Now these were the very words that the b.l.o.o.d.y Earl of Douglas said to keep the king"s messenger in hand while he cut the head off MacLellan of Bombie, at the Threave Castle, [The reader is referred for particulars to Pitscottie"s HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.] and that put Steenie mair and mair on his guard. So he spoke up like a man, and said he came neither to eat, or drink. or make minstrelsy; but simply for his ain--to ken what was come o" the money he had paid, and to get a discharge for it; and he was so stout-hearted by this time that he charged Sir Robert for conscience-sake (he had no power to say the holy name) and as he hoped for peace and rest, to spread no snares for him, but just to give him his ain.
The appearance gnashed its teeth and laughed, but it took from a large pocket-book the receipt, and handed it to Steenie. "There is your receipt, ye pitiful cur; and for the money, my dog-whelp of a son may go look for it in the Cat"s Cradle."
My gudesire uttered mony thanks, and was about to retire when Sir Robert roared aloud, "Stop, though, thou sack-doudling son of a wh.o.r.e! I am not done with thee. HERE we do nothing for nothing; and you must return on this very day twelvemonth, to pay your master the homage that you owe me for my protection."
My father"s tongue was loosed of a suddenty, and he said aloud, "I refer mysell to G.o.d"s pleasure, and not to yours."
He had no sooner uttered the word than all was dark around him; and he sank on the earth with such a sudden shock, that he lost both breath and sense.
How lang Steenie lay there, he could not tell; but when he came to himsell, he was lying in the auld kirkyard of Redgauntlet parochine just at the door of the family aisle, and the scutcheon of the auld knight, Sir Robert, hanging over his head. There was a deep morning fog on gra.s.s and gravestane around him, and his horse was feeding quietly beside the minister"s twa cows. Steenie would have thought the whole was a dream, but he had the receipt in his hand, fairly written and signed by the auld laird; only the last letters of his name were a little disorderly, written like one seized with sudden pain.
Sorely troubled in his mind, he left that dreary place, rode through the mist to Redgauntlet Castle, and with much ado he got speech of the laird.
"Well, you dyvour bankrupt," was the first word, "have you brought me my rent?"
"No," answered my gudesire, "I have not; but I have brought your honour Sir Robert"s receipt for it."
"Wow, sirrah? Sir Robert"s receipt! You told me he had not given you one."
"Will your honour please to see if that bit line is right?"
Sir John looked at every line, and at every letter, with much attention; and at last, at the date, which my gudesire had not observed,--"FROM MY APPOINTED PLACE," he read, "THIS TWENTY-FIFTH OF NOVEMBER."--"What!--That is yesterday!--Villain, thou must have gone to h.e.l.l for this!"
"I got it from your honour"s father--whether he be in heaven or h.e.l.l, I know not," said Steenie.
"I will delate you for a warlock to the Privy Council!" said Sir John. "I will send you to your master, the devil, with the help of a tar-barrel and a torch!"
"I intend to delate mysell to the Presbytery," said Steenie, "and tell them all I have seen last night, whilk are things fitter for them to judge of than a borrel man like me."
Sir John paused, composed himsell, and desired to hear the full history; and my gudesire told it him from point to point, as I have told it you--word for word, neither more nor less, Sir John was silent again for a long time, and at last he said, very composedly, "Steenie, this story of yours concerns the honour of many a n.o.ble family besides mine; and if it be a leasing-making, to keep yourself out of my danger, the least you can expect is to have a redhot iron driven through your tongue, and that will be as bad as scauding your fingers wi" a redhot chanter. But yet it may be true, Steenie; and if the money cast up I shall not know what to think of it. But where shall we find the Cat"s Cradle? There are cats enough about the old house, but I think they kitten without the ceremony of bed or cradle."
"We were best ask Hutcheon," said my gudesire; "he kens a" the odd corners about as weel as--another serving-man that is now gane, and that I wad not like to name."
Aweel, Hutcheon, when he was asked, told them, that a ruinous turret, lang disused, next to the clock-house, only accessible by a ladder, for the opening was on the outside, and far above the battlements, was called of old the Cat"s Cradle.
