by Walter Scott
CHAPTER XXXVII
WAVERLEY IS STILL IN DISTRESS
The velocity, and indeed violence, with which Waverley was hurriedalong, nearly deprived him of sensation; for the injury he had receivedfrom his fall prevented him from aiding himself so effectually as hemight otherwise have done. When this was observed by his conductors,they called to their aid two or three others of the party, and swathingour hero's body in one of their plaids, divided his weight by thatmeans among them, and transported him at the same rapid rate as before,without any exertion of his own. They spoke little, and that in Gaelic;and did not slacken their pace till they had run nearly two miles, whenthey abated their extreme rapidity, but continued still to walk veryfast, relieving each other occasionally,
Our hero now endeavoured to address them, but was only answered with'CHA N'EIL BEURL' AGAM,' i.e. 'I have no English,' being, as Waverleywell knew, the constant reply of a Highlander, when he either does notunderstand, or does not choose to reply to, an Englishman or Lowlander.He then mentioned the name of Vich Ian Vohr, concluding that he wasindebted to his friendship for his rescue from the clutches of GiftedGilfillan; but neither did this produce any mark of recognition from hisescort.
The twilight had given place to moonshine when the party halted uponthe brink of a precipitous glen, which, as partly enlightened by themoonbeams, seemed full of trees and tangled brushwood. Two of theHighlanders dived into it by a small footpath, as if to explore itsrecesses, and one of them returning in a few minutes, said something tohis companions, who instantly raised their burden, and bore him,with great attention and care, down the narrow and abrupt descent.Notwithstanding their precautions, however, Waverley's person came morethan once into contact, rudely enough, with the projecting stumps andbranches which overhung the pathway.
At the bottom of the descent, and, as it seemed, by the side of abrook (for Waverley heard the rushing of a considerable body of water,although its stream was invisible in the darkness), the party againstopped before a small and rudely-constructed hovel. The door was open,and the inside of the premises appeared as uncomfortable and rude as itssituation and exterior foreboded. There was no appearance of a floorof any kind; the roof seemed rent in several places; the walls werecomposed of loose stones and turf, and the thatch of branches of trees.The fire was in the centre, and filled the whole wigwam with smoke,which escaped as much through the door as by means of a circularaperture in the roof. An old Highland sibyl, the only inhabitant of thisforlorn mansion, appeared busy in the preparation of some food. Bythe light which the fire afforded, Waverley could discover that hisattendants were not of the clan of Ivor, for Fergus was particularlystrict in requiring from his followers that they should wear the tartanstriped in the mode peculiar to their race; a mark of distinctionanciently general through the Highlands, and still maintained by thosechiefs who were proud of their lineage, or jealous of their separate andexclusive authority.
Edward had lived at Glennaquoich long enough to be aware of adistinction which he had repeatedly heard noticed; and now satisfiedthat he had no interest with his attendants, he glanced a disconsolateeye around the interior of the cabin. The only furniture, excepting awashing-tub, and a wooden press, called in Scotland an AMBRY, sorelydecayed, was a large wooden bed, planked, as is usual, all around, andopening by a sliding panel. In this recess the Highlanders depositedWaverley, after he had by signs declined any refreshment. His slumberswere broken and unrefreshing; strange visions passed before his eyes,and it required constant and reiterated efforts of mind to dispel them.Shivering, violent headache, and shooting pains in his limbs, succeededthese symptoms; and in the morning it was evident to his Highlandattendants or guard, for he knew not in which light to consider them,that Waverley was quite unfit to travel. After a long consultationamong themselves, six of the party left the hut with their arms, leavingbehind an old and a young man. The former addressed Waverley, and bathedthe contusions, which swelling and livid colour now made conspicuous.His own portmanteau, which the Highlanders had not failed to bring off,supplied him with linen, and, to his great surprise, was, with all itsundiminished contents, freely resigned to his use. The bedding of hiscouch seemed clean and comfortable, and his aged attendant closed thedoor of the bed, for it had no curtain, after a few words of Gaelic,from which Waverley gathered that he exhorted him to repose. So beholdour hero for a second time the patient of a Highland Aesculapius, butin a situation much more uncomfortable than when he was the guest of theworthy Tomanrait.
