I'm done!" cries he. "Do ye see this?"--producinga print still wet from th
e press. "This is the libel: see, there'sPrestongrange's name to the list of witnesses, and I find no word of anyBalfour. But here is not the question. Who do ye think paid for theprinting of this paper?"
"I suppose it would likely be King George," said I.
"But it happens it was me!" he cried. "Not but it was printed by and forthemselves, for the Grants and the Erskines, and yon thief of the blackmidnight, Symon Fraser. But could _I_ win to get a copy? No! I was to goblindfold to my defence; I was to hear the charges for the first time incourt alongst the jury."
"Is not this against the law?" I asked.
"I cannot say so much," he replied. "It was a favour so natural and soconstantly rendered (till this nonesuch business) that the law has neverlooked to it. And now admire the hand of Providence! A stranger is inFleming's printing house, spies a proof on the floor, picks it up, andcarries it to me. Of all things, it was just this libel. Whereupon I hadit set again--printed at the expense of the defence: _sumptibus moestirei_; heard ever man the like of it?--and here it is for anybody, themuckle secret out--all may see it now. But how do you think I wouldenjoy this, that has the life of my kinsman on my conscience?"
"Troth, I think you would enjoy it ill," said I.
"And now you see how it is," he concluded, "and why, when you tell meyour evidence is to be let in, I laugh aloud in your face."
It was now my turn. I laid before him in brief Mr. Symon's threats andoffers, and the whole incident of the bravo, with the subsequent sceneat Prestongrange's. Of my first talk, according to promise, I saidnothing, nor indeed was it necessary. All the time I was talking Stewartnodded his head like a mechanical figure; and no sooner had my voiceceased, than he opened his mouth and gave me his opinion in two words,dwelling strong on both of them.
"Disappear yourself," said he.
"I do not take you," said I.
"Then I'll carry you there," said he. "By my view of it you're todisappear whatever. O, that's outside debate. The Advocate, who is notwithout some spunks of a remainder decency, has wrung your life-safe outof Symon and the Duke. He has refused to put you on your trial, andrefused to have you killed; and there is the clue to their ill wordstogether, for Symon and the Duke can keep faith with neither friend norenemy. Ye're not to be tried then, and ye're not to be murdered; but I'min bitter error if ye're not to be kidnapped and carried away like theLady Grange. Bet me what you please--there was their _expedient!_"
"You make me think," said I, and told him of the whistle and thered-headed retainer, Neil.
"Wherever James More is there's one big rogue, never be deceived onthat," said he. "His father was none so ill a man, though a kenning onthe wrong side of the law, and no friend to my family, that I shouldwaste my breath to be defending him! But as for James he's a brock and ablagyard. I like the appearing of this red-headed Neil as little asyourself. It looks uncanny: fiegh! it smells bad. It was old Lovat thatmanaged the Lady Grange affair, if young Lovat is to handle yours, it'llbe all in the family. What's James More in prison for? The same offence:abduction. His men have had practice in the business. He'll be to lendthem to be Symon's instruments; and the next thing we'll be hearing,James will have made his peace, or else he'll have escaped; and you'llbe in Benbecula or Applecross."
"Ye make a strong case," I admitted.
"And what I want," he resumed, "is that you should disappear yourselfere they can get their hands upon ye. Lie quiet until just before thetrial, and spring upon them at the last of it when they'll be lookingfor you least. This is always supposing, Mr. Balfour, that your evidenceis worth so very great a measure of both risk and fash."
"I will tell you one thing," said I. "I saw the murderer and it was notAlan."
"Then, by God, my cousin's saved!" cried Stewart. "You have his lifeupon your tongue; and there's neither time, risk, nor money to be sparedto bring you to the trial." He emptied his pockets on the floor. "Hereis all that I have by me," he went on. "Take it, ye'll want it ere ye'rethrough. Go straight down this close, there's a way out by there to theLang Dykes, and by my will of it! see no more of Edinburgh till theclash is over."
"Where am I to go, then?" I inquired.
"And I wish that I could tell ye!" says he, "but all the places that Icould send ye to, would be just the places they would seek. No, ye mustfend for yourself, and God be your guiding! Five days before the trial,September the sixteen, get word to me at the _King's Arms_ in Stirling;and if ye've managed for yourself as long as that, I'll see that yereach Inverary."
"One thing more," said I. "Can I no see Alan?"
He seemed boggled. "Hech, I would rather you wouldnae," said he. "But Ican never deny that Alan is extremely keen of it, and is to lie thisnight by Silvermills on purpose. If you're sure that you're notfollowed, Mr. Balfour--but make sure of that--lie in a good place andwatch your road for a clear hour before ye risk it. It would be adreadful business if both you and him was to miscarry!"
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