Part 10 (1/2)
I observed the Highlanders look anxiously at each other when this proposal was made
”I had none,” I replied, ”to surrender”
The officer commanded me to be disarmed and searched To have resisted would have been ave up my arms, and submitted to a search, which was conducted as civilly as an operation of the kind well could They found nothing except the note which I had received that night through the hand of the landlady
”This is different froood grounds for detaining you Here I find you in written coor Caue of this district--How do you account for that?”
”Spies of Rob!” said Inverashalloch ”We wad serve theaun to see after soentlemen,” said the Bailie, ”that's fa'en into his hands by accident--there's nae law agane aafter his ain, I hope?”
”How did you co hi the poor woiven it toof it, fellow?” said the officer, looking at Andrehose jaere chattering like a pair of castanets at the threats thrown out by the Highlander
”O ay, I ken a' about it--it was a Hieland loon gied the letter to that lang-tongued jaud the gudewife there; I'll be swornup the hills and speak wi' Rob; and oh, sir, it wad be a charity just to send a wheen o' your red-coats to see hiain whether he will or no--And ye can keep Mr Jarvie as lang as ye like--He's responsible enough for ony fine ye may lay on him--and so's ardener lad, and no worth your steering”
”I believe,” said the officer, ”the best thing I can do is to send these persons to the garrison under an escort They seem to be in immediate correspondence with the ene them to be at liberty Gentlemen, you will consider yourselves as my prisoners So soon as dawn approaches, I will send you to a place of security If you be the persons you describe yourselves, it will soon appear, and you will sustain no great inconvenience fro detained a day or two I can hear no re away from the Bailie, whose ives me no time for idle discussions”
”Aweel, aweel, sir,” said the Bailie, ”you're welcoar ye dance till't afore a's dune”
An anxious consultation now took place between the officer and the Highlanders, but carried on in so low a tone, that it was impossible to catch the sense So soon as it was concluded they all left the house At their departure, the Bailie thus expressed himself:--”Thae Hielandht-handed as their neighbours, an a' tales be true, and yet ye see they hae brought theyleshi+re to make i' puir Rob for some auld ill-will that they hae at him and his sirname And there's the Grahaentry, a' mounted and in order--It's weel ken'd their quarrel; and I dinna blaers, puir things, hoyed out frae the garrison at a' body's bidding--Puir Rob will hae his hands fu' by the tiistrate to be wishi+ng onything agane the course o' justice, but deil o' ien them a' their paiks!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
--General, Hear me, and mark me well, and look upon me Directly in my face--my woman's face-- See if one fear, one shadow of a terror, One paleness dare appear, but froer, To lay hold on your mercies Bonduca
We were perht in the best manner that the miserable accoued with his journey and the subsequent scenes--less interested also in the event of our arrest, which to him could only be a matter of temporary inconvenience--perhaps less nice than habit had rendered me about the cleanliness or decency of his couch,--tumbled himself into one of the cribs which I have already described, and soon was heard to snore soundly A broken sleep, snatched by intervals, while I rested my head upon the table, was ht I had occasion to observe that there seemed to be some doubt and hesitation in the motions of the soldiery Men were sent out, as if to obtain intelligence, and returned apparently without bringing any satisfactory inforer and anxious, and again despatched small parties of two or three men, some of whom, as I could understand froain to the Clachan
Thehad broken, when a corporal and twoafter thehlander, whonised as my acquaintance the ex-turnkey The Bailie, who started up at the noise hich they entered, immediately made the sarippit the puir creature Dougal--Captain, I will put in bail--sufficient bail, for that Dougal creature”
To this offer, dictated undoubtedly by a grateful recollection of the late interference of the Highlander in his behalf, the Captain only answered by requesting Mr Jarvie to ”mind his own affairs, and remember that he was himself for the present a prisoner”
”I take you to witness, Mr Osbaldistone,” said the Bailie, as probably better acquainted with the process in civil than in military cases, ”that he has refused sufficient bail It's ood action of wrongous iane him, under the Act seventeen hundred and one, and I'll see the creature righted”
The officer, whose na no attention to the Bailie's threats or expostulations, instituted a very close inquiry into Dougal's life and conversation, and coh with apparent reluctance, the successive facts,--that he knew Rob Roy MacGregor--that he had seen him within these twelve months--within these six months--within this month--within this week; in fine, that he had parted froo All this detail came like drops of blood from the prisoner, and was, to all appearance, only extorted by the threat of a halter and the next tree, which Captain Thornton assured hiive direct and special information
”And now, my friend,” said the officer, ”you will please inform me how al looked in every direction except at the querist, and began to answer, ”She canna just be sure about that”
”Look at ,” said the officer, ”and reues had that outlawed scoundrel with hiues when I was gane”
”And where are the rest of his banditti?”