"There will I go immediately," said Sir John; and he took (with what purpose, Heaven kens) one of his father"s pistols from the hall-table, where they had lain since the night he died, and hastened to the battlements.
It was a dangerous place to climb, for the ladder was auld and frail, and wanted ane or twa rounds. However, up got Sir John, and entered at the turret-door, where his body stopped the only little light that was in the bit turret. Something flees at him wi" a vengeance, maist dang him back ower--bang gaed the knight"s pistol, and Hutcheon, that held the ladder, and my gudesire that stood beside him, hears a loud skelloch. A minute after, Sir John flings the body of the jackanape down to them, and cries that the siller is fund, and that they should come up and help him. And there was the bag of siller sure aneugh, and mony orra thing besides, that had been missing for mony a day. And Sir John, when he had riped the turret weel, led my gudesire into the dining-parlour, and took him by the hand and spoke kindly to him, and said he was sorry he should have doubted his word and that he would hereafter be a good master to him to make amends.
"And now, Steenie," said Sir John, "although this vision of yours tend, on the whole, to my father"s credit, as an honest man, that he should, even after his death, desire to see justice done to a poor man like you, yet you are sensible that ill-dispositioned men might make bad constructions upon it, concerning his soul"s health. So, I think, we had better lay the haill dirdum on that ill-deedie creature, Major Weir, and say naething about your dream in the wood of Pitmurkie. You had taken ower muckle brandy to be very certain about onything; and, Steenie, this receipt" (his hand shook while he held it out),--"it"s but a queer kind of doc.u.ment, and we will do best, I think, to put it quietly in the fire."
"Od, but for as queer as it is, it"s a" the voucher I have for my rent," said my gudesire, who was afraid, it may be, of losing the benefit of Sir Robert"s discharge.
"I will bear the contents to your credit in the rental-book, and give you a discharge under my own hand," said Sir John, "and that on the spot. And, Steenie, if you can hold your tongue about this matter, you shall sit, from this term downward, at an easier rent."
"Mony thanks to your honour," said Steenie, who saw easily in what corner the wind was; "doubtless I will be comformable to all your honour"s commands; only I would willingly speak wi" some powerful minister on the subject, for I do not like the sort of sommons of appointment whilk your honour"s father"-- "Do not call the phantom my father!" said Sir John, interrupting him.
"Weel, then, the thing that was so like him," said my gudesire; "he spoke of my coming back to see him this time twelvemonth, and it"s a weight on my conscience."
"Aweel, then," said Sir John, "if you be so much distressed in mind, you may speak to our minister of the parish; he is a douce man, regards the honour of our family, and the mair that he may look for some patronage from me."
Wi" that, my father readily agreed that the receipt should be burnt, and the laird threw it into the chimney with his ain hand. Burn it would not for them, though; but away it flew up the lum, wi" a lang train of sparks at its tail, and a hissing noise like a squib.
My gudesire gaed down to the Manse, and the minister, when he had heard the story, said it was his real opinion that though my gudesire had gaen very far in tampering with dangerous matters, yet, as he had refused the devil"s arles (for such was the offer of meat and drink) and had refused to do homage by piping at his bidding, he hoped, that if he held a circ.u.mspect walk hereafter, Satan could take little advantage by what was come and gane. And, indeed, my gudesire, of his ain accord, lang foreswore baith the pipes and the brandy--it was not even till the year was out, and the fatal day past, that he would so much as take the fiddle, or drink usquebaugh or tippeny.
Sir John made up his story about the jackanape as he liked himsell; and some believe till this day there was no more in the matter than the filching nature of the brute. Indeed, ye"ll no hinder some to threap that it was nane o" the auld Enemy that Dougal and my gudesire saw in the laird"s room, but only that wanchancy creature, the major, capering on the coffin; and that, as to the blawing on the laird"s whistle that was heard after he was dead, the filthy brute could do that as weel as the laird himsell, if no better. But Heaven kens the truth, whilk first came out by the minister"s wife, after Sir John and her ain gudeman were baith in the moulds. And then my gudesire, wha was failed in his limbs, but not in his judgement or memory--at least nothing to speak of--was obliged to tell the real narrative to his friends, for the credit of his good name. He might else have been charged for a warlock. [See Note 3.]
