"Wad he pity me were I gaeing up the Castle hill at Jeddart? [The place of execution at that ancient burgh, where many of Westburnflat's profession have made their final exit.] And yet Irue something for the bit lassie; but he'll get anither, and little skaith dune--ane is as gude as anither.And now, you that like to hear o' splores, heard ye ever o' a better ane than I hae had this morning?""Air, ocean, and fire," said the Dwarf, speaking to himself, "the earthquake, the tempest, the volcano, are all mild and moderate, compared to the wrath of man.And what is this fellow, but one more skilled than others in executing the end of his existence?
--Hear me, felon, go again where I before sent thee.""To the Steward?"
"Ay; and tell him, Elshender the Recluse commands him to give thee gold.But, hear me, let the maiden be discharged free and uninjured; return her to her friends, and let her swear not to discover thy villainy.""Swear" said Westburnflat; "but what if she break her aith? Women are not famous for keeping their plight.A wise man like you should ken that.--And uninjured--wha kens what may happen were she to be left lang at Tinning-Beck? Charlie Cheat-the-Woodie is a rough customer.But if the gold could be made up to twenty pieces, I think I could ensure her being wi' her friends within the twenty-four hours."The Dwarf took his tablets from his pocket, marked a line on them, and tore out the leaf."There," he said, giving the robber the leaf--"But, mark me; thou knowest I am not to be fooled by thy treachery; if thou darest to disobey my directions, thy wretched life, be sure, shall answer it.""I know," said the fellow, looking down, "that you have power on earth, however you came by it; you can do what nae other man can do, baith by physic and foresight; and the gold is shelled down when ye command, as fast as I have seen the ash-keys fall in a frosty morning in October.I will not disobey you.""Begone, then, and relieve me of thy hateful presence."The robber set spurs to his horse, and rode off without reply.
Hobbie Elliot had, in the meanwhile, pursued his journey rapidly, harassed by those oppressive and indistinct fears that all was not right, which men usually term a presentiment of misfortune.
Ere he reached the top of the bank from which he could look down on his own habitation, he was met by his nurse, a person then of great consequence in all families in Scotland, whether of the higher or middling classes.The connexion between them and their foster-children was considered a tie far too dearly intimate to be broken; and it usually happened, in the course of years, that the nurse became a resident in the family of her foster-son, assisting in the domestic duties, and receiving all marks of attention and regard from the heads of the family.So soon as Hobbie recognised the figure of Annaple, in her red cloak and black hood, he could not help exclaiming to himself, "What ill luck can hae brought the auld nurse sae far frae hame, her that never stirs a gun-shot frae the door-stane for ordinar?--Hout, it will just be to get crane-berries, or whortle-berries, or some such stuff, out of the moss, to make the pies and tarts for the feast on Monday.--I cannot get the words of that cankered auld cripple deil's-buckie out o' my head--the least thing makes me dread some ill news.--O, Killbuck, man! were there nae deer and goats in the country besides, but ye behoved to gang and worry his creature, by a' other folk's?"By this time Annaple, with a brow like a tragic volume, had hobbled towards him, and caught his horse by the bridle.The despair in her look was so evident as to deprive even him of the power of asking the cause."O my bairn!" she cried, "gang na forward--gang na forward--it's a sight to kill onybody, let alane thee.""In God's name, what's the matter?" said the astonished horseman, endeavouring to extricate his bridle from the grasp of the old woman; "for Heaven's sake, let me go and see what's the matter.""Ohon! that I should have lived to see the day!--The steading's a' in a low, and the bonny stack-yard lying in the red ashes, and the gear a' driven away.But gang na forward ; it wad break your young heart, hinny, to see what my auld een hae seen this morning.""And who has dared to do this? let go my bridle, Annaple--where is my grandmother--my sisters?--Where is Grace Armstrong?--God!--the words of the warlock are knelling in my ears!"He sprang from his horse to rid himself of Annaple's interruption, and, ascending the hill with great speed, soon came in view of the spectacle with which she had threatened him.It was indeed a heart-breaking sight.The habitation which he had left in its seclusion, beside the mountain-stream, surrounded with every evidence of rustic plenty, was now a wasted and blackened ruin.From amongst the shattered and sable walls the smoke continued to rise.The turf-stack, the barn-yard, the offices stocked with cattle, all the wealth of an upland cultivator of the period, of which poor Elliot possessed no common share, had been laid waste or carried off in a single night.He stood a moment motionless, and then exclaimed, "I am ruined--ruined to the ground!--But curse on the warld's gear--Had it not been the week before the bridal--But I am nae babe, to sit down and greet about it.If I can but find Grace, and my grandmother, and my sisters weel, I can go to the wars in Flanders, as my gude-sire did, under the Bellenden banner, wi'
auld Buccleuch.At ony rate, I will keep up a heart, or they will lose theirs a'thegither."Manfully strode Hobbie down the hill, resolved to suppress his own despair, and administer consolation which he did not feel.
