I never believed that Mawsie was a witch, though others did. She was said to creep about on moonlight nights like a dry aisk,[1] so people said, "mooling" among heaps of rubbish and the mounds over the graves as she gathered herbs to concoct strange mixtures withal. Certainly Mawsie was no beauty; she walked "two-fold," leaning on a crutch; she was gray-bearded, wrinkled beyond conception; her head was swathed winter and summer in wraps of flannel, and altogether she looked uncanny. Nevertheless, the peasant people never hesitated to visit her to beg for herb-tea and oil to rub their joints. But they always chose the daylight in which to make their calls.
"Perhaps," I thought, "I"d better go round." Then something whispered to me, "What! you a M"Crimman, and confessing to fear!"
That decided me, and I went boldly on. For the life of me, however, I could not keep from mentally repeating those weird and awful lines in Burns" "Tam o" Shanter," descriptive of the hero"s journey homewards on that unhallowed and awful night when he forgathered with the witches:
"By this time he was "cross the ford Whare in the snaw the chapman smo"red;[2]
And past the birks[3] and meikle stane Whare drunken Charlie brak"s neck-bane; And through the furze and by the cairn Where hunters found the murdered bairn, And near the thorn, aboon the well, Where Mungo"s mither hanged hersel", When glimmering through the groaning trees, Kirk Alloway seemed in a bleeze."
I almost shuddered as I said to myself, "What if there be lights glimmering from the frameless windows of the ruined chapel? or what if old Mawsie"s windows be "in a bleeze"?"
Tall, ghostly-looking elder-trees grew round the old manse, which people had told me always kept moving, even when no breath of wind was blowing.
If I had shuddered before, my heart stood still now with a nameless dread, for sure enough, from both the "b.u.t.t" and the "ben" of the so-called witch"s cottage lights were glancing.
What could it mean? She was too old to have company, almost an invalid, with age alone and its attendant infirmities--so, at least, people said.
But it had also been rumoured lately that Mawsie was up to doings which were far from canny, that lights had been seen flitting about the old churchyard and ruin, and that something was sure to happen. n.o.body in the parish could have been found hardy enough to cross the glen-foot where Mawsie lived long after dark. Well, had I thought of all this before, it is possible that I might have given her house a wide berth. It was now too late. I felt like one in a dream, impelled forward towards the cottage. I seemed to be walking on the air as I advanced.
To get to the windows, however, I must cross the graveyard yard and the ruin. This last was partly covered with tall rank ivy, and, hearing sounds inside, and seeing the glimmer of lanterns, I hid in the old porch, quite shaded by the greenery.
From my concealment I could notice that men were at work in a vault or pit on the floor of the old chapel, from which earth and rubbish were being dislodged, while another figure--not that of a workman--was bending over and addressing them in English. It was evident, therefore, those people below were not Highlanders, for in the face of the man who spoke I was able at a glance to distinguish the hard-set lineaments of the villain Duncan M"Rae. This man had been everything in his time--soldier, school-teacher, poacher, thief. He was abhorred by his own clan, and feared by every one. Even the school children, if they met him on the road, would run back to avoid him.
Duncan had only recently come back to the glen after an absence of years, and every one said his presence boded no good. I shuddered as I gazed, almost spellbound, on his evil countenance, rendered doubly ugly in the uncertain light of the lantern. Suppose he should find me! I crept closer into my corner now, and tried to draw the ivy round me. I dared not run, for fear of being seen, for the moonlight was very bright indeed, and M"Rae held a gun in his hand.
After a time, which appeared to be interminable, I heard Duncan invite the men into supper, and slowly they clambered up out of the pit, and the three prepared to leave together.
All might have been well now, for they pa.s.sed me without even a glance in my direction; but presently I heard one of the men stumble.
"Hullo!" he said; "is this basket of fish yours, Mr. Mac?"
"No," was the answer, with an imprecation that made me quake. "We are watched!"
In another moment I was dragged from my place of concealment, and the light was held up to my face.
"A M"Crimman of Coila, by all that is furious! And so, youngster, you"ve come to watch? You know the family feud, don"t you? Well, prepare to meet your doom. You"ll never leave here alive."
He pointed his gun at me as he spoke.
"Hold!" cried one of the men. "We came from town to do a bit of honest work, but we will not witness murder."
"I only wanted to frighten him," said M"Rae, lowering his gun. "Look you, sir," he continued, addressing me once more, "I don"t want revenge, even on a M"Crimman of Coila. I"m a poacher; perhaps I"m a distiller in a quiet way. No matter, you know what an oath is. You"ll swear ere you leave here, not to breathe a word of what you"ve seen. You hear?"
"I promise I won"t," I faltered.
He handled his fowling-piece threateningly once again. Verily, he had just then a terribly evil look.
"I swear," I said, with trembling lips.
His gun was again lowered. He seemed to breathe more freely--less fiercely.
"Go, now," he said, pointing across the moor. "If a poor man like myself wants to hide either his game or his private still, what odds is it to a M"Crimman of Coila?"
How I got home I never knew. I remember that evening being in our front drawing-room with what seemed a sea of anxious faces round me, some of which were bathed in tears. Then all was a long blank, interspersed with fearful dreams.
It was weeks before I recovered consciousness. I was then lying in bed. In at the open window was wafted the odour of flowers, for it was a summer"s evening, and outside were the green whispering trees. Townley sat beside the bed, book in hand, and almost started when I spoke.
[Ill.u.s.tration: He pointed his Gun at me]
"Mr. Townley!"
"Yes, dear boy."
"Have I been long ill?"
"For weeks--four, I think. How glad I am you are better! But you must keep very, _very_ quiet. I shall go and bring your mother now, and Flora."
I put out my thin hand and detained him.
"Tell me, Mr. Townley," I said, "have I spoken much in my sleep, for I have been dreaming such foolish dreams?"
Townley looked at me long and earnestly. He seemed to look me through and through. Then he replied slowly, almost solemnly,
"Yes, dear boy, you have spoken _much_."
I closed my eyes languidly. For now I knew that Townley was aware of more than ever I should have dared to reveal.
[1] Triton.
[2] Smothered.
[3] Birch-trees.
CHAPTER IV.
THE RING AND THE BOOK.
My return to health was a slow though not a painful one. My mind, however, was clear, and even before I could partake of food I enjoyed hearing sister play to me on her harp. Sometimes aunt, too, would play. My mother seldom left the room by day, and one of my chief delights was her stories from Bible life and tales of Bible lands.
At last I was permitted to get up and recline in fauteuil or on sofa.
"Mother," I said one day, "I feel getting stronger, but somehow I do not regain spirits. Is there some sorrow in your heart, mother, or do I only imagine it?"
She smiled, but there were tears in her eyes.