The shades of evening were growing thicker around us as my conductor finished his long narrative with this moral--"Ye see, birkie, it is nae chancy thing to tak a stranger traveller for a guide, when you are in an uncouth land."
"I should not have made that inference," said I. "Your grandfather"s adventure was fortunate for himself, whom it saved from ruin and distress; and fortunate for his landlord also, whom it prevented from committing a gross act of injustice."
"Aye, but they had baith to sup the sauce o"t sooner or later," said Wandering Willie--"what was fristed wasna forgiven. Sir John died before he was much over three-score; and it was just like of a moment"s illness. And for my gudesire, though he departed in fullness of life, yet there was my father, a yauld man of forty-five, fell down betwixt the stilts of his pleugh, and rase never again, and left nae bairn but me, a puir sightless, fatherless, motherless creature, could neither work nor want. Things gaed weel aneugh at first; for Sir Redwald Redgauntlet, the only son of Sir John, and the oye of auld Sir Robert, and, waes me! the last of the honourable house, took the farm aff our hands, and brought me into his household to have care of me. He liked music, and I had the best teachers baith England and Scotland could gie me. Mony a merry year was I wi" him; but waes me! he gaed out with other pretty men in the Forty-five--I"ll say nae mair about it--My head never settled weel since I lost him; and if I say another word about it, deil a bar will I have the heart to play the night.--Look out, my gentle chap," he resumed in a different tone, "ye should see the lights at Brokenburn glen by this time."
LETTER XII.
THE SAME TO THE SAME.
Tam Luter was their minstrel meet, Gude Lord as he could lance, He play"d sae shrill, and sang sae sweet, Till Towsie took a trance. Auld Lightfoot there he did forleet, And counterfeited France; He used himself as man discreet, And up took Morrice danse sae loud, At Christ"s Kirk on the Green that day. KING JAMES I.
I continue to scribble at length, though the subject may seem somewhat deficient in interest. Let the grace of the narrative, therefore, and the concern we take in each other"s matters, make amends for its tenuity. We fools of fancy who suffer ourselves, like Malvolio, to be cheated with our own visions, have, nevertheless, this advantage over the wise ones of the earth, that we have our whole stock of enjoyments under our own command, and can dish for ourselves an intellectual banquet with most moderate a.s.sistance from external objects. It is, to be sure, something like the feast which the Barmecide served up to Alnaschar; and we cannot expect to get fat upon such diet. But then, neither is there repletion nor nausea, which often succeed the grosser and more material revel. On the whole, I still pray, with the Ode to Castle Building-- Give me thy hope which sickens not the heart; Give me thy wealth which has no wings to fly; Give me the bliss thy visions can impart: Thy friendship give me, warm in poverty!
And so, despite thy solemn smile and sapient shake of the head, I will go on picking such interest as I can out of my trivial adventures, even though that interest should be the creation of my own fancy; nor will I cease to indict on thy devoted eyes the labour of perusing the scrolls in which I shall record my narrative.
My last broke off as we were on the point of descending into the glen at Brokenburn, by the dangerous track which I had first travelled EN CROUPE, behind a furious horseman, and was now again to brave under the precarious guidance of a blind man.
It was now getting dark; but this was no inconvenience to my guide, who moved on, as formerly, with instinctive security of step, so that we soon reached the bottom, and I could see lights twinkling in the cottage which had been my place of refuge on a former occasion. It was not thither, however, that our course was directed. We left the habitation of the laird to the left, and turning down the brook, soon approached the small hamlet which had been erected at the mouth of the stream, probably on account of the convenience which it afforded as a harbour to the fishing-boats. A large, low cottage, full in our front, seemed highly illuminated; for the light not only glanced from every window and aperture in its frail walls, but was even visible from rents and fractures in the roof, composed of tarred shingles, repaired in part by thatch and divot.
