Hunted and Harried
Page 18
comfort old Mrs.Mitchell. Even the guards were softened for a few minutes; but soonthey grew impatient, and ordered them both to leave.
"Bide a wee," said Jean, "I maun hae a word wi' my uncle."
She rose as she spoke, and turned to the gate.
"Weel, what luck?" asked Black, grasping both her hands through thebars.
"No luck, uncle," answered Jean, whimpering a little in spite of herefforts to keep up. "As we ken naebody o' note here that could help us,I just went straight to the Parliament Hoose an' saw Lauderdale himsel',but he wouldna listen to me. An' what could I say? I couldna tell hima lee, ye ken, an' say ye hadna been to conventicles or sheltered therebels, as they ca' us. But I said I was _sure_ ye were sorry for whatye had done, an' that ye would never do it again, if they would only letyou off--"
"Oh, Jean, Jean, ye're a gowk, for that was twa lees ye telt him!"interrupted Black, with a short sarcastic laugh; "for I'm no' a bitsorry for what I've done; an' I'll do't ower again if ever I git thechance. Ne'er heed, lass, you've done your best. An' hoo's mither an'Mrs. Wallace?"
"They're baith weel; but awfu' cast doon aboot you, an'--an'--Wull andQuentin. An'--I had maist forgot--Peter has turned up safe an' soond.He says that--"
"Come, cut short your haverin'," said the sentinel who had been inducedto favour Jean, partly because of her sweet innocent face, and partlybecause of the money which Mrs. Black had given her to bribe him.
"Weel, tell Peter," said Black hurriedly, "to gang doon to the ferm an'see if he can find oot onything aboot Marion Clerk an' Isabel Scott.I'm wae for thae lassies. They're ower guid to let live in peace at atime like this. Tell him to tell them frae me to flee to the hills.Noo that the hidy-hole is gaen, there's no' a safe hoose in a' the land,only the caves an' the peat-bogs, and even they are but puirprotection."
"Uncle dear, is not the Lord our hiding-place until these calamities beoverpast?" said Jean, while the tears that she could not suppress randown her cheeks.
"Ye're right, bairn. God forgi'e my want o' faith. Rin awa' noo. Isee the sentry's getting wearied. The Lord bless ye."
The night chanced to be very dark. Rain fell in torrents, and wind infitful gusts swept among the tombs, chilling the prisoners to the verybone. It is probable that the guards would, for their own comfort, havekept a slack look-out, had not their own lives depended a good deal ontheir fidelity. As it was, the vigil was not so strict as it might havebeen; and they found it impossible to see the whole of that long narrowspace of ground in so dark a night. About midnight the sentry fanciedhe saw three figures flitting across the yard. Putting his musketthrough the bars of the gate he fired at once, but could not see whetherhe had done execution; and so great was the noise of the wind and rainthat the report of his piece was not audible more than a few paces fromwhere he stood, except to leeward. Alarms were too frequent in thosedays to disturb people much. A few people, no doubt, heard the shot;listened, perchance, for a moment or two, and then, turning in theirwarm beds, continued their repose. The guard turned out, but as allseemed quiet in the churchyard-prison when they peered through the ironbars, they turned in again, and the sentinel recharged his musket.
Close beside one of the sodden graves lay the yet warm body of a deadman. The random bullet had found a billet in his heart, and "Nature'ssweet restorer" had been merged into the sleep of death. Fortunate man!He had been spared, probably, months of slow-timed misery, with almostcertain death at the end in any case.
Three men rose from behind the headstone of that grave, and lookedsorrowfully on the drenched figure.
"He has passed the golden gates," said one in a low voice. "A wonderfulchange."
"Ay, Wull," responsed another of the trio; "but it's noo or niver wi'us. Set yer heid agin' the wa', Quentin."