The symptomatic fever which accompanied the injuries he had sustaineddid not abate till the third day, when it gave way to the care of hisattendants and the strength of his constitution, and he could now raisehimself in his bed, though not without pain. He observed, however, thatthere was a great disinclination, on the part of the old woman who actedas his nurse, as well as on that of the elderly Highlander, to permitthe door of the bed to be left open, so that he might amuse himself withobserving their motions; and at length, after Waverley had repeatedlydrawn open, and they had as frequently shut, the hatchway of his cage,the old gentleman put an end to the contest, by securing it on theoutside with a nail, so effectually that the door could not be drawntill this exterior impediment was removed.
While musing upon the cause of this contradictory spirit in personswhose conduct intimated no purpose of plunder, and who, in all otherpoints, appeared to consult his welfare and his wishes, it occurred toour hero, that, during the worst crisis of his illness, a female figure,younger than his old Highland nurse, had appeared to flit around hiscouch. Of this, indeed, he had but a very indistinct recollection, buthis suspicions were confirmed when, attentively listening, he oftenheard, in the course of the day, the voice of another female conversingin whispers with his attendant. Who could it be? And why should sheapparently desire concealment? Fancy immediately roused herself, andturned to Flora Mac-Ivor. But after a short conflict between his eagerdesire to believe she was in his neighbourhood, guarding, like an angelof mercy, the couch of his sickness, Waverley was compelled to concludethat his conjecture was altogether improbable; since, to suppose she hadleft the comparatively safe situation at Glennaquoich to descend intothe Low Country, now the seat of civil war, and to inhabit such alurking-place as this, was a thing hardly to be imagined. Yet his heartbounded as he sometimes could distinctly hear the trip of a light femalestep glide to or from the door of the hut, or the suppressed sounds ofa female voice, of softness and delicacy, hold dialogue with the hoarseinward croak of old Janet, for so he understood his antiquated attendantwas denominated.
Having nothing else to amuse his solitude, he employed himself incontriving some plan to gratify his curiosity, in spite of the sedulouscaution of Janet and the old Highland janizary, for he had never seenthe young fellow since the first morning. At length, upon accurateexamination, the infirm state of his wooden prison-house appeared tosupply the means of gratifying his curiosity, for out of a spot whichwas somewhat decayed he was able to extract a nail. Through this minuteaperture he could perceive a female form, wrapped in a plaid, in the actof conversing with Janet. But, since the days of our grandmother Eve,the gratification of inordinate curiosity has generally borne itspenalty in disappointment. The form was not that of Flora, nor was theface visible; and, to crown his vexation, while he laboured with thenail to enlarge the hole, that he might obtain a more complete view,a slight noise betrayed his purpose, and the object of his curiosityinstantly disappeared; nor, so far as he could observe, did she againrevisit the cottage.
All precautions to blockade his view were from that time abandoned, andhe was not only permitted, but assisted to rise and quit what had been,in a literal sense, his couch of confinement. But he was not allowed toleave the hut; for the young Highlander had now rejoined his senior, andone or other was constantly on the watch. Whenever Waverley approachedthe cottage door, the sentinel upon duty civilly, but resolutely, placedhimself against it and opposed his exit, accompanying his action withsigns which seemed to imply there was dang
er in the attempt, and anenemy in the neighbourhood. Old Janet appeared anxious and upon thewatch; and Waverley, who had not yet recovered strength enough toattempt to take his departure in spite of the opposition of his hosts,was under the necessity of remaining patient. His fare was, in everypoint of view, better than he could have conceived; for poultry,and even wine, were no strangers to his table. The Highlanders neverpresumed to eat with him, and unless in the circumstance of watchinghim, treated him with great respect. His sole amusement was gazing fromthe window, or rather the shapeless aperture which was meant to answerthe purpose of a window, upon large and rough brook, which raged andfoamed through a rocky channel, closely canopied with trees and bushes,about ten feet beneath the site of his house of captivity.