While these appearances engaged my attention, that of my companion was attracted by a regular succession of sounds, like a bouncing on the floor, mixed with a very faint noise of music, which Willie"s acute organs at once recognized and accounted for, while to me it was almost inaudible. The old man struck the earth with his staff in a violent pa.s.sion. "The wh.o.r.eson fisher rabble! They have brought another violer upon my walk! They are such smuggling blackguards, that they must run in their very music; but I"ll sort them waur than ony gauger in the country.-- Stay--hark--it "s no a fiddle neither--it"s the pipe and tabor b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Simon of Sowport, frae the Nicol Forest; but I"ll pipe and tabor him!--Let me hae ance my left hand on his cravat, and ye shall see what my right will do. Come away, chap--come away, gentle chap--nae time to be picking and waling your steps." And on he pa.s.sed with long and determined strides, dragging me along with him.
I was not quite easy in his company; for, now that his minstrel pride was hurt, the man had changed from the quiet, decorous, I might almost say respectable person, which he seemed while he told his tale, into the appearance of a fierce, brawling, dissolute stroller. So that when he entered the large hut, where a great number of fishers, with their wives and daughters, were engaged in eating, drinking, and dancing, I was somewhat afraid that the impatient violence of my companion might procure us an indifferent reception.
But the universal shout of welcome with which Wandering Willie was received--the hearty congratulations--the repeated "Here"s t" ye, Willie!"--"Where hae ya been, ye blind deevil?" and the call upon him to pledge them--above all, the speed with which the obnoxious pipe and tabor were put to silence, gave the old man such effectual a.s.surance of undiminished popularity and importance, as at once put his jealousy to rest, and changed his tone of offended dignity into one better fitted to receive such cordial greetings. Young men and women crowded round, to tell how much they were afraid some mischance had detained him, and how two or three young fellows had set out in quest of him.
"It was nae mischance, praised be Heaven," said Willie, "but the absence of the lazy loon Rob the Rambler, my comrade, that didna come to meet me on the Links; but I hae gotten a braw consort in his stead, worth a dozen of him, the unhanged blackguard."
"And wha is"t tou"s gotten, Wullie, lad?" said half a score of voices, while all eyes were turned on your humble servant, who kept the best countenance he could, though not quite easy at becoming the centre to which all eyes were pointed.
"I ken him by his hemmed cravat," said one fellow; "it"s Gil Hobson, the souple tailor frae Burgh. Ye are welcome to Scotland, ye p.r.i.c.k-the-clout loon," he said, thrusting forth a paw; much the colour of a badger"s back, and of most portentous dimensions.
"Gil Hobson? Gil wh.o.r.eson!" exclaimed Wandering Willie; "it"s a gentle chap that I judge to be an apprentice wi" auld Joshua Geddes, to the quaker-trade."
"What trade be"s that, man?" said he of the badger-coloured fist.
"Canting and lying,"--said Willie, which produced a thundering laugh; "but I am teaching the callant a better trade, and that is, feasting and fiddling."
Willie"s conduct in thus announcing something like my real character, was contrary to compact; and yet I was rather glad he did so, for the consequence of putting a trick upon these rude and ferocious men, might, in case of discovery, have been dangerous to us both, and I was at the same time delivered from the painful effort to support a fict.i.tious character. The good company, except perhaps one or two of the young women whose looks expressed some desire for better acquaintance, gave themselves no further trouble about me; but, while the seniors resumed their places near an immense bowl or rather reeking cauldron of brandy- punch, the younger arranged themselves on the floor and called loudly on Willie to strike up.
With a brief caution to me, to "mind my credit, for fishers have ears, though fish have none," Willie led off in capital style, and I followed, certainly not so as to disgrace my companion, who, every now and then, gave me a nod of approbation. The dances were, of course, the Scottish jigs, and reels, and "twasome dances", with a strathspey or hornpipe for interlude; and the want of grace on the part of the performers was amply supplied by truth of ear, vigour and decision of step, and the agility proper to the northern performers. My own spirits rose with the mirth around me, and with old Willie"s admirable execution, and frequent "weel dune, gentle chap, yet;"--and, to confess the truth, I felt a great deal more pleasure in this rustic revel, than I have done at the more formal b.a.l.l.s and concerts in your famed city, to which I have sometimes made my way. Perhaps this was because I was a person of more importance to the presiding matron of Brokenburn-foot, than I had the means of rendering myself to the far-famed Miss Nickie Murray, the patroness of your Edinburgh a.s.semblies. The person I mean was a buxom dame of about thirty, her fingers loaded with many a silver ring, and three or four of gold; her ankles liberally displayed from under her numerous blue, white, and scarlet; short petticoats, and attired in hose of the finest and whitest lamb"s- wool, which arose from shoes of Spanish cordwain, fastened with silver buckles. She took the lead in my favour, and declared, "that the brave young gentleman should not weary himself to death wi" playing, but take the floor for a dance or twa."