The shepherd obeyed, and the three proceeded to carry out a plan whichthey had previously devised--a plan which only very strong and agile mencould have hoped to carry through without noise. Selecting a suitablepart of the wall, in deepest shadow, where a headstone slightly aidedthem, Quentin planted his feet firmly, and, resting his arms on thewall, leaned his forehead against them. Black mounted on his shoulders,and, standing erect, assumed the same position. Then Wallace, graspingthe garments of his friends, climbed up the living ladder and stood onBlack's shoulders, so that he could just grip the top of the wall andhang on. At this point in the process the conditions were, so to speak,reversed. Black grasped Wallace with both hands by one of his ankles,and held on like a vice. The living ladder was now hanging from the topof the wall instead of standing at the foot of it, and Quentin--thelowest rung, so to speak--became the climber. From Wallace's shoulders,he easily gained the top of the wall, and was able to reach down ahelping hand to Black as he made his way slowly up Wallace's back. Thenboth men hauled Wallace up with some trouble, for the strain had beenalmost too much for him, and he could hardly help himself.
At this juncture the sentinel chanced to look up, and, dark though itwas, he saw the three figures on the wall a little blacker than the skybehind. Instantly the bright flash of his musket was seen, and thereport, mingled with his cry of alarm, again brought out the guard. Avolley revealed the three prisoners for a moment.
"Dinna jump!" cried Black, as the bullets whizzed past their heads."Ye'll brek yer legs. Tak' it easy. They're slow at loadin'; an' `themair hurry the less speed!'"
The caution was only just in time, for the impulsive Wallace had been onthe point of leaping from the wall; instead of doing which he assistedin reversing the process which has just been described. It was mucheasier, however; and the drop which Wallace had to make after hisfriends were down was broken by their catching him in their arms.Inexperience, however, is always liable to misfortune. The shock ofsuch a heavy man dropping from such a height gave them a surprise, andsent them all three violently to the ground; but the firing, shouting,and confusion on the other side of the wall caused them to jump up withwonderful alacrity.
"Candlemaker Raw!" said Black in a hoarse whisper, as they dashed off indifferent directions, and were lost in blackness of night.
With a very sad face, on which, however, there was an air of calmresignation, Mrs. Black sat in her little room with her Bible openbefore her. She had been reading to Mrs. Wallace and Jean, preparatoryto retiring for the night.
"It's awful to think of their lying out yonder, bedless, maybesupperless, on a night like this," said Mrs. Wallace.
Jean, with her pretty face in that condition which the Scotch andNorwegian languages expressively call begrutten, could do nothing butsigh.
Just then hurried steps were heard on the stair, and next moment a loudknocking shook the door.
"Wha's that?" exclaimed Mrs. Black, rising.
"It's me, mither. Open; quick!"
Next moment Andrew sprang in and looked hastily round.
"Am I the first, mither?"
Before the poor woman could recover from her joy and amazementsufficiently to reply, another step was heard on the stair.
"That's ane o' them," said Black, turning and holding the door, so as tobe ready for friend or foe. He was right. Mrs. Wallace uttered alittle scream of joy as her son leaped into the room.
"Whaur's Quentin?" asked Black.
The question was scarcely put when the shepherd himself bounded up thestair.
"They've gotten sight o' me, I fear," he said. "Have ye a garret,wummin--onywhere to hide?"
"No' a place in the hoose big enough for a moose to hide in," said Mrs.Black with a look of dismay.
As she spoke a confused noise of voices and hurrying steps was heard inthe street. Another moment and they were at the foot of the stair. Thethree men seized the poker, tongs, and shovel. Mrs. Black opened herback window and pointed to the churchyard.
"Yer only chance!" she said.
Andrew Black leaped out at once. Wallace followed like a harlequin.Quentin Dick felt that there was no time for him to follow without beingseen. Dropping his poker he sp
rang through the doorway, and, closingthe door on himself, began to thunder against it, just as an officerleading some of the town-guard reached the landing.
"Open, I say!" cried Quentin furiously, "I'm _sure_ the rebels cam inhere. Dinna be keepin' the gentlemen o' the gaird waitin' here. Open,I say, or I'll drive the door in!"
Bursting the door open, as though in fulfilment of his threat, Quentinsprang in, and looking hastily round, cried, as if in towering wrath,"Whaur are they? Whaur are thae pestiferous