Upon the sixth day of his confinement, Waverley found himself so well,that he began to meditate his escape from this dull and miserableprison-house, thinking any risk which he might incur in the attemptpreferable to the stupefying and intolerable uniformity of Janet'sretirement. The question indeed occurred, whither he was to direct hiscourse when again at his own disposal. Two schemes seemed practicable,yet both attended with danger and difficulty. One was to go back toGlennaquoich, and join Fergus Mac-Ivor, by whom he was sure to be kindlyreceived; and in the present state of his mind, the rigour with whichhe had been treated fully absolved him, in his own eyes, from hisallegiance to the existing government. The other project was toendeavour to attain a Scottish seaport, and thence to take shipping forEngland. His mind wavered between these plans; and probably, if hehad effected his escape in the manner he proposed, he would have beenfinally determined by the comparative facility by which either mighthave been executed. But his fortune had settled that he was not to beleft to his option.
Upon the evening of the seventh day the door of the hut suddenly opened,and two Highlanders entered, whom Waverley recognized as having been apart of his original escort to this cottage. They conversed for ashort time with the old man and his companion, and then made Waverleyunderstand, by very significant signs, that he was to prepare toaccompany them. This was a joyful communication. What had already passedduring his confinement made it evident that no personal injury wasdesigned to him; and his romantic spirit, having recovered duringhis repose much of that elasticity which anxiety, resentment,disappointment, and the mixture of unpleasant feelings excited byhis late adventures, had for a time subjugated, was now wearied withinaction. His passion for the wonderful, although it is the nature ofsuch dispositions to be excited, by that degree of danger which merelygives dignity to the feeling of the individual exposed to it, had sunkunder the extraordinary and apparently, insurmountable evils by whichhe appeared environed at Cairnvreckan. In fact, this compound of intensecuriosity and exalted imagination forms a peculiar species ofcourage, which somewhat resembles the light usually carried by aminer,--sufficiently competent, indeed, to afford him guidance andcomfort during the ordinary perils of his labour, but certain tobe extinguished should he encounter the more formidable hazard ofearth-damps or pestiferous vapours. It was now, however, once morerekindled, and with a throbbing mixture of hope, awe, and anxiety,Waverley watched the group before him, as those who had just arrivedsnatched a hasty meal, and the others assumed their arms, and made briefpreparations for their departure.
As he sat in the smoky hut, at some distance from the fire, around whichthe others were crowded, he felt a gentle pressure upon his arm. Helooked round--it was Alice, the daughter of Donald Bean Lean. She showedhim a packet of papers in such a manner that the motion was remarked byno one else, put her finger for a second to her lips, and passed on, asif to assist old Janet in packing Waverley's clothes in his portmanteau.It was obviously her wish that he should not seem to recognize her; yetshe repeatedly looked back at him, as an opportunity occurred of doingso unobserved, and when she saw that he remarked what she did, shefolded the packet with great address and speed in one of his shirts,which she deposited in the portmanteau.
Here then was fresh food for conjecture. Was Alice his unknown warden,and was this maiden of the cavern the tutelar genius that watched hisbed during his sickness? Was he in the hands of her father? and ifso, what was his purpose? Spoil, his usual object, seemed in this caseneglected; for not only Waverley's property was restored, but his purse,which might have tempted this professional plunderer, had been all alongsuffered to remain in his possession. All this perhaps the packet mightexplain; but it was plain from Alice's manner that she desired he shouldconsult it in secret. Nor did she again seek his eye after she hadsatisfied herself that her manoeuvre was observed and understood. On thecontrary, she shortly afterwards left the hut, and it was only as shetripped out from the door, that, favoured by the obscurity, she gaveWaverley a parting smile and nod of significance, ere she vanished inthe dark glen.
The young Highlander was repeatedly dispatched by his comrades as if tocollect intelligence. At length when he had returned for the thirdor fourth time, the whole party arose, and made signs to our hero toaccompany them. Before his departure, however, he shook hands with oldJanet, who had been so sedulous in his behalf, and added substantialmarks of his gratitude for her attendance.
'God bless you! God prosper you, Captain Waverley!' said Janet, in goodLowland Scotch, though he had never hitherto heard her utter a syllable,save in Gaelic. But the impatience of his attendants prohibited hisasking any explanation.