"And what"s to come of me, Dame Martin?" said Willie.
"Come o" thee?" said the dame; "mishanter on the auld beard o" ye! ye could play for twenty hours on end, and tire out the haill countryside wi" dancing before ye laid down your bow, saving for a by-drink or the like o" that."
"In troth, dame," answered Willie, "ye are no sae far wrang; sae if my comrade is to take his dance, ye maun gie me my drink, and then bob it away like Madge of Middlebie."
The drink was soon brought; but while Willie was partaking of it, a party entered the hut, which arrested my attention at once, and intercepted the intended gallantry with which I had proposed to present my hand to the fresh-coloured, well-made, white-ankled Thetis, who had obtained me manumission from my musical task.
This was nothing less than the sudden appearance of the old woman whom the laird had termed Mabel; Cristal Nixon, his male attendant; and the young person who had said grace to us when I supped with him.
This young person--Alan, thou art in thy way a bit of a conjurer --this young person whom I DID NOT describe, and whom you, for that very reason, suspected was not an indifferent object to me --is, I am sorry to say it, in very fact not so much so as in prudence she ought. I will not use the name of love on this occasion; for I have applied it too often to transient whims and fancies to escape your satire, should I venture to apply it now. For it is a phrase, I must confess, which I have used--a romancer would say, profaned--a little too often, considering how few years have pa.s.sed over my head. But seriously, the fair chaplain of Brokenburn has been often in my head when she had no business there; and if this can give thee any clue for explaining my motives in lingering about the country, and a.s.suming the character of Willie"s companion, why, hang thee, thou art welcome to make use of it--a permission for which thou need"st not thank me much, as thou wouldst not have failed to a.s.sume it whether it were given or no.
Such being my feelings, conceive how they must have been excited, when, like a beam upon a cloud, I saw this uncommonly beautiful girl enter the apartment in which they were dancing; not, however, with the air of an equal, but that of a superior, come to grace with her presence the festival of her dependants. The old man and woman attended, with looks as sinister as hers were lovely, like two of the worst winter months waiting upon the bright-eyed May.
When she entered--wonder if thou wilt--she wore A GREEN MANTLE, such as thou hast described as the garb of thy fair client, and confirmed what I had partly guessed from thy personal description, that my chaplain and thy visitor were the same person. There was an alteration on her brow the instant she recognized me. She gave her cloak to her female attendant, and, after a momentary hesitation, as if uncertain whether to advance or retire, she walked into the room with dignity and composure, all making way, the men unbonneting, and the women curtsying respectfully, as she a.s.sumed a chair which was reverently placed for her accommodation, apart from others.
There was then a pause, until the bustling mistress of the ceremonies, with awkward but kindly courtesy, offered the young lady a gla.s.s of wine, which was at first declined, and at length only thus far accepted, that, bowing round to the festive company, the fair visitor wished them all health and mirth, and just touching the brim with her lip, replaced it on the salver. There was another pause; and I did not immediately recollect, confused as I was by this unexpected apparition, that it belonged to me to break it. At length a murmur was heard around me, being expected to exhibit,--nay, to lead down the dance,--in consequence of the previous conversation.
"Deil"s in the fiddler lad," was muttered from more quarters than one--"saw folk ever sic a thing as a shame-faced fiddler before?"
At length a venerable Triton, seconding his remonstrances with a hearty thump on my shoulder, cried out, "To the floor--to the floor, and let us see how ye can fling--the la.s.ses are a" waiting."
Up I jumped, sprang from the elevated station which const.i.tuted our orchestra, and, arranging my ideas as rapidly as I could, advanced to the head of the room, and, instead of offering my hand to the white-footed Thetis aforesaid, I venturously made the same proposal to her of the Green Mantle.