”Gane wi' the Lieutenant agane ta westland carles”
”Against the westland clans?” said the Captain ”Uue's errand were you despatched upon?”
”Just to see what your honour and ta gentle doun here at ta Clachan”
”The creature will prove fause-hearted, after a',” said the Bailie, who by this time had planted himself close behind me; ”it's lucky I didna pit mysell to expenses anent him”
”And now, my friend,” said the Captain, ”let us understand each other You have confessed yourself a spy, and should string up to the next tree--But coood turn, I will do you another You, Donald--you shall just, in the way of kindness, carry me and a small party to the place where you left your master, as I wish to speak a feords with hio about your business, and give you five guineas to boot”
”Oigh! oigh!” exclaial, in the extremity of distress and perplexity; ”she canna do tat--she canna do tat; she'll rather be hanged”
”Hanged, then, you shall be, my friend” said the officer; ”and your blood be upon your own head Corporal Cramp, do you play Provost-Marshal--aith hial for so a piece of cord which he had found in the house into the form of a halter He now threw it about the culprit's neck, and, with the assistance of two soldiers, had dragged Dougal as far as the door, when, overcome with the terror of immediate death, he exclaimed, ”Shentle--stops!”
”Ai' the creature!” said the Bailie, ”he deserves hanging mair now than ever; ai' him, corporal Why dinna ye tak hientleed yourself, you would be in no such d--d hurry”
This by-dialogue preventedwhat passed between the prisoner and Captain Thornton; but I heard the former snivel out, in a very subdued tone, ”And ye'll ask her to gang nae farther than just to shohere the MacGregor is?--Ohon! ohon!”
”Silence your howling, you rascal--No; I give you o no farther--Corporal, entlemen's horses; we uard theet under arms”
The soldiers bustled about, and were ready to al, in the capacity of prisoners As we left the hut, I heard our companion in captivity remind the Captain of ”ta foive kuineas”
”Here they are for you,” said the officer, putting gold into his hand; ”but observe, that if you attempt to mislead me, I will blow your brains out with my own hand”
”The creature,” said the Bailie, ”is waur than I judged him--it is a warldly and a perfidious creature O the filthy lucre of gain that ies themsells up to! My father the deacon used to say, the penny siller slew mair souls than the naked sword slew bodies”
The landlady now approached, and de all that had been quaffed by Major Galbraith and his Highland friends The English officer remonstrated, but Mrs MacAlpine declared, if ”she hadna trusted to his honour's na used in their company, she wad never hae drawn theain, or sheher siller--and she was a puir , had naething but her custom to rely on”
Captain Thornton put a stop to her relish shi+llings, though the aenerous officer would have included Mr Jarvie andan intilishers as we could, for they were sure to gie us plague eneugh,” went into a for, and paid it accordingly The Captain took the opportunity tous ”If ere loyal and peaceable subjects,” he said, ”ould not regret being stopt for a day, when it was essential to the king's service; if otherwise, he was acting according to his duty”
We were coy which it would have served no purpose to refuse, and we sallied out to attend hihtful sensation hich I exchanged the dark, shland hut, in which we had passed the night so unco air, and the glorious beaolden clouds, were darted full on such a scene of natural roreeted my eyes To the left lay the valley, dohich the Forth wandered on its easterly course, surrounding the beautiful detached hill, with all its garland of woods On the right, as, lay the bed of a broad htly curled into tiny waves by the breath of thein its course under the influence of the sunbea with natural forests of birch and oak, for sheet of water; and, as their leaves rustled to the wind and twinkled in the sun, gave to the depth of solitude a sort of life and vivacity Man alone seemed to be placed in a state of inferiority, in a scene where all the ordinary features of nature were raised and exalted The miserable little bourocks, as the Bailie tere called the Clachan of Aberfoil, were composed of loose stones, cemented by clay instead of mortar, and thatched by turfs, laid rudely upon rafters formed of native and unhewn birches and oaks froround so nearly, that Andrew Fairservice observed we ht before, and never found out ere near it, unless our horses' feet had ”gane through the riggin'”
From all we could see, Mrs MacAlpine's house, miserable as were the quarters it afforded, was still by far the best in the haives you any curiosity to see it) you will hardly find it much improved at the present day, for the Scotch are not a people who speedily admit innovation, even when it comes in the shape of improvement