The nymph"s lovely eyes seemed to open with astonishment at the audacity of this offer; and, from the murmurs I heard around me, I also understood that it surprised, and perhaps offended, the bystanders. But after the first moment"s emotion, she wreathed her neck, and drawing herself haughtily up, like one who was willing to show that she was sensible of the full extent of her own condescension, extended her hand towards me, like a princess gracing a squire of low degree.
There is affectation in all this, thought I to myself, if the Green Mantle has borne true evidence--for young ladies do not make visits, or write letters to counsel learned in the law, to interfere in the motions of those whom they hold as cheap as this nymph seems to do me; and if I am cheated by a resemblance of cloaks, still I am interested to show myself, in some degree, worthy of the favour she has granted with so much state and reserve. The dance to be performed was the old Scots Jig, in which you are aware I used to play no sorry figure at La Pique"s, when thy clumsy movements used to be rebuked by raps over the knuckles with that great professor"s fiddlestick. The choice of the tune was left to my comrade Willie, who, having finished his drink, feloniously struck up the well-known and popular measure, Merrily danced the Quaker"s wife, And merrily danced the Quaker.
An astounding laugh arose at my expense, and I should have been annihilated, but that the smile which mantled on the lip of my partner, had a different expression from that of ridicule, and seemed to say, "Do not take this to heart." And I did not, Alan --my partner danced admirably, and I like one who was determined, if outshone, which I could not help, not to be altogether thrown into the shade.
I a.s.sure you our performance, as well as Willie"s music, deserved more polished spectators and auditors; but we could not then have been greeted with such enthusiastic shouts of applause as attended while I handed my partner to her seat, and took my place by her side, as one who had a right to offer the attentions usual on such an occasion. She was visibly embarra.s.sed, but I was determined not to observe her confusion, and to avail myself of the opportunity of learning whether this beautiful creature"s mind was worthy of the casket in which nature had lodged it.
Nevertheless, however courageously I formed this resolution, you cannot but too well guess the difficulties I must needs have felt in carrying it into execution; since want of habitual intercourse with the charmers of the other s.e.x has rendered me a sheepish cur, only one grain less awkward than thyself. Then she was so very beautiful, and a.s.sumed an air of so much dignity, that I was like to fall under the fatal error of supposing she should only be addressed with something very clever; and in the hasty raking which my brains underwent in this persuasion, not a single idea occurred that common sense did not reject as fustian on the one hand, or weary, flat, and stale triticism on the other. I felt as if my understanding were no longer my own, but was alternately under the dominion of Aldeborontiphoscophornio, and that of his facetious friend Rigdum-Funnidos. How did I envy at that moment our friend Jack Oliver, who produces with such happy complacence his fardel of small talk, and who, as he never doubts his own powers of affording amus.e.m.e.nt, pa.s.ses them current with every pretty woman he approaches, and fills up the intervals of chat by his complete acquaintance with the exercise of the fan, the FLACON, and the other duties of the CAVALIERE SERVENTE. Some of these I attempted, but I suppose it was awkwardly; at least the Lady Green Mantle received them as a princess accepts the homage of a clown.
Meantime the floor remained empty, and as the mirth of the good meeting was somewhat checked, I ventured, as a DERNIER RESSORT, to propose a minuet. She thanked me, and told me haughtily enough, "she was here to encourage the harmless pleasures of these good folks, but was not disposed to make an exhibition of her own indifferent dancing for their amus.e.m.e.nt."
She paused a moment, as if she expected me to suggest something; and as I remained silent and rebuked, she bowed her head more graciously, and said, "Not to affront you, however, a country- dance, if you please."
What an a.s.s was I, Alan, not to have antic.i.p.ated her wishes! Should I not have observed that the ill-favoured couple, Mabel and Cristal, had placed themselves on each side of her seat, like the supporters of the royal arms? the man, thick, short, s.h.a.ggy, and hirsute, as the lion; the female, skin-dried, tight-laced, long, lean, and hungry-faced, like the unicorn. I ought to have recollected, that under the close inspection of two such watchful salvages, our communication, while in repose, could not have been easy; that the period of dancing a minuet was not the very choicest time for conversation; but that the noise, the exercise, and the mazy confusion of a country-dance, where the inexperienced performers were every now and then running against each other, and compelling the other couples to stand still for a minute at a time, besides the more regular repose afforded by the intervals of the dance itself, gave the best possible openings for a word or two spoken in season, and without being liable to observation.
We had but just led down, when an opportunity of the kind occurred, and my partner said, with great gentleness and modesty, "It is not perhaps very proper in me to acknowledge an acquaintance that is not claimed; but I believe I speak to Mr. Darsie Latimer?"
"Darsie Latimer was indeed the person that had now the honour and happiness"-- I would have gone on in the false gallop of compliment, but she cut me short. "And why," she said, "is Mr. Latimer here, and in disguise, or at least a.s.suming an office unworthy of a man of education?--I beg pardon," she continued,--"I would not give you pain, but surely making, an a.s.sociate of a person of that description"-- She looked towards my friend Willie, and was silent. I felt heartily ashamed of myself, and hastened to say it was an idle frolic, which want of occupation had suggested, and which I could not regret, since it had procured me the pleasure I at present enjoyed.
Without seeming to notice my compliment, she took the next opportunity to say, "Will Mr. Latimer permit a stranger who wishes him well to ask, whether it is right that, at his active age, he should be in so far void of occupation, as to be ready to adopt low society for the sake of idle amus.e.m.e.nt?"
"You are severe, madam," I answered; "but I cannot think myself degraded by mixing with any society where I meet"-- Here I stopped short, conscious that I was giving my answer an unhandsome turn. The ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINEM, the last to which a polite man has recourse, may, however, be justified by circ.u.mstances, but seldom or never the ARGUMENTUM AD FOEMINAM.
She filled up the blank herself which I had left. "Where you meet ME, I suppose you would say? But the case is different. I am, from my unhappy fate, obliged to move by the will of others, and to be in places which I would by my own will gladly avoid. Besides, I am, except for these few minutes, no partic.i.p.ator of the revels--a spectator only, and attended by my servants. Your situation is different--you are here by choice, the partaker and minister of the pleasures of a cla.s.s below you in education, birth, and fortunes. If I speak harshly, Mr. Latimer," she added, with much sweetness of manner, "I mean kindly."
I was confounded by her speech, "severe in youthful wisdom"; all of naive or lively, suitable to such a dialogue, vanished from my recollection, and I answered with gravity like her own, "I am, indeed, better educated than these poor people; but you, madam, whose kind admonition I am grateful for, must know more of my condition than I do myself--I dare not say I am their superior in birth, since I know nothing of my own, or in fortunes, over which hangs an impenetrable cloud."
"And why should your ignorance on these points drive you into low society and idle habits?" answered my female monitor. "Is it manly to wait till fortune cast her beams upon you, when by exertion of your own energy you might distinguish yourself? Do not the pursuits of learning lie open to you--of manly ambition --of war? But no--not of war, that has already cost you too dear."
"I will be what you wish me to be," I replied with eagerness-- "You have but to choose my path, and you shall see if I do not pursue it with energy, were it only because you command me."
"Not because I command you," said the maiden, "but because reason, common sense, manhood, and, in one word, regard for your own safety, give the same counsel."
"At least permit me to reply, that reason and sense never a.s.sumed a fairer form--of persuasion," I hastily added; for she turned from me--nor did she give me another opportunity of continuing what I had to say till the next pause of the dance, when, determined to bring our dialogue to a point, I said, "You mentioned manhood also, and in the same breath, personal danger. My ideas of manhood suggest that it is cowardice to retreat before dangers of a doubtful character. You, who appear to know so much of my fortunes that I might call you my guardian angel, tell me what these dangers are, that I may judge whether manhood calls on me to face or to fly them."
She was evidently perplexed by this appeal.
"You make me pay dearly for acting as your humane adviser," she replied at last: "I acknowledge an interest in your fate, and yet I dare not tell you whence it arises; neither am I at liberty to say why, or from whom, you are in danger; but it is not less true that danger is near and imminent. Ask me no more, but, for your own sake, begone from this country. Elsewhere you are safe --here you do but invite your fate."
"But am I doomed to bid thus farewell to almost the only human being who has showed an interest in my welfare? Do not say so-- say that we shall meet again, and the hope shall be the leading star to regulate my course!"
"It is more than probable," she said--"much more than probable, that we may never meet again. The help which I now render you is all that may be in my power; it is such as I should render to a blind man whom I might observe approaching the verge of a precipice; it ought to excite no surprise, and requires no grat.i.tude."
So saying, she again turned from me, nor did she address me until the dance was on the point of ending, when she said, "Do not attempt to speak to or approach me again in the course of the night; leave the company as soon as you can, but not abruptly, and G.o.d be with you."
I handed her to her seat, and did not quit the fair palm I held, without expressing my feelings by a gentle pressure. She coloured slightly, and withdrew her hand, but not angrily. Seeing the eyes of Cristal and Mabel sternly fixed on me, I bowed deeply, and withdrew from her; my heart saddening, and my eyes becoming dim in spite of me, as the shifting crowd hid us from each other.
It was my intention to have crept back to my comrade Willie, and resumed my bow with such spirit as I might, although, at the moment, I would have given half my income for an instant"s solitude. But my retreat was cut off by Dame Martin, with the frankness--if it is not an inconsistent phrase-of rustic coquetry, that goes straight up to the point.
"Aye, lad, ye seem unco sune weary, to dance sae lightly? Better the nag that ambles a" the day, than him that makes a brattle for a mile, and then"s dune wi" the road."
This was a fair challenge, and I could not decline accepting it. Besides, I could see Dame Martin was queen of the revels; and so many were the rude and singular figures about me, that I was by no means certain whether I might not need some protection. I seized on her willing hand, and we took our places in the dance, where, if I did not acquit myself with all the accuracy of step and movement which I had before attempted, I at least came up to the expectations of my partner, who said, and almost swore, "I was prime at it;" while, stimulated to her utmost exertions, she herself frisked like a kid, snapped her fingers like castanets, whooped like a Baccha.n.a.l, and bounded from the floor like a tennis-ball,--aye, till the colour of her garters was no particular mystery. She made the less secret of this, perhaps, that they were sky-blue, and fringed with silver.
The time has been that this would have been special fun; or rather, last night was the only time I can recollect these four years when it would not have been so; yet, at this moment, I cannot tell you how I longed to be rid of Dame Martin. I almost wished she would sprain one of those "many-twinkling" ankles, which served her so alertly; and when, in the midst of her exuberant caprioling, I saw my former partner leaving the apartment, and with eyes, as I thought, turning towards me, this unwillingness to carry on the dance increased to such a point, that I was almost about to feign a sprain or a dislocation myself, in order to put an end to the performance. But there were around me scores of old women, all of whom looked as if they might have some sovereign recipe for such an accident; and, remembering Gil Blas, and his pretended disorder in the robber"s cavern, I thought it as wise to play Dame Martin fair, and dance till she thought proper to dismiss me. What I did I resolved to do strenuously, and in the latter part of the exhibition I cut and sprang from the floor as high and as perpendicularly as Dame Martin herself; and received, I promise you, thunders of applause, for the common people always prefer exertion and agility to grace. At length Dame Martin could dance no more, and, rejoicing at my release, I led her to a seat, and took the privilege of a partner to attend her.
"Hegh, sirs," exclaimed Dame Martin, "I am sair forfoughen! Troth! callant, I think ye hae been amaist the death o" me."
I could only atone for the alleged offence by fetching her some refreshment, of which she readily partook.
"I have been lucky in my partners," I said, "first that pretty young lady, and then you, Mrs, Martin."
"Hout wi" your fleeching," said Dame Martin. "Gae wa--gae wa, lad; dinna blaw in folk"s lugs that gate; me and Miss Lilias even"d thegither! Na, na, lad--od, she is maybe four or five years younger than the like o" me,--bye and attour her gentle havings."
"She is the laird"s daughter?" said I, in as careless a tone of inquiry as I could a.s.sume.
"His daughter, man? Na, na, only his niece--and sib aneugh to him, I think."
"Aye, indeed," I replied; "I thought she had borne his name?"